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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/28336-8.txt b/28336-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8e340e --- /dev/null +++ b/28336-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9234 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol 58, No. +357, July 1845, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol 58, No. 357, July 1845 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 15, 2009 [EBook #28336] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, JULY 1845 *** + + + + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Patricia Bennett, Jonathan +Ingram and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Library of Early +Journals.) + + + + + + + + + + BLACKWOOD'S + + Edinburgh + + MAGAZINE + + VOL. LVIII. + + JULY-DECEMBER, 1845. + + + + * * * * * + + + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, EDINBURGH, + + AND + + 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + + * * * * * + + 1845. BLACKWOOD'S + + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + No. CCCLVII. JULY, 1845. Vol. LVIII. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + MARLBOROUGH, NO. I., 1 + PÚSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN POET. NO. II., 28 + SUSPIRIA DE PROFUNDIS: BEING A SEQUEL TO THE CONFESSIONS + OF AN ENGLISH OPIUM-EATER, PART II., 43 + NORTHERN LIGHTS, 56 + HOUSE-HUNTING IN WALES, 74 + THE TORQUATO TASSO OF GOETHE, 87 + DAVID THE "TELYNWR," OR THE DAUGHTER'S TRIAL; + A TALE OF WALES, 96 + NORTH'S SPECIMENS OF THE BRITISH CRITICS. + NO. VI.--SUPPLEMENT TO DRYDEN ON CHAUCER, 114 + + + * * * * * + + + EDINBURGH: + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET; + AND 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + + _To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed._ + + SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. + + + PRINTED BY BALLANTINE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH. + + + BLACKWOOD'S + + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + + No. CCCLVII. JULY, 1845. VOL. LVIII. + + + + +MARLBOROUGH. + +No. I. + + +Alexander the Great said, when he approached the tomb of Achilles, "Oh! +fortunate youth, who had a Homer to be the herald of your fame!" "And +well did he say so," says the Roman historian: "for, unless the _Iliad_ +had been written, the same earth which covered his body would have +buried his name." Never was the truth of these words more clearly +evinced than in the case of the Duke of MARLBOROUGH. Consummate as were +the abilities, unbroken the success, immense the services of this great +commander, he can scarcely be said to be known to the vast majority of +his countrymen. They have heard the distant echo of his fame as they +have that of the exploits of Timour, of Bajazet, and of Genghis Khan; +the names of Blenheim and Ramillies, of Malplaquet and Oudenarde, awaken +a transient feeling of exultation in their bosoms; but as to the +particulars of these events, the difficulties with which their general +had to struggle, the objects for which he contended, even the places +where they occurred, they are, for the most part, as ignorant as they +are of similar details in the campaigns of Baber or Aurengzebe. What +they do know, is derived chiefly, if not entirely, from the histories of +their enemies. Marlborough's exploits have made a prodigious impression +on the Continent. The French, who felt the edge of his flaming sword, +and saw the glories of the _Grande Monarque_ torn from the long +triumphant brow of Louis XIV.; the Dutch, who found in his conquering +arm the stay of their sinking republic, and their salvation from slavery +and persecution; the Germans, who saw the flames of the Palatinate +avenged by his resistless power, and the ravages of war rolled back from +the Rhine into the territory of the state which had provoked them; the +Lutherans, who beheld in him the appointed instrument of divine +vengeance, to punish the abominable perfidy and cruelty of the +revocation of the edict of Nantes--have concurred in celebrating his +exploits. The French nurses frightened their children with stories of +"Marlbrook," as the Orientals say, when their horses start, they see the +shadow of Richard Coeur-de-Lion crossing their path. Napoleon hummed +the well-known air, "Marlbrook s'en va à la guerre," when he crossed +the Niemen to commence the Moscow campaign. But in England, the country +which he has made illustrious, the nation he has saved, the land of his +birth, he is comparatively forgotten; and were it not for the popular +pages of Voltaire, and the shadow which a great name throws over the +stream of time in spite of every neglect, he would be virtually unknown +at this moment to nineteen-twentieths of the British people. + +It is the fault of the national historians which has occasioned this +singular injustice to one of the greatest of British heroes--certainly +the most consummate, if we except Wellington, of British military +commanders. No man has yet appeared who has done any thing like justice +to the exploits of Marlborough. Smollett, whose unpretending narrative, +compiled for the bookseller, has obtained a passing popularity by being +the only existing sequel to Hume, had none of the qualities necessary to +write a military history, or make the narrative of heroic exploits +interesting. His talents for humour, as all the world knows, were +great--for private adventure, or the delineation of common life in +novels, considerable. But he had none of the higher qualities necessary +to form a great historian; he had neither dramatic nor descriptive +power; he was entirely destitute of philosophic views or power of +general argument. In the delineation of individual character, he is +often happy; his talents as a novelist, and as the narrator of private +events, there appear to advantage. But he was neither a poet nor a +painter, a statesman nor a philosopher. He neither saw whence the stream +of events had come, nor whither it was going. We look in vain in his +pages for the lucid arguments and rhetorical power with which Hume +illustrated, and brought, as it were, under the mind's eye, the general +arguments urged, or rather which might be urged by ability equal to his +own, for and against every great change in British history. As little do +we find the captivating colours with which Robertson has painted the +discovery and wonders of America, or the luminous glance which he has +thrown over the progress of society in the first volume of Charles V. +Gibbon's incomparable powers of classification and description are +wholly awanting. The fire of Napier's military pictures need not be +looked for. What is usually complained of in Smollett, especially by his +young readers, is, that he is so dull--the most fatal of all defects, +and the most inexcusable in an historian. His heart was not in history, +his hand was not trained to it; it is in "Roderick Random" or "Peregrine +Pickle," not the continuation of Hume, that his powers are to be seen. + +Lord Mahon has brought to the subject of the history of England from the +treaty of Utrecht to that of Aix-la-Chapelle, talents of a kind much +better adapted for doing justice to Marlborough's campaigns. He has +remarkable power for individual narrative. His account of the gallant +attempt, and subsequent hair-breadth escapes of the Pretender in 1745, +is full of interest, and is justly praised by Sismondi as by far the +best account extant of that romantic adventure. He possesses also a fair +and equitable judgment, much discrimination, evident talent for drawing +characters, and that upright and honourable heart, which is the first +requisite for success in the delineation, as it is for success in the +conduct of events. His industry in examining and collecting authorities +is great; he is a scholar, a statesman, and a gentleman--no small +requisites for the just delineation of noble and generous achievements. +But notwithstanding all this, his work is not the one to rescue +Marlborough's fame from the unworthy obscurity into which, in this +country, it has fallen. He takes up the thread of events where +Marlborough left them: he begins only at the peace of Utrecht. Besides +this, he is not by nature a military historian, and if he had begun at +the Revolution, the case would probably have been the same. Lord Mahon's +attention has been mainly fixed on domestic story; it is in illustrating +parliamentary contests or court intrigues, not military events, that his +powers have been put forth. He has given a clear, judicious, and elegant +narrative of British history, as regards these, so far as it is embraced +by his accomplished pen; but the historian of Marlborough must treat him +as second to none, not even to Louis XIV. or William III. Justice will +never be done to the hero of the English revolution, till his Life is +the subject of a separate work in every schoolboy's hands. We must have +a memoir of him to be the companion of Southey's Life of Nelson, and +Napier's Peninsular War. + +Voltaire, in his "Siècle de Louis XIV.," could not avoid giving a sketch +of the exploits of the British hero; and his natural impartiality has +led him, so far as it goes, to give a tolerably fair one. It need hardly +be said, that coming from the pen of such a writer, it is lively, +animated, and distinct. But Voltaire was not a military historian; he +had none of the feelings or associations which constitute one. War, when +he wrote, had been for above half a century, with a few brilliant +exceptions, a losing game to the French. In the War of the Succession +they had lost their ascendancy in continental Europe; in that of the +Seven Years, nearly their whole colonial dominions. The hard-won glories +of Fontenoy, the doubtful success of Laffelt, were a poor compensation +for these disasters. It was the fashion of his day to decry war as the +game of kings, or flowing from the ambition of priests; if superstition +was abolished, and popular virtue let into government, one eternal reign +of peace and justice would commence. With these writers the great object +was, to carry the cabinets of kings by assault, and introduce +philosophers into government through the antechambers of mistresses. +Peter the Great was their hero, Catharine of Russia their divinity, for +they placed philosophers at the head of affairs. It was not to be +supposed that in France, the vanquished country, in such an age justice +should be done to the English conqueror. Yet such were the talents of +Voltaire, especially for making a subject popular, that it is on his +work, such as it is, that the fame of Marlborough mainly rests, even in +his own country. + +Marlborough, as might be expected, has not wanted biographers who have +devoted themselves, expressly and exclusively, to transmit his fame and +deeds to posterity. They have for the most part failed, from the faults +most fatal, and yet most common to biographers--undue partiality in +some, dulness and want of genius in others. They began at an early +period after his death, and are distinguished at first by that rancour +on the one side, and exaggeration on the other, by which such +contemporary narratives are generally, and in that age were in a +peculiar manner, distinguished. I. An abridged account of his life, +dedicated to the Duke of Montague, his son-in-law, appeared at Amsterdam +in 12mo; but it is nothing but an anonymous panegyric. II. Not many +years after, a life of Marlborough was published, in three volumes +quarto, by Thomas Ledyard, who had accompanied him in many of his later +travels, and had been the spectator of some of the last of his military +exploits. This is a work of much higher authority, and contains much +valuable information; but it is prolix, long-winded, and diffuse, filled +with immaterial documents, and written throughout in a tone of inflated +panegyric. III. Another life of Marlborough, written with more ability, +appeared at Paris in 1806, in three volumes octavo, by Dutems. The +author had the advantage of all the resources for throwing light on his +history which the archives of France, then at the disposal of Napoleon, +who had a high admiration for the English general, could afford; but it +could hardly be expected that, till national historians of adequate +capacity for the task had appeared, it was to be properly discharged by +foreigners. Yet such is the partiality which an author naturally +contracts for the hero of his biography, that the work of Dutems, though +the author has shown himself by no means blind to his hero's faults, is +perhaps chiefly blameable for being too much of a panegyric. IV. By far +the fullest and most complete history of Marlborough, however, is that +which was published at London in 1818, by Archdeacon Coxe, in five +volumes octavo. This learned author had access to all the official +documents on the subject then known to be in existence, particularly the +Blenheim Papers, and he has made good use of the ample materials placed +at his disposal; but it cannot be said that he has made an interesting, +though he certainly has a valuable, work. It has reached a second +edition, but it is now little heard of: a certain proof, if the +importance of his subject, and value of his materials is taken into +account, that it labours under some insurmountable defects in +composition. Nor is it difficult to see what these defects are. The +venerable Archdeacon, respectable for his industry, his learning, his +researches, had not a ray of genius, and genius is the soul of history. +He gives every thing with equal minuteness, makes no attempt at +digesting or compression, and fills his pages with letters and +state-papers at full length; the certain way, if not connected by +ability, to send them to the bottom. + +Dean Swift's history of the four last years of Queen Anne, and his +Apology for the same sovereign, contain much valuable information +concerning Marlborough's life; but it is so mixed up with the gall and +party spirit which formed so essential a part of the Dean of St +Patrick's character, that it cannot be relied on as impartial or +authentic.[2] The life of James II. by Clarke contains a great variety +of valuable and curious details drawn from the Stuart Papers sent to the +Prince Regent on the demise of the Cardinal York; and it would be well +for the reputation of Marlborough, as well as many other eminent men of +the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, if some of them could be +buried in oblivion. But by far the best life of Marlborough, in a +military point of view, is that recently published by Mr Gleig, in his +"Military Commanders of Great Britain,"--a sketch characterized by all +the scientific knowledge, practical acquaintance with war, and brilliant +power of description, by which the other writings of that gifted author +are distinguished. If he would make as good use of the vast collection +of papers which, under the able auspices of Sir George Murray, have now +issued from the press, as he has of the more scanty materials at his +disposal when he wrote his account of Marlborough, he would write _the_ +history of that hero, and supersede the wish even for any other. + +The fortunate accident is generally known by which the great collection +of papers now in course of publication in London has been brought to +light. That this collection should at length have become known is less +surprising than that it should so long have remained forgotten, and have +eluded the searches of so many persons interested in the subject. It +embraces, as Sir George Murray's lucid preface mentions, a complete +series of the correspondence of the great duke from 1702 to 1712, the +ten years of his most important public services. In addition to the +despatches of the duke himself, the letters, almost equally numerous, of +his private secretary, M. Cardonnell, and a journal written by his +grace's chaplain, Dr Hare, afterwards Bishop of Chichester, are +contained in the eighteen manuscript volumes which were discovered in +the record-room of Hensington, near Woodstock, in October 1842, and are +now given to the public. They are of essential service, especially in +rendering intelligible the details of the correspondence, which would +otherwise in great part be uninteresting, and scarce understood, at +least by the ordinary reader. Some of the most valuable parts of the +work, particularly a full detail of the battle of Blenheim, are drawn +from Dr Hare's journal. In addition to this, the bulletins of most of +the events, issued by government at the time, are to be found in notes +at the proper places; and in the text are occasionally contained short, +but correct and luminous notices, of the preceding or contemporaneous +political and military events which are alluded to, but not described, +in the despatches, and which are necessary to understand many of their +particulars. Nothing, in a word, has been omitted by the accomplished +editor which could illustrate or render intelligible the valuable +collection of materials placed at his disposal; and yet, with all his +pains and ability, it is often very difficult to follow the detail of +events, or understand the matter alluded to in the despatches:--so +great is the lack of information on the eventful War of the Succession +which prevails, from the want of a popular historian to record it, even +among well-informed persons in this country; and so true was the +observation of Alexander the Great, that but for the genius of Homer, +the exploits of Achilles would have been buried under the tumulus which +covered his remains! And what should we have known of Alexander himself +more than of Attila or Genghis Khan, but for the fascinating pages of +Quintus Curtius and Arrian? + +To the historian who is to go minutely into the details of Marlborough's +campaigns and negotiations, and to whom accurate and authentic +information is of inestimable importance, it need hardly be said that +these papers are of the utmost value. But, to the general reader, all +such voluminous publications and despatches must, as a matter of +necessity, be comparatively uninteresting. They always contain a great +deal of repetition, in consequence of the necessity under which the +commander lay, of communicating the same event to those with whom he was +in correspondence in many different quarters. Great part of them relate +to details of discipline, furnishing supplies, getting up stores, and +other necessary matters, of little value even to the historian, except +in so far as they illustrate the industry, energy, and difficulties of +the commander. The general reader who plunges into the midst of the +Marlborough despatches in this age, or into those of Wellington in the +next, when contemporary recollection is lost, will find it impossible to +understand the greater part of the matters referred to, and will soon +lay aside the volumes in despair. Such works are highly valuable, but +they are so to the annalist or historian rather than the ordinary +reader. They are the materials of history, not history itself. They bear +the same relation to the works of Livy or Gibbon which the rude blocks +in the quarry do to the temples of St Peter's or the Parthenon. Ordinary +readers are not aware of this when they take up a volume of despatches; +they expect to be as much fascinated by it as they are by the +correspondence of Madame de Sevigné, Cowper, Gibbon, or Arnold. They +will soon find their mistake: the book-sellers will erelong find it in +the sale of such works. The matter-of-fact men in ordinary life, and the +compilers and drudges in literature--that is, nine-tenths of the readers +and writers in the world--are never weary of descanting on the +inestimable importance of authentic documents for history; and without +doubt they are right so far as the collecting of materials goes. There +must be quarriers before there can be architects: the hewers of wood and +drawers of water are the basis of all civilization. But they are not +civilization itself, they are its pioneers. Truth is essential to an +estimable character: but many a man is insupportably dull who never told +a falsehood. The pioneers of Marlborough, however, have now gone before, +and it will be the fault of English genius if the divine artist does not +erelong make the proper use of the materials at length placed in his +hands. + +John Churchill, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, was born on the 5th July +1650, (new style,) at Ash, in the county of Devon. His father was Sir +Winston Churchill, a gallant cavalier who had drawn his sword in behalf +of Charles I., and had in consequence been deprived of his fortune and +driven into exile by Cromwell. His paternal family was very ancient, and +boasted its descent from the _Courcils_ de Poitou, who came into England +with the Conqueror. His mother was Elizabeth Drake, who claimed a +collateral connexion with the descendants of the illustrious Sir Francis +Drake, the great navigator. Young Churchill received the rudiments of +his education from the parish clergyman in Devonshire, from whom he +imbibed that firm attachment to the Protestant faith by which he was +ever afterwards distinguished, and which determined his conduct in the +most important crisis of his life. He was afterwards placed at the +school of St Paul's; and it was there that he first discovered, on +reading Vegetius, that his bent of mind was decidedly for the military +life. Like many other men destined for future distinction, he made no +great figure as a scholar, a circumstance easily explained, if we +recollect that it is on the knowledge of words that the reputation of a +schoolboy, of things that of a man, is founded. But the despatches now +published demonstrate that, before he attained middle life, he was a +proficient at least in Latin, French, and English composition; for +letters in each, written in a very pure style, are to be found in all +parts of his correspondence. + +From early youth, young Churchill was distinguished by the elegance of +his manners and the beauty of his countenance and figure--advantages +which, coupled with the known loyal principles of his father, and the +sufferings he had undergone in the royal cause, procured for him, at the +early age of fifteen, the situation of page in the household of the Duke +of York, afterwards James II. His inclination for arms was then so +decided, that that prince procured for him a commission in one of the +regiments of guards when he was only sixteen years old. His uncommonly +handsome figure then attracted no small share of notice from the +beauties of the court of Charles II., and even awakened a passion in one +of the royal mistresses herself. Impatient to signalize himself, +however, he left their seductions, and embarked as a volunteer in the +expedition against Tangiers in 1766. Thus his first essay in arms was +made in actions against the Moors. Having returned to Great Britain, he +attracted the notice of the Countess of Castlemaine, afterwards Duchess +of Cleveland, then the favorite mistress of Charles II., who had +distinguished him by her regard before he embarked for Africa, and who +made him a present of £5000, with which the young soldier bought an +annuity of £500 a-year, which laid the foundation, says Chesterfield, of +all his subsequent fortunes. Charles, to remove a dangerous rival in her +unsteady affections, gave him a company in the guards, and sent him to +the Continent with the auxiliary force which, in those days of English +humiliation, the cabinet of St James's furnished to Louis XIV. to aid +him in subduing the United Provinces. Thus, by a singular coincidence, +it was under Turenne, Condé, and Vauban that the future conqueror of the +Bourbons first learned the art of scientific warfare. Wellington went +through the same discipline, but in the inverse order: his first +campaigns were made against the French in Flanders, his next against the +bastions of Tippoo and the Mahratta horse in Hindostan. + +Churchill had not been long in Flanders, before his talents and +gallantry won for him deserved distinction. The campaign of 1672, which +brought the French armies to the gates of Amsterdam, and placed the +United States within a hair's-breadth of destruction, was to him +fruitful in valuable lessons. He distinguished himself afterwards so +much at the siege of Nimeguen, that Turenne, who constantly called him +by his _sobriquet_ of "the handsome Englishman," predicted that he would +one day be a great man. In the following year he had the good fortune to +save the life of his colonel, the Duke of Monmouth; and distinguished +himself so much at the siege of Maestricht, that Louis XIV. publicly +thanked him at the head of his army, and promised him his powerful +influence with Charles II. for future promotion. He little thought what +a formidable enemy he was then fostering at the court of his obsequious +brother sovereign. The result of Louis XIV.'s intercession was, that +Churchill was made lieutenant-colonel; and he continued to serve with +the English auxiliary force in Flanders, under the French generals, till +1677, when he returned with his regiment to London. Beyond all doubt it +was these five years' service under the great masters of the military +art, who then sustained the power and cast a halo round the crown of +Louis XIV., which rendered Marlborough the consummate commander that, +from the moment he was placed at the head of the Allied armies, he +showed himself to have become. One of the most interesting and +instructive lessons to be learned from biography is the long steps, the +vast amount of previous preparation, the numerous changes, some +prosperous, others adverse, by which the mind of a great man is formed, +and he is prepared for playing the important part he is intended to +perform on the theatre of the world. Providence does nothing in vain, +and when it has selected a particular mind for great achievement, the +events which happen to it all seem to conspire in a mysterious way for +its development. Were any one omitted, some essential quality in the +character of the future hero, statesman, or philosopher would be found +to be awanting. + +Here also, as in every other period of history, we may see how +unprincipled ambition overvaults itself, and the measures which seem at +first sight most securely to establish its oppressive reign, are the +unseen means by which an overruling power works out its destruction. +Doubtless the other ministers of Louis XIV. deemed their master's power +secure when this English alliance was concluded; when the English +monarch had become a state pensioner of the court of Versailles; when a +secret treaty had united them by apparently indissoluble bonds; when the +ministers equally and the patriots of England were corrupted by his +bribes; when the dreaded fleets of Britain were to be seen in union with +those of France, to break down the squadrons of an inconsiderable +republic; when the descendants of the conquerors of Cressy, Poitiers, +and Azincour stood side by side with the successors of the vanquished in +those disastrous fields, to achieve the conquest of Flanders and +Holland. Without doubt, so far as human foresight could go, Louvois and +Colbert were right. Nothing could appear so decidedly calculated to fix +the power of Louis XIV. on an immovable foundation. But how vain are the +calculations of the greatest human intellects, when put in opposition to +the overruling will of Omnipotence! It was that very English alliance +which ruined Louis XIV., as the Austrian alliance and marriage, which +seemed to put the keystone in the arch of his greatness, afterwards +ruined Napoleon. By the effect, and one of the most desired effects, of +the English alliance, a strong body of British auxiliaries were sent to +Flanders; the English officers learned the theory and practice of war in +the best of all schools, and under the best of all teachers; that +ignorance of the military art, the result in every age of our insular +situation, and which generally causes the four or five first years of +every war to terminate in disaster, was for the time removed, and that +mighty genius was developed under the eye of Louis XIV., and by the +example of Turenne, which was destined to hurl back to their own +frontiers the tide of Gallic invasion, and close in mourning the reign +of the _Grande Monarque_. "Les hommes agissent," says Bossuet, "mais +Dieu les mène." + +Upon Churchill's return to London, the brilliant reputation which had +preceded, and the even augmented personal advantages which accompanied +him, immediately rendered him the idol of beauty and fashion. The ladies +of the palace vied for his homage--the nobles of the land hastened to +cultivate his society. Like Julius Caesar, he was carried away by the +stream, and plunged into the vortex of courtly dissipation with the +ardour which marks an energetic character in the pursuit whether of good +or evil. The elegance of his person and manners, and charms of his +conversation, prevailed so far with Charles II. and the Duke of York, +that soon after, though not yet thirty years of age, he obtained a +regiment. In 1680 he married the celebrated Sarah Jennings, the +favourite lady in attendance on the Princess Anne, second daughter of +the Duke of York, one of the most admired beauties of the court, and +this alliance increased his influence, already great, with that Prince, +and laid the foundation of the future grandeur of his fortunes. Shortly +after his marriage he accompanied the Duke of York to Scotland, in the +course of which they both were nearly shipwrecked on the coast of Fife. +On this occasion the Duke made the greatest efforts to preserve his +favourite's life, and succeeded in doing so, although the danger was +such that many of the Scottish nobles perished under his eye. On his +return to London in 1682, he was presented by his patron to the King, +who made him colonel of the third regiment of guards. When the Duke of +York ascended the throne in 1685, on the demise of his brother, +Churchill kept his place as one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber, and +was raised to the rank of brigadier-general. He was sent by his +sovereign to Paris to notify his accession to Louis XIV., and on his +return he was created a peer by the title of Baron Churchill of +Sandbridge in the county of Hertford--a title which he took from an +estate there which he had acquired in right of his wife. On the revolt +of the Duke of Monmouth, he had an opportunity of showing at once his +military ability, and, by a signal service, his gratitude to his +benefactor. Lord Feversham had the command of the royal forces, and +Churchill was his major-general. The general-in-chief, however, kept so +bad a look-out, that he was on the point of being surprised and cut to +pieces by the rebel forces, who, on this occasion at least, were +conducted with ability. The general and almost all his officers were in +their beds, and sound asleep, when Monmouth, at the head of all his +forces, silently debouched out of his camp, and suddenly fell on the +royal army. The rout would have been complete, and probably James II. +dethroned, had not Churchill, whose vigilant eye nothing escaped, +observed the movement, and hastily collected a handful of men, with whom +he made so vigorous a resistance as gave time for the remainder of the +army to form, and repel this well-conceived enterprise. + +Churchill's mind was too sagacious, and his knowledge of the feelings of +the nation too extensive, not to be aware of the perilous nature of the +course upon which James had adventured, in endeavouring to bring about, +if not the absolute re-establishment of the Catholic religion, at least +such a quasi-establishment of it as the people deemed, and probably with +reason, was, with so aspiring a body of ecclesiastics, in effect the +same thing. When he saw the headstrong monarch break through all bounds, +and openly trample on the liberties, while he shocked the religious +feelings, of his people, he wrote to him to point out, in firm but +respectful terms, the danger of his conduct. He declared to Lord Galway, +when James's innovations began, that if he persisted in his design of +overturning the constitution and religion of his country, he would leave +his service. So far his conduct was perfectly unexceptionable. Our first +duty is to our country, our second only to our benefactor. If they are +brought into collision, as they often are during the melancholy +vicissitudes of a civil war, an honourable man, whatever it may cost +him, has but one part to take. He must not abandon his public duty for +his private feelings, but he must never betray official duty. If +Churchill, perceiving the frantic course of his master, had withdrawn +from his service, and then either taken no part in the revolution which +followed, or even appeared in arms against him, the most scrupulous +moralist could have discovered nothing reprehensible in his conduct. +History has in every age applauded the virtue, while it has commiserated +the anguish, of the elder Brutus, who sacrificed his sons to the perhaps +too rigorous laws of his country. + +But Churchill did not do this, and thence has arisen an ineffaceable +blot on his memory. He did not relinquish the service of the infatuated +monarch; he retained his office and commands; but he employed the +influence and authority thence derived, to ruin his benefactor. So far +were the representations of Churchill from having inspired any doubts of +his fidelity, that James, when the Prince of Orange landed, confided to +him the command of a corps of five thousand men, destined to oppose his +progress. At the very time that he accepted that command, he had, if we +may believe his panegyrist Ledyard, signed a letter, along with several +other peers, addressed to the Prince of Orange, inviting him to come +over, and had actually concluded with Major-General Kirk, who commanded +at Axminster, a convention, for the seizure of the king and giving him +up to his hostile son-in-law. James was secretly warned that Churchill +was about to betray him, but he refused to believe it of one from whom +he had hitherto experienced such devotion, and was only wakened from his +dream of security by learning that his favourite had gone over with the +five thousand men whom he commanded to the Prince of Orange. Not content +with this, it was Churchill's influence, joined to that of his wife, +which is said to have induced James's own daughter, the Princess Anne, +and Prince George of Denmark, to detach themselves from the cause of the +falling monarch; and drew from that unhappy sovereign the mournful +exclamation, "My God! my very children have forsaken me." In what does +this conduct differ from that of Labedoyere, who, at the head of the +garrison of Grenoble, deserted to Napoleon when sent out to oppose +him?--or Lavalette, who employed his influence, as postmaster under +Louis XVIII., to forward the Imperial conspiracy?--or Marshal Ney, who, +after promising at the court of the Tuileries to bring the ex-emperor +back in an iron cage, no sooner reached the royal camp at Melun, than he +issued a proclamation calling on the troops to desert the Bourbons, and +mount the tricolor cockade? Nay, is not Churchill's conduct, in a moral +point of view, worse than that of Ney; for the latter abandoned the +trust reposed in him by a new master, forced upon an unwilling nation, +to rejoin his old benefactor and companion in arms; but the former +abandoned the trust reposed in him by his old master and benefactor, to +range himself under the banner of a competitor for the throne, to whom +he was bound neither by duty nor obligation. And yet such is often the +inequality of crimes and punishments in this world, that Churchill was +raised to the pinnacle of greatness by the very conduct which consigned +Ney, with justice, so far as his conduct is concerned, to an ignominious +death. + + "Treason ne'er prospers; for when it does, + None dare call it treason." + +History forgets its first and noblest duty when it fails, by its +distribution of praise and blame, to counterbalance, so far as its +verdict can, this inequality, which, for inscrutable but doubtless wise +purposes, Providence has permitted in this transient scene. Charity +forbids us to scrutinize such conduct too severely. It is the deplorable +effect of a successful revolution, even when commenced for the most +necessary purposes, to obliterate the ideas of man on right and wrong, +and leave no other test in the general case for public conduct but +success. It is its first effect to place them in such trying +circumstances that none but the most confirmed and resolute virtue can +pass unscathed through the ordeal. He knew the human heart well, who +commanded us in our daily prayers to supplicate not to be led into +temptation, even before asking for deliverance from evil. Let no man be +sure, however much, on a calm survey, he may condemn the conduct of +Marlborough and Ney, that in similar circumstances he would not have +done the same. + +The magnitude of the service rendered by Churchill to the Prince of +Orange, immediately appeared in the commands conferred upon him. Hardly +was he settled at William's headquarters when he was dispatched to +London to assume the command of the Horse Guards; and, while there, he +signed, on the 20th December 1688, the famous Act of Association in +favour of the Prince of Orange. Shortly after, he was named +lieutenant-general of the armies of William, and immediately made a new +organization of the troops, under officers whom he could trust, which +proved of the utmost service to William on the unstable throne on which +he was soon after seated. He was present at most of the long and +momentous debates which took place in the House of Peers on the question +on whom the crown should be conferred, and at first is said to have +inclined to a regency; but with a commendable delicacy he absented +himself on the night of the decisive vote on the vacancy of the throne. +He voted, however, on the 6th of February for the resolution which +settled the crown on William and Mary; and he assisted at their +coronation, under the title of Earl of Marlborough, to which he had +shortly before been elevated by William. England having, on the +accession of the new monarch, joined the continental league against +France, Marlborough received the command of the British auxiliary force +in the Netherlands, and by his courage and ability contributed in a +remarkable manner to the victory of Walcourt. In 1690 he received orders +to return from Flanders in order to assume a command in Ireland, then +agitated by a general insurrection in favour of James; but, actuated by +some remnant of attachment to his old benefactor, he eluded on various +pretences complying with the order, till the battle of the Boyne had +extinguished the hopes of the dethroned monarch, when he came over and +made himself master of Cork and Kinsale. In 1691 he was sent again into +Flanders, in order to act under the immediate orders of William, who was +then, with heroic constancy, contending with the still superior forces +of France; but hardly had he landed there when he was arrested, deprived +of all his commands, and sent to the Tower of London, along with +several of the noblemen of distinction in the British senate. + +Upon this part of the history of Marlborough there hangs a veil of +mystery, which all the papers brought to light in more recent times have +not entirely removed. At the time, his disgrace was by many attributed +to some cutting sarcasms in which he had indulged on the predilection of +William for the continental troops, and especially the Dutch; by others, +to intrigues conducted by Lady Marlborough and him, to obtain for the +Princess Anne a larger pension than the king was disposed to allow her. +But neither of these causes are sufficient to explain the fall and +arrest of so eminent a man as Marlborough, and who had rendered such +important services to the newly-established monarch. It would appear +from what has transpired in later times, that a much more serious cause +had produced the rupture between him and William. The charge brought +against him at the time, but which was not prosecuted, as it was found +to rest on false or insufficient evidence, was that of having, along +with Lords Salisbury, Cornbury, the Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Basil +Ferebrace, signed the scheme of an association for the restoration of +James. Sir John Fenwick, who was executed for a treasonable +correspondence with James II. shortly after Marlborough's arrest, +declared in the course of his trial that he was privy to the design, had +received the pardon of the exiled monarch, and had engaged to procure +for him the adhesion of the army. The Papers, published in Coxe, rather +corroborate the view that he was privy to it; and it is supported by +those found at Rome in the possession of Cardinal York.[3] That +Marlborough, disgusted with the partiality of William for his Dutch +troops, and irritated at the open severity of his Government, should +have repented of his abandonment of his former sovereign and benefactor, +is highly probable. But it can scarcely be taken as an apology for one +act of treason, that he meditated the commission of another. It only +shows how perilous, in public as in private life, is any deviation from +the path of integrity, that it impelled such a man into so tortuous and +disreputable a path. + +Marlborough, however, was a man whose services were too valuable to the +newly-established dynasty, for him to be permitted to remain long in +disgrace. He was soon liberated, indeed, from the Tower, as no +sufficient evidence of his alleged accession to the conspiracy had been +obtained. Several years elapsed, however, before he emerged from the +privacy into which he prudently retired on his liberation from +confinement. Queen Mary having been carried off by the smallpox on the +17th of January 1696, Marlborough wisely abstained from even taking part +in the debates which followed in Parliament, during which some of the +malcontents dropped hints as to the propriety of conferring the crown on +his immediate patroness, the Princess Anne. This prudent reserve, +together with the absence of any decided proofs at the time of +Marlborough's correspondence with James, seems to have at length +weakened William's resentment, and by degrees he was taken back into +favour. The peace of Ryswick, signed on the 20th of September 1697, +having consolidated the power of that monarch, Marlborough was, on the +19th of June 1698, made preceptor of the young Duke of Gloucester, his +nephew, son of the Princess Anne, and heir-presumptive to the throne; +and this appointment, which at once restored his credit at court, was +accompanied by the gracious expression--"My lord, make my nephew to +resemble yourself, and he will be every thing which I can desire." On +the same day he was re-appointed to his rank as a privy councillor, and +took the oaths and his seat accordingly. So fully had he now regained +the confidence of William, that he was three times named one of the nine +lords justiciars to whom the administration of affairs in Great Britain +was subsequently entrusted, during the temporary absence of William in +Holland; and the War of the Succession having become certain in the year +1700, that monarch, who was preparing to take an active part in it, +appointed Marlborough, on 1st June 1701, his ambassador-extraordinary at +the Hague, and commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in Flanders. This +double appointment in effect invested Marlborough with the entire +direction of affairs civil and military, so far as England was +concerned, on the Continent. William, who was highly indignant at the +recognition of the Chevalier St George as King of England, on the death +of his father James II., in September 1701, was preparing to prosecute +the war with the vigour and perseverance which so eminently +distinguished his character, when he was carried off by the effects of a +fall from his horse, on the 19th March 1702. But that event made no +alteration in the part which England took in the war which was +commencing, and it augmented rather than diminished the influence which +Marlborough had in its direction. The Princess Anne, with whom, both +individually and through Lady Marlborough, he was so intimately +connected, mounted the throne without opposition; and one of her first +acts was to bestow on Marlborough the order of the Garter, confirm him +in his former offices, and appoint him, in addition, her plenipotentiary +at the Hague. War was declared on the 15th May 1702, and Marlborough +immediately went over to the Netherlands to take the command of the +Allied army, sixty thousand strong, then lying before Nimeguen, which +was threatened by a superior force on the part of the French. + +It is at this period--time 1702--that the great and memorable, and +withal blameless period of Marlborough's life commenced; the next ten +years were one unbroken series of efforts, victories, and glory. He +arrived in the camp at Nimeguen on the evening of the 2d July, having +been a few weeks before at the Hague; and immediately assumed the +command. Lord Athlone, who had previously enjoyed that situation, at +first laid claim to an equal authority with him; but this ruinous +division, which never is safe, save with men so great as he and Eugene, +and would unquestionably have proved ruinous to the common cause if +shared with Athlone, was prevented by the States-General, who insisted +upon the undivided direction being conferred on Marlborough. Most +fortunately it is precisely at this period that the correspondence now +published commences, which, in the three volumes already published, +presents an unbroken series of his letters to persons of every +description down to May, 1708. They thus embrace the early successes in +Flanders, the cross march into Bavaria and battle of Blenheim, the +expulsion of the French from Germany, the battle of Ramillies, and +taking of Brussels and Antwerp, the mission to the King of Sweden at +Dresden, the battle of Almanza, in Spain, and all the important events +of the first six years of the war. More weighty and momentous materials +for history never were presented to the public; and their importance +will not be properly appreciated, if the previous condition of Europe, +and imminent hazard to the independence of all the adjoining states, +from the unmeasured ambition, and vast power of Louis XIV., is not taken +into consideration. + +Accustomed as we are to regard the Bourbons as a fallen and unfortunate +race, the objects rather of commiseration than apprehension, and +Napoleon as the only sovereign who has really threatened our +independence, and all but effected the subjugation of the Continent, we +can scarcely conceive the terror with which a century and a half ago +they, with reason, inspired all Europe, or the narrow escape which the +continental states, at least, then made from being all reduced to the +condition of provinces of France. The forces of that monarchy, at all +times formidable to its neighbours, from the warlike spirit of its +inhabitants, and their rapacious disposition, conspicuous alike in the +earliest and the latest times;[4] its central situation, forming, as it +were, the salient angle of a bastion projecting into the centre of +Germany; and its numerous population--were then, in a peculiar manner, +to be dreaded, from their concentration in the hands of an able and +ambitious monarch, who had succeeded for the first time, for two hundred +years, in healing the divisions and stilling the feuds of its nobles, +and turned their buoyant energy into the channel of foreign conquest. +Immense was the force which, by this able policy, was found to exist in +France, and terrible the danger which it at once brought upon the +neighbouring states. It was rendered the more formidable in the time of +Louis XIV., from the extraordinary concentration of talent which his +discernment or good fortune had collected around his throne, and the +consummate talent, civil and military, with which affairs were directed. +Turenne, Boufflers, and Condé, were his generals; Vauban was his +engineer, Louvois and Torcy were his statesmen. The lustre of the +exploits of these illustrious men, in itself great, was much enhanced by +the still greater blaze of fame which encircled his throne, from the +genius of the literary men who have given such immortal celebrity to his +reign. Corneille and Racine were his tragedians; Molière wrote his +comedies; Bossuet, Fénélon, and Bourdaloue were his theologians; +Massillon his preacher, Boileau his critic; Le Notre laid out his +gardens; Le Brun painted his halls. Greatness had come upon France, as, +in truth, it does to most other states, in all departments at the same +time; and the adjoining nations, alike intimidated by a power which they +could not resist, and dazzled by a glory which they could not emulate, +had come almost to despair of maintaining their independence; and were +sinking into that state of apathy, which is at once the consequence and +the cause of extraordinary reverses. + +The influence of these causes had distinctly appeared in the +extraordinary good fortune which had attended the enterprises of Louis, +and the numerous conquests he had made since he had launched into the +career of foreign aggrandizement. Nothing could resist his victorious +arms. At the head of an army of an hundred thousand men, directed by +Turenne, he speedily overran Flanders. Its fortified cities yielded to +the science of Vauban, or the terrors of his name. The boasted barrier +of the Netherlands was passed in a few weeks; hardly any of its +far-famed fortresses made any resistance. The passage of the Rhine was +achieved under the eyes of the monarch with little loss, and +melodramatic effect. One half of Holland was soon overrun, and the +presence of the French army at the gates of Amsterdam seemed to presage +immediate destruction to the United Provinces; and but for the firmness +of their leaders, and a fortunate combination of circumstances, +unquestionably would have done so. The alliance with England, in the +early part of his reign, and the junction of the fleets of Britain and +France to ruin their fleets and blockade their harbours, seemed to +deprive them of their last resource, derived from their energetic +industry. Nor were substantial fruits awanting from these conquests. +Alsace and Franche Comté were overrun, and, with Lorraine, permanently +annexed to the French monarchy; and although, by the peace of Nimeguen, +part of his acquisitions in Flanders was abandoned, enough was retained +by the devouring monarchy to deprive the Dutch of the barrier they had +so ardently desired, and render their situation to the last degree +precarious, in the neighbourhood of so formidable a power. The heroic +William, indeed, had not struggled in vain for the independence of his +country. The distant powers of Europe, at length wakened to a sense of +their danger, had made strenuous efforts to coerce the ambition of +France; the revolution of 1688 had restored England to its natural +place in the van of the contest for continental freedom; and the peace +of Ryswick in 1697 had in some degree seen the trophies of conquests +more equally balanced between the contending parties. But still it was +with difficulty that the alliance kept its ground against Louis--any +untoward event, the defection of any considerable power, would at once, +it was felt, cast the balance in his favour; and all history had +demonstrated how many are the chances against any considerable +confederacy keeping for any length of time together, when the immediate +danger which had stilled their jealousies, and bound together their +separate interests, is in appearance removed. Such was the dubious and +anxious state of Europe, when the death of Charles II. at Madrid, on the +1st November 1700, and the bequest of his vast territories to Philip +Duke of Anjou, second son of the Dauphin, and grandson of Louis XIV., +threatened at once to place the immense resources of the Castilian +monarchy at the disposal of the ambitious monarch of France, whose +passion for glory had not diminished with his advanced years, and whose +want of moderation was soon evinced by his accepting, after an affected +hesitation, the splendid bequest. + +Threatened with so serious a danger, it is not surprising that the +powers of Europe were in the utmost alarm, and erelong took steps to +endeavour to avert it. Such, however, was the terror inspired by the +name of Louis XIV., and the magnitude of the addition made by this +bequest to his power, that the new monarch, in the first instance, +ascended the throne of Spain and the Indies without any opposition. The +Spanish Netherlands, so important both from their intrinsic riches, +their situation as the certain theatre of war, and the numerous +fortified towns with which they were studded, had been early secured for +the young Bourbon prince by the Elector of Bavaria, who was at that time +the governor of those valuable possessions. Sardinia, Naples, Sicily, +the Milanese, and the other Spanish possessions in Italy, speedily +followed the example. The distant colonies of the crown of Castile, in +America and the Indies, sent in their adhesion. The young Prince of +Anjou made his formal entry into Spain in the beginning of 1701, and was +crowned at Madrid under the title of Philip V. The principal continental +powers, with the exception of the Emperor, acknowledged his title to the +throne. The Dutch were in despair: they beheld the power of Louis XIV. +brought to their very gates. Flanders, instead of being the barrier of +Europe against France, had become the outwork of France against Europe. +The flag of Louis XIV. floated on Antwerp, Brussels, and Ghent. Italy, +France, Spain, and Flanders, were united in one close league, and in +fact formed but one dominion. It was the empire of Charlemagne over +again, directed with equal ability, founded on greater power, and backed +by the boundless treasures of the Indies. Spain had threatened the +liberties of Europe in the end of the sixteenth century: France had all +but proved fatal to them in the close of the seventeenth. What hope was +there of being able to make head against them both, united under such a +head as Louis XIV.? + +Great as these dangers were, however, they had no effect in daunting the +heroic spirit of William III. In concert with the Emperor, and the +United Provinces, who were too nearly threatened to be backward in +falling into his views, he laboured for the formation of a great +confederacy, which might prevent the union of the crowns of France and +Castile in one family, and prevent, before it was too late, the +consolidation of a power which threatened to be so formidable to the +liberties of Europe. The death of that intrepid monarch in March 1702, +which, had it taken place earlier, might have prevented the formation of +the confederacy, as it was, proved no impediment, but rather the +reverse. His measures had been so well taken, his resolute spirit had +laboured with such effect, that the alliance, offensive and defensive, +between the Emperor, England, and Holland, had been already signed. The +accession of the Princess Anne, without weakening its bonds, added +another power, of no mean importance, to its ranks. Her husband, Prince +George of Denmark, brought the forces of that kingdom to aid the common +cause. Prussia soon after followed the example. On the other hand, +Bavaria, closely connected with the French and Spanish monarchies, both +by jealousy of Austria, and the government of the Netherlands, which its +Elector held, adhered to France. Thus the forces of Europe were mutually +arrayed and divided, much as they afterwards were in the coalition +against Napoleon in 1813. It might already be foreseen, that Flanders, +the Bavarian plains, Spain, and Lombardy, would, as in the great contest +which followed a century after, be the theatre of war. But the forces of +France and Spain possessed this advantage, unknown in former wars, but +immense in a military point of view, that they were in possession of the +whole of the Netherlands, the numerous fortresses of which were alike +valuable as a basis of offensive operations, and as affording asylums +all but impregnable in cases of disaster. The Allied generals, whether +they commenced their operations in Flanders or on the side of Germany, +had to begin on the Rhine, and cut their way through the long barrier of +fortresses with which the genius of Vauban and Cohorn had encircled the +frontiers of the monarchy. + +War having been resolved on, the first step was taken by the Emperor, +who laid claim to Milan as a fief of the empire, and supported his +pretensions by moving an army into Italy under the command of Prince +Eugene of Savoy, who afterwards became so celebrated as the brother and +worthy rival of Marlborough in arms. The French and Spaniards assembled +an army in the Milanese to resist his advance; and the Duke of Mantua +having joined the cause, that important city was garrisoned by the +French troops. But Prince Eugene erelong obliged them to fall back from +the banks of the Adige to the line of the Oglio, on which they made a +stand. But though hostilities had thus commenced in Italy, negotiations +were still carried on at the Hague; though unhappily the pretensions of +the French king were found to be of so exorbitant a character, that an +accommodation was impossible. Marlborough's first mission to the +Continent, however, after the accession of Anne, was of a diplomatic +character; and it was by his unwearied efforts, suavity of manner, and +singular talents for negotiation, that the difficulties which attend the +formation of all such extensive confederacies were overcome. And it was +not till war was declared, on 4th May 1702, that he first took the +command as commander-in-chief of the Allied armies. + +The first operation of the Allies was an attack on the small fort of +Kaiserworth, on the right bank of the Rhine, which belonged to the +Elector of Cologne, which surrendered on the 15th May. The main French +army, nominally under the direction of the Duke of Burgundy, really of +Marshal Boufflers, entered the Duchy of Cleves in the end of the same +month, and soon became engaged with the Allied forces, which at first, +being inferior in numbers, fell back. Marlborough reached headquarters +when the French lay before Nimeguen; and the Dutch trembled for that +frontier town. Reinforcements, however, rapidly came in from all +quarters to join the Allied army; and Marlborough, finding himself at +the head of a gallant force sixty thousand strong, resolved to commence +offensive operations. His first operation was the siege of Venloo, which +was carried by storm on the 18th September, after various actions in the +course of the siege. "My Lord Cutts," says Marlborough, "commanded at +one of the breaches; and the English grenadiers had the honour of being +the first that entered the fort."[5] Ruremonde was next besieged; and +the Allies, steadily advancing, opened the navigation of the Meuse as +far as Maestricht. Stevenswart was taken on the 1st October; and, on the +6th, Ruremonde surrendered. Liege was the next object of attack; and the +breaches of the citadel were, by the skilful operations of Cohorn, who +commanded the Allied engineers and artillery, declared practicable on +the 23d of the same month. The assault was immediately ordered; and "by +the extraordinary bravery," says Marlborough, "of the officers and +soldiers, the citadel was carried by storm; and, for the honour of her +Majesty's subjects, the English were the first that got upon the +breach."[6] So early in this, as in every other war where ignorance and +infatuation has not led them into the field, did the native-born valour +of the Anglo-Saxon race make itself known! Seven battalions and a half +were made prisoners on this occasion; and so disheartened was the enemy +by the fall of the citadel, that the castle of the Chartreuse, with its +garrison of 1500 men, capitulated a few days afterwards. This last +success gave the Allies the entire command of Liege, and concluded this +short but glorious campaign, in the course of which they had made +themselves masters by main force, in presence of the French army, of +four fortified towns, conquered all Spanish Guelderland, opened the +Meuse as far as Maestricht, carried the strong castles of Liege by +storm, advanced their standards from the Rhine far into Flanders, and +become enabled to take up their winter quarters in the enemy's +territory, amidst its fertile fields. + +The campaign being now concluded, and both parties having gone into +winter quarters, Marlborough embarked on the Meuse to return to London, +where his presence was much required to steady the authority and direct +the cabinet of the Queen, who had so recently taken her seat on the +throne. When dropping down the Meuse, in company of the Dutch +commissioners, he was made prisoner by a French partisan, who had made +an incursion into those parts; and owed his escape to the presence of +mind of a servant named Gill, who, unperceived, put into his master's +hands an old passport in the name of General Churchill. The Frenchman, +intent only on plunder, seized all the plate and valuables in the boat, +and made prisoners the small detachment of soldiers who accompanied +them; but, ignorant of the inestimable prize within his grasp, allowed +the remainder of the party, including Marlborough, to proceed on their +way. On this occasion, it may truly be said, the boat carried Caesar and +his fortunes. He arrived in safety at the Hague, where the people, who +regarded him as their guardian angel, and had heard of his narrow +escape, received him with the most enthusiastic acclamations. From +thence, having concerted the plan with the Dutch government for the +ensuing campaign, he crossed over to London, where his reception by the +Queen and nation was of the most gratifying description. Her Majesty +conferred on him the title of Duke of Marlborough and Marquis of +Blandford, and sent a message to the House of Commons, suggesting a +pension to him of £5000 a-year, secured on the revenue of the +post-office; but that House refused to consent to the alienation of so +considerable a part of the public revenue. He was amply compensated, +however, for this disappointment, by the enthusiastic reception he met +with from all classes of the nation, which, long unaccustomed to +military success, at least in any cause in which it could sympathize, +hailed with transports of joy this first revival of triumph in support +of the Protestant faith, and over that power with whom, for centuries, +they had maintained so constant a rivalry. + +The campaign of 1703 was not fruitful of great events. Taught, by the +untoward issue of the preceding one, the quality of the general and army +with whom he had to contend, the French general cautiously remained on +the defensive; and so skilfully were the measures of Marshal Boufflers +taken, that all the efforts of Marlborough were unable to force him to a +general action. The war in Flanders was thus limited to one of posts and +sieges; but in that the superiority of the Allied arms was successfully +asserted, Parliament having been prevailed on to consent to an +augmentation of the British contingent. But a treaty having been +concluded with Sweden, and various reinforcements having been received +from the lesser powers, preparations were made for the siege of Bonn, on +the Rhine, a frontier town of Flanders, of great importance from its +commanding the passage of that artery of Germany, and stopping, while in +the enemy's hands, all transit of military stores or provisions for the +use of the armies in Bavaria, or on the Upper Rhine. The batteries +opened with seventy heavy guns and English mortars on the 14th May 1704; +a vigorous sortie with a thousand foot was repulsed, after having at +first gained some success, on the following day, and on the 16th two +breaches having been declared practicable, the garrison surrendered at +discretion. After this success, the army moved against Huys, and it was +taken with its garrison of 900 men on the 23d August. Marlborough and +the English generals, after this success, were decidedly of opinion that +it would be advisable at all hazard to attempt forcing the French lines, +which were strongly fortified between Mehaigne and Leuwe, and a strong +opinion to that effect was transmitted to the Hague on the very day +after the fall of Huys.[7] They alleged with reason, that the Allies +being superior in Flanders, and the French having the upper hand in +Germany and Italy, it was of the utmost importance to follow up the +present tide of success in the only quarter where it flowed in their +favour, and counterbalance disasters elsewhere, by decisive events in +the quarter where it was most material to obtain it. The Dutch +government, however, set on getting a barrier for themselves, could not +be brought to agree to this course, how great soever the advantages +which it promised, and insisted instead, that he should undertake the +siege of Limbourg, which lay open to attack. This was accordingly done; +the trenches were commenced in the middle of September, and the garrison +capitulated on the 27th of the same month: a poor compensation for the +total defeat of the French army, which would in all probability have +ensued if the bolder plan of operation he had so earnestly counselled +had been adopted.[8] This terminated the campaign of 1703, which, though +successful, had led to very different results from what might have been +anticipated if Marlborough's advice had been followed, and an earlier +victory of Ramillies laid open the whole Flemish plains. Having +dispatched eight battalions to reinforce the Prince of Hesse, who had +sustained serious disaster on the Moselle, he had an interview with the +Archduke Charles, whom the Allies had acknowledged as King of Spain, who +presented him with a magnificent sword set with diamonds, and set out +for the Hague, from whence he again returned to London to concert +measures for the ensuing campaign, and stimulate the British government +to the efforts necessary for its successful prosecution. + +But while success had thus attended all the operations of the Allies in +Flanders, where the English contingent acted, and Marlborough had the +command, affairs had assumed a very different aspect in Germany and +Italy. The French were there superior alike in the number and quality of +their troops, and, in Germany at least, in the skill with which they +were commanded. Early in June, Marshal Tallard assumed the command of +the French forces in Alsace, passed the Rhine at Strasburg on the 16th +July, took Brissac on the 7th September, and invested Landau on the 16th +October. The Allies, under the Prince of Hesse, attempted to raise the +siege, but were defeated with considerable loss; and, soon after, Landau +surrendered, thus terminating with disaster the campaign on the Upper +Rhine. Still more considerable were the disasters sustained in Bavaria. +Marshal Villars there commanded, and at the head of the French and +Bavarians, defeated General Stirum, who headed the Imperialists, on the +20th September. In December, Marshal Marsin, who had succeeded Villars +in the command, made himself master of the important city of Augsburg, +and in January 1704 the Bavarians got possession of Passau. Meanwhile, a +formidable insurrection had broken out in Hungary, which so distracted +the cabinet of Vienna, that that capital itself seemed to be threatened +by the combined forces of the French and Bavarians after the fall of +Passau. No event of importance took place in Italy during the campaign; +Count Strahremberg, who commanded the Imperial forces, having with great +ability forced the Duke de Vendôme, who was at the head of a superior +body of French troops, to retire. But in Bavaria and on the Danube, it +was evident that the Allies were overmatched; and to the restoration of +the balance in that quarter, the anxious attention of the confederates +was turned during the winter of 1703-4. The dangerous state of the +Emperor and the empire awakened the greatest solicitude at the Hague, as +well as unbounded terror at Vienna, from whence the most urgent +representations were made on the necessity of reinforcements being sent +from Marlborough to their support. But though this was agreed to by +England and Holland, so straitened were the Dutch finances, that they +were wholly unable to form the necessary magazines to enable the Allies +to commence operations. Marlborough, during the whole of January and +February 1704, was indefatigable in his efforts to overcome these +difficulties; and the preparations having at length been completed, it +was agreed by the States, according to a plan of the campaign laid down +by Marlborough, that he himself should proceed into Bavaria with the +great body of the Allied army in Flanders, leaving only an army of +observation there, to restrain any incursion which the French troops +might attempt during his absence. + +Marlborough began his march with the great body of his forces on the 8th +May, and crossing the Meuse at Maestricht, proceeded with the utmost +expedition towards the Rhine by Bedbourg and Kirpen, and arrived at Bonn +on the 22d May. Meanwhile, the French were also powerfully reinforcing +their army on the Danube. Early in the same month 26,000 men joined the +Elector of Bavaria, while Villeroi with the army of Flanders was +hastening in the same direction. Marlborough having obtained +intelligence of these great additions to the enemy's forces in the vital +quarter, wrote to the States-General, that unless they promptly sent him +succour, the Emperor would be entirely ruined.[9] Meanwhile, however, +relying chiefly on himself, he redoubled his activity and diligence. +Continuing his march up the Rhine by Coblentz and Cassel, opposite +Mayence, he crossed the Necker near Ladenbourg on the 3d June. From +thence he pursued his march without intermission by Mundelshene, where +he had, on the 10th June, his first interview with Prince Eugene, who +had been called from Italy to co-operate in stemming the torrent of +disaster in Germany. From thence he advanced by Great Heppach to +Langenau, and first came in contact with the enemy on the 2d July, on +the Schullenberg, near Donawert. Marlborough, at the head of the +advanced guard of nine thousand men, there attacked the French and +Bavarians, 12,000 strong, in their intrenched camp, which was extremely +strong, and after a desperate resistance, aided by an opportune attack +by the Prince of Baden, who commanded the Emperor's forces, carried the +intrenchments, with the whole artillery which they mounted, and the loss +of 7000 men and thirteen standards to the vanquished. He was inclined to +venture upon this hazardous attempt by having received intelligence on +the same day from Prince Eugene, that Marshals Villeroi and Tallard, at +the head of fifty battalions, and sixty squadrons of their best troops, +had arrived at Strasburg, and were using the utmost diligence to reach +the Bavarian forces through the defiles of the Black Forest. + +This brilliant opening of the German campaign was soon followed by +substantial results. A few days after Rain surrendered, Aicha was +carried by assault; and, following up his career of success, Marlborough +advanced to within a league of Augsburg, under the cannon of which the +Elector of Bavaria was placed with the remnant of his forces, in a +situation too strong to admit of its being forced. He here made several +attempts to detach the Elector, who was now reduced to the greatest +straits, from the French alliance; but that prince, relying on the great +army, forty-five thousand strong, which Marshal Tallard was bringing up +to his support from the Rhine, adhered with honourable fidelity to his +engagements. Upon this, Marlborough took post near Friburg, in such a +situation as to cut him off from all communication with his dominions; +and ravaged the country with his light troops, levying contributions +wherever they went, and burning the villages with savage ferocity as far +as the gates of Munich. Thus was avenged the barbarous desolation of the +Palatinate, thirty years before, by the French army under the orders of +Marshal Turenne. Overcome by the cries of his suffering subjects, the +Elector at length consented to enter into a negotiation, which made some +progress; but the rapid approach of Marshal Tallard with the French army +through the Black Forest, caused him to break it off, and hazard all on +the fortune of war. Unable to induce the Elector, by the barbarities +unhappily, at that time, too frequent on all sides in war, either to +quit his intrenched camp under the cannon of Augsburg, or abandon the +French alliance, the English general undertook the siege of Ingolstadt; +he himself with the main body of the army covering the siege, and Prince +Louis of Baden conducting the operations in the trenches. Upon this, the +Elector of Bavaria broke up from his strong position, and, abandoning +with heroic resolution his own country, marched to Biberbach, where he +effected his junction with Marshal Tallard, who now threatened Prince +Eugene with an immediate attack. No sooner had he received intelligence +of this, than Marlborough, on the 10th of August, sent the Duke of +Wirtemburg with twenty-seven squadrons of horse to reinforce the prince; +and early next morning detached General Churchill with twenty battalions +across the Danube, to be in a situation to support him in case of need. +He himself immediately after followed, and joined the Prince with his +whole army on the 11th. Every thing now presaged decisive events. The +Elector had boldly quitted Bavaria, leaving his whole dominions at the +mercy of the enemy, except the fortified cities of Munich and Augsburg, +and periled his crown upon the issue of war at the French headquarters; +while Marlborough and Eugene had united their forces, with a +determination to give battle in the heart of Germany, in the enemy's +territory, with their communications exposed to the utmost hazard, under +circumstances where defeat could be attended with nothing short of total +ruin. + +The French and Bavarian army consisted of fifty-five thousand men, of +whom nearly forty-five thousand were French troops, the very best which +the monarchy could produce. Marlborough and Eugene had sixty-six +battalions and one hundred and sixty squadrons, which, with the +artillery, might be about fifty thousand combatants. The forces on the +opposite sides were thus nearly equal in point of numerical amount; but +there was a wide difference in their composition. Four-fifths of the +French army were national troops, speaking the same language, animated +by the same feelings, accustomed to the same discipline, and the most of +whom had been accustomed to act together. The Allies, on the other hand, +were a motley assemblage, like Hannibal's at Cannæ, or Wellington's at +Waterloo, composed of the troops of many different nations, speaking +different languages, trained to different discipline, but recently +assembled together, and under the orders of a stranger general, one of +those haughty islanders, little in general inured to war, but whose cold +or supercilious manners had so often caused jealousies to arise in the +best cemented confederacies. English, Prussians, Danes, Wirtemburgers, +Dutch, Hanoverians, and Hessians, were blended in such nearly equal +proportions, that the arms of no one state could be said by its +numerical preponderance to be entitled to the precedence. But the +consummate address, splendid talents, and conciliatory manners of +Marlborough, as well as the brilliant valour which the English auxiliary +force had displayed on many occasions, had won for them the lead, as +they had formerly done when in no greater force among the confederates +under Richard Coeur-de-Lion in the Holy War. It was universally felt +that upon them, as the Tenth Legion of Caesar, or the Old Guard of +Napoleon, the weight of the contest at the decisive moment would fall. +The army was divided into two _corps-d'armée_; the first commanded by +the duke in person, being by far the strongest, destined to bear the +weight of the contest, and carry in front the enemy's position. These +two corps, though co-operating, were at such a distance from each other, +that they were much in the situation of the English and Prussians at +Waterloo, or Napoleon and Ney's corps at Bautzen. The second, under +Prince Eugene, which consisted chiefly of cavalry, was much weaker in +point of numerical amount, and was intended for a subordinate attack, to +distract the enemy's attention from the principal onset in front under +Marlborough.[10] With ordinary officers, or even eminent generals of a +second order, a dangerous rivalry for the supreme command would +unquestionably have arisen, and added to the many seeds of division and +causes of weakness which already existed in so multifarious an array. +But these great men were superior to all such petty jealousies. Each, +conscious of powers to do great things, and proud of fame already +acquired, was willing to yield what was necessary for the common good to +the other. They had no rivalry, save a noble emulation who should do +most for the common cause in which they were jointly engaged. From the +moment of their junction it was agreed that they should take the command +of the whole army day about; and so perfectly did their views on all +points coincide, and so entirely did their noble hearts beat in unison, +that during eight subsequent campaigns that they for the most part acted +together, there was never the slightest division between them, nor any +interruption of the harmony with which the operations of the Allies were +conducted. + +The French position was in places strong, and their disposition for +resistance at each point where they were threatened by attack from the +Allied forces, judicious; but there was a fatal defect in its general +conception. Marshal Tallard was on the right, resting on the Danube, +which secured him from being turned in that quarter, having the village +of BLENHEIM in his front, which was strongly garrisoned by twenty-six +battalions and twelve squadrons, all native French troops. In the centre +was the village of Oberglau, which was occupied by fourteen battalions, +among whom were three Irish corps of celebrated veterans. The +communication between Blenheim and Oberglau was kept up by a screen +consisting of eighty squadrons, in two lines, having two brigades of +foot, consisting of seven battalions, in its centre. The left, opposite +Prince Eugene, was under the orders of Marshal Marsin, and consisted of +twenty-two battalions of infantry and thirty-six squadrons, consisting +for the most part of Bavarians and Marshal Marsin's men, posted in front +of the village of Lutzingen. Thus the French consisted of sixty-nine +battalions and a hundred and thirty-four squadrons, and were posted in a +line strongly supported at each extremity, but weak in the centre, and +with the wings, where the great body of the infantry was placed, at such +a distance from each other, that, if the centre was broken through, each +ran the risk of being enveloped by the enemy, without the other being +able to render them any assistance. This danger as to the troops in +Blenheim, the flower of their army, was much augmented by the +circumstance, that if their centre was forced where it was formed of +cavalry only, and the victors turned sharp round towards Blenheim, the +horse would be driven headlong into the Danube, and the foot in that +village would run the hazard of being surrounded or pushed into that +river, which was not fordable, even for horse, in any part. But though +these circumstances would, to a far-seeing general, have presaged +serious disaster in the event of defeat, yet the position was strong in +itself, and the French generals, long accustomed to victory, had some +excuse for not having taken sufficiently into view the contingencies +likely to occur in the event of defeat. Both the villages at the +extremity of their line had been strengthened, not only with +intrenchments hastily thrown up around them, thickly mounted with heavy +cannon, but with barricades at all their principal entrances, formed of +overturned carts and all the furniture of the houses, which they had +seized upon, as the insurgents did at Paris in 1830, for that purpose. +The army stood upon a hill or gentle eminence, the guns from which +commanded the whole plain by which alone it could be approached; and +this plain was low, and intersected on the right, in front of Blenheim, +by a rivulet which flows down by a gentle descent to the Danube, and in +front of Oberglau by another rivulet, which runs in two branches till +within a few paces of the Danube; into which it also empties itself. +These rivulets had bridges over them at the points where they flowed +through villages; but they were difficult of passage in the other places +for cavalry and artillery, and, with the ditches cut in the swampy +meadows through which they flowed, proved no small impediment to the +advance of the Allied army. + +The Duke of Marlborough, before the action began, in person visited each +important battery, in order to ascertain the range of the guns. The +troops under his command were drawn up in four lines; the infantry being +in front, and the cavalry behind, in each line. This arrangement was +adopted in order that the infantry, which would get easiest through the +streams, might form on the other side, and cover the formation of the +cavalry, who might be more impeded. The fire of cannon soon became very +animated on both sides, and the infantry advanced to the edge of the +rivulets with that cheerful air and confident step which is so often the +forerunner of success. On Prince Eugene's side the impediments, however, +proved serious; the beds of the rivulets were so broad, that they +required to be filled up with fascines before they could be passed by +the guns; and when they did get across, they replied without much effect +to the French cannon thundering from the heights, which commanded the +whole field. At half-past twelve, however, these difficulties were, by +great efforts on the part of Prince Eugene and his wing, overcome, and +he sent word to Marlborough that he was ready. The English general +instantly called for his horse; the troops every where stood to their +arms, and the signal was given to advance. The rivulets and marshy +ground in front of Blenheim and Unterglau were passed by the first line +without much difficulty, though under a heavy fire of artillery from the +French batteries; and the firm ground on the slope being reached, the +first line advanced in the finest order to the attack--the cavalry in +front having now defiled to a side, so as to let the English infantry +take the lead. The attack must be given in the words of Dr Hare's +Journal. + + "Lord Cutts made the first attack upon Blenheim, with the English + grenadiers. Brigadier-general Rowe led up his brigade, which formed + the first line, and was sustained in the second by a brigade of + Hessians. Rowe was within thirty paces of the palisades about + Blenheim when the enemy gave their first fire, by which a great + many officers and men fell; but notwithstanding this, that brave + officer marched direct up to the pales, on which he struck his + sword before he allowed his men to fire. His orders were to enter + at the point of the bayonet; but the superiority of the enemy, and + the strength of their post, rendered this impossible. The first + line was therefore forced to retire; Rowe was struck down badly + wounded at the foot of the pales; his lieut.-colonel and major were + killed in endeavouring to bring him off, and some squadrons of + French gens-d'armes having charged the brigade while retiring in + disorder, it was partially broken, and one of the colours of Rowe's + regiment was taken. The Hessians in the second line upon this + advanced briskly forward, charged the squadrons, retook the colour, + and repulsed them. Lord Cutts, however, seeing fresh squadrons + coming down upon him, sent to request some cavalry should be sent + to cover his flank. Five British squadrons accordingly were moved + up, and speedily charged by eight of the enemy; the French gave + their fire at a little distance, but the English charged sword in + hand, and put them to the rout. Being overpowered, however, by + fresh squadrons, and galled by the fire which issued from the + enclosures of Blenheim, our horse were driven back in their turn, + and recoiled in disorder. + + "Marlborough, foreseeing that the enemy would pursue this + advantage, resolved to bring his whole cavalry across the rivulets. + The operation was begun by the English horse. It proved more + difficult, however, than was expected, especially to the English + squadrons; as they had to cross the rivulet where it was divided, + and the meadows were very soft. However, they surmounted those + difficulties, and got over; but when they advanced, they were so + severely galled by the infantry in Blenheim firing upon their + flank, while the cavalry charged them in front, that they were + forced to retire, which they did, under cover of Bulow and + Bothmer's German dragoons, who succeeded them in the passage. + Marlborough, seeing the enemy resolute to maintain the ground + occupied by his cavalry, gave orders for the whole remainder of his + cavalry to pass wherever they could get across. There was very + great difficulty and danger in defiling over the rivulet in the + face of an enemy, already formed and supported by several batteries + of cannon; yet by the brave examples and intrepidity of the + officers, they were at length got over, and kept their ground on + the other side. Bulow stretched across, opposite to Oberglau, with + the Danish and Hanoverian horse; but near that village they were so + vigorously charged by the French cavalry, that they were driven + back. Rallying, they were again led to the charge, and again routed + with great slaughter by the charges of the horse in front, and the + dreadful fire from the inclosures of Blenheim. Nor did the attack + on Oberglau to the British right, under Prince Holstein, succeed + better; no sooner had he passed the rivulet, than the Irish + veterans, posted there, came pouring down upon them, took the + prince prisoner, and threw the whole into confusion. Upon this, + Marlborough galloped to the spot at the head of some squadrons, + followed by three battalions, which had not yet been engaged. With + the horse he charged the Irish battalions in flank, and forced them + back; the foot he posted himself, and having re-established affairs + at that point, returned rapidly to the left, where he found the + whole of his corps passed over the streams, and on firm ground on + the other side. The horse were drawn up in two lines fronting the + enemy; the foot in two lines behind them; and some guns, under + Colonel Blood, having been hurried across by means of pontoons, + were brought to bear upon some battalions of foot which were + intermingled with the enemy's horse, and made great havoc in their + ranks. + + "It was now past three, and the Duke, having got his whole men + ready for the attack, sent to Prince Eugene to know if he was ready + to support him. But the efforts of that gallant prince had not been + attended with the same success. In the first onset, indeed, his + Danish and Prussian infantry had gained considerable success, and + taken six guns, and the Imperial cavalry had, by a vigorous charge, + broken the first line of the enemy's horse; but they failed in + their attack on the second line, and were driven back to their + original ground; whereupon the Bavarian cavalry, rushing forward, + enveloped Eugene's foot, who were forced to retire, and with + difficulty regained their original ground. Half an hour afterwards, + Prince Eugene made a second attack with his horse; but they were + again repulsed by the bravery of the Bavarian cavalry, and driven + for refuge into the wood, in the rear of their original position. + Nothing daunted by this bad success, the Prince formed his troops + for a third attack, and himself led his cavalry to the charge; but + so vigorous was the defence, that they were again repulsed to the + wood, and the victorious enemy's dragoons with loud cheers charged + the Prussian foot in flank, and were only repelled by the admirable + steadiness with which they delivered their fire, and stood their + ground with fixed bayonets in front. + + "About five the general forward movement was made which determined + the issue of this great battle, which till then had seemed + doubtful. The Duke of Marlborough, having ridden along the front, + gave orders to sound the charge, when all at once our lines of + horse moved on, sword in hand, to the attack. Those of the enemy + presented their carbines at some distance and fired; but they had + no sooner done so than they wheeled about, broke, and fled. The + gens-d'armes fled towards Hochstedt, which was about two miles in + the rear; the other squadrons towards the village of Sondersheim, + which was nearer, and on the bank of the Danube. The Duke ordered + General Hompesch, with thirty squadrons, to pursue those who fled + to Hochstedt; while he himself, with Prince Hesse and the whole + remainder of the cavalry, drove thirty of the enemy's squadrons + headlong down the banks of the Danube, which, being very steep, + occasioned the destruction of the greater part. Vast numbers + endeavoured to save themselves by swimming, and perished miserably. + Among the prisoners taken here were Marshal Tallard and his suite, + who surrendered to M. Beinenbourg, aid-de-camp to the Prince of + Hesse. Marlborough immediately desired him to be accommodated with + his coach, and sent a pencil note to the duchess[11] to say the + victory was gained. Others, seeing the fate of their comrades in + the water, endeavoured to save themselves by defiling to the right, + along its margin, towards Hochstedt, but they were met and + intercepted by some English squadrons; upon seeing which they fled + in utter confusion towards Morselingen, and did not again attempt + to engage. The victorious horse upon this fell upon several of the + enemy's battalions, who had nearly reached Hochstedt, and cut them + to pieces. + + "Meanwhile Prince Eugene, by a fourth attack, succeeded in driving + the Elector of Bavaria from his position; and the Duke, seeing + this, sent orders to the squadrons in pursuit, towards Morselingen, + to wheel about and join him. All this while the troops in Blenheim + had been incessantly attacked, but it still held out and gave + employment to the Duke's infantry. The moment the cavalry had + beaten off that of the enemy, and cleared the field between the two + villages of them, General Churchill moved both lines of foot upon + the village of Blenheim, and it was soon surrounded so as to cut + off all possibility of escape except on the side next the Danube. + To prevent the possibility of their escape that way, Webb, with the + Queen's regiment, took possession of a barrier the enemy had + constructed to cover their retreat, and, having posted his men + across the street which led to the Danube, several hundreds of the + enemy, who were attempting to make their escape that way, were made + prisoners. The other issue to the Danube was occupied in the same + manner by Prince George's regiment: all who came out that way were + made prisoners or driven into the Danube. Some endeavoured to break + out at other places, but General Wood, with Lord John Hay's + regiment of _grey_ dragoons (Scots Greys) immediately advanced + towards them, and, cantering up to the top of a rising ground, made + them believe they had a larger force behind them, and stopped them + on that side. When Churchill saw the defeat of the enemy's horse + decided, he sent to request Lord Cutts to attack them in front, + while he himself attacked them in flank. This was accordingly done; + the Earl of Orkney and General Ingoldesby entering the village at + the same time, at two different places, at the head of their + respective regiments. But so vigorous was the resistance made by + the enemy, especially at the churchyard, that they were forced to + retire. The vehement fire, however, of the cannon and howitzers, + which set fire to several barns and houses, added to the + circumstance of their commander, M. Clerambault, having fled, and + their retreat on all sides being cut off, led to their surrendering + at discretion, to the number of six-and-twenty battalions. Thus + concluded this great battle, in which the enemy had 5900 more than + the Allies,[12] and the advantage of a very strong position, + difficult of attack."[13] + +In this battle Marlborough's wing lost 3000 men, and Eugene's the same +number, in all 6000. The French lost 13,000 prisoners, including 1200 +officers, almost all taken by Marlborough's wing, besides 34 pieces of +cannon, 26 standards, and 90 colours; Eugene took 13 pieces. The killed +and wounded were 14,000 more. But the total loss of the French and +Bavarians, including those who deserted during their calamitous retreat +through the Black Forest, was not less than 40,000 men,[14] a number +greater than any which they sustained till the still more disastrous day +of Waterloo. + +This account of the battle, which is by far the best and most +intelligible which has ever yet been published, makes it quite evident +to what cause the overwhelming magnitude of this defeat to the French +army was owing. The strength of the position consisted solely in the +rivulets and marshy grounds in its front; when they were passed, the +error of Marshal Tallard's disposition of his troops was at once +apparent. The infantry was accumulated in useless numbers in the +villages. Of the twenty-six battalions in Blenheim, twenty were useless, +and could not get into action, while the long line of cavalry from +thence to Oberglau was sustained only by a few battalions of foot, +incapable of making any effective resistance. This was the more +inexcusable, as the French, having sixteen battalions of infantry more +than the Allies, should at no point have shown themselves inferior in +foot soldiers to their opponents. When the curtain of horse which +stretched from Blenheim to Oberglau was broken through and driven off +the field, the 13,000 infantry accumulated in the former of these +villages could not avoid falling into the enemy's hands; for they were +pressed between Marlborough's victorious foot and horse on the one side, +and the unfordable stream of the Danube on the other. But Marlborough, +it is evident, evinced the capacity of a great general in the manner in +which he surmounted these obstacles, and took advantage of these faulty +dispositions; resolutely, in the first instance, overcoming the numerous +impediments which opposed the passage of the rivulets, and then +accumulating his horse and foot for a grand attack on the enemy's +centre, which, besides destroying above half the troops assembled there, +and driving thirty squadrons into the Danube, cut off, and isolated the +powerful body of infantry now uselessly crowded together in Blenheim, +and compelled them to surrender. + +Immense were the results of this transcendent victory. The French army, +lately so confident in its numbers and prowess, retreated "or rather +fled," as Marlborough says, through the Black Forest; abandoning the +Elector of Bavaria and all the fortresses on the Danube to their fate. +In the deepest dejection, and the utmost disorder, they reached the +Rhine, scarce twelve thousand strong, on the 25th August, and +immediately began defiling over by the bridge of Strasburg. How +different from the triumphant army, which with drums beating, and +colours flying, had crossed at the same place six weeks before! +Marlborough, having detached part of his force to besiege Ulm, drew near +with the bulk of his army to the Rhine, which he passed near Philipsburg +on the 6th September, and soon after commenced the siege of Landau, on +the French side; Prince Louis with 20,000 men forming the besieging +force, and Eugene and Marlborough with 30,000 the covering army. Ulm +surrendered on the 16th September, with 250 pieces of cannon, and 1200 +barrels of powder, which gave the Allies a solid foundation on the +Danube, and effectually crushed the power of the Elector of Bavaria, +who, isolated now in the midst of his enemies, had no alternative but to +abandon his dominions, and seek refuge in Brussels, where he arrived in +the end of September. Meanwhile, as the siege of Landau was found to +require more time than had been anticipated, owing to the extraordinary +difficulties experienced in getting up supplies and forage for the +troops; Marlborough repaired to Hanover and Berlin to stimulate the +Prussian and Hanoverian cabinets to greater exertions in the common +cause, and he succeeded in making arrangements for the addition of 8000 +more Prussian troops to their valuable auxiliary force, to be added to +the army of the Imperialists in Italy, which stood much in need of +reinforcement. The Electress of Bavaria, who had been left Regent of +that State in the absence of the Elector in Flanders, had now no +resource left but submission; and a treaty was accordingly concluded in +the beginning of November, by which she agreed to disband all her +troops. Trarbach was taken in the end of December; the Hungarian +insurrection was appeased; Landau capitulated in the beginning of the +same month; a diversion which the enemy attempted on Trêves was defeated +by Marlborough's activity and vigilance, and that city put in a +sufficient posture of defence; and the campaign being now finished, that +accomplished commander returned to the Hague, and London, to receive the +honour due for his past services, and urge their respective cabinets to +the efforts necessary to turn them to good account. + +Thus by the operations of one single campaign was Bavaria crushed, +Austria and Germany delivered. Marlborough's cross-march from Flanders +to the Danube, had extricated the Imperialists from a state of the +utmost peril, and elevated them at once to security, victory, and +conquest. The decisive blow struck at Blenheim, resounded through every +part of Europe; it at once destroyed the vast fabric of power which it +had taken Louis XIV., aided by the talents of Turenne, and the genius of +Vauban, so long to construct. Instead of proudly descending the valley +of the Danube, and threatening Vienna, as Napoleon afterwards did in +1805 and 1809, the French were driven in the utmost disorder across the +Rhine. The surrender of Trarbach and Landau gave the Allies a firm +footing on the left bank of that river. The submission of Bavaria +deprived the French of that great outwork, of which they have made such +good use in their German wars, the Hungarian insurrection, deprived of +the hoped-for aid from the armies on the Rhine, was pacified. Prussia +was induced by this great triumph to co-operate in a more efficient +manner in the common cause; the parsimony of the Dutch gave way before +the tumult of success; and the empire, delivered from invasion, was +preparing to carry its victorious arms into the heart of France. Such +results require no comment; they speak for themselves, and deservedly +place Marlborough in the very highest rank of military commanders. The +campaigns of Napoleon exhibit no more decisive or glorious results. + +Honours and emoluments of every description were showered on the English +hero for this glorious success. He was created a prince of the Holy +Roman empire,[15] and a tract of land in Germany erected into a +principality in his favour. His reception at the courts of Berlin and +Hanover resembled that of a sovereign prince; the acclamations of the +people, in all the towns through which he passed, rent the air; at the +Hague his influence was such that he was regarded as the real +Stadtholder. More substantial rewards awaited him in his own country. +The munificence of the queen and the gratitude of Parliament conferred +upon him the extensive honour and manor of Woodstock, long a royal +palace, and once the scene of the loves of Henry II. and the fair +Rosamond. By order of the Queen, not only was this noble estate settled +on the duke and his heirs, but the royal comptroller commenced a +magnificent palace for the duke on a scale worthy of his services and +England's gratitude. From this origin the superb palace of Blenheim has +taken its rise; which, although not built in the purest taste, or after +the most approved models, remains, and will long remain, a splendid +monument of a nation's gratitude, and of the genius of Vanbrugh. + +Notwithstanding the invaluable services thus rendered by Marlborough, +both to the Emperor of Germany and the Queen of England, he was far from +experiencing from either potentate that liberal support for the future +prosecution of the war, which the inestimable opportunity now placed in +their hands, and the formidable power still at the disposal of the enemy +so loudly required. As usual, the English Parliament were exceedingly +backward in voting supplies either of men or money; nor was the cabinet +of Vienna inclined to be more liberal in its exertions. Though the House +of Commons agreed to give £4,670,000 for the service of the ensuing +year; yet the land forces voted were only 40,000 men, although the +population of Great Britain and Ireland could not be at that period +under ten millions, while France, with about twenty millions, had above +two hundred thousand under arms. It is this excessive and invariable +reluctance of the English Parliament ever to make those efforts at the +commencement of a war, which are necessary to turn to a good account the +inherent bravery of its soldiers and frequent skill of its commanders, +that is the cause of the long duration of our Continental wars, and of +three-fourths of the national debt which now oppresses the empire, and, +in its ultimate results, will endanger its existence. The national +forces are, by the cry for economy and reduction which invariably is +raised in peace, reduced to so low an ebb, that it is only by successive +additions, made in many different years, that it can be raised up to any +thing like the amount requisite for successful operations. Thus disaster +generally occurs in the commencement of every war; or if, by the genius +of any extraordinary commander, as by that of Marlborough, unlooked-for +success is achieved in the outset, the nation is unable to follow it up; +the war languishes for want of the requisite support; the enemy gets +time to recover from his consternation; his danger stimulates him to +greater exertions; and many long years of warfare, deeply checkered with +disaster, and attended with an enormous expense, are required to obviate +the effects of previous undue pacific reduction. + +How bitterly Marlborough felt this want of support, on the part of the +cabinets both of London and Vienna, which prevented him from following +up the victory of Blenheim with the decisive operations against France +which he would otherwise have undoubtedly commenced, is proved by +various parts of his correspondence. On the 16th of December 1704, he +wrote to Mr Secretary Harley--"I am sorry to see nothing has been +offered yet, _nor any care taken by Parliament for recruiting the army_. +I mean chiefly the foot. It is of that consequence for an early +campaign, that without it _we may run the hazard of losing, in a great +measure, the fruits of the last_; and therefore, pray leave to recommend +it to you to advise with your friends, if any proper method can be +thought of, that may be laid before the House immediately, without +waiting my arrival."[16] Nor was the cabinet of Vienna, notwithstanding +the imminent danger they had recently run, more active in making the +necessary efforts to repair the losses of the campaign--"You cannot," +says Marlborough, "say more to us of the _supine negligence of the Court +of Vienna_, with reference to your affairs, _than we are sensible of +every where else_; and certainly if the Duke of Savoy's good conduct and +bravery at Verue had not reduced the French to a very low ebb, the game +must have been over before any help could come to you."[17] It is ever +thus, especially with states such as Great Britain, in which the +democratic element is so powerful as to imprint upon the measures of +government that disregard of the future, and aversion to present efforts +or burdens, which is the invariable characteristic of the bulk of +mankind. If Marlborough had been adequately supported and strengthened +after the decisive blow struck at Blenheim; that is, if the governments +of Vienna and London, with that of the Hague, had by a great and timely +effort doubled his effective force when the French were broken and +disheartened by defeat, he would have marched to Paris in the next +campaign, and dictated peace to the _Grand Monarque_ in his gorgeous +halls of Versailles. It was short-sighted economy which entailed upon +the nations the costs and burdens of the next ten years of the War of +the Succession, as it did the still greater costs and burdens of the +Revolutionary War, after the still more decisive success of the Allies +in the summer of 1793, when the iron frontier of the Netherlands was +entirely broken through, and their advanced posts, without any force to +oppose them, were within an hundred and sixty miles of Paris. + +This parsimony of the Allied governments, and their invincible +repugnance to the efforts and sacrifices which could alone bring, and +certainly would have brought, the war to an early and glorious issue, is +the cause of the subsequent conversion of the war into one of blockades +and sieges, and of its being transferred to Flanders, where its progress +was necessarily slow, and cost enormous, from the vast number of +strongholds which required to be reduced at every stage of the Allied +advance. It was said at the time, that in attacking Flanders in that +quarter, Marlborough took the bull by the horns; that France on the side +of the Rhine was far more vulnerable, and that the war was fixed in +Flanders, in order by protracting it to augment the profits of the +generals employed. Subsequent writers, not reflecting on the difference +of the circumstances, have observed the successful issue of the +invasions of France from Switzerland and the Upper Rhine in 1814, and +Flanders and the Lower Rhine in 1815, and concluded that a similar +result would have attended a like bold invasion under Marlborough and +Eugene. There never was a greater mistake. The great object of the war +was to wrest Flanders from France; when the lilied standard floated on +Brussels and Antwerp, the United Provinces were constantly in danger of +being swallowed up, and there was no security for the independence +either of England, Holland, or any of the German States. If Marlborough +and Eugene had had two hundred thousand effective men at their disposal, +as Wellington and Blucher had in 1815, or three hundred thousand, as +Schwartzenberg and Blucher had in 1814, they would doubtless have left +half their force behind them to blockade the fortresses, and with the +other half marched direct to Paris. But as they had never had more than +eighty thousand on their muster-rolls, and could not bring at any time +more than sixty thousand effective men into the field, this bold and +decisive course was impossible. The French army in their front was +rarely inferior to theirs, often superior; and how was it possible in +these circumstances to adventure on the perilous course of pushing on +into the heart of the enemy's territory, leaving the frontier +fortresses, yet unsubdued, in their rear? The disastrous issue of the +Blenheim campaign to the French arms, even when supported by the +friendly arms and all the fortresses of Bavaria, in the preceding year, +had shown what was the danger of such a course. The still more +calamitous issue of the Moscow campaign to the army of Napoleon, +demonstrated that even the greatest military talents, and most enormous +accumulation of military force, affords no security against the +incalculable danger of an undue advance beyond the base of military +operations. The greatest generals of the last age, fruitful beyond all +others in military talent, have acted on those principles, whenever they +had not an overwhelming superiority of forces at their command. +Wellington never invaded Spain till he was master of Ciudad Rodrigo and +Badajos; nor France till he had subdued St Sebastian and Pampeluna. The +first use which Napoleon made of his victories at Montenotte and Dego +was to compel the Court of Turin to surrender all their fortresses in +Piedmont; of the victory of Marengo, to force the Imperialists to +abandon the whole strongholds of Lombardy as far as the Adige. The +possession of the single fortress of Mantua in 1796, enabled the +Austrians to stem the flood of Napoleon's victories, and gain time to +assemble four different armies for the defence of the monarchy. The case +of half a million of men, flushed by victory, and led by able and +experienced leaders assailing a single state, is the exception, not the +rule. + +Circumstances, therefore, of paramount importance and irresistible +force, compelled Marlborough to fix the war in Flanders, and convert it +into one of sieges and blockades. In entering upon such a system of +hostility, sure, and comparatively free from risk, but slow and +extremely costly, the alliance ran the greatest risk of being +shipwrecked on the numerous discords, jealousies, and separate +interests, which, in almost every instance recorded in history, have +proved fatal to a great confederacy, if it does not obtain decisive +success at the outset, before these seeds of division have had time to +come to maturity. With what admirable skill and incomparable address +Marlborough kept together the unwieldy alliance will hereafter appear. +Never was a man so qualified by nature for such a task. He was courtesy +and grace personified. It was a common saying at the time, that neither +man nor woman could resist him. "Of all the men I ever knew," says no +common man, himself a perfect master of the elegances he so much +admired, "the late Duke of Marlborough possessed the graces in the +highest degree, not to say engrossed them. Indeed he got the most by +them, and contrary to the custom of profound historians, who always +assign deep causes for great events, I ascribe the better half of the +Duke of Marlborough's greatness to those graces. He had no brightness, +nothing shining in his genius. He had most undoubtedly an excellent +plain understanding, and sound judgment. But these qualities alone would +probably have never raised him higher than they found him, which was +page to James the Second's queen. But there the grace protected and +promoted him. His figure was beautiful, but his manner was irresistible, +either by man or woman. It was by this engaging, graceful manner, that +he was enabled, during all his war, to connect the various and jarring +powers of the Grand Alliance, and to carry them on to the main object of +the war, notwithstanding their private and separate views, jealousies, +and wrongheadedness. Whatever court he went to (and he was often obliged +to go to restive and refractory ones) he brought them into his measures. +The pensionary Heinsius, who had governed the United Provinces for forty +years, was absolutely governed by him. He was always cool, and nobody +ever observed the least variation in his countenance; he could refuse +more gracefully than others could grant, and those who went from him the +most dissatisfied as to the substance of their business, were yet +charmed by his manner, and, as it were, comforted by it."[18] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Letters and Despatches of John Churchill, First Duke of +Marlborough, from 1702 to 1712._ Edited by SIR GEORGE MURRAY, G.C.B., +Master-General of the Ordnance, &c. 3 vols. London, 1845. + +[2] "Marlborough," says Swift, "is as voracious as hell, and as +ambitious as the devil. What he desires above every thing is to be made +commander-in-chief for life, and it is to satisfy his ambition and his +avarice that he has opposed so many intrigues to the efforts made for +the restoration of peace." + +[3] "During the interval between the liberation of Marlborough and the +death of Queen Mary, we find him, in conjunction with Godolphin and many +others, maintaining a clandestine intercourse with the exiled family. On +the 2d May 1694, only a few days before he offered his services to King +William, he communicated to James, through Colonel Sackville, +intelligence of an expedition then fitting out, for the purpose of +destroying the fleet in Brest harbour."--COXE'S _Marlborough_, i. 75. +"Marlborough's conduct to the Stuarts," says Lord Mahon, "was a foul +blot on his memory. To the last he persevered in those deplorable +intrigues. In October 1713, he protested to a Jacobite agent he would +rather have his hands cut off than do any thing to prejudice King +James."--MAHON, i. 21-22. + +[4] "Galli turpe esse ducunt frumentum manu quaerere; itaque armati +alienos agros demetunt."--CAESAR. + +[5] _Despatches_, 21st September 1702. + +[6] _Despatches_, 23d October 1702. + +[7] Memorial, 24th August 1703.--_Despatches_, i. 165. + +[8] Marlborough was much chagrined at being interrupted in his meditated +decisive operations by the States-General, on this occasion. On the 6th +September, he wrote to them:--"Vos Hautes Puissances jugeront bien par +le camp que nous venons de prendre, qu'on n'a pas voulu se résoudre à +tenter les lignes. J'ai été convaincu de plus en plus, depuis l'honneur +que j'ai eu de vous écrire, par les avis que j'ai reçu journellement de +la situation des ennemis, que cette entreprise n'était pas seulement +practicable, mais même qu'on pourrait en espérer tout le succès que je +m'étais proposé: enfin l'occasion en est perdue, et je souhaite de tout +mon coeur qu'elle n'ait aucune fâcheuse suite, et qu'on n'ait pas lieu +de s'en repentir quand il sera trop tard."--MARLBOROUGH _aux Etats +Généraux_; _6 Septembre 1703. Despatches_, i. 173. + +[9] "Ce matin j'ai appris par une estafette que les ennemis avaient +joint l'Electeur de Bavière avec 26,000 hommes, et que M. de Villeroi a +passé la Meuse avec la meilleure partie de l'armée des Pays Bas, et +qu'il poussait sa marche en toute diligence vers la Moselle, de sorte +que, sans un prompt sécours, l'empire court risque d'être entièrement +abimé."--MARLBOROUGH, _aux Etats Généraux; Bonn_, _2 Mai 1704_. +_Despatches_, i. 274. + +[10] The following was the composition of these two corps, which will +show of what a motley array the Allied army was composed:-- + + Left wing, Marlborough. + Batt. Squad. + English, 14 14 + Dutch, 14 22 + Hessians, 7 7 + Hanoverians, 13 25 + Danes, 0 22 + -- -- + 48 86 + + Right wing, Eugene. + Batt. Squad. + Danes, 7 0 + Prussians, 11 15 + Austrians, 0 24 + Of the Empire, 0 35 + -- -- + 18 74 + +[11] This pencil note is still preserved at Blenheim. + +[12] French--Bat. 82. Squad. 146. Allies--Bat. 66. Squad. 160. At 500 to +a battalion, and 150 to a squadron, this gives a superiority of 5900 to +the French. + +[13] Marl., _Desp._ i. 402-409. + +[14] Cardonnell, Desp. to Lord Harley, 25th Sept. 1704, _Desp._ i. 410. +By intercepted letters it appeared the enemy admitted a loss of 40,000 +men before they reached the Rhine. Marlborough to the Duke of +Shrewsbury, 28th Aug. 1704, _Desp._ i. 439. + +[15] The holograph letter of the Emperor, announcing this honour, said, +with equal truth and justice--"I am induced to assign to your highness a +place among the princes of the empire, in order that it may universally +appear how much I acknowledge myself and the empire to be indebted to +the Queen of Great Britain, who sent her arms as far as Bavaria at a +time when the affairs of the empire, by the defection of the Bavarians +to the French, most needed that assistance and support:--And to your +Grace, likewise, to whose prudence and courage, together with the +bravery of the forces fighting under your command, the two victories +lately indulged by Providence to the Allies are principally attributed, +not only by the voice of fame, but by the general officers in my army +who had their share in your labour and your glory."--THE EMPEROR LEOPOLD +TO MARLBOROUGH, _28th August 1704_.--_Desp._ i. 538. + +[16] Marlborough to Mr Secretary Harley, 16th Dec. 1704.--_Desp._ i. +556. + +[17] Marlborough to Mr Hill at Turin, 6th Feb. 1705.--_Desp._ i. 591. + +[18] _Lord Chesterfield's Letters_, Lord Mahon's edition, i. 221-222. + + + + +PÚSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN POET. + +No. II. + +SPECIMENS OF HIS LYRICS. + +TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL RUSSIAN, BY THOMAS B. SHAW, B.A. OF +CAMBRIDGE, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE IMPERIAL +ALEXANDER LYCEUM, TRANSLATOR OF "THE HERETIC," &c. &c. + + +In offering to the public the following specimens of Púshkin's poetry in +an English dress, the translator considers it part of his duty to make a +few remarks. The number and extent of these observations, he will, of +course, confine within the narrowest limits consistent with his +important duty of making his countrymen acquainted with the style and +character of Russia's greatest poet; a duty which he would certainly +betray, were he to omit to explain the chief points indispensable for +the true understanding, not only of the extracts which he has selected +as a sample of his author's productions, but of the general tone and +character of those productions, viewed as a whole. + +The translator wishes it therefore to be distinctly understood that he +by no means intends to offer, in the character of a complete poetical +portrait, the few pieces contained in these pages, but rather as an +attempt, however imperfect, to daguerreotype--by means of the most +faithful translation consistent with ease--_one_ of the various +expressions of Púshkin's literary physiognomy; to represent one phase of +his developement. + +That physiognomy is a very flexible and a varying one; Púshkin +(considered only as a _poet_) must be allowed to have attained very high +eminence in various walks of his sublime art; his works are very +numerous, and as diverse in their form as in their spirit; he is +sometimes a romantic, sometimes a legendary, sometimes an epic, +sometimes a satiric, and sometimes a dramatic poet;--in most, if not in +all, of these various lines he has attained the highest eminence as yet +recognised by his countrymen; and, consequently, whatever impression may +be made upon our readers by the present essay at a transfusion of his +works into the English language, will be necessarily a very imperfect +one. In the prosecution of the arduous but not unprofitable enterprise +which the translator set before himself three years ago--viz. the +communication to his countrymen of some true ideas of the scope and +peculiar character of Russian literature--he met with so much +discouragement in the unfavourable predictions of such of his friends as +he consulted with respect to the feasibility of his project, that he may +be excused for some degree of timidity in offering the results of his +labours to an English public. So great, indeed, was that timidity, that +not even the very flattering reception given to his two first attempts +at prose translation, has entirely succeeded in destroying it; and he +prefers, on the present occasion, to run the risk of giving only a +partial and imperfect reflection of Púshkin's intellectual features, to +the danger that might attend a more ambitious and elaborate version of +any of the poet's longer works. + +Púshkin is here presented solely in his _lyrical_ character; and, it is +trusted, that, in the selection of the compositions to be +translated--selections made from a very large number of highly +meritorious works--due attention has been paid not only to the intrinsic +beauty and merit of the pieces chosen, but also to the important +consideration which renders indispensable (in cases where we find an +_embarras de richesses_, and where the merit is equal) the adoption of +such specimens as would possess the greatest degree of novelty for an +English reader. + +The task of translating all Púshkin's poetry is certainly too dignified +a one, not to excite our ambition; and it is meditated, in the event of +the accompanying versions finding in England a degree of approbation +sufficiently marked to indicate a desire for more specimens, to extend +our present labours so far, as to admit passages of the most remarkable +merit from Púshkin's longer works; and, perhaps, even complete versions +of some of the more celebrated. Should, therefore, the British public +give the _fiat_ of its approbation, we would still further contribute to +its knowledge of the great Russian author, by publishing, for example, +some of the more remarkable _places_ in the poem of "Evgénii Oniégin," +the charming "Gypsies," scenes and passages from the tragedy of "Bóris +Godunóff," the "Prisoner of the Caucasus," "Mazépa," &c. &c. + +With respect to the present or _lyrical_ specimens, we shall take the +liberty to make a few remarks, having reference to the principles which +have governed the translator in the execution of the versions; and we +shall afterwards preface each poem with a few words of notice, such as +may appear to be rendered necessary either by the subject or by the form +of the composition itself. + +Of the poetical merit of these translations, considered as English +poems, their writer has no very exalted idea; of their _faithfulness as +versions_, on the contrary, he has so deep a conviction, that he regrets +exceedingly the fact, that the universal ignorance prevailing in England +of the Russian language, will prevent the possibility of that important +merit--strict fidelity--being tested by the British reader. Let the +indulgent, therefore, remember, if we have in any case left an air of +stiffness and constraint but too perceptible in our work, that this +fault is to be considered as a sacrifice of grace at the altar of truth. +It would have been not only possible, but easy, to have spun a +collection of easy rhymes, bearing a general resemblance to the vigorous +and passionate poetry of Púshkin; but this would not have been a +_translation_, and a translation it was our object to produce. Bowring's +_Russian Anthology_ (not to speak of his other volumes of translated +poetry) is a melancholy example of the danger of this attractive but +fatal system; while the names of Cary, of Hay, and of Merivale, will +remain as a bright encouragement to those who have sufficient strength +of mind to prefer the "strait and narrow way" of masterly _translation_, +to the "flowery paths of dalliance" so often trodden by the +_paraphraser_. + +In all cases, the metre of the original, the musical movement and +modulation, has, as far as the translator's ear enabled him to judge, +been followed with minute exactness, and at no inconsiderable expense, +in some cases, of time and labour. It would be superfluous, therefore, +to state, that the number of lines in the English version is always the +same as in the original. It has been our study, wherever the differences +in the structure of the two languages would permit, to include the same +thoughts in the same number of lines. There is also a peculiarity of the +Russian language which frequently rendered our task still more arduous; +and the conquest of this difficulty has, we trust, conferred upon us the +right to speak of our triumph without incurring the charge of vanity. We +allude to the great abundance in the Russian of double terminations, and +the consequent recurrence of double rhymes, a peculiarity common also to +the Italian and Spanish versification, and one which certainly +communicates to the versification of those countries a character so +marked and peculiar, that no translator would be justified in neglecting +it. As it would be impossible, without the use of Russian types, to give +our readers an example of this from the writings of Púshkin, and as they +would be unable to pronounce such a quotation even if they saw it, we +will give an illustration of what we mean from the Spanish and the +Italian. + +The first is from the fourth book of the _Galatea_ of Cervantes-- + + "Venga á mirar á la pastora mia + Quien quisiere contar de gente en gente + Que vió otro sol, que daba luz al dia + Mas claro, que el que sale del oriente," &c.; + +and the second from Chiabrera's sublime _Ode on the Siege of Vienna_-- + + "E fino a quanto inulti + Sian, Signore, i tuoi servi? E fino a quanto + Dei barbarici insulti + Orgogliosa n'andrà l'empia baldanza? + Dov'è, dov'è, gran Dio, l'antico vanto + Di tua alta possanza?" &c. &c. + +In the two passages here quoted, it will be observed that all the lines +end with two syllables, in both of which the rhyme is engaged; and an +English version of the above verses, however faithful in other respects, +which should omit to use the same species of double termination, and +content itself with the monosyllable rhyme, would indubitably lose some +of the harmony of the original. These double rhymes are far from +abundant in our monosyllabic language; but we venture to affirm, that +their conscientious employment would be found so valuable, as to amply +repay the labour and difficulty attending their search. + +We trust that our readers will pardon the apparent technicality of these +remarks, for the sake of the consideration which induced us to make +them. In all translation, even in the best, there is so great a loss of +spirit and harmony, that the conscientious labourer in this most +difficult and ungrateful art, should never neglect even the most +trifling precaution that tends to hinder a still further depreciation of +the gold of his original; not to mention the principle, that whatever it +is worth our while to do at all, it is assuredly worth our while to do +as well as we can. + + * * * * * + +The first specimen of Púshkin's lyric productions which we shall present +to our countrymen, "done into English," as Jacob Tonson was wont to +phrase it, "by an eminent hand," is a production considered by the +poet's critics to possess the very highest degree of merit in its +peculiar style. We have mentioned some details respecting the nature and +history of the Imperial Lyceum of Tsarskoë Seló, in which Púshkin was +educated, and we have described the peculiar intensity of feeling with +which all who quitted its walls looked back upon the happy days they had +spent within them, and the singular ardour and permanency of the +friendships contracted beneath its roof. On the anniversary of the +foundation (by the Emperor Alexander) of the institution, it is +customary for all the "old Lyceans" to dine together, in the same way as +the Eton, Harrow, or Rugby men are accustomed to unite once a-year in +honour of their school. On many of these occasions Púshkin contributed +to the due celebration of the event by producing poems of various +lengths, and different degrees of merit; we give here the best of these. +It was written during the poet's residence in the government of Pskoff, +and will be found, we think, a most beautiful and touching embodiment of +such feelings as would be suggested in the mind of one obliged to be +absent from a ceremony of the nature in question. Of the comrades whose +names Púshkin has immortalized in these lines, it is only necessary to +specify that the first, Korsákoff, distinguished among his youthful +comrades for his musical talents, met with an early death in Italy; a +circumstance to which the poet has touchingly alluded. Matiúshkin is now +an admiral of distinction, and is commanding the Russian squadron in the +Black Sea. Of the two whom he mentions as having passed the anniversary +described in this poem (October 19, 1825) in his company, the first was +Pústchin, since dead, and the second the Prince Gortchakóff, whom he met +by accident, travelling in the neighbourhood of his (the poet's) +seclusion. Our readers cannot fail, we think, to be struck with the +beautiful passage consecrated to his friendship with Délvig; and the +only other personal allusion which seems to stand in need of +explanation, is that indicated by the name Wilhelm, towards the end of +the poem. This is the Christian name of his friend Küchelbecher, since +dead, and whose family name was hardly harmonious enough to enter +Púshkin's line, and was therefore omitted on the Horatian +principle--"versu quod dicere nolim." We now hasten to present the +lines. + + OCTOBER 19, 1825. + + The woods have doff'd their garb of purply gold; + The faded fields with silver frost are steaming; + Through the pale clouds the sun, reluctant gleaming, + Behind the circling hills his disk hath roll'd. + Blaze brightly, hearth! my cell is dark and lonely: + And thou, O Wine, thou friend of Autumn chill, + Pour through my heart a joyous glow--if only + One moment's brief forgetfulness of ill! + + Ay, I am very sad; no friend is here + With whom to pledge a long unlooked-for meeting, + To press his hand in eagerness of greeting, + And wish him life and joy for many a year. + I drink alone; and Fancy's spells awaken-- + With a vain industry--the voice of friends: + No well-known footstep strikes mine ear forsaken, + No well-beloved face my heart attends. + + I drink alone; ev'n now, on Neva's shore, + Haply my name on friendly lips has trembled.... + Round that bright board, say, are ye _all_ assembled? + Are there no other names ye count no more? + Has our good custom been betray'd by others? + Whom hath the cold world lured from ye away? + Whose voice is silent in the call of brothers? + Who is not come? Who is not with you? Say! + + _He_ is not come, he of the curled hair, + He of the eye of fire and sweet-voiced numbers: + Beneath Italia's myrtle-groves he slumbers; + He slumbers well, although no friend was there, + Above the lonely grave where he is sleeping, + A Russian line to trace with pious hand, + That some sad wanderer might read it, weeping-- + Some Russian, wandering in a foreign land. + + Art _thou_ too seated in the friendly ring, + O restless Pilgrim? Haply now thou ridest + O'er the long tropic-wave; or now abidest + 'Mid seas with ice eternal glimmering! + Thrice happy voyage!... With a jest thou leapedst + From the Lyceum's threshold to thy bark, + Thenceforth thy path aye on the main thou keepedst, + O child beloved of wave and tempest dark! + + Well hast thou kept, 'neath many a stranger sky, + The loves, the hopes of Childhood's golden hour: + And old Lyceum scenes, by memory's power, + 'Mid lonely waves have ris'n before thine eye; + Thou wav'dst thy hand to us from distant ocean, + Ever thy faithful heart its treasure bore; + "A long farewell!" thou criedst, with fond emotion, + "Unless our fate hath doom'd we meet no more." + + The bond that binds us, friends, is fair and true! + Destructless as the soul, and as eternal-- + Careless and free, unshakable, fraternal, + Beneath the Muses' friendly shade it grew. + We are the same: wherever Fate may guide us, + Or Fortune lead--wherever we may go, + The world is aye a foreign land beside us; + _Our_ fatherland is Tsárkoë Seló! + + From clime to clime, pursued by storm and stress, + In Destiny's dark nets long time I wrestled, + Until on Friendship's lap I fluttering nestled, + And bent my weary head for her caress.... + With wistful prayers, with visionary grieving, + With all the trustful hope of early years, + I sought new friends with zeal and new believing; + But bitter was their greeting to mine ears. + + And even here, in this lone dwelling-place + Of desert-storm, of cold, and desolation, + There was prepared for me a consolation: + Three of ye here, O friends! did I embrace. + Thou enteredst first the poet's house of sorrow, + O Pústchin! thanks be with thee, thanks, and praise + Ev'n exile's bitter day from thee could borrow + The light and joy of old Lyceum-days. + + Thee too, my Gortchakóff; although thy name + Was Fortune's spell, though her cold gleam was on thee, + Yet from thy noble thoughts she never won thee: + To honour and thy fiends thou'rt still the same. + Far different paths of life to us were fated, + Far different roads before our feet were traced, + In a by-road, but for a moment mated, + We met by chance, and brotherly embraced. + + When sorrow's flood o'erwhelmd me, like a sea; + And like an orphan, houseless, poor, unfriended, + My head beneath the storm I sadly bended, + Seer of the Aonian maids! I look'd for thee: + Thou camest--lazy child of inspiration, + My Délvig; and thy voice awaken'd straight + In this numb'd heart the glow of consolation; + And I was comforted, and bless'd my fate. + + Even in infancy within us burn'd + The light of song--the poet-spell had bound us; + Even in infancy there flitted round us + Two Muses, whose sweet glamour soon we learn'd. + Even then _I_ loved applause--that vain delusion!-- + _Thou_ sang'st but for thy Muse, and for thy heart; + _I_ squander'd gifts and life with rash profusion, + _Thou_ cherishedst thy gifts in peace apart. + + The worship of the Muse no care beseems; + The Beautiful is calm, and high, and holy; + Youth is a cunning counsellor--of folly!-- + Lulling our sense with vain and empty dreams.... + Upon the past we gaze--the same, yet other-- + And find no trace.--We wake, alas! too late. + Was it not so with us, Délvig, my brother?-- + My brother in our Muse as in our fate! + + 'Tis time, 'tis time! Let us once more be free! + The world's not worth this torturing resistance! + Beneath retirement's shade will glide existence-- + Thee, my belated friend--I wait for thee! + Come! with the flame of an enchanted story + Tradition's lore shall wake, our hearts to move; + We'll talk of Caucasus, of war, of glory, + Of Schiller, and of genius, and of love. + + 'Tis time no less for me ... Friends, feast amain! + Behold, a joyful meeting is before us; + Think of the poet's prophecy; for o'er us + A year shall pass, and we shall meet again! + My vision's covenant shall have fulfilling; + A year--and I shall be with ye once more! + Oh, then, what shouts, what hand-grasps warm and thrilling! + What goblets skyward heaved with merry roar! + + Unto our Union consecrated be + The first we drain--fill higher yet, and higher! + Bless it, O Muse, in strains of raptured fire! + Bless it! All hail, Lyceum! hail to thee!-- + To those who led our youth with care and praises, + Living and dead! the next we grateful fill; + Let each, as to his lips the cup he raises, + The good remember, and forget the ill. + + Feast, then, while we are here, while yet we may: + Hour after hour, alas! Time thins our numbers; + One pines afar, one in the coffin slumbers; + Days fly; Fate looks on us; we fade away; + Bending insensibly to earth, and chilling, + We near our starting-place with many a groan.... + Whose lot will be in old age to be filling, + On this Lyceum-day, his cup _alone_? + + Unhappy friend! Amid a stranger race, + Like guest intrusive, that superfluous lingers, + He'll think of us that day, with quivering fingers + Hiding the tears that wet his wrinkled face.... + O, may he then at least, in mournful gladness, + Pass with his cup this day for ever dear, + As even I, in exile and in sadness, + Yet with a fleeting joy, have pass'd it here! + + * * * * * + +In the following lines, the poet has endeavoured to reproduce the +impressions made upon his mind by the mountain scenery of the Caucasus; +scenery which he had visited with such rapture, and to which his +imagination returned with undiminished delight. It has been our aim to +endeavour, in our translation, to give an echo, however feeble and +imperfect, of the wild and airy freedom of the versification which +distinguishes these spirited stanzas. The picture which they contain, +rough, sketchy, and unfinished, as it may appear, bears every mark of +being a faithful copy from nature--a study taken on the spot; and will +therefore, we trust, be not unacceptable to our readers, as calculated +to give an idea not only of the vigorous and rapid _handling_ of the +poet's pencil, but also of the wild and sublime region--the Switzerland +of Russia--which he has here essayed to portray. Of the two furious and +picturesque torrents which Púshkin has mentioned in this short poem, +Térek is certainly too well known to our geographical readers to need +any description of its course from the snow-covered peak of Dariál to +the Caspian; and the bold comparison in the last stanza will doubtless +be found, though perhaps somewhat exaggerated, not deficient in a kind +of fierce Æschylean energy, perfectly in character with the violent and +thundering course of the torrent itself:-- + + CAUCASUS. + + Beneath me the peaks of the Caucasus lie, + My gaze from the snow-bordered cliff I am bending; + From her sun-lighted eyry the Eagle ascending + Floats movelessly on in a line with mine eye. + I see the young torrent's first leap towards the ocean, + And the cliff-cradled lawine essay its first motion. + + Beneath me the clouds in their silentness go, + The cataract through them in thunder down-dashing, + Far beneath them bare peaks in the sunny ray flashing, + Weak moss and dry shrubs I can mark yet below. + Dark thickets still lower--green meadows are blooming, + Where the throstle is singing, and reindeer are roaming. + + Here man, too, has nested his hut, and the flocks + On the long grassy slopes in their quiet are feeding, + And down to the valley the shepherd is speeding, + Where Arágva gleams out from her wood-crested rocks. + And there in his crags the poor robber is hiding, + And Térek in anger is wrestling and chiding. + + Like a fierce young Wild Beast, how he bellows and raves, + Like that Beast from his cage when his prey he espieth; + 'Gainst the bank, like a Wrestler, he struggleth and plyeth, + And licks at the rock with his ravening waves. + In vain, thou wild River! dumb cliffs are around thee, + And sternly and grimly their bondage hath bound thee. + + * * * * * + +To those who measure the value of a poem, less by the pretension and +ambitiousness of its form, than by the completeness of its execution and +the skill with which the leading idea is developed, we think that the +graceful little production which we are now about to present to the +reader, will possess very considerable interest. It is, it is true, no +more important a thing than a mere song; but the naturalness and unity +of the fundamental thought, and the happy employment of what is +undoubtedly one of the most effective artifices at the command of the +lyric writer--we mean repetition--render the following lines worthy of +the universal admiration which they have obtained in the original, and +may not be devoid of charm in the translation:-- + + TO * * * + + Yes! I remember well our meeting, + When first thou dawnedst on my sight, + Like some fair phantom past me fleeting, + Some nymph of purity and light. + + By weary agonies surrounded, + 'Mid toil, 'mid mean and noisy care, + Long in mine ear thy soft voice sounded, + Long dream'd I of thy features fair. + + Years flew; Fate's blast blew ever stronger, + Scattering mine early dreams to air, + And thy soft voice I heard no longer-- + No longer saw thy features fair. + + In exile's silent desolation + Slowly dragg'd on the days for me-- + Orphan'd of life, of inspiration, + Of tears, of love, of deity. + + I woke--once more my heart was beating-- + Once more thou dawnedst on my sight, + Like some fair phantom past me fleeting, + Some nymph of purity and light. + + My heart has found its consolation-- + All has revived once more for me-- + And vanish'd life, and inspiration, + And tears, and love, and deity. + + * * * * * + +The versification of the following little poem is founded on a system +which Púshkin seems to have looked upon with peculiar favour, as he has +employed the same metrical arrangement in by far the largest proportion +of his poetical works. So gracefully and so easily, indeed, has he +wielded this metre, and with so flexible, so delicate, and so masterly a +hand, that we could not refrain from attempting to imitate it in our +English version; for we considered that it is impossible to say how much +of the peculiar _character_ of a poet's writings depends upon the +colouring, or rather the _touch_--if we may borrow a phrase from the +vocabulary of the critic in painting--of the metre. Undoubtedly a poet +is the best judge not only of the kind, but of the degree of the effect +which he wishes to produce upon his reader; and there may be, between +the thoughts which he desires to embody, and the peculiar harmonies in +which he may determine to clothe those thoughts, analogies and +sympathies too delicate for our grosser ears; or, at least, if not too +subtle and refined for our ears to perceive, yet far too delicate for us +to define, or exactly to appreciate. Moved by this reasoning, we have +always preferred to follow, as nearly as we could, the exact +versification, and even the most minute varieties of tone and metrical +accentuation. Inattention to this point is undoubtedly the +stumbling-block of translators in general; of the dangerous consequences +of such inattention, it is not necessary to give any elaborate proof. +How much, we may ask, does not the poetry of Dante, for instance, lose, +by being despoiled of that great source of its peculiar effect springing +from the employment of the _terza rima_! It is in vain to say, that it +is enormously difficult to produce the _terza rima_ in English. To +translate the "gran padre Alighier" into English _worthily_, the _terza +rima must_ be employed, whatever be the obstacles presented by the +dissimilarities existing between the Italian and English languages. + + THE MOB. + + "Procul este, profani!" + + A Poet o'er his glowing lyre + A wild and careless hand had flung. + The base, cold crowd, that nought admire, + Stood round, responseless to his fire, + With heavy eye and mocking tongue. + + "And why so loudly is he singing?" + ('Twas thus that idiot mob replied,) + "His music in our ears is ringing; + But whither flows that music's tide? + What doth it teach? His art is madness! + He moves our soul to joy or sadness. + A wayward necromantic spell! + Free as the breeze his music floweth, + But fruitless, too, as breeze that bloweth, + What doth it profit, Poet, tell?" + + POET.--Cease, idiot, cease thy loathsome cant! + Day-labourer, slave of toil and want! + I hate thy babble vain and hollow. + Thou art a worm, no child of day: + Thy god is Profit--thou wouldst weigh + By pounds the Belvidere Apollo. + Gain--gain alone to thee is sweet. + The marble is a god! ... what of it + Thou count'st a pie-dish far above it-- + A dish wherein to cook thy meat! + + MOB.--But, if thou be'st the Elect of Heaven, + The gift that God has largely given, + Thou shouldst then for our good impart, + To purify thy brother's heart. + Yes, we are base, and vile, and hateful, + Cruel, and shameless, and ungrateful-- + Impotent and heartless tools, + Slaves, and slanderers, and fools. + Come then, if charity doth sway thee, + Chase from our hearts the viper-brood; + However stern, we will obey thee; + Yes, we will listen, and be good! + + POET.--Begone, begone! What common feeling + Can e'er exist 'twixt ye and me? + Go on, your souls in vices steeling; + The lyre's sweet voice is dumb to ye: + Go! foul as reek of charnel-slime, + In every age, in every clime, + Ye aye have felt, and yet ye feel, + Scourge, dungeon, halter, axe, and wheel. + Go, hearts of sin and heads of trifling, + From your vile streets, so foul and stifling, + They sweep the dirt--no useless trade! + But when, their robes with ordure staining, + Altar and sacrifice disdaining, + Did e'er your _priests_ ply broom and spade? + 'Twas not for life's base agitation + That _we_ were born--for gain nor care-- + No--we were born for inspiration, + For love, for music, and for prayer! + + * * * * * + +The ballad entitled "The Black Shawl" has obtained a degree of +popularity among the author's countrymen, for which the slightness of +the composition renders it in some measure difficult to account. It may, +perhaps, be explained by the circumstance, that the verses are in the +original exceedingly well adapted to be sung--one of the highest merits +of this class of poetry--for all ancient ballads, in every language +throughout the world, were specifically intended to be sung or chanted; +and all modern productions, therefore, written in imitation of these +ancient compositions--the first lispings of the Muse--can only be +successful in proportion as they possess the essential and +characteristic quality of being capable of being sung. Independently of +the highly musical arrangement of the rhythm, which, in the original, +distinguishes "The Black Shawl," the following verses cannot be denied +the merit of relating, in a few rapid and energetic measures, a simple +and striking story of Oriental love, vengeance, and remorse:-- + + THE BLACK SHAWL. + + Like a madman I gaze on a raven-black shawl; + Remorse, fear, and anguish--this heart knows them all. + + When believing and fond, in the spring-time of youth, + I loved a Greek maiden with tenderest truth. + + That fair one caress'd me--my life! oh, 'twas bright, + But it set--that fair day--in a hurricane night. + + One day I had bidden young guests, a gay crew, + When sudden there knock'd at my gate a vile Jew. + + "With guests thou art feasting," he whisperingly said, + "And _she_ hath betray'd thee--thy young Grecian maid." + + I cursed him, and gave him good guerdon of gold, + And call'd me a slave that was trusty and bold. + + "Ho! my charger--my charger!" we mount, we depart, + And soft pity whisper'd in vain at my heart. + + On the Greek maiden's threshold in frenzy I stood-- + I was faint--and the sun seem'd as darken'd with blood: + + By the maiden's lone window I listen'd, and there + I beheld an Armenian caressing the fair. + + The light darken'd round me--then flash'd my good blade.... + The minion ne'er finish'd the kiss that betray'd. + + On the corse of the minion in fury I danced, + Then silent and pale at the maiden I glanced. + + I remember the prayers and the red-bursting stream.... + Thus perish'd the maiden--thus perish'd my dream. + + This raven-black shawl from her dead brow I tore-- + On its fold from my dagger I wiped off the gore. + + The mists of the evening arose, and my slave + Hurl'd the corses of both in the Danube's dark wave. + + Since then, I kiss never the maid's eyes of light-- + Since then, I know never the soft joys of night. + + Like a madman I gaze on the raven-black shawl; + Remorse, fear, and anguish--this heart knows them all! + + * * * * * + +The pretty lines which we are now about to offer, are rather remarkable +as being written in the manner of the ancient national songs of Russia, +than for any thing very new in the ideas, or very striking in the +expression. They possess, however--at least in the original--a certain +charm arising from simplicity and grace. + + THE ROSE. + + Where is our rose, friends? + Tell if ye may! + Faded the rose, friends, + The Dawn-child of Day. + Ah, do not say, + Such is youth's fleetness! + Ah, do not say, + Thus fades life's sweetness! + No, rather say, + I mourn thee, rose--farewell! + Now to the lily-bell + Flit we away. + + * * * * * + +Among the thousand-and-one compositions, in all languages, founded upon +the sublime theme of the downfall and death of Napoleon, there are, we +think, very few which have surpassed, in weight of thought, in splendour +of diction, and in grandeur of versification, Púshkin's noble lyric upon +this subject. The mighty share which Russia had in overthrowing the +gigantic power of the greatest of modern conquerors, could not fail of +affording to a Russian poet a peculiar source of triumphant yet not too +exulting inspiration; and Púshkin, in that portion of the following ode +in which he is led more particularly to allude to the part played by his +country in the sublime drama, whose catastrophe was the ruin of +Bonaparte's blood-cemented empire, has given undeniable proof of his +possessing that union of magnanimity and patriotism, which is not the +meanest characteristic of elevated genius. While the poet gives full way +to the triumphant feelings so naturally inspired by the exploits of +Russian valour, and by the patient fortitude of Russian policy, he +wisely and nobly abstains on indulging in any of those outbursts of +gratified revenge and national hatred which deform the pages of almost +all--poets, and even historians--who have written on this colossal +subject. + + NAPOLEON. + + The wondrous destiny is ended, + The mighty light is quench'd and dead; + In storm and darkness hath descended + Napoleon's sun, so bright and dread. + The captive King hath burst his prison-- + The petted child of Victory; + And for the Exile hath arisen + The dawning of Posterity. + + O thou, of whose immortal story + Earth aye the memory shall keep, + Now, 'neath the shadow of thy glory + Rest, rest, amid the lonely deep! + A grave sublime ... nor nobler ever + Couldst thou have found ... for o'er thine urn + The Nations' hate is quench'd for ever, + And Glory's beacon-ray shall burn. + + There was a time thine eagles tower'd + Resistless o'er the humbled world; + There was a time the empires cower'd + Before the bolt thy hand had hurl'd: + The standards, thy proud will obeying, + Flapp'd wrath and woe on every wind-- + A few short years, and thou wert laying + Thine iron yoke on human kind. + + * * * * * + + And France, on glories vain and hollow, + Had fixed her frenzy-glance of flame-- + Forgot sublimer hopes, to follow + Thee, Conqueror, thee--her dazzling shame! + Thy legions' swords with blood were drunken-- + All sank before thine echoing tread; + And Europe fell--for sleep was sunken, + The sleep of death--upon her head. + + * * * * * + + Thou mightst have judged us, but thou wouldst not! + What dimm'd thy reason's piercing light, + That Russian hearts thou understoodst not, + From thine heroic spirit's height? + Moscow's immortal conflagration + Foreseeing not, thou deem'dst that we + Would kneel for peace, a conquer'd nation-- + Thou knew'st the Russ ... too late for thee! + + Up, Russia! Queen of hundred battles, + Remember now thine ancient right! + + * * * * * + + Blaze, Moscow!--Far shall shine thy light! + Lo! other times are dawning o'er us: + Be blotted out, our short disgrace! + Swell, Russia, swell the battle chorus! + War! is the watchword of our race! + + Lo! how the baffled leader seizeth, + With fetter'd hands, his Iron Crown-- + A dread abyss his spirit freezeth! + Down, down he goes, to ruin down! + And Europe's armaments are driven, + Like mist, along the blood-stain'd snow-- + That snow shall melt 'neath summer's heaven, + With the last footstep of the foe. + + 'Twas a wild storm of fear and wonder, + When Europe woke and burst her chain; + The accursed race, like scatter'd thunder, + After the tyrant fled amain. + And Nemesis a doom hath spoken, + The Mighty hears that doom with dread: + The wrongs thou'st done shall now be wroken, + Tyrant, upon thy guilty head! + + Thou shalt redeem thy usurpation, + Thy long career of war and crime, + In exile's eating desolation, + Beneath a far and stranger clime. + And oft the midnight sail shall wander + By that lone isle, thy prison-place, + And oft a stranger there shall ponder, + And o'er that stone a pardon trace, + + Where mused the Exile, oft recalling + The well-known clang of sword and lance, + The yells, Night's icy ear appalling; + His own blue sky--the sky of France; + Where, in his loneliness forgetting + His broken sword, his ruin'd throne, + With bitter grief, with vain regretting, + On his fair Boy he mused alone. + + But shame, and curses without number, + Upon that reptile head be laid, + Whose insults now shall vex the slumber + Of him--that sad discrowned shade! + No! for his trump the signal sounded, + Her glorious race when Russia ran; + His hand, 'mid strife and battle, founded + Eternal liberty for man! + + * * * * * + +The next specimen for which we have to request the indulgence of our +readers, is a little composition of a very different and much less +ambitious character. The idea is simple enough, and not, we think, +entirely devoid of originality--the primary object of every translator +in the selection of the subjects on which he is to exercise his +dexterity. + + THE STORM. + + See, on yon rock, a maiden's form, + Far o'er the wave a white robe flashing, + Around, before the blackening storm, + On the loud beach the billows dashing; + Along the waves, now red, now pale, + The lightning-glare incessant gleameth; + Whirling and fluttering in the gale, + The snowy robe incessant streameth; + Fair is that sea in blackening storm, + And fair that sky with lightnings riven, + But fairer far that maiden form, + Than wave, or flash, or stormy heaven! + + * * * * * + +We now come to one of the most remarkable lyric productions of our +Poet's genius, the "General;" and in order that our readers may be +enabled to understand and appreciate this exquisite little poem, we +shall preface it with a few remarks of an explanatory character; as the +_details_, at least, of the events upon which it is founded may not be +so generally known in England as they are in Russia. Our English +readers, however, are doubtless sufficiently familiar with the history +of the great campaign of the year 1812, which led to the burning of +Moscow, and to the consequent annihilation of the mighty army which +Napoleon led to perish in the snows of Russia, to remember one +remarkable episode connected with that most important campaign. They +remember that one of the Russian armies was placed under the command of +Field-marshal Barclay de Tolly, a general descended from an ancient +Scottish family which had been settled for some generations in Russia, +but who was in every respect to be considered as a native Russian, being +born a subject of the Tsar, and having, during a long life of service in +the Russian army, gradually reached the highest military rank, and +acquired a well-earned and universal reputation as an able strategist +and a brave man. The mode of operations determined on at the beginning +of this most momentous struggle, and persevered in throughout by the +Russians, with a patience and steadiness no less admirable than the +wisdom of the combinations on which they were founded, was a purely +defensive system of tactics. The event amply demonstrated the soundness +of the principles upon which those operations were based; for while +Napoleon was gradually attracted into the interior of the country by +armies which perpetually retired before him without giving him the +opportunity of coming to a general action, the autumn was gradually +passing away, and the flames of Moscow only served to light up, for the +French army, the beginning of their hopeless retreat through a country +now totally laid waste, and covered with the snows of a Russian winter. +This mode of operations, however, was by no means likely to please the +population of Russia, infuriated by the long unaccustomed presence of a +hostile army within their sacred frontier, and worked up by all the +circumstances of the invasion to the highest pitch of patriotic +enthusiasm. Unable to appreciate the value of what must have appeared to +them a timid and pusillanimous policy, they overwhelmed Barclay de Tolly +with violent accusations of cowardice, and even of treachery; rendered +the more plausible to the mind of the ignorant, by the circumstance of +their object being a foreigner--or at least of foreign blood. So violent +ultimately became these accusations, that although the Field-marshal +continued to enjoy the highest confidence and esteem of his sovereign, +it was found expedient to allow him to resign the chief command, in +which he was succeeded by Kutúzoff. Barclay de Tolly, during the greater +part of the campaign, fought as a simple general of division, in which +character (as Púshkin describes) he took part in the great battle of +Borodíno. + +Barclay must still be considered as one of those distinguished persons +to whose memory justice has never been entirely done; and to do this +justice was Púshkin's generous task in the noble lines which follow +these remarks. No traveller has ever visited the winter palace of St +Petersburg without having been struck with the celebrated "Hall of +Marshals," which forms one of its most imposing features. In this +magnificent room are placed the portraits (chiefly painted by Dawe, an +English artist, who passed the greater part of his life in Russia) of +the Russian generals who figured in that great campaign; and among them +is to be found, of course, the "counterfeit presentment" of Barclay de +Tolly, painted, as the field-marshals are in every case in this gallery +of portraits, at full length. With respect to the versification of this +and several other poems which we have selected, the English reader will +not perhaps at first remark that it is nothing more than the measure +used by old Drayton in the _Polyolbion_, and one in which a great deal +of the earlier English poetry is written. It is very favourite measure +of our Russian poet, who has, however, increased, in some degree, its +difficulty for an English versifier, by introducing a great number of +double terminations. It will be found, indeed, that these double rhymes +are as numerous as the single or monosyllabic ones. + + THE GENERAL. + + In the Tsar's palace stands a hall right nobly builded; + Its walls are neither carved, nor velvet-hung, nor gilded, + Nor here beneath the glass doth pearl or diamond glow; + But wheresoe'er ye look, around, above, below, + The quick-eyed Painter's hand, now bold, now softly tender, + From his free pencil here hath shed a magic splendour. + Here are no village nymphs, no dewy forest-glades, + No fauns with giddy cups, no snowy-bosom'd maids, + No hunting-scene, no dance; but cloaks, and plumes, and sabres, + And faces sternly still, and dark with hero-labours. + The Painter's art hath here in glittering crowd portray'd + The chiefs who Russia's line to victory array'd; + Chiefs in that great Campaign attired in fadeless glory + Of the year Twelve, that aye shall live in Russian story. + Here oft in musing mood my silent footstep strays, + Before these well-known forms I love to stop and gaze, + And dream I hear their voice, 'mid battle-thunder ringing. + Some of them are no more; and some, with faces flinging + Upon the canvass still Youth's fresh and rosy bloom, + Are wrinkled now and old, and bending to the tomb + The laurel-wreathed brow. + But chiefly One doth win me + 'Mid the stern throng. With new thoughts swelling in me + Before that One I stand, and cannot lightly brook + To take mine eye from him. And still, the more I look, + The more within my breast is bitterness awaked. + + He's painted at full length. His brow, austere and naked, + Shines like a fleshless skull, and on it ye may mark + A mighty weight of woe. Around him--all is dark; + Behind, a tented field. Tranquil and stern he raises + His mournful eye, and with contemptuous calmness gazes. + Be't that the artist here embodied his own thought, + When on the canvass thus the lineaments he caught, + Or guided and inspired by some unknown Possession-- + I know not: Dawe has drawn the man with this expression. + + Unhappy chief! Alas, thy cup was full of gall; + Unto a foreign land thou sacrificedst all. + The savage mob's dull glance of hate thou calmly balkedst, + With thy great thoughts alone and silently thou walkedst; + The people could not brook thy foreign-sounding name, + Pursued thee with its yell, and piled thy head with shame, + And by thy very hand though saved from ill and danger, + Mock'd at thy sacred age--thou hoary-headed stranger! + And even _he_, whose soul could read thy noble heart, + To please that idiot mob, blamed thee with cruel art.... + And long with patient faith, defying doubt and terror, + Thou heldest on unmoved, spite of a people's error; + And, e'er thy race was run, wert forced at last to yield + The well-earned laurel-wreath of many a bloody field, + Fame, power, and deep-thought plans; and with thy sword beside thee + Within a regiment's ranks, alone, obscure, to hide thee, + And there, a veteran chief, like some young sentinel, + When first upon his ear rings the ball's whistling knell, + Thou rushedst 'mid the fire, a warrior's death desiring-- + In vain!-- + + * * * * * + + O men! O wretched race! O worthy tears and laughter! + Priests of the moment's god, ne'er thinking of hereafter! + How oft among ye, men! a mighty one is seen, + Whom the blind age pursues with insults mad and mean, + But gazing on whose face, some future generation + Shall feel, as I do now, regret and admiration! + + + + +SUSPIRIA DE PROFUNDIS; BEING A SEQUEL TO THE CONFESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH +OPIUM-EATER. + +PART II. + + +The Oxford visions, of which some have been given, were but +anticipations necessary to illustrate the glimpse opened of childhood, +(as being its reaction.) In this SECOND part, returning from that +anticipation, I retrace an abstract of my boyish and youthful days so +far as they furnished or exposed the germs of later experiences in +worlds more shadowy. + +Upon me, as upon others scattered thinly by tens and twenties over every +thousand years, fell too powerfully and too early the vision of life. +The horror of life mixed itself already in earliest youth with the +heavenly sweetness of life; that grief, which one in a hundred has +sensibility enough to gather from the sad retrospect of life in its +closing stage, for me shed its dews as a prelibation upon the fountains +of life whilst yet sparkling to the morning sun. I saw from afar and +from before what I was to see from behind. Is this the description of an +early youth passed in the shades of gloom? No, but of a youth passed in +the divinest happiness. And if the reader has (which so few have) the +passion, without which there is no reading of the legend and +superscription upon man's brow, if he is not (as most are) deafer than +the grave to every _deep_ note that sighs upwards from the Delphic caves +of human life, he will know that the rapture of life (or any thing which +by approach can merit that name) does not arise, unless as perfect music +arises--music of Mozart or Beethoven--by the confluence of the mighty +and terrific discords with the subtle concords. Not by contrast, or as +reciprocal foils do these elements act, which is the feeble conception +of many, but by union. They are the sexual forces in music: "male and +female created he them;" and these mighty antagonists do not put forth +their hostilities by repulsion, but by deepest attraction. + +As "in to-day already walks to-morrow," so in the past experience of a +youthful life may be seen dimly the future. The collisions with alien +interests or hostile views, of a child, boy, or very young man, so +insulated as each of these is sure to be,--those aspects of opposition +which such a person _can_ occupy, are limited by the exceedingly few and +trivial lines of connexion along which he is able to radiate any +essential influence whatever upon the fortunes or happiness of others. +Circumstances may magnify his importance for the moment; but, after all, +any cable which he carries out upon other vessels is easily slipped upon +a feud arising. Far otherwise is the state of relations connecting an +adult or responsible man with the circles around him as life advances. +The network of these relations is a thousand times more intricate, the +jarring of these intricate relations a thousand times more frequent, and +the vibrations a thousand times harsher which these jarrings diffuse. +This truth is felt beforehand misgivingly and in troubled vision, by a +young man who stands upon the threshold of manhood. One earliest +instinct of fear and horror would darken his spirit if it could be +revealed to itself and self-questioned at the moment of birth: a second +instinct of the sane nature would again pollute that tremulous mirror, +if the moment were as punctually marked as physical birth is marked, +which dismisses him finally upon the tides of absolute self-control. A +dark ocean would seem the total expanse of life from the first: but far +darker and more appalling would seem that interior and second chamber of +the ocean which called him away for ever on the direct accountability of +others. Dreadful would be the morning which should say--"Be thou a human +child incarnate;" but more dreadful the morning which should say--"Bear +thou henceforth the sceptre of thy self-dominion through life, and the +passion of life!" Yes, dreadful would be both: but without a basis of +the dreadful there is no perfect rapture. It is a part through the +sorrow of life, growing out of its events, that this basis of awe and +solemn darkness slowly accumulates. _That_ I have illustrated. But, as +life expands, it is more through the _strife_ which besets us, strife +from conflicting opinions, positions, passions, interests, that the +funereal ground settles and deposits itself, which sends upward the dark +lustrous brilliancy through the jewel of life--else revealing a pale and +superficial glitter. Either the human being must suffer and struggle as +the price of a more searching vision, or his gaze must be shallow and +without intellectual revelation. + +Through accident it was in part, and, where through no accident but my +own nature, not through features of it at all painful to recollect, that +constantly in early life (that is, from boyish days until eighteen, when +by going to Oxford, practically I became my own master) I was engaged in +duels of fierce continual struggle, with some person or body of persons, +that sought, like the Roman _retiarius_, to throw a net of deadly +coercion or constraint over the undoubted rights of my natural freedom. +The steady rebellion upon my part in one-half, was a mere human reaction +of justifiable indignation; but in the other half it was the struggle of +a conscientious nature--disdaining to feel it as any mere right or +discretional privilege--no, feeling it as the noblest of duties to +resist, though it should be mortally, those that would have enslaved me, +and to retort scorn upon those that would have put my head below their +feet. Too much, even in later life, I have perceived in men that pass +for good men, a disposition to degrade (and if possible to degrade +through self-degradation) those in whom unwillingly they feel any weight +of oppression to themselves, by commanding qualities of intellect or +character. They respect you: they are compelled to do so: and they hate +to do so. Next, therefore, they seek to throw off the sense of this +oppression, and to take vengeance for it, by co-operating with any +unhappy accidents in your life, to inflict a sense of humiliation upon +you, and (if possible) to force you into becoming a consenting party to +that humiliation. Oh, wherefore is it that those who presume to call +themselves the "friends" of this man or that woman, are so often those +above all others, whom in the hour of death that man or woman is most +likely to salute with the valediction--Would God I had never seen your +face? + +In citing one or two cases of these early struggles, I have chiefly in +view the effect of these upon my subsequent visions under the reign of +opium. And this indulgent reflection should accompany the mature reader +through all such records of boyish inexperience. A good tempered-man, +who is also acquainted with the world, will easily evade, without +needing any artifice of servile obsequiousness, those quarrels which an +upright simplicity, jealous of its own rights, and unpractised in the +science of worldly address, cannot always evade without some loss of +self-respect. Suavity in this manner may, it is true, be reconciled with +firmness in the matter; but not easily by a young person who wants all +the appropriate resources of knowledge, of adroit and guarded language, +for making his good temper available. Men are protected from insult and +wrong, not merely by their own skill, but also in the absence of any +skill at all, by the general spirit of forbearance to which society has +trained all those whom they are likely to meet. But boys meeting with no +such forbearance or training in other boys, must sometimes be thrown +upon feuds in the ratio of their own firmness, much more than in the +ratio of any natural proneness to quarrel. Such a subject, however, will +be best illustrated by a sketch or two of my own principal feuds. + +The first, but merely transient and playful, nor worth noticing at all, +but for its subsequent resurrection under other and awful colouring in +my dreams, grew out of an imaginary slight, as I viewed it, put upon me +by one of my guardians. I had four guardians: and the one of these who +had the most knowledge and talent of the whole, a banker, living about a +hundred miles from my home, had invited me when eleven years old to his +house. His eldest daughter, perhaps a year younger than myself, wore at +that time upon her very lovely face the most angelic expression of +character and temper that I have almost ever seen. Naturally, I fell in +love with her. It seems absurd to say so; and the more so, because two +children more absolutely innocent than we were cannot be imagined, +neither of us having ever been at any school;--but the simple truth is, +that in the most chivalrous sense I was in love with her. And the proof +that I was so showed itself in three separate modes: I kissed her glove +on any rare occasion when I found it lying on a table; secondly, I +looked out for some excuse to be jealous of her; and, thirdly, I did my +very best to get up a quarrel. What I wanted the quarrel for was the +luxury of a reconciliation; a hill cannot be had, you know, without +going to the expense of a valley. And though I hated the very thought of +a moment's difference with so truly gentle a girl, yet how, but through +such a purgatory, could one win the paradise of her returning smiles? +All this, however, came to nothing; and simply because she positively +would _not_ quarrel. And the jealousy fell through, because there was no +decent subject for such a passion, unless it had settled upon an old +music-master whom lunacy itself could not adopt as a rival. The quarrel +meantime, which never prospered with the daughter, silently kindled on +my part towards the father. His offence was this. At dinner, I naturally +placed myself by the side of M., and it gave me great pleasure to touch +her hand at intervals. As M. was my cousin, though twice or even three +times removed, I did not feel taking too great a liberty in this little +act of tenderness. No matter if three thousand times removed, I said, my +cousin is my cousin: nor had I ever very much designed to conceal the +act; or if so, rather on her account than my own. One evening, however, +papa observed my manoeuvre. Did he seem displeased? Not at all: he +even condescended to smile. But the next day he placed M. on the side +opposite to myself. In one respect this was really an improvement; +because it gave me a better view of my cousin's sweet countenance. But +then there was the loss of the hand to be considered, and secondly there +was the affront. It was clear that vengeance must be had. Now there was +but one thing in this world that I could do even decently: but _that_ I +could do admirably. This was writing Latin hexameters. Juvenal, though +it was not very much of him that I had then read, seemed to me a divine +model. The inspiration of wrath spoke through him as through a Hebrew +prophet. The same inspiration spoke now in me. _Facit indignatio +versum_, said Juvenal. And it must be owned that Indignation has never +made such good verses since as she did in that day. But still, even to +me this agile passion proved a Muse of genial inspiration for a couple +of paragraphs: and one line I will mention as worthy to have taken its +place in Juvenal himself. I say this without scruple, having not a +shadow of vanity, nor on the other hand a shadow of false modesty +connected with such boyish accomplishments. The poem opened thus-- + + "Te nimis austerum; sacrae qui foedera mensae + Diruis, insector Satyrae reboante flagello." + +But the line, which I insist upon as of Roman strength, was the closing +one of the next sentence. The general effect of the sentiment was--that +my clamorous wrath should make its way even into ears that were past +hearing: + + "----mea saeva querela + Auribus insidet ceratis, auribus etsi + Non audituris hybernâ nocte procellam." + +The power, however, which inflated my verse, soon collapsed; having been +soothed from the very first by finding--that except in this one instance +at the dinner-table, which probably had been viewed as an indecorum, no +further restraint of any kind whatever was meditated upon my intercourse +with M. Besides, it was too painful to lock up good verses in one's own +solitary breast. Yet how could I shock the sweet filial heart of my +cousin by a fierce lampoon or _stylites_ against her father, had Latin +even figured amongst her accomplishments? Then it occurred to me that +the verses might be shown to the father. But was there not something +treacherous in gaining a man's approbation under a mask to a satire upon +himself? Or would he have always understood me? For one person a year +after took the _sacrae mensae_ (by which I had meant the sanctities of +hospitality) to mean the sacramental table. And on consideration I began +to suspect, that many people would pronounce myself the party who had +violated the holy ties of hospitality, which are equally binding on +guest as on host. Indolence, which sometimes comes in aid of good +impulses as well as bad, favoured these relenting thoughts; the society +of M. did still more to wean me from further efforts of satire: and, +finally, my Latin poem remained a _torso_. But upon the whole my +guardian had a narrow escape of descending to posterity in a +disadvantageous light, had he rolled down to it through my hexameters. + +Here was a case of merely playful feud. But the same talent of Latin +verses soon after connected me with a real feud that harassed my mind +more than would be supposed, and precisely by this agency, viz. that it +arrayed one set of feelings against another. It divided my mind as by +domestic feud against itself. About a year after, returning from the +visit to my guardian's, and when I must have been nearly completing my +twelfth year, I was sent to a great public school. Every man has reason +to rejoice who enjoys so great an advantage. I condemned and _do_ +condemn the practice of sometimes sending out into such stormy exposures +those who are as yet too young, too dependent on female gentleness, and +endowed with sensibilities too exquisite. But at nine or ten the +masculine energies of the character are beginning to be developed: or, +if not, no discipline will better aid in their developement than the +bracing intercourse of a great English classical school. Even the +selfish are forced into accommodating themselves to a public standard of +generosity, and the effeminate into conforming to a rule of manliness. I +was myself at two public schools; and I think with gratitude of the +benefit which I reaped from both; as also I think with gratitude of the +upright guardian in whose quiet household I learned Latin so +effectually. But the small private schools which I witnessed for brief +periods, containing thirty to forty boys, were models of ignoble +manners as respected some part of the juniors, and of favouritism +amongst the masters. Nowhere is the sublimity of public justice so +broadly exemplified as in an English school. There is not in the +universe such an areopagus for fair play and abhorrence of all crooked +ways, as an English mob, or one of the English time-honoured public +schools. But my own first introduction to such an establishment was +under peculiar and contradictory circumstances. When my "rating," or +graduation in the school, was to be settled, naturally my altitude (to +speak astronomically) was taken by the proficiency in Greek. But I could +then barely construe books so easy as the Greek Testament and the Iliad. +This was considered quite well enough for my age; but still it caused me +to be placed three steps below the highest rank in the school. Within +one week, however, my talent for Latin verses, which had by this time +gathered strength and expansion, became known. I was honoured as never +was man or boy since Mordecai the Jew. Not properly belonging to the +flock of the head master, but to the leading section of the second, I +was now weekly paraded for distinction at the supreme tribunal of the +school; out of which at first grew nothing but a sunshine of approbation +delightful to my heart, still brooding upon solitude. Within six weeks +this had changed. The approbation indeed continued, and the public +testimony of it. Neither would there, in the ordinary course, have been +any painful reaction from jealousy or fretful resistance to the +soundness of my pretensions; since it was sufficiently known to some of +my schoolfellows, that I, who had no male relatives but military men, +and those in India, could not have benefited by any clandestine aid. +But, unhappily, the head master was at that time dissatisfied with some +points in the progress of his head form; and, as it soon appeared, was +continually throwing in their teeth the brilliancy of my verses at +twelve, by comparison with theirs at seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen. +I had observed him sometimes pointing to myself; and was perplexed at +seeing the gesture followed by gloomy looks, and what French reporters +call "sensation," in these young men, whom naturally I viewed with awe +as my leaders, boys that were called young men, men that were reading +Sophocles--(a name that carried with it the sound of something seraphic +to my ears)--and who never had vouchsafed to waste a word on such a +child as myself. The day was come, however, when all that would be +changed. One of these leaders strode up to me in the public playgrounds, +and delivering a blow on my shoulder, which was not intended to hurt me, +but as a mere formula of introduction, asked me, "What the d--l I meant +by bolting out of the course, and annoying other people in that manner? +Were other people to have no rest for me and my verses, which, after +all, were horribly bad?" There might have been some difficulty in +returning an answer to this address, but none was required. I was +briefly admonished to see that I wrote worse for the future, or +else----At this _aposiopesis_ I looked enquiringly at the speaker, and +he filled up the chasm by saying, that he would "annihilate" me. Could +any person fail to be aghast at such a demand? I was to write worse than +my own standard, which, by his account of my verses, must be difficult; +and I was to write worse than himself, which might be impossible. My +feelings revolted, it may be supposed, against so arrogant a demand, +unless it had been far otherwise expressed; and on the next occasion for +sending up verses, so far from attending to the orders issued, I +double-shotted my guns; double applause descended on myself; but I +remarked with some awe, though not repenting of what I had done, that +double confusion seemed to agitate the ranks of my enemies. Amongst them +loomed out in the distance my "annihilating" friend, who shook his huge +fist at me, but with something like a grim smile about his eyes. He took +an early opportunity of paying his respects to me--saying, "You little +devil, do you call this writing your worst?" "No," I replied; "I call it +writing my best." The annihilator, as it turned out, was really a +good-natured young man; but he soon went off to Cambridge; and with the +rest, or some of them, I continued to wage war for nearly a year. And +yet, for a word spoken with kindness, I would have resigned the +peacock's feather in my cap as the merest of baubles. Undoubtedly, +praise sounded sweet in my ears also. But _that_ was nothing by +comparison with what stood on the other side. I detested distinctions +that were connected with mortification to others. And, even if I could +have got over _that_, the eternal feud fretted and tormented my nature. +Love, that once in childhood had been so mere a necessity to me, _that_ +had long been a mere reflected ray from a departed sunset. But peace, +and freedom from strife, if love were no longer possible, (as so rarely +it is in this world,) was the absolute necessity of my heart. To contend +with somebody was still my fate; how to escape the contention I could +not see; and yet for itself, and the deadly passions into which it +forced me, I hated and loathed it more than death. It added to the +distraction and internal feud of my own mind--that I could not +_altogether_ condemn the upper boys. I was made a handle of humiliation +to them. And in the mean time, if I had an advantage in one +accomplishment, which is all a matter of accident, or peculiar taste and +feeling, they, on the other hand, had a great advantage over me in the +more elaborate difficulties of Greek, and of choral Greek poetry. I +could not altogether wonder at their hatred of myself. Yet still, as +they had chosen to adopt this mode of conflict with me, I did not feel +that I had any choice but to resist. The contest was terminated for me +by my removal from the school, in consequence of a very threatening +illness affecting my head; but it lasted nearly a year; and it did not +close before several amongst my public enemies had become my private +friends. They were much older, but they invited me to the houses of +their friends, and showed me a respect which deeply affected me--this +respect having more reference, apparently, to the firmness I had +exhibited than to the splendour of my verses. And, indeed, these had +rather drooped from a natural accident; several persons of my own class +had formed the practice of asking me to write verses for _them_. I could +not refuse. But, as the subjects given out were the same for all of us, +it was not possible to take so many crops off the ground without +starving the quality of all. + +Two years and a half from this time, I was again at a public school of +ancient foundation. Now I was myself one of the three who formed the +highest class. Now I myself was familiar with Sophocles, who once had +been so shadowy a name in my ear. But, strange to say, now in my +sixteenth year, I cared nothing at all for the glory of Latin verse. All +the business of school was slight and trivial in my eyes. Costing me not +an effort, it could not engage any part of my attention; that was now +swallowed up altogether by the literature of my native land. I still +reverenced the Grecian drama, as always I must. But else I cared little +then for classical pursuits. A deeper spell had mastered me; and I lived +only in those bowers where deeper passions spoke. + +Here, however, it was that began another and more important struggle. I +was drawing near to seventeen, and, in a year after _that_, would arrive +the usual time for going to Oxford. To Oxford my guardians made no +objection; and they readily agreed to make the allowance then +universally regarded as the _minimum_ for an Oxford student, viz. £200 +per annum. But they insisted, as a previous condition, that I should +make a positive and definitive choice of a profession. Now I was well +aware that, if I _did_ make such a choice, no law existed, nor could any +obligation be created through deeds or signature, by which I could +finally be compelled into keeping my engagement. But this evasion did +not suit me. Here, again, I felt indignantly that the principle of the +attempt was unjust. The object was certainly to do me service by saving +money, since, if I selected the bar as my profession, it was contended +by some persons, (misinformed, however,) that not Oxford, but a special +pleader's office, would be my proper destination; but I cared not for +arguments of that sort. Oxford I was determined to make my home; and +also to bear my future course utterly untrammeled by promises that I +might repent. Soon came the catastrophe of this struggle. A little +before my seventeenth birthday, I walked off one lovely summer morning +to North Wales--rambled there for months--and, finally, under some +obscure hopes of raising money on my personal security, I went up to +London. Now I was in my eighteenth year; and, during this period it was +that I passed through that trial of severe distress, of which I gave +some account in my former Confessions. Having a motive, however, for +glancing backwards briefly at that period in the present series, I will +do so at this point. + +I saw in one journal an insinuation that the incidents in the +_preliminary_ narrative were possibly without foundation. To such an +expression of mere gratuitous malignity, as it happened to be supported +by no one argument except a remark, apparently absurd, but certainly +false, I did not condescend to answer. In reality, the possibility had +never occurred to me that any person of judgment would seriously suspect +me of taking liberties with that part of the work, since, though no one +of the parties concerned but myself stood in so central a position to +the circumstances as to be acquainted with _all_ of them, many were +acquainted with each separate section of the memoir. Relays of witnesses +might have been summoned to mount guard, as it were, upon the accuracy +of each particular in the whole succession of incidents; and some of +these people had an interest, more or less strong, in exposing any +deviation from the strictest _letter_ of the truth, had it been in their +power to do so. It is now twenty-two years since I saw the objection +here alluded to; and, in saying that I did not condescend to notice it, +the reader must not find any reason for taxing me with a blamable +haughtiness. But every man is entitled to be haughty when his veracity +is impeached; and, still more, when it is impeached by a dishonest +objection, or, if not _that_, by an objection which argues a +carelessness of attention almost amounting to dishonesty, in a case +where it was meant to sustain an imputation of falsehood. Let a man read +carelessly if he will, but not where he is meaning to use his reading +for a purpose of wounding another man's honour. Having thus, by +twenty-two years' silence, sufficiently expressed my contempt for the +slander,[19] I now feel myself at liberty to draw it into notice, for +the sake, _inter alia_, of showing in how rash a spirit malignity often +works. In the preliminary account of certain boyish adventures which had +exposed me to suffering of a kind not commonly incident to persons in my +station of life, and leaving behind a temptation to the use of opium +under certain arrears of weakness, I had occasion to notice a +disreputable attorney in London, who showed me some attentions, partly +on my own account as a boy of some expectations, but much more with the +purpose of fastening his professional grappling-hooks upon the young +Earl of A----t, my former companion, and my present correspondent. This +man's house was slightly described, and, with more minuteness, I had +exposed some interesting traits in his household economy. A question, +therefore, naturally arose in several people's curiosity--Where was this +house situated? and the more so because I had pointed a renewed +attention to it by saying, that on that very evening, (viz. the evening +on which that particular page of the Confessions was written,) I had +visited the street, looked up at the windows, and, instead of the gloomy +desolation reigning there when myself and a little girl were the sole +nightly tenants, sleeping in fact (poor freezing creatures that we both +were) on the floor of the attorney's law-chamber, and making a pillow +out of his infernal parchments, I had seen with pleasure the evidences +of comfort, respectability, and domestic animation, in the lights and +stir prevailing through different stories of the house. Upon this the +upright critic told his readers that I had described the house as +standing in Oxford Street, and then appealed to their own knowledge of +that street whether such a house could be _so_ situated. Why not--he +neglected to tell us. The houses at the east end of Oxford Street are +certainly of too small an order to meet my account of the attorney's +house; but why should it be at the east end? Oxford Street is a mile and +a quarter long, and being built continuously on both sides, finds room +for houses of _many_ classes. Meantime it happens that, although the +true house was most obscurely indicated, _any_ house whatever in Oxford +Street was most luminously excluded. In all the immensity of London +there was but one single street that could be challenged by an attentive +reader of the Confessions as peremptorily _not_ the street of the +attorney's house--and _that_ one was Oxford Street; for, in speaking of +my own renewed acquaintance with the outside of this house, I used some +expression implying that, in order to make such a visit of +reconnoissance, I had turned _aside_ from Oxford Street. The matter is a +perfect trifle in itself, but it is no trifle in a question affecting a +writer's accuracy. If in a thing so absolutely impossible to be +forgotten as the true situation of a house painfully memorable to a +man's feelings, from being the scene of boyish distresses the most +exquisite--nights passed in the misery of cold, and hunger preying upon +him both night and day, in a degree which very many would not have +survived,--he, when retracing his schoolboy annals, could have shown +indecision even, far more dreaded inaccuracy, in identifying the house, +not one syllable after _that_, which he could have said on any other +subject, would have won any confidence, or deserved any, from a +judicious reader. I may now mention--the Herod being dead whose +persecutions I had reason to fear--that the house in question stands in +Greek Street on the west, and is the house on that side nearest to +Soho-Square, but without looking into the Square. This it was hardly +safe to mention at the date of the published Confessions. It was my +private opinion, indeed, that there were probably twenty-five chances to +one in favour of my friend the attorney having been by that time hanged. +But then this argued inversely; one chance to twenty-five that my friend +might be _un_hanged, and knocking about the streets of London; in which +case it would have been a perfect god-send to him that here lay an +opening (of _my_ contrivance, not _his_) for requesting the opinion of a +jury on the amount of _solatium_ due to his wounded feelings in an +action on the passage in the Confessions. To have indicated even the +street would have been enough. Because there could surely be but one +such Grecian in Greek Street, or but one that realized the other +conditions of the unknown quantity. There was also a separate danger not +absolutely so laughable as it sounds. Me there was little chance that +the attorney should meet; but my book he might easily have met +(supposing always that the warrant of _Sus. per coll._ had not yet on +_his_ account travelled down to Newgate.) For he was literary; admired +literature; and, as a lawyer, he wrote on some subjects fluently; Might +he not publish _his_ Confessions? Or, which would be worse, a supplement +to mine--printed so as exactly to match? In which case I should have had +the same affliction that Gibbon the historian dreaded so much; viz. that +of seeing a refutation of himself, and his own answer to the refutation, +all bound up in one and the same self-combating volume. Besides, he +would have cross-examined me before the public in Old Bailey style; no +story, the most straightforward that ever was told, could be sure to +stand _that_. And my readers might be left in a state of painful doubt +whether _he_ might not, after all, have been a model of suffering +innocence--I (to say the kindest thing possible) plagued with the +natural treacheries of a schoolboy's memory. In taking leave of this +case and the remembrances connected with it, let me say that, although +really believing in the probability of the attorney's having at least +found his way to Australia, I had no satisfaction in thinking of that +result. I knew my friend to be the very perfection of a scamp. And in +the running account between us, (I mean, in the ordinary sense, as to +money,) the balance could not be in _his_ favour; since I, on receiving +a sum of money, (considerable in the eyes of us both,) had transferred +pretty nearly the whole of it to _him_, for the purpose ostensibly held +out to me (but of course a hoax) of purchasing certain law "stamps;" for +he was then pursuing a diplomatic correspondence with various Jews who +lent money to young heirs, in some trifling proportion on my own +insignificant account, but much more truly on the account of Lord +A----t, my young friend. On the other side, he had given to me simply +the reliques of his breakfast-table, which itself was hardly more than a +relique. But in this he was not to blame. He could not give to me what +he had not for himself, nor sometimes for the poor starving child whom I +now suppose to have been his illegitimate daughter. So desperate was the +running fight, yard-arm to yard-arm, which he maintained with creditors +fierce as famine and hungry as the grave; so deep also was his horror (I +know not for which of the various reasons supposable) against falling +into a prison, that he seldom ventured to sleep twice successively in +the same house. That expense of itself must have pressed heavily in +London, where you pay half-a-crown at least for a bed that would cost +only a shilling in the provinces. In the midst of his knaveries, and +what were even more shocking to my remembrance, his confidential +discoveries in his rambling conversations of knavish _designs_, (not +always pecuniary,) there was a light of wandering misery in his eye at +times, which affected me afterwards at intervals when I recalled it in +the radiant happiness of nineteen, and amidst the solemn tranquillities +of Oxford. That of itself was interesting; the man was worse by far than +he had been meant to be; he had not the mind that reconciles itself to +evil. Besides, he respected scholarship, which appeared by the deference +he generally showed to myself, then about seventeen; he had an interest +in literature; _that_ argues something good; and was pleased at any +time, or even cheerful, when I turned the conversation upon books; nay, +he seemed touched with emotion, when I quoted some sentiment noble and +impassioned from one of the great poets, and would ask me to repeat it. +He would have been a man of memorable energy, and for good purposes, had +it not been for his agony of conflict with pecuniary embarrassments. +These probably had commenced in some fatal compliance with temptation +arising out of funds confided to him by a client. Perhaps he had gained +fifty guineas for a moment of necessity, and had sacrificed for that +trifle _only_ the serenity and the comfort of a life. Feelings of +relenting kindness, it was not in my nature to refuse in such a case; +and I wished to * * * But I never succeeded in tracing his steps through +the wilderness of London until some years back, when I ascertained that +he was dead. Generally speaking, the few people whom I have disliked in +this world were flourishing people of good repute. Whereas the knaves +whom I have known, one and all, and by no means few, I think of with +pleasure and kindness. + +Heavens! when I look back to the sufferings which I have witnessed or +heard of even from this one brief London experience, I say if life could +throw open its long suits of chambers to our eyes from some station +_beforehand_, if from some secret stand we could look _by anticipation_ +along its vast corridors, and aside into the recesses opening upon them +from either hand, halls of tragedy or chambers of retribution, simply in +that small wing and no more of the great caravanserai which we ourselves +shall haunt, simply in that narrow tract of time and no more where we +ourselves shall range, and confining our gaze to those and no others for +whom personally we shall be interested, what a recoil we should suffer +of horror in our estimate of life! What if those sudden catastrophes, or +those inexpiable afflictions, which _have_ already descended upon the +people within my own knowledge, and almost below my own eyes, all of +them now gone past, and some long past, had been thrown open before me +as a secret exhibition when first I and they stood within the vestibule +of morning hopes; when the calamities themselves had hardly begun to +gather in their elements of possibility, and when some of the parties to +them were as yet no more than infants! The past viewed not _as_ the +past, but by a spectator who steps back ten years deeper into the rear, +in order that he may regard it as a future; the calamity of 1840 +contemplated from the station of 1830--the doom that rang the knell of +happiness viewed from a point of time when as yet it was neither feared +nor would even have been intelligible--the name that killed in 1843, +which in 1835 would have struck no vibration upon the heart--the +portrait that on the day of her Majesty's coronation would have been +admired by you with a pure disinterested admiration, but which if seen +to-day would draw forth an involuntary groan--cases such as these are +strangely moving for all who add deep thoughtfulness to deep +sensibility. As the hastiest of improvisations, accept--fair reader, +(for you it is that will chiefly feel such an invocation of the +past)--three or four illustrations from my own experience. + +Who is this distinguished-looking young woman with her eyes drooping, +and the shadow of a dreadful shock yet fresh upon every feature? Who is +the elderly lady with her eyes flashing fire? Who is the downcast child +of sixteen? What is that torn paper lying at their feet? Who is the +writer? Whom does the paper concern? Ah! if she, if the central figure +in the group--twenty-two at the moment when she is revealed to +us--could, on her happy birth-day at sweet seventeen, have seen the +image of herself five years onwards, just as _we_ see it now, would she +have prayed for life as for an absolute blessing? or would she not have +prayed to be taken from the evil to come--to be taken away one evening +at least before this day's sun arose? It is true, she still wears a look +of gentle pride, and a relic of that noble smile which belongs to _her_ +that suffers an injury which many times over she would have died sooner +than inflict. Womanly pride refuses itself before witnesses to the total +prostration of the blow; but, for all _that_, you may see that she longs +to be left alone, and that her tears will flow without restraint when +she is so. This room is her pretty boudoir, in which, till +to-night--poor thing!--she has been glad and happy. There stands her +miniature conservatory, and there expands her miniature library; as we +circumnavigators of literature are apt (you know) to regard all female +libraries in the light of miniatures. None of these will ever rekindle a +smile on _her_ face; and there, beyond, is her music, which only of all +that she possesses, will now become dearer to her than ever; but not, as +once, to feed a self-mocked pensiveness, or to cheat a half-visionary +sadness. She will be sad indeed. But she is one of those that will +suffer in silence. Nobody will ever detect _her_ failing in any point of +duty, or querulously seeking the support in others which she can find +for herself in this solitary room. Droop she will not in the sight of +men; and, for all beyond, nobody has any concern with _that_ except God. +You shall hear what becomes of her, before we take our departure; but +now let me tell you what has happened. In the main outline I am sure you +guess already without aid of mine, for we leaden-eyed men, in such +cases, see nothing by comparison with you our quick-witted sisters. That +haughty-looking lady with the Roman cast of features, who must once have +been strikingly handsome--an Agrippina, even yet, in a favourable +presentation--is the younger lady's aunt. She, it is rumoured, once +sustained, in her younger days, some injury of that same cruel nature +which has this day assailed her niece, and ever since she has worn an +air of disdain, not altogether unsupported by real dignity, towards men. +This aunt it was that tore the letter which lies upon the floor. It +deserved to be torn; and yet she that had the best right to do so would +_not_ have torn it. That letter was an elaborate attempt on the part of +an accomplished young man to release himself from sacred engagements. +What need was there to argue the case of _such_ engagements? Could it +have been requisite with pure female dignity to plead any thing, or do +more than _look_ an indisposition to fulfil them? The aunt is now moving +towards the door, which I am glad to see; and she is followed by that +pale timid girl of sixteen, a cousin, who feels the case profoundly, but +is too young and shy to offer an intellectual sympathy. + +One only person in this world there is, who _could_ to-night have been a +supporting friend to our young sufferer, and _that_ is her dear loving +twin-sister, that for eighteen years read and wrote, thought and sang, +slept and breathed, with the dividing-door open for ever between their +bedrooms, and never once a separation between their hearts; but she is +in a far distant land. Who else is there at her call? Except God, +nobody. Her aunt had somewhat sternly admonished her, though still with +a relenting in her eye as she glanced aside at the expression in her +niece's face, that she must "call pride to her assistance." Ay, true; +but pride, though a strong ally in public, is apt in private to turn as +treacherous as the worst of those against whom she is invoked. How could +it be dreamed by a person of sense, that a brilliant young man of +merits, various and eminent, in spite of his baseness, to whom, for +nearly two years, this young woman had given her whole confiding love, +might be dismissed from a heart like hers on the earliest summons of +pride, simply because she herself had been dismissed from _his_, or +seemed to have been dismissed, on a summons of mercenary calculation? +Look! now that she is relieved from the weight of an unconfidential +presence, she has sat for two hours with her head buried in her hands. +At last she rises to look for something. A thought has struck her; and, +taking a little golden key which hangs by a chain within her bosom, she +searches for something locked up amongst her few jewels. What is it? It +is a Bible exquisitely illuminated, with a letter attached, by some +pretty silken artifice, to the blank leaves at the end. This letter is a +beautiful record, wisely and pathetically composed, of maternal anxiety +still burning strong in death, and yearning, when all objects beside +were fast fading from _her_ eyes, after one parting act of communion +with the twin darlings of her heart. Both were thirteen years old, +within a week or two, as on the night before her death they sat weeping +by the bedside of their mother, and hanging on her lips, now for +farewell whispers, and now for farewell kisses. They both knew that, as +her strength had permitted during the latter month of her life, she had +thrown the last anguish of love in her beseeching heart into a letter of +counsel to themselves. Through this, of which each sister had a copy, +she trusted long to converse with her orphans. And the last promise +which she had entreated on this evening from both, was--that in either +of two contingencies they would review her counsels, and the passages to +which she pointed their attention in the Scriptures; namely, first, in +the event of any calamity, that, for one sister or for both, should +overspread their paths with total darkness; and secondly, in the event +of life flowing in too profound a stream of prosperity, so as to +threaten them with an alienation of interest from all spiritual objects. +She had not concealed that, of these two extreme cases, she would prefer +for her own children the first. And now had that case arrived indeed, +which she in spirit had desired to meet. Nine years ago, just as the +silvery voice of a dial in the dying lady's bedroom was striking nine +upon a summer evening, had the last visual ray streamed from her seeking +eyes upon her orphan twins, after which, throughout the night, she had +slept away into heaven. Now again had come a summer evening memorable +for unhappiness; now again the daughter thought of those dying lights of +love which streamed at sunset from the closing eyes of her mother; +again, and just as she went back in thought to this image, the same +silvery voice of the dial sounded nine o'clock. Again she remembered her +mother's dying request; again her own tear-hallowed promise--and with +her heart in her mother's grave she now rose to fulfil it. Here, then +when this solemn recurrence to a testamentary counsel has ceased to be a +mere office of duty towards the departed, having taken the shape of a +consolation for herself, let us pause. + + * * * * * + +Now, fair companion in this exploring voyage of inquest into hidden +scenes, or forgotten scenes of human life--perhaps it might be +instructive to direct our glasses upon the false perfidious lover. It +might. But do not let us do so. We might like him better, or pity him +more, than either of us would desire. His name and memory have long +since dropped out of every body's thoughts. Of prosperity, and (what is +more important) of internal peace, he is reputed to have had no gleam +from the moment when he betrayed his faith, and in one day threw away +the jewel of good conscience, and "a pearl richer than all his tribe." +But, however that may be, it is certain that, finally, he became a +wreck; and of any _hopeless_ wreck it is painful to talk--much more so, +when through him others also became wrecks. + +Shall we, then, after an interval of nearly two years has passed over +the young lady in the boudoir, look in again upon _her_? You hesitate, +fair friend: and I myself hesitate. For in fact she also has become a +wreck; and it would grieve us both to see her altered. At the end of +twenty-one months she retains hardly a vestige of resemblance to the +fine young woman we saw on that unhappy evening with her aunt and +cousin. On consideration, therefore, let us do this. We will direct our +glasses to her room, at a point of time about six weeks further on. +Suppose this time gone; suppose her now dressed for her grave, and +placed in her coffin. The advantage of that is--that, though no change +can restore the ravages of the past, yet (as often is found to happen +with young persons) the expression has revived from her girlish years. +The child-like aspect has revolved, and settled back upon her features. +The wasting away of the flesh is less apparent in the face; and one +might imagine that, in this sweet marble countenance, was seen the very +same upon which, eleven years ago, her mother's darkening eyes had +lingered to the last, until clouds had swallowed up the vision of her +beloved _twins_. Yet, if that were in part a fancy, this at least is no +fancy--that not only much of a child-like truth and simplicity has +reinstated itself in the temple of her now reposing features, but also +that tranquillity and perfect peace, such as are appropriate to +eternity; but which from the _living_ countenance had taken their flight +for ever, on that memorable evening when we looked in upon the +impassioned group--upon the towering and denouncing aunt, the +sympathizing but silent cousin, the poor blighted niece, and the wicked +letter lying in fragments at their feet. + +Cloud, that hast revealed to us this young creature and her blighted +hopes, close up again. And now, a few years later, not more than four or +five, give back to us the latest arrears of the changes which thou +concealest within thy draperies. Once more, "open sesame!" and show us a +third generation. Behold a lawn islanded with thickets. How perfect is +the verdure--how rich the blossoming shrubberies that screen with +verdurous walls from the possibility of intrusion, whilst by their own +wandering line of distribution they shape and umbrageously embay, what +one might call lawny saloons and vestibules--sylvan galleries and +closets. Some of these recesses, which unlink themselves as fluently as +snakes, and unexpectedly as the shyest nooks, watery cells, and crypts, +amongst the shores of a forest-lake, being formed by the mere caprices +and ramblings of the luxuriant shrubs, are so small and so quiet, that +one might fancy them meant for _boudoirs_. Here is one that, in a less +fickle climate, would make the loveliest of studies for a writer of +breathings from some solitary heart, or of _suspiria_ from some +impassioned memory! And opening from one angle of this embowered study, +issues a little narrow corridor, that, after almost wheeling back upon +itself, in its playful mazes, finally widens into a little circular +chamber; out of which there is no exit, (except back again by the +entrance,) small or great; so that, adjacent to his study, the writer +would command how sweet a bed-room, permitting him to lie the summer +through, gazing all night long at the burning host of heaven. How +silent _that_ would be at the noon of summer nights, how grave-like in +its quiet! And yet, need there be asked a stillness or a silence more +profound than is felt at this present noon of day? One reason for such +peculiar repose, over and above the tranquil character of the day, and +the distance of the place from high-roads, is the outer zone of woods, +which almost on every quarter invests the shrubberies--swathing them, +(as one may express it,) belting them, and overlooking them, from a +varying distance of two and three furlongs, so as oftentimes to keep the +winds at a distance. But, however caused and supported, the silence of +these fanciful lawns and lawny chambers is oftentimes oppressive in the +depth of summer to people unfamiliar with solitudes, either mountainous +or sylvan; and many would be apt to suppose that the villa, to which +these pretty shrubberies form the chief dependencies, must be +untenanted. But that is not the case. The house is inhabited, and by its +own legal mistress--the proprietress of the whole domain; and not at all +a silent mistress, but as noisy as most little ladies of five years old, +for that is her age. Now, and just as we are speaking, you may hear her +little joyous clamour as she issues from the house. This way she comes, +bounding like a fawn; and soon she rushes into the little recess which I +pointed out as a proper study for any man who should be weaving the deep +harmonies of memorial _suspiria_. But I fancy that she will soon +dispossess it of that character, for her _suspiria_ are not many at this +stage of her life. Now she comes dancing into sight; and you see that, +if she keeps the promise of her infancy, she will be an interesting +creature to the eye in after life. In other respects, also, she is an +engaging child--loving, natural, and wild as any one of her neighbours +for some miles round; viz. leverets, squirrels and ring-doves. But what +will surprise you most is--that, although a child of pure English blood, +she speaks very little English; but more Bengalee than perhaps you will +find it convenient to construe. That is her Ayah, who comes up from +behind at a pace so different from her youthful mistress's. But, if +their paces are different, in other things they agree most cordially; +and dearly they love each other. In reality, the child has passed her +whole life in the arms of this ayah. She remembers nothing elder than +_her_; eldest of things is the ayah in her eyes; and, if the ayah should +insist on her worshipping herself as the goddess Railroadina or +Steamboatina, that made England and the sea and Bengal, it is certain +that the little thing would do so, asking no question but this--whether +kissing would do for worshipping. + +Every evening at nine o'clock, as the ayah sits by the little creature +lying awake in bed, the silvery tongue of a dial tolls the hour. Reader, +you know who she is. She is the granddaughter of her that faded away +about sunset in gazing at her twin orphans. Her name is Grace. And she +is the niece of that elder and once happy Grace, who spent so much of +her happiness in this very room, but whom, in her utter desolation, we +saw in the boudoir with the torn letter at her feet. She is the daughter +of that other sister, wife to a military officer, who died abroad. +Little Grace never saw her grandmama, nor her lovely aunt that was her +namesake, nor consciously her mama. She was born six months after the +death of the elder Grace; and her mother saw her only through the mists +of mortal suffering, which carried her off three weeks after the birth +of her daughter. + +This view was taken several years ago; and since then the younger Grace +in her turn is under a cloud of affliction. But she is still under +eighteen; and of her there may be hopes. Seeing such things in so short +a space of years, for the grandmother died at thirty-two, we say--Death +we can face: but knowing, as some of us do, what is human life, which of +us is it that without shuddering could (if consciously we were summoned) +face the hour of birth? + +FOOTNOTES: + +[19] Being constantly almost an absentee from London, and very often +from other great cities, so as to command oftentimes no favourable +opportunities for overlooking the great mass of public journals, it is +possible enough that other slanders of the same tenor may have existed. +I speak of what met my own eye, or was accidentally reported to me--but +in fact all of us are exposed to this evil of calumnies lurking +unseen--for no degree of energy, and no excess of disposable time, would +enable any one man to exercise this sort of vigilant police over _all_ +journals. Better, therefore, tranquilly to leave all such malice to +confound itself. + + + + +NORTHERN LIGHTS. + + + "It was on a bright July morning that I found myself whirled away + by railroad from Berlin, 'that great ostrich egg in the sand,' + which the sun of civilization is said to have hatched." + +In these words, and with this somewhat far-fetched simile, does a German +tourist, Edward Boas by name, commence his narrative of a recent +pilgrimage to the far north. Undeterred by the disadvantageous accounts +given of those regions by a traveller who had shortly before visited +them, and unseduced by the allurements of more southerly climes, he +boldly sets forth to breast the mountains and brave the blasts of +Scandinavia, and to form his own judgment of the country and its +inhabitants. Almost, however, before putting foot on Scandinavian +ground, Mr Boas, who, as a traveller, is decidedly of the gossiping and +inquisitive class, fills three chapters with all manner of pleasant +chatter about himself, and his feelings, and his fancies, and the +travelling companions he meets with. His liveliness and versatility, and +a certain bantering satirical vein, in which he occasionally indulges, +would have caused us to take his work, had we met with it in an English +translation, for the production of a French rather than a German pen. + +Leaving the railway at Angermunde, our traveller continues his journey +by the mail, in which he has two companions; a lady, "with an arm like +ivory," about whom he seems more than half inclined to build up a little +episodical romance, and a young man from the neighbouring town of +Pasewalk, "on whose thick lips," we are informed, "the genius of +stupidity seemed to have established its throne." This youth expressed +his great regret that the good old customs of Germany had become +obsolete, and expatiated on the necessity of striving to restore them. +"Those were fine times," he said, "when nobles made war on their own +account, burned down the villages, and drove the cattle of the peasants +on each other's territory. To themselves personally, however, they did +no harm; and if by chance Ritter Jobst fell into the hands of Ritter +Kurt, the latter would say, 'Ritter Jobst, you are my prisoner on +parole, and must pay me a ransom of five hundred thalers.' And thereupon +they passed their time right joyously together, drinking and hunting the +livelong day. But Ritter Jobst wrote to his seneschal that, by fair +means or foul, he must squeeze the five hundred thalers out of his +subjects, who were in duty bound to pay, to enable their gracious lord +to return home again. Those were the times," concluded the young +Pasewalker, "and of such times should I like to witness the return." + +Now, Mr Boas considerably disapproved of these aspirations after the +days of the robber knights, and he accordingly, to avoid hearing any +more of them, took a nap in his corner, which helped him on nearly to +Stralsund. + +"This city," he says, "has acquired an undeserved renown through +Wallenstein's famous vow, 'to have it, though it were hung from heaven +by chains.' This puts me in mind of the trick of a reviewer who, by +enormous and exaggerated praise, induces us to read the stupid literary +production of some dear friend of his own. We take up the book with +great expectations, and find it--trash. It is easy to see that Stralsund +was founded by a set of dirty fish-dealers. Clumsy, gable-ended houses, +streets narrow and crooked, a wretched pavement--such is the city. A +small road along the shore, encumbered with timber, old casks, filth and +rubbish--such is the quay." + +In this uninteresting place, Mr Boas is compelled to pass +eight-and-forty hours, waiting for a steamer. He fills up the time with +a little dissertation on Swedish and Pomeranian dialects, and with a +comical legend about a greedy monk, who bartered his soul to the devil +for a platter of lampreys. By a stratagem of the abbot's, Satan was +outwitted; and, taking himself off in a great rage, he dropped the +lampreys in the lake of Madue, near Stargard, where to this day they +are found in as great perfection as in the lakes of Italy and +Switzerland. This peculiarity, however, might be accounted for otherwise +than by infernal means, for Frederick the Great was equally successful +in introducing the sturgeon of the Wolga into Pomeranian waters, where +it is still to be met with. + +A day's sail brings our traveller to the port of Ystad, where he +receives his first impressions of Sweden, which are decidedly +favourable. At sunrise the next morning he goes on board the steamer +Svithiod, bound from Lubeck to Stockholm. At the same time with himself +are shipped three wandering Tyrolese musicians, who are proceeding +northwards to give the Scandinavians a taste of their mountain melodies, +and two or three hundred pigs, all pickled; the pigs, that is to say. He +finds on board a numerous and agreeable society, of which and of the +passage he gives a graphic description. + +"The ship's bell rang to summon us to breakfast. There is a certain epic +copiousness about a Swedish _frukost_. On first getting up in the +morning it is customary to take a _Kop caffe med skorpor_, a cup of +coffee and a biscuit, and in something less than two hours later one +sits down to a most abundant meal. This commences with a _sup_, that is +to say, a glass of carraway or aniseed brandy; then come tea, bread and +butter, ham, sausage, cheese and beer; and the whole winds up with a +warm _Kötträtt_, a beefsteak or cutlet." + +Truly a solid and savoury repast. Whilst discussing it in the cabin of +the Svithiod, Mr Boas makes acquaintance with his fellow-voyagers. + + "At the top of the table sat our captain, a jovial pleasant man. He + was very attentive to the passengers, had a prompt and friendly + answer to every question; in short, he was a Swede all over. Near + him were placed the families of two clergymen, in whose charge was + also travelling a young Swedish countess, a charming, + innocent-looking child, whose large dark eyes seemed destined, at + no very distant period, to give more than one heartache. Beside + them was a tall man, plainly dressed, and of military appearance. + This was Count S----, (Schwerin, probably,) a descendant of that + friend and lieutenant of Frederick the Great who, on the 6th May + 1757, purchased with his life the victory of Prague. He was + returning from the hay-harvest on those estates which had belonged + to his valiant forefather, whose heirs had long been kept out of + them for lack of certain documents. But Frederick William III. + said, 'Right is right, though wax and parchment be not there to + prove it;' and he restored to the family their property, which is + worth half-a-million. + + "The Count's neighbour was Fru Nyberg, a Swedish poetess, who + writes under the name of Euphrosyne. In Germany, nobody troubles + himself about the 'Dikter af Euphrosyne,' but every educated Swede + knows them and their authoress. The latter may once have been + handsome, but wrinkles have now crept in where roses formerly + bloomed. Euphrosyne was born in 1785--authoresses purchase their + fame dearly enough at the price of having their age put down in + every lexicon. A black tulle cap with flame-coloured ribands + covered her head; round her neck she wore a string of large amber + beads, a gold watch-chain, and a velvet riband from which her + eyeglass was suspended. She was quiet, and retiring, spoke little, + and passed the greater portion of the day in the cabin. Fru Nyberg + was returning from Paris, and had with her a young lady of + distinguished family, Emily Holmberg by name. This young person + possesses a splendid musical talent; her compositions are + remarkable for charming originality, and are so much the more + prized that the muse of Harmony has hitherto been but niggard of + her gifts to the sons and daughters of Sweden. There was something + particularly delicate and fairy-like in the whole appearance of + this maiden, whose long curls floated round her transparent white + temples, while her soft dove-like eyes had a sweet and slightly + melancholy expression. + + "Next to Miss Holmberg, there sat a handsome young man, in a sort + of loose caftan of green velvet. His name was Baron R----, and he + was a descendant of the man who cast lots with Ankarström and + Horn, which of them should kill the King. He had formerly been one + of the most noted lions and _viveurs_ of Stockholm, but had + latterly taken to himself a beautiful wife, and had become a more + settled character; though his exuberant spirits and love of + enjoyment still remained, and rendered him the gayest and most + agreeable of travelling companions. Nagel, the celebrated violin + player, and his lively little wife, were also among the passengers. + They were returning from America, where he had been exchanging his + silvery notes against good gold coin. Nagel is a Jew by birth, a + most accomplished man, speaking seven languages with equal + elegance, and much esteemed in the musical circles of Stockholm." + +A young Swedish woman, named Maria, whose affecting little history Mr +Boas learns and tells us--an Englishman--"a thorough Englishman, who, as +long as he was eating, had no eyes or ears for any thing else," and a +French _commis voyageur_, travelling to get orders for coloured papers, +champagne, and silk goods, completed the list of all those of the party +who were any way worthy of mention. The Frenchman, Monsieur Robineau by +name, had a little ugly face, nearly hidden by an enormous beard, wore a +red cap upon his head, and looked altogether like a bandy-legged brownie +or gnome. The scene at daybreak the next morning is described with some +humour. + + "A dull twilight reigned in the cabin, the lamp was burning low and + threatening to go out, the first glimmer of day was stealing in + through the windows, and the Englishman had struck a light in order + to shave himself. From each berth some different description of + noise was issuing; the Lubecker was snoring loudly, Baron R---- was + twanging a guitar, Monsieur Robineau singing a barcarole, and every + body was calling out as loud as he could for something or other. + Karl, the steward, was rushing up and down the cabin, so confused + by the fifty different demands addressed to him, that he knew not + how to comply with any one of them. + + "'Karl, clean my boots!' + + "'Ja, Herr.' + + "'Karl, some warm water and a towel.' + + "'Ja, Herr.' + + "'_Amis, la matinée est belle! Sur le rivage + assemblez-vouz!_--Karl, the coffee!--_conduis ta barque avec + prudence! Pêcheur, parle bas!_ ... Karl, the coffee!' + + "'Ja, Herr.' + + "'Karl, my carpet-bag!' + + "'Karl, are you deaf? Did you not hear me ask for warm water?' + + "'Ja, Herr.' + + "'_Jette tes filets en silence! Pêcheur, parle bas!_--Coffee, + coffee, coffee!--_Le roi des mers ne t'échappera pas!_' + + "'Ja, Herr.' + + "'Karl, look at these boots! You must clean them again.' + + "'No, you must first find my carpet-bag.' + + "'Karl, you good-for-nothing fellow, if you do not bring me the + water immediately, I will complain to the captain.' + + "'_Pêcheur, parle bas! Conduis ta barque avec prudence!_ ... Karl, + the coffee, or by my beard I will have you impaled as soon as I am + Emperor of Turkey!' + + "'Ja Herr! Ja, Herr! Ja, Herr!'" + +Aided by the various talents and eccentricities of the passengers, by +the grimaces of the Frenchman, and the songs of the Tyrolese minstrels, +the time passed pleasantly enough; till, on the morning of the third day +after leaving Ystad, the Svithiod was at the entrance of Lake Maeler, +opposite the fortress of Waxholm, which presents more of a picturesque +than of an imposing appearance. + + "It consists of a few loopholed parapets and ramparts, and of a + strong round tower of grey stone, looking very romantic but not + very formidable, and nevertheless entirely commanding the narrow + passage. A sentry, wrapped in his cloak, stood upon the wall and + hailed us through a speaking-trumpet. At the very moment that the + captain was about to answer, another steamer came round a bend of + the channel, meeting the Svithiod point-blank. The sentinel + impatiently repeated his summons, and for a moment there appeared + to be some danger of our either running foul of the other boat, or + getting a shot in our hull from the fort. They do not understand + joking at Waxholm, as was learned a short time since to his cost by + the commander of the Russian steamer Ischora, who did not reply + when summoned. Hastily furnishing the required information to the + castle, our captain shouted out the needful orders to his crew, and + we passed on in safety. + + "The steamer which we now met bore the Swedish flag, and was + conveying the Crown Prince Oscar (the grandson of a lawyer and a + silk-mercer) and his wife, to Germany. They had left Stockholm in + the night time, to avoid all public ceremony and formality. A crowd + of artillerymen now lined the walls of Waxholm to give the usual + salute, and we could hear the booming of the guns long after we + were out of sight of ship and fort. In another hour I obtained my + first view of Stockholm." + +Stockholm, the Venice of the North, has been thought by many travellers +to present a more striking _coup-d'oeil_ than any other European +capital, Constantinople excepted. Built upon seven islands, formed by +inlets of the sea and the Maeler Lake, it spreads over a surface very +large in proportion to the number of its houses and inhabitants, and +exhibits a singular mixture of streets, squares, and churches, with +rock, wood, and water. The ground on which it stands is uneven, and in +many places declivitous; the different parts of the city are connected +by bridges, and on every side is seen the fresh green foliage of the +north. The natural canals which intersect Stockholm are of great depth, +and ships of large burden are enabled to penetrate into the very heart +of the town. The general style of building offers little to admire; the +houses being for the most part flat-fronted, monotonous, and graceless, +without any species of architectural decoration to relieve their +inelegant uniformity. It is the position of the city, the air of +lightness given to it by the water, which traverses it in every +direction, and the life and movement of the port, that form its chief +recommendations. In their architectural ideas the Swedes appear to be +entirely utilitarian, disdainful of ornament; and if a house of more +modern and tasteful build, with windows of a handsome size, cornices, +and entablatures, is here and there to be met with, it is almost certain +to have been erected by Germans or some other foreigners. The royal +palace, of which the first stone was laid in the reign of Charles XII., +is a well-conceived and finely executed work; some of the churches are +also worthy of notice; but most of the public buildings derive their +chief interest, like the squares and market-places, from their +antiquity, or from historical associations connected with them. Few +cities offer richer stores to the lovers of the romance of history +than does the capital of Sweden. One edifice alone, the +Ritterhaus--literally, the House of Knights or Lords--in which the +Swedish nobility were wont to hold their Diets, would furnish +subject-matter for a score of romances. Not a door nor a window, scarce +a stone in the building, but tells of some sanguinary feud, or fierce +insurrection of the populace, in the troublous days of Sweden. From +floor to ceiling of the great hall in which the Diet held its sittings, +hang the coats of arms of Swedish counts, barons, and noblemen. A solemn +gloomy light pervades the apartment, and unites with the grave +black-blue coverings of the seats and balustrades, to convey the idea +that this is no arena for showy shallow orators, but a place in which +stern truth and naked reality have been wont to prevail. The chair of +Gustavus Vasa, of inlaid ivory, and covered with purple velvet, stands +in this room. + +Mr Boas, the pages of whose book are thickly strewn with legends and +historical anecdotes, many of them interesting, devotes a chapter to the +Ritterhaus and its annals. One tragical history, connected with that +building, appears worthy of extraction: + + "One of the chief favourites of Gustavus III. was Count Armfelt, a + young man of illustrious family, and of unusual mental and personal + accomplishments. At an early age he entered the royal guards, and + proved, during the war with Russia, that his courage in the field + fully equalled his more courtierlike merits. He rapidly ascended in + military grade, and, finally, the king appointed him governor of + Stockholm, and named him President of the Council of Regency, + which, in case of his death, was to govern Sweden during the + minority of the heir to the throne. Shortly after these dignities + had been conferred upon Armfelt, occurred the famous masquerade and + the assassination of Gustavus. + + "Upon this event happening, a written will of the king's was + produced, of more recent date than the appointment of the Count, + and, according to which, the guardianship of the Prince Royal was + to devolve upon Duke Karl Sundermanland, the brother of Gustavus. + This was a weak, sensual, and vindictive prince, of limited + capacity, and easily led by flattery and deceit. He belonged to a + secret society, of which Baron Reuterholm was grand-master. A + couple of mysterious and well-managed apparitions were sufficient + to terrify the duke, and render him ductile as wax. The most + implicit submission was required of him, and soon the crafty + Reuterholm got the royal authority entirely into his own hands. + There was discontent and murmuring amongst the true friends of the + royal family, but Reuterholm's spies were ubiquitous, and a + frowning brow or dissatisfied look was punished as a crime. Amongst + others, Count Armfelt, who took no pains to conceal his indignation + at the scandalous proceedings of those in power, was stripped of + his offices, and ordered to set out immediately as ambassador to + Naples. + + "This command fell like a thunderbolt upon the head of the Count, + whom every public and private consideration combined to retain in + Stockholm. Loath as he was to leave his country an undisputed prey + to the knaves into whose hands it had fallen, he was perhaps still + more unwilling to abandon one beloved being to the snares and + dangers of a sensual and corrupt court. + + "It was on a September evening of the year 1792, and the light of + the moon fell cold and clear upon the white houses of Stockholm, + though the streets that intersected their masses were plunged in + deep shadow, when a man, muffled in a cloak, and evidently desirous + of avoiding observation, was seen making his way hastily through + the darkest and least frequented lanes of that city. Stopping at + last, he knocked thrice against a window-shutter; an adjacent door + was opened at the signal, and he passed through a corridor into a + cheerful and well-lighted apartment. Throwing off his cloak, he + received and returned the affectionate greeting of a beautiful + woman, who advanced with outstretched hand to meet him. The + stranger was Count Armfelt--the lady, Miss Rudenskjöld--the most + charming of the court beauties of the day. The colour left her + cheek when she perceived the uneasiness of her lover; but when he + told her of the orders he had received, her head sank upon his + breast, and her large blue eyes swam in tears. Recovering, however, + from this momentary depression, she vowed to remain ever true to + her country and her love. The Count echoed the vow, and a kiss + sealed the compact. The following morning a ship sailed from + Stockholm, bearing the new ambassador to Naples. + + "Scarcely had Armfelt departed, when Duke Karl began to persecute + Miss Rudenskjöld with his addresses. At first he endeavoured, by + attention and flatteries, to win her favour; but her avoidance of + his advances and society increased the violence of his passion, + until at last he spoke his wishes with brutal frankness. With + maidenly pride and dignity, the lady repelled his suit, and + severely stigmatized his insolence. Foaming with rage, the duke + left her presence, and from that moment his love was exchanged for + a deadly hatred. + + "Baron Reuterholm had witnessed with pleasure the growth of the + regent's passion for the beautiful Miss Rudenskjöld; for he knew + that the more pursuits Duke Karl had to occupy and amuse him, the + more undivided would be his own sway. It was with great + dissatisfaction, therefore, that he received an account of the + contemptuous manner in which the proud girl had treated her royal + admirer. The latter insisted upon revenge, full and complete + revenge, and Reuterholm promised that he should have it. Miss + Rudenskjöld's life was so blameless, and her conduct in every + respect so correct, that it seemed impossible to invent any charge + against her; but Reuterholm set spies to work, and spies will + always discover something. They found out that she kept up a + regular correspondence with Count Armfelt. Their letters were + opened, and evidence found in them of a plan to declare the young + prince of age, or at least to abstract Duke Karl from the + corrupting influence of Reuterholm. The angry feelings entertained + by the latter personage towards Miss Rudenskjöld were increased + tenfold by this discovery, and he immediately had her thrown into + prison. She was brought to trial before a tribunal composed of + creatures of the baron, and including the Chancellor Sparre, a man + of unparalleled cunning and baseness, than whom Satan himself could + have selected no better advocate. During her examination, Fraulein + von Rudenskjöld was most cruelly treated, and the words of the + correspondence were distorted, with infamous subtlety, into + whatever construction best suited her accusers. Sparre twisted his + physiognomy, which in character partook of that of the dog and the + serpent, into a thoughtful expression, and regretted that, + according to the Swedish laws, the offence of which Miss + Rudenskjöld was found guilty, could not be punished by the lash. + The pillory, and imprisonment in the Zuchthaus, the place of + confinement for the most guilty and abandoned of her sex, formed + the scarce milder sentence pronounced upon the unfortunate victim. + + "It was early on an autumn morning--a thick canopy of grey clouds + overspread the heavens--and the dismal half-light which prevailed + in the streets of Stockholm made it difficult to decide whether or + not the sun had yet risen. A cold wind blew across from Lake + Maeler, and caused the few persons who had as yet left their houses + to hasten their steps along the deserted pavement. Suddenly a + detachment of soldiers arrived upon the square in front of the + Ritterhaus, and took up their station beside the pillory. The + officer commanding the party was a slender young man of agreeable + countenance; but he was pale as death, and his voice trembled as he + gave the words of command. The prison-gate now opened, and Miss + Rudenskjöld came forth, escorted by several jailers. Her cheeks + were whiter than the snow-white dress she wore; her limbs trembled; + her long hair hung in wild dishevelment over her shoulders, and yet + was she beautiful--beautiful as a fading rose. They led her up the + steps of the pillory, and the executioner's hand was already + stretched out to bind her to the ignominious post, when she cast a + despairing glance upon the bystanders, as though seeking aid. As + she did so, a shrill scream of agony burst from her lips. She had + recognised in the young officer her own dearly-loved brother, who, + by a devilish refinement of cruelty, had been appointed to command + the guard that was to attend at her punishment. + + "Strong in her innocence, the delicate and gently-nurtured girl had + borne up against all her previous sufferings; but this was too + much. Her senses left her, and she fell fainting to the ground. Her + brother also swooned away, and never recovered his unclouded + reason. To his dying day his mind remained gloomy and unsettled. + The very executioners refused to inflict further indignity on the + senseless girl, and she was conducted back to her dungeon, where + she soon recovered all the firmness which she had already displayed + before her infamous judges. + + "Meanwhile Armfelt was exposed in Italy to the double danger of + secret assassination, and of a threatened requisition from the + Swedish government for him to be delivered up. He sought safety in + flight, and found an asylum in Germany. His estates were + confiscated, his titles, honours, and nobility declared forfeit, + and he himself was condemned by default as a traitor to his + country." + +Concerning the ultimate fate of this luckless pair of lovers, Mr Boas +deposeth not, but passes on to an account of the disturbances in 1810, +when the Swedish marshal, Count Axel Fersen, suspected by the populace +as cause of the sudden death of the Crown Prince, Charles Augustus, was +attacked, while following the body of the prince through the streets of +Stockholm. He was sitting in full uniform in his carriage, drawn by six +milk-white horses, when he was assailed with showers of stones, from +which he took refuge in a house upon the Ritterhaustmarkt. In spite of +the exertions of General Silversparre, at the head of some dragoons, the +mob broke into the house, and entered the room in which Fersen was. He +folded his hands, and begged for mercy, protesting his innocence. But +his entreaties were in vain. A broad-shouldered fellow, a shopkeeper, +named Lexow, tore off his orders, sword, and cloak, and threw them +through the window to the rioters, who with furious shouts reduced them +to fragments. Silversparre then proposed to take the count to prison, +and have him brought to trial in due form. But, on the way thither, the +crowd struck and ill-treated the old man; and, although numerous troops +were now upon the spot, these remained with shouldered arms, and even +their officers forbade their interference. They appeared to be there to +attend an execution rather than to restore order. The mob dragged the +unfortunate Fersen to the foot of Gustavus Vasa's statue, and there beat +and ill-treated him till he died. It was remarked of the foremost and +most eager of his persecutors, that although dressed as common sailors, +their hands were white and delicate, and linen of fine texture peeped +betrayingly forth from under their coarse outer garments. Doubtless more +than one long-standing hatred was on that day gratified. It was still +borne in mind, that Count Fersen's father had been the chief instrument +in bringing Count Eric Brahe, and several other nobles, to the scaffold, +upon the very spot where, half a century later, his son's blood was +poured out. + +The murder of the Count-Marshal was followed by an attack upon the house +of his sister, the Countess Piper; but she had had timely notice, and +escaped by water to Waxholm. Several officers of rank, who strove to +pacify the mob, were abused, and even beaten; until at length a combat +ensued between the troops and the people, and lasted till nightfall, +when an end was put to it by a heavy fall of rain. The number of killed +and wounded on that day could never be ascertained. + +These incidents are striking and dramatic--fine stuff for novel writers, +as Mr Boas says--but we will turn to less sanguinary subjects. In a +letter to a female friend, who is designated by the fanciful name of +Eglantine, we have a sketch of the present state of Swedish poetry and +literature. According to the account here given us, Olof von Dalin, who +was born in Holland in 1763, was the first to awaken in the Swedes a +real and correct taste for the _belles lettres_. This he did in great +measure by the establishment of a periodical called the _Argus_. He +improved the style of prose writing, and produced some poetry, which +latter appears, however, to have been generally more remarkable for +sweetness than power. We have not space to follow Mr Boas through his +gallery of Swedish _literati_, but we will extract what he says +concerning three authoresses, whose works, highly popular in their own +country and in Germany, have latterly attracted some attention in +England. These are--Miss Bremer, Madame Flygare-Carlén, and the Baroness +Knorring, the delineators of domestic, rural, and aristocratic life in +Sweden. + + "Frederica Bremer was born in the year 1802. After the death of her + father, a rich merchant and proprietor of mines, she resided at + Schonen, and subsequently with a female friend in Norway. She now + lives with her mother and sister alternately in the Norrlands + Gatan, at Stockholm, or at their country seat at Arsta. If I were + to talk to you about Miss Bremer's romances, you would laugh at me, + for you are doubtless ten times better acquainted with them than I + am. But you are curious, perhaps, to learn something about her + appearance, and _that_ I can tell you. + + "You will not expect to hear that Miss Bremer, a maiden lady of + forty, retains a very large share of youthful bloom; but, + independently of that, she is really any thing but handsome. Her + thin wrinkled physiognomy is, however, rendered agreeable by its + good-humoured expression, and her meagre figure has the benefit of + a neat and simple style of dress. From the style of her writings, I + used always to take her to be a governess; and she looks exactly + like one. She knows that she is not handsome, and on that account + has always refused to have her portrait taken; the one they sell of + her in Germany is a counterfeit, the offspring of an artist's + imagination, stimulated by speculative book-sellers. This summer, + there was a quizzing paragraph in one of the Swedish papers, saying + that a painter had been sent direct from America to Rome and + Stockholm, to take portraits of the Pope and of Miss Bremer. + + "In Sweden, the preference is given to her romance of _Hemmet_, + (Home,) over all her other works. Any thing like a bold originality + of invention she is generally admitted to lack, but she is skilled + in throwing a poetical charm over the quiet narrow circle of + domestic life. She is almost invariably successful in her female + characters, but when she attempts to draw those of men, her + creations are mere caricatures, full of emptiness and + improbability. Her habit of indulging in a sort of aimless and + objectless philosophizing vein, _à propos_ of nothing at all, is + also found highly wearisome. For my part, it has often given me an + attack of nausea. She labours, however, diligently to improve + herself; and, when I saw her, she had just been ordering at a + bookseller's two German works--Bossen's _Translation of Homer_, and + Creuzer's _Symbolics_. + + "Emily Flygare is about thirty years of age. She is the daughter of + a country clergyman, and has only to write down her own + recollections in order to depict village life, with its pains and + its pleasures. Accordingly, that is her strongest line in + authorship; and her book, _Kyrkoinvigningen_, (the Church + Festival,) has been particularly successful. Married in early life + to an officer, she contracted, after his death, several + engagements, all of which she broke off, whereby her reputation in + some degree suffered. At last she gave her hand to Carlén, a very + middling sort of poet, some years younger than she is; and she now + styles herself--following the example of Madame Birch-Pfeiffer, and + other celebrated singers--Flygare-Carlén. She lives very happily at + Stockholm with her husband, and is at least as good a housewife as + an authoress, not even thinking it beneath her dignity to + superintend the kitchen. Her great modesty as to her own merits, + and the esteem she expresses for her rivals, are much to her + credit. She is a little restless body, and does not like sitting + still. Her countenance is rather pleasing than handsome, and its + charm is heightened by the lively sparkle of her quick dark eyes. + + "The third person of the trio is the Baroness Knorring, a very + noble lady, who lives far away from Stockholm, and is married to an + officer. She is between thirty and forty years old, and it is + affirmed that she would be justified in exclaiming with + Wallenstein's Thekla-- + + 'Ich habe gelebt und geliebet.' + + She was described to me as nervous and delicate, which is perhaps + the right temperament to enable her accurately to depict in her + romances the strained artificiality and silken softness of + aristocratic existence. Her style also possesses the needful + lightness and grace, and she accordingly succeeds admirably in her + sketches of high life, with all its elegant nullities and + spiritless pomp. One of her best works is the romance of + _Cousinerna_, (The Cousins,) which, as well as the other works of + Knorring, Bremer, and Flygare, has been placed before the German + public by our diligent translators." + +Upon the subjects of Swedish society and conversation, Mr Boas is +pleased to be unusually funny. Like the foreigner who asserted that +Goddam was the root of the English language, he seems prepared to +maintain that two monosyllables constitute the essence of the Swedish +tongue, and that they alone are required to carry on an effective and +agreeable dialogue. "It is not at all difficult," he says, "to keep up a +conversation with a Swede, when you are once acquainted with a certain +mystical formula, whereby all emotions and sentiments are to be +expressed, and by the aid of which you may love and hate, curse and +bless, be good-humoured or satirical, and even witty. The mighty and +all-sufficing words are, '_Ja so!_' (Yes, indeed!) usually pronounced +_Jassoh_. It is wonderful to hear the infinite variety of modulation +which a Swede gives to these two insignificant syllables. Does he hear +some agreeable intelligence, he exclaims, with sparkling eyes and brisk +intonation, 'Ja so!' If bad news are brought to him, he droops his head, +and, after a pause, murmurs mournfully, 'Ja so!' The communication of an +important affair is received with a thoughtful 'Ja so!' a joke elicits a +humorous one; an attempt to banter or deceive him is met by a sarcastic +repetition of the same mysterious words. + + "A romance might be constructed out of these four letters. + Thus:--Lucy is sitting at her window, when a well-known messenger + brings her a bouquet. She joyfully exclaims, 'Ja so!' and presses + the flowers to her lips. A friend comes in; she shows her the + flowers, and the friend utters an envious 'Ja so!' Soon afterwards + Lucy's lover hears that she is faithless; he gnashes his teeth, and + vociferates a furious 'Ja so!' He writes to tell her that he + despises her, and will never see her again; whereupon she weeps, + and says to herself, between two tears, 'Ja so!' She manages, + however, to see him, and convinces him that she has been + calumniated. He clasps her in his arms, and utters a 'Ja so!' + expressive of entire conviction. Suddenly his brow becomes clouded, + and muttering a meditative 'Ja so!' he remembers that a peremptory + engagement compels him to leave her. He seeks out the man who has + sought to rob him of his mistress, and reproaches him with his + perfidy. This rival replies by a cold, scornful 'Ja so!' and a + meeting is agreed upon. The next day they exchange shots, and I + fully believe that the man who is killed sighs out with his last + breath 'Ja so!' His horror-stricken antagonist exclaims 'Ja so!' + and flies the country; and surgeon, relations, friends, judge, all, + in short, who hear of the affair, will inevitably cry out, 'Ja so!' + Grief and joy, doubt and confidence, jest and anger, are all to be + rendered by those two words." + +The province of Dalarna, or Dalecarlia, which lies between Nordland and +the Norwegian frontier, and in which Miss Bremer has laid the scene of +one of her most recent works, is spoken of at some length by Mr Boas, +who considers it to be, in various respects, the most interesting +division of Sweden. Its inhabitants, unable to find means of subsistence +in their own poor and mountainous land, are in the habit of wandering +forth to seek a livelihood in more kindly regions, and Mr Boas likens +them in this respect to the Savoyards. They might, perhaps, be more +aptly compared to the Galicians, who leave their country, not, as many +of the Savoyards do, to become beggars and vagabonds, by the aid of a +marmoset and a grinding organ, but to strive, by the hardest labour and +most rigid economy, to accumulate a sum that will enable them to return +and end their lives in their native village. + + "The dress of the Dalecarlians (_dale carls_, or men of the valley) + consists of a sort of doublet and leathern apron, to the latter of + which garments they get so accustomed that they scarcely lay it + aside even on Sundays. Above that they wear a short overcoat of + white flannel. Their round hats are decorated with red tufts, and + their breeches fastened at the knees with red ties and tassels. The + costume of their wives and daughters, who are called Dalecullen, + (women of the valley,) is yet more peculiar and outlandish. It is + composed of a coloured cap, fitting close to the head, of a boddice + with red laces, a gown, usually striped with red and green, and of + scarlet stockings. They wear enormous shoes, large, awkward, and + heavy, made of the very thickest leather, and adorned with the + eternal red frippery. The soles are an inch thick, with huge heels, + stuck full of nails, and placed, not where the heel of the foot is, + but in front, under the toes; and as these remarkable shoes _lift_ + at every step, the heels of the stockings are covered with leather. + On Sundays, ample white shirt-sleeves, broad cap-ribands, and large + wreaths of flowers are added to this singular garb, amongst the + wearers of which pretty faces and laughing blue eyes are by no + means uncommon. + + "The occupations of these women are of the rudest and most + laborious description. They may be literally said to earn their + bread by the sweat of their brow, and their hands are rendered + callous as horn by the nature of their toil. They act as + bricklayers' labourers, and carry loads of stones upon their + shoulders and up ladders. Besides this, it is a monopoly of theirs + to row a sort of boat, which is impelled by machinery imitating + that of a steamer, but worked by hand. These are tolerably large + vessels, having paddle-wheels fitted to them, which are turned from + within. Each wheel is worked by two young Dalecarlian girls, who + perform this severe labour with the utmost cheerfulness, while an + old woman steers. They pass their lives upon the water, plying from + earliest dawn till late in the night, and conveying passengers, for + a trifling copper coin, across the broad canals which intersect + Stockholm in every direction. Cheerful and pious, the bloom of + health on her cheeks, and the fear of God in her heart, the + Dalecarlian maiden is contented in her humble calling. On Sunday + she would sooner lose a customer than miss her attendance at + church. One sorrowful feeling, and only one, at times saddens her + heart, and that is the _Heimweh_, the yearning after her native + valley, when she longs to return to her wild and beautiful country, + which the high mountains encircle, and the bright stream of the + Dalelf waters. There she has her father and mother, or perhaps a + lover, as poor as herself, and she sees no possibility of ever + earning enough to enable her to return home, and become his wife. + + "It was in this province that I now found myself, and its + inhabitants pleased me greatly. Nature has made them hardy and + intelligent, for their life is a perpetual struggle to extract a + scanty subsistence from the niggard and rocky soil. Unenervated by + luxury, uncorrupted by the introduction of foreign vices, they have + been at all periods conspicuous for their love of freedom, for + their penetration in discovering, and promptness in repelling, + attacks upon it. Faithful to their lawful sovereign, they yet + brooked no tyranny; and when invaders entered the land, or bad + governors oppressed them, they were ever ready to defend their just + rights with their lives. From the remotest periods, such has been + the character of this people, which has preserved itself + unsophisticated, true, and free. It is interesting to trace the + history of the Dalecarlians. Isolated in a manner from the rest of + the world amongst their rugged precipices and in their lonely + valleys, it might be supposed they would know nothing of what + passed without; yet whenever the moment for action has come, they + have been found alert and prepared. + + "At the commencement of the fifteenth century, Eric XIII., known + also as the Pomeranian, ascended the Swedish throne. His own + disposition was neither bad nor good, but he had too little + knowledge of the country he was called upon to reign over; and his + governors and vice-gerents, for the most part foreigners, + tyrannized unsparingly over the nation. The oppressed people + stretched out their hands imploringly to the king; but he, who was + continually requiring fresh supplies of money for the prosecution + of objectless wars, paid no attention to their complaints. Of all + his Vögte, or governors, not one was so bad and cruel as Jesse + Ericson, who dwelt at Westeraes, and ruled over Dalarna. He laid + enormous imposts on the peasantry, and when they were unable to + pay, he took every thing from them, to their last horse, and + harnessed themselves to the plough. Pregnant matrons were compelled + at his command to draw heavy hay-waggons, women and girls were + shamefully outraged by him, and persons possessing property + unjustly condemned, in order that he might take possession of their + goods. When the peasants came to him to complain, he had them + driven away with stripes, or else cut off their ears, or hung them + up in the smoke till they were suffocated. + + "Then the men of Dalarna murmured; they assembled in their valleys, + and held counsel together. An insurrection was decided upon, and + Engelbrecht of Falun was chosen to head it, because, although small + of stature, he had a courageous heart, and knew how to talk or to + fight, as occasion required. He repaired to Copenhagen, laid the + just complaints of his countrymen before the king, and pledged his + head to prove their truth. Eric gave him a letter to the + counsellors of state, some of whom accompanied him back to Dalarna, + and convinced themselves that the distress of the province was + inconceivably great. They exposed this state of things to the king + in a letter, with which Engelbrecht returned to Copenhagen. But, on + seeking audience of Eric, the latter cried out angrily, 'You do + nothing but complain! Go your ways, and appear no more before me.' + So Engelbrecht departed, but he murmured as he went, 'Yet once more + will I return.' + + "Although the counsellors themselves urged the king to appoint + another governor over Dalecarlia, he did not think fit to do so. + Then, in the year 1434, so soon as the sun had melted the snow, the + Dalecarlians rose up as one man, marched through the country, and + Jesse Ericson fled before them into Denmark. They destroyed the + dwellings of their oppressors, drove away their hirelings and + retainers, and Engelbrecht advanced, with a thousand picked men, to + Wadstena, where he found an assembly of bishops and counsellors. + From these he demanded assistance, but they refused to accord it, + until Engelbrecht took the bishop of Linköping by the collar, to + deliver him over to his followers. Thereupon they became more + tractable, and renounced in writing their allegiance to Eric, on + the grounds that he had 'made bishops of ignorant ribalds, + entrusted high offices to unworthy persons, and neglected to punish + tyrannical governors.' The Dalecarlians advanced as far as Schonen, + where Engelbrecht concluded a truce, and dismissed them. His army + had consisted of ten thousand peasants, all burning with anger + against their oppressors, and without military discipline; yet, to + his great credit be it said, not a single excess or act of plunder + had been committed. + + "On hearing of these disturbances, the king repaired in all haste + to Stockholm, whereupon Engelbrecht again summoned his followers, + and marched upon the capital, in which Eric entrenched himself with + various nobles and governors, who had burned down their castles, + and hastened to join him. Things looked threatening, but + nevertheless ended peaceably, for Eric was afraid of the Swedes. He + obtained peace by promising that in future the provinces, with few + exceptions, should name their own governors, and that Engelbrecht + should be vögt at Oerebro. As usual, however, he broke his word, + and, before sailing for Denmark, he appointed as vögt a man who was + a notorious pirate, a robber of churches, and abuser of women. For + the third time the peasants revolted. In the winter of 1436 they + appeared before Stockholm, which they took, the burghers themselves + helping them to burst open the gates. Engelbrecht seized upon one + fortress after another, meeting no resistance from King Eric, who + fled secretly to Pomerania, leaving the war and his kingdom to take + care of themselves. Several members of the council followed him + thither, and, after some persuasion, brought him back with them. + + "In the midst of these changes and commotions, Engelbrecht was + treacherously assassinated by the son of that bishop whom he had + formerly affronted at Wadstena. With tears and lamentations, the + boors fetched the body of their brave and faithful leader from the + little island where his death had occurred, and which to this day + bears his name. The spot on which the murder was committed is said + to be accursed, and no grass ever grows there. Subsequently the + coffin was brought to the church at Oerebro, and so exalted was the + opinion entertained of Engelbrecht's worth and virtue, that the + country people asserted that miracles were wrought at his tomb, as + at the shrine of a saint." + +It was nearly a century later that Gustavus Vasa, flying, with a price +upon his head, from the assassins of his father and friends, took refuge +in Dalecarlia. Disguised in peasant's garb, and with an axe in his hand, +he hired himself as a labourer; but was soon recognised, and his +employer feared to retain him in his service. He then appealed to the +Dalecarlians to espouse his cause; but, although they admired and +sympathised with the gallant youth who thus placed his trust in them, +they hesitated to take up arms in his behalf; and, hopeless of their +assistance, he at last turned his steps towards Norway. But scarcely +had he done so, when the incursion of a band of Danish mercenaries sent +to seek him, and the full confirmation of what he had told them +concerning the massacre at Stockholm, roused the Dalecarlians from their +inaction. The tocsin was sounded throughout the provinces, the Danes +were driven away, and the two swiftest runners in the country bound on +their snow-shoes, and set out with the speed of the wind to bring back +the royal fugitive. They overtook him at the foot of the Norwegian +mountains, and soon afterwards he found himself at the head of five +thousand white-coated Dalecarlians. + +The Danes were approaching, and one of their bishops asked--"How many +men the province of Dalarna could furnish?" + +"At least twenty thousand," was the reply; "for the old men are just as +strong and as brave as the young ones." + +"But what do they all live upon?" + +"Upon bread and water. They take little account of hunger and thirst, +and when corn is lacking, they make their bread out of tree-bark." + +"Nay," said the bishop, "a people who eat tree-bark and drink water, the +devil himself would not vanquish, much less a man." + +And neither were they vanquished. Like an avalanche from the mountains, +they fell upon their foes, beat them with clubs, and drove them into the +river. Their progress was one series of triumphs, till they placed +Gustavus Vasa on the throne of Sweden. + +The last outbreak of the Dalecarlians was less successful. On the 19th +of June 1743, five thousand of these hardy and determined men appeared +before Stockholm, bringing with them in fetters the governor of their +province, and demanding the punishment of the nobles who had instigated +a war with Russia, and a new election of an heir to the crown. They were +not to be pacified by words; and even the next morning, when the old +King Frederick, surrounded by his general and guards, rode out to +harangue them, all he could obtain was the release of their prisoner. On +the other hand, they seized three pieces of cannon, and dragged them to +the square named after Gustavus Adolphus, where they posted themselves. + + "There were eight thousand men of regular troops in Stockholm, but + these were not all to be depended upon, and it was necessary to + bring up some detachments of the guards. A company of Süderländers + who had been ordered to cross the bridge, went right about face, as + soon as they came in sight of the Dalecarlians, and did not halt + till they reached the sluicegate, which had been drawn up, so that + nobody might pass. It was now proclaimed with beat of drum, that + those of the Dalecarlians who should not have left the city by five + o'clock, would be dealt with as rebels and traitors. More than a + thousand did leave, but the others stood firm. Counsellors and + generals went to them, and exhorted them to obedience; but they + cried out that they would make and unmake the king, according to + their own good right and decree, and that if it was attempted to + hinder them, the very child in the cradle should meet no mercy at + their hands. To give greater weight to their words, they fired a + cannon and a volley of musketry, by which a counsellor was killed. + + "Orders were now given to the soldiers to fire, but they had pity + on the poor peasants, and only aimed at the houses, shattering the + glass in hundreds of windows. But the artillerymen were obliged to + put match to touch-hole, and a murderous fire of canister did + execution in the masses of the Dalecarlians. Many a white camisole + was stained with the red heart's-blood of its wearer; fifty men + fell dead upon the spot, eighty were wounded, and a crowd of others + sprang into the Norderström, or sought to fly. The regiment of + body-guards pursued them, and drove the discomfited boors into the + artillery court. A severe investigation now took place, and these + thirsters after liberty were punished by imprisonment and running + the gauntlet. Their leader and five others were beheaded. + + "The Dalecarlians are a tenacious and obstinate people, and their + character is not likely to change; but God forbid that they should + again deem it necessary to visit Stockholm. They were doubtless + just as brave in the year 1743 as in 1521 and 1434; but though + _they_ had not altered, the times had. Civilization and cartridges + are powerful checks upon undisciplined courage and an unbridled + desire of liberty." + +Returning from Dalecarlia to Stockholm, Mr Boas takes, not without +regret, his final farewell of that city, and embarks for Gothenburg, +passing through the Gotha canal, that splendid monument of Swedish +industry and perseverance, which connects the Baltic with the North Sea. +He passes the island of Mörkö, on which is Höningsholm Castle, where +Marshal Banner was brought up. A window is pointed out in the third +story of the castle, at which Banner, when a child, was once playing, +when he overbalanced himself and fell out. The ground beneath was hard +and rocky, but nevertheless he got up unhurt, ran into the house, and +related how a gardener had saved him by catching him in his white apron. +Enquiry was immediately made, but, far or near, no gardener was to be +found. By an odd coincidence, Wallenstein, Banner's great opponent, when +a page at Innspruck, also fell out of a high window without receiving +the least injury. + +On the first evening of the voyage, the steamer anchors for the night +near Mem, a country-seat belonging to a certain Count Saltza, an +eccentric old nobleman, who traces his descent from the time of Charles +XII., and fancies himself a prophet and ghost-seer. His predictions +relate usually to the royal family or country of Sweden, and are +repeated from mouth to mouth throughout every province of the kingdom. +And here we must retract an assertion we made some pages back, as to the +possibility of our supposing this book to proceed from any other than a +German pen. No one but a German would have thought it necessary or +judicious to intrude his own insipid sentimentalities into a narrative +of this description, and which was meant to be printed. But there is +probably no conceivable subject on which a German could be set to write, +in discussing which he would not manage to drag in, by neck and heels, a +certain amount of sentiment or metaphysics, perhaps of both. Mr Boas, we +are sorry to say, is guilty of this sin against good taste. The steamer +comes to an anchor about ten o'clock, and he goes ashore with Baron +K----, a friend he has picked up on board, to take a stroll in the +Prophet's garden at Mem. There they encounter Mesdemoiselles Ebba and +Ylfwa, lovely and romantic maidens, who sit in a bower of roses under +the shadow of an umbrageous maple-tree, their arms intertwined, their +eyes fixed upon a moonbeam, piping out Swedish melodies, which, to our +two swains, prove seductive as the songs of a Siren. The moonbeam +aforesaid is kind enough to convert into silver all the trees, bushes, +leaves and twigs in the vicinity of the young ladies with the +Thor-and-Odin names; whilst to complete this German vision, a white bird +with a yellow tuft upon its head stands sentry upon a branch beside +them, the said bird being, we presume, a filthy squealing cockatoo, +although Mr Boas, gay deceiver that he is, evidently wishes us to infer +that it was an indigenous volatile of the phoenix tribe. Sentinel +Cockatoo, however, was caught napping, and the garrison of the bower had +to run for it. And now commences a series of hopes and fears, and doubts +and anxieties, and sighings and perplexities, which keep the tender +heart of Boas in a state of agreeable palpitation, through four or five +chapters; at the end of which he steps on board the steam-boat +Christiana, blows in imagination a farewell kiss to Miss Ebba, of whom, +by the bye, he has never obtained more than half a glimpse, and awaking, +as he tells us, from his love-dream, which we should call his nightmare, +sets sail for Copenhagen. + +Of the various places visited by Mr Boas during his ramble, few seem to +have pleased him better than Copenhagen, and he becomes quite +enthusiastic when speaking of that city, and of what he saw there. The +pleasure he had in meeting Thorwaldsen is perhaps in part the cause of +his remembering the Danish capital with peculiar favour. He gives +various details concerning that celebrated sculptor, his character and +habits, and commences the chapter, which he styles, "A Fragment of +Italy in the North," with a comparison between Sweden and Denmark, two +countries which, both in trifling and important matters, but especially +in the character of their inhabitants, are far more dissimilar than from +their juxtaposition might have been supposed. Listen to Mr Boas. + + "On meeting an interesting person for the first time, one + frequently endeavours to trace a resemblance with some previous + acquaintance or friend. I have a similar propensity when I visit + interesting cities; but I had difficulty in calling to mind any + place to which I could liken Copenhagen. Between Sweden and Denmark + generally, there are more points of difference than of resemblance. + Sweden is the land of rocks, and Denmark of forest. Oehlenschlägel + calls the latter country, 'the fresh and grassy,' but he might also + have added 'the cool and wooded.' + + "The Swedish language is soft and melodious, the Danish sharp and + accentuated. The former is better suited to lyrical, the latter to + dramatic poetry. + + "When a Swede laughs, he still looks more serious than a Dane who + is out of humour. In Sweden, the people are quiet, even when + indulging in the pleasures they love best; in Denmark there is no + pleasure without noise. In a political point of view, the + difference between the two nations is equally marked. Beyond the + Sound, all demonstrations are made with fierce earnestness; on this + side of it, satire and wit are the weapons employed. On the one + hand shells and heavy artillery, on the other, light and brilliant + rockets. The Swedes have much liberty of the press and very little + humour; the Danes have a great deal of humour and small liberty of + the press. As a people, the former are of a choleric and melancholy + temperament, the latter of a sanguine and phlegmatic one. + + "Whilst the Swedish national hatred is directed against Russia, + that of Denmark takes England for its object. Finland and the fleet + are not yet forgotten. + + "The Swede is constantly taking off his hat; the Dane always shakes + hands. The former is courteous and sly, the latter simple and + honest. + + "If Denmark has little similarity with its northern neighbour, + neither has it any marked point of resemblance with its southern + one. It always reminds me of the _tongue_ of a balance, vibrating + between Sweden and Germany, and inclining ever to that side on + which the greatest weight lies. Thus its literary tendency is + German, its political one Swedish. + + "The best comparison that can be made of Denmark is with Italy; and + to me, although I shall probably surprise the reader by saying so, + Copenhagen appears like a part of Rome transplanted into the north. + In some degree, perhaps, Thorwaldsen is answerable for this + impression; for where he works and creates, one is apt to fancy + oneself surrounded by that warm southern atmosphere in which nature + and art best flourish. When he returned to Copenhagen, it was a + festival day for the whole population of the city. A crew of gaily + dressed sailors rowed him to land, and whilst they were doing so, a + rainbow suddenly appeared in the heavens. The multitude assembled + on the shore set up a shout of jubilation, to see that the sky + itself assumed its brightest tints, to celebrate the return of + their favourite. + + "I had been told that I should not see Thorwaldsen, because he was + staying with the Countess Stampe. This lady is about forty years of + age, and possesses that blooming _embonpoint_ which makes up in + some women for the loss of youthful freshness. She became + acquainted with the artist in Italy, and fascinated him to such a + degree that he made her a present of the whole of his drawings, + which are of immense artistical value. She excited much ill-will by + accepting them, but at the same time it must in justice be owned, + that Thorwaldsen is under great obligations to her. He had hardly + arrived in Copenhagen, when innumerable invitations to breakfasts, + dinners, and suppers were poured upon him. Every body wanted to + have him; and, as he was known to love good living, the most + sumptuous repasts were prepared for him. The sturdy old man, who + had never been ill in his life, became pale and sickly, lost his + taste for work, and was in a fair way to die of an indigestion, + when the Countess Stampe stepped in to the rescue, carried him off + to her country-seat, and there fitted him up a studio. His health + speedily returned, and with it the energy for which he has always + been remarkable, and he joyfully resumed the chisel and modelling + stick. + + "I had scarcely set foot in the streets of Copenhagen, when I saw + Thorwaldsen coming towards me. I was sure that I was not mistaken, + for no one who has ever looked upon that fine benevolent + countenance, that long silver hair, clear, high forehead and gently + smiling mouth--no one who has ever gazed into those divine blue + orbs, wherein creative power seems so sweetly to repose, could ever + forget them again. I went up and spoke to him. He remembered me + immediately, shook my hand with that captivating joviality of + manner which is peculiar to him, and invited me into his house. He + inhabits the Charlottenburg, an old chateau on the Königsneumarkt, + by crossing the inner court of which one reaches his studio. My + most delightful moments in Copenhagen were passed there, looking on + whilst he worked at the statues of deities and heroes--he himself + more illustrious than them all. There they stand, those lifelike + and immortal groups, displaying the most wonderful variety of form + and attitude, and yet, strange to say, Thorwaldsen scarcely ever + makes use of a model. His most recently commenced works were two + gigantic allegorical figures, Samson and Aesculapius. The first was + already completed, and I myself saw the bearded physiognomy of + Aesculapius growing each day more distinct and perfect beneath the + cunning hand of the master. The statues represent Strength and + Health." + +In his house, and as a private individual, Thorwaldsen is as amiable and +estimable as in his studio. In the centre of one of his rooms is a +four-sided sofa, which was embroidered expressly for him by the fair +hands of the Copenhagen ladies. The walls are covered with pictures, +some of them very good, others of a less degree of merit. They were not +all bought on account of their excellence; Thorwaldsen purchased many of +them to assist young artists who were living, poor and in difficulties, +at Rome. Dressed in his blue linen blouse, he explained to his visitor +the subjects of these pictures, without the slightest tinge of vanity in +his manner or words. None of the dignities or honours that have been +showered upon him, have in the slightest degree turned his head. +Affable, cheerful, and even-tempered, he appears to have preserved, to +his present age of sixty, much of the joyous lightheartedness of youth. +With great glee he related to Mr Boas the trick he had played the +architects of the church of Our Lady at Copenhagen. + +"Architects are obstinate people," said he, "and one must know how to +manage them. Thank God, that is a knowledge which I possess in a +tolerable degree. When the church of Our Lady was built, the architect +left six niches on either side of the interior, and these were to +contain the twelve apostles. In vain did I represent to them that +statues were meant to be looked at on all sides, and that nobody could +see through a stone wall; I implored, I coaxed them, it was all in vain. +Then thought I to myself, he is best served who serves himself, and +thereupon I made the statues a good half-foot higher than the niches. +You should have seen the length of the architects' faces when they found +this out. But they could not help themselves; the infernal sentry-boxes +were bricked up, and my apostles stand out upon their pedestals, as you +may have seen when you visited the church." + +Thorwaldsen is devotedly attached to Copenhagen, and has made a present +to the city of all his works and collections, upon condition that a +fitting locality should be prepared for their reception, and that the +museum should bear his name. The king gave a wing of the Christiansburg +for this purpose, the call for subscriptions was enthusiastically +responded to, and the building is now well advanced. Its style of +architecture is unostentatious, and its rows of large windows will admit +a broad decided light upon the marble groups. Pending its completion, +the majority of the statues and pictures are lodged in the palace. + +Mr Boas appears bent upon establishing his parallel between Denmark and +Italy. He traces it in the fondness of the Danes for art, poetry, and +music, in their gay and joyous character, and in their dress. He even +discovers an Italian punchinello figuring in a Danish puppet-show; and +as it was during the month of August that he found himself in Denmark, +the weather was not such as to dispel his illusions. + +"It would be erroneous," he says, "to suppose that Danish costumes +weaken or obliterate the idea of a southern region conveyed by this +country. A Bolognese professor would not think of covering his head with +the red cap of a Lazzarone, and Roman marchesas dress themselves, like +Danish countesses, according to the _Journal des Modes_. National +costumes in all countries have taken refuge in villages, and the +peasants in the environs of Copenhagen have no reason to be ashamed of +their garb, which is both showy and picturesque. The men wear round hats +and dark-blue jackets, lined with scarlet and adorned with long +glittering rows of bullet-shaped buttons. The women are very tasteful in +their attire. Their dark-green gowns, with variegated borders, reach +down to their heels, and the shoulder-strap of the closely fitting +boddice is a band of gold lace. The chief pains are bestowed upon the +head-dress, which is various in its fashion, sometimes composed of clear +white stuff, with an embroidered lappet, falling down upon the neck; +sometimes of a cap of many colours, heavily embroidered with gold, and +having broad ribands of a red purple, which flutter over the shoulders. +One meets every where with this original sort of costume; for the +peasant women repair in great numbers to the festivals at the various +towns, and in Copenhagen they are employed as nurses to the children of +the higher classes. + + "During my sojourn in the Danish capital, the weather was so + obliging as in no way to interfere with my Cisalpine illusions. The + sky continued a spotless dome of lapis-lazuli, out of which the sun + beamed like a huge diamond; and if now and then a little cloud + appeared, it was no bigger than a white dove flitting across the + blue expanse. The days were hot, a bath in the lukewarm sea + scarcely cooled me, and at night a soft dreamy sort of vapour + spread itself over the earth. I only remember one single moment + when the peculiarities of a northern climate made themselves + obvious. It was in the evening, and I was returning with my friend + Holst from the delightful forest-park of Friedrichsberg. The sky + was one immense blue prairie, across which the moon was solitarily + wandering, when suddenly the atmosphere became illuminated with a + bright and fiery light; a large flaming meteor rushed through the + air, and, bursting with a loud report, divided itself into a + hundred dazzling balls of fire. These disappeared, and immediately + afterwards a white mist seemed to rise out of the earth, and the + stars shone more dimly than before. Over stream and meadow rolled + the fog, in strange fantastical shapes, floating like a silver + gauze among the tree-stems and foliage, till it gradually wove + itself into one close and impervious veil. To such appearances as + these must legends of elves and fairies owe their origin." + +It is something rather new for an author to introduce into his book a +criticism of another work on the same subject. This, Mr Boas, who +appears to be a bold man, tolerably confident in his own capabilities +and acquirements, has done, and in a very amusing, although not +altogether an unobjectionable manner. He must be sanguine, however, if +he expects his readers to place implicit faith in his impartiality. +Under the title of "A Tour in the North," he devotes a long chapter to a +bitter attack on the Countess Hahn-Hahn's book of that name. Here is its +commencement:-- + + "A year previously to myself, Ida, Countess Hahn-Hahn, had visited + Sweden, and the fruit of her journey was, as is infallible with + that lady, a book. When I arrived at Stockholm, people were just + reading it, and I found them highly indignant at the nonsense and + misrepresentations it contains. When a German goes to Sweden he is + received as a brother, with a warmth and heartiness which should + make a doubly pleasing impression, if we reflect how important it + is in our days to preserve a mutual confidence and good-will + between nations. When meddling persons make the perfidious attempt + to embitter a friendly people by scoffing and abuse, there should + be an end to forbearance, and it becomes a duty to strike in with + soothing words. We must show the Swedes how such scribblings are + appreciated in Germany, lest they should think we take a pleasure + in ridiculing what is noble and good." + +And thereupon, Mr Boas does "strike in," as he calls it; but however +soothing his words may prove to his ill-used Swedish friends, we have +considerable doubts as to their emollient effect upon the Countess, +supposing always that she condescends to read them. He hits that lady +some very hard knocks, not all of them, perhaps, entirely undeserved; +makes out an excellent case for the Swedes, and proves, much more +satisfactorily to himself than to us, that Madame Hahn-Hahn is of a very +inferior grade of bookmaking tourists. + +"In the first place" he says, "I declare that her work on Sweden is no +original, but a dull imitation of Gustavus Nicolai's notorious book, +'Italy, as it really is.' Like that author, the Countess labours +assiduously to collect together all the darkest shades and least +favourable points of the country and people she visits; exaggerates them +when she finds them, and invents them when she does not. For the +beauties of the country she has neither eye nor feeling; she +intentionally avoids speaking of them, and her book is meant, like that +of Nicolai, to operate as a warning, and scare away travellers. The good +lady says this very explicitly. 'Travellers are beginning to turn their +attention a good deal to the north, for the south is becoming +insufficient to gratify that universal rage for rambling, with which I +myself, as a true child of the century, am also infected. But the north +is so little known--I, for my part, only knew it through Dahl's poetical +landscapes--that one feels involuntarily disposed to deck it with the +colours of the south, because the south is beautiful, and the north is +said also to be so. Thus one is apt to set out with a delusion, and I +think it will therefore be an act of kindness to those who may visit +Sweden after me, if I say exactly how I found it.' Uncommonly good, +Gustavus the second. But it would be unfair to Nicolai to assert that +his book is as dull and nonsensical as that of the Countess Hahn-Hahn. +He went to Italy with the idea that it never rained there, and that +oranges grew on the hedges, as sloes do with us. This was childish, and +one could not help laughing at it. But when his imitatress perpetually +laments and complains, because on the Maeler lake, under the 59th degree +of latitude, she does not find the sultry southern climate--it becomes +worse than childish, and one is compelled to pity her. The Countess +chanced to hit upon a cool rainy month for her visit--I am wrong, she +was not a month in Scandinavia altogether--and thereupon she cries out +as if she were drowning, and despises both country and people." + +It is easy to understand that there can be little sympathy between the +Countess Hahn-Hahn, an imaginative and somewhat capricious fine lady, +with strong aristocratic and exclusive tendencies, and such a +matter-of-fact person as Mr Boas, who, in spite of his sentimentality, +which is a sort of national infirmity, and although he informs us in one +part of his book that he is a poet, leans much more to the practical and +positive than to the imaginative and dreamy, and we moreover suspect is +a bit of a democrat. Having, however, taken the Countess _en grippe_, as +the French call it, he shows her no mercy, and, it must be owned, +displays some cleverness in hitting off and illustrating the weak points +of her character and writings. + +"Hardly," he resumes, "has the female Nicolai reached Stockholm, when +she begins with her insipid comparisons. 'The golden brilliancy of +Naples and the magic spell of Venice are here entirely wanting.' Is it +possible? Only see what striking remarks this witty and travelled dame +does make! In the next page she says:--'Upon this very day, exactly one +year since, I was in Barcelona; but here there is nothing that will bear +comparison with the land of the aloe and the orange. Three years ago I +was on the Lake of Como, in that fairy garden beyond the Alps! Five +years ago in Vienna, amongst the rose-groves of Laxenburg;' &c. Who +cares in what places the Countess has been? Surely it is enough that she +has written long wearisome books about them. Every possible corner of +Italy, Spain, and Switzerland is dragged laboriously in, to furnish +forth comparisons; and soon, no doubt, a similar use will be made of +Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia. These comparisons are invariably shown to +be to the disadvantage of Sweden; and although the lady is oftentimes +compelled to confess to the beauty of a Swedish landscape, she never +forgets to qualify the admission, by observing how much more beautiful +such or such a place was. For example, she is standing one night at her +window, looking out on the Maeler lake. 'I wrapped my mantilla +shiveringly around me, stepped back from the window, shut it, and said +with a slight sigh: In Venice the moonlight nights were very different.' +Really this would be hardly credible, did any other than a countess +assure us of it." + + "Every thing in Sweden is disagreeable and adverse to her; roads, + houses, food, people, and money; rocks, trees, rivers and flowers; + but especially sun, sky, and air. She talks without ceasing of + heavy clouds and pouring rains, but even this abundance of water is + insufficient to mitigate the dryness of her book." + +"I am always sorry," says a witty French writer, "when a woman becomes +an author: I would much rather she remained a woman." Does Mr Boas, +perchance, partake this implied opinion, that authorship unsexes; and is +it therefore that he allows himself to deal out such hard measure to the +Countess Ida? Even if we agreed with his criticisms, we should quarrel +with his want of gallantry. But it is tolerably evident that if Madame +Hahn-Hahn, finding herself on the shores of the Baltic, in a July that +might have answered to December in the sunny climes she had so recently +left, allowed her account of Swedes and Sweden to be shaded a little _en +noir_ by her own physical discomforts; it is evident, we say, that on +the other hand, our present author, either more favoured by the season, +or less susceptible of its influence, sins equally in the contrary +extreme, and throws a rosy tint over all that he portrays. Though +equally likely to induce into error, it is the pleasanter fault to those +persons who merely read the tour for amusement, without proposing to +follow in the footsteps of the tourist. Your complaining, grumbling +travellers are bores, whether on paper or in a post-chaise; and, truth +to tell, we have noticed in others of the Countess's books a disposition +to look on the dark side of things. But this is not always the case, +and, when she gets on congenial ground, she shines forth as a writer of +a very high order. Witness her Italian tour, and her book upon Turkey +and Syria, with which latter, English readers have recently been made +acquainted through an admirable translation, by the accomplished author +of _Caleb Stukely_. She has her little conceits, and her little fancies; +rather an overweening pride of caste, and contempt for the plebeian +multitude, and an addiction to filling too many pages of her books with +small personal and egotistical details about herself, and her +sensations, and what dresses she wears, and how thin she is, and so on. +But with all her faults, she is unquestionably a very accomplished and +clever writer. Her criticisms on subjects relating to art, and +especially her original and sparkling remarks on painting and +architecture, although qualified by Mr Boas as twaddle, stamp her at +once as a woman of no common order. She has profound and poetical +conceptions of Beauty, and at times a felicity of expression in +presenting the effects of nature and art upon her own mind, that strikes +and startles by its novelty and power. As a delineator of men and +manners, she is remarkable for shrewdness, subtle perception, and +truthfulness that cannot be mistaken. Should our readers doubt our +statements, or haply Mr Boas turn up his nose at the eulogium, we would +simply refer them and him to the last work that has fallen from her pen, +the Letters from the Orient, and bid them open it at the page which +brings them to a Bedouin encampment--a scene described with the vigour +that belongs to a masculine understanding, and all the fascination which +a feminine mind can bestow. + +Still we are free to confess that the Countess has written perhaps +rather too much for the time she has been about it, and thus laid +herself open to an accusation of bookmaking, the prevailing vice of the +present race of authors. The incorrigible and merciless Mr Boas does not +let this pass. + +"The question now remains to be asked," says he; "Why did Ida Hahn-Hahn, +upon leaving a country in which she had passed a couple of weeks--a +country of the language of which she confesses herself ignorant, and +with which she was in every respect thoroughly displeased, deem it +incumbent on her forthwith to write a thick book concerning it? The +answer is this: her pretended impulse to authorship is merely feigned, +otherwise she would not have troubled herself any further about such a +wearisome country as Sweden. Through three hundred and fifty pages does +she drag herself, grumbling as she goes; a single day must often fill a +score of pages, for travelling costs money, and the _honorarium_ is not +to be despised. If I thus accuse the Countess of bookmaking, I also feel +that such an accusation should be supported by abundant proof, and such +proof am I ready to give." + +Oh fye, Boas! How can you be so ruthless? Besides the impolicy of +exposing the tricks of your trade, all this is very spiteful indeed. You +would almost tempt us, were it worth while, to take up the cudgels in +earnest in defence of the calumniated Countess, and to give you a crack +on the pate, which, as Maga is regularly translated into German for the +benefit and improvement of your countrymen, would entirely finish your +career, whether as poet, tour-writer, or any thing else. But seeing that +your conceits and lucubrations have afforded us one or two good laughs, +and considering, moreover, that you are of the number of those small fry +with which it is almost condescension for us to meddle, we will let you +off, and close this notice of your book, if not with entire approbation, +at least with a moderate meed of praise. + + + + +HOUSE-HUNTING IN WALES. + + +"Change of air! change of air!" Every body was in the same story. +"Medicine is of no use," said the doctor; "a little change of scene will +set all to rights again." I looked in the child's face--she was +certainly very pale. "And how long do you think she should stay away +from home?" "Two or three months will stock her with health for a whole +year." Two or three months!--oh, what a century of time that is, now +that we have railroads all over the world, and steam to the +Pyramids--where in all the wide earth are we to go? So we got maps of +all countries, and took advice from every one we saw. We shall certainly +go among hills, wherever we go; beautiful scenery if we can--but hills +and fresh air at all events. We heard of fine open downs, and an +occasional tempest, in the neighbourhood of Rouen. A steamer goes from +Portsmouth to Havre, and another delightful little river-boat up the +Seine. For a whole day we had determined on a visit to the burial-place +of William the Norman--the death-place of Joan of Arc; we had devised +little tours and detours all over the mysterious land that sent forth +the conquerors of England; but soon there cane "a frost, a nipping +frost,"--are we to be boxed up in an hotel in a French town the whole +time? No, we must go somewhere, where we can get a country-house--a +place on the swelling side of some romantic hill, where we can trot +about all day upon ponies, or ramble through fields and meadows at our +own sweet will. So we gave up all thoughts of Rouen. "I'll tell you +what, sir," said a sympathizing neighbour: "when I came home on my three +years' leave, I left the prettiest thing you ever saw, a perfect +paradise, and a bungalow that was the envy of every man in the +district." "Well?" I said with an enquiring look. "It's among the +Neilgherries; and as for bracing air, there isn't such a place in the +whole world. I merely mention it, you know; it's a little too far off, +perhaps; but if you like it, it is quite at your service, I assure +you." It was very tempting, but three months was scarcely long enough. +So we were at a nonplus. Scotland we thought of; and the Cumberland +lakes; and the Malvern hills; and the Peak of Derbyshire; and where we +might finally have fixed can never be known, for our plans were decided +by the advice of a friend, which was rendered irresistible by being +backed by his own experience. "Go to Wales," he said. "I lived in such a +beautiful place there three or four years ago--in the Vale of +Glasbury--a lovely open space, with hills all round it--admirable +accommodation at the Three Cocks, and the most civil and obliging +landlord that ever offered good entertainment for man and beast." Out +came the maps again; the route was carefully studied; and one day at the +end of May, we found ourselves, eight people in all, viz., four children +and two maids, in a railway coach at Gosport, fizzing up to Basingstoke. +There is such a feeling of life and earnestness about a railway +carriage;--the perpetual shake, and the continual swing, swing, on and +on, without a moment's pause, with the quick, bustling, breathless sort +of tramp of the engine--all these things, and forty others, put me in +such a state of intense activity that I felt as if I kept a shop--or was +a prodigious man upon 'Change--or was flying up to make a fortune--or +had suddenly been called to form an administration--or had become a +member of the prize ring, and was going up to fight white-headed Bob. +However, on this occasion I was not called upon either to overthrow +white-headed Bob of the ring, or long-headed Bob of the administration; +and at Basingstoke we suddenly found ourselves, bag and baggage, wife, +maids, and children, standing in a forlorn and disconsolate manner, at +the door of the station-house; while the train pursued its course, and +had already disappeared like a dream, or rather like a nightmare. There +were at least half-a-dozen little carriages, each with one horse; and +the drivers had, each and all of then, the audacity to offer to convey +us--luggage and all--sixteen miles across, to Reading. Why, there was +not a vehicle there that would have held the two trunks; and as to +conveying us all, it would have taken the united energies of all the +Flies in Basingstoke, with the help of the Industrious Fleas to boot, to +get us to our destination within a week. While in this perplexing +situation, wondering what people could possibly want with such an array +of boxes and bags, a quiet-looking man, who had stood by, chewing the +lash of a driving-whip in a very philosophical manner, said, "Please +sir, I'll take you all." "My good friend, have you seen the whole +party?" "Oh yes, sir, I brought a bigger nor yourn for this here +train--we have a fly on purpose." What a sensible man he must have been +who devised a vehicle so much required by unhappy sires that are ordered +to remove their Lares for change of air! "Bring round the ark," we +cried; and in a minute came two very handsome horses to the door, +drawing a thing that was an aggravated likeness of the old hackney +coaches, with a slight cross of an omnibus in its breed. It held seven +inside with perfect ease, and would have held as many more as might be +required; and it carried all the luggage on the top with an air of as +much ease as if it had only been a bonnet, and it was rather proud than +otherwise of its head-dress. The driving seat was as capacious as the +other parts of the machine, and we had much interesting conversation +with the Jehu--whose epithets, we are sorry to say, as applied to +railroads, were of that class of adjectives called the emphatic. There +is to be a cross line very shortly between Basingstoke and Reading, +uniting the South-Western and Great Western Railways--and then, what is +to become of the tremendous vehicle and its driver? The coach, to be +sure, may be retained as a specimen of Brobdignaggian fly, but my friend +Jehu must appear in the character of Othello, and confess that "his +occupation's gone." Thank heaven! people wear boots, and many of them +like to have them cleaned, so, with the help of Day and Martin, you may +live. "That's the Duke's gate, sir," he said, pointing with his whip to +a plain lodge and entrance on the left hand. "The lodge-keeper was his +top groom at the time Waterloo was--and a very nice place he has." This +was Strathfieldsaye: there were miles and miles of the most beautiful +plantations, all the fences in excellent order, the cottages along the +road clean and comfortable, and every symptom of a good landlord to be +seen as far as the eye could reach. + +"If it wasn't for all this here luggage," said Jehu in a confidential +whisper, with a backward jerk of his head towards the moving pyramid +behind us; "we might go through the park. The Duke gives permission to +gentlemen's carriages." + +So the poor man deluded himself with the thought, that if it wer'n't for +the bandboxes, we might pass muster as fresh from the hands of Cork and +Spain. + +"That's very kind of the Duke." + +"Oh, he's the best of gentlemen--I hears the best of characters of him +from his tenants, and all the poor folks round about." Now here was our +driver--rather ragged than otherwise, and as poor as need be--bearing +evidence to the character of the greatest man in these degenerate days, +on points that are perhaps more important than some that will be dwelt +on by his biographers. The best of characters from his tenants and the +poor;--well, glorious Duke, I shall always think of this when I read +about your victories, and all your great doings in peace and war; and +when people call you the Iron Duke, and the great soldier, and the hero +of Waterloo, I shall think of you as the hero of Strathfieldsaye, and +the best of characters among your tenants and the poor folks round +about. + +"Does the Duke often come to Reading?" + +"No; very seldom." + +"I should have thought he would come by the Great Western, and drive +across." + +"He!" exclaimed the driver, giving a cut to the near horse by way of +italicising his observation. "He never comes by none of their rails. He +don't like 'em. He posts every step of the way. He's a reg'lar +gentleman, he is, the Duke." + +And in the midst of conversation like this, we got to Reading. Through +some wretched streets we drove, and then through some tolerable ones; +and at last pulled up at the Great Western Hotel, a large handsome +house, very near the Railway station; and in a few minutes were as +comfortably settled as if we had travelled with a couple of outriders, +and had ordered our rooms for a month. The sitting-room had three or +four windows, of which two looked out upon the terminus. At these the +whole party were soon happily stationed, watching the different trains +that came sweeping up and down every few minutes; long luggage trains, +pursuing their heavy way with a business-like solidity worthy of their +great weight and respectability; short dapper trains, that seemed to +take a spurt up the road as if to try their wind and condition; and +occasionally a mysterious engine, squeaking, and hissing, and roaring, +and then, with a succession of curious jumps and pantings, backing +itself half a mile or so down the course, and then spluttering and +dashing out of sight as if madly intent upon suicide, and in search of a +stone wall to run its head upon. As to feeling surprise at the number of +accidents, the only wonder a sensible man can entertain on the subject +is, that there is any thing but accidents from morning to night. And +yet, when you look a little closer into it, every thing seems so +admirably managed, that the chances are thousands to one against any +misfortune occurring. Every engine seems to know its place as accurately +as a cavalry charger; the language also of the signals seems very +intelligible to the iron ears of the Lucifers and Beelzebubs, and the +other evil spirits, who seem on every line to be the active agents of +locomotion. Why can't the directors have more Christianlike names for +their moving power? What connexion is there between a beautiful new +engine, shining in all its finery--the personification of obedient and +beneficent strength--with the "Infernal," or the "Phlegethon," or the +"Styx?" Are they aware what a disagreeable association of ideas is +produced in the students of Lemprière's classical dictionary by the two +last names? or the Charon or Atropos? Let these things be mended, and +let them be called by some more inviting appellations--Nelson, St +Vincent, Rodney, Watt, Arkwright, Stephenson, Milton, Shakspeare, +Scott;--but leave heathen mythology and diabolic geography alone. As +night began to close, the sights and sounds grew more strange and awful. +A great flaming eye made its appearance at a distance; the gradual boom +of its approach grew louder and louder, and its look became redder and +redder; and then we watched it roll off into the darkness again, on the +other side of the station, on its way to Bath--till, tearing up at the +rate of forty miles an hour, came another red-eyed monster, breathing +horrible flame, and seeming to burn its way through the sable livery of +the night with the strength and straightness of a red-hot cannon-ball. +And then we called for candles and went to bed. + +The train was to pass on its way to Bristol at half-past eleven, so we +had plenty of time to see the lions of Reading--if there had been any +animals of the kind in the neighbourhood--but after a short detour in +the street, and a glimpse into the country, we found ourselves +irresistibly attracted to the railway. The scene here was the same as on +the previous night, and we were more and more confirmed in our opinion, +that, next to the sea or a navigable river, a railway is the pleasantest +object in a rural view. As to the impostors who extort thousands of +pounds from the unhappy shareholders, on the pretext that the line will +be injurious to their estates, they ought at once to be sent to Brixton +for obtaining money under false pretences. It gives a greatly increased +value to their lands, as may be seen by the superior rents they can +obtain for the farms along the line; and as to the picturesqueness of +the landscape, it is only because the eye is not yet accustomed to it, +nor the mind embued with railway associations, that it is not considered +a finer "object" than the level greenery of a park, or the hedgerows of +a cultivated farm. Painters have already begun to see the grandeur of a +tempestuous sea ridden over by steamers; and before the end of the next +war, some black "queller of the ocean flood," with short funnel and +smoke-blackened sails, will be thought as fit a theme for poetry and +romance, as the Victory or the Shannon. + +Knowledge, which we are every where told is now advancing at railway +speed, is still confined within very narrow limits, we are sorry to say, +among railway clerks and other officials. They still seem to measure the +sphere of their studies by distance, and not by time; for instance, not +one of the _employés_ at Reading could give us more information about +Bristol than if it had been three days' journey removed from him. Three +hours conveys us from one to the other--and yet they did not know the +name or situation of a single inn, nor where the boats to Chepstow +sailed from, nor whether there were any boats to Chepstow at all. In +ancient times such ignorance might be excusable, when the towns were +really as distant as London and York now are; but when three hours is +the utmost limit, and every half hour the communication is kept up +between them, it struck us as something unaccountable that Bristol +should be such a complete _terra incognita_ to at least a dozen +smart-looking individuals, who stamp off the tickets, and chuck the +money into a drawer, with an easy negligence very gratifying to the +beholder. Remembering the recommendation of the Royal Western Hotel +given us by a friend, with the whispered information that the turtle was +inimitable, and only three-and-sixpence a basin; we stowed away the +greater portion of the party in a first-class carriage, and betook +ourselves in economical seclusion to a vehicle of the second rank. And a +first-rate vehicle it was--better in the absence of stuffing on that +warm day, than its more aristocratic companion; and in less than three +minutes we were all spinning down the road--a line of human and other +baggage, at least a quarter of a mile in length. + +At Swindon we were allowed ten minutes for refreshment. The great +lunching-room is a very splendid apartment--and hungry passengers rushed +in at both doors, and in a moment clustered round the counters, and were +busy in the demolition of pies and sandwiches. Under a noble arch the +counters are placed; the attendants occupying a space between them, so +that one set attend to the gormandizers who enter by one of the doors, +and the rest on the others. It has exactly the effect of a majestic +mirror--and so completely was this my impression, that it was with the +utmost difficulty I persuaded myself that the crowd on the other side of +the arch was not the reflection of the company upon this. Exactly +opposite the place where I stood--in the act of enjoying a glass of +sherry and a biscuit--I discovered what I took of course to be the +counterfeit presentment of myself. What an extraordinary mirror, I +thought!--for I saw a prodigious man, with enormous whiskers, ramming a +large veal pie into his mouth with one hand, and holding in the other a +tumbler of porter. I looked at the glass of sherry, and gave the biscuit +a more vigorous bite--alas! it had none of the flavour of the veal and +porter; so I discovered that the law of optics was unchanged, and that I +had escaped the infliction of so voracious a double-ganger. + +The country round Chippenham is as beautiful as can be conceived; all +the fruit-trees were in full blossom, and we swept through long tracts +of the richest and prettiest orchards we ever saw. Hall and farm, and +moated grange, passed in rapid succession; and at last the fair city of +Bath rose like the queen of all the land, and looked down from her +palaces and towers on the fairest champaign that ever queen looked upon +before. Seen from the railway, the upper part of the town seems to rise +up from the very midst of orchards and gardens; terrace above terrace, +but still with a great flush of foliage between; it is a pity it ever +grew into a fashionable watering-place; though, even now, it is not too +late to amend. Like some cynosure of neighbouring eyes, fed from her +gentle youth upon all the sights and sounds of rural life, she is too +beautiful to put on the airs and graces of a belle of the court. Let her +go back to her country ways--her walks in the village lanes--her +scampers across the fields; she will be more really captivating than if +she was redolent of Park Lane, and never missed a drawing-room or +Almack's. But here we are at Bristol, and must leave our exhortations to +Bath to a future opportunity. + +It is amazing how rapidly the passengers disperse. By the time our +trunks and boxes were all collected, the station was deserted, the empty +carriages had wheeled themselves away, and we began to have involuntary +reminiscences of Campbell's _Last Man_. Earth's cities had no sound nor +tread--so it was with no slight gratification that we beheld the cad of +an omnibus beckoning us to take our place on the outside of his buss. +The luggage had been swung down in a lump through a hole in the floor, +and by the time we reached the same level, by the periphrasis of a +stair, every thing had been stowed away on the roof, where in a few +moments we joined it; and careered through the streets of Bristol, for +the first time in our lives. "Do you go to any hotel near the quay where +the Chepstow steamers start from?" was our first enquiry; but before the +charioteer had time to remove the tobacco from his cheek, to let forth +the words of song, a gentleman who sat behind us very kindly interfered. +"The York Hotel, sir, is quite near the river, in a nice quiet square, +and the most comfortable house I ever was in. If they can give you +accommodation, you can't be in better quarters." Next to the +praiseworthiness of a good Samaritan, who takes care of the houseless +and the stranger, is the merit of the benevolent individual who tells +you the good Samaritan's address. We made up our minds at once to go on +to the York Hotel. + +"For Chepstow, sir?" said the stranger--"a beautiful place, but by no +means equal to Linton in North Devon. Do you go to Chepstow straight?" + +"As soon as a boat will take us: we are going into Wales for change of +air, and the sooner we get there the better." + +"Change of air!--there isn't such air in England, no, nor anywhere else, +as at Linton. Why don't you come to Linton? You can get there in six +hours." + +"But Welsh air is the one recommended." + +"Nonsense. There's no air in Wales to be compared with Linton. I've +tried them both--so have hundreds of other people--and as for beauty and +scenery, and walks and drives, Linton beats the whole world." All this +was very difficult to resist; but we set our minds firmly on the Three +Cocks and Glasbury vale, and repelled all the temptations of the gem of +the North of Devon. Every hour that took us nearer to our goal, brought +out the likeness we had formed of it in our hearts with greater relief. +A fine secluded farm--of which a few rooms were fitted up as a house of +entertainment--a wild hill rising gradually at its back--a +mountain-stream rattling and foaming in front--all round it, swelling +knolls and heathy mountains. What had Linton to show in opposition to +charms like these? We rejected the advice of our good-natured counsellor +with great regret, more especially as a sojourn in Linton would probably +have enabled us to cultivate his further acquaintance. The York was +found all that he described--clean, quiet, and comfortable. When the +young fry had finished their dinner, away we all set on a voyage of +discovery to Clifton. Up a hill we climbed--which in many neighbourhoods +would be thought a mountain--and passed paragons, and circuses, and +crescents, on left and right, wondering when we were ever to emerge into +the open air. At last we reached the top--a green elevation surrounded +on two sides by streets and villas--crowned with a curious-looking +observatory, and ornamented at one end with a strange building on the +very edge of the cliff; being one of the _termini_ of the suspension +bridge, which got thus far, and no further. Going across the Green, the +sight is the most grand and striking we ever saw. Far down, skirting its +way round cliffs of prodigious height--which, however, except when they +are quarried for building purposes, are covered with the richest +foliage--along their whole descent winds the Avon, at that moment in +full tide, and covered in all its windings with sails of every shape and +hue. The rocks on the opposite side are of a glorious rich red, and +consort most beautifully with the green leaves of the plantations that +soften their rugged precipices, by festooning them to the very brink. +Then there are wild dells running back in the wooded parts of the hill, +and walks seem to be made through them for the convenience of maids who +love the moon--or more probably, and more poetically too, for the +refreshment of the toiling citizens of the smoky town, who wander about +among these sylvan recesses, with their wives and families, and enjoy +the wondrous beauty of the landscape, without having consulted Burke or +Adam Smith on the causes of their delight. As you climb upwards towards +the observatory, you fancy you are attending one of Buckland's +lectures--the whole language you hear is geological and philosophic. +About a dozen men, with little tables before them, are dispersed over +the latter part of the ascent, and keep tempting you with "fossiliferous +specimens of the oolite formation," "tertiary," "silurian," "saurian," +"stratification," "carboniferous." It was quite wonderful to hear such a +stream of learning, and to see, at the same time, the vigour of these +terrene philosophers in polishing their specimens upon a whetstone, laid +upon their knees. A few shillings put us all in possession of memorials +of Clifton, in the shape of little slabs of different strata, polished +on both sides, and ingeniously moulded to resemble a book. A little +further up, we got besieged by another body of the Clifton Samaritans, +the proprietors of a troop of donkeys, all saddled and bridled in battle +array. Into the hands of a venerable matron, the owner of a vast number +of donkies, and two or three ragged urchins, who acted as the Widdicombs +of the cavalcade, we committed all the younkers for an hour's joy, +between the turnpike and back, and betook ourselves to a seat at the +ledge of the cliff, and "gazed with ever new delight" at the noble +landscape literally at our feet. But the hour quickly passed; the +donkeys resigned their load; and we slid, as safely as could be +expected, down the inclined plane that conducted us to the York. We did +not experiment upon the turtle-soup, as we had been advised to do at the +Royal Western, but some Bristol salmon did as well; and after a long +consultation about boats, and breakfast at an early hour, we found we +had got through our day, and that hitherto the journey had offered +nothing but enjoyment. + +The morning lowered; and, heavily in clouds, but luckily without rain, +we effected our embarkation, at eight o'clock, on board the Wye--a +spacious steamer that plies every day, according to the tide, between +Bristol and Chepstow. We were a numerous crew, and had a steady captain, +with a face so weather-beaten that we concluded his navigation had not +been confined to the Severn sea. The first two or three miles of our +course was through the towering cliffs and wooded chasms we had admired +from the Clifton Down. For that part of its career, the Avon is so +beautiful, and glides along with such an evident aim after the +picturesque, that it is difficult to believe it any thing but an +ornamental piece of water, adding a new feature to a splendid landscape; +and yet this meandering stream is the pathway of nations, and only +inferior in the extent of its traffic to the Thames and Mersey. The +shores soon sink into commonplace meadows, and we emerge into the +Severn, which is about five miles wide, from the mouth of the Avon to +that of the Wye. All the way across, new headlands open upon the view; +and, far down the channel, you catch a glimpse of the Flat Holms, and +other little islands; while in front the Welsh hills bound the prospect, +at a considerable distance, and form a noble background to the rich, +wooded plains of Monmouthshire, and the low-lying shore we are +approaching. Suddenly you jut round an enormous rock, and find yourself +in a river of still more sylvan gentleness than the Avon. The other +passengers seemed to have no eyes for the picturesque--perhaps they had +seen the scenery till they were tired of it; and some of them were more +pleasantly engaged than gaping and gazing at rocks and trees. Grouped at +the tiller-chains were four or five people, very happily employed in +looking at each other--a lady and gentleman, in particular, seemed to +find a peculiar pleasure in the occupation; and were instructing each +other in the art and mystery of tying the sailor's knot. Time after time +the cord refused to follow the directions of the girl's fingers--very +white fingers they were too, and a very pretty girl--and, with untiring +assiduity, the teacher renewed his lesson. We ventured a prophecy that +they would soon be engaged in the twisting of a knot that would not be +quite so easy to untie as the sailor's slip that made them so happy. + +On we went on the top of the tide, rounding promontories, and gliding +among bosky bowers and wooded dells, till at last our panting conveyer +panted no more, and we lay alongside the pier of Chepstow. The tide at +this place rises to the incredible height of fifty, and sometimes, on +great occasions, of seventy feet; so they have a floating sort of +foot-bridge from the vessel to the shore, that sinks and rises with the +flood, connected with the land by elongating iron chains, and +illustrating the ups and downs of life in a very remarkable manner. I +will not attempt to describe Chepstow on the present occasion, for a +stay in it did not enter into our plan. The Three Cocks grew in interest +the nearer we got to their interesting abode. We determined to hurry +forward to Abergavenny--thence to send a missive of enquiry as to the +accommodations of the hostel--to go on at once, if we could be +received--and (leaving all the lumber, including the maids and the +younger children) to make a series of voyages of discovery, that would +entitle us to become members of the Travellers' Club. + +A coach was on the strand ready to start for Monmouth; a whisper and +half-a-crown secured the whole of the inside and two seats out, against +all concurrents; and the Wye, the boat, the knot-tying passengers, were +all left behind, and we began to climb the hill as fast as two +miserable-looking horses could crawl. A leader was added when we had got +a little way up; but as they neglected to furnish our coachman with a +whip long enough to reach beyond his wheeler's ears, our unicorn pursued +the even tenor of his way with very slackened traces, while our friend +sat the picture of indignation, with his short _flagellum_ in his hand, +and implored all the male population who overtook us, to favour him by +kicking the unhappy leader to death. An occasional benevolent Christian +complied with his request to the extent of a dig with a stout boot +under the rib; but every now and then, the furibund jarvey apologised to +us for the slowness of our course by asking--"Won't I serve him out when +I gets a whip!" A whip he at last got, and made up for lost time by +belabouring the lazy culprit in a very scientific manner; and having got +us all into a gallop, he became quite pleasant and communicative. All +the people in Monmouthshire are Welsh, that is very clear; and +Monmouthshire is as Welsh a county as Carnarvon, in spite of the maps of +geographers, and the circuits of the Judges. The very faces of the +people are evidence of their Taffy-hood. We have had no experience yet +if they carry out the peculiar ideas on the rights of property, +attributed to Taffy in the ancient legend, which relates the method that +gentleman took to supply himself with a leg of beef and a marrow bone; +but their voices and names are redolent of leeks, and no Act of +Parliament can ever make them English. You might as well pass an Act of +Parliament to make our friend Joseph Hume's speeches English. And +therefore, throughout the narrative, we shall always consider ourselves +in Wales, till we cross the Severn again. We trotted round the park wall +of a noble estate called Pearcefield, and when we had crowned the +ascent, our Jehu turned round with an air of great exultation, pulling +up his horses at the same time, and said--"There! did you ever see a +sight like that? This is the Double View." He might well be proud--for +such a prospect is not to be equalled, I should think, in the world. The +Wye is close below you, with its rich banks, frowned over by a +magnificent crag, that forms the most conspicuous feature of the +landscape; and in the distance is the river Severn, pursuing its shining +way through the fertile valleys of Glo'stershire, and by some _deceptio +visus_, for which we cannot account, raised apparently to a great height +above the level of its sister stream. It has the appearance of being +conveyed in a vast artificially raised embankment, laughing into scorn +the grandest aqueducts of ancient Rome, and bearing perhaps a greater +resemblance to the lofty-bedded Po in its passage through the plains of +Lombardy. The combination of the two rivers in the same scene, with the +peculiar characteristics of each brought prominently before the eye at +once, make this one of the finest "sights" that can be imagined. The +driver seemed satisfied with the sincerity of our admiration, and, like +a good patriot, evidently considered our encomiums as a personal +compliment to himself. The whole of the drive to Monmouth is through a +succession of noble views, only to be equalled, as far as our travelling +experience extends, by the stage on the Scottish border, between +Longtown and Langholm. But soon after this, the skies, that had gloomed +for a long time, took fairly to pouring out all the cats and dogs they +possessed upon our miserable heads. An umbrella on the top of a coach is +at all times a nuisance and incumbrance, so, in gloomy resignation to a +fate that was unavoidable, we wrapt our mantle round us, and made the +most of a bad bargain. To Monmouth we got at last, and to our great +discomfort found that it was market-day, and that we had to dispute the +possession of a joint of meat with some wet and hungry farmers. We +compromised the matter for a beefsteak, for which we had to wait about +an hour; and having seen that the whole of the garrison was well +supplied, we proceeded to make enquiries as to the best method of +getting on to Abergavenny. Finding that information on a matter so +likely to remove a remunerative party from the inn was not very easy to +be obtained from the denizens thereof, we made our way into the market. +The civility of the natives, when their interests are not concerned, is +extraordinary; and in a moment we were recommended to the Beaufort Arms, +a hotel that would do honour to Edinburgh itself--had ordered a roomy +chaise, and procured the services of a man with a light cart, to follow +us with the heavy luggage. The sky began to clear, the postillion +trotted gaily on, and we left the county town, not much gratified with +our experience of its smoky rooms and tough beefsteaks. We followed the +windings of the Trothy, a stream of a very lively and frisky +disposition, passing a seat of the Duke of Beaufort, who seems +lord-paramount of the county, and at length came in view of the noble +ruins of Ragland Castle. But now we were wiser than we had been at the +early part of the journey, and had bought a very well written +guide-book, by Mr W.H. Thomas, which, at the small outlay of one +shilling, made us as learned on "the Wye, with its associated scenery +and ruins," as if we had lived among them all our days. Inspired by his +animated pages, we descanted with the profoundest erudition, to our +astonished companion on the box, about its machicolated towers, and the +finely proportioned mullions of the hall. "If you ascend the walls of +the castle," we exclaimed in a paroxysm of enthusiasm, as if we were +perched on the very top, "you will see that the castle occupies the +centre of an undulating plain, checkered with white-washed farm-houses, +fields, and noble groves of oak. The tower and village of Rhaglan lie at +a short distance, picturesquely straggling and irregular. To the north, +the bold and diversified forms of the Craig, the Sugar Loaf, Skyrids, +and Blorenge mountains, with the outlines of the Hatterals, perfect the +scene in this direction; whilst the ever-varying and amphitheatrical +boundary of this natural basin, may be traced over the Blaenavons, +Craig-y-garayd, (close to Usk,) the Gaer Vawr, the round Twm Barlwm, the +fir-crowned top of Wentwood forest, Pen-cae-Mawr, the dreary heights of +Newchurch and Devauder; the continuation of the same range past +Llanishen, the white church of which is plainly visible; Trelleck, +Craig-y-Dorth, and the highlands above Troy Park, where they end." We +were going on in the same easy and off-hand manner to describe some +other peculiarities of the landscape, when a sudden lurch of the +carriage brought the book we were furtively pillaging into open view, +and we were forced, with a very bad grace, to confess our obligations to +Mr W.H. Thomas. A very beautiful ruin it is, certainly, and we made a +vow to devote a day to exploring its remains, and judging for ourselves +of the accuracy of the guide-book's description. Even if the road had no +recommendation from the lovely openings it gives at every turn, it would +be a pleasure to travel by it in sunshine, for the hedges along its +whole extent were a complete rampart of the sweetest smelling May. Such +miles of snow-white blossoms we never saw before. It looked like +Titania's bleaching-ground, and as if all the fairies had hung out their +white frocks to dry. And the hawthorn blossoms along the road were +emulated on all the little terraces at the side of it; the apple and +pear trees were in full bloom, and every little cottage rejoiced in its +orchard--so that, with the help of hedges and fruit trees, the whole +earth was in a glow of beauty and perfume--and we prophecy this will be +a famous year for cider and perry. Abergavenny has a very bad approach +from Monmouth, and we dreaded a repetition of the delays and toughnesses +we had just escaped from; how great therefore was our gratification when +we pulled up at the door of the Angel, and were shown into a splendid +room, thirty-five or forty feet long by twenty wide, secured bedrooms as +clean and comfortable as heart could desire, and had every thing we +asked for with the precision of clockwork and the rapidity of steam. The +Three Cocks began to descend from the lofty place they held in our +esteem, and we resolved for one day at least to rest contentedly in such +comfortable quarters, and look about us; so forth we sallied, and in the +course of our pilgrimage speedily arrived at Aberga'ny Castle. Talk of +picturesqueness! this was picturesque enough for poet or painter with a +vengeance--great thick walls all covered over with ivy, crowning a round +knoll at the upper part of the town, and looking over a finer view, we +will venture to say, than that we have just described as seen from +Ragland; and to complete the beauty of it--the comforts of modern +civilization uniting themselves to ancient magnificence--the main walls +have been fitted up by one of the late lords into a pretty +dwelling-house, which is at this moment occupied by one of the surgeons +of the town. This is the true use of an antique ruin--this is replacing +the coat of mail with a rain-proof mackintosh--the steel casque of Brian +de Boisguilbert with the Kilmarnock nightcap of Bailie Nicol Jarvie. +And in this instance the change has been effected with the greatest +skill; the coat of mail and steel casque are still there, but only for +show; the mackintosh and nightcap are the habitual dress: and few +dwellings in our poor eyes are comparable to the one, that outside has +the date of the crusaders, and inside, the conveniences of 1845. The +town has a noble body-guard of hills all round it; and perched high up +on almost inaccessible ledges, are little white-walled cottages, that +made us long for the wings of a bird to fly up and inspect them closer; +no other mode of conveyance would be either speedy or safe, for the +sides of the mountains are nearly perpendicular, and would have put +Douglas's horse to its mettle when he was on a visit to Owen Glendowr. +Dark, gloomy, Tartarean hills they appear, and no wonder; for their +whole interior is composed of iron, and day and night they are +glimmering and smoking with a hundred fires. They have a dreadful, +stern, metallic look about them, and are as different in their +configuration from the chalk hills of Hampshire as _they_ are from +cheese. Some day we shall ascend their dusky sides, and dive into +Pluto's drear domains--the iron-works--a god who, in the present state +of railway speculation, might easily be confounded with Plutus; and with +this and many other good resolutions, we returned to the hospitable care +of our friend Mr Morgan, at the Angel. Next day was Sunday, and very +wet. We slipped across the street and heard a very good sermon in the +morning, in a large handsome church, which was not quite so well filled +as it ought to have been, and were kept close prisoners all day +afterwards by the unrelenting clouds. + +But our object was not yet attained, and we resolved to start off with +fresh vigour on our expedition to the Three Cocks. It was only +two-and-twenty miles off; our host, with none of the spirit that, they +say, is always found between two of a trade, spoke in the highest terms +of the Vale of Glasbury, and its clean and comfortable hotel. He also +made enquiry for us as to its present condition, and brought back the +pleasing intelligence that it was not full, and that we should find +plenty of accommodation at once. This did away with the necessity of +writing to the landlord, and in a short time we were once more upon the +road, maids and children inside as usual, and a natty postilion cocking +his white hat and flicking his little whip, in the most bumptious manner +imaginable. Through Crickhowell we went without drawing bridle, and went +almost too fast to observe sufficiently its very beautiful situation; +past noble country-seats, bower and hall, we drove; and at last wound +our solitary way along a cross-road, among some pastoral hills, that +reminded us more of Dumfries-shire than any country we have ever seen. +The road ascended gradually for many miles; and on crowning the +elevation, we caught a very noble extensive view of a rich, flat, +thickly-wooded plain, that bore a great resemblance to the unequalled +neighbourhood of Warwick. Down and down we trotted--hills and heights of +all kinds left behind us--trees, shrubs, hedges, all in the fullest +leaf, lay for miles and miles on every side; and the scenery had about +as much resemblance to our ideal of a Welsh landscape, as ditch water to +champagne. Through this wilderness of sweets, stifling and oppressive +from its very richness, we drove for a long way, looking in vain for the +hilly region where the Three Cocks had taken up their abode. At last we +saw, a little way in front of us, at the side of the road--or rather +with one gable-end projecting into it, a large white house, with a mill +appearing to constitute one of its wings. "The man will surely stop here +to water the horses," was our observation; and so indeed he did--and as +he threw the rein loose over the off horse's neck--there! don't you see +the sign-board on the wall? Alas, alas, this is the Three Cocks! An +admirable fishing quarter it must be, for the river is very near, and +the country rich and beautiful, but not adapted to our particular case, +where mountain air and free exposure are indispensable. But if it had +been ten times less adapted to our purpose we had travelled too far to +give it up. + +"Can you take us in for a few weeks?" + +The landlord laughed at the idea. "I could not find room for a single +individual, if you gave me a thousand pounds. A party has been with me +for some time, and I can't even say how long they may stay." + +And, corroborative of this, we saw at the window our fortunate +extruders, who no doubt congratulated themselves on so many points of +the law being in their favour. Here were we stuck on the Queen's high +road--tired horses, cooped-up children--and the Three Cocks as +unattainable as the Philosopher's stone. The sympathizing landlord +consoled us in our disappointment as well as he could. The postilion +jumped into his saddle again, and we pursued our way to the nearest +place where there was any likelihood of a reception--namely, the Hay, a +village of some size about five miles further on. "Come along, we shall +easily find a nice cottage to-morrow, or get into some farm-house, and +ruralize for a month or two delightfully." Our hopes rose as we looked +forward to a settled home, after our experience of the road for so many +days; and we soared to such a pitch of audacity at last, that we +congratulated ourselves that we had not got in at Glasbury, but were +forced to go forward. The world was all before us where to choose. The +country seemed to improve--that is, to get a little less Dutch in its +level, as we proceeded--and we finally reached the Hay, with the +determination of Barnaby's raven, to bear a good heart at all events, +and take for our motto, in all the ills of life, "Never say die!--never +say die!" + +The hotel had been taken by assault, and was occupied in great force by +a troop of dragoons, on their march into Glo'stershire. We therefore did +not come off quite so well as if we had led the forlorn-hope ourselves; +but, after so long a journey, we rejoiced in being admitted at all. Two +or three Welsh girls, who perhaps would have been excellent waiters +under other circumstances, appeared to consider themselves strictly on +military duty, and no other; so we sate for a very long time in solitary +stateliness, wondering when the water would boil, and the tea-things be +brought, and the ham and eggs be ready. And of our wondering there was +likely to be no end, till at last the hungry captain, the lieutenant, +and the cornet, were fairly settled at dinner, and at about eight +o'clock we got tea, but no bread; then came the loaf--and there was no +butter; then the butter--and there was no knife; but at last, all things +arrived, and the little ones were sent off to bed, and we amused +ourselves by listening to the rain on the window panes, and the +whistling of the wind in the long passages; and, with a resolution to be +up in good time to pursue our house-hunting project on the morrow, we +concluded the fifth day of our peregrinations in search of change of +air. + +We had a charming prospect from the window, at breakfast. A gutter +tearing its riotous way down the street, supplied by a whole night's +rain, and clouds resting with the most resolute countenances on the +whole face of the land. At the post-office--that universal focus of +information--to which we wended in one of the intervals between the +showers, we were told of admirable lodgings. On going to see them, they +consisted of two little rooms, in a narrow lane. Then we were sent to +another quarter, and found the accommodation still more inadequate; and, +at last, were inconceivably cheered, by hearing of a pretty +cottage--just the thing--only left a short time ago by Captain somebody; +five bed-rooms, two parlours, large garden; if it had been planned by +our own architect, it could not have been better. Off we hurried to the +owner of this bijou. The worthy captain, on giving up his lease, had +sold his furniture; but we were very welcome to it as tenant for a year! + +"Are there no furnished houses in this neighbourhood, at all?" + +"No--e'es--may be you'll get in at the shippus,"--which, being +Anglicized, is sheep-house; and away we toddled a mile and a half to the +shippus--a nice old farm-house, with some pretensions to squiredom, and +the inhabitants kind and civil as heart could wish. + +"Yes, they sometimes let their rooms--to families larger than ours--they +supplied them with every thing--waited on them--_did_ for them--and, as +for the children, there wasn't such a place in the county for nice +fields to play in." + +We looked round the room--a good high ceiling, large window. "This is +just the thing--and I am delighted we were told of your house." + +"It would have been very delightful, but--but we are full already, and +we expect some of our own family home." + +And why didn't you tell us all this before?--we _nearly_ said--and to +this hour, we can't understand why there was such a profuse explanation +of comforts--which _we_ were never destined to partake of. + +"But just across the road there is a very nice cottage, where you can +get lodged--and we can supply you with milk, and any thing else you +want." + +Oho! there is some hope for us yet; and a few minutes saw us in colloquy +with the old gentleman, the proprietor of the house. With the usual +politeness of the Welsh, he dilated on the pleasure of having agreeable +visitors; and, with the usual Welsh habit of forgetting that people +don't generally travel with beds and blankets, carpets and chairs, and +tables and crockery, on their shoulders, he seemed rather astonished +when the fact of the rooms destined for us being unfurnished was a +considerable drawback. So, in not quite such high spirits as we started, +we returned to the Hay. After a little rest, we again sported our +seven-league boots, and took a solitary ramble across the Wye. A +beautiful rising ground lay in front; and as our main object was to get +up as high as we could, we went on and on, enjoying the increasing +loveliness of the view, and wondering if a country so very charming was +really left entirely destitute of furnished houses, and only enjoyed by +the selfish natives, who had no room for pilgrims from a distance. In a +nest of trees, surrounded on all sides by trimly kept orchards, and +clustering round a venerable church, we came, at a winding of the road, +on one of the most enchanting villages we ever saw. Near the gate of a +modest-looking mansion, we beheld a gentleman in earnest conversation +with a beggar. The beggar was a man of rags and eloquence; the gentleman +was evidently a political economist, and rejected the poor man's +petition "upon principle." A lady, who was at the gentleman's side, +looked at a poor little child the man carried in his arms. "Go to your +own place," said the gentleman; "I never encourage vagrants." But it was +too good-natured a voice to belong to a political economist. + +I wish I were as sure of a house as that the poor fellow will get a +shilling, in spite of the new poor-law and Lord Brougham. + +The lady, after looking at the child, said something or other to her +companion; and, as we turned away at the corner, we heard the +discourager of vagrants apologizing to himself, and also reading a +severe lecture on the impropriety of alms-giving. "Remember, I +disapprove of it entirely. You are indebted for it to this lady, who +interposed for you." So the poor man got his shilling after all; and we +considered it a favourable omen of success in getting a house. + +The next turn brought us to a dwelling which we think it a sort of +sacrilege to call a public-house. The Baskerville Arms, in the village +of Clyroe, is more fit for the home of a painter or a poet than for the +retail of beer, "to be drunk on the premises." There was a row of three +nice clean windows in the front; the house seemed to stand in the midst +of an orchard of endless extent, though in reality it faced the road; +and, with a clear recollection of the line, + + "Oh, that for me some cot like this would smile," + +upon our heart and lips, we tapped at the door, and went into the room +on the right hand. Every thing was in the neatest possible +order--bunches of May in the grate, and bouquets of fresh flowers in two +elegant vases upon the table. What nonsense to call this a public-house! +It puts us much more in mind of Sloperton, Moore's cottage in Wiltshire; +and in a finer neighbourhood than any part of Wiltshire can show. + +The landlady came; a fit spirit to rule over such a domain--the +beau-ideal of tidiness and good humour. There were only two bedrooms; +and one parlour was all they could give up. + +The raven of Barnaby Rudge had a hard fight of it to maintain his +ground. We very nearly said die! for we had felt a sort of assurance +that this was our haven at last. + +The landlady saw our woe. + +"There's such a beautiful cottage," she said, "a mile and a half +further on." + +"Is it furnished?" + +"Well, I don't know. I think somehow it is. Would you like to go and see +it? I don't know but my husband would put enough of furniture into it to +do for you, if you liked it." + +It was, at all events, worth the trial. A little girl was sent with us +to act as guide; and along a road we sauntered in supreme delight--so +quiet, so retired, and so rich in leaf and blossom, that it seemed like +a private drive through some highly-cultivated estate; and, finally, we +reached the cottage. It stood on the side of an ascent; it commanded a +noble view of the Herefordshire hills and the valley of the Wye; and +there could be no doubt that it was the identical spot that the doctors +had seen in their dreams, when they described the sort of dwelling we +were to choose. I wish I were a half-pay captain, with a wife and three +children, a taste for gardening, and a poney-carriage. I wish I were a +Benedict in the honeymoon. I wish I were a retired merchant, with a good +sum at the bank, and a predilection for farming pursuits. I wish I were +a landscape painter, with a moderate fortune, realized by English art. I +wish--but there is no use of wishing for any thing about the cottage, +except that Mr Chaloner may furnish it at once, and let us be its tenant +for two or three months. + +Mrs Chaloner, on our return to the Baskerville Arms, was gratified at +our estimate of the surpassing beauties of the house. She would send her +husband to us at the Hay the moment he returned; and, in the midst of +"gay dreams, by pleasing fancy bred," we returned to our barrack, and +created universal jubilee by the prospect we unfolded. + +In a sort of delirium of good nature, we waited patiently till the +soldiers had had all the attentions of the household again. We had +almost a sense of enjoyment in all the discomforts we experienced. The +doors that would not shut--the waiters that would not come--all things +shone of the brightest rose-colour, seen through the anticipation of ten +or twelve weeks' residence in the paradise we had seen. + +Late at night Mr Chaloner was announced. He had heard the whole story +from his worthy half; was in hopes he should be able to meet our wishes, +but must consult his chief. If _he_ agreed, he would see us before ten +next morning--if not, we were to consider that the furniture could not +be put in. + +And again we were slightly in the dumps. + +At half-past nine next morning we rang the bell, and ordered a carriage +to be at the door at ten. If we hear from Chaloner, we shall drive at +once to the Baskerville Arms; if not, there is no use of house-hunting +in such an inhospitable region any more; let us get back to our friend +at Abergavenny. If there is no house near _it_, let us go back to +Chepstow; if we are disappointed there, let us go home, and tell the +doctor we have changed the air enough. + +Ten o'clock.--No Chaloner; but, as usual, also no carriage. Half-past +ten.--No Chaloner. At eleven--the carriage;--and behold, in three hours +more, the smiling face of Mr Morgan--the great long room and clean +apartments of the Angel, and the end of our expectations of house and +home, except in an hotel. + +We have no time on the present occasion to tell how fortune smiled upon +us at last. How our landlord exerted himself, not only to make us happy +while under his charge, but to get us into comfortable quarters in a +large commodious house in the neighbourhood. In some future Number we +will relate how jollily we fare in our new abode. How we are waited on +like kings by the kindest host and hostess that ever held a farm; and +how we travel in all directions, leaving the little ones at home, in a +great strong gig, drawn by a horse that hobbles and joggles at a famous +pace, and gives us plenty of good exercise and hearty laughter. All +these things we will describe for the edification of people under +similar circumstances to ourselves. The present lucubration being +intended as a warning not to move from _one_ home till another is +secured; the next will be an example how country quarters are enjoyed, +and a description of how pale cheeks are turned into red ones by living +in the open air. + + + + +TORQUATO TASSO. + + +Any thing approaching to an elaborate criticism of the _Torquato Tasso_ +of Goethe we do not, in this place, intend to attempt; our object is +merely to translate some of the more striking and characteristic +passages, and accompany these extracts with such explanatory remarks as +may be necessary to render them quite intelligible. + +There is, we cannot help remarking, a peculiar awkwardness in +introducing a veritable poet amongst the personages of a drama. We +cannot dissociate his name from the remembrance of the works he has +written, and the heroes whom he has celebrated. Tasso--is it not another +name for the _Jerusalem Delivered_? and can he be summoned up in our +memory without bringing with him the shades of Godfrey and Tancred? We +expect to hear him singing of these champions of the cross; this was his +life, and we have a difficulty in according to him any other. It is only +after some effort that we separate the man from the poet--that we can +view him standing alone, on the dry earth, unaccompanied by the +creations of his fancy, his imaginative existence suspended, acting and +suffering in the same personal manner as the rest of us. The poet +brought into the ranks of the _dramatis personae!_--the creator of +fictions converted himself into a fictitious personage!--there seems +some strange confusion here. It is as if the magic wand were waved over +the magician himself--a thing not unheard of in the annals of the black +art. But then the second magician should be manifestly more powerful +than the first. The second poet should be capable of overlooking and +controlling the spirit of the first; capable, at all events, of +animating him with an eloquence and a poetry not inferior to his own. + +For there is certainly this disadvantage in bringing before us a +well-known and celebrated poet--we expect that he should speak in poetry +of the first order--in such as he might have written himself. It is long +before we can admit him to be neither more nor less poetical than the +other speakers; it is long before we can believe him to talk for any +other purpose than to say beautiful and tender things. Knowing, as we +do, the trick of poets, and what is indeed their office as spokesmen of +humanity, we suspect even when he is relating his own sufferings, and +complaining of his own wrongs, that he is still only making a poem; that +he is still busied first of all with the sweet expression of a feeling +which he is bent on infusing, like an electric fluid, through the hearts +of others. Altogether, he is manifestly a very inconvenient personage +for the dramatist to have to deal with. + +These impressions wear off, however, as the poem proceeds--just as, in +real life, familiar intercourse with the greatest of bards teaches us to +forget the author in the companion, and the man of genius in the +agreeable or disagreeable neighbour. In the drama of Goethe, we become +quite reconciled to the new position in which the poet of the Holy +Sepulchre is placed. _Torquato Tasso_ is what in this country would be +called a dramatic poem, in opposition to the tragedy composed for the +stage, or _quasi_ for the stage. The _dramatis personae_ are few, the +conduct of the piece is on the classic model--the model, we mean, of +Racine; the plot is scanty, and keeps very close to history; there is +little action, and much reflection. + +The _dramatis personae_ are-- + +Alphonso, Duke of Ferrara. +Leonora d'Este, sister of the Duke. +Leonora Sanvitale, Countess of Scandiano. +Torquato Tasso. +Antonio Montecatino, Secretary of State. + +In Tasso we have portrayed to us the poetic temperament, with some +overcharge in the tendency to distrust and suspicion, which belongs, as +we learn from his biography, to the character of Tasso, and which again +was but the symptom and precursor of that insanity to which he fell a +prey. Both to relieve and develope this poetic character, we have its +opposite (the representative of the practical understanding) in Antonio +Montecatino, the secretary of state, the accomplished man of the world, +the successful diplomatist. It may be well to mention that the speeches +in the play given to Leonora d'Este, with whom Tasso is in love, are +headed _The Princess_; and it is her friend Leonora Sanvitale, Countess +of Scandiano, who speaks under the name of _Leonora_. + + + "ACT. I.--SCENE I. + + _A garden in the country palace of Belriguardo, adorned with busts of + the epic poets. To the right, that of Virgil--to the left, that of + Ariosto._ + + PRINCESS, LEONORA. + + "_Princess._--My Leonora, first you look at me + And smile, then at yourself, and smile again. + What is it? Let your friend partake. You seem + Very considerate, and much amused. + + "_Leonora._--My Princess, I but smiled to see ourselves + Decked in these pastoral habiliments. + We look right happy shepherdesses both, + And what we do is still pure innocence. + We weave these wreaths. Mine, gay with many flowers, + Still swells and blushes underneath my hand; + Thou, moved with higher thought and greater heart, + Hast only wove the slender laurel bough. + + "_Princess._--The bough which I, while wreathing thoughts, have + wreathed, + Soon finds a worthy resting-place. I lay it + Upon my Virgil's forehead. + + [_Crowns the bust of Virgil._ + + "_Leonora._ And I mine, + My jocund garland, on the noble brow + Of Master Ludovico. + + [_Crowns the bust of Ariosto._ + + Well may he, + Whose sportive verse shall never fade, demand + His tribute of the spring! + + "_Princess._ 'Twas amiable + In the duke, my brother, to conduct us, + So early in the year, to this retreat. + Here we possess ourselves, here we may dream + Uninterrupted hours--dream ourselves back + Into the golden age which poets sing. + I love this Belriguardo; I have here + Pass'd many youthful, many happy days; + And the fresh green, and this bright sun, recall + The feelings of those times. + + "_Leonora._ Yes, a new world + Surrounds us here. How it delights--the shade + Of leaves for ever green! how it revives-- + The rushing of that brook! with giddy joy + The young boughs swing them in the morning air; + And from their beds the little friendly flowers + Look with the eye of childhood up to us. + The trustful gardener gives to the broad day + His winter store of oranges and citrons; + One wide blue sky rests over all; the snow + On the horizon, from the distant hills, + In light dissolving vapour steals away." + +The conversation winds gracefully towards poetry and Tasso. We will +answer at once the interesting question, whether the poet has +represented Leonora d'Este, the princess, as being in love with Tasso. +He has; and very delicately has he made her express this sentiment. From +the moment when, doubtless thinking of the living poet, she twined the +laurel wreath which she afterwards deposited on the brow of Virgil, to +the last scene where she leads the unhappy Tasso to a fatal declaration +of his passion, there is a gentle _crescendo_ of what always remains, +however, a very subdued and meditative affection. She loves--but like a +princess; she muses over the danger to herself from suffering such a +sentiment towards one in so different a rank of life to grow upon her; +she never thinks of the danger to _him_, to the hapless Tasso, by her +betrayal of an affection which she is yet resolved to keep within +subjection. To be sure it may be said, that all women have something of +the princess in them at this epoch of their lives. There is a wonderful +selfishness in the heart, while it still asks itself whether it shall +love or not. The sentiment of the princess is very elegantly disguised +in the jesting vein in which she rallies Leonora Sanvitale-- + + "_Leonora._--Your mind embraces wider regions; mine + Lingers content within the little isle, + And 'midst the laurel grove of poesy. + + "_Princess._--In which fair isle, in which sweet grove, they say, + The myrtle also flourishes. And though + There wander many muses there, we choose + Our friend and playmate not alone from _them_, + We rather greet the poet there himself, + Who seems indeed to shun us, seems to fly, + Seeking we know not what, and he himself + Perhaps as little knows. 'Tis pretty when, + In some propitious hour, the enraptured youth + Looking with better eyes, detects in _us_ + The treasure he had been so far to seek. + + "_Leonora._--The jest is pleasant--touches, but not near. + I honour each man's merit; and to Tasso + Am barely just. His eye, that covets nothing, + Light ranges over all; his ear is fill'd + With the rich harmony great nature makes; + What ancient records, what the living scene, + Disclose, his open bosom takes it all; + What beams of truth stray scattered o'er this world, + His mind collects, converges. How his heart + Has animated the inanimate! + How oft ennobled what we little prize, + And shown how poor the treasures of the great! + In this enchanted circle of his own + Proceeds the wondrous man; and us he draws + Within, to follow and participate. + He seems to near us, yet he stays remote-- + Seems to regard us, and regards instead + Some spirit that assumes our place the while. + + "_Princess._--Finely and delicately hast thou limn'd + The poet, moving in his world of thought. + And yet, methinks, some fair reality + Has wrought upon him here. Those charming verses + Found hanging here and there upon our trees, + Like golden fruit, that to the finer sense + Breathes of a new Hesperides: think you + These are not tokens of a genuine love? + + * * * * * + + And when he gives a name to the fair object + Of all this praise, he calls it Leonora! + + "_Leonora._--Thy name, as well as mine. I, for my part, + Should take it ill were he to choose another. + Here is no question of a narrow love, + That would engross its solitary prize, + And guards it jealously from every eye + That also would admire. When contemplation + Is deeply busy with thy graver worth, + My lighter being haply flits across, + And adds its pleasure to the pensive mood. + It is not us--forgive me if I say it-- + Not us he loves; but down from all the spheres + He draws the matter of his strong affection, + And gives it to the name we bear. And we-- + We seem to love the man, yet love in him + That only which we highest know to love. + + "_Princess._--You have become an adept in this science, + And put forth, Leonora, such profundities + As something more than penetrate the ear, + yet hardly touch the thought. + + "_Leonora._ --Thou, Plato's scholar! + Not apprehend what I, a neophyte, + Venture to prattle of"-- + +Alphonso enters, and enquires after Tasso. Leonora answers, that she had +seen him at a distance, with his book and tablets, writing and walking, +and adds that, from some hint he had let fall, she gathered that his +great work was near its completion; and, in fact, the princess soon +after descries him coming towards them:-- + + "Slowly he comes, + Stands still awhile as unresolved, then hastes, + With quicken'd step, towards us; then again + Slackens his pace, and pauses." + +Tasso enters, and presents his _Jerusalem Delivered_ to his patron, the +Duke of Ferrara. Alphonso, seeing the laurel wreath on the bust of +Virgil, makes a sign to his sister; and the princess, after some +remonstrance on the part of Tasso, transfers it from the statue to the +head of the living poet. As she crowns him, she says-- + + "Thou givest me, Tasso, here the rare delight, + With silent act, to tell thee what I think." + +But the poet is no sooner crowned than he entreats that the wreath +should be removed. It weighs on him, it is a burden, a pressure, it +sinks and abashes him. Besides, he feels, as the man of genius must +always feel, that not to wear the crown but to earn it, is the real joy +as well as task of his life. The laurel is indeed for the bust, not for +the living head. + + "Take it away! + Oh take, ye gods, this glory from my brow! + Hide it again in clouds! Bear it aloft + To heights all unattainable, that still + My whole of life for this great recompense, + Be one eternal course." + +He obeys, however, the will of the princess, who bids him retain it. We +are now introduced to the antagonist, in every sense of the word, of +Tasso,--Antonio, secretary of state. In addition to the causes of +repugnance springing from their opposite characters, Antonio is jealous +of the favour which the young poet has won at the court of Ferrara, both +with his patron and the ladies. This representative of the practical +understanding speaks with admiration of the court of Rome, and the +ability of the ruling pontiff. He says-- + + "No nobler object is there in the world + Than this--a prince who ably rules his people, + A people where the proudest heart obeys, + Where each man thinks he serves himself alone, + Because what fits him is alone commanded. + +Alphonso speaks of the poem which Tasso has just completed, and points +to the crown which he wears. Then follow some of the unkindest words +which a secretary of state could possibly bestow on the occasion. + + "_Antonio._--You solve a riddle for me. Entering here + I saw to my surprise _two_ crowned. + + [_Looking towards the bust of Ariosto._ + + "_Tasso._ I wish + Thou could'st as plainly as thou see'st my honours, + Behold the oppress'd and downcast spirit within. + + "_Antonio_--I have long known that in his recompenses + Alphonso is immoderate; 'tis thine + To prove to-day what all who serve the prince + Have learn'd, or will." + +Antonio then launches into an eloquent eulogium upon the _other_ crowned +one--upon Ariosto--which has for its object as well to dash the pride of +the living, as to do homage to the dead. He adds, with a most cruel +ambiguity, + + "Who ventures near this man to place himself, + Even for his boldness may deserve a crown." + +The seeds of enmity, it is manifest, are plentifully sown between +Antonio and Tasso. Here ends the 1st Act. + +At the commencement of the 2d Act, the princess is endeavouring to heal +the wound that has been inflicted on the just pride of the poet, and she +alludes, in particular, to the eulogy which Antonio had so invidiously +passed upon Ariosto. The answer of Tasso deserves attention. It is +peculiar to the poetic genius to estimate very differently at different +times the value of its own labours. Sometimes do but grant to the poet +his claim to the possession of genius, and his head strikes the stars. +At other times, when contemplating the lives of those men whose actions +he has been content to celebrate in song, he doubts whether he should +not rank himself as the very prince of idlers. He is sometimes tempted +to think that to have given one good stroke with the sword, were worth +all the delicate touches of his pen. This feeling Tasso has finely +expressed. + + "_Princess._--When Antonio knows what thou hast done + To honour these our times, then will he place thee + On the same level, side by side, with him + He now depicts in so gigantic stature. + + "_Tasso._--Believe me, lady, Ariosto's praise + Heard from his lips, was likely more to please + Than wound me. It confirms us, it consoles, + To hear the man extoll'd whom we have placed + Before us as a model: we can say + In secret to ourselves--gain thou a share + Of his acknowledged merit, and thou gain'st + As certainly a portion of his fame. + No--that which to its depths has stirr'd my spirit, + What still I feel through all my sinking soul, + It was the picture of that living world, + Which restless, vast, enormous, yet revolves + In measured circle round the one great man, + Fulfils the course which he, the demi-god, + Dares to prescribe to it. With eager ear + I listen'd to the experienced man, whose speech + Gave faithful transcript of a real scene. + Alas! the more I listen'd, still the more + I sank within myself: it seem'd my being + Would vanish like an echo of the hills, + Resolved to a mere sound--a word--a nothing. + + "_Princess._--Poets and heroes for each other live, + Poets and heroes seek each other out, + And envy not each other: this thyself, + Few minutes past, did vividly portray. + True, it is glorious to perform the deed + That merits noble song; yet glorious too + With noble song the once accomplish'd deed + Through all the after-world to memorize." + +When she continues to urge Tasso to make the friendship of Antonio, and +assures him that the return of the minister has only procured him a +friend the more, he answers:-- + + "_Tasso._--I hoped it once, I doubt it now. + Instructive were to me his intercourse, + Useful his counsel in a thousand ways: + This man possesses all in which I fail. + And yet--though at his birth flock'd every god, + To hang his cradle with some special gift-- + The graces came not there, they stood aloof: + And he whom these sweet sisters visit not, + May possess much, may in bestowing be + Most bountiful, but never will a friend, + Or loved disciple, on his bosom rest." + +The tendency of this scene is to lull Tasso into the belief that he is +beloved of the princess. Of course he is ardent to obey the latest +injunctions he has received from her, and when Antonio next makes his +appearance, he offers him immediately "his hand and heart." The +secretary of state receives such a sudden offer (as it might be expected +a secretary of state would do) with great coolness; he will wait till he +knows whether he can return the like offer of friendship. He discourses +on the excellence of moderation, and in a somewhat magisterial tone, +little justified by the relative intellectual position of the speakers. +Here, again, we have a true insight into the character of the man of +genius. He is modest--very--till you become too overbearing; he +exaggerates the superiority in practical wisdom of men who have mingled +extensively with the world, and so invites a tone of dictation; and yet +withal he has a sly consciousness, that this same superiority of the man +of the world consists much more in a certain fortunate limitation of +thought than in any peculiar extension. The wisdom of such a man has +passed through the mind of the poet, with this difference, that in his +mind there is much beside this wisdom, much that is higher than this +wisdom; and so it does not maintain a very prominent position, but gets +obscured and neglected. + + "_Tasso._--Thou hast good title to advise, to warn, + For sage experience, like a long-tried friend, + Stands at thy side. Yet be assured of this, + The solitary heart hears every day, + Hears every hour, a warning; cons and proves, + And puts in practice secretly that lore + Which in harsh lessons you would teach as new, + As something widely out of reach." + +Yet, spurred on by the injunction of the princess, he still makes an +attempt to grasp at the friendship of Antonio. + + "_Tasso._--Once more! here is my hand! clasp it in thine! + Nay, step not back, nor, noble sir, deny me + The happiness, the greatest of good men, + To yield me, trustful, to superior worth, + Without reserve, without a pause or halt. + + "_Antonio._--You come full sail upon me. Plain it is + You are accustomed to make easy conquests, + To walk broad paths, to find an open door. + Thy merit--and thy fortune--I admit, + But fear we stand asunder wide apart. + + "_Tasso._--In years and in tried worth I still am wanting; + In zeal and will, I yield to none. + + "_Antonio._ The will + Draws the deed after by no magic charm, + And zeal grows weary where the way is long: + Who reach the goal, they only wear the crown. + And yet, crowns are there, or say garlands rather, + Of many sorts, some gather'd as we go, + Pluck'd as we sing and saunter. + + "_Tasso._ But a gift + Freely bestow'd on this mind, and to that + As utterly denied--this not each man, + Stretching his hand, can gather if he will. + + "_Antonio._--Ascribe the gift to fortune--it is well. + + * * * * * + + The fortunate, with reason good, extol + The goddess Fortune--give her titles high-- + Call her Minerva--call her what they will-- + Take her blind gifts for just reward, and wear + Her wind-blown favour as a badge of merit. + + "_Tasso._--No need to speak more plainly. 'Tis enough. + I see into thy soul--I know thee now, + And all thy life I know. Oh, that the princess + Had sounded thee as I! But never waste + Thy shafts of malice of the eye and tongue + Against this laurel-wreath that crowns my brow, + The imperishable garland. 'Tis in vain. + First be so great as not to envy it, + Then perhaps thou may'st dispute. + + "_Antonio._ Thyself art prompt + To justify my slight esteem of thee. + The impetuous boy with violence demands + The confidence and friendship of the man. + Why, what unmannerly deportment this! + + "_Tasso._--Better what you unmannerly may deem, + Than what I call ignoble. + + "_Antonio._ There remains + One hope for thee. Thou still art young enough + To be corrected by strict discipline. + + "_Tasso._--Not young enough to bow myself to idols + That courtiers make and worship; old enough + Defiance with defiance to encounter. + + "_Antonio._--Ay, where the tinkling lute and tinkling speech + Decide the combat, Tasso is a hero. + + "_Tasso._--I were to blame to boast a sword unknown + As yet to war, but I can trust to it. + + "_Antonio._--Trust rather to indulgence." + +We are in the high way, it is plain, to a duel. Tasso insists upon an +appeal to the sword. The secretary of state contents himself with +objecting the privilege or sanctity of the place, they being within the +precincts of the royal residence. At the height of this debate, Alphonso +enters. Here, again, the minister has a most palpable advantage over the +poet. He insists upon the one point of view in which he has the clear +right, and will not diverge from it; Tasso has challenged him, has done +his utmost to provoke a duel within the walls of the palace; and is, +therefore, amenable to the law. The Duke can do no other than decide +against the poet, whom he dismisses to his apartment with the injunction +that he is there to consider himself, for the present, a prisoner. + +In the three subsequent acts, there is still less of action; and we may +as well relate at once what there remains of plot to be told, and then +proceed with our extracts. Through the mediation of the princess and her +friend, this quarrel is in part adjusted, and Tasso is released from +imprisonment. But his spirit is wounded, and he determines to quit the +court of Ferrara. He obtains permission to travel to Rome. At this +juncture he meets with the princess. His impression has been that she +also is alienated from him; her conversation removes and quite reverses +this impression; in a moment of ungovernable tenderness he is about to +embrace her; she repulses him and retires. The duke, who makes his +appearance just at this moment, and who has been a witness to the +conclusion of this interview, orders Tasso into confinement, expressing +at the same time his conviction that the poet has lost his senses. He +is given into the charge of Antonio, and thus ends the drama. + +Glancing back over the three last acts, whose action we have summed up +so briefly, we might select many beautiful passages for translation; we +content ourselves with the following. + +The princess and Leonora Sanvitale are conversing. There has been +question of the departure of Tasso. + + "_Princess._--Each day was _then_ itself a little life; + No care was clamorous, and the future slept. + Me and my happy bark the flowing stream, + Without an oar, drew with light ripple down. + Now--in the turmoil of the present hour, + The future wakes, and fills the startled ear + With whisper'd terrors. + + "_Leonora._ But the future brings + New joys, new friendships. + + "_Princess._ Let me keep the old. + Change may amuse, it scarce can profit us. + I never thrust, with youthful eagerness, + A curious hand into the shaken urn + Of life's great lottery, with hope to find + Some object for a restless, untried heart. + I honour'd him, and therefore have I loved; + It was necessity to love the man + With whom my being grew into a life + Such as I had not known, or dream'd before. + At first, I laid injunctions on myself + To keep aloof; I yielded, yielded still, + Still nearer drew--enticed how pleasantly + To be how hardly punish'd! + + "_Leonora._ If a friend + Fail with her weak consolatory speech, + Let the still powers of this beautiful world, + With silent healing, renovate thy spirit. + + "_Princess._--The world _is_ beautiful! In its wide circuit, + How much of good is stirring here and there! + Alas! that it should ever seem removed + Just one step off! Throughout the whole of life + Step after step, it leads our sick desire + E'en to the grave. So rarely do men find + What yet seem'd destined them--so rarely hold + What once the hand had fortunately clasp'd; + What has been giv'n us, rends itself away, + And what we clutch'd, we let it loose again; + There is a happiness--we know it not, + We know it--and we know not how to prize." + +Tasso says, when he thought himself happy in the love of Leonora +d'Este-- + + "I have often dream'd of this great happiness-- + 'Tis here!--and oh, how far beyond the dream! + A blind man, let him reason upon light, + And on the charm of colour, how he will, + If once the new-born day reveal itself, + It is a new-born sense." + +And again on this same felicity, + + "Not on the wide sands of the rushing ocean, + 'Tis in the quiet shell, shut up, conceal'd, + We find the pearl." + +It is in another strain that the poet speaks when Leonora Sanvitale +attempts to persuade him that Antonio entertains in reality no hostility +towards him. In what follows, we see the anger and hatred of a +meditative man. It is a hatred which supports and exhausts itself in +reasoning; which we might predict would never go forth into any act of +enmity. It is a mere sentiment, or rather the mere conception of a +sentiment. For the poet rather thinks of hatred than positively hates. + + "And if I err, I err resolvedly. + I think of him as of my bitter foe; + To think him less than this would now distract, + Discomfort me. It were a sort of folly + To be with all men reasonable; 'twere + The abandonment of all distinctive _self_. + Are all mankind to us so reasonable? + No, no! Man in his narrow being needs + Both feelings, love, and hate. Needs he not night + As well as day? and sleep as well as waking? + No! I will hold this man for evermore + As precious object of my deepest hate, + And nothing shall disturb the joy I have + In thinking of him daily worse and worse." + + _Act. 4, Scene 2._ + + +We conclude with a passage in which Tasso speaks of the irresistible +passion he feels for his own art. He has sought permission of the Duke +to retire to Rome, on the plea that he will there, by the assistance of +learned men, better complete his great work, which he regards as still +imperfect. Alphonso grants his request, but advises him rather to +suspend his labour for the present, and partake, for a season, of the +distractions of the world. He would be wise, he tells him, to seek the +restoration of his health. + + "_Tasso._--It should seem so; yet have I health enow + If only I can labour, and this labour + Again bestows the only health I know. + It is not well with me, as thou hast seen, + In this luxuriant peace. In rest I find + Rest least of all. I was not framed, + My spirit was not destined to be borne + On the soft element of flowing days, + And so in Time's great ocean lose itself + Uncheck'd, unbroken. + + "_Alphonso._--All feelings, and all impulses, my Tasso, + Drive thee for ever back into thyself. + There lies about us many an abyss + Which Fate has dug; the deepest yet of all + Is here, in our own heart, and very strong + Is the temptation to plunge headlong in. + I pray thee snatch thyself away in time. + Divorce thee, for a season, from thyself. + The man will gain whate'er the poet lose. + + "_Tasso._--One impulse all in vein I should resist, + Which day and night within my bosom stirs. + Life is not life if I must cease to think, + Or, thinking, cease to poetize. + Forbid the silk-worm any more to spin, + Because its own life lies upon the thread. + Still it uncoils the precious golden web, + And ceases not till, dying, it has closed + Its own tomb o'er it. May the good God grant + We, one day, share the fate of that same worm!-- + That we, too, in some valley bright with heaven, + Surprised with sudden joy, may spread our wing. + + * * * * * + + I feel--I feel it well--this highest art + Which should have fed the mind, which to the strong + Adds strength and ever new vitality,-- + It is destroying me, it hunts me forth, + Where'er I rove, an exile amongst men." + + + _Act V. Scene 2._ + + + + +DAVID THE "TELYNWR;"[20] OR, THE DAUGHTER'S TRIAL. + +A TALE OF WALES. + +BY JOSEPH DOWNES. + + +The inhabitants of the white mountain village of K----, in +Cardiganshire, were all retired to rest, it being ten o'clock. No--a +single light twinkled from under eaves of thick and mossy thatch, in one +cottage apart, and neater than the rest, that skirted the steep +_street_, (as the salmon fishers, its chief inhabitants, were pleased to +call it,) being, indeed, the rock, thinly covered with the soil, and +fringed with long grass, but rudely smoothed, where very rugged, by art, +for the transit of a _gamboo_ (cart with small wheels of entire wood) or +sledge. The moonlight slept in unbroken lustre on the houses of one +story, or without any but what the roof slope formed, and several +appearances marked it as a fisher village. A black, oval, pitched +basket, as it appeared, hung against the wall of several of the +cottages, being the _coracle_, or boat for one person, much used on the +larger Welsh rivers, very primitive in form and construction, being +precisely described by Caesar in his account of the ancient Britons. +Dried salmon and other fish also adorned others, pleasingly hinting of +the general honesty and mutual confidence of the humble natives, poor as +they were, for strangers were never thought of; the road, such as it +was, merely mounting up to "the hill" (the lofty desert of sheepwalk) on +one hand, and descending steeply to the river Tivy on the other. A +deadened thunder, rising from some fall and brawling shallow "rapid" of +the river, was the only sound, except the hooting of an owl from some +old ivied building, a ruin apparently, visible on the olive-hued +precipice behind. The russet mass of mountain, bulging, as it were, over +the little range of cots, gave an air of security to their picturesque +white beauty; while silver clouds curled and rolled in masses, grandly +veiling their higher peaks, and sometimes canopied the roofs, many +reddened with wall-flower; the walls also exhibiting streaks of green, +where rains had drenched the vegetating thatch and washed down its tint +of yellow green. Aged trees, green even to the trunks, luxuriant ivy +enveloping them as well as the branches, stretched their huge arms down +the declivity leading to the Tivy, the flashing of whose waters, through +its rich fringe of underwood, caught the eye of any one standing on the +ridge above. A solitary figure, tall and muffled, did stand with his +back in contact with one of these oaks, so as to be hardly +distinguishable from the trunk. + +A poet might imagine, looking at a Welsh village by moonlight, thus +embosomed in pastoral mountains, canopied with those silver mists whose +very motion was peace, and lulled by those soft solemn sounds, more +peace-breathing than even silence, that _there_, at least, care never +came; there peace, "if to be found in the world," would be surely found; +and soon that one light moving--that prettier painted door stealthily +opening--would prove that peace confined to the elements only. "Here I +am!" would be groaned to his mind's ear by the ubiquitous, foul fiend, +Care; for thence emerged a female form--_simplex munditiis_--the exact +description of it as to attire--rather tall than otherwise, but its +chief characteristic, a drooping kind of bowed gait, in affecting unison +with a melancholy settled over the pale features, so strongly as to be +visible even by the moon at a very short distance. Brushing away a tear +from each eye, as she held to her breast a little packet of some kind, +as soon as she found (as she imagined) the coast clear, she proceeded, +after fastening her door, toward one of the bowered footpaths leading +to the river. The concealed man looked after her, prepared to follow, +when some belated salmon fisher, his dark coracle, strapped to his back, +nodding over his head, appeared. This lurking personage was nicknamed +"Lewis the Spy" by the country people. He was the agent, newly +appointed, to inspect the condition of a once fine but most neglected +estate, which had recently come into possession of a "Nabob," as they +called him--a gentleman who had left Wales a boy, and was now on his +voyage home to take possession of a dilapidated mansion called Talylynn. +Lewis, his forerunner and plenipotentiary, was the dread and hate of the +alarmed tenants. He had already ejected from his stewardship a good but +rather indolent old man, John Bevan, who had grown old in the service of +the former "squire;" and besides kept watch over the doings on the farms +in an occult and treacherous manner, prowling round their "folds" by +dusk, and often listening to conversations by concealing himself. Such +was the man who now accosted the humble fisherman. Reverentially, as if +to the terrible landlord himself, the peasant bared his head to his +sullen representative. + +"Who is that young woman?" he enquired, sternly, though well knowing who +she was. + +"Dim Saesneg," answered the man, bowing. + +"None of your Dim Saesneg to me, fellow," rejoined Lewis, sternly. "Did +not I hear you swearing in good English at a _Saesyn_ (Englishman or +Saxon) yesterday?" + +The Welshman begged pardon in good Saxon, and answered at last-- + +"Why, then, if it please your honour, her name be Winifred--her other +name be Bevan--_Miss_ Bevan, the school--her father be Mister Bevan of +Llaneol, steward that was to our old squire of the great house, 'the +Hall'--Talylynn Hall--where there's a fine lake. I warrant your honour +has fished there. You Saesonig gentlemen do mostly do nothing but fish +and shoot in our poor country; I beg pardon, but you look _Saesoniadd_, +(Saxonlike,) I was thinking--fine lake, but the trout be not to +compare"---- + +"Well," interrupted the other laughing, "your English tongue can wag as +glib as your outlandish one. A sweetheart in the case there, isn't +there? What the devil's she going down to the river for at this time of +night, else?" + +"Why, to be sure there be!" the man answered. "_We_ all know that; poor +thing, she had need find some comforter in all her troubles--her father +so poor, and in debt to this strange foreigner, who's on the water +coming home now, and has made proposals for her in marriage, so they do +_say_; but it's like your honour knows more of that than I do--for be +not you Mr Lewis, I beg pardon, Lewis Lewis, esquire?" + +"And what do you know of this sweetheart of hers? Is he her _first_, +think ye? _I_ doubt that," rejoined Lewis, not noticing his enquiry---- + +"_You_ may doubt what your honour pleases, but _we_ don't--no; never man +touched her _hand_ hardly, never one her lips, before--I did have it +from her mother; but as for this one she's found at last, we wish she'd +a better"---- + +"What's the matter with him, then?" + +"Oh, nothing more than that he's poor, sir--poor; and that _we_ don't +know much about the stranger"---- + +"What '_we_' do you mean, while you talk of 'we'?" + +"Lord bless ye, sir, why us all of this bankside, and this side Tivy, +the great family of us, she's just like _our_ little girl to us all; for +don't she have all our young ones to give 'em learning, whether the +Cardigan ladies pay for 'em or don't? And wasn't poor dear old John +Bevan the man who would lend every farmer in the parish a help in money +or any way, only for asking? So it is, you see, she has grown up among +us. This young man, though he may be old for what I know, never seeing +him in my life--you see, sir, we on this side of Tivy are like strangers +to the Cardy men, t'other side--_they_ are _Cardie's_, sure enow, _true_ +ones, as the Saxon foreign folk do call us _all_ of this shire. I +wouldn't trust one of 'em t'other side, no further than I could throw +him. I'll tell ye a story"---- + +"Never mind. What about David?" + +"Oh, ho! You know his name, then? Well, and that's all _I_ do--pretty +nigh. He lives with a woman who fostered him after his own mother died +in travail with him, they do say, who has a little house, beyond that +lump of a mountain, above all the others, we see by daylight; he has +been in England, and is a strange one for music. He owes (owns, +possesses,) a beautiful harp--_beautiful_! The Lord knows, some do say, +that's all he owes in the world, so (except) his coracle and the salmon +he takes, and what young people do give him at weddings and biddings, +where he goes to play: and what's that to keep a wife? Poor Davy +_Telynwr_! Yet, by my soul, we all say we'd rather see her his than this +foreigner gentleman's, who has almost broke her heart, they say, by +coming between her and her own dear one." + +"He's _not_ come yet," muttered the other, sullenly; adding, sharply and +bitterly, "Mighty good friends you all are, to wish her married to a +beggar, a vagabond harper, rather than to a gentleman." + +"Why--to be sure, sir--but vows be vows--love's love--and to tell truth, +sir," (the Welsh blood of the Cardy peasant was now up,) "if any +foreign, half Welsh, half wild Indian, sort of gentleman had sent his +fine letters, asking my sweetheart's friends to turn _me_ off, in my +courting days, and prepare my wench to be his lady, instead of my +wife--I'd have--I'd have"-- + +"_What_ would you have done?" asked the other, laughing heartily. + +"Cursed him to St Elian!" roared the other; then, dropping his voice +into a solemn tone, "put him into his well.[21] _I'd_ have plagued him, +I warrant. But for _my_ part," added the man archly, "I don't believe +there's any _squire_ lover in the case--nor that your honour ever said +there is." The agent here vanished, as if in haste, abruptly, down the +steep path. + +During this conversation, Winifred had reached the river. While she +stands expectant, not in happiness, but in tears, it is time to say a +few words of the lover so expected. + +David, who was lately become known "on t'other side Tivy," by the name +of _Nosdethiol Telynwr_, that is, "night-walking harper," was an idle +romantic young man, almost grown out of youth, who had long lived away +from Wales, where he had neither relative nor friend but one aged woman +who had been his first nurse, he having been early left an orphan. +Without settled occupation or habits, he was understood almost to depend +for bread on the salmon he caught, and trifling presents received. A +small portable harp, of elegant workmanship, (adorned with "_real_ +silver," so _ran the tale_,) was the companion of his moonlight +wanderings. He had a whim of serenading those who had never heard of a +"serenade," but were not the less sensible of a placid pleasure at being +awakened by soft music in some summer sight. The simple mountain +cottagers, whose slumbers he thus broke or soothed, often attributed the +sweet sounds to the kindness of some wandering member of the "Fair +Family," or _Tylwyth Têg_, the fairies. Nor did his figure, if +discovered vanishing between the trees, if some one ventured to peep +out, in a light night, dispel the illusion; for it appears, that the +fairy of old Welsh superstition was not of diminutive stature."[22] That +he was "very learned," had somewhere acquired much knowledge of books, +however little of men, was reported on both sides of the river; and +these few particulars were almost all that was known even to Winifred, +who had so rashly given all her thoughts, all her hopes, all her heart +almost, (reserving only one sacred corner for her beloved parents,) to +this dangerous stranger--for stranger he was still to her in almost all +outer circumstances of life. This was partly owing to the interposition +of that narrow river, however trivial a line of demarcation that must +appear to English people, accustomed to cross even great rivers of +commerce, like the Thames, as they would step over a brook or ditch, by +the frequent aid of bridges and boats. In Wales, bridges are too costly +to be common. When reared, some unlucky high flood often sweeps them +away. Intercourse by ferryboats and fords is liable to long +interruptions. The dwellers of opposite sides frequent different +markets, and belong frequently to different counties. The nature of the +soil also often differs wholly. Hence it happens, that sometimes a +farmer, whose eye rests continually on the little farm and fields of +another, on the opposite "bank," rising from the river running at the +base of his own confronting hill-side, lives on, ignorant almost of the +name, quite of the character, of their tenant, to whom he could almost +make himself heard by a shout--if it happens that neither ford, ferry, +nor bridge, is within short distance. + +"The people of t'other side," is an expression implying nearly as much +strangeness, and contented ignorance of these neighbours, and no +neighbours, as the same spoken by the people of Dover or Calais, of +those t'other side the Channel. It was not, therefore, surprising that +poor Winifred (albeit not imprudent, save in this new-sprung passion,) +might have said with the poet, too truly, + + "I know not, I ask not, what guilt's in that heart; + I but know that I love thee, whatever thou art." + +This wild reckless sentiment (though scarcely true to love's nature, +which is above all things curious about all belonging to its object) did +in her case illustrate her feelings. Winifred had lately disclosed to +her dear "unknown" the ruin impending over her father, the result of his +mingled good-nature and indolence, he having permitted the tenants to +run in arrears, and suffer dilapidations, as already said;--the long +neglect, however, of the East Indian landlord being at the root of the +evil, who had been as remiss in his dealings with the steward as the +steward with the tenants. The first appearance of this newly appointed +agent, who announced the early return of his employer to take possession +of the decayed manor-house, was as sudden as ominous of the ruin of old +John Bevan. The hope he held out of the "Nabob" espousing his +long-remembered child, Winifred, and the consequent salvation of her +father, seemed too romantic to be believed. Yet this man proved himself +duly accredited by his principal, and exercised his power already with +severity. The fine old house of Talylynn, a mansion rising close to a +small beautiful lake skirted by an antique park with many deer, was +already almost prepared for the reception of the "squire from abroad." +Meanwhile--what most excited the ill-will of the tenantry--this odious +persecutor of the all-beloved John Bevan had also furbished up a neat +old house adjoining the park gate, as a residence for himself; while +poor Bevan's farm-house of Llaneol was suffered to fall into ruinous +decay--the new steward even neglecting to keep it weather-tight. + +Thus decayed, and almost ruinous, it seemed more in harmony with the +fortunes of the ever resigned and patient man. But his less placid dame, +after losing the services of Winifred, had fallen into a peevish sort of +despondency, as the father, missing her society, and its finer species +of consolation, had sunk into a more placid apathy. + +David had received the hint of her possible self-devotion to the coming +"squire" with very little philosophy, little temper, and no allowance +for the feelings of an only daughter expecting to see a white-headed, +fond father, dragged from his home to a jail. He had been incensed; he +had wronged her by imputations of sordid motives--of pride, of contempt +for _himself_ as a beggar; and at last broke from her in sullen +resentment, after requiring her to bring all his letters, at their next +interview, which was to be a farewell one. And now she was bringing +every thing she had received from him, in sad obedience to this angry +demand. Nor was all his wrath, his injustice, and his despair, really +unacceptable to her secret heart. She would not have had him patient +under even the prospective possibility of her marrying another. + +But his manner at this meeting announced a change in his whole +sentiments. + +His very first words, (cold, yet kind, but how altered in tone!) with +his constrained deportment, expressed his acquiescence in her purpose, +whether pride, jealousy, or a juster estimate of her filial virtue, had +induced the stern resolve. + +Winifred had never known the full strength of her own passion till now! +The idea of an early eternal end to their ungratified loves, which had +for some time become familiar to her own secret mind, assumed a new and +strange terror for her imagination the moment it ceased to be hers +_alone_. The shock was novel and overpowering, when the separation +seemed acquiesced in by him, thus putting it out of her own power to +hesitate further between devotion to the lover or to the parent. His +reconciled manner, his calm taking her by the hand, even the kiss which +she could not resist, were more painful than his utmost resentment would +have been. Yet there was a sad severity in his look, as his fine +countenance of deep melancholy turned to the bright moon, which a little +comforted her, and indicated that it was pride rather than patience +which led to his affected contentment. _He_ had not a parent to nerve +_his_ heart to the sacrifice. + +"I passed _your_ home yesterday," he began sarcastically: "it is a fine +place again, already, that hall of Talylynn, and wants only as fine a +mistress." + +"You wrong me, David _bach_! on my life and soul you do, _dear_ David!" +she replied sobbing. "'Tis a hateful hall--a horrid hall! If it were +only I, your poor lost Winifred, that was to suffer, oh! how much sooner +would I be carried dead into a vault, than alive, and dressed in all the +finest silks of India, into that dreadful house you twit me +with!--unkind, unkind!" And almost fainting, her head sunk upon his +shoulder, and his arm was required to support her. + +Instantly she recovered, and stood erect. "But oh, David, there is +another dreadful place, and another dear being besides you, dearest, +that I think of night and day! The horrid castle jail--my dear, dear +father! Oh, if this Lewis speaks truth, and if that strange boy--I only +knew him as a boy, you know--who has power to ruin him, (_will_ surely +ruin him!) will _indeed_ forgive him all he owes; will really become his +son--his son-in-law, instead of his merciless creditor; oh! could I +refuse _my_ part, shocking part though it be? I should not suffer long, +David--I feel I should not." + +"And pray, what _kind_ of youth--_boy_ as you are pleased to call +him--was this nabob then?" enquired her lover, apparently startled at +learning the fact of her having had some previous knowledge of his +powerful rival. + +"A youth! a mere child, when I last saw him," she answered. "I thought +you had known all about him." + +"Nothing more than his name; how came you in his company?" + +"His father, living in India, was half-brother to our old squire, +Fitzarthur of Talylynn. His mother dying, his widower father, whose +health was broken up before, came over here, this being his native +country, in hope of recovering it; but died at Talylynn, leaving one +child, that little orphan boy, heir, after his half-uncle's death, to +all this property. You have often heard me tell how like two brothers my +dear father and _our_ old squire were always--though father was only a +steward--how he used to have me at the great house, for a month at a +time, where he had me taught by a lady who lived with him, before I went +to school; and so I used often to see that little boy in black--very +queer and sullen he was thought; but he had no playfellow, except an owl +that he kept tame, I remember, and cried when he buried him in the +garden,--the only time he was ever known to cry, he was so still and +stern. It was _I_ caught him, then acting the sexton by himself, close +by the high box hedge, under a great tree. I remember the spot now, and +remember how angry I made him by laughing." + +"And you did wrong to laugh, if it was so serious to him." + +"Oh! but I did not know he was crying when I laughed, and _was_ sorry +when I detected it. One thing was, the old gentleman was so jovial, and +loved a good laugher, and was rather too fond of wine, and mostly out +hunting, so that the poor boy had to find his own amusement. He seemed +fond of me, but hated, he said, his uncle, and his hounds, and his ways, +and every thing there but his own owl; so that nobody was sorry when he +was fetched back to India, to be put in the where he was to make the +fortune he has now made, I suppose." + +"And your little heart did throb a little, and sink for a day, when this +playfellow was shipped off for life, as you thought, and you _did_ +remember his funeral tears over his owl, and"--a quaver of voice and +betrayed earnestness revealed the jealous pang shooting across the heart +of the speaker; but her own was too heavy and deeply anxious to prolong +this desultory talk. + +She only added--"Heaven knows how little I thought that poor stranger +boy would ever grow to be what he is to me now." + +"_What he is to you?_ Why, what then is he, Winifred?" + +"The horror of my thoughts, my dreams, my"----she answered sobbing. "But +why should I say so? Wicked I am to feel him so, if he is _indeed_ to be +the saviour of my dear, dear father!" And she turned away to shed +relieving tears. + +"And this little packet contains my letters--_all_, does it?" he asked, +touching the small parcel she had deposited within a cleft of the hollow +river-side tree, by which they stood, the post-office of their happier +days, where, concealed by thick moss gathered from the bole, those +letters had every one been searched for and found--with what a leap of +heart, first felt! how fondly thrust into her bosom, for the leisure +delight of opening at home--and all in vain! + +"All but one," she answered tremulously; "I brought then because you +bade me--but you were so angry _then_--let me take them back?" and she +clutched them eagerly. "At least we may wait, David--we don't know yet; +I do suspect that Lewis Lewis--he shuns me as if he was conscious of +some wickedness; he's as horrid to me as his master--the thought of his +master--I do forbode something awful from that man! It was but just +before I heard you brushing among those great low branches, in your +coracle, that I fancied I saw him stealing, as if to watch, or perhaps +waylay you; but I am full of dismal thoughts." + +He had not the heart to force his letters, so reluctantly resigned, from +her chilly hand. But he held in his what was calculated to inspire pain +quite as poignant. In the fond admiration of her fancy's first object, +she had vehemently longed for a portrait of that rather singular face--a +long oval, with lofty forehead, already somewhat corrugated by habits of +deep thought, in his lonely night-loving existence; its mixture of +passion, dumb poetry, its constitutional or adventitious profound +melancholy, ever present, till his countenance gradually lighted up, +after her coming and her animating discourse, like some deep gloomy +valley growing light as the sun surmounts a lofty bank, gleaming through +its pines. She had forced him to take a piece of money for procuring +this so desired keepsake, and every time they met, she had fondly hoped +to have the little portrait put into her hand. Now, instead, he +presented the unused money--would she retain the image of a sweetheart +in the home of her stern and lordly husband? Her heart confessed that +she must no longer wish for it--but it sunk within her at the thought, +how soon that innocent would be a guilty wish; and when he surprised her +with the money so suddenly, she involuntarily shuddered, forebore to +close her hand upon it, let it slide from her palm, and murmured only +with her innocent plaintiff voice, "I shall never have your picture +now--_never_!" And then she dejected her eyes to the little parcel of +letters, written, received, kissed, and kept, like something holy, so +long in vain; and all the charming hopeful hours in which each was +found, when some longer absence had given to each a deeper interest, and +higher value--those hours never to return, came shadowing over her mind, +memory, and soul, and a lethargy of despairing grief imposed a +ghost-like semblance of calm on her whole figure, and her face slowly +assumed a deadly paleness, even to the lips, visible even by the moon. +David grew alarmed, relapsed into the full fondness of former hours, +folded the dumb, drooping, and agonized young woman in his arms, to his +bosom! without her betraying consciousness, and yet she was not +fainting; she stood upright, and her eyes, though fixed as if glazed, +still expressed love in their almost shocking fixedness. + +The young man grew terrified. "Look up! speak to me! Winifred, _dear_ +Winifred, my _own_ Winifred, in spite of all!" he broke forth. "Smile at +me, my dearest, once more, and keep these foolish letters you so value, +keep them _all_." And he thrust them into her passive hand. + +Aroused by his words and action, poor Winifred, starting with a gasp, +wildly kissed the little packet, and thanked him by an embrace more +passionate than her prudence or modesty would have permitted, had they +been happy. + +"And my portrait--my ugliness in paint, and on ivory too, dearest, you +shall have yet, as you desire it," he added, forcing pleasantry; "only +do not fall into that frightful sort of trance again." + +He little knew what deadliness of thoughts, almost of purpose, had +produced that long abstracted fit. The most exemplary prudence (the +result of a sound mind and heart) had characterised this young woman +till now. While yet at home, her bodily activity surprised her parents. +Their means having been long but low, they had little help in their +dairy and small farming concerns. She often surprised her mother with +the sight of the butter already churned, the ewes already milked, or the +cheeses pressed, when she arose. She was abroad in the heavy dews of +morning, when the sun at midsummer rises in what is properly the night, +regarded as the hour of rest--abroad, happy and cheerful, calling the +few cows in the misty meadows. Nor did this habit of early rising +prevent her indulging at night her _one_ unhappy habit--romance-reading; +a pleasure which she enjoyed through the kindness of many ladies of the +town of Cardigan, who afterwards established her in her school at K----. +They supplied her with these dangerous volumes that exalted +passion--love in excess--above all the aims and pursuits of +life: represented her who loves most madly as most worthy of +sympathy; and even, too often, crowned the heroine with the palm of +self-martyrdom--making suicide itself no longer a crime or folly, but +almost a virtue, under certain contingencies. + +When poverty increased, the activity of her powerful intellect was +brought into display, as much as her personal activity had been, in +devising resources. She had acquired some skill in drawing, through the +kindness of the neighbouring gentry, and she improved herself so far as +to execute very respectable drawings of the ruins of Kilgerran Castle, +on her own river, and other fine scenes of Wales; and these were sold +for her (or rather for her parents) by others, at fairs and wakes, where +she never appeared herself. When residing at the village, her wheel was +heard in the morning before others were stirring, and at late night, +after every other one was still. Her little light, gleaming in the lofty +village, espied between the hanging trees, was the guiding star of the +belated fisher up the narrow goat's-path which led to the village, who +could always obtain light for his pipe at "_Miss Bevan's_, the school," +when not a casement had exhibited a taper for hours. But the evil of all +this wear and tear of mind and body was, that it maintained an unnatural +state of excitement in the one, and of weakness (disguised by that fever +of imagination) in the other. Sleep, the preserver of health and +tranquillity of mind, was exchanged for lonely emotions excited by night +reading. She was weeping over the dramatist's fifth act of tragedy, or +the romancist's more morbid appeals to the passions, while nature +demanded rest. Then an accidental meeting with the young harper--he +recovering a book she had dropped into the Tivy out of her hand, from +having fallen asleep through exertion, and restoring it with a grace +quite romance-hero like--produced a new era, and new excitement--that of +the heart. Thenceforth, she became "of imagination all compact," however +her strong sense preserved her purity and virtue. But no more dangerous +lover could be imagined than such a loose hanger-on, rather than member, +of society as David the _Telynwr_--for _his_ nature was _hers_; except, +perhaps, in virtuous resolution, he was a female Winifred. Yet he +possessed a romantic "leaning, at least, to virtue's side." + +This was oddly exemplified now, (to return to their present position;) +for as soon as her partial recovery had removed his alarm, he grew cold, +and almost severe in his manner, and broke forth-- + +"_So_, then, Winifred would willingly pore over the love-letters of a +sweetheart while under a husband's roof! She thinks this beauty enough +for _him_--she would reserve her thoughts, wishes, every thing else, for +his old rival;--every thing but what a ring, and a few words, makes his +right by law, the poor husband is to leave to any old sweetheart that +may come prowling round his gates! That's gross! Is it _not_, Winifred?" + +Alas! the heart-broken young woman had been meditating on far other +issue to their brief attachment! On death!--death on her wedding-day, as +the only means of preserving at once her father's liberty and her own +virtue; for her reading had taught her that marriage, where the mind and +heart were so wholly engaged elsewhere, was no better than legalised +prostitution. With a look of dark intensity of meaning, Winifred broke +her lengthened silence, saying hollowly-- + +"I was not looking so far forward--I was not looking beyond _that_ +day--not to that"----_night_, she would have said, but modesty stopped +her speech. "And _you_ can be so calm! so thoughtful! _You_ can be +reasoning about my duties during a life! you can be pleading for _my_ +future husband! Oh, I wish I were like you! And yet, I bless God, that +you are not like _me_! I would not have you feel as I do for the world! +No, not even know what I am feeling, thinking, dearest, at this moment." + +"No!" David again muttered, more and more severely, "I cannot submit to +have my letters and trifling keepsakes to be tossed about by _him_! It +is weakness to wish it, Winifred Bevan; and worse for me to grant it." + +"You shall have them all--all--all!" she exclaimed in passionate agony +composed of tenderness, anguish, anger, recklessness, with a bitterness +of irony keener to her own heart, than to him who roused that terrible +reaction of her nature. "I'll run and fetch them all this very night! +Oh, they'll serve for _your_ new love. You may copy your letters. I'm +sure, if she have a human heart, they'll move it--they'll win it! Strike +my name out, and you may send the very letters. She will not know that +another heart was broken by giving them up! She will not know the stains +are tears of pleasure dropped upon them! And you shall have _that_ too, +if you will--if you must!" + +"Which? what? dearest creature, but compose yourself--pray do!" he said, +again alarmed. + +"_That_ you sent with the lock of hair--_this_ hair!" she answered +wildly. "But you _will_ leave me the little lock? Oh, there's plenty to +cut for _another_ here!" and she laughed hysterically, frightfully, and +played with his profusion of raven hair; but it was mournful play. +"Leave me--_do_ leave poor Winifred that, David, for the love of God! In +mercy, leave it! I will not ask for the picture again--I will not _wish_ +it, if _you_ say I must not; but the hair--the poor bit of hair--he! oh, +misery! he shall never see it! I myself will never cry over it--never +look at it, if you think it wrong--never till I'm dying, David--dying! +There will be no harm then, you know, in looking--in a poor dying +creature's look, who has done with passions, life, love, every thing. +And none--none shall see it but those who lay me out, or they who find +my--oh! we none of us know where we may die, or how! It may be alone, +dearest--_alone_! Oh, the comfort it will be to have a part of very +_you_ to hold--to hold by, like this very hand, in my death-damp one. +Let me have it!" she shrilly implored, in delirious energy. "I want it +to take with me to my death-bed--to my death-pit--my grave, whatever it +may be--to heaven itself--to our place of meeting again, if it were +possible! Oh, that it _were_ possible! and that I might bring back to +you there the kiss--the long kiss--you shall leave on these wretched +lips when we part for ever and for ever here! _Will_ you take it from +me, David, my heart, my soul? No, you will not?" + +The crisis of love's parting agony was at its height. Half-conscious of +her own dangerous prostration of soul and mind under its power, she +turned from the dear object, and rested her forehead against the trunk +of their old tree of assignation; and a steady, sadder shower of tears, +relieving her full heart, followed this storm of various and rapid +emotions, sweeping over one weakened mind, like thunderclouds charged +with electric fire, borne on a whirlwind over a whole landscape, in a +few minutes of mingled gloom and glory. For, in the sublime of passion, +whatever be its nature, is there not a terrible joy, a secret glorifying +of the earthy nature, which we may compare to such elemental war--now +hanging all heaven in mourning, and bringing night on noonday, and +presently illuminating that day with a ghastly, momentary light, +brilliant even beyond its own? + + +CHAPTER II. + +Llaneol, the dilapidated farm-house of the expelled steward, old Bevan, +stood beautifully in a wooded glen, watered by a shallow stream, between +a brook and river in size. A pretty greensward, of perpetual vivid hue, +stretched quite up to the threshold--its "fold," or farm-yard, being +small, and situated behind. A wooded mountain rose opposite, topped by a +range of many-tinted cliffs, splintered like thunder-stricken +battlements, and resembling, in their fretted and timeworn fronts, rich +cathedral architecture in ruins. Extensive sheep-walks rose in russet, +lofty barrenness behind, but allowing below breadth for venerable oaks, +and a profusion of underwood, to shelter the white, but no longer +well-thatched, farm-cottage, and screening that umbrageous valley from +the colder wind; while the many sheep, seen, and but just seen, dotting +the lofty barrier, beautified the scene by the pastoral ideas which +their dim-seen white inspired. Only the songs of birds distinguished the +noonday from the night, unless when the flail was heard in the barn, +through the open doors of which, coloured by mosses, the river +glistened, and the green, with its geese, gleamed the more picturesquely +for this rustic perspective. + +As Winifred was approaching this tranquil vale--her native vale--after +an absence at the town of Cardigan, where she had been seeking +assistance for her father, with little success, she was startled by the +unusual sound of many voices, and soon saw, aghast, the whole of the +rustic furniture standing about on the pretty green, her infant +play-place; the noisy auctioneer mounted on the well-known old oaken +table; even her mother's wheel was already knocked down and sold, and +her father's own great wicker chair was ready to be put up, while rude +boys were trying its rickety antiquity by a furious rocking. + +On no occasion is so much joviality indulged (in Wales) as on that of an +auction "under a distress for rent," (which was the case here)--an +occasion of calamity and ruin to the owner. Even in the event of an +auction caused by a death, where the common course of nature has removed +the possessor from those "goods and chattels" which are now useless to +him, a sale is surely a melancholy spectacle to creatures who use their +minds, and possess feelings befitting a brotherhood of Christians, or +even heathens. To see the inmost recesses of "home, sweet home," thrown +open to all strangers; the most treasured articles (often descended as +heir-looms from ancestors, and therefore possessing an intrinsic value, +quite unsuspected by others, for the owner,) ransacked, tossed from hand +to hand, and at last "knocked down" at a nominal price--even this is a +mournful exhibition. But where the ruthless hand of his brother man has +wrested those valuables from their possessor, instead of inevitable +death's tearing him from them--where that very owner and his family are +present, sadly listening to the ceaseless jokes (thoughtlessly inhuman) +lavished by the auctioneer, and re-echoed by the crowd, over those old +familiar objects--witnessing the happy excitement of rival bidders, and +the universal pleasure over his ruin, like the cry and flocking of +vultures over a battle-field, witnessed by wretches still alive, though +mortally wounded; what can exceed the shocking transgression of human +brotherhood presented by such a scene! A scene of every-day +occurrence--a scene never seeming to excite even one reflection kindred +to these natural, surely, and obvious feelings--yet one terribly +recalling to the pensive observer that axiom, _Homo ad hominem lupus +est!_ Doubtless the fraudulent or utterly reckless debtor is, in the eye +of reason, the first "wolfish" assailant of his brother. But how many of +these familiar tragedies are as truly the result of unforeseen, +unforeseeable contingencies, as diseases or other events, considered the +visitations of God! One, or two, or three, sick and heavy hearts and +wounded minds, in the midst of a hundred happy, light ones, buoyed up by +fierce cupidity and keen bargain-hunting, and exhilarated by drink and +by fun, and all drawn together by the misery of those outcast few. + +Poor Bevan had been taken by surprise in this sudden execution, put in +by his treacherous supplanter, Lewis Lewis. But what most excited the +anger of his old attached neighbours, was the fact that many of these +goods were bought by an agent of Lewis, to finish furnishing his own +newly repaired house by the old park wall. Winifred learned that her +parents had removed to a friendly neighbour's, at some distance, but +suspected the worst--his removal to jail. + +Not now the weakness of woman prevailed over her presence of mind, as we +have lately seen it do in her interview with a beloved object. She +commanded her agitation, so far as to bid for her father's old chair, +but in vain; for her timid bidding, faltered from behind a crowd, failed +to catch the ear of the jocular auctioneer, (who, in Wales, must always +be somewhat of a mountebank,) and the favourite chair was gone at once, +after the wheel, and the many old familiar chattels which she saw +standing, now the property of strangers. + +Events crowded fast on each other, hurrying on that terrible hour in +which a revolting act of self-devotion was to render even this domestic +horror of little injury to her parents. "I will buy 'daddy' a better +chair, or he shall have enough to buy a better, when I am gone," she +murmured to herself. For now the rumour grew rife, that Mr Fitzarthur +had actually landed, was daily expected; and, in confirmation, she +received through a neighbour present, a letter left for her by her +father, stating that he had now actually received, under the Nabob's own +hand, a proposal of marriage, which the generous old man (who well knew +her engagements to another) solemnly charged her to reject, at all +hazards to himself. He further begged her to come quickly to the +temporary place of refuge he and her mother had found under the roof of +a hill cottage, just now tenantless through the death of a relative. +Thither, with heavy heart, Winifred hastened by the first light of +morning. + +"_The_ hill," an expression much in the mouths of Welsh rural people, +signifies not any particular one, as it would in England, but the whole +desolate regions of the mountain heights; the homeless place of +ever-whistling winds, and low bellowing clouds, mingling with the mist +of the mountain, into one black smoke-like rolling volume--the place of +dismal pools and screaming kites, full of bogs, concealed by a sickly +yellowish herbage in the midst of the russet waste, boundlessly wearying +the eye with its sober monotony of tint. If a pool or lake relieve it by +reflecting the sky, on approach it is found choked all round by high +rushes, and shadowed by low strangely-shaped rocks, tinted by mosses of +dingy hue; the water that glistened pleasantly in the distance, shrinks +now to a mere pond, (the middle space, too deep for bullrushes and other +weeds to take root.) The deep stillness, or the unintermitted hollow +blowing of the wind (according to the weather) are equally mournful. +The rotten soil is cleft and torn into gulleys and small channels, in +which the mahogany-coloured rivulets, springing from the peat morass, +straggle silently with a sluggish motion in harmony with the lifeless +scene. There, if a weedy-roofed hut do appear, (detected by its thin +feeble smoke column) or the shepherd who tenants it should show his +solitary figure in the distance, the only upright object where is not +one tree-trunk, neither the home of man nor man's appearance lessens the +sense of almost savage solitude; the one so lonely, not a smoke-wreath +being visible all round, beside; the other, as he loiters by, watching +some sheep on some distant bank, so shy and wild-looking, and, to +appearance, so melancholy, so forlorn. Meanwhile, as we "plod our weary +way," some dip in the wavy round of olive-hued lumpish mountains, or an +abrupt huge chasm of awful rocks, each side being almost perpendicular, +startles the traveller with a far-down prospect of some sunshiny, rich, +leafy, valley region, at once showing at what a bleak elevation he has +been roaming so long, and tantalizing him with the contrast of that far, +far off, low, luring landscape, rendering more irksome than before the +dead, heathery desert, interminably undulating before, behind, and all +round him. + +The little farm whither old Bevan had retired, stood high in such a +desert as this, on the very verge of such a mountain-portal, (a _bwlch_, +pronounced boolch, the Welsh call it,) an antique stone cottage, hanging +like a nest on one of the side banks, dismal itself, but all that under +world of pastoral pleasantness below, in full though dim perspective. A +premature decay is always visible on these kind of wild, weather-beaten +homes, in the torn thatch; the walls tinged with green, and generally +propped to resist the effects of the powerful winds. If white-washed, +which they really are, broad streaks of green are visible, from the +frequent heavy rains, tinged by the mosses and weeds of the roof. The +clouds, attracted by the heights, career on the strong blast, so low and +close, as often to shut up the dingy human nest in a dreary day of its +own, while all below is blue serene. + +To this melancholy abode, its few rustic chattels still standing there, +left since the death of its tenant, Winifred toiled up by a steep, wild, +but well-known track, but found not father, mother, or living thing, +except one, so much in unison with the wild melancholy of the scene, as +to exalt it almost to horror. This was a wretched idiot man, dressed in +female attire, perfectly harmless, and kept, as a parish pauper, at an +adjacent farm. He was noted for fidelity to any one who flattered him by +some little commission. This ragged object presented to her the key of +the padlock on the door, with the words "gone, gone, gone!" She entered, +and found, to her surprise, excellent refreshment provided in the +desolate house, evidently but lately deserted. But what riveted her +eyes, was a letter to herself in the handwriting of David, but +tremulously written, announcing his inability to keep an appointment, +(one more!) which they had made, to part for ever--her terrible +distress, it will be remembered, on the last occasion, deterring the +young man from any further trial of her feelings. He further informed +her that Mr Fitzarthur was certainly arrived, and had taken up his +temporary abode at the pretty house by the park, designed by Lewis Lewis +for his own residence. Moreover, she learned that her father and mother +anxiously expected her at that house to which they had removed, but did +not reveal that he had _been removed_ in the care of two bailiffs, and +the house named was but a resting place in his transit to jail. + +When the mind is enfeebled by repeated blows, it often happens that some +one, which to others may appear the slightest of all, produces the +greatest effect, its pain being quite disproportioned to its real +importance. Thus it happened, that, amidst all her trials, Winifred felt +the loss of her father's favourite chair as a crowning misery, trivial +as was that loss, when hope itself was lost. She had identified that +very humble chattel with his figure almost her life long. She almost +expected to see the two fair hands (for, truth to tell, the aged steward +had never worked hard) on each side, and the venerable kind face +projected forwards from its deep concave, arched over that white head, +to smile welcome to her even as it stood out on the little green. The +intrusion of boy clowns, one after another, into its seat seemed a +grievous insult to the unhappy owner, though absent. Yet a sad comfort +rose in the thought of her ability to reinstate her father in all his +lost comforts, through this terrible marriage. Then she grew impatient +in her longing to console him by assurance of this, notwithstanding his +generous wish that her hand should go where he knew her heart had +irretrievably been given. But these repeated disappointments in finding +the parents she longed to fold to her bosom, postponing this little +gratification, (the telling him she would repurchase the old family +chair,) now quite overcame the fortitude she had till now exhibited. She +sate down sick at heart--turned with aversion from the refreshment her +fatigue required, and wept bitterly. Superstition, and two mysterious +incidents, even while she remained on the hill, if indeed they were more +than superstition's coinage, helped to depress her. Just before she +reached this forlorn house with the haggard, aged, horrid-looking idiot +prowling round it, with his rags fluttering in the wind, she thought +that the figure of the hated steward and spy moved along a wild path on +the opposite side of that great mountain cleft, traversed by a noisy +torrent almost the depth of the whole hill, near the top of which this +cottage was perched. His being there alone was nothing marvellous, but +an ominous horror seemed, in her mind, to hover round that man, who (as +if conscious of some deadly evil which was through him to overwhelm her +some time) studiously avoided direct intercourse with his victim. + +The second incident which might have sprung from the dwelling of her +mind's eye on the absent features of him, who, it seemed, refused to +meet her again, was an apparition, or what she deemed such, of her dear +Night-harper! One of those dense flying clouds, so common even at +moderate elevations when the mists roll down the hills, suddenly +enveloping the lone lofty spot, left but a little area of a few yards +for vision, a dungeon walled with fog, which kept circulating furiously +on the blast like a great smoke, in continuous whirls. And through some +momentary fissure in this white wall, she imagined the pallid and almost +ghastly visage of her forsaken lover appeared intensely looking toward +her, as she stood on the rude threshold, looking out on the temporary +storm that had shut her up. Her vague apprehension of some evil arising +to David, her mind's perpetual object, from the man she believed herself +to have espied just before, was rarely absent from her thought. +Combining the two appearances, she became more and more fancy-fraught, +thus confined, as it were, in an elemental solitude of the mountain and +the cloud, where, for the present, we leave her, to narrate the fate of +her father. + +The novel calamity of arrest for debt was borne by the respectable old +man, John Bevan, with a patience and dignity that no study of philosophy +could have inspired. Though somewhat inactive, he felt that, in the +honest discharge of his duty, he stood acquitted in the sight of God, +though not in the eye of the law, of all fault, at least of any one +meriting the terrible punishment of imprisonment. It was near nightfall +when two emissaries of the law appeared, announcing that horses waited +at the neighbouring inn to convey him to jail with the first light of +morning. The poor old dame, his wife, was not to be pacified by the +efforts of the two bailiffs, who executed their commission with the +utmost gentleness, by order, as it appeared, of the Nabob himself, +notwithstanding that the old man's stern self-denying rejection of his +overture for his daughter's hand had determined him to let his agent +proceed to extremities. Soothing as well as he could both her grief and +her rage--for the latter rose unreflectingly against the mere agents in +this grievous infliction--old Bevan smoked his pipe as usual to the end, +and then requested permission to take a little walk only to the church, +which stood a short way from the solitary house where they surprised +him. + +"You see I cannot run, for I can hardly walk with these rheumatics, my +friend," he observed; "but I have a fancy to visit the churchyard +to-night, as it will be moonlight, and we shall be pretty busy in the +morning. My dame is gone to bed with the good woman of this cottage, as +I begged her to go; so pray let us walk--you shall see me all the +while by the moon, without coming into the churchyard with me." + +Arrived at the low stone stile, he crossed it by the help of the man, +and proceeded alone to the tomb of his old master's grave, surrounded by +a rail, with a yew growing inside, marking the site of the ancient +family vault. The moon now shining clearly, the bailiff saw him kneel +and uncover his head, which shone in its light, in the distance +resembling a scull bleached by the wind. He remained a long time in this +position, and his murmuring voice was partly audible to the man. At last +he returned, thanking him for his patience, and shaking him very +cordially by the hand. So touched was even this rugged lower limb of the +law by this proof of his affectionate remembrance of his old patron, +that he behaved throughout with great courtesy, and even respect. Bevan +and his departed master had lived, as has been said, almost on the +footing of cronies, a certain phlegmatic ease of nature being the +characteristic of both. So proud, indeed, was Bevan of his brotherlike +intercourse with the great man, that he made himself for years almost a +personal _fac-simile_ of him, even to the cut and colour of his coat, +wig, everything; and being a fine specimen of a "noble peasant," +externally as well as internally, his assumption of the _squire_ in +costume well became his tall figure, mild countenance, (streaked with +the lingering pink of his youthful bloom,) and gentle demeanour. A rigid +observer might have thought, that to this indulgent but indolent master +the poor steward owed his ruin; his habits of "forgiving" his tenants +their rent debts so often, having extended themselves to the former, +further increased by the strange inattention of the new landlord. The +gratitude of Bevan was, however, deserved--for never was a kinder +master. + +"It is a thing not to be thought," he said, while returning with the +man, "that I shall ever come back here, to the old church again, alive +or dead; seeing that I am too poor for any one to bring my old bones all +the way from Cardigan, to put them in the same ground with _his_, as I +did dream of in my better days, and too old for a man used to free air +and the hill-sides all his life, to live long in a prison, or indeed out +of one--but we must all die. I assure you, my honest man and kind, you +have done me good, in mind and body, by letting me take leave of his +honour! Well I may call him so, now he is in heaven, whom I did honour +when here, from my very heart of hearts; kind he was to me--a second +father to my child--God bless him! Sure I am, if he were still among us, +how his good heart would melt, how it would _bleed_ for us--for _her_--I +_know_ it would." Here the old man sobbed and kept silence a space, then +proceeded--"You see how weak old age and over-love of this world make a +man, sir. Yet I am content. Next to God, I owe to him whose dear corpse +I have just now been so near, a long and happy life,--thanks, thanks, +thanks! To both, up yonder, I do here render them from my inmost soul;" +and he bared his head again, looking up to the placid moon with a visage +of kindred placidity, and an eye of blue lustre, so brightened by his +emotion as almost to be likened to the heaven in which that moon shone. +"Why should I repine, or fear the walls of a prison, as my passage to +that wide glorious world without wall or bound or end, where I hope to +live free and for ever, in the sight of my Redeemer, and, perhaps, of +him who was Hugh Fitzarthur, Esq., of Tallylynn hall, when here? I hope +I am not irreverent, but in truth, friend, I fear I have almost as +vehemently longed for the presence of him once more, as for that more +awful presence: heaven pardon me if it was wicked! So welcome prison, +welcome death! Half a hundred and nineteen years spent pleasantly on +these green hills, free, and fresh, and hale, I can surely afford a few +weeks or months to a closer place, were it but as in a school for my +poor earthly and ignorant soul, to purify itself, to prepare itself for +that glorious place, to learn to die." + +Next morning the old couple, dame Bevan being mounted on a pillion +behind him, proceeded on their melancholy journey. They reached the +house by the park, where it was proposed that an interview should take +place between the old man and the landlord himself, with some view to +arrangement prior to his imprisonment. While they there expect the long +delayed comfort of Winifred's embrace, let us return to that good +daughter, now more eager to fly to that dreaded suitor, to reverse her +father's resolve, to offer herself a victim, than ever she had been to +reach that dearer one who had now cruelly disappointed her in the hope +of one more meeting--that, perhaps, the last she could have innocently +allowed! + +The dreaded day of trial arrived. But we must revert to her sad +meditations, and wild irresolute thoughts, while shut up by the +storm-cloud, and alone, in the mountain house. Doating passion, pain of +heart, terrible suggestions of despair, kept altering her countenance as +she leaned against the mouldering door-post, imprisoned by the black +mists that prevented her safely leaving the hovel. A sudden, dire, +revolution in her religious impressions was wrought, or rather +completed, in that dismal scene. David had more than once wrung her very +soul by dark hints of self-destruction in the event of her ever +forsaking him. He had thus been led into discussions on suicide, and had +even argued for the moral right of man to end his own being under +circumstances. Persuasion hangs on the lips of those we love. What she +would have rejected as impious, from some immoral man, in dispute, sank +deep into her soul, emanating from a heart she loved, through lips that, +to her, seemed formed for eloquence as much as love to make its throne. + +Wild and tragical modes of reconciling her two furious, fighting, +irreconcilable wishes--that of saving her father--that of blessing her +lover--began to take terrible form and reality in her mind, as the wind +howled, the ruinous house shook, and its timbers groaned, and the +blackness of the sky, as the storm increased, deepened the lurid hue of +the foul and turbulent fog, (for such the mountain cloud thus in contact +with her eyes appeared.) The world, as it were, already left behind, or +rather below, the elements alone warring round her, her high-wrought +imagination began to regard life and death, and the world itself, as +things no longer appertaining to her, except as a passive instrument +toward one great object, the preservation of her father's freedom, and, +if it _were_ possible, also of her own inviolate person--that person +which she had, indeed, most solemnly vowed to one alone, David the +Telynwr. Not _to_ him--for her innate delicacy rendered such vows +repugnant to her; but alone, by the moon or stars, by the cataract, and +in the lonely lanes and woods, she had vowed herself to one alone--had +dedicated her virgin beauty (in the spirit of those romances she had +fatally devoured) to her "night-harper" with as true devotion as ever +did white vestal, at the end of her noviciate, devote herself alive and +dead to the one God. Instilled by the touching tone, the wild pathos, +the swimming eye of a wayward passionate character, weak, yet bold, of +whom she knew almost nothing, this devoted girl yielded up her better +reason to his rash innovations in morals, his examples of suicidal +heroes, and even _moralists_, among the ancients; and in the wild +height, alone, among the clouds, she almost wrought up her fond +agonizing soul to a terrible part--the accomplishing her father's +preservation, _on her wedding-day_, through the influence she might +naturally expect to obtain in such a season, and that done, make her +peace with God; and, before night--black pools--rock precipices, fearful +as Leucadia's--mortal plants, and even the horrid knife and +halter--floated before her mind's eye without her trembling, even like +terrible, yet kind, ministrants proffering escape--escape from legalised +violation!--escape from _perjury_, to her, the self-doomed Iphigenia! +For her morbid fancy, whispered to by her intense tenderness, conjured +up that dilemma between faith broken to her lover and abandonment of a +dear parent to his fate. Despair suggested that self-destruction itself +might seem venial, even before God, when rushed upon as the only +alternative to perjury--to prostitution; for such her romantic purity +taught her to consider submission to the embrace of any living man +except her heart's own--her affianced--"her beautiful!"--her lost! + +Such were the feelings under whose influence our humble heroine pursued +her mountain journey, of a few miles, to the place of meeting with her +parents; and it was probably beneath the roof of the lone cottage in the +cloud that, under the same morbid mood of mind, she penned a letter to +Mr Fitzarthur, which was afterwards discovered, dated at top "My Wedding +Day," containing a passionate appeal on behalf of her father, for a bond +of legal indemnification to be executed before night, as a present which +she had set her heart on giving her father, as a bridal one, _that very +day_. Arrived at the house fitted up for the hated supplanter of her +father, "Lewis the Spy," her heart beat so violently before she could +firm her nerves to ring the bell, that she stood leaning some time +against the wall. This old house was now almost rebuilt, and not without +regard to rural beauty, in harmony with the fine scenery of an antique +park, with its mossy ivied remains of walls and venerable trees +overshadowing it, and was called "The Little Hall of the Park." She +sighed deeply as she glanced at its comfortable aspect, remembering how +long it had formed the secret object of her mother's little ambition +(for the dame had a touch of pride in her composition beyond her +ever-contented mate) to occupy that _little_ hall. It seemed so +appropriate that the lesser squire--the _great_ squire's friend--should +also have _his_ "hall," though a little one! + +Indeed, it had been in incipient repair for him, that the old men might +spend their winter evenings together at the real hall, divided but by a +short path, across an angle of the park, without a dreary walk for Bevan +impending over the end of their carouse, with never-wearied +reminiscences of their boyhood--when sudden death stopped all +proceedings, and left poor Bevan alone in the world, as it seemed to +him--"in simplicity a child," and as imbecile in conflict with it as any +child. + +She nerved her mind and hand by an effort, and rang the bell--(the +_bell_, there a modern innovation.) No sound but its own distant +deadened one, was heard within; but some dog in the rear barked, and +then howled, as if alarmed at the sudden breach of long prevailing +silence. Again she rang--again the troubled growl and bark, suppressed +by fear of the only living thing, as it seemed, within hearing, alone +responded. The situation was very solitary, the only adjacent house, the +hall, being yet tenantless, and night was gathering fast; for that storm +which had first detained her in the lofty region, (where a darker storm +had gathered round her mind and soul,) had desolated the lower country +all day, flooded the brooks, and delayed her on the road during several +hours. + +She fancied a sort of suppressed commotion within, as of whisperings and +stealthy steps, and one voice she clearly overheard, but it was not her +father's. Whether it was that of Lewis (who, however, was not yet +residing there) she knew not, never having heard it in her life; he +avoiding, as was stated, direct intercourse with her--disappearing "like +a guilty thing" whenever her figure appeared in distant approach. What +should this mean? Wild fears, even superstitious ones, of some +indefinite ill or horror impending, began to shake her forced fortitude, +as she stood, half-fearing to ring again--again to hear the melancholy +voice of the dog, as of one lost--to wait--listen--and dream +of--David--death--murder--or even worse, till even the giant horror--the +jail!--and the white-headed prisoner, shrank before the present ominous +mystery--ominous of she _knew_ not what, therefore involving every thing +dreadful. Meanwhile, the swinging of the large oak branches in the close +of a squally day, their groaning, and the vast glooms that their foliage +shed all below, the twilight rapidly deepening into confirmed night, all +tended to the inspiration of a wild unearthly melancholy. Suddenly the +door was opened, while she hesitated to ring again, and by a _black_ +man! Persons of colour are rarely seen inland, in Wales, and Winifred +had never visited a seaport of any consequence; so that even this was +almost a shock. She quickly, however, guessed that this was a servant of +the "Nabob," brought over with him. The man, learning her name, bade her +enter, adding, that she would see her father _soon_, but that "massa" +was within, settling some affairs with Mr Lewis, and begged to see her. +A sort of grim grin, though joined to a deference that seemed, to her +troubled and broken spirit, and sunken heart, a cruel mockery, relaxed +the man's features, and half shocked, half irritated her. Her spirits, +however, rose with the occasion, demanding all her fortitude and all +her tact; for now she was to make that impression on this terrible +suitor's fancy, through which alone she could work out her father's +salvation. In a few minutes more, she stood in the same apartment with +her David's detested rival! The embers of a large fire, decayed, cast +red twilight, which made it appear already dark without; and there he +stood, at the long room's extreme end, between her and the hearth. + +To Winifred, the personal attributes of the man, whom in her awful +resolve she regarded merely as the instrument of that filial good work, +were utterly indifferent; yet she stopped--she shuddered--and trembled +all over, as she caught the mere outline of his figure by the +fire-light. There he was! to her idea, the embodied evil genius of her +family! the sullen apostate from the finer part of love--the victim of +satiety, (as rumour said,) the selfish contemner of women's better +feelings!--indifferent to all but person in his election of a wife; +willing to unite himself with one whose heart and mind were stranger to +him, on bare report of her health and beauty, and some slight +recollections of her childhood! Seeing her stop, and even totter, he +advanced a few steps; but she, with the instinctive recoil and antipathy +of some feeble creature from its natural enemy, retreated at his first +movement--and, shocked by this betrayed repugnance, he again stood +irresolute. Then rushed back upon her heart, with all the horror of +novelty, the renunciation of poor David, now it was on the point of +being sealed for ever. Now father, mother, all beside, was +forgotten--the ghastliness of a terrible struggle within, the stern +horror of confirmed despair, began to disguise her beauty as with a +death-pale mask--the features grew rigid, her heart beat audibly, her +ears rang and tingled, and sight grew dim. She was fainting, falling. Mr +Fitzarthur sprang to support her, but putting his arms too boldly round +her waist, that detested freedom at once startled her into temporary +self-possession, back into life. She gasped, struggled against him, as +if she had rather have fallen than have been supported by _him_; and +turned to him that white face, white even to the lips, imploringly, +where was still depicted her unconquerable aversion. Some astonishment +seemed to rivet that look upon his face, but half-visible by the dusky +light--astonishment no longer painful, when the Nabob, emboldened, +renewed his now permitted clasp, and only uttering "My _dear_! don't you +know me?" in the tenderest tone to which ever manly voice was modulated, +increased his grasp to a passionate embrace, advanced his face--his +mouth to hers, advanced and pressed unresisted--and before her +bewildered eyes closed in that fainting fit which had been but +suspended, stood revealed to them (as proved by one delighted smile, +flashed out of all the settled gloom of that countenance,) as her +heart's own David--no longer the night--wandering poor _Telynwr_, but +David Fitzarthur of Talylynn, Esq. + +The story of the eccentric East Indian may be shortly told. From +childhood he was the victim of excessive morbid sensibility, and +constitutional melancholy. The jovial habits of his good-natured Welsh +uncle were repugnant to his nature; and after becoming an orphan, the +solitary boy had no human object on which the deep capacity for +tenderness of his _occult_ nature could be exerted. Thus forced by his +fate into solitariness of habits, and secreted emotions, he was deemed +unsocial, and reproached for what he felt was his misfortune--the being +wholly misunderstood by those his early lot was cast among. Hence his +perverted ardour of affection was misplaced on the lower living +world--dog, cat, or owl, whatever chance made his companions. Returning +to India, where he had known two parents, to meet no longer the +tenderness of even one, the melancholy boy-exile (for Wales he ever +regarded as his country) increased in morbid estrangement from mankind, +as he increased in years; till his maturity nearly realized the +misanthropic unsocial character for which his youth had been unjustly +reproached. Though in the high road to a splendid fortune, he loathed +East Indian society, far beyond all former loathing of fox-hunters and +topers in Wales, whose green mountains now became (conformably to the +nature, "_semper varium et mutabile_," of the melancholic) the very +idols of his romantic regrets and fondest memory. In India were neither +green fields nor green hearts. External nature and human nature appeared +equally to languish under that enfeebling hot death in the atmosphere, +which seemed to wither female beauty in the moment that it ripened. The +pallidness of the European beauties, sickly as the clime, disgusted +him--their venality still more. Female fortune-hunters were far more +intolerable to his delicacy than the coarsest hunter of vermin--fox or +hare--ever had been at his uncle's hall, whom he began to esteem, and +sincerely mourned--when death had removed all of him from his memory but +his kindness, his desire to amuse him, the "sulky boy," his substantial +goodness and warm-heartedness. Knowing that every female in his circle +was well informed of his ample fortune, still accumulating, he fancied +art, deceit, coquetry in every smile and glance, (for suspicion of human +hearts and motives ever besets the melancholic character;) and thus, it +was natural that he should sometimes sigh over the idea of some fresh +mountain beauty, not trained by parents in the art and to the task of +husband-hunting. Even the soft-faced child, just growing into woman, who +had held her pinafore for fruit, in the orchard, whose half-fallen +apple-tree was his almost constant seat, floated across his vacant, yet +restless mind. In truth, when she surprised him in his part of sexton to +his owl, she had evinced rather more sympathy than she had admitted to +his other self, David the wood-wanderer; and though she had indeed +laughed, it was with tears in her eyes, elicited by one she detected in +the shy averted orbs of his. Yet was the sweetness of the little Welsh +girl left behind, for a long time, even when manhood failed to banish +its idea, no more than his statue to Pygmalion, or his watery image to +Narcissus. But having no female society, save those marketable forms +that he distrusted and despised; yet pining, in his romantic refinement, +for _pure_ passion--for reciprocal passion--panting to be loved _for +himself alone_, he kept imagining her developed graces, exaggerating the +conceit of some childish tenderness toward himself, his position and his +nervous infirmity keeping a solitude of soul and heart ever round him, +into which no female form had free and constant admission, but that +aërial one, the little Winifred, of far, far off, green Wales! The +promise of pure beauty, which her childhood gave, his _dream_ fulfilled; +and his imagination seized and cherished the beautiful cloud, painted by +fancy, till it became the goddess of his idolatry, though conscious of +the self-delusion, and retained with that tenacity conceivable, perhaps, +to the morbidly sensitive alone. The habit of yielding to the +importunity of one idea, strengthens itself; every recurrence of it +produces quicker sensibility to the next; deeper and deeper impression +follows, till one form of mania supervenes--that which consists in the +undue mastery and eternal presence of one idea. + +Childish and _fugitive_ as it _seemed_, a passion had actually commenced +in his _boy's_ heart, which clung to that of the man, though under the +same light, fragile, and dreamlike form. Poetry might liken it to the +mere frothy foam of the infant cataract, when it gushes out of the +breast of the mountain to the rising sun, which, arrested by an intense +frost, ere it can fall, in the very act of evanishing, there hangs, +still hangs, the mere air-bubbles congealed into crystal vesicles, +defying all the force of the mounted sun to dissipate their delicate +white beauty, evanescent as it _looks_. The chill and the +impenetrability of heart, kept by circumstances within him, such frost +might typify--that pure, fragile-seeming, yet durable passion, that +snow-foam of the waterfall. True it was that this fantastic fancy had +the power to draw him to his Welsh patrimony earlier than worldly +ambition would have warranted. But his after conduct--his actual +overtures were not so wildly romantic, as might appear from the +foregoing narrative; but of this in the sequel. + +And where was her father--mother? Why had the law been allowed by this +eccentric lover to violate the humble sanctuary of home, at the desolate +Llaneol? What was become of the wicker chair? Was the hated Lewis to be +maintained in his usurpation of the chair of Bevan's _ancestral_ post of +steward, (for his father had been steward to the father of the squire +deceased?) Above all, was Dame Bevan to see that home of her heart's +hope, the permanent home of the harsh supplanter of her husband? +Passing over the affecting scene of poor Winifred's fainting, which drew +round her father and mother, and others from below, proceed we to answer +those queries and conclude our tale. + +When perfectly restored, Winifred, leaning on the arm of her future +husband, accompanied her parents down into the comfortable kitchen, +where, by a huge fire, stood the veritable wicker chair, familiar to her +eyes from infancy, rickety as ever, but surviving its desecration by the +boys at the auction; and looking round, she saw standing the whole solid +old oaken furniture, coffers, dressers, &c., even to the same bright +brazen skillets, pewter dishes, and sundries--the pride of Mistress +Bevan's heart, the splendour of better days. Mr Fitzarthur led the old +man by the hand to his own chair, his wife to another; and then, having +seated himself by their daughter, began, over the fumes of tea and +coffee, (the honours of which pleasant meal, so needful after her +agitation, he solicited Winifred to perform,) to narrate various +matters, which we must condense into a nutshell. + +To their surprise and amusement, they now learned that the hated "spy" +who had prowled round their folds and fields so long, would resign to +Mistress Bevan the house in which they sat, and that atonement made, +vanish into thin air--_a vox et preterea nihil!_ being in reality the +Proteus-like, mysterious, handsome, though sallow stranger, and no +stranger, sitting among them! + +We said that Mr Fitzarthur's conduct in espousing this long-unseen +mistress of his fancy, was not quite so extraordinary and wild as it +appeared. For coming back grown into maturity, and altered by climate in +complexion and all characteristics, he found himself quite unrecognised, +and conceived the idea of at once reconnoitring his dilapidated estate, +and watching the conduct of his long-remembered Winifred. _Two_ +disguises seemed necessary toward these two purposes, and he adopted the +two we have seen, one on the "hither side Tivy," the other on the "far +side Tivy," which his coracle allowed him to cross at pleasure. His +close watch of the blameless girl's whole life confirmed the warm and +romantic wishes of his soul, which her beauty inspired--that beauty as +fully confirming the vision of his love-dream when far and long away. + +It was during the alarm of her prolonged fainting, produced by the +surprise of this discovery, and the previous agitations, (whereby, +perhaps, the prudence rather than the affection of the eccentric lover +was impeached,) that her mother, searching her pocket for a bottle of +volatile salts, turned forth the letter lately referred to, melancholy +evidence of the desperate extremity to which two powerful antagonist +passions--love, and filial love--had driven a mind not unfortified by +religion, but beleaguered by despair and all its powers, till resolution +failed, and peril impended over an otherwise almost spotless soul. + +As the old man's affections were not wholly weaned from Llaneol, ruinous +as it was, his son-in-law had it restored as a temporary summer +residence for the old people, as well as occasionally for himself and +his beloved bride. + +It hardly needs to be told, that the arrest and its executors were but +parts of the delusion, the amount of real infliction being no more than +a ride in a fine morning of some miles. Whether the whole, as involving +some little added trouble of mind to that whose whole weight he was +going so soon to remove, was too severe a penance for the steward's +neglect, may be variously judged by various readers. In the halcyon days +that followed, Winifred never forgot the place on the Tivy bank where +she slept and dropped her book; nor did the happy husband, melancholic +no more, forsake his coracle or his harp utterly, but would often +serenade his lady-love (albeit his wedded love also) on some golden +evening, as she sat among the cowslips and harebells, that enamelled +with floral blue and gold the greensward bank of the Tivy, under the +fine sycamore tree--the "trysting-place" of their romantic assignations. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[20] Harper. + +[21] _St Elian._--A saint of Wales. There is a well bearing his name; +one of the many of the holy wells, or _Ffynnonan_, in Wales. A man whom +Mr Pennant had affronted, threatened him with this terrible vengeance. +Pins, or other little offerings, are thrown in, and the curses uttered +over them. + +[22] In the "History of the Gwyder Family," it is stated, that some +members of a leading family in the reign of Henry VII., being denounced +as "Llawrnds," murderers, (from _Llawrnd_, red or bloody hand,) and +obliged to fly the country, returned at last, and lived long disguised, +in the woods and caves, being dressed all in green; so that "when they +were espied by the country people, all took them for the "_Tylwyth Têg_, +the fair family," and straight ran away. + + + + +NORTH'S SPECIMENS OF THE BRITISH CRITICS. + +No. VI. + +SUPPLEMENT TO DRYDEN ON CHAUCER. + + +From the grand achievements of Glorious John, one experiences a queer +revulsion of the currency in the veins in passing to the small doings of +Messrs Betterton, Ogle, and Co., in 1737 and 1741; and again, to the +still smaller of Mr Lipscomb in 1795, in the way of modernizations of +Chaucer. Who was Mr Betterton, nobody, we presume, now knows; assuredly +he was not Pope, though there is something silly to that effect in +Joseph Warton, which is repeated by Malone. "Mr Harte assured me," saith +Dr Joseph, "that he was convinced by some circumstances which Fenton had +communicated to him, that Pope wrote the characters that make the +introduction (the Prologue) to the Canterbury Tales, published under the +name of Betterton." Betterton is bitter bad; Ogle, "_wersh_ as cauld +parritch without sawte!" Lipscomb is a jewel. In a postscript to his +preface he says, "I have barely time here, the tales being already +almost all printed off, to apologize to the reader for having inserted +my own translation of The Nun's Priest's Tale, instead of that of +Dryden; but the fact is, _I did not know that Dryden's version existed_; +for having undertaken to complete those of the Canterbury Tales which +were wanting in Ogle's collection, and the tale in question _not being +in that collection_, I proceeded to supply it, having never till very +lately, strange as it may seem, _seen the volume of Dryden's Fables in +which it may be found_!!" + +It is diverting to hear the worthy who, in 1795, had never seen Dryden's +Fables, offering to the public the first completed collection of the +Canterbury Tales in a modern version, "under the reasonable confidence +that the improved taste in poetry, and the extended cultivation of that, +in common with all the other elegant arts, which so strongly +characterizes the present day, will make the lovers of verse look up to +the old bard, the father of English poetry, with a veneration +proportioned to the improvements they have made in it." It grieves him +to think that the language in which Chaucer wrote "has decayed from +under him." That reason alone, he says, can justify the attempt of +exhibiting him in a modern dress; and he tells us that so faithfully has +he adhered to the great original, that they who have not given their +time to the study of the old language, "must either find a true likeness +of Chaucer exhibited in this version, or they will find it nowhere +else." With great solemnity he says, "Thence I have imposed it on myself +as a duty somewhat sacred to deviate from my original as little as +possible in the sentiment, and have often in the language adopted his +own expressions, the simplicity and effect of which have always forcibly +struck me, _wherever the terms he uses (and that happens not +unfrequently) are intelligible to modern ears_." Yes--Gulielme Lipscomb, +thou wert indeed a jewel. + +Happy would he have been to accompany his version of Chaucer with notes. +"But though the version itself has been an agreeable and easy rural +occupation, yet in a remote village, near 250 miles from London, the +very books, _trifling as they may seem_, to which it would be necessary +to refer _to illustrate the manners of the 14th century_, were not to be +procured; and parochial and other engagements would not admit of absence +sufficient to consult them where they are to be found; it is not +therefore for want of deference to the opinions of those who have +recommended a body of notes that they do not accompany these Tales." +Yes--Gulielme, thou wert a jewel. + +It is, however, but too manifest from his alleged versions, that not +only did Mr Lipscomb of necessity eschew the perusal of "the books, +trifling as they may seem, to which it would be necessary to refer to +illustrate the manners of the 14th century," but that he continued to +his dying day almost as ignorant of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales as of +Dryden's Fables. + +In his preface he tells one very remarkable falsehood. "The Life of +Chaucer, and the Introductory Discourse to the Canterbury Tales, are +taken from the valuable edition of his original works published by Mr +Tyrwhitt." The Introductory Discourse is so taken; but it is plain that +poor, dear, fibbing Willy Lipscomb had not looked into it, for it +contradicts throughout all the statements in the life of Chaucer, which +is not from Tyrwhitt, but clumsily cribbed piecemeal by Willy himself +from that rambling and inaccurate one by a Mr Thomas in Urry's edition. +Lipscomb is lying on our table, and we had intended to quote a few +specimens of him and his predecessor Ogle; but another volume that had +fallen aside a year or two ago, has of itself mysteriously +reappeared--and a few words of it in preference to other "haverers." + +Mr Horne, the author of "The False Medium," "Orion," the "Spirit of the +Age," and some other clever brochures in prose and in verse, in the +laboured rather than elaborate introduction to "The Poems of Geoffrey +Chaucer, modernized," (1841,) by Leigh Hunt, Wordsworth, Robert Bell, +Thomas Powell, Elizabeth Barrett, and Zachariah Azed, gives us some +threescore pages on Chaucer's versification; but, though they have an +imposing air at first sight, on inspection they prove stark-naught. He +seems to have a just enough general notion of the principle of the verse +in the Canterbury Tales; but with the many ways of its working--the how, +the why, and the wherefore--he is wholly unacquainted, though he +dogmatizes like a doctor. He soon makes his escape from the real +difficulties with which the subject is beset, and mouths away at immense +length and width about what he calls "the _secret_ of Chaucer's rhythm +in his heroic verse, which has been the baffling subject of so much +discussion among scholars, a trifling increase in the syllables +occasionally introduced for variety, and founded upon the same laws of +contraction by apostrophe, syncope, &c., as those followed by all modern +poets; but employed in a more free and varied manner, all the words +being fully written out, the vowels sounded, and not subjected to the +disruption of inverted commas, as used in after times." This "secret" +was patent to all the world before Mr Horne took pen in hand, and his +eternal blazon of it is too much now for ears of flesh and blood. The +modernized versions, however, are respectably executed--Leigh Hunt's +admirably; and we hope for another volume. But Mr Horne himself must be +more careful in his future modernizations. The very opening of the +Prologue is not happy. + +In Chaucer it runs thus:-- + + "Whannè that April with his shourès sote + The droughte of March hath perced to the rote, + And bathed every veine in swiche licour, + Of whiche vertue engendered is the flour; + When Zephyrus eke with his sotè brethe, + Enspired hath in every holt and hethe + The tendre croppès, and the yongè sonne + Hath in the Ram his halfè cours yronne, + And smalè foulès maken melodie, + That slepen allè night with open eye, + So priketh hem nature in hire corages; + Than longen folk to gon on pilgrimages, + And palmeres for to seken strangè strondes, + To servè halwes couthe in sondry londes," &c. + +Thus modernized by Mr Home:-- + + "When that sweet April showers with downward shoot + The drought of March have pierc'd unto the root, + And bathed every vein with liquid power, + Whose virtue rare engendereth the flower; + When Zephyrus also with his fragrant breath + Inspirèd hath in every grove and heath + The tender shoots of green, and the young sun + Hath in the Ram one half his journey run, + And small birds in the trees make melody, + That sleep and dream all night with open eye; + So nature stirs all energies and ages + That folk are bent to go on pilgrimages," &c. + +Look back to Chaucer's own lines, and you will see that Mr Horne's +variations are all for the worse. How flat and tame "sweet April +showers," in comparison with "April with his shourès sote." In Chaucer +the month comes boldly on, in his own person--in Mr Horne he is diluted +into his own showers. 'Tis ominous thus to stumble on the threshold. +"Downward shoot" is very bad indeed in itself, and all unlike the +natural strength of Chaucer. "Liquid power" is even worse and more +unlike; and most tautological the "virtue of power." In Chaucer the +virtue is in the "licour." "Rare" is poorly dropped in to fill up. +Chaucer purposely uses "sotè" twice--and the repetition tells. Mr Horne +must needs change it into "fragrant." "In the trees" is not in +Chaucer--for he knew that "smalè foulès" shelter in the "hethe" as well +as in the "holt"--among broom and bracken, and heath and rushes. Chaucer +does not _say_, as Mr Horne does, that the birds _dream_--he leaves you +to think for yourself whether they do so or not, while sleeping with +open eye all night. Such conjectural emendations are injurious to +Chaucer. We presume Mr Horne believes he has authority for applying "so +pricketh hem nature in hire corages" to the folks that "longen to go on +pilgrimages"--and not to the "smalè foulès." Or is it intended for a +happy innovation? To us it seems an unhappy blunder--taking away a fine +touch of nature from Chaucer, and hardening it into horn; while "all +energies and ages" is indeed a free and affected version of "corages." +"For to wander thro'," is a mistranslation of "to seken;" and to "sing +the holy mass," is not the meaning of to "servè halwes couthe," _i.e._ +to worship saints known, &c. + +Turning over a couple of leaves, we behold a modernization of the +antique with a vengeance-- + + "His son, a young squire, with him there I _saw_, + A lover and a lusty bache_lor_! (aw) (ah!) + With locks crisp curl'd, as they'd been laid in press, + Of twenty year of age he was, I guess." + +Chaucer never once in all his writings thus rhymes off two consecutive +couplets in one sentence so slovenly, as with "I saw," and "I guess." +But Mr Horne is so enamoured "with the old familiar faces" of pet +cockneyisms, that he must have his will of them. Of the same squire, +Chaucer says-- + + "Of his stature he was of _even length_;" + +and Mr Horne translates the words into-- + + "He was in stature of the common length," + +They mean "well proportioned." Of this young squire, Chaucer saith-- + + "So hote he loved, that by nightertale + He slep no more than doth the nightingale." + +We all know how the nightingale employs the night--and here it is +implied that so did the lover. Mr Horne spoils all by an affected +prettiness suggested by a misapplied passage in Milton. + + "His amorous ditties nightly fill'd the vale; + He slept no more than doth the nightingale." + +Chaucer says of the Prioresse-- + + "Full well she sang the servicè divine + Entunèd in hire nose ful swetèly." + +Mr Horne must needs say-- + + "Entuned in her nose with _accent_ sweet." + +The accent, to our ears, is lost in the pious snivel--pardon the +somewhat unclerical word. + +Chaucer says of her--- + + "Ful semèly after hire meat she raught," + +which Mr Horne improves into--- + + "And for her meat + Full seemly bent she forward on her seat." + +Chaucer says-- + + "_And peined hire_ to contrefeten chere + Of court, and been astatelich of manere, + And to be holden digne of reverence." + +That is, she took pains to imitate the manners of the Court, &c.; +whereas Mr Horne, with inconceivable ignorance of the meaning of words +that occur in Chaucer a hundred times, writes "_it gave her pain_ to +counterfeit the ways of Court," thereby reversing the whole picture. + + "And French she spake full fayre and fetisly," + +he translates "full properly _and neat_!" Dryden rightly calls her "the +mincing Prioress;" Mr Horne wrongly says, "she was evidently one of the +most high-bred and refined ladies of her time." + +Chaucer says, of that "manly man," the Monk-- + + "Ne that a monk, when he is rekkeless, + Is like to a fish that is waterless; + This is to say, a monk out of his cloistre. + This ilkè text held he not worth an oistre." + +Mr Horne here modernizeth thus-- + + "Or that a monk beyond his bricks and _mortar_, + Is like a fish without a drop of _water_, + That is to say, a monk out of his cloister." + +There can be no mortar without water, but the words do not rhyme except +to Cockney ears, though the blame lies at the door of the mouth. "Bricks +and mortar" is an odd and somewhat vulgar version of "rekkeless;" and to +say that a monk "beyond his bricks and mortar" is a monk "out of his +cloister," is not in the manner of Chaucer, or of any body else. + +Chaucer says slyly of the Frere, that + + "He hadde ymade ful mony a mariage + Of yongè women, at his owen coste;" + +and Mister Horne brazen-facedly, + + "Full many a marriage had he brought to bear, + For women young, and _paid the cost with sport_." + +O fie, Mister Horne! To hide our blushes, will no maiden for a moment +lend us her fan? We cover our face with our hands.--Of this same Frere, +Mr Horne, in his introduction, when exposing the faults of another +translator, says that "Chaucer shows us the quaint begging rogue playing +his harp among a crowd of admiring auditors, and _turning up his eyes_ +with an attempted expression of religious enthusiasm;" but Chaucer does +no such thing, nor was the Frere given to any such practice. + +Of the Clerk of Oxenford, Chaucer says, he "loked holwe, and thereto +soberly." Mr Horne needlessly adds "ill-fed." Chaucer says-- + + "Ful threadbare was his overest courtepy." + +Mr Horne modernizes it into-- + + "His uppermost short cloak _was a bare thread_." + +Why exaggerate so? Chaucer says-- + + "But all that he might of _his frendes hente_ + On bokès and on lerning he it spente." + +Mr Horne says-- + + "But every farthing that his friends e'er _lent_." + +They did not _lend_, they gave outright to the poor scholar. + +The Reve's Prologue opens thus in Chaucer-- + + "Whan folk han laughed at this nicè cas + Of Absalom and _hendy_ Nicholas." + +Mr Horne says-- + + "Of Absalom and _credulous_ Nicholas!" + +He manifestly mistakes the sly scholar for the credulous carpenter, whom +on the tenderest point he outwitted! To those who know the nature of the +story, the blunder is extreme. + +What is to be thought of such rhymes as these? + + "And for to drink strong wine as red as _blood_, + Then would he jest, and shout as he were _mad_." + + "Toward the mill, the bay nag in his _hand_, + The miller sitting by the fire they _found_." + + "And on she went, till she the cradle _found_, + While through the dark still groping with her _hand_." + +These to our ears, are not happy modernizations of Chaucer. + +Here come a few more Cockneyisms. + + "Alas! our warden's palfrey it is _gone_. + Allen at once forgot both meal and _corn_." + + "Allen stole back, and thought ere that it _dawn_, + I will creep in by John that lieth for_lorn_." + + "For, from the town Arviragus was _gone_, + But to herself she spoke thus, all _forlorn_." + + "Aurelius, thinking of his substance _gone_, + Curseth the time that ever he was _born_." + + "An arm-brace wore he that was rich and _broad_, + And by his side a buckler and a _sword_." + + "Now grant my ship, that some smooth haven _win her_; + I follow Statius first, and then _Corinna_." + +Alas! this worst of all is Elizabeth Barrett's! "Well of English +_undefiled_!" + +In Chaucer we have-- + + "A SERGEANT OF THE LAWÈ, ware and wise, + That often hadde yben _at the Parvis_." + +Mr Horne gives us-- + + "A Sergeant of the Law, wise, wary, _arch_! + _Who oft had gossip'd long in the church porch._" + +The word "arch" is here interpolated to give some colour to the charge +of "gossiping," absurdly asserted of the learned Sergeant. The Parvis +was the place of conference, where suitors met with their counsel and +legal advisers; and Chaucer merely intimates thereby the extent of the +Sergeant's practice. In Chaucer we have-- + + "In termès hadde he cas and domès alle + That fro the time of _King Will._ weren falle." + +Who does not see the propriety of the customary contraction, _King +Will._? Mr Horne does not; and substitutes, "since King William's +reign." + +Of the Frankelein Chaucer says, he was + + "An housholder, and that a gret was he;" + +the context plainly showing the meaning to be, "hospitable on a great +scale." Mr Horne ignorantly translates the words, + + "A householder of great extent was he." + +In Chaucer we have-- + + "His table dormant in his halle alway + Stood ready covered all the longè day." + +The meaning of that is, that any person, or party, might sit down, at +any hour of the day, and help himself to something comfortable, as +indeed is the case now in all country houses worth Visiting--such as +Buchanan Lodge. Mr Horne stupidly exaggerates thus-- + + "His table with repletion heavy lay + Amidst his hall throughout the feast-long day." + +In the prologue to the Reve's Tale, the Reve, nettled by the miller, who +had been satirical on his trade, says he will + + "_somdel set his howve_ + For leful is with force force off to showve." + +"Howve" is cap--and in the Miller's Prologue we had been told + + "How that a clerk had set the wrightès cappe;" + +that is, "made a fool" of him--nay, a cuckold. Mr. Horne, + + "Though my reply _should somewhat fret his nose_." + +In Chaucer the Reve's tale begins with + + "At Trumpington, not far from Cantebrigge, + There goeth a brook, and over that a brigge." + +Mr Horne saith somewhat wilfully. + + "At Trumpington, near Cambridge, _if you look_, + There goeth a bridge, and under that a brook." + +Two Cantabs ask leave of their Warden + + "To geve hem leve _but a litel stound_, + To gon to mill and sen hire corn yground." + +_i.e._ "to give them leave for a short time." Mr Horne translates it, +"for a merry round." + +In the course of the tale, the miller's wife + + "Came leping inward at a renne." + +_i.e._ "Came leaping into the room at a run." Mr Horne translates it-- + + "The miller's wife came _laughing inwardly_!" + +Chaucer says-- + + "This miller hath so _wisly_ bibbed ale." + +And Mr Horne, with incredible ignorance of the meaning of that word, +says-- + + "The miller hath so _wisely_ bobbed of ale." + +So wisely that he was "for-drunken"--and "as a horse he snorteth in his +sleep." + +In Chaucer the description of the miller's daughter ends with this +line-- + + "But right faire was _hire here_, I will not lie," + +_i.e._ her hair. Mr Horne translates it "was _she here_." + +But there is no end to such blunders. + +In Chaucer, as in all our old poets of every degree, there occur, over +and over again, such forms of natural expression as the following,--and +when they do occur, let us have them; but what a feeble modernizer must +he be who keeps adding to the number till he gives his readers the +ear-ache. Not one of the following is in the original:-- + + "At Algeziras, in Granada, he," + + "At many a noble fight of ships was he." + + "For certainly a prelate fair was he." + + "In songs and tales the prize o'er all bore he." + + "And a poor parson of a town was he." + + "Such had he often proved, and loath was he." + + "In youth a good trade practised well had he." + + "Lordship and servitude at once hath he." + + "And die he must as echo did, said he." + + "Madam this is impossible, said he." + + "Save wretched Aurelius none was sad but he." + + "And said thus when this last request heard he." + +In like manner, in Chaucer as in all our old poets of every degree, +there occur over and over again such natural forms of expression as "I +wot," "I wis"--and where they do occur let us have them too and be +thankful; but poverty-stricken in the article of rhymes must _be he_, +who is perpetually driven to resort to such expedients as the +following--all of which are Mr Horne's own:-- + + "Of fees and robes he many had, I ween." + + "And yet this manciple made them fools, I wot." + + "This Reve upon stallion sat, I wot." + + "Than the poor parson in two months, I wot." + + "For certainly when I was born, I trow." + + "A small stalk in mine eyes he sees, I deem." + + "There were two scholars young and poor, I trow." + + "John lieth still and not far off, I trow." + + "Eastern astrologers and clerks, I wis." + + "This woful heart found some reprieve, I wis." + + "Unto his brother's bed he came, I wis." + + "And now Aurelius ever, as I ween." + + "That she could not sustain herself, I ween." + +Mr Horne, in his Introduction, unconscious of his own sins, speaks with +due contempt of the modernizations of Chaucer by Ogle and Lipscomb and +their coadjutors, and of the injury they may have done to the reputation +of the old poet. But whatever injury they may have occasioned, "there +can be doubt," he says, "of the mischief done by Mr Pope's obscene +specimen, _placed at the head_ of his list of 'Imitations of English +Poets.' It is an imitation of those passages which we should only regard +as the rank offal of a great feast in the olden time. The better taste +and feeling of Pope should have imitated the noble _poetry_ of Chaucer. +He avoided this 'for sundry weighty reasons.' But if this so-called +imitation by Pope was 'done in his youth' he should have burnt it in his +age. Its publication at the present day among his elegant works, is a +disgrace to modern times, and to his high reputation." Not so fast and +strong, good Mister Horne. The six-and-twenty octosyllabic lines thus +magisterially denounced by our stern moralist in the middle of the +nineteenth century, have had a place in Pope's works for a hundred +years, and it is too late now to seek to delete them. They were written +by Pope in his fourteenth or fifteenth year, and gross as they are, are +pardonable in a boy of precocious genius, giving way for a laughing hour +to his sense of the grotesque. Joe Warton (not Tom) pompously calls them +"a gross and _dull_ caricature of the Father of English Poetry." And Mr +Bowles says, "he might have added, it is disgusting as it is dull, and +no more like Chaucer than a _Billingsgate_ is like an Oberea." It is +_not_ dull, but exceedingly clever; and Father Geoffrey himself would +have laughed at it--patted Pope on the head--and enjoined him for the +future to be more discreet. Roscoe, like a wise man, regards it without +horror--remarking of it, and the boyish imitation of Spenser, that "why +these sportive and characteristic sketches should be brought to so +severe an ordeal, and pointed out to the reprehension of the reader as +gross and disagreeable, dull and disgusting, it is not easy to +perceive." Old Joe maunders when he says, "he that was unacquainted with +Spenser, and was to form his ideas of the turn and manner of his genius +from this piece, would undoubtedly suppose that he abounded in filthy +images, and excelled in describing the lower scenes of life." Let all +such blockheads suppose what they choose. Pope--says Roscoe--"was well +aware as any one of the superlative beauties and merits of Spenser, +whose works he assiduously studied, both in his early and riper years; +but it was not his intention in these few lines to give a _serious_ +imitation of him. All that he attempted was to show how exactly he could +apply the language and manner of Spenser to low and burlesque subjects; +and in this he has completely succeeded. To compare these lines, as Dr +Warton has done, with those more extensive and highly-finished +productions, the _Castle of Indolence_ by Thomson, and the _Minstrel_ by +Beattie, is manifestly unjust"--and stupidly absurd. What Mr Horne means +by saying that Pope "avoided imitating the noble poetry of Chaucer for +sundry weighty reasons," is not apparent at first sight. It means, +however, that Pope _could_ not have done so--that the feat was beyond +his power. The author of the _Messiah_ and the _Eloïse_ wrote tolerable +poetry of his own; and he knew how to appreciate, and to emulate, too, +some of the finest of Chaucer's. Why did Mr Horne not mention his +_Temple of Fame_? A more childish sentence never was written than "its +publication at the present day among his elegant works is a disgrace to +modern times, and to his high reputation." Pope's reputation is above +reproach, enshrined in honour for evermore, and modern times are not so +Miss Mollyish as to sympathize with such sensitive censorship of an +ingeniously versified peccadillo, at which our _avi_ and _proavi_ could +not choose but smile. + +But Mr Horne, thinking, that in this case "the child is father of the +man," rates Pope as roundly for what he seems to suppose were the +misdemeanours of his manhood. "Of the highly-finished paraphrase, by Mr +Pope, of the 'Wife of Bath's Prologue,' and 'The Merchant's Tale,' +suffice it to say, that the licentious humour of the original being +divested of its _quaintness and obscurity_ (!) becomes yet more +licentious in proportion to the fine touches of skill with which it is +brought into the light. Spontaneous coarseness is made revolting by +meretricious artifice. Instead of keeping in the distance that which was +objectionable, by such shades in the modernizing as should have answered +to the _hazy appearance_ (!) of the original, it receives a clear +outline, and is brought close to us. An ancient Briton, with his long +rough hair and painted body, laughing and singing half-naked under a +tree, may be coarse, yet innocent of all intention to offend; but if the +imagination (absorbing the anachronism) can conceive him shorn of this +falling hair, his paint washed off, and in this uncovered stated +introduced into a drawing-room full of ladies in rouge and diamonds, +hoops and hair-powder, no one can doubt the injury thus done to the +ancient Briton. This is no unfair illustration of what was done in the +time of Pope," &c. + +It may be "no unfair illustration," and certainly is no unludicrous one. +We must all of us allow, that were an ancient Briton, habited, or rather +unhabited, as above, to bounce into a modern drawing-room full of +ladies, whether in rouge and diamonds, hoops and hair-powder, or not, +the effect of such _entrée_ would be prodigious on the fair and +fluttered Volscians. Our imagination, "absorbing the anachronism," +ensconces us professionally behind a sofa, to witness and to record the +scene. How different in nature Christopher North and R.H. Horne! While +he would be commiserating "the injury thus done to the ancient Briton," +we should be imploring our savage ancestor to spare the ladies. +"Innocent of all intention to offend" might be Caractacus, but to the +terrified bevy he would seem the king of the Cannibal Islands at least. +What protection against the assault of a savage, almost _in puris +naturalibus_, could be hoped for in their hoops! Yet who knows but that, +on looking round and about, he might himself be frightened out of his +senses? An ancient Briton, with his long rough hair and painted body, +may laugh and sing by himself, half-naked under a tree, and in his own +conceit be a match for any amount of women. But shorn of his falling +hair, and without a streak of paint on his cheeks, verily his heart +might be found to die within him, before furies with faces fiery with +rouge, and heads horrent with pomatum--till instinctively he strove to +roll himself up in the Persian carpet, and there prayed for deliverance +to his tutelary gods. + +Our imagination having thus "absorbed the anachronism," let us now leave +Caractacus in the carpet--while our reason has recourse to the +philosophy of criticism. Mr Horne asserts, that in "Mr Pope's" +highly-finished paraphrase of the "Wife of Bath's Prologue," and the +"Merchant's Tale," "the licentious humour of the original is divested of +its quaintness and obscurity, and becomes yet more licentious in +proportion to the fine touches of skill with which it is brought into +the light." Quaintness and _obscurity_!! Why, everything in those tales +is as plain as a pike-staff, and clearer than mud. "The hazy appearance +of the original" indeed! What! of the couple in the Pear-Tree? Mr Horne +spitefully and perversely misrepresents the character of Pope's +translations. They are remarkably free from the vice he charges them +withal--and have been admitted to be so by the most captious critics. +Many of the very strong things in Chaucer, which you may call coarse and +gross if you will, are omitted by Pope, and many softened down; nor is +there a single line in which the spirit is not the spirit of satire. The +folly of senile dotage is throughout exposed as unsparingly, though with +a difference in the imitation, as in the original. Even Joseph Warton +and Bowles, affectedly fastidious over-much as both too often are, and +culpably prompt to find fault, acknowledge that Pope's versions are +blameless. "In the art of telling a story," says Bowles, "Pope is +peculiarly happy; we almost forget the grossness of the subject of this +tale, (the Merchant's,) while we are struck by the uncommon ease and +readiness of the verse, the suitableness of the expression, and the +spirit and happiness of the whole." While Dr Warton, sensibly remarking, +"that the character of a fond old dotard, betrayed into disgrace by an +unsuitable match, is supported in a lively manner," refrains from making +himself ridiculous by mealy-mouthed moralities which on such a subject +every person of sense and honesty must despise. Mr Horne keeps foolishly +carping at Pope, or "Mr Pope," as he sometimes calls him, throughout his +interminable--no, not interminable--his hundred-paged Introduction. He +abominates Pope's Homer, and groans to think how it has corrupted the +English ear by its long domination in our schools. He takes up, with +leathern lungs, the howl of the Lakers, and his imitative bray is louder +than the original, "in linked sweetness long drawn out." Such sonorous +strictures are innocent; but his false charge of licentiousness against +Pope is most reprehensible--and it is insincere. For he has the sense to +see Chaucer's broadest satire in its true light, and its fearless +expositions. Yet from his justification of pictures and all their +colouring in the ancient poet, that might well startle people by no +means timid, he turns with frowning forehead and reproving hand to +corresponding delineations in the modern, that stand less in need of it, +and spits his spite on Pope, which we wipe off that it may not corrode. +"This translation was done at sixteen or seventeen," says Pope in a +note to his January and May--and there is not, among the achievements of +early genius, to be found another such specimen of finished art and of +perfect mastery. + +Mr. Horne has ventured to give in his volume the Reve's Tale. "It has +been thought," he says, "that an idea of the extraordinary versatility +of Chaucer's genius could not be adequately conveyed, unless one of his +matter-of-fact comic tales were attempted. The Reve's has accordingly +been selected, as presenting a graphic painting of character, equal to +those contained in the 'Prologue to the Canterbury Tales,' displayed in +action by means of a story, which may be designated _as a broad farce, +ending in a pantomime of absurd reality_. To those who are acquainted +with the original, an apology may not be considered inadmissible for +certain necessary variations and omissions." For our part, we do not +object to this tale, though at the commencement of such a work its +insertion was ill-judged, and will endanger greatly the volume. But we +do object to the hypocritical cant about the licentiousness of Pope's +fine touches, from the person who wrote the above words in italics. +Omissions there must have been--but they sadly shear the tale of its +vigour, and indeed leave it not very intelligible to readers who know +not the original. The variations are most unhappy--miserable indeed; and +by putting the miller's daughter to lie in a closet at the end of a +passage, this moral modernizer has killed Chaucer. In the matchless +original all the night's action goes on in one room--and that not a +large one--miller, miller's wife, miller's daughter, and the two +strenuous Cantabs, are within the same four narrow walls--their beds +nearly touch--the jeopardized cradle has just space to rock in--yet this +self-elected expositor of Chaucer is either so blind as not to see how +essential such allocation of the parties is to the wicked comedy, or +such a blunderer as to believe that he can improve on the greatest +master that ever dared, and with perfect success, to picture, without +our condemnation--so wide is the privilege of genius in sportive +fancy--what, but for the self-rectifying spirit of fiction, would have +been an outrage on nature, and in the number not only of forbidden but +unhallowed things. The passages interpolated by Mr Horne's own pen are +as bad as possible--clownish and anti-Chaucerian to the last degree. + +For example, he thus takes upon himself, in the teeth of Chaucer, to +narrate Alein's night adventure-- + + "And up he rose, and crept along the floor, + Into the passage humming with their snore; + As narrow was it as a drum or tub, + And like a beetle doth he grope and _grub_, + Feeling his way, _with darkness in his hands_. + Till at the passage end he stooping stands." + +Chaucer tells us, without circumlocution, why the Miller's Wife for +while had left her husband's side; but Mr Horne is intolerant of the +indelicate, and thus elegantly paraphrases the one original word-- + + "The wife her routing ceased soon after that: + And woke and left her bed; _for she was pained_ + _With nightmare dreams of skies that madly rained._ + _Eastern astrologers and clerks, I wis, + In time of Apis tell of storms like this_." + +Such is modern refinement! + +In Chaucer, the blind encounter between the Miller and one of the +Cantabs, who, mistaking him for his comrade, had whispered into his ear +what had happened during the night to his daughter, is thus comically +described-- + + "Ye falsè harlot, quod the miller, hast? + A falsè traitour, falsè clerk, (quod he) + Thou shalt be deaf by Goddès dignitee, + Who dorstè be so bold to disparage + My daughter, that is come of swiche lineage. + And by the throtè-bolle he caught Alein, + And he him hente despiteously again, + And on the nose he smote him with his fist; + Down ran the bloody streme upon his brest; + And on the flore with nose and mouth to-broke, + They walwe, as don two piggès in a poke. + And up they gon, and down again anon, + Till that the miller spurned at a stone, + And down he fell backward upon his wif, + That wistè nothing of this nicè strif, + For she was falle aslepe, a litel wight + with John the clerk," and ... + +Here comes Mr Horne in his strength. + + "Thou slanderous ribald! quoth the miller, hast! + A traitor false, false lying clerk, quoth he, + Thou shalt be slain by heaven's dignity + Who rudely dar'st disparage with foul lie + My daughter, that is come of lineage high! + And by the throat he Allan grasp'd amain, + And caught him, yet more furiously again, + And on his nose he smote him with his fist! + Down ran the bloody stream upon his breast, + And on the floor they tumble heel and crown, + And shake the house, it seem'd all coming down. + And up they rise, and down again they roll: + Till that the Miller, stumbling o'er a coal, + Went plunging headlong like a bull at bait, + And met his wife, and both fell flat as slate." + +Mr Horne cannot read Chaucer. The Miller does not, as he makes him do, +accuse the Cantab of falsely slandering his daughter's virtue. He does +not doubt the truth of the unluckily blabbed secret; false harlot, false +traitor, false clerk, are all words that tell his belief; but Mr Horne, +not understanding "disparage," as it is here used by Chaucer, wholly +mistakes the cause of the father's fury. He does not even know, that it +is the Miller who gets the bloody nose, not the Cantab. "As don two +piggès in a poke," he leaves out, preferring, as more picturesque, "And +on the floor they tumble _heel and crown_!" "And shake the house--it +seemed all coming down," is not in Chaucer, nor could be; but the +crowning stupidity is that of making the Miller meet his wife, and upset +her--she being all the while in bed, and now startled out of sleep by +the weight of her fallen superincumbent husband. And this is modernizing +Chaucer! + +What, then--after all we have written about him--we ask, can, at this +day, be done with Chaucer? The true answer is--READ HIM. The late +Laureate dared to think that every one might; and in his collection, or +selection, of English poets, down to Habington inclusive, he has given +the prologue, and half a dozen of the finest and most finished tales; +believing that every earnest lover of English poetry would by degrees +acquire courage and strength to devour and digest a moderately-spread +banquet. Without doubt, Southey did well. It was a challenge to poetical +Young England to gird up his loins and fall to his work. If you will +have the fruit, said the Laureate, you must climb the tree. He bowed +some heavily-laden branches down to your eye, to tempt you; but climb +you must, if you will eat. He displayed a generous trust in the growing +desire and capacity of the country for her own time-shrouded poetical +treasures. In the same full volume, he gave the "Faerie Queene" from the +first word to the last. + +Let us hope boldly, as Southey hoped. But there are, in the present +world, a host of excellent, sensitive readers, whose natural taste is +perfectly susceptible of Chaucer, if he spoke their language; yet who +have not the courage, or the leisure, or the aptitude, to master his. +They must not be too hastily blamed if they do not readily reconcile +themselves to a garb of thought which disturbs and distracts all their +habitual associations. Consider, the 'ingenious feeling,' the vital +sensibility, with which they apprehend their own English, may place the +insurmountable barrier which opposes their access to the father of our +poetry. What can be done for them? + +In the first place, what is it that so much removes the language from +us? It is removed by the words and grammatical forms that we have +lost--by its real antiquity; perhaps more by an accidental semblance of +antiquity--the orthography. That last may seem a small matter; but it is +not. + +There are three ways in which literary craftsmen have attempted to fill +up, or bridge over, the gulf of time, and bring the poet of Edward III. +and Richard II. near to modern readers. + +Dryden and Pope are the representatives, as they are the masters, of the +first method; for the others who have trodden in their footsteps are +hardly to be named or thought of. Dryden and Pope hold, in their own +school of modernizing, this undoubted distinction, that under their +treatment, that which was poetry remains poetry. Their followers have +written, for the most part, intelligible English, but never poetry. They +have told the story, and not that always; but they have distilled +lethargy on the tongue of the narrator.--This first method the most +boldly departs from the type. It was probably the only way that the +culture of Dryden's and Pope's time admitted of. We have since gradually +returned, more and more, upon our own antiquity, as all the nations of +Europe have upon theirs. Then civilization seemed to herself to escape +forwards out of barbarism. Now she finds herself safe; and she ventures +to seek light for her mature years in the recollections of her own +childhood. + +But now, the altered spirit of the age has produced a new manner of +modernization. The problem has been put thus. To retain of Chaucer +whatever in him is our language, or is most nearly our language--only +making good, always, the measure; and for expression, which time has +left out of our speech, to substitute such as is in use. And several +followers of the muses, as we have seen, have lately tried their hand at +this kind of conversion. + +It is hard to judge both the system and the specimens. For if the +specimens be thought to have succeeded, the system may, upon them, be +favourably judged; but if the specimens have failed, the system must not +upon them be unfavourably judged, but must in candour be looked upon as +possibly carrying in itself means and powers that have not yet been +unfolded. But unhappily a difficulty occurs which would not have +occurred with a writer in prose--the law of the verse is imperious. Ten +syllables must be kept, and rhyme must be kept; and in the experiment it +results, generally, that whilst the rehabiting of Chaucer is undertaken +under a necessity which lies wholly in the obscurity of his dialect--the +proposed ground or motive of modernization--far the greater part of the +actual changes are made for the sake of that which beforehand you might +not think of, namely, the Verse. This it is that puts the translators to +the strangest shifts and fetches, and besets the version, in spite of +their best skill, with anti-Chaucerisms as thick as blackberries. + +It might, at first sight, seem as if there could be no remorse about +dispersing the atmosphere of antiquity; and you might be disposed to +say--a thought is a thought, a feeling a feeling, a fancy a fancy. Utter +the thought, the feeling, the fancy, with what words you will, provided +that they are native to the matter, and the matter will hold its own +worth. No. There is more in poetry than the definite, separable matter +of a fancy, a feeling, a thought. There is the indefinite, inseparable +spirit, out of which they all arise, which verifies them all, harmonizes +them all, interprets them all. There is the spirit of the poet himself. +But the spirit of the time in which a poet lives, flows through the +spirit of the poet. Therefore, a poet cannot be taken out of his own +time, and rightly and wholly understood. It seems to follow that +thought, feeling, fancy, which he has expressed, cannot be taken out of +his own speech, and his own style, and rightly and wholly understood. +Let us bring this home to Chaucer, and our occasion. The air of +antiquity hangs about him, cleaves to him; therefore he is the venerable +Chaucer. One word, beyond any other, expresses to us the difference +betwixt his age and ours--Simplicity. To read him after his own spirit, +we must be made simple. That temper is called up in us by the simplicity +of his speech and style. Touched by these, and under their power, we +lose our false habituations, and return to nature. But for this singular +power exerted over us, this dominion of an irresistible sympathy, the +hint of antiquity which lies in the language seems requisite. That +summons us to put off our own, and put on another mind. In a half +modernization, there lies the danger that we shall hang suspended +between two minds--between two ages--taken out of one, and not +effectually transported into that other. Might a poet, if it were worth +while, who had imbued himself with antiquity and with Chaucer, depart +more freely from him, and yet more effectually reproduce him? Imitating, +not erasing, the colours of the old time--untying the strict chain that +binds you to the fourteenth century, but impressing on you candour, +clearness, shrewdness, ingenuous susceptibility, simplicity, ANTIQUITY! +A creative translator or imitator--Chaucer born again, a century and a +half later. + +Let us see how Wordsworth deals with Chaucer in the first seven stanzas +of the Cuckoo and Nightingale. + + "The god of love, a benedicite! + How mighty and how gret a lord is he, + For he can make of lowè hertès highe, + Of highè lowe, and likè for to dye, + And hardè hertès he can maken fre. + + "And he can make, within a litel stounde, + Of sekè folkè, holè, freshe, and sounde, + Of holè folkè he can maken seke, + And he can binden and unbinden eke + That he wol have ybounden or unbounde. + + "To telle his might my wit may not suffice, + For he can make of wisè folke ful nice, + For he may don al that he wol devise, + And lither folkè to destroien vice, + And proudè hertès he can make agrise. + + "And shortly al that ever he wol he may, + Ayenès him dare no wight sayè nay: + For he can glade and grevè whom he liketh: + And whoso that he wol, he lougheth or siketh, + And most his might he shedeth ever in May. + + "For every truè gentle hertè fre + That with him is or thinketh for to be + Ayenès May shal have now som stering, + Other to joie or elles to som mourning; + In no seson so moch as thinketh me. + + "For whan they mayè here the briddès singe, + And se the flourès and the levès springe, + That bringeth into hire rememberaunce + A maner esè, medled with grevaunce, + And lusty thoughtès fulle of gret longinge. + + "And of that longinge cometh hevinesse, + And therof groweth oft gret sekenesse, + Al for lackinge of that that they desire; + And thus in May ben hertès sette on fire, + So that they brennen forth in gret distresse." + + + WORDSWORTH. + + "The God of love! Ah, benedicite, + How mighty and how great a lord is he, + For he of low hearts can make high, of high + He can make low and unto death bring nigh, + And hard hearts he can make them kind and free. + + "Within a little time, as hath been found, + He can make sick folk whole, and fresh, and sound. + Them who are whole in body and in mind + He can make sick, bind can he and unbind + All that he will have bound, or have unbound. + + "To tell his might my wit may not suffice, + Foolish men he can make them out of wise; + For he may do all that he will devise, + Loose livers he can make abate their vice, + And proud hearts can make tremble in a trice. + + "In brief, the whole of what he will, he may; + Against him dare not any wight say nay; + To humble or afflict whome'er he will, + To gladden or to grieve, he hath like skill; + But most his might he sheds on the eve of May. + + "For every true heart, gentle heart and free, + That with him is, or thinketh so to be, + Now against May shall have some stirring--whether + To joy, or be it to some mourning; never + At other time, methinks, in like degree. + + "For now when they may hear the small birds' song, + And see the budding leaves the branches throng, + This unto their rememberance doth bring + All kinds of pleasure, mix'd with sorrowing, + And longing of sweet thoughts that ever long. + + "And of that longing heaviness doth come, + Whence oft great sickness grows of heart and home; + Sick are they all for lack of their desire; + And thus in May their hearts are set on fire, + So that they burn forth in great martyrdom." + +Here is the master of the art; and his work, most of all, therefore, +makes us doubt the practicability of the thing undertaken. He works +reverently, lovingly, surely with full apprehension of Chaucer; and yet, +at every word where he leaves Chaucer, the spirit of Chaucer leaves the +verse. You see plainly that his rule is to change the least that can +possibly be changed. Yet the gentle grace, the lingering musical +sweetness, the taking simplicity, of the wise old poet, +vanishes--brushed away like the down from the butterfly's wing, by the +lightest and most timorous touch. + + "For he can make of lowè hertès highe." + +There is the soul of the lover's poet, of the poet himself a lover, +poured out and along in one fond verse, gratefully consecrated to the +mystery of love, which he, too, has experienced when he--the shy, the +fearful, the reserved--was yet by the touch of that all-powerful ray +which + + "Shoots invisible virtue even to the deep," + +enkindled, and to his own surprise made elate to hope and to dare. + +But now contract, as Wordsworth does, the dedicated verse into a half +verse, and bring together the two distinct and opposite mysteries under +one enunciation--in short, divide the one verse to two subjects-- + + "For he of low hearts can make high--of high + He can make low;" + +and the fact vouched remains the same, the simplicity of the words is +kept, for they are the very words, and yet something is gone--and in +that something every thing! There is no longer the dwelling upon the +words, no longer the dilated utterance of a heart that melts with its +own thoughts, no longer the consecration of the verse to its matter, no +longer the softness, the light, the fragrance, the charm--no longer, in +a word, the old manner. Here is, in short, the philosophical observation +touching love, "the saw of might" still; but the love itself here is +not. A kindly and moved observer speaks, not a lover. + +In one of the above-cited stanzas, Urry seems to have misled Wordsworth. +Stanza iv. verse 4, Chaucer says:-- + + "And whoso that he wol, he lougheth or siketh." + +The sense undoubtedly is, "and whosoever HE"--namely, the God of +Love--"will, HE"--namely, the Lover--"laugheth or sigheth accordingly." +But Urry mistaking the construction--supposed that HE, in both places, +meant the god only. He had, therefore, to find out in "lougheth" and +"siketh," actions predicable of the love-god. The verse accordingly runs +thus with him, + + "And who that he wol, he loweth or siketh." + +Now, it is true, that, after all, we do not exactly know how Urry +understood his own reading; for he did not make his own glossary. But +from his glossary, we find that "to lowe" is to praise, to allow, to +approve--furthermore that "siketh" in this place means "maketh sick." +Wordsworth, following as it would appear the lection of Urry, but only +half agreeing to the interpretation of Urry's glossarist, has rendered +the line + + "To humble or afflict whome'er he will." + +He has understood in his own way, from an obvious suggestion, "loweth," +to mean, maketh low, humbleth; whilst "afflict" is a ready turn for +"maketh sick" of the glossary. But here Wordsworth cannot be in the +right. For Chaucer is now busied with magnifying the kingdom of love by +accumulated antitheses--high, low--sick, whole--wise, foolish--the +wicked turns good, the proud shrink and fear--the God, at his pleasure, +gladdens or grieves. The phrase under question must conform to the +manner of the place where it appears. An opposition of meanings is +indispensable. "Humble or afflict," which are both on one side, cannot +be right. "Approveth or maketh sick," are on opposite sides, but will +hardly pick one another out for antagonists. "Laugheth or sigheth," has +the vividness and simplicity of Chaucer, the most exact contrariety +matches them--and the two phenomena cannot be left out of a lover's +enumeration. + +Chaucer says of his 'bosom's lord,' + + "And most his might he sheddeth ever in May"-- + +renowning here, as we saw that he does elsewhere, the whole month, as +love's own segment of the zodiacal circle. The time of the poem itself +is accordingly 'the thridde night of May.' Wordsworth has rendered, + + "But most his might he sheds _on the eve of May._" + +Why so? Is the approaching visitation of the power more strongly felt +than the power itself in presence? Chaucer says distinctly the contrary, +and why with a word lose, or obscure, or hazard the appropriation of the +month entire, so conspicuous a tenet in the old poetical mind? And is +Eve here taken strictly--the night before May-day, like the _Pervigilium +Veneris_? Or loosely, on the verge of May, answerably to 'ayenes May' +afterwards? To the former sense, we might be inclined to propose on the +contrary part, + + "But sheds his might most on the morrow of May," + +_i.e._ in prose on May-day morning, consonantly to all the testimonies. + +Chaucer says that the coming-on of the love-month produces in the heart +of the lover + + "A maner easè medled with grevaunce." + +That is to say, _a kind of_ joy or pleasure, (Fr. _aise_,) mixed with +sadness. He insists, by this expression, upon the strangeness of the +kind, peculiar to the willing sufferers under this unique passion, +"love's pleasing smart." Did Wordsworth, by intention or +misapprehension, leave out this turn of expression, by which, in an age +less forward than ours in sentimental researches, Chaucer drew notice to +the contradictory nature of the internal state which he described? As +if Chaucer had said, "_al_ maner esè," Wordsworth says, "all kinds of +pleasure mixed with sorrowing." + +In the next line he adds to the intuitions of his master, one of his own +profound intuitions, if we construe aright-- + + "And longing of sweet thoughts that ever long." + +That ever long! The sweetest of thoughts are never satisfied with their +own deliciousness. Earthly delight, or heavenly delight upon earth, +penetrating the soul, stirs in it the perception of its native +illimitable capacity for delight. Bliss, which should wholly possess the +blest being, plays traitor to itself, turns into a sort of divine +dissatisfaction, and brings forth from its teeming and infinite bosom a +brood of winged wishes, bright with hues which memory has bestowed, and +restless with innate aspirations. Such is our commentary on the truly +Wordsworthian line, but it is not a line answerable to Chaucer's-- + + "And lusty thoughtès full of gret longinge." + +Is this hypercriticism? It is the only criticism that can be tolerated +betwixt two such rivals as Chaucer and Wordsworth. The scales that weigh +poetry should turn with a grain of dust, with the weight of a sunbeam, +for they weigh spirit. Or is it saying that Wordsworth has not done his +work as well as it was possible to be done? Rather it is inferring, from +the failure of the work in his hand, that he and his colleagues have +attempted that which was impossible to be done. We will not here hunt +down line by line. We put before the reader the means of comparing verse +with verse. We have, with 'a thoughtful heart of love,' made the +comparison, and feel throughout that the modern will not, cannot, do +justice to the old English. The quick sensibility which thrills through +the antique strain deserts the most cautious version of it. In short, we +fall back upon the old conviction, that verse is a sacred, and song an +inspired thing; that the feeling, the thought, the word, and the musical +breath spring together out of the soul in one creation; that a +translation is a thing not given in _rerum natura_; consequently that +there is nothing else to be done with a great poet saving to leave him +in his glory. + +And our friend John Dryden? Oh, he is safe enough; for the new +translators all agree that his are no translations at all of Chaucer, +but original and excellent poems of his own. + +A language that is half Chaucer's, and half that of his renderer, is in +great danger to be the language of nobody. But Chaucer's has its own +energy and vivacity which attaches you, and as soon as you have +undergone the due transformation by sympathy, carries you effectually +with it. In the moderate versions that are best done, you miss this +indispensable force of attraction. But Dryden boldly and freely gives +you himself, and along you sweep, or are swept rejoicingly along. "The +grand charge to which his translations are amenable," says Mr Horne, +"is, that he acted upon an erroneous principle." Be it so. Nevertheless, +they are among the glories of our poetical literature. Mr Horne's, +literal as he supposes them to be, are unreadable. He, too, acts on an +erroneous principle; and his execution betrays throughout the unskilful +hand of a presumptuous apprentice. But he has "every respect for the +genius, and for every thing that belongs to the memory, of Dryden;" and +thus magniloquently eulogizes his most splendid achievement:--"The fact +is, Dryden's version of the 'Knight's Tale' would be most appropriately +read by the towering shade of one of Virgil's heroes, walking up and +down a battlement, and waving a long, gleaming spear, to the roll and +sweep of his sonorous numbers." + + * * * * * + +_Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Hughes, Paul's Work._ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol +58, No. 357, July 1845, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, JULY 1845 *** + +***** This file should be named 28336-8.txt or 28336-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/3/28336/ + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Patricia Bennett, Jonathan +Ingram and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Library of Early +Journals.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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margin-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em; font-variant: small-caps;} + +</style> +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol 58, No. +357, July 1845, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol 58, No. 357, July 1845 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 15, 2009 [EBook #28336] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, JULY 1845 *** + + + + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Patricia Bennett, Jonathan +Ingram and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Library of Early +Journals.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + <div class="transnote"> + <h4>Transcriber's Note</h4> + + <p>A Table of contents has been + generated for HTML version.</p> + </div> + + <h1>BLACKWOOD'S<br /> + Edinburgh<br /> + MAGAZINE.</h1> + + <h3>VOL. LVIII.</h3> + + <h3>JULY—DECEMBER, 1845.</h3> + + + <h4>WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH,</h4> + + <h6>AND</h6> + + <div class="center"> + 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + </div> + <hr class="squished" style="width: 5%;" /> + + <div class="center"> + 1845. + </div> + + <h1>BLACKWOOD’S<br /> + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.</h1> + + <h3><span class="rspace">No. CCCLVII.</span> <span class="btbb">JULY, + 1845.</span> <span class="lspace">VOL. LVIII.</span></h3> + + <h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + <div class="center"> + <table class="toc" summary="table of contents"> + <tr> + <td>MARLBOROUGH, NO. I.,</td> + + <td class="tocpage"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>PÚSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN POET. NO. II.,</td> + + <td class="tocpage"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>SUSPIRIA DE PROFUNDIS: BEING A SEQUEL TO THE CONFESSIONS OF + AN ENGLISH OPIUM-EATER, PART II.,</td> + + <td class="tocpage"><a href="#Page_43a">43</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>NORTHERN LIGHTS,</td> + + <td class="tocpage"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>HOUSE-HUNTING IN WALES,</td> + + <td class="tocpage"><a href="#Page_74b">74</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>THE TORQUATO TASSO OF GOETHE,</td> + + <td class="tocpage"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>DAVID THE "TELYNWR," OR THE DAUGHTER'S TRIAL; + A TALE OF WALES,</td> + + <td class="tocpage"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>NORTH'S SPECIMENS OF THE BRITISH CRITICS. NO. + VI.—SUPPLEMENT TO DRYDEN ON CHAUCER,</td> + + <td class="tocpage"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + <hr style="width: 10%;" /> + + <h3>EDINBURGH:</h3> + + <div class="center"> + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET;<br /> + AND 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + </div> + + <div class="center"> + <i>To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed.</i> + </div> + + <div class="smcapcenter"> + sold by all the booksellers in the united kingdom. + </div> + <hr class="squished" style="width: 5%;" /> + + <div class="smcapcenter"> + printed by ballantine and hughes, edinburgh. + </div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg + 1]</a></span> + + <h2><a name="MARLBOROUGH" id="MARLBOROUGH"></a>MARLBOROUGH.<a name= + "FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class= + "fnanchor">[1]</a></h2> + + <h3>No. I.</h3> + + <p>Alexander the Great said, when he approached the tomb of Achilles, + "Oh! fortunate youth, who had a Homer to be the herald of your + fame!" "And well did he say so," says the Roman + historian: "for, unless the <i>Iliad</i> had been written, the + same earth which covered his body would have buried his name." + Never was the truth of these words more clearly evinced than in the + case of the Duke of <span class='smcap'>Marlborough</span>. + Consummate as were the abilities, unbroken the success, immense the + services of this great commander, he can scarcely be said to be known + to the vast majority of his countrymen. They have heard the distant + echo of his fame as they have that of the exploits of Timour, of + Bajazet, and of Genghis Khan; the names of Blenheim and Ramillies, of + Malplaquet and Oudenarde, awaken a transient feeling of exultation in + their bosoms; but as to the particulars of these events, the + difficulties with which their general had to struggle, the objects + for which he contended, even the places where they occurred, they + are, for the most part, as ignorant as they are of similar details in + the campaigns of Baber or Aurengzebe. What they do know, is derived + chiefly, if not entirely, from the histories of their enemies. + Marlborough's exploits have made a prodigious impression on the + Continent. The French, who felt the edge of his flaming sword, and + saw the glories of the <i>Grande Monarque</i> torn from the long + triumphant brow of Louis XIV.; the Dutch, who found in his conquering + arm the stay of their sinking republic, and their salvation from + slavery and persecution; the Germans, who saw the flames of the + Palatinate avenged by his resistless power, and the ravages of war + rolled back from the Rhine into the territory of the state which had + provoked them; the Lutherans, who beheld in him the appointed + instrument of divine vengeance, to punish the abominable perfidy and + cruelty of the revocation of the edict of Nantes—have concurred + in celebrating his exploits. The French nurses frightened their + children with stories of "Marlbrook," as the Orientals say, + when their horses start, they see the shadow of Richard + Cœur-de-Lion crossing their path. Napoleon hummed the well-known + air, "Marlbrook s'en va à la guerre," <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> when he + crossed the Niemen to commence the Moscow campaign. But in England, + the country which he has made illustrious, the nation he has saved, + the land of his birth, he is comparatively forgotten; and were it not + for the popular pages of Voltaire, and the shadow which a great name + throws over the stream of time in spite of every neglect, he would + bevirtually unknown at this moment to nineteen-twentieths of the + British people.</p> + + <p>It is the fault of the national historians which has occasioned + this singular injustice to one of the greatest of British + heroes—certainly the most consummate, if we except Wellington, + of British military commanders. No man has yet appeared who has done + any thing like justice to the exploits of Marlborough. Smollett, + whose unpretending narrative, compiled for the bookseller, has + obtained a passing popularity by being the only existing sequel to + Hume, had none of the qualities necessary to write a military + history, or make the narrative of heroic exploits interesting. His + talents for humour, as all the world knows, were great—for + private adventure, or the delineation of common life in novels, + considerable. But he had none of the higher qualities necessary to + form a great historian; he had neither dramatic nor descriptive + power; he was entirely destitute of philosophic views or power of + general argument. In the delineation of individual character, he is + often happy; his talents as a novelist, and as the narrator of + private events, there appear to advantage. But he was neither a poet + nor a painter, a statesman nor a philosopher. He neither saw whence + the stream of events had come, nor whither it was going. We look in + vain in his pages for the lucid arguments and rhetorical power with + which Hume illustrated, and brought, as it were, under the mind's + eye, the general arguments urged, or rather which might be urged by + ability equal to his own, for and against every great change in + British history. As little do we find the captivating colours with + which Robertson has painted the discovery and wonders of America, or + the luminous glance which he has thrown over the progress of society + in the first volume of Charles V. Gibbon's incomparable powers of + classification and description are wholly awanting. The fire of + Napier's military pictures need not be looked for. What is + usually complained of in Smollett, especially by his young readers, + is, that he is so dull—the most fatal of all defects, and the + most inexcusable in an historian. His heart was not in history, his + hand was not trained to it; it is in "Roderick Random" or + "Peregrine Pickle," not the continuation of Hume, that his + powers are to be seen.</p> + + <p>Lord Mahon has brought to the subject of the history of England + from the treaty of Utrecht to that of Aix-la-Chapelle, talents of a + kind much better adapted for doing justice to Marlborough's + campaigns. He has remarkable power for individual narrative. His + account of the gallant attempt, and subsequent hair-breadth escapes + of the Pretender in 1745, is full of interest, and is justly praised + by Sismondi as by far the best account extant of that romantic + adventure. He possesses also a fair and equitable judgment, much + discrimination, evident talent for drawing characters, and that + upright and honourable heart, which is the first requisite for + success in the delineation, as it is for success in the conduct of + events. His industry in examining and collecting authorities is + great; he is a scholar, a statesman, and a gentleman—no small + requisites for the just delineation of noble and generous + achievements. But notwithstanding all this, his work is not the one + to rescue Marlborough's fame from the unworthy obscurity into + which, in this country, it has fallen. He takes up the thread of + events where Marlborough left them: he begins only at the peace of + Utrecht. Besides this, he is not by nature a military historian, and + if he had begun at the Revolution, the case would probably have been + the same. Lord Mahon's attention has been mainly fixed on + domestic story; it is in illustrating parliamentary contests or court + intrigues, not military events, that his powers have been put forth. + He has given a clear, judicious, and elegant narrative of British + history, as regards these, so far as it is embraced by his + accomplished pen; but the historian of Marlborough must treat him + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> + as second to none, not even to Louis XIV. or William III. Justice + will never be done to the hero of the English revolution, till his + Life is the subject of a separate work in every schoolboy's + hands. We must have a memoir of him to be the companion of + Southey's Life of Nelson, and Napier's Peninsular War.</p> + + <p>Voltaire, in his "Siècle de Louis XIV.," could not avoid + giving a sketch of the exploits of the British hero; and his natural + impartiality has led him, so far as it goes, to give a tolerably fair + one. It need hardly be said, that coming from the pen of such a + writer, it is lively, animated, and distinct. But Voltaire was not a + military historian; he had none of the feelings or associations which + constitute one. War, when he wrote, had been for above half a + century, with a few brilliant exceptions, a losing game to the + French. In the War of the Succession they had lost their ascendancy + in continental Europe; in that of the Seven Years, nearly their whole + colonial dominions. The hard-won glories of Fontenoy, the doubtful + success of Laffelt, were a poor compensation for these disasters. It + was the fashion of his day to decry war as the game of kings, or + flowing from the ambition of priests; if superstition was abolished, + and popular virtue let into government, one eternal reign of peace + and justice would commence. With these writers the great object was, + to carry the cabinets of kings by assault, and introduce philosophers + into government through the antechambers of mistresses. Peter the + Great was their hero, Catharine of Russia their divinity, for they + placed philosophers at the head of affairs. It was not to be supposed + that in France, the vanquished country, in such an age justice should + be done to the English conqueror. Yet such were the talents of + Voltaire, especially for making a subject popular, that it is on his + work, such as it is, that the fame of Marlborough mainly rests, even + in his own country.</p> + + <p>Marlborough, as might be expected, has not wanted biographers who + have devoted themselves, expressly and exclusively, to transmit his + fame and deeds to posterity. They have for the most part failed, from + the faults most fatal, and yet most common to biographers—undue + partiality in some, dulness and want of genius in others. They began + at an early period after his death, and are distinguished at first by + that rancour on the one side, and exaggeration on the other, by which + such contemporary narratives are generally, and in that age were in a + peculiar manner, distinguished. I. An abridged account of his life, + dedicated to the Duke of Montague, his son-in-law, appeared at + Amsterdam in 12mo; but it is nothing but an anonymous panegyric. II. + Not many years after, a life of Marlborough was published, in three + volumes quarto, by Thomas Ledyard, who had accompanied him in many of + his later travels, and had been the spectator of some of the last of + his military exploits. This is a work of much higher authority, and + contains much valuable information; but it is prolix, long-winded, + and diffuse, filled with immaterial documents, and written throughout + in a tone of inflated panegyric. III. Another life of Marlborough, + written with more ability, appeared at Paris in 1806, in three + volumes octavo, by Dutems. The author had the advantage of all the + resources for throwing light on his history which the archives of + France, then at the disposal of Napoleon, who had a high admiration + for the English general, could afford; but it could hardly be + expected that, till national historians of adequate capacity for the + task had appeared, it was to be properly discharged by foreigners. + Yet such is the partiality which an author naturally contracts for + the hero of his biography, that the work of Dutems, though the author + has shown himself by no means blind to his hero's faults, is + perhaps chiefly blameable for being too much of a panegyric. IV. By + far the fullest and most complete history of Marlborough, however, is + that which was published at London in 1818, by Archdeacon Coxe, in + five volumes octavo. This learned author had access to all the + official documents on the subject then known to be in existence, + particularly the Blenheim Papers, and he has made good use of the + ample materials placed at his disposal; but it cannot be said that he + has made an interesting, though he certainly has a valuable, work. It + has reached a second <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id= + "Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> edition, but it is now little heard of: a + certain proof, if the importance of his subject, and value of his + materials is taken into account, that it labours under some + insurmountable defects in composition. Nor is it difficult to see + what these defects are. The venerable Archdeacon, respectable for his + industry, his learning, his researches, had not a ray of genius, and + genius is the soul of history. He gives every thing with equal + minuteness, makes no attempt at digesting or compression, and fills + his pages with letters and state-papers at full length; the certain + way, if not connected by ability, to send them to the bottom.</p> + + <p>Dean Swift's history of the four last years of Queen Anne, and + his Apology for the same sovereign, contain much valuable information + concerning Marlborough's life; but it is so mixed up with the + gall and party spirit which formed so essential a part of the Dean of + St Patrick's character, that it cannot be relied on as impartial + or authentic.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href= + "#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> The life of James II. by + Clarke contains a great variety of valuable and curious details drawn + from the Stuart Papers sent to the Prince Regent on the demise of the + Cardinal York; and it would be well for the reputation of + Marlborough, as well as many other eminent men of the seventeenth and + eighteenth centuries, if some of them could be buried in oblivion. + But by far the best life of Marlborough, in a military point of view, + is that recently published by Mr Gleig, in his "Military + Commanders of Great Britain,"—a sketch characterized by + all the scientific knowledge, practical acquaintance with war, and + brilliant power of description, by which the other writings of that + gifted author are distinguished. If he would make as good use of the + vast collection of papers which, under the able auspices of Sir + George Murray, have now issued from the press, as he has of the more + scanty materials at his disposal when he wrote his account of + Marlborough, he would write <i>the</i> history of that hero, and + supersede the wish even for any other.</p> + + <p>The fortunate accident is generally known by which the great + collection of papers now in course of publication in London has been + brought to light. That this collection should at length have become + known is less surprising than that it should so long have remained + forgotten, and have eluded the searches of so many persons interested + in the subject. It embraces, as Sir George Murray's lucid preface + mentions, a complete series of the correspondence of the great duke + from 1702 to 1712, the ten years of his most important public + services. In addition to the despatches of the duke himself, the + letters, almost equally numerous, of his private secretary, M. + Cardonnell, and a journal written by his grace's chaplain, Dr + Hare, afterwards Bishop of Chichester, are contained in the eighteen + manuscript volumes which were discovered in the record-room of + Hensington, near Woodstock, in October 1842, and are now given to the + public. They are of essential service, especially in rendering + intelligible the details of the correspondence, which would otherwise + in great part be uninteresting, and scarce understood, at least by + the ordinary reader. Some of the most valuable parts of the work, + particularly a full detail of the battle of Blenheim, are drawn from + Dr Hare's journal. In addition to this, the bulletins of most of + the events, issued by government at the time, are to be found in + notes at the proper places; and in the text are occasionally + contained short, but correct and luminous notices, of the preceding + or contemporaneous political and military events which are alluded + to, but not described, in the despatches, and which are necessary to + understand many of their particulars. Nothing, in a word, has been + omitted by the accomplished editor which could illustrate or render + intelligible the valuable collection of materials placed at his + disposal; and yet, with all his pains and ability, it is often very + difficult to follow the detail of events, or understand the matter + alluded to in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id= + "Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> despatches:—so great is the lack of + information on the eventful War of the Succession which prevails, + from the want of a popular historian to record it, even among + well-informed persons in this country; and so true was the + observation of Alexander the Great, that but for the genius of Homer, + the exploits of Achilles would have been buried under the tumulus + which covered his remains! And what should we have known of Alexander + himself more than of Attila or Genghis Khan, but for the fascinating + pages of Quintus Curtius and Arrian?</p> + + <p>To the historian who is to go minutely into the details of + Marlborough's campaigns and negotiations, and to whom accurate + and authentic information is of inestimable importance, it need + hardly be said that these papers are of the utmost value. But, to the + general reader, all such voluminous publications and despatches must, + as a matter of necessity, be comparatively uninteresting. They always + contain a great deal of repetition, in consequence of the necessity + under which the commander lay, of communicating the same event to + those with whom he was in correspondence in many different quarters. + Great part of them relate to details of discipline, furnishing + supplies, getting up stores, and other necessary matters, of little + value even to the historian, except in so far as they illustrate the + industry, energy, and difficulties of the commander. The general + reader who plunges into the midst of the Marlborough despatches in + this age, or into those of Wellington in the next, when contemporary + recollection is lost, will find it impossible to understand the + greater part of the matters referred to, and will soon lay aside the + volumes in despair. Such works are highly valuable, but they are so + to the annalist or historian rather than the ordinary reader. They + are the materials of history, not history itself. They bear the same + relation to the works of Livy or Gibbon which the rude blocks in the + quarry do to the temples of St Peter's or the Parthenon. Ordinary + readers are not aware of this when they take up a volume of + despatches; they expect to be as much fascinated by it as they are by + the correspondence of Madame de Sevigné, Cowper, Gibbon, or Arnold. + They will soon find their mistake: the book-sellers will erelong find + it in the sale of such works. The matter-of-fact men in ordinary + life, and the compilers and drudges in literature—that is, + nine-tenths of the readers and writers in the world—are never + weary of descanting on the inestimable importance of authentic + documents for history; and without doubt they are right so far as the + collecting of materials goes. There must be quarriers before there + can be architects: the hewers of wood and drawers of water are the + basis of all civilization. But they are not civilization itself, they + are its pioneers. Truth is essential to an estimable character: but + many a man is insupportably dull who never told a falsehood. The + pioneers of Marlborough, however, have now gone before, and it will + be the fault of English genius if the divine artist does not erelong + make the proper use of the materials at length placed in his + hands.</p> + + <p>John Churchill, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, was born on the + 5th July 1650, (new style,) at Ash, in the county of Devon. His + father was Sir Winston Churchill, a gallant cavalier who had drawn + his sword in behalf of Charles I., and had in consequence been + deprived of his fortune and driven into exile by Cromwell. His + paternal family was very ancient, and boasted its descent from the + <i>Courcils</i> de Poitou, who came into England with the Conqueror. + His mother was Elizabeth Drake, who claimed a collateral connexion + with the descendants of the illustrious Sir Francis Drake, the great + navigator. Young Churchill received the rudiments of his education + from the parish clergyman in Devonshire, from whom he imbibed that + firm attachment to the Protestant faith by which he was ever + afterwards distinguished, and which determined his conduct in the + most important crisis of his life. He was afterwards placed at the + school of St Paul's; and it was there that he first discovered, + on reading Vegetius, that his bent of mind was decidedly for the + military life. Like many other men destined for future distinction, + he made no great figure as a scholar, a circumstance easily + explained, if we recollect that it is on the knowledge of words that + the reputation of a schoolboy, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" + id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> of things that of a man, is founded. + But the despatches now published demonstrate that, before he attained + middle life, he was a proficient at least in Latin, French, and + English composition; for letters in each, written in a very pure + style, are to be found in all parts of his correspondence.</p> + + <p>From early youth, young Churchill was distinguished by the + elegance of his manners and the beauty of his countenance and + figure—advantages which, coupled with the known loyal + principles of his father, and the sufferings he had undergone in the + royal cause, procured for him, at the early age of fifteen, the + situation of page in the household of the Duke of York, afterwards + James II. His inclination for arms was then so decided, that that + prince procured for him a commission in one of the regiments of + guards when he was only sixteen years old. His uncommonly handsome + figure then attracted no small share of notice from the beauties of + the court of Charles II., and even awakened a passion in one of the + royal mistresses herself. Impatient to signalize himself, however, he + left their seductions, and embarked as a volunteer in the expedition + against Tangiers in 1766. Thus his first essay in arms was made in + actions against the Moors. Having returned to Great Britain, he + attracted the notice of the Countess of Castlemaine, afterwards + Duchess of Cleveland, then the favorite mistress of Charles II., who + had distinguished him by her regard before he embarked for Africa, + and who made him a present of £5000, with which the young soldier + bought an annuity of £500 a-year, which laid the foundation, says + Chesterfield, of all his subsequent fortunes. Charles, to remove a + dangerous rival in her unsteady affections, gave him a company in the + guards, and sent him to the Continent with the auxiliary force which, + in those days of English humiliation, the cabinet of St James's + furnished to Louis XIV. to aid him in subduing the United Provinces. + Thus, by a singular coincidence, it was under Turenne, Condé, and + Vauban that the future conqueror of the Bourbons first learned the + art of scientific warfare. Wellington went through the same + discipline, but in the inverse order: his first campaigns were made + against the French in Flanders, his next against the bastions of + Tippoo and the Mahratta horse in Hindostan.</p> + + <p>Churchill had not been long in Flanders, before his talents and + gallantry won for him deserved distinction. The campaign of 1672, + which brought the French armies to the gates of Amsterdam, and placed + the United States within a hair's-breadth of destruction, was to + him fruitful in valuable lessons. He distinguished himself afterwards + so much at the siege of Nimeguen, that Turenne, who constantly called + him by his <i>sobriquet</i> of "the handsome Englishman," + predicted that he would one day be a great man. In the following year + he had the good fortune to save the life of his colonel, the Duke of + Monmouth; and distinguished himself so much at the siege of + Maestricht, that Louis XIV. publicly thanked him at the head of his + army, and promised him his powerful influence with Charles II. for + future promotion. He little thought what a formidable enemy he was + then fostering at the court of his obsequious brother sovereign. The + result of Louis XIV.'s intercession was, that Churchill was made + lieutenant-colonel; and he continued to serve with the English + auxiliary force in Flanders, under the French generals, till 1677, + when he returned with his regiment to London. Beyond all doubt it was + these five years' service under the great masters of the military + art, who then sustained the power and cast a halo round the crown of + Louis XIV., which rendered Marlborough the consummate commander that, + from the moment he was placed at the head of the Allied armies, he + showed himself to have become. One of the most interesting and + instructive lessons to be learned from biography is the long steps, + the vast amount of previous preparation, the numerous changes, some + prosperous, others adverse, by which the mind of a great man is + formed, and he is prepared for playing the important part he is + intended to perform on the theatre of the world. Providence does + nothing in vain, and when it has selected a particular mind for great + achievement, the events which happen to it all seem to conspire in a + mysterious way for its development. Were any one omitted, some + essential quality in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id= + "Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> character of the future hero, statesman, + or philosopher would be found to be awanting.</p> + + <p>Here also, as in every other period of history, we may see how + unprincipled ambition overvaults itself, and the measures which seem + at first sight most securely to establish its oppressive reign, are + the unseen means by which an overruling power works out its + destruction. Doubtless the other ministers of Louis XIV. deemed their + master's power secure when this English alliance was concluded; + when the English monarch had become a state pensioner of the court of + Versailles; when a secret treaty had united them by apparently + indissoluble bonds; when the ministers equally and the patriots of + England were corrupted by his bribes; when the dreaded fleets of + Britain were to be seen in union with those of France, to break down + the squadrons of an inconsiderable republic; when the descendants of + the conquerors of Cressy, Poitiers, and Azincour stood side by side + with the successors of the vanquished in those disastrous fields, to + achieve the conquest of Flanders and Holland. Without doubt, so far + as human foresight could go, Louvois and Colbert were right. Nothing + could appear so decidedly calculated to fix the power of Louis XIV. + on an immovable foundation. But how vain are the calculations of the + greatest human intellects, when put in opposition to the overruling + will of Omnipotence! It was that very English alliance which ruined + Louis XIV., as the Austrian alliance and marriage, which seemed to + put the keystone in the arch of his greatness, afterwards ruined + Napoleon. By the effect, and one of the most desired effects, of the + English alliance, a strong body of British auxiliaries were sent to + Flanders; the English officers learned the theory and practice of war + in the best of all schools, and under the best of all teachers; that + ignorance of the military art, the result in every age of our insular + situation, and which generally causes the four or five first years of + every war to terminate in disaster, was for the time removed, and + that mighty genius was developed under the eye of Louis XIV., and by + the example of Turenne, which was destined to hurl back to their own + frontiers the tide of Gallic invasion, and close in mourning the + reign of the <i>Grande Monarque</i>. "Les hommes agissent," + says Bossuet, "mais Dieu les mène."</p> + + <p>Upon Churchill's return to London, the brilliant reputation + which had preceded, and the even augmented personal advantages which + accompanied him, immediately rendered him the idol of beauty and + fashion. The ladies of the palace vied for his homage—the + nobles of the land hastened to cultivate his society. Like Julius + Cæsar, he was carried away by the stream, and plunged into the vortex + of courtly dissipation with the ardour which marks an energetic + character in the pursuit whether of good or evil. The elegance of his + person and manners, and charms of his conversation, prevailed so far + with Charles II. and the Duke of York, that soon after, though not + yet thirty years of age, he obtained a regiment. In 1680 he married + the celebrated Sarah Jennings, the favourite lady in attendance on + the Princess Anne, second daughter of the Duke of York, one of the + most admired beauties of the court, and this alliance increased his + influence, already great, with that Prince, and laid the foundation + of the future grandeur of his fortunes. Shortly after his marriage he + accompanied the Duke of York to Scotland, in the course of which they + both were nearly shipwrecked on the coast of Fife. On this occasion + the Duke made the greatest efforts to preserve his favourite's + life, and succeeded in doing so, although the danger was such that + many of the Scottish nobles perished under his eye. On his return to + London in 1682, he was presented by his patron to the King, who made + him colonel of the third regiment of guards. When the Duke of York + ascended the throne in 1685, on the demise of his brother, Churchill + kept his place as one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber, and was + raised to the rank of brigadier-general. He was sent by his sovereign + to Paris to notify his accession to Louis XIV., and on his return he + was created a peer by the title of Baron Churchill of Sandbridge in + the county of Hertford—a title which he took from an estate + there which he had acquired in right of his wife. On the revolt of + the Duke of Monmouth, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id= + "Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> he had an opportunity of showing at once + his military ability, and, by a signal service, his gratitude to his + benefactor. Lord Feversham had the command of the royal forces, and + Churchill was his major-general. The general-in-chief, however, kept + so bad a look-out, that he was on the point of being surprised and + cut to pieces by the rebel forces, who, on this occasion at least, + were conducted with ability. The general and almost all his officers + were in their beds, and sound asleep, when Monmouth, at the head of + all his forces, silently debouched out of his camp, and suddenly fell + on the royal army. The rout would have been complete, and probably + James II. dethroned, had not Churchill, whose vigilant eye nothing + escaped, observed the movement, and hastily collected a handful of + men, with whom he made so vigorous a resistance as gave time for the + remainder of the army to form, and repel this well-conceived + enterprise.</p> + + <p>Churchill's mind was too sagacious, and his knowledge of the + feelings of the nation too extensive, not to be aware of the perilous + nature of the course upon which James had adventured, in endeavouring + to bring about, if not the absolute re-establishment of the Catholic + religion, at least such a quasi-establishment of it as the people + deemed, and probably with reason, was, with so aspiring a body of + ecclesiastics, in effect the same thing. When he saw the headstrong + monarch break through all bounds, and openly trample on the + liberties, while he shocked the religious feelings, of his people, he + wrote to him to point out, in firm but respectful terms, the danger + of his conduct. He declared to Lord Galway, when James's + innovations began, that if he persisted in his design of overturning + the constitution and religion of his country, he would leave his + service. So far his conduct was perfectly unexceptionable. Our first + duty is to our country, our second only to our benefactor. If they + are brought into collision, as they often are during the melancholy + vicissitudes of a civil war, an honourable man, whatever it may cost + him, has but one part to take. He must not abandon his public duty + for his private feelings, but he must never betray official duty. If + Churchill, perceiving the frantic course of his master, had withdrawn + from his service, and then either taken no part in the revolution + which followed, or even appeared in arms against him, the most + scrupulous moralist could have discovered nothing reprehensible in + his conduct. History has in every age applauded the virtue, while it + has commiserated the anguish, of the elder Brutus, who sacrificed his + sons to the perhaps too rigorous laws of his country.</p> + + <p>But Churchill did not do this, and thence has arisen an + ineffaceable blot on his memory. He did not relinquish the service of + the infatuated monarch; he retained his office and commands; but he + employed the influence and authority thence derived, to ruin his + benefactor. So far were the representations of Churchill from having + inspired any doubts of his fidelity, that James, when the Prince of + Orange landed, confided to him the command of a corps of five + thousand men, destined to oppose his progress. At the very time that + he accepted that command, he had, if we may believe his panegyrist + Ledyard, signed a letter, along with several other peers, addressed + to the Prince of Orange, inviting him to come over, and had actually + concluded with Major-General Kirk, who commanded at Axminster, a + convention, for the seizure of the king and giving him up to his + hostile son-in-law. James was secretly warned that Churchill was + about to betray him, but he refused to believe it of one from whom he + had hitherto experienced such devotion, and was only wakened from his + dream of security by learning that his favourite had gone over with + the five thousand men whom he commanded to the Prince of Orange. Not + content with this, it was Churchill's influence, joined to that + of his wife, which is said to have induced James's own daughter, + the Princess Anne, and Prince George of Denmark, to detach themselves + from the cause of the falling monarch; and drew from that unhappy + sovereign the mournful exclamation, "My God! my very children + have forsaken me." In what does this conduct differ from that of + Labedoyere, who, at the head of the garrison of Grenoble, deserted to + Napoleon when sent out to oppose him?— <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> or + Lavalette, who employed his influence, as postmaster under Louis + XVIII., to forward the Imperial conspiracy?—or Marshal Ney, + who, after promising at the court of the Tuileries to bring the + ex-emperor back in an iron cage, no sooner reached the royal camp at + Melun, than he issued a proclamation calling on the troops to desert + the Bourbons, and mount the tricolor cockade? Nay, is not + Churchill's conduct, in a moral point of view, worse than that of + Ney; for the latter abandoned the trust reposed in him by a new + master, forced upon an unwilling nation, to rejoin his old benefactor + and companion in arms; but the former abandoned the trust reposed in + him by his old master and benefactor, to range himself under the + banner of a competitor for the throne, to whom he was bound neither + by duty nor obligation. And yet such is often the inequality of + crimes and punishments in this world, that Churchill was raised to + the pinnacle of greatness by the very conduct which consigned Ney, + with justice, so far as his conduct is concerned, to an ignominious + death.</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Treason ne'er prospers; for when it + does,</span> <span class="i2">None dare call it + treason."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>History forgets its first and noblest duty when it fails, by its + distribution of praise and blame, to counterbalance, so far as its + verdict can, this inequality, which, for inscrutable but doubtless + wise purposes, Providence has permitted in this transient scene. + Charity forbids us to scrutinize such conduct too severely. It is the + deplorable effect of a successful revolution, even when commenced for + the most necessary purposes, to obliterate the ideas of man on right + and wrong, and leave no other test in the general case for public + conduct but success. It is its first effect to place them in such + trying circumstances that none but the most confirmed and resolute + virtue can pass unscathed through the ordeal. He knew the human heart + well, who commanded us in our daily prayers to supplicate not to be + led into temptation, even before asking for deliverance from evil. + Let no man be sure, however much, on a calm survey, he may condemn + the conduct of Marlborough and Ney, that in similar circumstances he + would not have done the same.</p> + + <p>The magnitude of the service rendered by Churchill to the Prince + of Orange, immediately appeared in the commands conferred upon him. + Hardly was he settled at William's headquarters when he was + dispatched to London to assume the command of the Horse Guards; and, + while there, he signed, on the 20th December 1688, the famous Act of + Association in favour of the Prince of Orange. Shortly after, he was + named lieutenant-general of the armies of William, and immediately + made a new organization of the troops, under officers whom he could + trust, which proved of the utmost service to William on the unstable + throne on which he was soon after seated. He was present at most of + the long and momentous debates which took place in the House of Peers + on the question on whom the crown should be conferred, and at first + is said to have inclined to a regency; but with a commendable + delicacy he absented himself on the night of the decisive vote on the + vacancy of the throne. He voted, however, on the 6th of February for + the resolution which settled the crown on William and Mary; and he + assisted at their coronation, under the title of Earl of Marlborough, + to which he had shortly before been elevated by William. England + having, on the accession of the new monarch, joined the continental + league against France, Marlborough received the command of the + British auxiliary force in the Netherlands, and by his courage and + ability contributed in a remarkable manner to the victory of + Walcourt. In 1690 he received orders to return from Flanders in order + to assume a command in Ireland, then agitated by a general + insurrection in favour of James; but, actuated by some remnant of + attachment to his old benefactor, he eluded on various pretences + complying with the order, till the battle of the Boyne had + extinguished the hopes of the dethroned monarch, when he came over + and made himself master of Cork and Kinsale. In 1691 he was sent + again into Flanders, in order to act under the immediate orders of + William, who was then, with heroic constancy, contending with the + still superior forces of France; but hardly had he landed there when + he was arrested, deprived of all <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> his commands, and sent to + the Tower of London, along with several of the noblemen of + distinction in the British senate.</p> + + <p>Upon this part of the history of Marlborough there hangs a veil of + mystery, which all the papers brought to light in more recent times + have not entirely removed. At the time, his disgrace was by many + attributed to some cutting sarcasms in which he had indulged on the + predilection of William for the continental troops, and especially + the Dutch; by others, to intrigues conducted by Lady Marlborough and + him, to obtain for the Princess Anne a larger pension than the king + was disposed to allow her. But neither of these causes are sufficient + to explain the fall and arrest of so eminent a man as Marlborough, + and who had rendered such important services to the newly-established + monarch. It would appear from what has transpired in later times, + that a much more serious cause had produced the rupture between him + and William. The charge brought against him at the time, but which + was not prosecuted, as it was found to rest on false or insufficient + evidence, was that of having, along with Lords Salisbury, Cornbury, + the Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Basil Ferebrace, signed the scheme + of an association for the restoration of James. Sir John Fenwick, who + was executed for a treasonable correspondence with James II. shortly + after Marlborough's arrest, declared in the course of his trial + that he was privy to the design, had received the pardon of the + exiled monarch, and had engaged to procure for him the adhesion of + the army. The Papers, published in Coxe, rather corroborate the view + that he was privy to it; and it is supported by those found at Rome + in the possession of Cardinal York.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id= + "FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> + That Marlborough, disgusted with the partiality of William for his + Dutch troops, and irritated at the open severity of his Government, + should have repented of his abandonment of his former sovereign and + benefactor, is highly probable. But it can scarcely be taken as an + apology for one act of treason, that he meditated the commission of + another. It only shows how perilous, in public as in private life, is + any deviation from the path of integrity, that it impelled such a man + into so tortuous and disreputable a path.</p> + + <p>Marlborough, however, was a man whose services were too valuable + to the newly-established dynasty, for him to be permitted to remain + long in disgrace. He was soon liberated, indeed, from the Tower, as + no sufficient evidence of his alleged accession to the conspiracy had + been obtained. Several years elapsed, however, before he emerged from + the privacy into which he prudently retired on his liberation from + confinement. Queen Mary having been carried off by the smallpox on + the 17th of January 1696, Marlborough wisely abstained from even + taking part in the debates which followed in Parliament, during which + some of the malcontents dropped hints as to the propriety of + conferring the crown on his immediate patroness, the Princess Anne. + This prudent reserve, together with the absence of any decided proofs + at the time of Marlborough's correspondence with James, seems to + have at length weakened William's resentment, and by degrees he + was taken back into favour. The peace of Ryswick, signed on the 20th + of September 1697, having consolidated the power of that monarch, + Marlborough was, on the 19th of June 1698, made preceptor of the + young Duke of Gloucester, his nephew, <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> son of the Princess Anne, + and heir-presumptive to the throne; and this appointment, which at + once restored his credit at court, was accompanied by the gracious + expression—"My lord, make my nephew to resemble yourself, + and he will be every thing which I can desire." On the same day + he was re-appointed to his rank as a privy councillor, and took the + oaths and his seat accordingly. So fully had he now regained the + confidence of William, that he was three times named one of the nine + lords justiciars to whom the administration of affairs in Great + Britain was subsequently entrusted, during the temporary absence of + William in Holland; and the War of the Succession having become + certain in the year 1700, that monarch, who was preparing to take an + active part in it, appointed Marlborough, on 1st June 1701, his + ambassador-extraordinary at the Hague, and commander-in-chief of the + Allied forces in Flanders. This double appointment in effect invested + Marlborough with the entire direction of affairs civil and military, + so far as England was concerned, on the Continent. William, who was + highly indignant at the recognition of the Chevalier St George as + King of England, on the death of his father James II., in September + 1701, was preparing to prosecute the war with the vigour and + perseverance which so eminently distinguished his character, when he + was carried off by the effects of a fall from his horse, on the 19th + March 1702. But that event made no alteration in the part which + England took in the war which was commencing, and it augmented rather + than diminished the influence which Marlborough had in its direction. + The Princess Anne, with whom, both individually and through Lady + Marlborough, he was so intimately connected, mounted the throne + without opposition; and one of her first acts was to bestow on + Marlborough the order of the Garter, confirm him in his former + offices, and appoint him, in addition, her plenipotentiary at the + Hague. War was declared on the 15th May 1702, and Marlborough + immediately went over to the Netherlands to take the command of the + Allied army, sixty thousand strong, then lying before Nimeguen, which + was threatened by a superior force on the part of the French.</p> + + <p>It is at this period—time 1702—that the great and + memorable, and withal blameless period of Marlborough's life + commenced; the next ten years were one unbroken series of efforts, + victories, and glory. He arrived in the camp at Nimeguen on the + evening of the 2d July, having been a few weeks before at the Hague; + and immediately assumed the command. Lord Athlone, who had previously + enjoyed that situation, at first laid claim to an equal authority + with him; but this ruinous division, which never is safe, save with + men so great as he and Eugene, and would unquestionably have proved + ruinous to the common cause if shared with Athlone, was prevented by + the States-General, who insisted upon the undivided direction being + conferred on Marlborough. Most fortunately it is precisely at this + period that the correspondence now published commences, which, in the + three volumes already published, presents an unbroken series of his + letters to persons of every description down to May, 1708. They thus + embrace the early successes in Flanders, the cross march into Bavaria + and battle of Blenheim, the expulsion of the French from Germany, the + battle of Ramillies, and taking of Brussels and Antwerp, the mission + to the King of Sweden at Dresden, the battle of Almanza, in Spain, + and all the important events of the first six years of the war. More + weighty and momentous materials for history never were presented to + the public; and their importance will not be properly appreciated, if + the previous condition of Europe, and imminent hazard to the + independence of all the adjoining states, from the unmeasured + ambition, and vast power of Louis XIV., is not taken into + consideration.</p> + + <p>Accustomed as we are to regard the Bourbons as a fallen and + unfortunate race, the objects rather of commiseration than + apprehension, and Napoleon as the only sovereign who has really + threatened our independence, and all but effected the subjugation of + the Continent, we can scarcely conceive the terror with which a + century and a half ago they, with reason, inspired all Europe, or the + narrow escape which the continental states, at least, then made from + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg + 12]</a></span> being all reduced to the condition of provinces of + France. The forces of that monarchy, at all times formidable to its + neighbours, from the warlike spirit of its inhabitants, and their + rapacious disposition, conspicuous alike in the earliest and the + latest times;<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href= + "#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> its central situation, + forming, as it were, the salient angle of a bastion projecting into + the centre of Germany; and its numerous population—were then, + in a peculiar manner, to be dreaded, from their concentration in the + hands of an able and ambitious monarch, who had succeeded for the + first time, for two hundred years, in healing the divisions and + stilling the feuds of its nobles, and turned their buoyant energy + into the channel of foreign conquest. Immense was the force which, by + this able policy, was found to exist in France, and terrible the + danger which it at once brought upon the neighbouring states. It was + rendered the more formidable in the time of Louis XIV., from the + extraordinary concentration of talent which his discernment or good + fortune had collected around his throne, and the consummate talent, + civil and military, with which affairs were directed. Turenne, + Boufflers, and Condé, were his generals; Vauban was his engineer, + Louvois and Torcy were his statesmen. The lustre of the exploits of + these illustrious men, in itself great, was much enhanced by the + still greater blaze of fame which encircled his throne, from the + genius of the literary men who have given such immortal celebrity to + his reign. Corneille and Racine were his tragedians; Molière wrote + his comedies; Bossuet, Fénélon, and Bourdaloue were his theologians; + Massillon his preacher, Boileau his critic; Le Notre laid out his + gardens; Le Brun painted his halls. Greatness had come upon France, + as, in truth, it does to most other states, in all departments at the + same time; and the adjoining nations, alike intimidated by a power + which they could not resist, and dazzled by a glory which they could + not emulate, had come almost to despair of maintaining their + independence; and were sinking into that state of apathy, which is at + once the consequence and the cause of extraordinary reverses.</p> + + <p>The influence of these causes had distinctly appeared in the + extraordinary good fortune which had attended the enterprises of + Louis, and the numerous conquests he had made since he had launched + into the career of foreign aggrandizement. Nothing could resist his + victorious arms. At the head of an army of an hundred thousand men, + directed by Turenne, he speedily overran Flanders. Its fortified + cities yielded to the science of Vauban, or the terrors of his name. + The boasted barrier of the Netherlands was passed in a few weeks; + hardly any of its far-famed fortresses made any resistance. The + passage of the Rhine was achieved under the eyes of the monarch with + little loss, and melodramatic effect. One half of Holland was soon + overrun, and the presence of the French army at the gates of + Amsterdam seemed to presage immediate destruction to the United + Provinces; and but for the firmness of their leaders, and a fortunate + combination of circumstances, unquestionably would have done so. The + alliance with England, in the early part of his reign, and the + junction of the fleets of Britain and France to ruin their fleets and + blockade their harbours, seemed to deprive them of their last + resource, derived from their energetic industry. Nor were substantial + fruits awanting from these conquests. Alsace and Franche Comté were + overrun, and, with Lorraine, permanently annexed to the French + monarchy; and although, by the peace of Nimeguen, part of his + acquisitions in Flanders was abandoned, enough was retained by the + devouring monarchy to deprive the Dutch of the barrier they had so + ardently desired, and render their situation to the last degree + precarious, in the neighbourhood of so formidable a power. The heroic + William, indeed, had not struggled in vain for the independence of + his country. The distant powers of Europe, at length wakened to a + sense of their danger, had made strenuous efforts to coerce the + ambition of France; the revolution of 1688 had restored England to + its natural <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg + 13]</a></span> place in the van of the contest for continental + freedom; and the peace of Ryswick in 1697 had in some degree seen the + trophies of conquests more equally balanced between the contending + parties. But still it was with difficulty that the alliance kept its + ground against Louis—any untoward event, the defection of any + considerable power, would at once, it was felt, cast the balance in + his favour; and all history had demonstrated how many are the chances + against any considerable confederacy keeping for any length of time + together, when the immediate danger which had stilled their + jealousies, and bound together their separate interests, is in + appearance removed. Such was the dubious and anxious state of Europe, + when the death of Charles II. at Madrid, on the 1st November 1700, + and the bequest of his vast territories to Philip Duke of Anjou, + second son of the Dauphin, and grandson of Louis XIV., threatened at + once to place the immense resources of the Castilian monarchy at the + disposal of the ambitious monarch of France, whose passion for glory + had not diminished with his advanced years, and whose want of + moderation was soon evinced by his accepting, after an affected + hesitation, the splendid bequest.</p> + + <p>Threatened with so serious a danger, it is not surprising that the + powers of Europe were in the utmost alarm, and erelong took steps to + endeavour to avert it. Such, however, was the terror inspired by the + name of Louis XIV., and the magnitude of the addition made by this + bequest to his power, that the new monarch, in the first instance, + ascended the throne of Spain and the Indies without any opposition. + The Spanish Netherlands, so important both from their intrinsic + riches, their situation as the certain theatre of war, and the + numerous fortified towns with which they were studded, had been early + secured for the young Bourbon prince by the Elector of Bavaria, who + was at that time the governor of those valuable possessions. + Sardinia, Naples, Sicily, the Milanese, and the other Spanish + possessions in Italy, speedily followed the example. The distant + colonies of the crown of Castile, in America and the Indies, sent in + their adhesion. The young Prince of Anjou made his formal entry into + Spain in the beginning of 1701, and was crowned at Madrid under the + title of Philip V. The principal continental powers, with the + exception of the Emperor, acknowledged his title to the throne. The + Dutch were in despair: they beheld the power of Louis XIV. brought to + their very gates. Flanders, instead of being the barrier of Europe + against France, had become the outwork of France against Europe. The + flag of Louis XIV. floated on Antwerp, Brussels, and Ghent. Italy, + France, Spain, and Flanders, were united in one close league, and in + fact formed but one dominion. It was the empire of Charlemagne over + again, directed with equal ability, founded on greater power, and + backed by the boundless treasures of the Indies. Spain had threatened + the liberties of Europe in the end of the sixteenth century: France + had all but proved fatal to them in the close of the seventeenth. + What hope was there of being able to make head against them both, + united under such a head as Louis XIV.?</p> + + <p>Great as these dangers were, however, they had no effect in + daunting the heroic spirit of William III. In concert with the + Emperor, and the United Provinces, who were too nearly threatened to + be backward in falling into his views, he laboured for the formation + of a great confederacy, which might prevent the union of the crowns + of France and Castile in one family, and prevent, before it was too + late, the consolidation of a power which threatened to be so + formidable to the liberties of Europe. The death of that intrepid + monarch in March 1702, which, had it taken place earlier, might have + prevented the formation of the confederacy, as it was, proved no + impediment, but rather the reverse. His measures had been so well + taken, his resolute spirit had laboured with such effect, that the + alliance, offensive and defensive, between the Emperor, England, and + Holland, had been already signed. The accession of the Princess Anne, + without weakening its bonds, added another power, of no mean + importance, to its ranks. Her husband, Prince George of Denmark, + brought the forces of that kingdom to aid the common cause. Prussia + soon after followed the example. On the other hand, Bavaria, closely + connected <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg + 14]</a></span> with the French and Spanish monarchies, both by + jealousy of Austria, and the government of the Netherlands, which its + Elector held, adhered to France. Thus the forces of Europe were + mutually arrayed and divided, much as they afterwards were in the + coalition against Napoleon in 1813. It might already be foreseen, + that Flanders, the Bavarian plains, Spain, and Lombardy, would, as in + the great contest which followed a century after, be the theatre of + war. But the forces of France and Spain possessed this advantage, + unknown in former wars, but immense in a military point of view, that + they were in possession of the whole of the Netherlands, the numerous + fortresses of which were alike valuable as a basis of offensive + operations, and as affording asylums all but impregnable in cases of + disaster. The Allied generals, whether they commenced their + operations in Flanders or on the side of Germany, had to begin on the + Rhine, and cut their way through the long barrier of fortresses with + which the genius of Vauban and Cohorn had encircled the frontiers of + the monarchy.</p> + + <p>War having been resolved on, the first step was taken by the + Emperor, who laid claim to Milan as a fief of the empire, and + supported his pretensions by moving an army into Italy under the + command of Prince Eugene of Savoy, who afterwards became so + celebrated as the brother and worthy rival of Marlborough in arms. + The French and Spaniards assembled an army in the Milanese to resist + his advance; and the Duke of Mantua having joined the cause, that + important city was garrisoned by the French troops. But Prince Eugene + erelong obliged them to fall back from the banks of the Adige to the + line of the Oglio, on which they made a stand. But though hostilities + had thus commenced in Italy, negotiations were still carried on at + the Hague; though unhappily the pretensions of the French king were + found to be of so exorbitant a character, that an accommodation was + impossible. Marlborough's first mission to the Continent, + however, after the accession of Anne, was of a diplomatic character; + and it was by his unwearied efforts, suavity of manner, and singular + talents for negotiation, that the difficulties which attend the + formation of all such extensive confederacies were overcome. And it + was not till war was declared, on 4th May 1702, that he first took + the command as commander-in-chief of the Allied armies.</p> + + <p>The first operation of the Allies was an attack on the small fort + of Kaiserworth, on the right bank of the Rhine, which belonged to the + Elector of Cologne, which surrendered on the 15th May. The main + French army, nominally under the direction of the Duke of Burgundy, + really of Marshal Boufflers, entered the Duchy of Cleves in the end + of the same month, and soon became engaged with the Allied forces, + which at first, being inferior in numbers, fell back. Marlborough + reached headquarters when the French lay before Nimeguen; and the + Dutch trembled for that frontier town. Reinforcements, however, + rapidly came in from all quarters to join the Allied army; and + Marlborough, finding himself at the head of a gallant force sixty + thousand strong, resolved to commence offensive operations. His first + operation was the siege of Venloo, which was carried by storm on the + 18th September, after various actions in the course of the siege. + "My Lord Cutts," says Marlborough, "commanded at one + of the breaches; and the English grenadiers had the honour of being + the first that entered the fort."<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id= + "FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> + Ruremonde was next besieged; and the Allies, steadily advancing, + opened the navigation of the Meuse as far as Maestricht. Stevenswart + was taken on the 1st October; and, on the 6th, Ruremonde surrendered. + Liege was the next object of attack; and the breaches of the citadel + were, by the skilful operations of Cohorn, who commanded the Allied + engineers and artillery, declared practicable on the 23d of the same + month. The assault was immediately ordered; and "by the + extraordinary bravery," says Marlborough, "of the officers + and soldiers, the citadel was carried by storm; and, for the honour + of her Majesty's subjects, the English were the first that got + upon the breach."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id= + "FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg + 15]</a></span> So early in this, as in every other war where + ignorance and infatuation has not led them into the field, did the + native-born valour of the Anglo-Saxon race make itself known! Seven + battalions and a half were made prisoners on this occasion; and so + disheartened was the enemy by the fall of the citadel, that the + castle of the Chartreuse, with its garrison of 1500 men, capitulated + a few days afterwards. This last success gave the Allies the entire + command of Liege, and concluded this short but glorious campaign, in + the course of which they had made themselves masters by main force, + in presence of the French army, of four fortified towns, conquered + all Spanish Guelderland, opened the Meuse as far as Maestricht, + carried the strong castles of Liege by storm, advanced their + standards from the Rhine far into Flanders, and become enabled to + take up their winter quarters in the enemy's territory, amidst + its fertile fields.</p> + + <p>The campaign being now concluded, and both parties having gone + into winter quarters, Marlborough embarked on the Meuse to return to + London, where his presence was much required to steady the authority + and direct the cabinet of the Queen, who had so recently taken her + seat on the throne. When dropping down the Meuse, in company of the + Dutch commissioners, he was made prisoner by a French partisan, who + had made an incursion into those parts; and owed his escape to the + presence of mind of a servant named Gill, who, unperceived, put into + his master's hands an old passport in the name of General + Churchill. The Frenchman, intent only on plunder, seized all the + plate and valuables in the boat, and made prisoners the small + detachment of soldiers who accompanied them; but, ignorant of the + inestimable prize within his grasp, allowed the remainder of the + party, including Marlborough, to proceed on their way. On this + occasion, it may truly be said, the boat carried Cæsar and his + fortunes. He arrived in safety at the Hague, where the people, who + regarded him as their guardian angel, and had heard of his narrow + escape, received him with the most enthusiastic acclamations. From + thence, having concerted the plan with the Dutch government for the + ensuing campaign, he crossed over to London, where his reception by + the Queen and nation was of the most gratifying description. Her + Majesty conferred on him the title of Duke of Marlborough and Marquis + of Blandford, and sent a message to the House of Commons, suggesting + a pension to him of £5000 a-year, secured on the revenue of the + post-office; but that House refused to consent to the alienation of + so considerable a part of the public revenue. He was amply + compensated, however, for this disappointment, by the enthusiastic + reception he met with from all classes of the nation, which, long + unaccustomed to military success, at least in any cause in which it + could sympathize, hailed with transports of joy this first revival of + triumph in support of the Protestant faith, and over that power with + whom, for centuries, they had maintained so constant a rivalry.</p> + + <p>The campaign of 1703 was not fruitful of great events. Taught, by + the untoward issue of the preceding one, the quality of the general + and army with whom he had to contend, the French general cautiously + remained on the defensive; and so skilfully were the measures of + Marshal Boufflers taken, that all the efforts of Marlborough were + unable to force him to a general action. The war in Flanders was thus + limited to one of posts and sieges; but in that the superiority of + the Allied arms was successfully asserted, Parliament having been + prevailed on to consent to an augmentation of the British contingent. + But a treaty having been concluded with Sweden, and various + reinforcements having been received from the lesser powers, + preparations were made for the siege of Bonn, on the Rhine, a + frontier town of Flanders, of great importance from its commanding + the passage of that artery of Germany, and stopping, while in the + enemy's hands, all transit of military stores or provisions for + the use of the armies in Bavaria, or on the Upper Rhine. The + batteries opened with seventy heavy guns and English mortars on the + 14th May 1704; a vigorous sortie with a thousand foot was repulsed, + after having at first gained some success, on the following day, and + on the 16th two breaches having been declared practicable, the + garrison surrendered at discretion. <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> After this success, the + army moved against Huys, and it was taken with its garrison of 900 + men on the 23d August. Marlborough and the English generals, after + this success, were decidedly of opinion that it would be advisable at + all hazard to attempt forcing the French lines, which were strongly + fortified between Mehaigne and Leuwe, and a strong opinion to that + effect was transmitted to the Hague on the very day after the fall of + Huys.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href= + "#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> They alleged with reason, + that the Allies being superior in Flanders, and the French having the + upper hand in Germany and Italy, it was of the utmost importance to + follow up the present tide of success in the only quarter where it + flowed in their favour, and counterbalance disasters elsewhere, by + decisive events in the quarter where it was most material to obtain + it. The Dutch government, however, set on getting a barrier for + themselves, could not be brought to agree to this course, how great + soever the advantages which it promised, and insisted instead, that + he should undertake the siege of Limbourg, which lay open to attack. + This was accordingly done; the trenches were commenced in the middle + of September, and the garrison capitulated on the 27th of the same + month: a poor compensation for the total defeat of the French army, + which would in all probability have ensued if the bolder plan of + operation he had so earnestly counselled had been adopted.<a name= + "FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class= + "fnanchor">[8]</a> This terminated the campaign of 1703, which, + though successful, had led to very different results from what might + have been anticipated if Marlborough's advice had been followed, + and an earlier victory of Ramillies laid open the whole Flemish + plains. Having dispatched eight battalions to reinforce the Prince of + Hesse, who had sustained serious disaster on the Moselle, he had an + interview with the Archduke Charles, whom the Allies had acknowledged + as King of Spain, who presented him with a magnificent sword set with + diamonds, and set out for the Hague, from whence he again returned to + London to concert measures for the ensuing campaign, and stimulate + the British government to the efforts necessary for its successful + prosecution.</p> + + <p>But while success had thus attended all the operations of the + Allies in Flanders, where the English contingent acted, and + Marlborough had the command, affairs had assumed a very different + aspect in Germany and Italy. The French were there superior alike in + the number and quality of their troops, and, in Germany at least, in + the skill with which they were commanded. Early in June, Marshal + Tallard assumed the command of the French forces in Alsace, passed + the Rhine at Strasburg on the 16th July, took Brissac on the 7th + September, and invested Landau on the 16th October. The Allies, under + the Prince of Hesse, attempted to raise the siege, but were defeated + with considerable loss; and, soon after, Landau surrendered, thus + terminating with disaster the campaign on the Upper Rhine. Still more + considerable were the disasters sustained in Bavaria. Marshal Villars + there commanded, and at the head of the French and Bavarians, + defeated General Stirum, who headed the Imperialists, on the 20th + September. In December, Marshal Marsin, who had succeeded Villars in + the command, made himself master of the important city of Augsburg, + and in January 1704 the Bavarians got possession of Passau. + Meanwhile, a formidable insurrection had broken out in Hungary, + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg + 17]</a></span> which so distracted the cabinet of Vienna, that that + capital itself seemed to be threatened by the combined forces of the + French and Bavarians after the fall of Passau. No event of importance + took place in Italy during the campaign; Count Strahremberg, who + commanded the Imperial forces, having with great ability forced the + Duke de Vendôme, who was at the head of a superior body of French + troops, to retire. But in Bavaria and on the Danube, it was evident + that the Allies were overmatched; and to the restoration of the + balance in that quarter, the anxious attention of the confederates + was turned during the winter of 1703-4. The dangerous state of the + Emperor and the empire awakened the greatest solicitude at the Hague, + as well as unbounded terror at Vienna, from whence the most urgent + representations were made on the necessity of reinforcements being + sent from Marlborough to their support. But though this was agreed to + by England and Holland, so straitened were the Dutch finances, that + they were wholly unable to form the necessary magazines to enable the + Allies to commence operations. Marlborough, during the whole of + January and February 1704, was indefatigable in his efforts to + overcome these difficulties; and the preparations having at length + been completed, it was agreed by the States, according to a plan of + the campaign laid down by Marlborough, that he himself should proceed + into Bavaria with the great body of the Allied army in Flanders, + leaving only an army of observation there, to restrain any incursion + which the French troops might attempt during his absence.</p> + + <p>Marlborough began his march with the great body of his forces on + the 8th May, and crossing the Meuse at Maestricht, proceeded with the + utmost expedition towards the Rhine by Bedbourg and Kirpen, and + arrived at Bonn on the 22d May. Meanwhile, the French were also + powerfully reinforcing their army on the Danube. Early in the same + month 26,000 men joined the Elector of Bavaria, while Villeroi with + the army of Flanders was hastening in the same direction. Marlborough + having obtained intelligence of these great additions to the + enemy's forces in the vital quarter, wrote to the States-General, + that unless they promptly sent him succour, the Emperor would be + entirely ruined.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href= + "#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> Meanwhile, however, relying + chiefly on himself, he redoubled his activity and diligence. + Continuing his march up the Rhine by Coblentz and Cassel, opposite + Mayence, he crossed the Necker near Ladenbourg on the 3d June. From + thence he pursued his march without intermission by Mundelshene, + where he had, on the 10th June, his first interview with Prince + Eugene, who had been called from Italy to co-operate in stemming the + torrent of disaster in Germany. From thence he advanced by Great + Heppach to Langenau, and first came in contact with the enemy on the + 2d July, on the Schullenberg, near Donawert. Marlborough, at the head + of the advanced guard of nine thousand men, there attacked the French + and Bavarians, 12,000 strong, in their intrenched camp, which was + extremely strong, and after a desperate resistance, aided by an + opportune attack by the Prince of Baden, who commanded the + Emperor's forces, carried the intrenchments, with the whole + artillery which they mounted, and the loss of 7000 men and thirteen + standards to the vanquished. He was inclined to venture upon this + hazardous attempt by having received intelligence on the same day + from Prince Eugene, that Marshals Villeroi and Tallard, at the head + of fifty battalions, and sixty squadrons of their best troops, had + arrived at Strasburg, and were using the utmost diligence to reach + the Bavarian forces through the defiles of the Black Forest.</p> + + <p>This brilliant opening of the German campaign was soon followed by + substantial results. A few days after <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> Rain surrendered, Aicha was + carried by assault; and, following up his career of success, + Marlborough advanced to within a league of Augsburg, under the cannon + of which the Elector of Bavaria was placed with the remnant of his + forces, in a situation too strong to admit of its being forced. He + here made several attempts to detach the Elector, who was now reduced + to the greatest straits, from the French alliance; but that prince, + relying on the great army, forty-five thousand strong, which Marshal + Tallard was bringing up to his support from the Rhine, adhered with + honourable fidelity to his engagements. Upon this, Marlborough took + post near Friburg, in such a situation as to cut him off from all + communication with his dominions; and ravaged the country with his + light troops, levying contributions wherever they went, and burning + the villages with savage ferocity as far as the gates of Munich. Thus + was avenged the barbarous desolation of the Palatinate, thirty years + before, by the French army under the orders of Marshal Turenne. + Overcome by the cries of his suffering subjects, the Elector at + length consented to enter into a negotiation, which made some + progress; but the rapid approach of Marshal Tallard with the French + army through the Black Forest, caused him to break it off, and hazard + all on the fortune of war. Unable to induce the Elector, by the + barbarities unhappily, at that time, too frequent on all sides in + war, either to quit his intrenched camp under the cannon of Augsburg, + or abandon the French alliance, the English general undertook the + siege of Ingolstadt; he himself with the main body of the army + covering the siege, and Prince Louis of Baden conducting the + operations in the trenches. Upon this, the Elector of Bavaria broke + up from his strong position, and, abandoning with heroic resolution + his own country, marched to Biberbach, where he effected his junction + with Marshal Tallard, who now threatened Prince Eugene with an + immediate attack. No sooner had he received intelligence of this, + than Marlborough, on the 10th of August, sent the Duke of Wirtemburg + with twenty-seven squadrons of horse to reinforce the prince; and + early next morning detached General Churchill with twenty battalions + across the Danube, to be in a situation to support him in case of + need. He himself immediately after followed, and joined the Prince + with his whole army on the 11th. Every thing now presaged decisive + events. The Elector had boldly quitted Bavaria, leaving his whole + dominions at the mercy of the enemy, except the fortified cities of + Munich and Augsburg, and periled his crown upon the issue of war at + the French headquarters; while Marlborough and Eugene had united + their forces, with a determination to give battle in the heart of + Germany, in the enemy's territory, with their communications + exposed to the utmost hazard, under circumstances where defeat could + be attended with nothing short of total ruin.</p> + + <p>The French and Bavarian army consisted of fifty-five thousand men, + of whom nearly forty-five thousand were French troops, the very best + which the monarchy could produce. Marlborough and Eugene had + sixty-six battalions and one hundred and sixty squadrons, which, with + the artillery, might be about fifty thousand combatants. The forces + on the opposite sides were thus nearly equal in point of numerical + amount; but there was a wide difference in their composition. + Four-fifths of the French army were national troops, speaking the + same language, animated by the same feelings, accustomed to the same + discipline, and the most of whom had been accustomed to act together. + The Allies, on the other hand, were a motley assemblage, like + Hannibal's at Cannæ, or Wellington's at Waterloo, composed of + the troops of many different nations, speaking different languages, + trained to different discipline, but recently assembled together, and + under the orders of a stranger general, one of those haughty + islanders, little in general inured to war, but whose cold or + supercilious manners had so often caused jealousies to arise in the + best cemented confederacies. English, Prussians, Danes, + Wirtemburgers, Dutch, Hanoverians, and Hessians, were blended in such + nearly equal proportions, that the arms of no one state could be said + by its numerical preponderance to be entitled to the precedence. But + the consummate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id= + "Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> address, splendid talents, and + conciliatory manners of Marlborough, as well as the brilliant valour + which the English auxiliary force had displayed on many occasions, + had won for them the lead, as they had formerly done when in no + greater force among the confederates under Richard Cœur-de-Lion + in the Holy War. It was universally felt that upon them, as the Tenth + Legion of Cæsar, or the Old Guard of Napoleon, the weight of the + contest at the decisive moment would fall. The army was divided into + two <i>corps-d'armée</i>; the first commanded by the duke in + person, being by far the strongest, destined to bear the weight of + the contest, and carry in front the enemy's position. These two + corps, though co-operating, were at such a distance from each other, + that they were much in the situation of the English and Prussians at + Waterloo, or Napoleon and Ney's corps at Bautzen. The second, + under Prince Eugene, which consisted chiefly of cavalry, was much + weaker in point of numerical amount, and was intended for a + subordinate attack, to distract the enemy's attention from the + principal onset in front under Marlborough.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" + id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class= + "fnanchor">[10]</a> With ordinary officers, or even eminent generals + of a second order, a dangerous rivalry for the supreme command would + unquestionably have arisen, and added to the many seeds of division + and causes of weakness which already existed in so multifarious an + array. But these great men were superior to all such petty + jealousies. Each, conscious of powers to do great things, and proud + of fame already acquired, was willing to yield what was necessary for + the common good to the other. They had no rivalry, save a noble + emulation who should do most for the common cause in which they were + jointly engaged. From the moment of their junction it was agreed that + they should take the command of the whole army day about; and so + perfectly did their views on all points coincide, and so entirely did + their noble hearts beat in unison, that during eight subsequent + campaigns that they for the most part acted together, there was never + the slightest division between them, nor any interruption of the + harmony with which the operations of the Allies were conducted.</p> + + <p>The French position was in places strong, and their disposition + for resistance at each point where they were threatened by attack + from the Allied forces, judicious; but there was a fatal defect in + its general conception. Marshal Tallard was on the right, resting on + the Danube, which secured him from being turned in that quarter, + having the village of <span class='smcap'>Blenheim</span> in his + front, which was strongly garrisoned by twenty-six battalions and + twelve squadrons, all native French troops. In the centre was the + village of Oberglau, which was occupied by fourteen battalions, among + whom were three Irish corps of celebrated veterans. The communication + between Blenheim and Oberglau was kept up by a screen consisting of + eighty squadrons, in two lines, having two brigades of foot, + consisting of seven battalions, in its centre. The left, opposite + Prince Eugene, was under the orders of Marshal Marsin, and consisted + of twenty-two battalions of infantry and thirty-six squadrons, + consisting for the most part of Bavarians and Marshal Marsin's + men, posted in front of the village of Lutzingen. Thus the French + consisted of sixty-nine battalions and a hundred and thirty-four + squadrons, and were posted in a line strongly supported at each + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg + 20]</a></span> extremity, but weak in the centre, and with the wings, + where the great body of the infantry was placed, at such a distance + from each other, that, if the centre was broken through, each ran the + risk of being enveloped by the enemy, without the other being able to + render them any assistance. This danger as to the troops in Blenheim, + the flower of their army, was much augmented by the circumstance, + that if their centre was forced where it was formed of cavalry only, + and the victors turned sharp round towards Blenheim, the horse would + be driven headlong into the Danube, and the foot in that village + would run the hazard of being surrounded or pushed into that river, + which was not fordable, even for horse, in any part. But though these + circumstances would, to a far-seeing general, have presaged serious + disaster in the event of defeat, yet the position was strong in + itself, and the French generals, long accustomed to victory, had some + excuse for not having taken sufficiently into view the contingencies + likely to occur in the event of defeat. Both the villages at the + extremity of their line had been strengthened, not only with + intrenchments hastily thrown up around them, thickly mounted with + heavy cannon, but with barricades at all their principal entrances, + formed of overturned carts and all the furniture of the houses, which + they had seized upon, as the insurgents did at Paris in 1830, for + that purpose. The army stood upon a hill or gentle eminence, the guns + from which commanded the whole plain by which alone it could be + approached; and this plain was low, and intersected on the right, in + front of Blenheim, by a rivulet which flows down by a gentle descent + to the Danube, and in front of Oberglau by another rivulet, which + runs in two branches till within a few paces of the Danube; into + which it also empties itself. These rivulets had bridges over them at + the points where they flowed through villages; but they were + difficult of passage in the other places for cavalry and artillery, + and, with the ditches cut in the swampy meadows through which they + flowed, proved no small impediment to the advance of the Allied + army.</p> + + <p>The Duke of Marlborough, before the action began, in person + visited each important battery, in order to ascertain the range of + the guns. The troops under his command were drawn up in four lines; + the infantry being in front, and the cavalry behind, in each line. + This arrangement was adopted in order that the infantry, which would + get easiest through the streams, might form on the other side, and + cover the formation of the cavalry, who might be more impeded. The + fire of cannon soon became very animated on both sides, and the + infantry advanced to the edge of the rivulets with that cheerful air + and confident step which is so often the forerunner of success. On + Prince Eugene's side the impediments, however, proved serious; + the beds of the rivulets were so broad, that they required to be + filled up with fascines before they could be passed by the guns; and + when they did get across, they replied without much effect to the + French cannon thundering from the heights, which commanded the whole + field. At half-past twelve, however, these difficulties were, by + great efforts on the part of Prince Eugene and his wing, overcome, + and he sent word to Marlborough that he was ready. The English + general instantly called for his horse; the troops every where stood + to their arms, and the signal was given to advance. The rivulets and + marshy ground in front of Blenheim and Unterglau were passed by the + first line without much difficulty, though under a heavy fire of + artillery from the French batteries; and the firm ground on the slope + being reached, the first line advanced in the finest order to the + attack—the cavalry in front having now defiled to a side, so as + to let the English infantry take the lead. The attack must be given + in the words of Dr Hare's Journal.</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Lord Cutts made the first attack upon Blenheim, with the + English grenadiers. Brigadier-general Rowe led up his brigade, + which formed the first line, and was sustained in the second by a + brigade of Hessians. Rowe was within thirty paces of the palisades + about Blenheim when the enemy gave their first fire, by which a + great many officers and men fell; but notwithstanding this, that + brave officer marched direct up to the pales, on which he struck + his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg + 21]</a></span> sword before he allowed his men to fire. His orders + were to enter at the point of the bayonet; but the superiority of + the enemy, and the strength of their post, rendered this + impossible. The first line was therefore forced to retire; Rowe was + struck down badly wounded at the foot of the pales; his + lieut.-colonel and major were killed in endeavouring to bring him + off, and some squadrons of French gens-d'armes having charged + the brigade while retiring in disorder, it was partially broken, + and one of the colours of Rowe's regiment was taken. The + Hessians in the second line upon this advanced briskly forward, + charged the squadrons, retook the colour, and repulsed them. Lord + Cutts, however, seeing fresh squadrons coming down upon him, sent + to request some cavalry should be sent to cover his flank. Five + British squadrons accordingly were moved up, and speedily charged + by eight of the enemy; the French gave their fire at a little + distance, but the English charged sword in hand, and put them to + the rout. Being overpowered, however, by fresh squadrons, and + galled by the fire which issued from the enclosures of Blenheim, + our horse were driven back in their turn, and recoiled in + disorder.<br /> + "Marlborough, foreseeing that the enemy would pursue this + advantage, resolved to bring his whole cavalry across the rivulets. + The operation was begun by the English horse. It proved more + difficult, however, than was expected, especially to the English + squadrons; as they had to cross the rivulet where it was divided, + and the meadows were very soft. However, they surmounted those + difficulties, and got over; but when they advanced, they were so + severely galled by the infantry in Blenheim firing upon their + flank, while the cavalry charged them in front, that they were + forced to retire, which they did, under cover of Bulow and + Bothmer's German dragoons, who succeeded them in the passage. + Marlborough, seeing the enemy resolute to maintain the ground + occupied by his cavalry, gave orders for the whole remainder of his + cavalry to pass wherever they could get across. There was very + great difficulty and danger in defiling over the rivulet in the + face of an enemy, already formed and supported by several batteries + of cannon; yet by the brave examples and intrepidity of the + officers, they were at length got over, and kept their ground on + the other side. Bulow stretched across, opposite to Oberglau, with + the Danish and Hanoverian horse; but near that village they were so + vigorously charged by the French cavalry, that they were driven + back. Rallying, they were again led to the charge, and again routed + with great slaughter by the charges of the horse in front, and the + dreadful fire from the inclosures of Blenheim. Nor did the attack + on Oberglau to the British right, under Prince Holstein, succeed + better; no sooner had he passed the rivulet, than the Irish + veterans, posted there, came pouring down upon them, took the + prince prisoner, and threw the whole into confusion. Upon this, + Marlborough galloped to the spot at the head of some squadrons, + followed by three battalions, which had not yet been engaged. With + the horse he charged the Irish battalions in flank, and forced them + back; the foot he posted himself, and having re-established affairs + at that point, returned rapidly to the left, where he found the + whole of his corps passed over the streams, and on firm ground on + the other side. The horse were drawn up in two lines fronting the + enemy; the foot in two lines behind them; and some guns, under + Colonel Blood, having been hurried across by means of pontoons, + were brought to bear upon some battalions of foot which were + intermingled with the enemy's horse, and made great havoc in + their ranks.<br /> + + <p>"It was now past three, and the Duke, having got his whole men + ready for the attack, sent to Prince Eugene to know if he was ready + to support him. But the efforts of that gallant prince had not been + attended with the same success. In the first onset, indeed, his + Danish and Prussian infantry had gained considerable success, and + taken six guns, and the Imperial cavalry had, by a vigorous charge, + broken the first line of the enemy's horse; but they failed in + their attack on the second line, and were driven back to their + original ground; whereupon the Bavarian cavalry, rushing forward, + enveloped Eugene's foot, who were forced to retire, and with + difficulty regained their original ground. Half an hour afterwards, + Prince Eugene made a second attack with his horse; but they were + again repulsed by the bravery of the Bavarian cavalry, and driven + for refuge into the wood, in the rear of their original position. + Nothing daunted by this bad success, the Prince formed his troops + for a third attack, and himself led his cavalry to the charge; but + so vigorous was the defence, that they were again repulsed to the + wood, and the victorious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" + id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> enemy's dragoons with loud + cheers charged the Prussian foot in flank, and were only repelled + by the admirable steadiness with which they delivered their fire, + and stood their ground with fixed bayonets in front.<br /> + + <p>"About five the general forward movement was made which + determined the issue of this great battle, which till then had + seemed doubtful. The Duke of Marlborough, having ridden along the + front, gave orders to sound the charge, when all at once our lines + of horse moved on, sword in hand, to the attack. Those of the enemy + presented their carbines at some distance and fired; but they had + no sooner done so than they wheeled about, broke, and fled. The + gens-d'armes fled towards Hochstedt, which was about two miles + in the rear; the other squadrons towards the village of + Sondersheim, which was nearer, and on the bank of the Danube. The + Duke ordered General Hompesch, with thirty squadrons, to pursue + those who fled to Hochstedt; while he himself, with Prince Hesse + and the whole remainder of the cavalry, drove thirty of the + enemy's squadrons headlong down the banks of the Danube, which, + being very steep, occasioned the destruction of the greater part. + Vast numbers endeavoured to save themselves by swimming, and + perished miserably. Among the prisoners taken here were Marshal + Tallard and his suite, who surrendered to M. Beinenbourg, + aid-de-camp to the Prince of Hesse. Marlborough immediately desired + him to be accommodated with his coach, and sent a pencil note to + the duchess<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id= + "FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class= + "fnanchor">[11]</a> to say the victory was gained. Others, seeing + the fate of their comrades in the water, endeavoured to save + themselves by defiling to the right, along its margin, towards + Hochstedt, but they were met and intercepted by some English + squadrons; upon seeing which they fled in utter confusion towards + Morselingen, and did not again attempt to engage. The victorious + horse upon this fell upon several of the enemy's battalions, + who had nearly reached Hochstedt, and cut them to pieces.<br /> + + <p>"Meanwhile Prince Eugene, by a fourth attack, succeeded in + driving the Elector of Bavaria from his position; and the Duke, + seeing this, sent orders to the squadrons in pursuit, towards + Morselingen, to wheel about and join him. All this while the troops + in Blenheim had been incessantly attacked, but it still held out + and gave employment to the Duke's infantry. The moment the + cavalry had beaten off that of the enemy, and cleared the field + between the two villages of them, General Churchill moved both + lines of foot upon the village of Blenheim, and it was soon + surrounded so as to cut off all possibility of escape except on the + side next the Danube. To prevent the possibility of their escape + that way, Webb, with the Queen's regiment, took possession of a + barrier the enemy had constructed to cover their retreat, and, + having posted his men across the street which led to the Danube, + several hundreds of the enemy, who were attempting to make their + escape that way, were made prisoners. The other issue to the Danube + was occupied in the same manner by Prince George's regiment: + all who came out that way were made prisoners or driven into the + Danube. Some endeavoured to break out at other places, but General + Wood, with Lord John Hay's regiment of <i>grey</i> dragoons + (Scots Greys) immediately advanced towards them, and, cantering up + to the top of a rising ground, made them believe they had a larger + force behind them, and stopped them on that side. When Churchill + saw the defeat of the enemy's horse decided, he sent to request + Lord Cutts to attack them in front, while he himself attacked them + in flank. This was accordingly done; the Earl of Orkney and General + Ingoldesby entering the village at the same time, at two different + places, at the head of their respective regiments. But so vigorous + was the resistance made by the enemy, especially at the churchyard, + that they were forced to retire. The vehement fire, however, of the + cannon and howitzers, which set fire to several barns and houses, + added to the circumstance of their commander, M. Clerambault, + having fled, and their retreat on all sides being cut off, led to + their surrendering at discretion, to the number of six-and-twenty + battalions. Thus concluded this great battle, in which the enemy + had 5900 more than the Allies,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id= + "FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class= + "fnanchor">[12]</a> and the advantage of a very strong position, + difficult of attack."<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id= + "FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class= + "fnanchor">[13]</a></p> + </div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg + 23]</a></span> + + <p>In this battle Marlborough's wing lost 3000 men, and + Eugene's the same number, in all 6000. The French lost 13,000 + prisoners, including 1200 officers, almost all taken by + Marlborough's wing, besides 34 pieces of cannon, 26 standards, + and 90 colours; Eugene took 13 pieces. The killed and wounded were + 14,000 more. But the total loss of the French and Bavarians, + including those who deserted during their calamitous retreat through + the Black Forest, was not less than 40,000 men,<a name= + "FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" + class="fnanchor">[14]</a> a number greater than any which they + sustained till the still more disastrous day of Waterloo.</p> + + <p>This account of the battle, which is by far the best and most + intelligible which has ever yet been published, makes it quite + evident to what cause the overwhelming magnitude of this defeat to + the French army was owing. The strength of the position consisted + solely in the rivulets and marshy grounds in its front; when they + were passed, the error of Marshal Tallard's disposition of his + troops was at once apparent. The infantry was accumulated in useless + numbers in the villages. Of the twenty-six battalions in Blenheim, + twenty were useless, and could not get into action, while the long + line of cavalry from thence to Oberglau was sustained only by a few + battalions of foot, incapable of making any effective resistance. + This was the more inexcusable, as the French, having sixteen + battalions of infantry more than the Allies, should at no point have + shown themselves inferior in foot soldiers to their opponents. When + the curtain of horse which stretched from Blenheim to Oberglau was + broken through and driven off the field, the 13,000 infantry + accumulated in the former of these villages could not avoid falling + into the enemy's hands; for they were pressed between + Marlborough's victorious foot and horse on the one side, and the + unfordable stream of the Danube on the other. But Marlborough, it is + evident, evinced the capacity of a great general in the manner in + which he surmounted these obstacles, and took advantage of these + faulty dispositions; resolutely, in the first instance, overcoming + the numerous impediments which opposed the passage of the rivulets, + and then accumulating his horse and foot for a grand attack on the + enemy's centre, which, besides destroying above half the troops + assembled there, and driving thirty squadrons into the Danube, cut + off, and isolated the powerful body of infantry now uselessly crowded + together in Blenheim, and compelled them to surrender.</p> + + <p>Immense were the results of this transcendent victory. The French + army, lately so confident in its numbers and prowess, retreated + "or rather fled," as Marlborough says, through the Black + Forest; abandoning the Elector of Bavaria and all the fortresses on + the Danube to their fate. In the deepest dejection, and the utmost + disorder, they reached the Rhine, scarce twelve thousand strong, on + the 25th August, and immediately began defiling over by the bridge of + Strasburg. How different from the triumphant army, which with drums + beating, and colours flying, had crossed at the same place six weeks + before! Marlborough, having detached part of his force to besiege + Ulm, drew near with the bulk of his army to the Rhine, which he + passed near Philipsburg on the 6th September, and soon after + commenced the siege of Landau, on the French side; Prince Louis with + 20,000 men forming the besieging force, and Eugene and Marlborough + with 30,000 the covering army. Ulm surrendered on the 16th September, + with 250 pieces of cannon, and 1200 barrels of powder, which gave the + Allies a solid foundation on the Danube, and effectually crushed the + power of the Elector of Bavaria, who, isolated now in the midst of + his enemies, had no alternative but to abandon his dominions, and + seek refuge in Brussels, where he arrived in the end of September. + Meanwhile, as the siege of Landau was found to require more time than + had been anticipated, owing to the extraordinary <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> + difficulties experienced in getting up supplies and forage for the + troops; Marlborough repaired to Hanover and Berlin to stimulate the + Prussian and Hanoverian cabinets to greater exertions in the common + cause, and he succeeded in making arrangements for the addition of + 8000 more Prussian troops to their valuable auxiliary force, to be + added to the army of the Imperialists in Italy, which stood much in + need of reinforcement. The Electress of Bavaria, who had been left + Regent of that State in the absence of the Elector in Flanders, had + now no resource left but submission; and a treaty was accordingly + concluded in the beginning of November, by which she agreed to + disband all her troops. Trarbach was taken in the end of December; + the Hungarian insurrection was appeased; Landau capitulated in the + beginning of the same month; a diversion which the enemy attempted on + Trêves was defeated by Marlborough's activity and vigilance, and + that city put in a sufficient posture of defence; and the campaign + being now finished, that accomplished commander returned to the + Hague, and London, to receive the honour due for his past services, + and urge their respective cabinets to the efforts necessary to turn + them to good account.</p> + + <p>Thus by the operations of one single campaign was Bavaria crushed, + Austria and Germany delivered. Marlborough's cross-march from + Flanders to the Danube, had extricated the Imperialists from a state + of the utmost peril, and elevated them at once to security, victory, + and conquest. The decisive blow struck at Blenheim, resounded through + every part of Europe; it at once destroyed the vast fabric of power + which it had taken Louis XIV., aided by the talents of Turenne, and + the genius of Vauban, so long to construct. Instead of proudly + descending the valley of the Danube, and threatening Vienna, as + Napoleon afterwards did in 1805 and 1809, the French were driven in + the utmost disorder across the Rhine. The surrender of Trarbach and + Landau gave the Allies a firm footing on the left bank of that river. + The submission of Bavaria deprived the French of that great outwork, + of which they have made such good use in their German wars, the + Hungarian insurrection, deprived of the hoped-for aid from the armies + on the Rhine, was pacified. Prussia was induced by this great triumph + to co-operate in a more efficient manner in the common cause; the + parsimony of the Dutch gave way before the tumult of success; and the + empire, delivered from invasion, was preparing to carry its + victorious arms into the heart of France. Such results require no + comment; they speak for themselves, and deservedly place Marlborough + in the very highest rank of military commanders. The campaigns of + Napoleon exhibit no more decisive or glorious results.</p> + + <p>Honours and emoluments of every description were showered on the + English hero for this glorious success. He was created a prince of + the Holy Roman empire,<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id= + "FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class= + "fnanchor">[15]</a> and a tract of land in Germany erected into a + principality in his favour. His reception at the courts of Berlin and + Hanover resembled that of a sovereign prince; the acclamations of the + people, in all the towns through which he passed, rent the air; at + the Hague his influence was such that he was regarded as the real + Stadtholder. More substantial rewards awaited him in his own country. + The munificence of the queen and the gratitude of Parliament + conferred upon him the extensive honour and manor of Woodstock, long + a royal palace, and once the scene of the loves of Henry II. and the + fair <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg + 25]</a></span> Rosamond. By order of the Queen, not only was this + noble estate settled on the duke and his heirs, but the royal + comptroller commenced a magnificent palace for the duke on a scale + worthy of his services and England's gratitude. From this origin + the superb palace of Blenheim has taken its rise; which, although not + built in the purest taste, or after the most approved models, + remains, and will long remain, a splendid monument of a nation's + gratitude, and of the genius of Vanbrugh.</p> + + <p>Notwithstanding the invaluable services thus rendered by + Marlborough, both to the Emperor of Germany and the Queen of England, + he was far from experiencing from either potentate that liberal + support for the future prosecution of the war, which the inestimable + opportunity now placed in their hands, and the formidable power still + at the disposal of the enemy so loudly required. As usual, the + English Parliament were exceedingly backward in voting supplies + either of men or money; nor was the cabinet of Vienna inclined to be + more liberal in its exertions. Though the House of Commons agreed to + give £4,670,000 for the service of the ensuing year; yet the land + forces voted were only 40,000 men, although the population of Great + Britain and Ireland could not be at that period under ten millions, + while France, with about twenty millions, had above two hundred + thousand under arms. It is this excessive and invariable reluctance + of the English Parliament ever to make those efforts at the + commencement of a war, which are necessary to turn to a good account + the inherent bravery of its soldiers and frequent skill of its + commanders, that is the cause of the long duration of our Continental + wars, and of three-fourths of the national debt which now oppresses + the empire, and, in its ultimate results, will endanger its + existence. The national forces are, by the cry for economy and + reduction which invariably is raised in peace, reduced to so low an + ebb, that it is only by successive additions, made in many different + years, that it can be raised up to any thing like the amount + requisite for successful operations. Thus disaster generally occurs + in the commencement of every war; or if, by the genius of any + extraordinary commander, as by that of Marlborough, unlooked-for + success is achieved in the outset, the nation is unable to follow it + up; the war languishes for want of the requisite support; the enemy + gets time to recover from his consternation; his danger stimulates + him to greater exertions; and many long years of warfare, deeply + checkered with disaster, and attended with an enormous expense, are + required to obviate the effects of previous undue pacific + reduction.</p> + + <p>How bitterly Marlborough felt this want of support, on the part of + the cabinets both of London and Vienna, which prevented him from + following up the victory of Blenheim with the decisive operations + against France which he would otherwise have undoubtedly commenced, + is proved by various parts of his correspondence. On the 16th of + December 1704, he wrote to Mr Secretary Harley—"I am sorry + to see nothing has been offered yet, <i>nor any care taken by + Parliament for recruiting the army</i>. I mean chiefly the foot. It + is of that consequence for an early campaign, that without it <i>we + may run the hazard of losing, in a great measure, the fruits of the + last</i>; and therefore, pray leave to recommend it to you to advise + with your friends, if any proper method can be thought of, that may + be laid before the House immediately, without waiting my + arrival."<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id= + "FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class= + "fnanchor">[16]</a> Nor was the cabinet of Vienna, notwithstanding + the imminent danger they had recently run, more active in making the + necessary efforts to repair the losses of the + campaign—"You cannot," says Marlborough, "say + more to us of the <i>supine negligence of the Court of Vienna</i>, + with reference to your affairs, <i>than we are sensible of every + where else</i>; and certainly if the Duke of Savoy's good conduct + and bravery at Verue had not reduced the French to a very low ebb, + the game must have been over before any help could come to + you."<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href= + "#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> It is ever thus, + especially with states such as Great Britain, <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> in which + the democratic element is so powerful as to imprint upon the measures + of government that disregard of the future, and aversion to present + efforts or burdens, which is the invariable characteristic of the + bulk of mankind. If Marlborough had been adequately supported and + strengthened after the decisive blow struck at Blenheim; that is, if + the governments of Vienna and London, with that of the Hague, had by + a great and timely effort doubled his effective force when the French + were broken and disheartened by defeat, he would have marched to + Paris in the next campaign, and dictated peace to the <i>Grand + Monarque</i> in his gorgeous halls of Versailles. It was + short-sighted economy which entailed upon the nations the costs and + burdens of the next ten years of the War of the Succession, as it did + the still greater costs and burdens of the Revolutionary War, after + the still more decisive success of the Allies in the summer of 1793, + when the iron frontier of the Netherlands was entirely broken + through, and their advanced posts, without any force to oppose them, + were within an hundred and sixty miles of Paris.</p> + + <p>This parsimony of the Allied governments, and their invincible + repugnance to the efforts and sacrifices which could alone bring, and + certainly would have brought, the war to an early and glorious issue, + is the cause of the subsequent conversion of the war into one of + blockades and sieges, and of its being transferred to Flanders, where + its progress was necessarily slow, and cost enormous, from the vast + number of strongholds which required to be reduced at every stage of + the Allied advance. It was said at the time, that in attacking + Flanders in that quarter, Marlborough took the bull by the horns; + that France on the side of the Rhine was far more vulnerable, and + that the war was fixed in Flanders, in order by protracting it to + augment the profits of the generals employed. Subsequent writers, not + reflecting on the difference of the circumstances, have observed the + successful issue of the invasions of France from Switzerland and the + Upper Rhine in 1814, and Flanders and the Lower Rhine in 1815, and + concluded that a similar result would have attended a like bold + invasion under Marlborough and Eugene. There never was a greater + mistake. The great object of the war was to wrest Flanders from + France; when the lilied standard floated on Brussels and Antwerp, the + United Provinces were constantly in danger of being swallowed up, and + there was no security for the independence either of England, + Holland, or any of the German States. If Marlborough and Eugene had + had two hundred thousand effective men at their disposal, as + Wellington and Blucher had in 1815, or three hundred thousand, as + Schwartzenberg and Blucher had in 1814, they would doubtless have + left half their force behind them to blockade the fortresses, and + with the other half marched direct to Paris. But as they had never + had more than eighty thousand on their muster-rolls, and could not + bring at any time more than sixty thousand effective men into the + field, this bold and decisive course was impossible. The French army + in their front was rarely inferior to theirs, often superior; and how + was it possible in these circumstances to adventure on the perilous + course of pushing on into the heart of the enemy's territory, + leaving the frontier fortresses, yet unsubdued, in their rear? The + disastrous issue of the Blenheim campaign to the French arms, even + when supported by the friendly arms and all the fortresses of + Bavaria, in the preceding year, had shown what was the danger of such + a course. The still more calamitous issue of the Moscow campaign to + the army of Napoleon, demonstrated that even the greatest military + talents, and most enormous accumulation of military force, affords no + security against the incalculable danger of an undue advance beyond + the base of military operations. The greatest generals of the last + age, fruitful beyond all others in military talent, have acted on + those principles, whenever they had not an overwhelming superiority + of forces at their command. Wellington never invaded Spain till he + was master of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajos; nor France till he had + subdued St Sebastian and Pampeluna. The first use which Napoleon made + of his victories at Montenotte and Dego was to compel the Court of + Turin to surrender <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id= + "Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> all their fortresses in Piedmont; of the + victory of Marengo, to force the Imperialists to abandon the whole + strongholds of Lombardy as far as the Adige. The possession of the + single fortress of Mantua in 1796, enabled the Austrians to stem the + flood of Napoleon's victories, and gain time to assemble four + different armies for the defence of the monarchy. The case of half a + million of men, flushed by victory, and led by able and experienced + leaders assailing a single state, is the exception, not the rule.</p> + + <p>Circumstances, therefore, of paramount importance and irresistible + force, compelled Marlborough to fix the war in Flanders, and convert + it into one of sieges and blockades. In entering upon such a system + of hostility, sure, and comparatively free from risk, but slow and + extremely costly, the alliance ran the greatest risk of being + shipwrecked on the numerous discords, jealousies, and separate + interests, which, in almost every instance recorded in history, have + proved fatal to a great confederacy, if it does not obtain decisive + success at the outset, before these seeds of division have had time + to come to maturity. With what admirable skill and incomparable + address Marlborough kept together the unwieldy alliance will + hereafter appear. Never was a man so qualified by nature for such a + task. He was courtesy and grace personified. It was a common saying + at the time, that neither man nor woman could resist him. "Of + all the men I ever knew," says no common man, himself a perfect + master of the elegances he so much admired, "the late Duke of + Marlborough possessed the graces in the highest degree, not to say + engrossed them. Indeed he got the most by them, and contrary to the + custom of profound historians, who always assign deep causes for + great events, I ascribe the better half of the Duke of + Marlborough's greatness to those graces. He had no brightness, + nothing shining in his genius. He had most undoubtedly an excellent + plain understanding, and sound judgment. But these qualities alone + would probably have never raised him higher than they found him, + which was page to James the Second's queen. But there the grace + protected and promoted him. His figure was beautiful, but his manner + was irresistible, either by man or woman. It was by this engaging, + graceful manner, that he was enabled, during all his war, to connect + the various and jarring powers of the Grand Alliance, and to carry + them on to the main object of the war, notwithstanding their private + and separate views, jealousies, and wrongheadedness. Whatever court + he went to (and he was often obliged to go to restive and refractory + ones) he brought them into his measures. The pensionary Heinsius, who + had governed the United Provinces for forty years, was absolutely + governed by him. He was always cool, and nobody ever observed the + least variation in his countenance; he could refuse more gracefully + than others could grant, and those who went from him the most + dissatisfied as to the substance of their business, were yet charmed + by his manner, and, as it were, comforted by it."<a name= + "FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" + class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> + + <div class="footnotes"> + <h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>Letters and + Despatches of John Churchill, First Duke of Marlborough, from + 1702 to 1712.</i> Edited by <span class='smcap'>Sir George + Murray</span>, G.C.B., Master-General of the Ordnance, &c. 3 + vols. London, 1845.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> + "Marlborough," says Swift, "is as voracious as + hell, and as ambitious as the devil. What he desires above every + thing is to be made commander-in-chief for life, and it is to + satisfy his ambition and his avarice that he has opposed so many + intrigues to the efforts made for the restoration of + peace."</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> "During + the interval between the liberation of Marlborough and the death + of Queen Mary, we find him, in conjunction with Godolphin and + many others, maintaining a clandestine intercourse with the + exiled family. On the 2d May 1694, only a few days before he + offered his services to King William, he communicated to James, + through Colonel Sackville, intelligence of an expedition then + fitting out, for the purpose of destroying the fleet in Brest + harbour."—<span class='smcap'>Coxe's</span> + <i>Marlborough</i>, i. 75. "Marlborough's conduct to the + Stuarts," says Lord Mahon, "was a foul blot on his + memory. To the last he persevered in those deplorable intrigues. + In October 1713, he protested to a Jacobite agent he would rather + have his hands cut off than do any thing to prejudice King + James."—<span class='smcap'>Mahon</span>, i. + 21-22.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> "Galli + turpe esse ducunt frumentum manu quærere; itaque armati alienos + agros demetunt."—<span class='smcap'>Cæsar</span>.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> + <i>Despatches</i>, 21st September 1702.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> + <i>Despatches</i>, 23d October 1702.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Memorial, 24th + August 1703.—<i>Despatches</i>, i. 165.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Marlborough + was much chagrined at being interrupted in his meditated decisive + operations by the States-General, on this occasion. On the 6th + September, he wrote to them:—"Vos Hautes Puissances + jugeront bien par le camp que nous venons de prendre, qu'on + n'a pas voulu se résoudre à tenter les lignes. J'ai été + convaincu de plus en plus, depuis l'honneur que j'ai eu + de vous écrire, par les avis que j'ai reçu journellement de + la situation des ennemis, que cette entreprise n'était pas + seulement practicable, mais même qu'on pourrait en espérer + tout le succès que je m'étais proposé: enfin l'occasion + en est perdue, et je souhaite de tout mon cœur qu'elle + n'ait aucune fâcheuse suite, et qu'on n'ait pas lieu + de s'en repentir quand il sera trop + tard."—<span class='smcap'>Marlborough</span> <i>aux + Etats Généraux</i>; <i>6 Septembre 1703. Despatches</i>, i. + 173.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> "Ce matin + j'ai appris par une estafette que les ennemis avaient joint + l'Electeur de Bavière avec 26,000 hommes, et que M. de + Villeroi a passé la Meuse avec la meilleure partie de l'armée + des Pays Bas, et qu'il poussait sa marche en toute diligence + vers la Moselle, de sorte que, sans un prompt sécours, + l'empire court risque d'être entièrement + abimé."—<span class='smcap'>Marlborough</span>, <i>aux + Etats Généraux; Bonn</i>, <i>2 Mai 1704</i>. <i>Despatches</i>, + i. 274.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The + following was the composition of these two corps, which will show + of what a motley array the Allied army was composed:—</p> + + <table summary="composition of the two corps" class="standard"> + <tr> + <td> + <table class="standard" summary= + "composition of the left wing"> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" align="right">Left wing, + Marlborough.</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td> </td> + + <td>Batt.</td> + + <td>Squad.</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>English,</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">14</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">14</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Dutch,</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">14</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">22</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Hessians,</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">7</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">7</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Hanoverians,</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">13</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">25</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Danes,</td> + + <td class="BorderBottom" align="right">0</td> + + <td class="BorderBottom" align="right">22</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td> </td> + + <td class="AlignRight">48</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">86</td> + </tr> + </table> + </td> + + <td class="paddedbig"> </td> + + <td class="padded"> + <table class="standard" summary= + "composition of the right wing"> + <tr> + <td colspan="3" align="right">Right wing, Eugene.</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td> </td> + + <td>Batt.</td> + + <td>Squad.</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Danes,</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">7</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">0</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Prussians,</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">11</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">15</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Austrians,</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">0</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">24</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>Of the Empire,</td> + + <td class="BorderBottom" align="right">0</td> + + <td class="BorderBottom" align="right">35</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td> </td> + + <td class="AlignRight">18</td> + + <td class="AlignRight">74</td> + </tr> + </table> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> This pencil + note is still preserved at Blenheim.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> + French—Bat. 82. Squad. 146. Allies—Bat. 66. Squad. + 160. At 500 to a battalion, and 150 to a squadron, this gives a + superiority of 5900 to the French.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Marl., + <i>Desp.</i> i. 402-409.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Cardonnell, + Desp. to Lord Harley, 25th Sept. 1704, <i>Desp.</i> i. 410. By + intercepted letters it appeared the enemy admitted a loss of + 40,000 men before they reached the Rhine. Marlborough to the Duke + of Shrewsbury, 28th Aug. 1704, <i>Desp.</i> i. 439.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> The + holograph letter of the Emperor, announcing this honour, said, + with equal truth and justice—"I am induced to assign + to your highness a place among the princes of the empire, in + order that it may universally appear how much I acknowledge + myself and the empire to be indebted to the Queen of Great + Britain, who sent her arms as far as Bavaria at a time when the + affairs of the empire, by the defection of the Bavarians to the + French, most needed that assistance and support:—And to + your Grace, likewise, to whose prudence and courage, together + with the bravery of the forces fighting under your command, the + two victories lately indulged by Providence to the Allies are + principally attributed, not only by the voice of fame, but by the + general officers in my army who had their share in your labour + and your glory."—<span class='smcap'>The Emperor + Leopold</span> to <span class='smcap'>Marlborough</span>, <i>28th + August 1704</i>.—<i>Desp.</i> i. 538.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Marlborough + to Mr Secretary Harley, 16th Dec. 1704.—<i>Desp.</i> i. + 556.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Marlborough + to Mr Hill at Turin, 6th Feb. 1705.—<i>Desp.</i> i. + 591.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <i>Lord + Chesterfield's Letters</i>, Lord Mahon's edition, i. + 221-222.</p> + </div> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg + 28]</a></span> + + <h2><a name="PUSHKIN_THE_RUSSIAN_POET" id= + "PUSHKIN_THE_RUSSIAN_POET"></a>PÚSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN POET.</h2> + + <h3>No. II.</h3> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + Specimens of his Lyrics. + </div><br /> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + Translated From The Original Russian, By Thomas B. Shaw, B.A. Of + Cambridge, Adjunct Professor Of English Literature In The Imperial + Alexander Lyceum, Translator Of "The Heretic,"&c. + &c. + </div> + + <p>In offering to the public the following specimens of Púshkin's + poetry in an English dress, the translator considers it part of his + duty to make a few remarks. The number and extent of these + observations, he will, of course, confine within the narrowest limits + consistent with his important duty of making his countrymen + acquainted with the style and character of Russia's greatest + poet; a duty which he would certainly betray, were he to omit to + explain the chief points indispensable for the true understanding, + not only of the extracts which he has selected as a sample of his + author's productions, but of the general tone and character of + those productions, viewed as a whole.</p> + + <p>The translator wishes it therefore to be distinctly understood + that he by no means intends to offer, in the character of a complete + poetical portrait, the few pieces contained in these pages, but + rather as an attempt, however imperfect, to daguerreotype—by + means of the most faithful translation consistent with + ease—<i>one</i> of the various expressions of Púshkin's + literary physiognomy; to represent one phase of his developement.</p> + + <p>That physiognomy is a very flexible and a varying one; Púshkin + (considered only as a <i>poet</i>) must be allowed to have attained + very high eminence in various walks of his sublime art; his works are + very numerous, and as diverse in their form as in their spirit; he is + sometimes a romantic, sometimes a legendary, sometimes an epic, + sometimes a satiric, and sometimes a dramatic poet;—in most, if + not in all, of these various lines he has attained the highest + eminence as yet recognised by his countrymen; and, consequently, + whatever impression may be made upon our readers by the present essay + at a transfusion of his works into the English language, will be + necessarily a very imperfect one. In the prosecution of the arduous + but not unprofitable enterprise which the translator set before + himself three years ago—viz. the communication to his + countrymen of some true ideas of the scope and peculiar character of + Russian literature—he met with so much discouragement in the + unfavourable predictions of such of his friends as he consulted with + respect to the feasibility of his project, that he may be excused for + some degree of timidity in offering the results of his labours to an + English public. So great, indeed, was that timidity, that not even + the very flattering reception given to his two first attempts at + prose translation, has entirely succeeded in destroying it; and he + prefers, on the present occasion, to run the risk of giving only a + partial and imperfect reflection of Púshkin's intellectual + features, to the danger that might attend a more ambitious and + elaborate version of any of the poet's longer works.</p> + + <p>Púshkin is here presented solely in his <i>lyrical</i> character; + and, it is trusted, that, in the selection of the compositions to be + translated—selections made from a very large number of highly + meritorious works—due attention has been paid not only to the + intrinsic beauty and merit of the pieces chosen, but also to the + important consideration which renders indispensable (in cases where + we find an <i>embarras de richesses</i>, and where the merit is + equal) the adoption of such specimens as would possess the greatest + degree of novelty for an English reader.</p> + + <p>The task of translating all Púshkin's poetry is certainly too + dignified a one, not to excite our ambition; and it is meditated, in + the event of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id= + "Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> accompanying versions finding in England + a degree of approbation sufficiently marked to indicate a desire for + more specimens, to extend our present labours so far, as to admit + passages of the most remarkable merit from Púshkin's longer + works; and, perhaps, even complete versions of some of the more + celebrated. Should, therefore, the British public give the + <i>fiat</i> of its approbation, we would still further contribute to + its knowledge of the great Russian author, by publishing, for + example, some of the more remarkable <i>places</i> in the poem of + "Evgénii Oniégin," the charming "Gypsies," scenes + and passages from the tragedy of "Bóris Godunóff," the + "Prisoner of the Caucasus," "Mazépa," &c. + &c.</p> + + <p>With respect to the present or <i>lyrical</i> specimens, we shall + take the liberty to make a few remarks, having reference to the + principles which have governed the translator in the execution of the + versions; and we shall afterwards preface each poem with a few words + of notice, such as may appear to be rendered necessary either by the + subject or by the form of the composition itself.</p> + + <p>Of the poetical merit of these translations, considered as English + poems, their writer has no very exalted idea; of their + <i>faithfulness as versions</i>, on the contrary, he has so deep a + conviction, that he regrets exceedingly the fact, that the universal + ignorance prevailing in England of the Russian language, will prevent + the possibility of that important merit—strict + fidelity—being tested by the British reader. Let the indulgent, + therefore, remember, if we have in any case left an air of stiffness + and constraint but too perceptible in our work, that this fault is to + be considered as a sacrifice of grace at the altar of truth. It would + have been not only possible, but easy, to have spun a collection of + easy rhymes, bearing a general resemblance to the vigorous and + passionate poetry of Púshkin; but this would not have been a + <i>translation</i>, and a translation it was our object to produce. + Bowring's <i>Russian Anthology</i> (not to speak of his other + volumes of translated poetry) is a melancholy example of the danger + of this attractive but fatal system; while the names of Cary, of Hay, + and of Merivale, will remain as a bright encouragement to those who + have sufficient strength of mind to prefer the "strait and + narrow way" of masterly <i>translation</i>, to the "flowery + paths of dalliance" so often trodden by the + <i>paraphraser</i>.</p> + + <p>In all cases, the metre of the original, the musical movement and + modulation, has, as far as the translator's ear enabled him to + judge, been followed with minute exactness, and at no inconsiderable + expense, in some cases, of time and labour. It would be superfluous, + therefore, to state, that the number of lines in the English version + is always the same as in the original. It has been our study, + wherever the differences in the structure of the two languages would + permit, to include the same thoughts in the same number of lines. + There is also a peculiarity of the Russian language which frequently + rendered our task still more arduous; and the conquest of this + difficulty has, we trust, conferred upon us the right to speak of our + triumph without incurring the charge of vanity. We allude to the + great abundance in the Russian of double terminations, and the + consequent recurrence of double rhymes, a peculiarity common also to + the Italian and Spanish versification, and one which certainly + communicates to the versification of those countries a character so + marked and peculiar, that no translator would be justified in + neglecting it. As it would be impossible, without the use of Russian + types, to give our readers an example of this from the writings of + Púshkin, and as they would be unable to pronounce such a quotation + even if they saw it, we will give an illustration of what we mean + from the Spanish and the Italian.</p> + + <p>The first is from the fourth book of the <i>Galatea</i> of + Cervantes—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i0">"Venga á mirar á la pastora + mia</span><br /> + <span class="i2">Quien quisiere contar de gente en + gente</span><br /> + <span class="i0">Que vió otro sol, que daba luz al + dia</span><br /> + <span class="i2">Mas claro, que el que sale del oriente," + &c.;</span><br /> + </div> + </div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg + 30]</a></span> + + <p>and the second from Chiabrera's sublime <i>Ode on the Siege of + Vienna</i>—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i0">"E fino a quanto inulti</span><br /> + <span class="i0">Sian, Signore, i tuoi servi? E fino a + quanto</span><br /> + <span class="i0">Dei barbarici insulti</span><br /> + <span class="i0">Orgogliosa n'andrà l'empia + baldanza?</span><br /> + <span class="i0">Dov'è, dov'è, gran Dio, l'antico + vanto</span><br /> + <span class="i0">Di tua alta possanza?" &c. + &c.</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <p>In the two passages here quoted, it will be observed that all the + lines end with two syllables, in both of which the rhyme is engaged; + and an English version of the above verses, however faithful in other + respects, which should omit to use the same species of double + termination, and content itself with the monosyllable rhyme, would + indubitably lose some of the harmony of the original. These double + rhymes are far from abundant in our monosyllabic language; but we + venture to affirm, that their conscientious employment would be found + so valuable, as to amply repay the labour and difficulty attending + their search.</p> + + <p>We trust that our readers will pardon the apparent technicality of + these remarks, for the sake of the consideration which induced us to + make them. In all translation, even in the best, there is so great a + loss of spirit and harmony, that the conscientious labourer in this + most difficult and ungrateful art, should never neglect even the most + trifling precaution that tends to hinder a still further depreciation + of the gold of his original; not to mention the principle, that + whatever it is worth our while to do at all, it is assuredly worth + our while to do as well as we can.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + <p>The first specimen of Púshkin's lyric productions which we + shall present to our countrymen, "done into English," as + Jacob Tonson was wont to phrase it, "by an eminent hand," + is a production considered by the poet's critics to possess the + very highest degree of merit in its peculiar style. We have mentioned + some details respecting the nature and history of the Imperial Lyceum + of Tsarskoë Seló, in which Púshkin was educated, and we have + described the peculiar intensity of feeling with which all who + quitted its walls looked back upon the happy days they had spent + within them, and the singular ardour and permanency of the + friendships contracted beneath its roof. On the anniversary of the + foundation (by the Emperor Alexander) of the institution, it is + customary for all the "old Lyceans" to dine together, in + the same way as the Eton, Harrow, or Rugby men are accustomed to + unite once a-year in honour of their school. On many of these + occasions Púshkin contributed to the due celebration of the event by + producing poems of various lengths, and different degrees of merit; + we give here the best of these. It was written during the poet's + residence in the government of Pskoff, and will be found, we think, a + most beautiful and touching embodiment of such feelings as would be + suggested in the mind of one obliged to be absent from a ceremony of + the nature in question. Of the comrades whose names Púshkin has + immortalized in these lines, it is only necessary to specify that the + first, Korsákoff, distinguished among his youthful comrades for his + musical talents, met with an early death in Italy; a circumstance to + which the poet has touchingly alluded. Matiúshkin is now an admiral + of distinction, and is commanding the Russian squadron in the Black + Sea. Of the two whom he mentions as having passed the anniversary + described in this poem (October 19, 1825) in his company, the first + was Pústchin, since dead, and the second the Prince Gortchakóff, whom + he met by accident, travelling in the neighbourhood of his (the + poet's) seclusion. Our readers cannot fail, we think, to be + struck with the beautiful passage consecrated to his friendship with + Délvig; and the only other personal allusion which seems to stand in + need of explanation, is that indicated <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> by the name Wilhelm, + towards the end of the poem. This is the Christian name of his friend + Küchelbecher, since dead, and whose family name was hardly harmonious + enough to enter Púshkin's line, and was therefore omitted on the + Horatian principle—"versu quod dicere nolim." We now + hasten to present the lines.</p> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + October 19, 1825. + </div><br /> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">The woods have doff'd their garb of purply + gold;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The faded fields with silver frost are + steaming;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Through the pale clouds the sun, reluctant + gleaming,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Behind the circling hills his disk hath + roll'd.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Blaze brightly, hearth! my cell is dark and + lonely:</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And thou, O Wine, thou friend of Autumn + chill,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Pour through my heart a joyous glow—if + only</span><br /> + <span class="i12">One moment's brief forgetfulness of + ill!</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Ay, I am very sad; no friend is + here</span><br /> + <span class="i12">With whom to pledge a long unlooked-for + meeting,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">To press his hand in eagerness of + greeting,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And wish him life and joy for many a + year.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">I drink alone; and Fancy's spells + awaken—</span><br /> + <span class="i12">With a vain industry—the voice of + friends:</span><br /> + <span class="i12">No well-known footstep strikes mine ear + forsaken,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">No well-beloved face my heart + attends.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">I drink alone; ev'n now, on Neva's + shore,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Haply my name on friendly lips has + trembled....</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Round that bright board, say, are ye <i>all</i> + assembled?</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Are there no other names ye count no + more?</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Has our good custom been betray'd by + others?</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Whom hath the cold world lured from ye + away?</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Whose voice is silent in the call of + brothers?</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Who is not come? Who is not with you? + Say!</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14"><i>He</i> is not come, he of the curled + hair,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">He of the eye of fire and sweet-voiced + numbers:</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Beneath Italia's myrtle-groves he + slumbers;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">He slumbers well, although no friend was + there,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Above the lonely grave where he is + sleeping,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">A Russian line to trace with pious + hand,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">That some sad wanderer might read it, + weeping—</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Some Russian, wandering in a foreign + land.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Art <i>thou</i> too seated in the friendly + ring,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">O restless Pilgrim? Haply now thou + ridest</span><br /> + <span class="i12">O'er the long tropic-wave; or now + abidest</span><br /> + <span class="i12">'Mid seas with ice eternal + glimmering!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Thrice happy voyage!... With a jest thou + leapedst</span><br /> + <span class="i12">From the Lyceum's threshold to thy + bark,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Thenceforth thy path aye on the main thou + keepedst,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">O child beloved of wave and tempest + dark!</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Well hast thou kept, 'neath many a stranger + sky,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The loves, the hopes of Childhood's golden + hour:</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And old Lyceum scenes, by memory's + power,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">'Mid lonely waves have ris'n before + thine eye;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Thou wav'dst thy hand to us from distant + ocean,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Ever thy faithful heart its treasure + bore;</span><br /> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg + 32]</a></span> <span class="i12">"A long farewell!" + thou criedst, with fond emotion,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">"Unless our fate hath doom'd we meet + no more."</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">The bond that binds us, friends, is fair and + true!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Destructless as the soul, and as + eternal—</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Careless and free, unshakable, + fraternal,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Beneath the Muses' friendly shade it + grew.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">We are the same: wherever Fate may guide + us,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Or Fortune lead—wherever we may + go,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The world is aye a foreign land beside + us;</span><br /> + <span class="i12"><i>Our</i> fatherland is Tsárkoë + Seló!</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">From clime to clime, pursued by storm and + stress,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">In Destiny's dark nets long time I + wrestled,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Until on Friendship's lap I fluttering + nestled,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And bent my weary head for her + caress....</span><br /> + <span class="i12">With wistful prayers, with visionary + grieving,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">With all the trustful hope of early + years,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">I sought new friends with zeal and new + believing;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">But bitter was their greeting to mine + ears.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">And even here, in this lone + dwelling-place</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Of desert-storm, of cold, and + desolation,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">There was prepared for me a + consolation:</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Three of ye here, O friends! did I + embrace.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Thou enteredst first the poet's house of + sorrow,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">O Pústchin! thanks be with thee, thanks, and + praise</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Ev'n exile's bitter day from thee could + borrow</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The light and joy of old + Lyceum-days.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Thee too, my Gortchakóff; although thy + name</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Was Fortune's spell, though her cold gleam + was on thee,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Yet from thy noble thoughts she never won + thee:</span><br /> + <span class="i12">To honour and thy fiends thou'rt still the + same.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Far different paths of life to us were + fated,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Far different roads before our feet were + traced,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">In a by-road, but for a moment + mated,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">We met by chance, and brotherly + embraced.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">When sorrow's flood o'erwhelmd me, like + a sea;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And like an orphan, houseless, poor, + unfriended,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">My head beneath the storm I sadly + bended,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Seer of the Aonian maids! I look'd for + thee:</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Thou camest—lazy child of + inspiration,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">My Délvig; and thy voice awaken'd + straight</span><br /> + <span class="i12">In this numb'd heart the glow of + consolation;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And I was comforted, and bless'd my + fate.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Even in infancy within us + burn'd</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The light of song—the poet-spell had + bound us;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Even in infancy there flitted round + us</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Two Muses, whose sweet glamour soon we + learn'd.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Even then <i>I</i> loved applause—that + vain delusion!—</span><br /> + <span class="i12"><i>Thou</i> sang'st but for thy Muse, and + for thy heart;</span><br /> + <span class="i12"><i>I</i> squander'd gifts and life with + rash profusion,</span><br /> + <span class="i12"><i>Thou</i> cherishedst thy gifts in peace + apart.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">The worship of the Muse no care + beseems;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The Beautiful is calm, and high, and + holy;</span><br /> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg + 33]</a></span> <span class="i12">Youth is a cunning + counsellor—of folly!—</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Lulling our sense with vain and empty + dreams....</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Upon the past we gaze—the same, yet + other—</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And find no trace.—We wake, alas! too + late.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Was it not so with us, Délvig, my + brother?—</span><br /> + <span class="i12">My brother in our Muse as in our + fate!</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">'Tis time, 'tis time! Let us once more + be free!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The world's not worth this torturing + resistance!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Beneath retirement's shade will glide + existence—</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Thee, my belated friend—I wait for + thee!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Come! with the flame of an enchanted + story</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Tradition's lore shall wake, our hearts to + move;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">We'll talk of Caucasus, of war, of + glory,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Of Schiller, and of genius, and of + love.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">'Tis time no less for me ... Friends, feast + amain!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Behold, a joyful meeting is before + us;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Think of the poet's prophecy; for o'er + us</span><br /> + <span class="i12">A year shall pass, and we shall meet + again!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">My vision's covenant shall have + fulfilling;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">A year—and I shall be with ye once + more!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Oh, then, what shouts, what hand-grasps warm + and thrilling!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">What goblets skyward heaved with merry + roar!</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Unto our Union consecrated be</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The first we drain—fill higher yet, and + higher!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Bless it, O Muse, in strains of raptured + fire!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Bless it! All hail, Lyceum! hail to + thee!—</span><br /> + <span class="i12">To those who led our youth with care and + praises,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Living and dead! the next we grateful + fill;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Let each, as to his lips the cup he + raises,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The good remember, and forget the + ill.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Feast, then, while we are here, while yet we + may:</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Hour after hour, alas! Time thins our + numbers;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">One pines afar, one in the coffin + slumbers;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Days fly; Fate looks on us; we fade + away;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Bending insensibly to earth, and + chilling,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">We near our starting-place with many a + groan....</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Whose lot will be in old age to be + filling,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">On this Lyceum-day, his cup + <i>alone</i>?</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Unhappy friend! Amid a stranger + race,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Like guest intrusive, that superfluous + lingers,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">He'll think of us that day, with quivering + fingers</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Hiding the tears that wet his wrinkled + face....</span><br /> + <span class="i12">O, may he then at least, in mournful + gladness,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Pass with his cup this day for ever + dear,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">As even I, in exile and in + sadness,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Yet with a fleeting joy, have pass'd it + here!</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + <p>In the following lines, the poet has endeavoured to reproduce the + impressions made upon his mind by the mountain scenery of the + Caucasus; scenery which he had visited with such rapture, and to + which his imagination returned with undiminished delight. It has been + our aim to endeavour, in our translation, to give an echo, however + feeble and imperfect, of the wild and airy <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> freedom + of the versification which distinguishes these spirited stanzas. The + picture which they contain, rough, sketchy, and unfinished, as it may + appear, bears every mark of being a faithful copy from nature—a + study taken on the spot; and will therefore, we trust, be not + unacceptable to our readers, as calculated to give an idea not only + of the vigorous and rapid <i>handling</i> of the poet's pencil, + but also of the wild and sublime region—the Switzerland of + Russia—which he has here essayed to portray. Of the two furious + and picturesque torrents which Púshkin has mentioned in this short + poem, Térek is certainly too well known to our geographical readers + to need any description of its course from the snow-covered peak of + Dariál to the Caspian; and the bold comparison in the last stanza + will doubtless be found, though perhaps somewhat exaggerated, not + deficient in a kind of fierce Æschylean energy, perfectly in + character with the violent and thundering course of the torrent + itself:—</p> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + Caucasus. + </div><br /> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Beneath me the peaks of the Caucasus + lie,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">My gaze from the snow-bordered cliff I am + bending;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">From her sun-lighted eyry the Eagle + ascending</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Floats movelessly on in a line with mine + eye.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">I see the young torrent's first leap + towards the ocean,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And the cliff-cradled lawine essay its first + motion.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Beneath me the clouds in their silentness + go,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The cataract through them in thunder + down-dashing,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Far beneath them bare peaks in the sunny ray + flashing,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Weak moss and dry shrubs I can mark yet + below.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Dark thickets still lower—green meadows + are blooming,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Where the throstle is singing, and reindeer are + roaming.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Here man, too, has nested his hut, and the + flocks</span><br /> + <span class="i12">On the long grassy slopes in their quiet are + feeding,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And down to the valley the shepherd is + speeding,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Where Arágva gleams out from her wood-crested + rocks.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And there in his crags the poor robber is + hiding,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And Térek in anger is wrestling and + chiding.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Like a fierce young Wild Beast, how he bellows + and raves,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Like that Beast from his cage when his prey he + espieth;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">'Gainst the bank, like a Wrestler, he + struggleth and plyeth,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And licks at the rock with his ravening + waves.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">In vain, thou wild River! dumb cliffs are + around thee,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And sternly and grimly their bondage hath bound + thee.</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + <p>To those who measure the value of a poem, less by the pretension + and ambitiousness of its form, than by the completeness of its + execution and the skill with which the leading idea is developed, we + think that the graceful little production which we are now about to + present to the reader, will possess very considerable interest. It + is, it is true, no more important a thing than a mere song; but the + naturalness and unity of the fundamental thought, and the happy + employment of what is undoubtedly one of the most effective artifices + at the command of the lyric writer—we mean + repetition—render the following lines worthy of the universal + admiration which they have obtained in the original, and may not be + devoid of charm in the translation:—</p><span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + To * * * + </div><br /> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Yes! I remember well our meeting,</span><br /> + <span class="i16">When first thou dawnedst on my + sight,</span><br /> + <span class="i14">Like some fair phantom past me + fleeting,</span><br /> + <span class="i16">Some nymph of purity and light.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">By weary agonies surrounded,</span><br /> + <span class="i16">'Mid toil, 'mid mean and noisy + care,</span><br /> + <span class="i14">Long in mine ear thy soft voice + sounded,</span><br /> + <span class="i16">Long dream'd I of thy features + fair.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Years flew; Fate's blast blew ever + stronger,</span><br /> + <span class="i16">Scattering mine early dreams to + air,</span><br /> + <span class="i14">And thy soft voice I heard no + longer—</span><br /> + <span class="i16">No longer saw thy features fair.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">In exile's silent desolation</span><br /> + <span class="i16">Slowly dragg'd on the days for + me—</span><br /> + <span class="i14">Orphan'd of life, of + inspiration,</span><br /> + <span class="i16">Of tears, of love, of deity.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">I woke—once more my heart was + beating—</span><br /> + <span class="i16">Once more thou dawnedst on my + sight,</span><br /> + <span class="i14">Like some fair phantom past me + fleeting,</span><br /> + <span class="i16">Some nymph of purity and light.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">My heart has found its + consolation—</span><br /> + <span class="i16">All has revived once more for + me—</span><br /> + <span class="i14">And vanish'd life, and + inspiration,</span><br /> + <span class="i16">And tears, and love, and deity.</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + <p>The versification of the following little poem is founded on a + system which Púshkin seems to have looked upon with peculiar favour, + as he has employed the same metrical arrangement in by far the + largest proportion of his poetical works. So gracefully and so + easily, indeed, has he wielded this metre, and with so flexible, so + delicate, and so masterly a hand, that we could not refrain from + attempting to imitate it in our English version; for we considered + that it is impossible to say how much of the peculiar + <i>character</i> of a poet's writings depends upon the colouring, + or rather the <i>touch</i>—if we may borrow a phrase from the + vocabulary of the critic in painting—of the metre. Undoubtedly + a poet is the best judge not only of the kind, but of the degree of + the effect which he wishes to produce upon his reader; and there may + be, between the thoughts which he desires to embody, and the peculiar + harmonies in which he may determine to clothe those thoughts, + analogies and sympathies too delicate for our grosser ears; or, at + least, if not too subtle and refined for our ears to perceive, yet + far too delicate for us to define, or exactly to appreciate. Moved by + this reasoning, we have always preferred to follow, as nearly as we + could, the exact versification, and even the most minute varieties of + tone and metrical accentuation. Inattention to this point is + undoubtedly the stumbling-block of translators in general; of the + dangerous consequences of such inattention, it is not necessary to + give any elaborate proof. How much, we may ask, does not the poetry + of Dante, for instance, lose, by being despoiled of that great source + of its peculiar effect springing from the employment of the + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg + 36]</a></span> <i>terza rima</i>! It is in vain to say, that it is + enormously difficult to produce the <i>terza rima</i> in English. To + translate the "gran padre Alighier" into English + <i>worthily</i>, the <i>terza rima must</i> be employed, whatever be + the obstacles presented by the dissimilarities existing between the + Italian and English languages.</p> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + The Mob. + </div><br /> + + <div class='center'> + "Procul este, profani!" + </div><br /> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">A Poet o'er his glowing lyre</span><br /> + <span class="i18">A wild and careless hand had + flung.</span><br /> + <span class="i18">The base, cold crowd, that nought + admire,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Stood round, responseless to his + fire,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">With heavy eye and mocking tongue.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">"And why so loudly is he + singing?"</span><br /> + <span class="i18">('Twas thus that idiot mob + replied,)</span><br /> + <span class="i18">"His music in our ears is + ringing;</span><br /> + <span class="i18">But whither flows that music's + tide?</span><br /> + <span class="i18">What doth it teach? His art is + madness!</span><br /> + <span class="i18">He moves our soul to joy or + sadness.</span><br /> + <span class="i18">A wayward necromantic spell!</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Free as the breeze his music + floweth,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">But fruitless, too, as breeze that + bloweth,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">What doth it profit, Poet, + tell?"</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i12"><span class='smcap'>Poet</span>.—Cease, + idiot, cease thy loathsome cant!</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Day-labourer, slave of toil and + want!</span><br /> + <span class="i18">I hate thy babble vain and hollow.</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Thou art a worm, no child of day:</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Thy god is Profit—thou wouldst + weigh</span><br /> + <span class="i18">By pounds the Belvidere Apollo.</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Gain—gain alone to thee is + sweet.</span><br /> + <span class="i18">The marble is a god! ... what of + it</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Thou count'st a pie-dish far above + it—</span><br /> + <span class="i18">A dish wherein to cook thy meat!</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i12"><span class='smcap'>Mob</span>.—But, if + thou be'st the Elect of Heaven,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">The gift that God has largely + given,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Thou shouldst then for our good + impart,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">To purify thy brother's heart.</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Yes, we are base, and vile, and + hateful,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Cruel, and shameless, and + ungrateful—</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Impotent and heartless tools,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Slaves, and slanderers, and fools.</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Come then, if charity doth sway + thee,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Chase from our hearts the + viper-brood;</span><br /> + <span class="i18">However stern, we will obey thee;</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Yes, we will listen, and be good!</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i12"><span class='smcap'>Poet</span>.—Begone, + begone! What common feeling</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Can e'er exist 'twixt ye and + me?</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Go on, your souls in vices + steeling;</span><br /> + <span class="i18">The lyre's sweet voice is dumb to + ye:</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Go! foul as reek of charnel-slime,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">In every age, in every clime,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Ye aye have felt, and yet ye feel,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Scourge, dungeon, halter, axe, and + wheel.</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Go, hearts of sin and heads of + trifling,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">From your vile streets, so foul and + stifling,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">They sweep the dirt—no useless + trade!</span><br /> + <span class="i18">But when, their robes with ordure + staining,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Altar and sacrifice disdaining,</span><br /> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg + 37]</a></span> <span class="i18">Did e'er your <i>priests</i> + ply broom and spade?</span><br /> + <span class="i18">'Twas not for life's base + agitation</span><br /> + <span class="i18">That <i>we</i> were born—for gain nor + care—</span><br /> + <span class="i18">No—we were born for + inspiration,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">For love, for music, and for + prayer!</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="squished" style='width: 45%;' /> + + <p>The ballad entitled "The Black Shawl" has obtained a + degree of popularity among the author's countrymen, for which the + slightness of the composition renders it in some measure difficult to + account. It may, perhaps, be explained by the circumstance, that the + verses are in the original exceedingly well adapted to be + sung—one of the highest merits of this class of + poetry—for all ancient ballads, in every language throughout + the world, were specifically intended to be sung or chanted; and all + modern productions, therefore, written in imitation of these ancient + compositions—the first lispings of the Muse—can only be + successful in proportion as they possess the essential and + characteristic quality of being capable of being sung. Independently + of the highly musical arrangement of the rhythm, which, in the + original, distinguishes "The Black Shawl," the following + verses cannot be denied the merit of relating, in a few rapid and + energetic measures, a simple and striking story of Oriental love, + vengeance, and remorse:—</p> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + The Black Shawl. + </div><br /> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Like a madman I gaze on a raven-black + shawl;</span><br /> + <span class="i14">Remorse, fear, and anguish—this heart + knows them all.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">When believing and fond, in the spring-time of + youth,</span><br /> + <span class="i14">I loved a Greek maiden with tenderest + truth.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">That fair one caress'd me—my life! + oh, 'twas bright,</span><br /> + <span class="i14">But it set—that fair day—in a + hurricane night.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">One day I had bidden young guests, a gay + crew,</span><br /> + <span class="i14">When sudden there knock'd at my gate a vile + Jew.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">"With guests thou art feasting," he + whisperingly said,</span><br /> + <span class="i14">"And <i>she</i> hath betray'd + thee—thy young Grecian maid."</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">I cursed him, and gave him good guerdon of + gold,</span><br /> + <span class="i14">And call'd me a slave that was trusty and + bold.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">"Ho! my charger—my charger!" we + mount, we depart,</span><br /> + <span class="i14">And soft pity whisper'd in vain at my + heart.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">On the Greek maiden's threshold in frenzy I + stood—</span><br /> + <span class="i14">I was faint—and the sun seem'd as + darken'd with blood:</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">By the maiden's lone window I listen'd, + and there</span><br /> + <span class="i14">I beheld an Armenian caressing the + fair.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">The light darken'd round me—then + flash'd my good blade....</span><br /> + <span class="i14">The minion ne'er finish'd the kiss that + betray'd.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">On the corse of the minion in fury I + danced,</span><br /> + <span class="i14">Then silent and pale at the maiden I + glanced.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">I remember the prayers and the red-bursting + stream....</span><br /> + <span class="i14">Thus perish'd the maiden—thus + perish'd my dream.</span><br /> + </div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg + 38]</a></span> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">This raven-black shawl from her dead brow I + tore—</span><br /> + <span class="i14">On its fold from my dagger I wiped off the + gore.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">The mists of the evening arose, and my + slave</span><br /> + <span class="i14">Hurl'd the corses of both in the + Danube's dark wave.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Since then, I kiss never the maid's eyes of + light—</span><br /> + <span class="i14">Since then, I know never the soft joys of + night.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i14">Like a madman I gaze on the raven-black + shawl;</span><br /> + <span class="i14">Remorse, fear, and anguish—this heart + knows them all!</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + <p>The pretty lines which we are now about to offer, are rather + remarkable as being written in the manner of the ancient national + songs of Russia, than for any thing very new in the ideas, or very + striking in the expression. They possess, however—at least in + the original—a certain charm arising from simplicity and + grace.</p> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + The Rose. + </div>.<br /> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">Where is our rose, friends?</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Tell if ye may!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Faded the rose, friends,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The Dawn-child of Day.</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Ah, do not say,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Such is youth's fleetness!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Ah, do not say,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Thus fades life's sweetness!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">No, rather say,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">I mourn thee, rose—farewell!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Now to the lily-bell</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Flit we away.</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + <p>Among the thousand-and-one compositions, in all languages, founded + upon the sublime theme of the downfall and death of Napoleon, there + are, we think, very few which have surpassed, in weight of thought, + in splendour of diction, and in grandeur of versification, + Púshkin's noble lyric upon this subject. The mighty share which + Russia had in overthrowing the gigantic power of the greatest of + modern conquerors, could not fail of affording to a Russian poet a + peculiar source of triumphant yet not too exulting inspiration; and + Púshkin, in that portion of the following ode in which he is led more + particularly to allude to the part played by his country in the + sublime drama, whose catastrophe was the ruin of Bonaparte's + blood-cemented empire, has given undeniable proof of his possessing + that union of magnanimity and patriotism, which is not the meanest + characteristic of elevated genius. While the poet gives full way to + the triumphant feelings so naturally inspired by the exploits of + Russian valour, and by the patient fortitude of Russian policy, he + wisely and nobly abstains on indulging in any of those outbursts of + gratified revenge and national hatred which deform the pages of + almost all—poets, and even historians—who have written on + this colossal subject.</p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id= + "Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + Napoleon. + </div><br /> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">The wondrous destiny is ended,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The mighty light is quench'd and + dead;</span><br /> + <span class="i20">In storm and darkness hath + descended</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Napoleon's sun, so bright and + dread.</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The captive King hath burst his + prison—</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The petted child of Victory;</span><br /> + <span class="i20">And for the Exile hath arisen</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The dawning of Posterity.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">O thou, of whose immortal story</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Earth aye the memory shall keep,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Now, 'neath the shadow of thy + glory</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Rest, rest, amid the lonely deep!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">A grave sublime ... nor nobler + ever</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Couldst thou have found ... for o'er thine + urn</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The Nations' hate is quench'd for + ever,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">And Glory's beacon-ray shall + burn.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">There was a time thine eagles + tower'd</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Resistless o'er the humbled + world;</span><br /> + <span class="i20">There was a time the empires + cower'd</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Before the bolt thy hand had + hurl'd:</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The standards, thy proud will + obeying,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Flapp'd wrath and woe on every + wind—</span><br /> + <span class="i20">A few short years, and thou wert + laying</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Thine iron yoke on human kind.</span><br /> + </div> + + + <hr class="short" /> + + + + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">And France, on glories vain and + hollow,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Had fixed her frenzy-glance of + flame—</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Forgot sublimer hopes, to follow</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Thee, Conqueror, thee—her dazzling + shame!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Thy legions' swords with blood were + drunken—</span><br /> + <span class="i20">All sank before thine echoing + tread;</span><br /> + <span class="i20">And Europe fell—for sleep was + sunken,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The sleep of death—upon her + head.</span><br /> + </div> + + <hr class="short" /> + + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">Thou mightst have judged us, but thou wouldst + not!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">What dimm'd thy reason's piercing + light,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">That Russian hearts thou understoodst + not,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">From thine heroic spirit's + height?</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Moscow's immortal + conflagration</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Foreseeing not, thou deem'dst that + we</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Would kneel for peace, a conquer'd + nation—</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Thou knew'st the Russ ... too late for + thee!</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">Up, Russia! Queen of hundred + battles,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Remember now thine ancient right!</span><br /> + </div> + + <hr class="short" /> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">Blaze, Moscow!—Far shall shine thy + light!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Lo! other times are dawning o'er + us:</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Be blotted out, our short + disgrace!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Swell, Russia, swell the battle + chorus!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">War! is the watchword of our race!</span><br /> + </div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg + 40]</a></span> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">Lo! how the baffled leader + seizeth,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">With fetter'd hands, his Iron + Crown—</span><br /> + <span class="i20">A dread abyss his spirit freezeth!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Down, down he goes, to ruin down!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">And Europe's armaments are + driven,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Like mist, along the blood-stain'd + snow—</span><br /> + <span class="i20">That snow shall melt 'neath summer's + heaven,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">With the last footstep of the foe.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">'Twas a wild storm of fear and + wonder,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">When Europe woke and burst her + chain;</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The accursed race, like scatter'd + thunder,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">After the tyrant fled amain.</span><br /> + <span class="i20">And Nemesis a doom hath spoken,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The Mighty hears that doom with + dread:</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The wrongs thou'st done shall now be + wroken,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Tyrant, upon thy guilty head!</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">Thou shalt redeem thy usurpation,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Thy long career of war and crime,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">In exile's eating desolation,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Beneath a far and stranger clime.</span><br /> + <span class="i20">And oft the midnight sail shall + wander</span><br /> + <span class="i20">By that lone isle, thy + prison-place,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">And oft a stranger there shall + ponder,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">And o'er that stone a pardon + trace,</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">Where mused the Exile, oft + recalling</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The well-known clang of sword and + lance,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">The yells, Night's icy ear + appalling;</span><br /> + <span class="i20">His own blue sky—the sky of + France;</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Where, in his loneliness + forgetting</span><br /> + <span class="i20">His broken sword, his ruin'd + throne,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">With bitter grief, with vain + regretting,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">On his fair Boy he mused alone.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">But shame, and curses without + number,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Upon that reptile head be laid,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Whose insults now shall vex the + slumber</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Of him—that sad discrowned + shade!</span><br /> + <span class="i20">No! for his trump the signal + sounded,</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Her glorious race when Russia ran;</span><br /> + <span class="i20">His hand, 'mid strife and battle, + founded</span><br /> + <span class="i20">Eternal liberty for man!</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + <p>The next specimen for which we have to request the indulgence of + our readers, is a little composition of a very different and much + less ambitious character. The idea is simple enough, and not, we + think, entirely devoid of originality—the primary object of + every translator in the selection of the subjects on which he is to + exercise his dexterity.</p> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + The Storm. + </div>.<br /> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i20">See, on yon rock, a maiden's + form,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Far o'er the wave a white robe + flashing,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Around, before the blackening + storm,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">On the loud beach the billows + dashing;</span><br /> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg + 41]</a></span> <span class="i18">Along the waves, now red, now + pale,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">The lightning-glare incessant + gleameth;</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Whirling and fluttering in the + gale,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">The snowy robe incessant + streameth;</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Fair is that sea in blackening + storm,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">And fair that sky with lightnings + riven,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">But fairer far that maiden form,</span><br /> + <span class="i18">Than wave, or flash, or stormy + heaven!</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + <p>We now come to one of the most remarkable lyric productions of our + Poet's genius, the "General;" and in order that our + readers may be enabled to understand and appreciate this exquisite + little poem, we shall preface it with a few remarks of an explanatory + character; as the <i>details</i>, at least, of the events upon which + it is founded may not be so generally known in England as they are in + Russia. Our English readers, however, are doubtless sufficiently + familiar with the history of the great campaign of the year 1812, + which led to the burning of Moscow, and to the consequent + annihilation of the mighty army which Napoleon led to perish in the + snows of Russia, to remember one remarkable episode connected with + that most important campaign. They remember that one of the Russian + armies was placed under the command of Field-marshal Barclay de + Tolly, a general descended from an ancient Scottish family which had + been settled for some generations in Russia, but who was in every + respect to be considered as a native Russian, being born a subject of + the Tsar, and having, during a long life of service in the Russian + army, gradually reached the highest military rank, and acquired a + well-earned and universal reputation as an able strategist and a + brave man. The mode of operations determined on at the beginning of + this most momentous struggle, and persevered in throughout by the + Russians, with a patience and steadiness no less admirable than the + wisdom of the combinations on which they were founded, was a purely + defensive system of tactics. The event amply demonstrated the + soundness of the principles upon which those operations were based; + for while Napoleon was gradually attracted into the interior of the + country by armies which perpetually retired before him without giving + him the opportunity of coming to a general action, the autumn was + gradually passing away, and the flames of Moscow only served to light + up, for the French army, the beginning of their hopeless retreat + through a country now totally laid waste, and covered with the snows + of a Russian winter. This mode of operations, however, was by no + means likely to please the population of Russia, infuriated by the + long unaccustomed presence of a hostile army within their sacred + frontier, and worked up by all the circumstances of the invasion to + the highest pitch of patriotic enthusiasm. Unable to appreciate the + value of what must have appeared to them a timid and pusillanimous + policy, they overwhelmed Barclay de Tolly with violent accusations of + cowardice, and even of treachery; rendered the more plausible to the + mind of the ignorant, by the circumstance of their object being a + foreigner—or at least of foreign blood. So violent ultimately + became these accusations, that although the Field-marshal continued + to enjoy the highest confidence and esteem of his sovereign, it was + found expedient to allow him to resign the chief command, in which he + was succeeded by Kutúzoff. Barclay de Tolly, during the greater part + of the campaign, fought as a simple general of division, in which + character (as Púshkin describes) he took part in the great battle of + Borodíno.</p> + + <p>Barclay must still be considered as one of those distinguished + persons to whose memory justice has never been entirely done; and to + do this justice was Púshkin's generous task in the noble lines + which follow these remarks. No traveller has ever visited the winter + palace of St Petersburg without <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> having been struck with the + celebrated "Hall of Marshals," which forms one of its most + imposing features. In this magnificent room are placed the portraits + (chiefly painted by Dawe, an English artist, who passed the greater + part of his life in Russia) of the Russian generals who figured in + that great campaign; and among them is to be found, of course, the + "counterfeit presentment" of Barclay de Tolly, painted, as + the field-marshals are in every case in this gallery of portraits, at + full length. With respect to the versification of this and several + other poems which we have selected, the English reader will not + perhaps at first remark that it is nothing more than the measure used + by old Drayton in the <i>Polyolbion</i>, and one in which a great + deal of the earlier English poetry is written. It is very favourite + measure of our Russian poet, who has, however, increased, in some + degree, its difficulty for an English versifier, by introducing a + great number of double terminations. It will be found, indeed, that + these double rhymes are as numerous as the single or monosyllabic + ones.</p> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + The General. + </div>.<br /> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i12">In the Tsar's palace stands a hall right + nobly builded;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Its walls are neither carved, nor velvet-hung, + nor gilded,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Nor here beneath the glass doth pearl or + diamond glow;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">But wheresoe'er ye look, around, above, + below,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The quick-eyed Painter's hand, now bold, + now softly tender,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">From his free pencil here hath shed a magic + splendour.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Here are no village nymphs, no dewy + forest-glades,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">No fauns with giddy cups, no snowy-bosom'd + maids,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">No hunting-scene, no dance; but cloaks, and + plumes, and sabres,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And faces sternly still, and dark with + hero-labours.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The Painter's art hath here in glittering + crowd portray'd</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The chiefs who Russia's line to victory + array'd;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Chiefs in that great Campaign attired in + fadeless glory</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Of the year Twelve, that aye shall live in + Russian story.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Here oft in musing mood my silent footstep + strays,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Before these well-known forms I love to stop + and gaze,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And dream I hear their voice, 'mid + battle-thunder ringing.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Some of them are no more; and some, with faces + flinging</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Upon the canvass still Youth's fresh and + rosy bloom,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Are wrinkled now and old, and bending to the + tomb</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The laurel-wreathed brow.</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 14em;">But chiefly One doth win + me</span><br /> + <span class="i12">'Mid the stern throng. With new thoughts + swelling in me</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Before that One I stand, and cannot lightly + brook</span><br /> + <span class="i12">To take mine eye from him. And still, the more + I look,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The more within my breast is bitterness + awaked.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i12">He's painted at full length. His brow, + austere and naked,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Shines like a fleshless skull, and on it ye may + mark</span><br /> + <span class="i12">A mighty weight of woe. Around him—all is + dark;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Behind, a tented field. Tranquil and stern he + raises</span><br /> + <span class="i12">His mournful eye, and with contemptuous + calmness gazes.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Be't that the artist here embodied his own + thought,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">When on the canvass thus the lineaments he + caught,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Or guided and inspired by some unknown + Possession—</span><br /> + <span class="i12">I know not: Dawe has drawn the man with this + expression.</span><br /> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i12">Unhappy chief! Alas, thy cup was full of + gall;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Unto a foreign land thou sacrificedst + all.</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The savage mob's dull glance of hate thou + calmly balkedst,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">With thy great thoughts alone and silently thou + walkedst;</span><br /> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg + 43]</a></span> <span class="i12">The people could not brook thy + foreign-sounding name,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Pursued thee with its yell, and piled thy head + with shame,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And by thy very hand though saved from ill and + danger,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Mock'd at thy sacred age—thou + hoary-headed stranger!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And even <i>he</i>, whose soul could read thy + noble heart,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">To please that idiot mob, blamed thee with + cruel art....</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And long with patient faith, defying doubt and + terror,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Thou heldest on unmoved, spite of a + people's error;</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And, e'er thy race was run, wert forced at + last to yield</span><br /> + <span class="i12">The well-earned laurel-wreath of many a bloody + field,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Fame, power, and deep-thought plans; and with + thy sword beside thee</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Within a regiment's ranks, alone, obscure, + to hide thee,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">And there, a veteran chief, like some young + sentinel,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">When first upon his ear rings the ball's + whistling knell,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Thou rushedst 'mid the fire, a + warrior's death desiring—</span><br /> + <span class="i12">In vain!—</span> + </div> + + <hr class="short" /> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i12">O men! O wretched race! O worthy tears and + laughter!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Priests of the moment's god, ne'er + thinking of hereafter!</span><br /> + <span class="i12">How oft among ye, men! a mighty one is + seen,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Whom the blind age pursues with insults mad and + mean,</span><br /> + <span class="i12">But gazing on whose face, some future + generation</span><br /> + <span class="i12">Shall feel, as I do now, regret and + admiration!</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + <a name="Page_43a" id="Page_43a"></a> + <span class='pagenum'></span> + + <h2><a name= + "SUSPIRIA_DE_PROFUNDIS_BEING_A_SEQUEL_TO_THE_CONFESSIONS_OF_AN_ENGLISH" + id= + "SUSPIRIA_DE_PROFUNDIS_BEING_A_SEQUEL_TO_THE_CONFESSIONS_OF_AN_ENGLISH"> + </a>SUSPIRIA DE PROFUNDIS; BEING A SEQUEL TO THE CONFESSIONS OF AN + ENGLISH OPIUM-EATER.</h2> + + <h3>PART II.</h3> + + <p>The Oxford visions, of which some have been given, were but + anticipations necessary to illustrate the glimpse opened of + childhood, (as being its reaction.) In this <span class= + 'smcap'>Second</span> part, returning from that anticipation, I + retrace an abstract of my boyish and youthful days so far as they + furnished or exposed the germs of later experiences in worlds more + shadowy.</p> + + <p>Upon me, as upon others scattered thinly by tens and twenties over + every thousand years, fell too powerfully and too early the vision of + life. The horror of life mixed itself already in earliest youth with + the heavenly sweetness of life; that grief, which one in a hundred + has sensibility enough to gather from the sad retrospect of life in + its closing stage, for me shed its dews as a prelibation upon the + fountains of life whilst yet sparkling to the morning sun. I saw from + afar and from before what I was to see from behind. Is this the + description of an early youth passed in the shades of gloom? No, but + of a youth passed in the divinest happiness. And if the reader has + (which so few have) the passion, without which there is no reading of + the legend and superscription upon man's brow, if he is not (as + most are) deafer than the grave to every <i>deep</i> note that sighs + upwards from the Delphic caves of human life, he will know that the + rapture of life (or any thing which by approach can merit that name) + does not arise, unless as perfect music arises—music of Mozart + or Beethoven—by the confluence of the mighty and terrific + discords with the subtle concords. Not by contrast, or as reciprocal + foils do these elements act, which is the feeble conception of many, + but by union. They are the sexual forces in music: "male and + female created he them;" and these mighty antagonists do not put + forth their hostilities by repulsion, but by deepest attraction.</p> + + <p>As "in to-day already walks to-morrow," <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> so in the + past experience of a youthful life may be seen dimly the future. The + collisions with alien interests or hostile views, of a child, boy, or + very young man, so insulated as each of these is sure to + be,—those aspects of opposition which such a person <i>can</i> + occupy, are limited by the exceedingly few and trivial lines of + connexion along which he is able to radiate any essential influence + whatever upon the fortunes or happiness of others. Circumstances may + magnify his importance for the moment; but, after all, any cable + which he carries out upon other vessels is easily slipped upon a feud + arising. Far otherwise is the state of relations connecting an adult + or responsible man with the circles around him as life advances. The + network of these relations is a thousand times more intricate, the + jarring of these intricate relations a thousand times more frequent, + and the vibrations a thousand times harsher which these jarrings + diffuse. This truth is felt beforehand misgivingly and in troubled + vision, by a young man who stands upon the threshold of manhood. One + earliest instinct of fear and horror would darken his spirit if it + could be revealed to itself and self-questioned at the moment of + birth: a second instinct of the sane nature would again pollute that + tremulous mirror, if the moment were as punctually marked as physical + birth is marked, which dismisses him finally upon the tides of + absolute self-control. A dark ocean would seem the total expanse of + life from the first: but far darker and more appalling would seem + that interior and second chamber of the ocean which called him away + for ever on the direct accountability of others. Dreadful would be + the morning which should say—"Be thou a human child + incarnate;" but more dreadful the morning which should + say—"Bear thou henceforth the sceptre of thy self-dominion + through life, and the passion of life!" Yes, dreadful would be + both: but without a basis of the dreadful there is no perfect + rapture. It is a part through the sorrow of life, growing out of its + events, that this basis of awe and solemn darkness slowly + accumulates. <i>That</i> I have illustrated. But, as life expands, it + is more through the <i>strife</i> which besets us, strife from + conflicting opinions, positions, passions, interests, that the + funereal ground settles and deposits itself, which sends upward the + dark lustrous brilliancy through the jewel of life—else + revealing a pale and superficial glitter. Either the human being must + suffer and struggle as the price of a more searching vision, or his + gaze must be shallow and without intellectual revelation.</p> + + <p>Through accident it was in part, and, where through no accident + but my own nature, not through features of it at all painful to + recollect, that constantly in early life (that is, from boyish days + until eighteen, when by going to Oxford, practically I became my own + master) I was engaged in duels of fierce continual struggle, with + some person or body of persons, that sought, like the Roman + <i>retiarius</i>, to throw a net of deadly coercion or constraint + over the undoubted rights of my natural freedom. The steady rebellion + upon my part in one-half, was a mere human reaction of justifiable + indignation; but in the other half it was the struggle of a + conscientious nature—disdaining to feel it as any mere right or + discretional privilege—no, feeling it as the noblest of duties + to resist, though it should be mortally, those that would have + enslaved me, and to retort scorn upon those that would have put my + head below their feet. Too much, even in later life, I have perceived + in men that pass for good men, a disposition to degrade (and if + possible to degrade through self-degradation) those in whom + unwillingly they feel any weight of oppression to themselves, by + commanding qualities of intellect or character. They respect you: + they are compelled to do so: and they hate to do so. Next, therefore, + they seek to throw off the sense of this oppression, and to take + vengeance for it, by co-operating with any unhappy accidents in your + life, to inflict a sense of humiliation upon you, and (if possible) + to force you into becoming a consenting party to that humiliation. + Oh, wherefore is it that those who presume to call themselves the + "friends" of this man or that woman, are so often those + above all others, whom <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id= + "Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> in the hour of death that man or woman + is most likely to salute with the valediction—Would God I had + never seen your face?</p> + + <p>In citing one or two cases of these early struggles, I have + chiefly in view the effect of these upon my subsequent visions under + the reign of opium. And this indulgent reflection should accompany + the mature reader through all such records of boyish inexperience. A + good tempered-man, who is also acquainted with the world, will easily + evade, without needing any artifice of servile obsequiousness, those + quarrels which an upright simplicity, jealous of its own rights, and + unpractised in the science of worldly address, cannot always evade + without some loss of self-respect. Suavity in this manner may, it is + true, be reconciled with firmness in the matter; but not easily by a + young person who wants all the appropriate resources of knowledge, of + adroit and guarded language, for making his good temper available. + Men are protected from insult and wrong, not merely by their own + skill, but also in the absence of any skill at all, by the general + spirit of forbearance to which society has trained all those whom + they are likely to meet. But boys meeting with no such forbearance or + training in other boys, must sometimes be thrown upon feuds in the + ratio of their own firmness, much more than in the ratio of any + natural proneness to quarrel. Such a subject, however, will be best + illustrated by a sketch or two of my own principal feuds.</p> + + <p>The first, but merely transient and playful, nor worth noticing at + all, but for its subsequent resurrection under other and awful + colouring in my dreams, grew out of an imaginary slight, as I viewed + it, put upon me by one of my guardians. I had four guardians: and the + one of these who had the most knowledge and talent of the whole, a + banker, living about a hundred miles from my home, had invited me + when eleven years old to his house. His eldest daughter, perhaps a + year younger than myself, wore at that time upon her very lovely face + the most angelic expression of character and temper that I have + almost ever seen. Naturally, I fell in love with her. It seems absurd + to say so; and the more so, because two children more absolutely + innocent than we were cannot be imagined, neither of us having ever + been at any school;—but the simple truth is, that in the most + chivalrous sense I was in love with her. And the proof that I was so + showed itself in three separate modes: I kissed her glove on any rare + occasion when I found it lying on a table; secondly, I looked out for + some excuse to be jealous of her; and, thirdly, I did my very best to + get up a quarrel. What I wanted the quarrel for was the luxury of a + reconciliation; a hill cannot be had, you know, without going to the + expense of a valley. And though I hated the very thought of a + moment's difference with so truly gentle a girl, yet how, but + through such a purgatory, could one win the paradise of her returning + smiles? All this, however, came to nothing; and simply because she + positively would <i>not</i> quarrel. And the jealousy fell through, + because there was no decent subject for such a passion, unless it had + settled upon an old music-master whom lunacy itself could not adopt + as a rival. The quarrel meantime, which never prospered with the + daughter, silently kindled on my part towards the father. His offence + was this. At dinner, I naturally placed myself by the side of M., and + it gave me great pleasure to touch her hand at intervals. As M. was + my cousin, though twice or even three times removed, I did not feel + taking too great a liberty in this little act of tenderness. No + matter if three thousand times removed, I said, my cousin is my + cousin: nor had I ever very much designed to conceal the act; or if + so, rather on her account than my own. One evening, however, papa + observed my manœuvre. Did he seem displeased? Not at all: he + even condescended to smile. But the next day he placed M. on the side + opposite to myself. In one respect this was really an improvement; + because it gave me a better view of my cousin's sweet + countenance. But then there was the loss of the hand to be + considered, and secondly there was the affront. It was clear that + vengeance must be had. Now there was but one thing in this world that + I could do even <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id= + "Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> decently: but <i>that</i> I could do + admirably. This was writing Latin hexameters. Juvenal, though it was + not very much of him that I had then read, seemed to me a divine + model. The inspiration of wrath spoke through him as through a Hebrew + prophet. The same inspiration spoke now in me. <i>Facit indignatio + versum</i>, said Juvenal. And it must be owned that Indignation has + never made such good verses since as she did in that day. But still, + even to me this agile passion proved a Muse of genial inspiration for + a couple of paragraphs: and one line I will mention as worthy to have + taken its place in Juvenal himself. I say this without scruple, + having not a shadow of vanity, nor on the other hand a shadow of + false modesty connected with such boyish accomplishments. The poem + opened thus—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Te nimis austerum; sacræ qui fœdera + mensæ</span><br /> + <span class="i2">Diruis, insector Satyræ reboante + flagello."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <p>But the line, which I insist upon as of Roman strength, was the + closing one of the next sentence. The general effect of the sentiment + was—that my clamorous wrath should make its way even into ears + that were past hearing:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i8"><span style= + "margin-left: 7em;">"——mea sæva + querela</span><br /> + <span class="i2">Auribus insidet ceratis, auribus + etsi</span><br /> + <span class="i2">Non audituris hybernâ nocte + procellam."</span><br /></span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>The power, however, which inflated my verse, soon collapsed; + having been soothed from the very first by finding—that except + in this one instance at the dinner-table, which probably had been + viewed as an indecorum, no further restraint of any kind whatever was + meditated upon my intercourse with M. Besides, it was too painful to + lock up good verses in one's own solitary breast. Yet how could I + shock the sweet filial heart of my cousin by a fierce lampoon or + <i>stylites</i> against her father, had Latin even figured amongst + her accomplishments? Then it occurred to me that the verses might be + shown to the father. But was there not something treacherous in + gaining a man's approbation under a mask to a satire upon + himself? Or would he have always understood me? For one person a year + after took the <i>sacræ mensæ</i> (by which I had meant the + sanctities of hospitality) to mean the sacramental table. And on + consideration I began to suspect, that many people would pronounce + myself the party who had violated the holy ties of hospitality, which + are equally binding on guest as on host. Indolence, which sometimes + comes in aid of good impulses as well as bad, favoured these + relenting thoughts; the society of M. did still more to wean me from + further efforts of satire: and, finally, my Latin poem remained a + <i>torso</i>. But upon the whole my guardian had a narrow escape of + descending to posterity in a disadvantageous light, had he rolled + down to it through my hexameters.</p> + + <p>Here was a case of merely playful feud. But the same talent of + Latin verses soon after connected me with a real feud that harassed + my mind more than would be supposed, and precisely by this agency, + viz. that it arrayed one set of feelings against another. It divided + my mind as by domestic feud against itself. About a year after, + returning from the visit to my guardian's, and when I must have + been nearly completing my twelfth year, I was sent to a great public + school. Every man has reason to rejoice who enjoys so great an + advantage. I condemned and <i>do</i> condemn the practice of + sometimes sending out into such stormy exposures those who are as yet + too young, too dependent on female gentleness, and endowed with + sensibilities too exquisite. But at nine or ten the masculine + energies of the character are beginning to be developed: or, if not, + no discipline will better aid in their developement than the bracing + intercourse of a great English classical school. Even the selfish are + forced into accommodating themselves to a public standard of + generosity, and the effeminate into conforming to a rule of + manliness. I was myself at two public schools; and I think with + gratitude of the benefit which I reaped from both; as also I think + with gratitude of the upright guardian in whose quiet household I + learned Latin so effectually. But the small private schools which I + witnessed for brief periods, containing <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> thirty to + forty boys, were models of ignoble manners as respected some part of + the juniors, and of favouritism amongst the masters. Nowhere is the + sublimity of public justice so broadly exemplified as in an English + school. There is not in the universe such an areopagus for fair play + and abhorrence of all crooked ways, as an English mob, or one of the + English time-honoured public schools. But my own first introduction + to such an establishment was under peculiar and contradictory + circumstances. When my "rating," or graduation in the + school, was to be settled, naturally my altitude (to speak + astronomically) was taken by the proficiency in Greek. But I could + then barely construe books so easy as the Greek Testament and the + Iliad. This was considered quite well enough for my age; but still it + caused me to be placed three steps below the highest rank in the + school. Within one week, however, my talent for Latin verses, which + had by this time gathered strength and expansion, became known. I was + honoured as never was man or boy since Mordecai the Jew. Not properly + belonging to the flock of the head master, but to the leading section + of the second, I was now weekly paraded for distinction at the + supreme tribunal of the school; out of which at first grew nothing + but a sunshine of approbation delightful to my heart, still brooding + upon solitude. Within six weeks this had changed. The approbation + indeed continued, and the public testimony of it. Neither would + there, in the ordinary course, have been any painful reaction from + jealousy or fretful resistance to the soundness of my pretensions; + since it was sufficiently known to some of my schoolfellows, that I, + who had no male relatives but military men, and those in India, could + not have benefited by any clandestine aid. But, unhappily, the head + master was at that time dissatisfied with some points in the progress + of his head form; and, as it soon appeared, was continually throwing + in their teeth the brilliancy of my verses at twelve, by comparison + with theirs at seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen. I had observed him + sometimes pointing to myself; and was perplexed at seeing the gesture + followed by gloomy looks, and what French reporters call + "sensation," in these young men, whom naturally I viewed + with awe as my leaders, boys that were called young men, men that + were reading Sophocles—(a name that carried with it the sound + of something seraphic to my ears)—and who never had vouchsafed + to waste a word on such a child as myself. The day was come, however, + when all that would be changed. One of these leaders strode up to me + in the public playgrounds, and delivering a blow on my shoulder, + which was not intended to hurt me, but as a mere formula of + introduction, asked me, "What the d—l I meant by bolting + out of the course, and annoying other people in that manner? Were + other people to have no rest for me and my verses, which, after all, + were horribly bad?" There might have been some difficulty in + returning an answer to this address, but none was required. I was + briefly admonished to see that I wrote worse for the future, or + else——At this <i>aposiopesis</i> I looked enquiringly at + the speaker, and he filled up the chasm by saying, that he would + "annihilate" me. Could any person fail to be aghast at such + a demand? I was to write worse than my own standard, which, by his + account of my verses, must be difficult; and I was to write worse + than himself, which might be impossible. My feelings revolted, it may + be supposed, against so arrogant a demand, unless it had been far + otherwise expressed; and on the next occasion for sending up verses, + so far from attending to the orders issued, I double-shotted my guns; + double applause descended on myself; but I remarked with some awe, + though not repenting of what I had done, that double confusion seemed + to agitate the ranks of my enemies. Amongst them loomed out in the + distance my "annihilating" friend, who shook his huge fist + at me, but with something like a grim smile about his eyes. He took + an early opportunity of paying his respects to me—saying, + "You little devil, do you call this writing your worst?" + "No," I replied; "I call it writing my best." The + annihilator, as it turned out, was really a good-natured young man; + but he soon went off to Cambridge; and with <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> the rest, + or some of them, I continued to wage war for nearly a year. And yet, + for a word spoken with kindness, I would have resigned the + peacock's feather in my cap as the merest of baubles. + Undoubtedly, praise sounded sweet in my ears also. But <i>that</i> + was nothing by comparison with what stood on the other side. I + detested distinctions that were connected with mortification to + others. And, even if I could have got over <i>that</i>, the eternal + feud fretted and tormented my nature. Love, that once in childhood + had been so mere a necessity to me, <i>that</i> had long been a mere + reflected ray from a departed sunset. But peace, and freedom from + strife, if love were no longer possible, (as so rarely it is in this + world,) was the absolute necessity of my heart. To contend with + somebody was still my fate; how to escape the contention I could not + see; and yet for itself, and the deadly passions into which it forced + me, I hated and loathed it more than death. It added to the + distraction and internal feud of my own mind—that I could not + <i>altogether</i> condemn the upper boys. I was made a handle of + humiliation to them. And in the mean time, if I had an advantage in + one accomplishment, which is all a matter of accident, or peculiar + taste and feeling, they, on the other hand, had a great advantage + over me in the more elaborate difficulties of Greek, and of choral + Greek poetry. I could not altogether wonder at their hatred of + myself. Yet still, as they had chosen to adopt this mode of conflict + with me, I did not feel that I had any choice but to resist. The + contest was terminated for me by my removal from the school, in + consequence of a very threatening illness affecting my head; but it + lasted nearly a year; and it did not close before several amongst my + public enemies had become my private friends. They were much older, + but they invited me to the houses of their friends, and showed me a + respect which deeply affected me—this respect having more + reference, apparently, to the firmness I had exhibited than to the + splendour of my verses. And, indeed, these had rather drooped from a + natural accident; several persons of my own class had formed the + practice of asking me to write verses for <i>them</i>. I could not + refuse. But, as the subjects given out were the same for all of us, + it was not possible to take so many crops off the ground without + starving the quality of all.</p> + + <p>Two years and a half from this time, I was again at a public + school of ancient foundation. Now I was myself one of the three who + formed the highest class. Now I myself was familiar with Sophocles, + who once had been so shadowy a name in my ear. But, strange to say, + now in my sixteenth year, I cared nothing at all for the glory of + Latin verse. All the business of school was slight and trivial in my + eyes. Costing me not an effort, it could not engage any part of my + attention; that was now swallowed up altogether by the literature of + my native land. I still reverenced the Grecian drama, as always I + must. But else I cared little then for classical pursuits. A deeper + spell had mastered me; and I lived only in those bowers where deeper + passions spoke.</p> + + <p>Here, however, it was that began another and more important + struggle. I was drawing near to seventeen, and, in a year after + <i>that</i>, would arrive the usual time for going to Oxford. To + Oxford my guardians made no objection; and they readily agreed to + make the allowance then universally regarded as the <i>minimum</i> + for an Oxford student, viz. £200 per annum. But they insisted, as a + previous condition, that I should make a positive and definitive + choice of a profession. Now I was well aware that, if I <i>did</i> + make such a choice, no law existed, nor could any obligation be + created through deeds or signature, by which I could finally be + compelled into keeping my engagement. But this evasion did not suit + me. Here, again, I felt indignantly that the principle of the attempt + was unjust. The object was certainly to do me service by saving + money, since, if I selected the bar as my profession, it was + contended by some persons, (misinformed, however,) that not Oxford, + but a special pleader's office, would be my proper destination; + but I cared not for arguments of that sort. Oxford I was determined + to make my home; and also to bear my future course utterly + untrammeled by promises that I might repent. Soon came <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> the + catastrophe of this struggle. A little before my seventeenth + birthday, I walked off one lovely summer morning to North + Wales—rambled there for months—and, finally, under some + obscure hopes of raising money on my personal security, I went up to + London. Now I was in my eighteenth year; and, during this period it + was that I passed through that trial of severe distress, of which I + gave some account in my former Confessions. Having a motive, however, + for glancing backwards briefly at that period in the present series, + I will do so at this point.</p> + + <p>I saw in one journal an insinuation that the incidents in the + <i>preliminary</i> narrative were possibly without foundation. To + such an expression of mere gratuitous malignity, as it happened to be + supported by no one argument except a remark, apparently absurd, but + certainly false, I did not condescend to answer. In reality, the + possibility had never occurred to me that any person of judgment + would seriously suspect me of taking liberties with that part of the + work, since, though no one of the parties concerned but myself stood + in so central a position to the circumstances as to be acquainted + with <i>all</i> of them, many were acquainted with each separate + section of the memoir. Relays of witnesses might have been summoned + to mount guard, as it were, upon the accuracy of each particular in + the whole succession of incidents; and some of these people had an + interest, more or less strong, in exposing any deviation from the + strictest <i>letter</i> of the truth, had it been in their power to + do so. It is now twenty-two years since I saw the objection here + alluded to; and, in saying that I did not condescend to notice it, + the reader must not find any reason for taxing me with a blamable + haughtiness. But every man is entitled to be haughty when his + veracity is impeached; and, still more, when it is impeached by a + dishonest objection, or, if not <i>that</i>, by an objection which + argues a carelessness of attention almost amounting to dishonesty, in + a case where it was meant to sustain an imputation of falsehood. Let + a man read carelessly if he will, but not where he is meaning to use + his reading for a purpose of wounding another man's honour. + Having thus, by twenty-two years' silence, sufficiently expressed + my contempt for the slander,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id= + "FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class= + "fnanchor">[19]</a> I now feel myself at liberty to draw it into + notice, for the sake, <i>inter alia</i>, of showing in how rash a + spirit malignity often works. In the preliminary account of certain + boyish adventures which had exposed me to suffering of a kind not + commonly incident to persons in my station of life, and leaving + behind a temptation to the use of opium under certain arrears of + weakness, I had occasion to notice a disreputable attorney in London, + who showed me some attentions, partly on my own account as a boy of + some expectations, but much more with the purpose of fastening his + professional grappling-hooks upon the young Earl of A——t, + my former companion, and my present correspondent. This man's + house was slightly described, and, with more minuteness, I had + exposed some interesting traits in his household economy. A question, + therefore, naturally arose in several people's + curiosity—Where was this house situated? and the more so + because I had pointed a renewed attention to it by saying, that on + that very evening, (viz. the evening on which that particular page of + the Confessions was written,) I had visited the street, looked up at + the windows, and, instead of the gloomy desolation reigning there + when myself and a little girl were the sole nightly tenants, sleeping + in fact <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg + 50]</a></span> (poor freezing creatures that we both were) on the + floor of the attorney's law-chamber, and making a pillow out of + his infernal parchments, I had seen with pleasure the evidences of + comfort, respectability, and domestic animation, in the lights and + stir prevailing through different stories of the house. Upon this the + upright critic told his readers that I had described the house as + standing in Oxford Street, and then appealed to their own knowledge + of that street whether such a house could be <i>so</i> situated. Why + not—he neglected to tell us. The houses at the east end of + Oxford Street are certainly of too small an order to meet my account + of the attorney's house; but why should it be at the east end? + Oxford Street is a mile and a quarter long, and being built + continuously on both sides, finds room for houses of <i>many</i> + classes. Meantime it happens that, although the true house was most + obscurely indicated, <i>any</i> house whatever in Oxford Street was + most luminously excluded. In all the immensity of London there was + but one single street that could be challenged by an attentive reader + of the Confessions as peremptorily <i>not</i> the street of the + attorney's house—and <i>that</i> one was Oxford Street; + for, in speaking of my own renewed acquaintance with the outside of + this house, I used some expression implying that, in order to make + such a visit of reconnoissance, I had turned <i>aside</i> from Oxford + Street. The matter is a perfect trifle in itself, but it is no trifle + in a question affecting a writer's accuracy. If in a thing so + absolutely impossible to be forgotten as the true situation of a + house painfully memorable to a man's feelings, from being the + scene of boyish distresses the most exquisite—nights passed in + the misery of cold, and hunger preying upon him both night and day, + in a degree which very many would not have survived,—he, when + retracing his schoolboy annals, could have shown indecision even, far + more dreaded inaccuracy, in identifying the house, not one syllable + after <i>that</i>, which he could have said on any other subject, + would have won any confidence, or deserved any, from a judicious + reader. I may now mention—the Herod being dead whose + persecutions I had reason to fear—that the house in question + stands in Greek Street on the west, and is the house on that side + nearest to Soho-Square, but without looking into the Square. This it + was hardly safe to mention at the date of the published Confessions. + It was my private opinion, indeed, that there were probably + twenty-five chances to one in favour of my friend the attorney having + been by that time hanged. But then this argued inversely; one chance + to twenty-five that my friend might be <i>un</i>hanged, and knocking + about the streets of London; in which case it would have been a + perfect god-send to him that here lay an opening (of <i>my</i> + contrivance, not <i>his</i>) for requesting the opinion of a jury on + the amount of <i>solatium</i> due to his wounded feelings in an + action on the passage in the Confessions. To have indicated even the + street would have been enough. Because there could surely be but one + such Grecian in Greek Street, or but one that realized the other + conditions of the unknown quantity. There was also a separate danger + not absolutely so laughable as it sounds. Me there was little chance + that the attorney should meet; but my book he might easily have met + (supposing always that the warrant of <i>Sus. per coll.</i> had not + yet on <i>his</i> account travelled down to Newgate.) For he was + literary; admired literature; and, as a lawyer, he wrote on some + subjects fluently; Might he not publish <i>his</i> Confessions? Or, + which would be worse, a supplement to mine—printed so as + exactly to match? In which case I should have had the same affliction + that Gibbon the historian dreaded so much; viz. that of seeing a + refutation of himself, and his own answer to the refutation, all + bound up in one and the same self-combating volume. Besides, he would + have cross-examined me before the public in Old Bailey style; no + story, the most straightforward that ever was told, could be sure to + stand <i>that</i>. And my readers might be left in a state of painful + doubt whether <i>he</i> might not, after all, have been a model of + suffering innocence—I (to say the kindest thing possible) + plagued with the natural treacheries of a schoolboy's memory. In + taking leave of this case and the remembrances connected with it, let + me say that, although really believing in the probability + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg + 51]</a></span> of the attorney's having at least found his way to + Australia, I had no satisfaction in thinking of that result. I knew + my friend to be the very perfection of a scamp. And in the running + account between us, (I mean, in the ordinary sense, as to money,) the + balance could not be in <i>his</i> favour; since I, on receiving a + sum of money, (considerable in the eyes of us both,) had transferred + pretty nearly the whole of it to <i>him</i>, for the purpose + ostensibly held out to me (but of course a hoax) of purchasing + certain law "stamps;" for he was then pursuing a diplomatic + correspondence with various Jews who lent money to young heirs, in + some trifling proportion on my own insignificant account, but much + more truly on the account of Lord A——t, my young friend. + On the other side, he had given to me simply the reliques of his + breakfast-table, which itself was hardly more than a relique. But in + this he was not to blame. He could not give to me what he had not for + himself, nor sometimes for the poor starving child whom I now suppose + to have been his illegitimate daughter. So desperate was the running + fight, yard-arm to yard-arm, which he maintained with creditors + fierce as famine and hungry as the grave; so deep also was his horror + (I know not for which of the various reasons supposable) against + falling into a prison, that he seldom ventured to sleep twice + successively in the same house. That expense of itself must have + pressed heavily in London, where you pay half-a-crown at least for a + bed that would cost only a shilling in the provinces. In the midst of + his knaveries, and what were even more shocking to my remembrance, + his confidential discoveries in his rambling conversations of knavish + <i>designs</i>, (not always pecuniary,) there was a light of + wandering misery in his eye at times, which affected me afterwards at + intervals when I recalled it in the radiant happiness of nineteen, + and amidst the solemn tranquillities of Oxford. That of itself was + interesting; the man was worse by far than he had been meant to be; + he had not the mind that reconciles itself to evil. Besides, he + respected scholarship, which appeared by the deference he generally + showed to myself, then about seventeen; he had an interest in + literature; <i>that</i> argues something good; and was pleased at any + time, or even cheerful, when I turned the conversation upon books; + nay, he seemed touched with emotion, when I quoted some sentiment + noble and impassioned from one of the great poets, and would ask me + to repeat it. He would have been a man of memorable energy, and for + good purposes, had it not been for his agony of conflict with + pecuniary embarrassments. These probably had commenced in some fatal + compliance with temptation arising out of funds confided to him by a + client. Perhaps he had gained fifty guineas for a moment of + necessity, and had sacrificed for that trifle <i>only</i> the + serenity and the comfort of a life. Feelings of relenting kindness, + it was not in my nature to refuse in such a case; and I wished to * * + * But I never succeeded in tracing his steps through the wilderness + of London until some years back, when I ascertained that he was dead. + Generally speaking, the few people whom I have disliked in this world + were flourishing people of good repute. Whereas the knaves whom I + have known, one and all, and by no means few, I think of with + pleasure and kindness.</p> + + <p>Heavens! when I look back to the sufferings which I have witnessed + or heard of even from this one brief London experience, I say if life + could throw open its long suits of chambers to our eyes from some + station <i>beforehand</i>, if from some secret stand we could look + <i>by anticipation</i> along its vast corridors, and aside into the + recesses opening upon them from either hand, halls of tragedy or + chambers of retribution, simply in that small wing and no more of the + great caravanserai which we ourselves shall haunt, simply in that + narrow tract of time and no more where we ourselves shall range, and + confining our gaze to those and no others for whom personally we + shall be interested, what a recoil we should suffer of horror in our + estimate of life! What if those sudden catastrophes, or those + inexpiable afflictions, which <i>have</i> already descended upon the + people within my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id= + "Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> own knowledge, and almost below my own + eyes, all of them now gone past, and some long past, had been thrown + open before me as a secret exhibition when first I and they stood + within the vestibule of morning hopes; when the calamities themselves + had hardly begun to gather in their elements of possibility, and when + some of the parties to them were as yet no more than infants! The + past viewed not <i>as</i> the past, but by a spectator who steps back + ten years deeper into the rear, in order that he may regard it as a + future; the calamity of 1840 contemplated from the station of + 1830—the doom that rang the knell of happiness viewed from a + point of time when as yet it was neither feared nor would even have + been intelligible—the name that killed in 1843, which in 1835 + would have struck no vibration upon the heart—the portrait that + on the day of her Majesty's coronation would have been admired by + you with a pure disinterested admiration, but which if seen to-day + would draw forth an involuntary groan—cases such as these are + strangely moving for all who add deep thoughtfulness to deep + sensibility. As the hastiest of improvisations, accept—fair + reader, (for you it is that will chiefly feel such an invocation of + the past)—three or four illustrations from my own + experience.</p> + + <p>Who is this distinguished-looking young woman with her eyes + drooping, and the shadow of a dreadful shock yet fresh upon every + feature? Who is the elderly lady with her eyes flashing fire? Who is + the downcast child of sixteen? What is that torn paper lying at their + feet? Who is the writer? Whom does the paper concern? Ah! if she, if + the central figure in the group—twenty-two at the moment when + she is revealed to us—could, on her happy birth-day at sweet + seventeen, have seen the image of herself five years onwards, just as + <i>we</i> see it now, would she have prayed for life as for an + absolute blessing? or would she not have prayed to be taken from the + evil to come—to be taken away one evening at least before this + day's sun arose? It is true, she still wears a look of gentle + pride, and a relic of that noble smile which belongs to <i>her</i> + that suffers an injury which many times over she would have died + sooner than inflict. Womanly pride refuses itself before witnesses to + the total prostration of the blow; but, for all <i>that</i>, you may + see that she longs to be left alone, and that her tears will flow + without restraint when she is so. This room is her pretty boudoir, in + which, till to-night—poor thing!—she has been glad and + happy. There stands her miniature conservatory, and there expands her + miniature library; as we circumnavigators of literature are apt (you + know) to regard all female libraries in the light of miniatures. None + of these will ever rekindle a smile on <i>her</i> face; and there, + beyond, is her music, which only of all that she possesses, will now + become dearer to her than ever; but not, as once, to feed a + self-mocked pensiveness, or to cheat a half-visionary sadness. She + will be sad indeed. But she is one of those that will suffer in + silence. Nobody will ever detect <i>her</i> failing in any point of + duty, or querulously seeking the support in others which she can find + for herself in this solitary room. Droop she will not in the sight of + men; and, for all beyond, nobody has any concern with <i>that</i> + except God. You shall hear what becomes of her, before we take our + departure; but now let me tell you what has happened. In the main + outline I am sure you guess already without aid of mine, for we + leaden-eyed men, in such cases, see nothing by comparison with you + our quick-witted sisters. That haughty-looking lady with the Roman + cast of features, who must once have been strikingly + handsome—an Agrippina, even yet, in a favourable + presentation—is the younger lady's aunt. She, it is + rumoured, once sustained, in her younger days, some injury of that + same cruel nature which has this day assailed her niece, and ever + since she has worn an air of disdain, not altogether unsupported by + real dignity, towards men. This aunt it was that tore the letter + which lies upon the floor. It deserved to be torn; and yet she that + had the best right to do so would <i>not</i> have torn it. That + letter was an elaborate attempt on the part of an accomplished young + man to release himself from sacred engagements. What need + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg + 53]</a></span> was there to argue the case of <i>such</i> + engagements? Could it have been requisite with pure female dignity to + plead any thing, or do more than <i>look</i> an indisposition to + fulfil them? The aunt is now moving towards the door, which I am glad + to see; and she is followed by that pale timid girl of sixteen, a + cousin, who feels the case profoundly, but is too young and shy to + offer an intellectual sympathy.</p> + + <p>One only person in this world there is, who <i>could</i> to-night + have been a supporting friend to our young sufferer, and <i>that</i> + is her dear loving twin-sister, that for eighteen years read and + wrote, thought and sang, slept and breathed, with the dividing-door + open for ever between their bedrooms, and never once a separation + between their hearts; but she is in a far distant land. Who else is + there at her call? Except God, nobody. Her aunt had somewhat sternly + admonished her, though still with a relenting in her eye as she + glanced aside at the expression in her niece's face, that she + must "call pride to her assistance." Ay, true; but pride, + though a strong ally in public, is apt in private to turn as + treacherous as the worst of those against whom she is invoked. How + could it be dreamed by a person of sense, that a brilliant young man + of merits, various and eminent, in spite of his baseness, to whom, + for nearly two years, this young woman had given her whole confiding + love, might be dismissed from a heart like hers on the earliest + summons of pride, simply because she herself had been dismissed from + <i>his</i>, or seemed to have been dismissed, on a summons of + mercenary calculation? Look! now that she is relieved from the weight + of an unconfidential presence, she has sat for two hours with her + head buried in her hands. At last she rises to look for something. A + thought has struck her; and, taking a little golden key which hangs + by a chain within her bosom, she searches for something locked up + amongst her few jewels. What is it? It is a Bible exquisitely + illuminated, with a letter attached, by some pretty silken artifice, + to the blank leaves at the end. This letter is a beautiful record, + wisely and pathetically composed, of maternal anxiety still burning + strong in death, and yearning, when all objects beside were fast + fading from <i>her</i> eyes, after one parting act of communion with + the twin darlings of her heart. Both were thirteen years old, within + a week or two, as on the night before her death they sat weeping by + the bedside of their mother, and hanging on her lips, now for + farewell whispers, and now for farewell kisses. They both knew that, + as her strength had permitted during the latter month of her life, + she had thrown the last anguish of love in her beseeching heart into + a letter of counsel to themselves. Through this, of which each sister + had a copy, she trusted long to converse with her orphans. And the + last promise which she had entreated on this evening from both, + was—that in either of two contingencies they would review her + counsels, and the passages to which she pointed their attention in + the Scriptures; namely, first, in the event of any calamity, that, + for one sister or for both, should overspread their paths with total + darkness; and secondly, in the event of life flowing in too profound + a stream of prosperity, so as to threaten them with an alienation of + interest from all spiritual objects. She had not concealed that, of + these two extreme cases, she would prefer for her own children the + first. And now had that case arrived indeed, which she in spirit had + desired to meet. Nine years ago, just as the silvery voice of a dial + in the dying lady's bedroom was striking nine upon a summer + evening, had the last visual ray streamed from her seeking eyes upon + her orphan twins, after which, throughout the night, she had slept + away into heaven. Now again had come a summer evening memorable for + unhappiness; now again the daughter thought of those dying lights of + love which streamed at sunset from the closing eyes of her mother; + again, and just as she went back in thought to this image, the same + silvery voice of the dial sounded nine o'clock. Again she + remembered her mother's dying request; again her own + tear-hallowed promise—and with her heart in her mother's + grave she now rose to fulfil it. Here, then when this solemn + recurrence to a testamentary counsel has ceased to be a <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> mere + office of duty towards the departed, having taken the shape of a + consolation for herself, let us pause.</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + <p>Now, fair companion in this exploring voyage of inquest into + hidden scenes, or forgotten scenes of human life—perhaps it + might be instructive to direct our glasses upon the false perfidious + lover. It might. But do not let us do so. We might like him better, + or pity him more, than either of us would desire. His name and memory + have long since dropped out of every body's thoughts. Of + prosperity, and (what is more important) of internal peace, he is + reputed to have had no gleam from the moment when he betrayed his + faith, and in one day threw away the jewel of good conscience, and + "a pearl richer than all his tribe." But, however that may + be, it is certain that, finally, he became a wreck; and of any + <i>hopeless</i> wreck it is painful to talk—much more so, when + through him others also became wrecks.</p> + + <p>Shall we, then, after an interval of nearly two years has passed + over the young lady in the boudoir, look in again upon <i>her</i>? + You hesitate, fair friend: and I myself hesitate. For in fact she + also has become a wreck; and it would grieve us both to see her + altered. At the end of twenty-one months she retains hardly a vestige + of resemblance to the fine young woman we saw on that unhappy evening + with her aunt and cousin. On consideration, therefore, let us do + this. We will direct our glasses to her room, at a point of time + about six weeks further on. Suppose this time gone; suppose her now + dressed for her grave, and placed in her coffin. The advantage of + that is—that, though no change can restore the ravages of the + past, yet (as often is found to happen with young persons) the + expression has revived from her girlish years. The child-like aspect + has revolved, and settled back upon her features. The wasting away of + the flesh is less apparent in the face; and one might imagine that, + in this sweet marble countenance, was seen the very same upon which, + eleven years ago, her mother's darkening eyes had lingered to the + last, until clouds had swallowed up the vision of her beloved + <i>twins</i>. Yet, if that were in part a fancy, this at least is no + fancy—that not only much of a child-like truth and simplicity + has reinstated itself in the temple of her now reposing features, but + also that tranquillity and perfect peace, such as are appropriate to + eternity; but which from the <i>living</i> countenance had taken + their flight for ever, on that memorable evening when we looked in + upon the impassioned group—upon the towering and denouncing + aunt, the sympathizing but silent cousin, the poor blighted niece, + and the wicked letter lying in fragments at their feet.</p> + + <p>Cloud, that hast revealed to us this young creature and her + blighted hopes, close up again. And now, a few years later, not more + than four or five, give back to us the latest arrears of the changes + which thou concealest within thy draperies. Once more, "open + sesame!" and show us a third generation. Behold a lawn islanded + with thickets. How perfect is the verdure—how rich the + blossoming shrubberies that screen with verdurous walls from the + possibility of intrusion, whilst by their own wandering line of + distribution they shape and umbrageously embay, what one might call + lawny saloons and vestibules—sylvan galleries and closets. Some + of these recesses, which unlink themselves as fluently as snakes, and + unexpectedly as the shyest nooks, watery cells, and crypts, amongst + the shores of a forest-lake, being formed by the mere caprices and + ramblings of the luxuriant shrubs, are so small and so quiet, that + one might fancy them meant for <i>boudoirs</i>. Here is one that, in + a less fickle climate, would make the loveliest of studies for a + writer of breathings from some solitary heart, or of <i>suspiria</i> + from some impassioned memory! And opening from one angle of this + embowered study, issues a little narrow corridor, that, after almost + wheeling back upon itself, in its playful mazes, finally widens into + a little circular chamber; out of which there is no exit, (except + back again by the entrance,) small or great; so that, adjacent to his + study, the writer would command how sweet a bed-room, permitting him + to lie the summer through, gazing all night long at the burning + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg + 55]</a></span> host of heaven. How silent <i>that</i> would be at the + noon of summer nights, how grave-like in its quiet! And yet, need + there be asked a stillness or a silence more profound than is felt at + this present noon of day? One reason for such peculiar repose, over + and above the tranquil character of the day, and the distance of the + place from high-roads, is the outer zone of woods, which almost on + every quarter invests the shrubberies—swathing them, (as one + may express it,) belting them, and overlooking them, from a varying + distance of two and three furlongs, so as oftentimes to keep the + winds at a distance. But, however caused and supported, the silence + of these fanciful lawns and lawny chambers is oftentimes oppressive + in the depth of summer to people unfamiliar with solitudes, either + mountainous or sylvan; and many would be apt to suppose that the + villa, to which these pretty shrubberies form the chief dependencies, + must be untenanted. But that is not the case. The house is inhabited, + and by its own legal mistress—the proprietress of the whole + domain; and not at all a silent mistress, but as noisy as most little + ladies of five years old, for that is her age. Now, and just as we + are speaking, you may hear her little joyous clamour as she issues + from the house. This way she comes, bounding like a fawn; and soon + she rushes into the little recess which I pointed out as a proper + study for any man who should be weaving the deep harmonies of + memorial <i>suspiria</i>. But I fancy that she will soon dispossess + it of that character, for her <i>suspiria</i> are not many at this + stage of her life. Now she comes dancing into sight; and you see + that, if she keeps the promise of her infancy, she will be an + interesting creature to the eye in after life. In other respects, + also, she is an engaging child—loving, natural, and wild as any + one of her neighbours for some miles round; viz. leverets, squirrels + and ring-doves. But what will surprise you most is—that, + although a child of pure English blood, she speaks very little + English; but more Bengalee than perhaps you will find it convenient + to construe. That is her Ayah, who comes up from behind at a pace so + different from her youthful mistress's. But, if their paces are + different, in other things they agree most cordially; and dearly they + love each other. In reality, the child has passed her whole life in + the arms of this ayah. She remembers nothing elder than <i>her</i>; + eldest of things is the ayah in her eyes; and, if the ayah should + insist on her worshipping herself as the goddess Railroadina or + Steamboatina, that made England and the sea and Bengal, it is certain + that the little thing would do so, asking no question but + this—whether kissing would do for worshipping.</p> + + <p>Every evening at nine o'clock, as the ayah sits by the little + creature lying awake in bed, the silvery tongue of a dial tolls the + hour. Reader, you know who she is. She is the granddaughter of her + that faded away about sunset in gazing at her twin orphans. Her name + is Grace. And she is the niece of that elder and once happy Grace, + who spent so much of her happiness in this very room, but whom, in + her utter desolation, we saw in the boudoir with the torn letter at + her feet. She is the daughter of that other sister, wife to a + military officer, who died abroad. Little Grace never saw her + grandmama, nor her lovely aunt that was her namesake, nor consciously + her mama. She was born six months after the death of the elder Grace; + and her mother saw her only through the mists of mortal suffering, + which carried her off three weeks after the birth of her + daughter.</p> + + <p>This view was taken several years ago; and since then the younger + Grace in her turn is under a cloud of affliction. But she is still + under eighteen; and of her there may be hopes. Seeing such things in + so short a space of years, for the grandmother died at thirty-two, we + say—Death we can face: but knowing, as some of us do, what is + human life, which of us is it that without shuddering could (if + consciously we were summoned) face the hour of birth?</p> + + <div class="footnotes"> + <h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Being + constantly almost an absentee from London, and very often from + other great cities, so as to command oftentimes no favourable + opportunities for overlooking the great mass of public journals, + it is possible enough that other slanders of the same tenor may + have existed. I speak of what met my own eye, or was accidentally + reported to me—but in fact all of us are exposed to this + evil of calumnies lurking unseen—for no degree of energy, + and no excess of disposable time, would enable any one man to + exercise this sort of vigilant police over <i>all</i> journals. + Better, therefore, tranquilly to leave all such malice to + confound itself.</p> + </div> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg + 56]</a></span> + + <h2><a name="NORTHERN_LIGHTS" id="NORTHERN_LIGHTS"></a>NORTHERN + LIGHTS.</h2> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "It was on a bright July morning that I found myself whirled + away by railroad from Berlin, 'that great ostrich egg in the + sand,' which the sun of civilization is said to have + hatched." + </div> + + <p>In these words, and with this somewhat far-fetched simile, does a + German tourist, Edward Boas by name, commence his narrative of a + recent pilgrimage to the far north. Undeterred by the disadvantageous + accounts given of those regions by a traveller who had shortly before + visited them, and unseduced by the allurements of more southerly + climes, he boldly sets forth to breast the mountains and brave the + blasts of Scandinavia, and to form his own judgment of the country + and its inhabitants. Almost, however, before putting foot on + Scandinavian ground, Mr Boas, who, as a traveller, is decidedly of + the gossiping and inquisitive class, fills three chapters with all + manner of pleasant chatter about himself, and his feelings, and his + fancies, and the travelling companions he meets with. His liveliness + and versatility, and a certain bantering satirical vein, in which he + occasionally indulges, would have caused us to take his work, had we + met with it in an English translation, for the production of a French + rather than a German pen.</p> + + <p>Leaving the railway at Angermunde, our traveller continues his + journey by the mail, in which he has two companions; a lady, + "with an arm like ivory," about whom he seems more than + half inclined to build up a little episodical romance, and a young + man from the neighbouring town of Pasewalk, "on whose thick + lips," we are informed, "the genius of stupidity seemed to + have established its throne." This youth expressed his great + regret that the good old customs of Germany had become obsolete, and + expatiated on the necessity of striving to restore them. "Those + were fine times," he said, "when nobles made war on their + own account, burned down the villages, and drove the cattle of the + peasants on each other's territory. To themselves personally, + however, they did no harm; and if by chance Ritter Jobst fell into + the hands of Ritter Kurt, the latter would say, 'Ritter Jobst, + you are my prisoner on parole, and must pay me a ransom of five + hundred thalers.' And thereupon they passed their time right + joyously together, drinking and hunting the livelong day. But Ritter + Jobst wrote to his seneschal that, by fair means or foul, he must + squeeze the five hundred thalers out of his subjects, who were in + duty bound to pay, to enable their gracious lord to return home + again. Those were the times," concluded the young Pasewalker, + "and of such times should I like to witness the + return."</p> + + <p>Now, Mr Boas considerably disapproved of these aspirations after + the days of the robber knights, and he accordingly, to avoid hearing + any more of them, took a nap in his corner, which helped him on + nearly to Stralsund.</p> + + <p>"This city," he says, "has acquired an undeserved + renown through Wallenstein's famous vow, 'to have it, though + it were hung from heaven by chains.' This puts me in mind of the + trick of a reviewer who, by enormous and exaggerated praise, induces + us to read the stupid literary production of some dear friend of his + own. We take up the book with great expectations, and find + it—trash. It is easy to see that Stralsund was founded by a set + of dirty fish-dealers. Clumsy, gable-ended houses, streets narrow and + crooked, a wretched pavement—such is the city. A small road + along the shore, encumbered with timber, old casks, filth and + rubbish—such is the quay."</p> + + <p>In this uninteresting place, Mr Boas is compelled to pass + eight-and-forty hours, waiting for a steamer. He fills up the time + with a little dissertation on Swedish and Pomeranian dialects, and + with a comical legend about a greedy monk, who bartered his soul to + the devil for a platter of lampreys. By a stratagem of the + abbot's, Satan was outwitted; and, taking himself off in a great + rage, he dropped the lampreys in the lake of <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> Madue, + near Stargard, where to this day they are found in as great + perfection as in the lakes of Italy and Switzerland. This + peculiarity, however, might be accounted for otherwise than by + infernal means, for Frederick the Great was equally successful in + introducing the sturgeon of the Wolga into Pomeranian waters, where + it is still to be met with.</p> + + <p>A day's sail brings our traveller to the port of Ystad, where + he receives his first impressions of Sweden, which are decidedly + favourable. At sunrise the next morning he goes on board the steamer + Svithiod, bound from Lubeck to Stockholm. At the same time with + himself are shipped three wandering Tyrolese musicians, who are + proceeding northwards to give the Scandinavians a taste of their + mountain melodies, and two or three hundred pigs, all pickled; the + pigs, that is to say. He finds on board a numerous and agreeable + society, of which and of the passage he gives a graphic + description.</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "The ship's bell rang to summon us to breakfast. There is + a certain epic copiousness about a Swedish <i>frukost</i>. On first + getting up in the morning it is customary to take a <i>Kop caffe + med skorpor</i>, a cup of coffee and a biscuit, and in something + less than two hours later one sits down to a most abundant meal. + This commences with a <i>sup</i>, that is to say, a glass of + carraway or aniseed brandy; then come tea, bread and butter, ham, + sausage, cheese and beer; and the whole winds up with a warm + <i>Kötträtt</i>, a beefsteak or cutlet." + </div> + + <p>Truly a solid and savoury repast. Whilst discussing it in the + cabin of the Svithiod, Mr Boas makes acquaintance with his + fellow-voyagers.</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "At the top of the table sat our captain, a jovial pleasant + man. He was very attentive to the passengers, had a prompt and + friendly answer to every question; in short, he was a Swede all + over. Near him were placed the families of two clergymen, in whose + charge was also travelling a young Swedish countess, a charming, + innocent-looking child, whose large dark eyes seemed destined, at + no very distant period, to give more than one heartache. Beside + them was a tall man, plainly dressed, and of military appearance. + This was Count S——, (Schwerin, probably,) a descendant + of that friend and lieutenant of Frederick the Great who, on the + 6th May 1757, purchased with his life the victory of Prague. He was + returning from the hay-harvest on those estates which had belonged + to his valiant forefather, whose heirs had long been kept out of + them for lack of certain documents. But Frederick William III. + said, 'Right is right, though wax and parchment be not there to + prove it;' and he restored to the family their property, which + is worth half-a-million. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "The Count's neighbour was Fru Nyberg, a Swedish poetess, + who writes under the name of Euphrosyne. In Germany, nobody + troubles himself about the 'Dikter af Euphrosyne,' but + every educated Swede knows them and their authoress. The latter may + once have been handsome, but wrinkles have now crept in where roses + formerly bloomed. Euphrosyne was born in 1785—authoresses + purchase their fame dearly enough at the price of having their age + put down in every lexicon. A black tulle cap with flame-coloured + ribands covered her head; round her neck she wore a string of large + amber beads, a gold watch-chain, and a velvet riband from which her + eyeglass was suspended. She was quiet, and retiring, spoke little, + and passed the greater portion of the day in the cabin. Fru Nyberg + was returning from Paris, and had with her a young lady of + distinguished family, Emily Holmberg by name. This young person + possesses a splendid musical talent; her compositions are + remarkable for charming originality, and are so much the more + prized that the muse of Harmony has hitherto been but niggard of + her gifts to the sons and daughters of Sweden. There was something + particularly delicate and fairy-like in the whole appearance of + this maiden, whose long curls floated round her transparent white + temples, while her soft dove-like eyes had a sweet and slightly + melancholy expression. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Next to Miss Holmberg, there sat a handsome young man, in a + sort of loose caftan of green velvet. His name was Baron + R——, and he was a <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> descendant of the man who + cast lots with Ankarström and Horn, which of them should kill the + King. He had formerly been one of the most noted lions and + <i>viveurs</i> of Stockholm, but had latterly taken to himself a + beautiful wife, and had become a more settled character; though his + exuberant spirits and love of enjoyment still remained, and + rendered him the gayest and most agreeable of travelling + companions. Nagel, the celebrated violin player, and his lively + little wife, were also among the passengers. They were returning + from America, where he had been exchanging his silvery notes + against good gold coin. Nagel is a Jew by birth, a most + accomplished man, speaking seven languages with equal elegance, and + much esteemed in the musical circles of Stockholm." + </div> + + <p>A young Swedish woman, named Maria, whose affecting little history + Mr Boas learns and tells us—an Englishman—"a + thorough Englishman, who, as long as he was eating, had no eyes or + ears for any thing else," and a French <i>commis voyageur</i>, + travelling to get orders for coloured papers, champagne, and silk + goods, completed the list of all those of the party who were any way + worthy of mention. The Frenchman, Monsieur Robineau by name, had a + little ugly face, nearly hidden by an enormous beard, wore a red cap + upon his head, and looked altogether like a bandy-legged brownie or + gnome. The scene at daybreak the next morning is described with some + humour.</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "A dull twilight reigned in the cabin, the lamp was burning + low and threatening to go out, the first glimmer of day was + stealing in through the windows, and the Englishman had struck a + light in order to shave himself. From each berth some different + description of noise was issuing; the Lubecker was snoring loudly, + Baron R—— was twanging a guitar, Monsieur Robineau + singing a barcarole, and every body was calling out as loud as he + could for something or other. Karl, the steward, was rushing up and + down the cabin, so confused by the fifty different demands + addressed to him, that he knew not how to comply with any one of + them. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'Karl, clean my boots!' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'Ja, Herr.' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'Karl, some warm water and a towel.' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'Ja, Herr.' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'<i>Amis, la matinée est belle! Sur le rivage + assemblez-vouz!</i>—Karl, the coffee!—<i>conduis ta + barque avec prudence! Pêcheur, parle bas!</i> ... Karl, the + coffee!' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'Ja, Herr.' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'Karl, my carpet-bag!' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'Karl, are you deaf? Did you not hear me ask for warm + water?' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'Ja, Herr.' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'<i>Jette tes filets en silence! Pêcheur, parle + bas!</i>—Coffee, coffee, coffee!—<i>Le roi des mers ne + t'échappera pas!</i>' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'Ja, Herr.' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'Karl, look at these boots! You must clean them + again.' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'No, you must first find my carpet-bag.' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'Karl, you good-for-nothing fellow, if you do not bring + me the<br /> + water immediately, I will complain to the captain.' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'<i>Pêcheur, parle bas! Conduis ta barque avec + prudence!</i> ... Karl,<br /> + the coffee, or by my beard I will have you impaled as soon as I + am<br /> + Emperor of Turkey!' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "'Ja Herr! Ja, Herr! Ja, Herr!'" + </div> + + <p>Aided by the various talents and eccentricities of the passengers, + by the grimaces of the Frenchman, and the songs of the Tyrolese + minstrels, the time passed pleasantly enough; till, on the morning of + the third day after leaving Ystad, the Svithiod was at the entrance + of Lake Maeler, opposite the fortress of Waxholm, which presents more + of a picturesque than of an imposing appearance.</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "It consists of a few loopholed parapets and ramparts, and of + a strong round tower of grey stone, looking very romantic but not + very formidable, and nevertheless entirely commanding the narrow + passage. A sentry, wrapped in his cloak, stood upon the wall and + hailed us through a speaking-trumpet. At the very moment that the + captain was about to answer, another steamer came round a bend of + the channel, meeting the Svithiod point-blank. The sentinel + impatiently repeated his summons, <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> and for a moment there + appeared to be some danger of our either running foul of the other + boat, or getting a shot in our hull from the fort. They do not + understand joking at Waxholm, as was learned a short time since to + his cost by the commander of the Russian steamer Ischora, who did + not reply when summoned. Hastily furnishing the required + information to the castle, our captain shouted out the needful + orders to his crew, and we passed on in safety. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "The steamer which we now met bore the Swedish flag, and was + conveying the Crown Prince Oscar (the grandson of a lawyer and a + silk-mercer) and his wife, to Germany. They had left Stockholm in + the night time, to avoid all public ceremony and formality. A crowd + of artillerymen now lined the walls of Waxholm to give the usual + salute, and we could hear the booming of the guns long after we + were out of sight of ship and fort. In another hour I obtained my + first view of Stockholm." + </div> + + <p>Stockholm, the Venice of the North, has been thought by many + travellers to present a more striking <i>coup-d'œil</i> than + any other European capital, Constantinople excepted. Built upon seven + islands, formed by inlets of the sea and the Maeler Lake, it spreads + over a surface very large in proportion to the number of its houses + and inhabitants, and exhibits a singular mixture of streets, squares, + and churches, with rock, wood, and water. The ground on which it + stands is uneven, and in many places declivitous; the different parts + of the city are connected by bridges, and on every side is seen the + fresh green foliage of the north. The natural canals which intersect + Stockholm are of great depth, and ships of large burden are enabled + to penetrate into the very heart of the town. The general style of + building offers little to admire; the houses being for the most part + flat-fronted, monotonous, and graceless, without any species of + architectural decoration to relieve their inelegant uniformity. It is + the position of the city, the air of lightness given to it by the + water, which traverses it in every direction, and the life and + movement of the port, that form its chief recommendations. In their + architectural ideas the Swedes appear to be entirely utilitarian, + disdainful of ornament; and if a house of more modern and tasteful + build, with windows of a handsome size, cornices, and entablatures, + is here and there to be met with, it is almost certain to have been + erected by Germans or some other foreigners. The royal palace, of + which the first stone was laid in the reign of Charles XII., is a + well-conceived and finely executed work; some of the churches are + also worthy of notice; but most of the public buildings derive their + chief interest, like the squares and market-places, from their + antiquity, or from historical associations connected with them. Few + cities offer richer stores to the lovers of the romance of history + than does the capital of Sweden. One edifice alone, the + Ritterhaus—literally, the House of Knights or Lords—in + which the Swedish nobility were wont to hold their Diets, would + furnish subject-matter for a score of romances. Not a door nor a + window, scarce a stone in the building, but tells of some sanguinary + feud, or fierce insurrection of the populace, in the troublous days + of Sweden. From floor to ceiling of the great hall in which the Diet + held its sittings, hang the coats of arms of Swedish counts, barons, + and noblemen. A solemn gloomy light pervades the apartment, and + unites with the grave black-blue coverings of the seats and + balustrades, to convey the idea that this is no arena for showy + shallow orators, but a place in which stern truth and naked reality + have been wont to prevail. The chair of Gustavus Vasa, of inlaid + ivory, and covered with purple velvet, stands in this room.</p> + + <p>Mr Boas, the pages of whose book are thickly strewn with legends + and historical anecdotes, many of them interesting, devotes a chapter + to the Ritterhaus and its annals. One tragical history, connected + with that building, appears worthy of extraction:</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "One of the chief favourites of Gustavus III. was Count + Armfelt, a young man of illustrious family, and of unusual mental + and personal accomplishments. At an early age he entered the royal + guards, and proved, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id= + "Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> during the war with Russia, that his + courage in the field fully equalled his more courtierlike merits. + He rapidly ascended in military grade, and, finally, the king + appointed him governor of Stockholm, and named him President of the + Council of Regency, which, in case of his death, was to govern + Sweden during the minority of the heir to the throne. Shortly after + these dignities had been conferred upon Armfelt, occurred the + famous masquerade and the assassination of Gustavus. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Upon this event happening, a written will of the king's + was produced, of more recent date than the appointment of the + Count, and, according to which, the guardianship of the Prince + Royal was to devolve upon Duke Karl Sundermanland, the brother of + Gustavus. This was a weak, sensual, and vindictive prince, of + limited capacity, and easily led by flattery and deceit. He + belonged to a secret society, of which Baron Reuterholm was + grand-master. A couple of mysterious and well-managed apparitions + were sufficient to terrify the duke, and render him ductile as wax. + The most implicit submission was required of him, and soon the + crafty Reuterholm got the royal authority entirely into his own + hands. There was discontent and murmuring amongst the true friends + of the royal family, but Reuterholm's spies were ubiquitous, + and a frowning brow or dissatisfied look was punished as a crime. + Amongst others, Count Armfelt, who took no pains to conceal his + indignation at the scandalous proceedings of those in power, was + stripped of his offices, and ordered to set out immediately as + ambassador to Naples. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "This command fell like a thunderbolt upon the head of the + Count, whom every public and private consideration combined to + retain in Stockholm. Loath as he was to leave his country an + undisputed prey to the knaves into whose hands it had fallen, he + was perhaps still more unwilling to abandon one beloved being to + the snares and dangers of a sensual and corrupt court. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "It was on a September evening of the year 1792, and the light + of the moon fell cold and clear upon the white houses of Stockholm, + though the streets that intersected their masses were plunged in + deep shadow, when a man, muffled in a cloak, and evidently desirous + of avoiding observation, was seen making his way hastily through + the darkest and least frequented lanes of that city. Stopping at + last, he knocked thrice against a window-shutter; an adjacent door + was opened at the signal, and he passed through a corridor into a + cheerful and well-lighted apartment. Throwing off his cloak, he + received and returned the affectionate greeting of a beautiful + woman, who advanced with outstretched hand to meet him. The + stranger was Count Armfelt—the lady, Miss + Rudenskjöld—the most charming of the court beauties of the + day. The colour left her cheek when she perceived the uneasiness of + her lover; but when he told her of the orders he had received, her + head sank upon his breast, and her large blue eyes swam in tears. + Recovering, however, from this momentary depression, she vowed to + remain ever true to her country and her love. The Count echoed the + vow, and a kiss sealed the compact. The following morning a ship + sailed from Stockholm, bearing the new ambassador to Naples. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Scarcely had Armfelt departed, when Duke Karl began to + persecute Miss Rudenskjöld with his addresses. At first he + endeavoured, by attention and flatteries, to win her favour; but + her avoidance of his advances and society increased the violence of + his passion, until at last he spoke his wishes with brutal + frankness. With maidenly pride and dignity, the lady repelled his + suit, and severely stigmatized his insolence. Foaming with rage, + the duke left her presence, and from that moment his love was + exchanged for a deadly hatred. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Baron Reuterholm had witnessed with pleasure the growth of + the regent's passion for the beautiful Miss Rudenskjöld; for he + knew that the more pursuits Duke Karl had to occupy and amuse him, + the more undivided would be his own sway. It was with great + dissatisfaction, therefore, that he received an account of the + contemptuous manner in which the proud girl had treated her royal + admirer. The latter insisted upon revenge, full and complete + revenge, and Reuterholm promised that he should <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> have + it. Miss Rudenskjöld's life was so blameless, and her conduct + in every respect so correct, that it seemed impossible to invent + any charge against her; but Reuterholm set spies to work, and spies + will always discover something. They found out that she kept up a + regular correspondence with Count Armfelt. Their letters were + opened, and evidence found in them of a plan to declare the young + prince of age, or at least to abstract Duke Karl from the + corrupting influence of Reuterholm. The angry feelings entertained + by the latter personage towards Miss Rudenskjöld were increased + tenfold by this discovery, and he immediately had her thrown into + prison. She was brought to trial before a tribunal composed of + creatures of the baron, and including the Chancellor Sparre, a man + of unparalleled cunning and baseness, than whom Satan himself could + have selected no better advocate. During her examination, Fraulein + von Rudenskjöld was most cruelly treated, and the words of the + correspondence were distorted, with infamous subtlety, into + whatever construction best suited her accusers. Sparre twisted his + physiognomy, which in character partook of that of the dog and the + serpent, into a thoughtful expression, and regretted that, + according to the Swedish laws, the offence of which Miss + Rudenskjöld was found guilty, could not be punished by the lash. + The pillory, and imprisonment in the Zuchthaus, the place of + confinement for the most guilty and abandoned of her sex, formed + the scarce milder sentence pronounced upon the unfortunate victim. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "It was early on an autumn morning—a thick canopy of + grey clouds overspread the heavens—and the dismal half-light + which prevailed in the streets of Stockholm made it difficult to + decide whether or not the sun had yet risen. A cold wind blew + across from Lake Maeler, and caused the few persons who had as yet + left their houses to hasten their steps along the deserted + pavement. Suddenly a detachment of soldiers arrived upon the square + in front of the Ritterhaus, and took up their station beside the + pillory. The officer commanding the party was a slender young man + of agreeable countenance; but he was pale as death, and his voice + trembled as he gave the words of command. The prison-gate now + opened, and Miss Rudenskjöld came forth, escorted by several + jailers. Her cheeks were whiter than the snow-white dress she wore; + her limbs trembled; her long hair hung in wild dishevelment over + her shoulders, and yet was she beautiful—beautiful as a + fading rose. They led her up the steps of the pillory, and the + executioner's hand was already stretched out to bind her to the + ignominious post, when she cast a despairing glance upon the + bystanders, as though seeking aid. As she did so, a shrill scream + of agony burst from her lips. She had recognised in the young + officer her own dearly-loved brother, who, by a devilish refinement + of cruelty, had been appointed to command the guard that was to + attend at her punishment. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Strong in her innocence, the delicate and gently-nurtured + girl had borne up against all her previous sufferings; but this was + too much. Her senses left her, and she fell fainting to the ground. + Her brother also swooned away, and never recovered his unclouded + reason. To his dying day his mind remained gloomy and unsettled. + The very executioners refused to inflict further indignity on the + senseless girl, and she was conducted back to her dungeon, where + she soon recovered all the firmness which she had already displayed + before her infamous judges. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Meanwhile Armfelt was exposed in Italy to the double danger + of secret assassination, and of a threatened requisition from the + Swedish government for him to be delivered up. He sought safety in + flight, and found an asylum in Germany. His estates were + confiscated, his titles, honours, and nobility declared forfeit, + and he himself was condemned by default as a traitor to his + country." + </div> + + <p>Concerning the ultimate fate of this luckless pair of lovers, Mr + Boas deposeth not, but passes on to an account of the disturbances in + 1810, when the Swedish marshal, Count Axel Fersen, suspected by the + populace as cause of the sudden death of the Crown Prince, Charles + Augustus, was attacked, while following the body of the prince + through the streets of Stockholm. <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> He was sitting in full + uniform in his carriage, drawn by six milk-white horses, when he was + assailed with showers of stones, from which he took refuge in a house + upon the Ritterhaustmarkt. In spite of the exertions of General + Silversparre, at the head of some dragoons, the mob broke into the + house, and entered the room in which Fersen was. He folded his hands, + and begged for mercy, protesting his innocence. But his entreaties + were in vain. A broad-shouldered fellow, a shopkeeper, named Lexow, + tore off his orders, sword, and cloak, and threw them through the + window to the rioters, who with furious shouts reduced them to + fragments. Silversparre then proposed to take the count to prison, + and have him brought to trial in due form. But, on the way thither, + the crowd struck and ill-treated the old man; and, although numerous + troops were now upon the spot, these remained with shouldered arms, + and even their officers forbade their interference. They appeared to + be there to attend an execution rather than to restore order. The mob + dragged the unfortunate Fersen to the foot of Gustavus Vasa's + statue, and there beat and ill-treated him till he died. It was + remarked of the foremost and most eager of his persecutors, that + although dressed as common sailors, their hands were white and + delicate, and linen of fine texture peeped betrayingly forth from + under their coarse outer garments. Doubtless more than one + long-standing hatred was on that day gratified. It was still borne in + mind, that Count Fersen's father had been the chief instrument in + bringing Count Eric Brahe, and several other nobles, to the scaffold, + upon the very spot where, half a century later, his son's blood + was poured out.</p> + + <p>The murder of the Count-Marshal was followed by an attack upon the + house of his sister, the Countess Piper; but she had had timely + notice, and escaped by water to Waxholm. Several officers of rank, + who strove to pacify the mob, were abused, and even beaten; until at + length a combat ensued between the troops and the people, and lasted + till nightfall, when an end was put to it by a heavy fall of rain. + The number of killed and wounded on that day could never be + ascertained.</p> + + <p>These incidents are striking and dramatic—fine stuff for + novel writers, as Mr Boas says—but we will turn to less + sanguinary subjects. In a letter to a female friend, who is + designated by the fanciful name of Eglantine, we have a sketch of the + present state of Swedish poetry and literature. According to the + account here given us, Olof von Dalin, who was born in Holland in + 1763, was the first to awaken in the Swedes a real and correct taste + for the <i>belles lettres</i>. This he did in great measure by the + establishment of a periodical called the <i>Argus</i>. He improved + the style of prose writing, and produced some poetry, which latter + appears, however, to have been generally more remarkable for + sweetness than power. We have not space to follow Mr Boas through his + gallery of Swedish <i>literati</i>, but we will extract what he says + concerning three authoresses, whose works, highly popular in their + own country and in Germany, have latterly attracted some attention in + England. These are—Miss Bremer, Madame Flygare-Carlén, and the + Baroness Knorring, the delineators of domestic, rural, and + aristocratic life in Sweden.</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Frederica Bremer was born in the year 1802. After the death + of her father, a rich merchant and proprietor of mines, she resided + at Schonen, and subsequently with a female friend in Norway. She + now lives with her mother and sister alternately in the Norrlands + Gatan, at Stockholm, or at their country seat at Arsta. If I were + to talk to you about Miss Bremer's romances, you would laugh at + me, for you are doubtless ten times better acquainted with them + than I am. But you are curious, perhaps, to learn something about + her appearance, and <i>that</i> I can tell you. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "You will not expect to hear that Miss Bremer, a maiden lady + of forty, retains a very large share of youthful bloom; but, + independently of that, she is really any thing but handsome. Her + thin wrinkled physiognomy is, however, rendered agreeable by its + good-humoured expression, and her meagre figure has the benefit of + a neat and simple style of dress. From the style of her writings, I + used always to take <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id= + "Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> her to be a governess; and she looks + exactly like one. She knows that she is not handsome, and on that + account has always refused to have her portrait taken; the one they + sell of her in Germany is a counterfeit, the offspring of an + artist's imagination, stimulated by speculative book-sellers. + This summer, there was a quizzing paragraph in one of the Swedish + papers, saying that a painter had been sent direct from America to + Rome and Stockholm, to take portraits of the Pope and of Miss + Bremer. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "In Sweden, the preference is given to her romance of + <i>Hemmet</i>, (Home,) over all her other works. Any thing like a + bold originality of invention she is generally admitted to lack, + but she is skilled in throwing a poetical charm over the quiet + narrow circle of domestic life. She is almost invariably successful + in her female characters, but when she attempts to draw those of + men, her creations are mere caricatures, full of emptiness and + improbability. Her habit of indulging in a sort of aimless and + objectless philosophizing vein, <i>à propos</i> of nothing at all, + is also found highly wearisome. For my part, it has often given me + an attack of nausea. She labours, however, diligently to improve + herself; and, when I saw her, she had just been ordering at a + bookseller's two German works—Bossen's <i>Translation + of Homer</i>, and Creuzer's <i>Symbolics</i>. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Emily Flygare is about thirty years of age. She is the + daughter of a country clergyman, and has only to write down her own + recollections in order to depict village life, with its pains and + its pleasures. Accordingly, that is her strongest line in + authorship; and her book, <i>Kyrkoinvigningen</i>, (the Church + Festival,) has been particularly successful. Married in early life + to an officer, she contracted, after his death, several + engagements, all of which she broke off, whereby her reputation in + some degree suffered. At last she gave her hand to Carlén, a very + middling sort of poet, some years younger than she is; and she now + styles herself—following the example of Madame + Birch-Pfeiffer, and other celebrated singers—Flygare-Carlén. + She lives very happily at Stockholm with her husband, and is at + least as good a housewife as an authoress, not even thinking it + beneath her dignity to superintend the kitchen. Her great modesty + as to her own merits, and the esteem she expresses for her rivals, + are much to her credit. She is a little restless body, and does not + like sitting still. Her countenance is rather pleasing than + handsome, and its charm is heightened by the lively sparkle of her + quick dark eyes. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "The third person of the trio is the Baroness Knorring, a very + noble lady, who lives far away from Stockholm, and is married to an + officer. She is between thirty and forty years old, and it is + affirmed that she would be justified in exclaiming with + Wallenstein's Thekla— + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + <span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">'Ich habe gelebt und + geliebet.'</span> + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + She was described to me as nervous and delicate, which is perhaps + the right temperament to enable her accurately to depict in her + romances the strained artificiality and silken softness of + aristocratic existence. Her style also possesses the needful + lightness and grace, and she accordingly succeeds admirably in her + sketches of high life, with all its elegant nullities and + spiritless pomp. One of her best works is the romance of + <i>Cousinerna</i>, (The Cousins,) which, as well as the other works + of Knorring, Bremer, and Flygare, has been placed before the German + public by our diligent translators." + </div><br /> + + <p>Upon the subjects of Swedish society and conversation, Mr Boas is + pleased to be unusually funny. Like the foreigner who asserted that + Goddam was the root of the English language, he seems prepared to + maintain that two monosyllables constitute the essence of the Swedish + tongue, and that they alone are required to carry on an effective and + agreeable dialogue. "It is not at all difficult," he says, + "to keep up a conversation with a Swede, when you are once + acquainted with a certain mystical formula, whereby all emotions and + sentiments are to be expressed, and by the aid of which you may love + and hate, curse and bless, be good-humoured or satirical, and even + witty. The mighty and all-sufficing words are, '<i>Ja + so!</i>' (Yes, indeed!) usually <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> pronounced <i>Jassoh</i>. + It is wonderful to hear the infinite variety of modulation which a + Swede gives to these two insignificant syllables. Does he hear some + agreeable intelligence, he exclaims, with sparkling eyes and brisk + intonation, 'Ja so!' If bad news are brought to him, he + droops his head, and, after a pause, murmurs mournfully, 'Ja + so!' The communication of an important affair is received with a + thoughtful 'Ja so!' a joke elicits a humorous one; an attempt + to banter or deceive him is met by a sarcastic repetition of the same + mysterious words.</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "A romance might be constructed out of these four letters. + Thus:—Lucy is sitting at her window, when a well-known + messenger brings her a bouquet. She joyfully exclaims, 'Ja + so!' and presses the flowers to her lips. A friend comes in; + she shows her the flowers, and the friend utters an envious 'Ja + so!' Soon afterwards Lucy's lover hears that she is + faithless; he gnashes his teeth, and vociferates a furious 'Ja + so!' He writes to tell her that he despises her, and will never + see her again; whereupon she weeps, and says to herself, between + two tears, 'Ja so!' She manages, however, to see him, and + convinces him that she has been calumniated. He clasps her in his + arms, and utters a 'Ja so!' expressive of entire + conviction. Suddenly his brow becomes clouded, and muttering a + meditative 'Ja so!' he remembers that a peremptory + engagement compels him to leave her. He seeks out the man who has + sought to rob him of his mistress, and reproaches him with his + perfidy. This rival replies by a cold, scornful 'Ja so!' + and a meeting is agreed upon. The next day they exchange shots, and + I fully believe that the man who is killed sighs out with his last + breath 'Ja so!' His horror-stricken antagonist exclaims + 'Ja so!' and flies the country; and surgeon, relations, + friends, judge, all, in short, who hear of the affair, will + inevitably cry out, 'Ja so!' Grief and joy, doubt and + confidence, jest and anger, are all to be rendered by those two + words." + </div> + + <p>The province of Dalarna, or Dalecarlia, which lies between + Nordland and the Norwegian frontier, and in which Miss Bremer has + laid the scene of one of her most recent works, is spoken of at some + length by Mr Boas, who considers it to be, in various respects, the + most interesting division of Sweden. Its inhabitants, unable to find + means of subsistence in their own poor and mountainous land, are in + the habit of wandering forth to seek a livelihood in more kindly + regions, and Mr Boas likens them in this respect to the Savoyards. + They might, perhaps, be more aptly compared to the Galicians, who + leave their country, not, as many of the Savoyards do, to become + beggars and vagabonds, by the aid of a marmoset and a grinding organ, + but to strive, by the hardest labour and most rigid economy, to + accumulate a sum that will enable them to return and end their lives + in their native village.</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "The dress of the Dalecarlians (<i>dale carls</i>, or men of + the valley) consists of a sort of doublet and leathern apron, to + the latter of which garments they get so accustomed that they + scarcely lay it aside even on Sundays. Above that they wear a short + overcoat of white flannel. Their round hats are decorated with red + tufts, and their breeches fastened at the knees with red ties and + tassels. The costume of their wives and daughters, who are called + Dalecullen, (women of the valley,) is yet more peculiar and + outlandish. It is composed of a coloured cap, fitting close to the + head, of a boddice with red laces, a gown, usually striped with red + and green, and of scarlet stockings. They wear enormous shoes, + large, awkward, and heavy, made of the very thickest leather, and + adorned with the eternal red frippery. The soles are an inch thick, + with huge heels, stuck full of nails, and placed, not where the + heel of the foot is, but in front, under the toes; and as these + remarkable shoes <i>lift</i> at every step, the heels of the + stockings are covered with leather. On Sundays, ample white + shirt-sleeves, broad cap-ribands, and large wreaths of flowers are + added to this singular garb, amongst the wearers of which pretty + faces and laughing blue eyes are by no means uncommon. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "The occupations of these women are of the rudest and most + laborious description. They may be literally <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> said to + earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, and their hands are + rendered callous as horn by the nature of their toil. They act as + bricklayers' labourers, and carry loads of stones upon their + shoulders and up ladders. Besides this, it is a monopoly of theirs + to row a sort of boat, which is impelled by machinery imitating + that of a steamer, but worked by hand. These are tolerably large + vessels, having paddle-wheels fitted to them, which are turned from + within. Each wheel is worked by two young Dalecarlian girls, who + perform this severe labour with the utmost cheerfulness, while an + old woman steers. They pass their lives upon the water, plying from + earliest dawn till late in the night, and conveying passengers, for + a trifling copper coin, across the broad canals which intersect + Stockholm in every direction. Cheerful and pious, the bloom of + health on her cheeks, and the fear of God in her heart, the + Dalecarlian maiden is contented in her humble calling. On Sunday + she would sooner lose a customer than miss her attendance at + church. One sorrowful feeling, and only one, at times saddens her + heart, and that is the <i>Heimweh</i>, the yearning after her + native valley, when she longs to return to her wild and beautiful + country, which the high mountains encircle, and the bright stream + of the Dalelf waters. There she has her father and mother, or + perhaps a lover, as poor as herself, and she sees no possibility of + ever earning enough to enable her to return home, and become his + wife. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "It was in this province that I now found myself, and its + inhabitants pleased me greatly. Nature has made them hardy and + intelligent, for their life is a perpetual struggle to extract a + scanty subsistence from the niggard and rocky soil. Unenervated by + luxury, uncorrupted by the introduction of foreign vices, they have + been at all periods conspicuous for their love of freedom, for + their penetration in discovering, and promptness in repelling, + attacks upon it. Faithful to their lawful sovereign, they yet + brooked no tyranny; and when invaders entered the land, or bad + governors oppressed them, they were ever ready to defend their just + rights with their lives. From the remotest periods, such has been + the character of this people, which has preserved itself + unsophisticated, true, and free. It is interesting to trace the + history of the Dalecarlians. Isolated in a manner from the rest of + the world amongst their rugged precipices and in their lonely + valleys, it might be supposed they would know nothing of what + passed without; yet whenever the moment for action has come, they + have been found alert and prepared. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "At the commencement of the fifteenth century, Eric XIII., + known also as the Pomeranian, ascended the Swedish throne. His own + disposition was neither bad nor good, but he had too little + knowledge of the country he was called upon to reign over; and his + governors and vice-gerents, for the most part foreigners, + tyrannized unsparingly over the nation. The oppressed people + stretched out their hands imploringly to the king; but he, who was + continually requiring fresh supplies of money for the prosecution + of objectless wars, paid no attention to their complaints. Of all + his Vögte, or governors, not one was so bad and cruel as Jesse + Ericson, who dwelt at Westeraes, and ruled over Dalarna. He laid + enormous imposts on the peasantry, and when they were unable to + pay, he took every thing from them, to their last horse, and + harnessed themselves to the plough. Pregnant matrons were compelled + at his command to draw heavy hay-waggons, women and girls were + shamefully outraged by him, and persons possessing property + unjustly condemned, in order that he might take possession of their + goods. When the peasants came to him to complain, he had them + driven away with stripes, or else cut off their ears, or hung them + up in the smoke till they were suffocated. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Then the men of Dalarna murmured; they assembled in their + valleys, and held counsel together. An insurrection was decided + upon, and Engelbrecht of Falun was chosen to head it, because, + although small of stature, he had a courageous heart, and knew how + to talk or to fight, as occasion required. He repaired to + Copenhagen, laid the just complaints of his countrymen before the + king, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg + 66]</a></span> and pledged his head to prove their truth. Eric gave + him a letter to the counsellors of state, some of whom accompanied + him back to Dalarna, and convinced themselves that the distress of + the province was inconceivably great. They exposed this state of + things to the king in a letter, with which Engelbrecht returned to + Copenhagen. But, on seeking audience of Eric, the latter cried out + angrily, 'You do nothing but complain! Go your ways, and appear + no more before me.' So Engelbrecht departed, but he murmured as + he went, 'Yet once more will I return.' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Although the counsellors themselves urged the king to appoint + another governor over Dalecarlia, he did not think fit to do so. + Then, in the year 1434, so soon as the sun had melted the snow, the + Dalecarlians rose up as one man, marched through the country, and + Jesse Ericson fled before them into Denmark. They destroyed the + dwellings of their oppressors, drove away their hirelings and + retainers, and Engelbrecht advanced, with a thousand picked men, to + Wadstena, where he found an assembly of bishops and counsellors. + From these he demanded assistance, but they refused to accord it, + until Engelbrecht took the bishop of Linköping by the collar, to + deliver him over to his followers. Thereupon they became more + tractable, and renounced in writing their allegiance to Eric, on + the grounds that he had 'made bishops of ignorant ribalds, + entrusted high offices to unworthy persons, and neglected to punish + tyrannical governors.' The Dalecarlians advanced as far as + Schonen, where Engelbrecht concluded a truce, and dismissed them. + His army had consisted of ten thousand peasants, all burning with + anger against their oppressors, and without military discipline; + yet, to his great credit be it said, not a single excess or act of + plunder had been committed. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "On hearing of these disturbances, the king repaired in all + haste to Stockholm, whereupon Engelbrecht again summoned his + followers, and marched upon the capital, in which Eric entrenched + himself with various nobles and governors, who had burned down + their castles, and hastened to join him. Things looked threatening, + but nevertheless ended peaceably, for Eric was afraid of the + Swedes. He obtained peace by promising that in future the + provinces, with few exceptions, should name their own governors, + and that Engelbrecht should be vögt at Oerebro. As usual, however, + he broke his word, and, before sailing for Denmark, he appointed as + vögt a man who was a notorious pirate, a robber of churches, and + abuser of women. For the third time the peasants revolted. In the + winter of 1436 they appeared before Stockholm, which they took, the + burghers themselves helping them to burst open the gates. + Engelbrecht seized upon one fortress after another, meeting no + resistance from King Eric, who fled secretly to Pomerania, leaving + the war and his kingdom to take care of themselves. Several members + of the council followed him thither, and, after some persuasion, + brought him back with them. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "In the midst of these changes and commotions, Engelbrecht was + treacherously assassinated by the son of that bishop whom he had + formerly affronted at Wadstena. With tears and lamentations, the + boors fetched the body of their brave and faithful leader from the + little island where his death had occurred, and which to this day + bears his name. The spot on which the murder was committed is said + to be accursed, and no grass ever grows there. Subsequently the + coffin was brought to the church at Oerebro, and so exalted was the + opinion entertained of Engelbrecht's worth and virtue, that the + country people asserted that miracles were wrought at his tomb, as + at the shrine of a saint." + </div> + + <p>It was nearly a century later that Gustavus Vasa, flying, with a + price upon his head, from the assassins of his father and friends, + took refuge in Dalecarlia. Disguised in peasant's garb, and with + an axe in his hand, he hired himself as a labourer; but was soon + recognised, and his employer feared to retain him in his service. He + then appealed to the Dalecarlians to espouse his cause; but, although + they admired and sympathised with the gallant youth who thus placed + his trust in them, they hesitated to take up arms in his behalf; and, + hopeless of their assistance, he at last turned <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> his steps + towards Norway. But scarcely had he done so, when the incursion of a + band of Danish mercenaries sent to seek him, and the full + confirmation of what he had told them concerning the massacre at + Stockholm, roused the Dalecarlians from their inaction. The tocsin + was sounded throughout the provinces, the Danes were driven away, and + the two swiftest runners in the country bound on their snow-shoes, + and set out with the speed of the wind to bring back the royal + fugitive. They overtook him at the foot of the Norwegian mountains, + and soon afterwards he found himself at the head of five thousand + white-coated Dalecarlians.</p> + + <p>The Danes were approaching, and one of their bishops + asked—"How many men the province of Dalarna could + furnish?"</p> + + <p>"At least twenty thousand," was the reply; "for the + old men are just as strong and as brave as the young ones."</p> + + <p>"But what do they all live upon?"</p> + + <p>"Upon bread and water. They take little account of hunger and + thirst, and when corn is lacking, they make their bread out of + tree-bark."</p> + + <p>"Nay," said the bishop, "a people who eat tree-bark + and drink water, the devil himself would not vanquish, much less a + man."</p> + + <p>And neither were they vanquished. Like an avalanche from the + mountains, they fell upon their foes, beat them with clubs, and drove + them into the river. Their progress was one series of triumphs, till + they placed Gustavus Vasa on the throne of Sweden.</p> + + <p>The last outbreak of the Dalecarlians was less successful. On the + 19th of June 1743, five thousand of these hardy and determined men + appeared before Stockholm, bringing with them in fetters the governor + of their province, and demanding the punishment of the nobles who had + instigated a war with Russia, and a new election of an heir to the + crown. They were not to be pacified by words; and even the next + morning, when the old King Frederick, surrounded by his general and + guards, rode out to harangue them, all he could obtain was the + release of their prisoner. On the other hand, they seized three + pieces of cannon, and dragged them to the square named after Gustavus + Adolphus, where they posted themselves.</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "There were eight thousand men of regular troops in Stockholm, + but these were not all to be depended upon, and it was necessary to + bring up some detachments of the guards. A company of Süderländers + who had been ordered to cross the bridge, went right about face, as + soon as they came in sight of the Dalecarlians, and did not halt + till they reached the sluicegate, which had been drawn up, so that + nobody might pass. It was now proclaimed with beat of drum, that + those of the Dalecarlians who should not have left the city by five + o'clock, would be dealt with as rebels and traitors. More than + a thousand did leave, but the others stood firm. Counsellors and + generals went to them, and exhorted them to obedience; but they + cried out that they would make and unmake the king, according to + their own good right and decree, and that if it was attempted to + hinder them, the very child in the cradle should meet no mercy at + their hands. To give greater weight to their words, they fired a + cannon and a volley of musketry, by which a counsellor was killed. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Orders were now given to the soldiers to fire, but they had + pity on the poor peasants, and only aimed at the houses, shattering + the glass in hundreds of windows. But the artillerymen were obliged + to put match to touch-hole, and a murderous fire of canister did + execution in the masses of the Dalecarlians. Many a white camisole + was stained with the red heart's-blood of its wearer; fifty men + fell dead upon the spot, eighty were wounded, and a crowd of others + sprang into the Norderström, or sought to fly. The regiment of + body-guards pursued them, and drove the discomfited boors into the + artillery court. A severe investigation now took place, and these + thirsters after liberty were punished by imprisonment and running + the gauntlet. Their leader and five others were beheaded. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "The Dalecarlians are a tenacious and obstinate people, and + their character is not likely to change; but God forbid that they + should again <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id= + "Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> deem it necessary to visit Stockholm. + They were doubtless just as brave in the year 1743 as in 1521 and + 1434; but though <i>they</i> had not altered, the times had. + Civilization and cartridges are powerful checks upon undisciplined + courage and an unbridled desire of liberty." + </div> + + <p>Returning from Dalecarlia to Stockholm, Mr Boas takes, not without + regret, his final farewell of that city, and embarks for Gothenburg, + passing through the Gotha canal, that splendid monument of Swedish + industry and perseverance, which connects the Baltic with the North + Sea. He passes the island of Mörkö, on which is Höningsholm Castle, + where Marshal Banner was brought up. A window is pointed out in the + third story of the castle, at which Banner, when a child, was once + playing, when he overbalanced himself and fell out. The ground + beneath was hard and rocky, but nevertheless he got up unhurt, ran + into the house, and related how a gardener had saved him by catching + him in his white apron. Enquiry was immediately made, but, far or + near, no gardener was to be found. By an odd coincidence, + Wallenstein, Banner's great opponent, when a page at Innspruck, + also fell out of a high window without receiving the least + injury.</p> + + <p>On the first evening of the voyage, the steamer anchors for the + night near Mem, a country-seat belonging to a certain Count Saltza, + an eccentric old nobleman, who traces his descent from the time of + Charles XII., and fancies himself a prophet and ghost-seer. His + predictions relate usually to the royal family or country of Sweden, + and are repeated from mouth to mouth throughout every province of the + kingdom. And here we must retract an assertion we made some pages + back, as to the possibility of our supposing this book to proceed + from any other than a German pen. No one but a German would have + thought it necessary or judicious to intrude his own insipid + sentimentalities into a narrative of this description, and which was + meant to be printed. But there is probably no conceivable subject on + which a German could be set to write, in discussing which he would + not manage to drag in, by neck and heels, a certain amount of + sentiment or metaphysics, perhaps of both. Mr Boas, we are sorry to + say, is guilty of this sin against good taste. The steamer comes to + an anchor about ten o'clock, and he goes ashore with Baron + K——, a friend he has picked up on board, to take a stroll + in the Prophet's garden at Mem. There they encounter + Mesdemoiselles Ebba and Ylfwa, lovely and romantic maidens, who sit + in a bower of roses under the shadow of an umbrageous maple-tree, + their arms intertwined, their eyes fixed upon a moonbeam, piping out + Swedish melodies, which, to our two swains, prove seductive as the + songs of a Siren. The moonbeam aforesaid is kind enough to convert + into silver all the trees, bushes, leaves and twigs in the vicinity + of the young ladies with the Thor-and-Odin names; whilst to complete + this German vision, a white bird with a yellow tuft upon its head + stands sentry upon a branch beside them, the said bird being, we + presume, a filthy squealing cockatoo, although Mr Boas, gay deceiver + that he is, evidently wishes us to infer that it was an indigenous + volatile of the phœnix tribe. Sentinel Cockatoo, however, was + caught napping, and the garrison of the bower had to run for it. And + now commences a series of hopes and fears, and doubts and anxieties, + and sighings and perplexities, which keep the tender heart of Boas in + a state of agreeable palpitation, through four or five chapters; at + the end of which he steps on board the steam-boat Christiana, blows + in imagination a farewell kiss to Miss Ebba, of whom, by the bye, he + has never obtained more than half a glimpse, and awaking, as he tells + us, from his love-dream, which we should call his nightmare, sets + sail for Copenhagen.</p> + + <p>Of the various places visited by Mr Boas during his ramble, few + seem to have pleased him better than Copenhagen, and he becomes quite + enthusiastic when speaking of that city, and of what he saw there. + The pleasure he had in meeting Thorwaldsen is perhaps in part the + cause of his remembering the Danish capital with peculiar favour. He + gives various details concerning that celebrated sculptor, his + character and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id= + "Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> habits, and commences the chapter, which + he styles, "A Fragment of Italy in the North," with a + comparison between Sweden and Denmark, two countries which, both in + trifling and important matters, but especially in the character of + their inhabitants, are far more dissimilar than from their + juxtaposition might have been supposed. Listen to Mr Boas.</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "On meeting an interesting person for the first time, one + frequently endeavours to trace a resemblance with some previous + acquaintance or friend. I have a similar propensity when I visit + interesting cities; but I had difficulty in calling to mind any + place to which I could liken Copenhagen. Between Sweden and Denmark + generally, there are more points of difference than of resemblance. + Sweden is the land of rocks, and Denmark of forest. Oehlenschlägel + calls the latter country, 'the fresh and grassy,' but he + might also have added 'the cool and wooded.' + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "The Swedish language is soft and melodious, the Danish sharp + and accentuated. The former is better suited to lyrical, the latter + to dramatic poetry. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "When a Swede laughs, he still looks more serious than a Dane + who is out of humour. In Sweden, the people are quiet, even when + indulging in the pleasures they love best; in Denmark there is no + pleasure without noise. In a political point of view, the + difference between the two nations is equally marked. Beyond the + Sound, all demonstrations are made with fierce earnestness; on this + side of it, satire and wit are the weapons employed. On the one + hand shells and heavy artillery, on the other, light and brilliant + rockets. The Swedes have much liberty of the press and very little + humour; the Danes have a great deal of humour and small liberty of + the press. As a people, the former are of a choleric and melancholy + temperament, the latter of a sanguine and phlegmatic one. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Whilst the Swedish national hatred is directed against + Russia, that of Denmark takes England for its object. Finland and + the fleet are not yet forgotten. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "The Swede is constantly taking off his hat; the Dane always + shakes hands. The former is courteous and sly, the latter simple + and honest. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "If Denmark has little similarity with its northern neighbour, + neither has it any marked point of resemblance with its southern + one. It always reminds me of the <i>tongue</i> of a balance, + vibrating between Sweden and Germany, and inclining ever to that + side on which the greatest weight lies. Thus its literary tendency + is German, its political one Swedish. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "The best comparison that can be made of Denmark is with + Italy; and to me, although I shall probably surprise the reader by + saying so, Copenhagen appears like a part of Rome transplanted into + the north. In some degree, perhaps, Thorwaldsen is answerable for + this impression; for where he works and creates, one is apt to + fancy oneself surrounded by that warm southern atmosphere in which + nature and art best flourish. When he returned to Copenhagen, it + was a festival day for the whole population of the city. A crew of + gaily dressed sailors rowed him to land, and whilst they were doing + so, a rainbow suddenly appeared in the heavens. The multitude + assembled on the shore set up a shout of jubilation, to see that + the sky itself assumed its brightest tints, to celebrate the return + of their favourite. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "I had been told that I should not see Thorwaldsen, because he + was staying with the Countess Stampe. This lady is about forty + years of age, and possesses that blooming <i>embonpoint</i> which + makes up in some women for the loss of youthful freshness. She + became acquainted with the artist in Italy, and fascinated him to + such a degree that he made her a present of the whole of his + drawings, which are of immense artistical value. She excited much + ill-will by accepting them, but at the same time it must in justice + be owned, that Thorwaldsen is under great obligations to her. He + had hardly arrived in Copenhagen, when innumerable invitations to + breakfasts, dinners, and suppers were poured upon him. Every body + wanted to have him; and, as he was known to love good living, the + most sumptuous repasts were prepared for him. The sturdy old man, + who had never been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id= + "Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> ill in his life, became pale and + sickly, lost his taste for work, and was in a fair way to die of an + indigestion, when the Countess Stampe stepped in to the rescue, + carried him off to her country-seat, and there fitted him up a + studio. His health speedily returned, and with it the energy for + which he has always been remarkable, and he joyfully resumed the + chisel and modelling stick. + </div><br /> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "I had scarcely set foot in the streets of Copenhagen, when I + saw Thorwaldsen coming towards me. I was sure that I was not + mistaken, for no one who has ever looked upon that fine benevolent + countenance, that long silver hair, clear, high forehead and gently + smiling mouth—no one who has ever gazed into those divine + blue orbs, wherein creative power seems so sweetly to repose, could + ever forget them again. I went up and spoke to him. He remembered + me immediately, shook my hand with that captivating joviality of + manner which is peculiar to him, and invited me into his house. He + inhabits the Charlottenburg, an old chateau on the Königsneumarkt, + by crossing the inner court of which one reaches his studio. My + most delightful moments in Copenhagen were passed there, looking on + whilst he worked at the statues of deities and heroes—he + himself more illustrious than them all. There they stand, those + lifelike and immortal groups, displaying the most wonderful variety + of form and attitude, and yet, strange to say, Thorwaldsen scarcely + ever makes use of a model. His most recently commenced works were + two gigantic allegorical figures, Samson and Æsculapius. The first + was already completed, and I myself saw the bearded physiognomy of + Æsculapius growing each day more distinct and perfect beneath the + cunning hand of the master. The statues represent Strength and + Health." + </div> + + <p>In his house, and as a private individual, Thorwaldsen is as + amiable and estimable as in his studio. In the centre of one of his + rooms is a four-sided sofa, which was embroidered expressly for him + by the fair hands of the Copenhagen ladies. The walls are covered + with pictures, some of them very good, others of a less degree of + merit. They were not all bought on account of their excellence; + Thorwaldsen purchased many of them to assist young artists who were + living, poor and in difficulties, at Rome. Dressed in his blue linen + blouse, he explained to his visitor the subjects of these pictures, + without the slightest tinge of vanity in his manner or words. None of + the dignities or honours that have been showered upon him, have in + the slightest degree turned his head. Affable, cheerful, and + even-tempered, he appears to have preserved, to his present age of + sixty, much of the joyous lightheartedness of youth. With great glee + he related to Mr Boas the trick he had played the architects of the + church of Our Lady at Copenhagen.</p> + + <p>"Architects are obstinate people," said he, "and + one must know how to manage them. Thank God, that is a knowledge + which I possess in a tolerable degree. When the church of Our Lady + was built, the architect left six niches on either side of the + interior, and these were to contain the twelve apostles. In vain did + I represent to them that statues were meant to be looked at on all + sides, and that nobody could see through a stone wall; I implored, I + coaxed them, it was all in vain. Then thought I to myself, he is best + served who serves himself, and thereupon I made the statues a good + half-foot higher than the niches. You should have seen the length of + the architects' faces when they found this out. But they could + not help themselves; the infernal sentry-boxes were bricked up, and + my apostles stand out upon their pedestals, as you may have seen when + you visited the church."</p> + + <p>Thorwaldsen is devotedly attached to Copenhagen, and has made a + present to the city of all his works and collections, upon condition + that a fitting locality should be prepared for their reception, and + that the museum should bear his name. The king gave a wing of the + Christiansburg for this purpose, the call for subscriptions was + enthusiastically responded to, and the building is now well advanced. + Its style of architecture is unostentatious, and its rows of large + windows will admit a broad decided light upon the marble groups. + Pending its completion, the majority of the statues and pictures are + lodged in the palace.</p> + + <p>Mr Boas appears bent upon establishing his parallel between + Denmark and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg + 71]</a></span> Italy. He traces it in the fondness of the Danes for + art, poetry, and music, in their gay and joyous character, and in + their dress. He even discovers an Italian punchinello figuring in a + Danish puppet-show; and as it was during the month of August that he + found himself in Denmark, the weather was not such as to dispel his + illusions.</p> + + <p>"It would be erroneous," he says, "to suppose that + Danish costumes weaken or obliterate the idea of a southern region + conveyed by this country. A Bolognese professor would not think of + covering his head with the red cap of a Lazzarone, and Roman + marchesas dress themselves, like Danish countesses, according to the + <i>Journal des Modes</i>. National costumes in all countries have + taken refuge in villages, and the peasants in the environs of + Copenhagen have no reason to be ashamed of their garb, which is both + showy and picturesque. The men wear round hats and dark-blue jackets, + lined with scarlet and adorned with long glittering rows of + bullet-shaped buttons. The women are very tasteful in their attire. + Their dark-green gowns, with variegated borders, reach down to their + heels, and the shoulder-strap of the closely fitting boddice is a + band of gold lace. The chief pains are bestowed upon the head-dress, + which is various in its fashion, sometimes composed of clear white + stuff, with an embroidered lappet, falling down upon the neck; + sometimes of a cap of many colours, heavily embroidered with gold, + and having broad ribands of a red purple, which flutter over the + shoulders. One meets every where with this original sort of costume; + for the peasant women repair in great numbers to the festivals at the + various towns, and in Copenhagen they are employed as nurses to the + children of the higher classes.</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "During my sojourn in the Danish capital, the weather was so + obliging as in no way to interfere with my Cisalpine illusions. The + sky continued a spotless dome of lapis-lazuli, out of which the sun + beamed like a huge diamond; and if now and then a little cloud + appeared, it was no bigger than a white dove flitting across the + blue expanse. The days were hot, a bath in the lukewarm sea + scarcely cooled me, and at night a soft dreamy sort of vapour + spread itself over the earth. I only remember one single moment + when the peculiarities of a northern climate made themselves + obvious. It was in the evening, and I was returning with my friend + Holst from the delightful forest-park of Friedrichsberg. The sky + was one immense blue prairie, across which the moon was solitarily + wandering, when suddenly the atmosphere became illuminated with a + bright and fiery light; a large flaming meteor rushed through the + air, and, bursting with a loud report, divided itself into a + hundred dazzling balls of fire. These disappeared, and immediately + afterwards a white mist seemed to rise out of the earth, and the + stars shone more dimly than before. Over stream and meadow rolled + the fog, in strange fantastical shapes, floating like a silver + gauze among the tree-stems and foliage, till it gradually wove + itself into one close and impervious veil. To such appearances as + these must legends of elves and fairies owe their origin." + </div> + + <p>It is something rather new for an author to introduce into his + book a criticism of another work on the same subject. This, Mr Boas, + who appears to be a bold man, tolerably confident in his own + capabilities and acquirements, has done, and in a very amusing, + although not altogether an unobjectionable manner. He must be + sanguine, however, if he expects his readers to place implicit faith + in his impartiality. Under the title of "A Tour in the + North," he devotes a long chapter to a bitter attack on the + Countess Hahn-Hahn's book of that name. Here is its + commencement:—</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "A year previously to myself, Ida, Countess Hahn-Hahn, had + visited Sweden, and the fruit of her journey was, as is infallible + with that lady, a book. When I arrived at Stockholm, people were + just reading it, and I found them highly indignant at the nonsense + and misrepresentations it contains. When a German goes to Sweden he + is received as a brother, with a warmth and heartiness which should + make a doubly pleasing impression, if we reflect how important it + is in our days to preserve a mutual confidence and good-will + between nations. When meddling persons make <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> the + perfidious attempt to embitter a friendly people by scoffing and + abuse, there should be an end to forbearance, and it becomes a duty + to strike in with soothing words. We must show the Swedes how such + scribblings are appreciated in Germany, lest they should think we + take a pleasure in ridiculing what is noble and good." + </div> + + <p>And thereupon, Mr Boas does "strike in," as he calls it; + but however soothing his words may prove to his ill-used Swedish + friends, we have considerable doubts as to their emollient effect + upon the Countess, supposing always that she condescends to read + them. He hits that lady some very hard knocks, not all of them, + perhaps, entirely undeserved; makes out an excellent case for the + Swedes, and proves, much more satisfactorily to himself than to us, + that Madame Hahn-Hahn is of a very inferior grade of bookmaking + tourists.</p> + + <p>"In the first place" he says, "I declare that her + work on Sweden is no original, but a dull imitation of Gustavus + Nicolai's notorious book, 'Italy, as it really is.' Like + that author, the Countess labours assiduously to collect together all + the darkest shades and least favourable points of the country and + people she visits; exaggerates them when she finds them, and invents + them when she does not. For the beauties of the country she has + neither eye nor feeling; she intentionally avoids speaking of them, + and her book is meant, like that of Nicolai, to operate as a warning, + and scare away travellers. The good lady says this very explicitly. + 'Travellers are beginning to turn their attention a good deal to + the north, for the south is becoming insufficient to gratify that + universal rage for rambling, with which I myself, as a true child of + the century, am also infected. But the north is so little + known—I, for my part, only knew it through Dahl's poetical + landscapes—that one feels involuntarily disposed to deck it + with the colours of the south, because the south is beautiful, and + the north is said also to be so. Thus one is apt to set out with a + delusion, and I think it will therefore be an act of kindness to + those who may visit Sweden after me, if I say exactly how I found + it.' Uncommonly good, Gustavus the second. But it would be unfair + to Nicolai to assert that his book is as dull and nonsensical as that + of the Countess Hahn-Hahn. He went to Italy with the idea that it + never rained there, and that oranges grew on the hedges, as sloes do + with us. This was childish, and one could not help laughing at it. + But when his imitatress perpetually laments and complains, because on + the Maeler lake, under the 59th degree of latitude, she does not find + the sultry southern climate—it becomes worse than childish, and + one is compelled to pity her. The Countess chanced to hit upon a cool + rainy month for her visit—I am wrong, she was not a month in + Scandinavia altogether—and thereupon she cries out as if she + were drowning, and despises both country and people."</p> + + <p>It is easy to understand that there can be little sympathy between + the Countess Hahn-Hahn, an imaginative and somewhat capricious fine + lady, with strong aristocratic and exclusive tendencies, and such a + matter-of-fact person as Mr Boas, who, in spite of his + sentimentality, which is a sort of national infirmity, and although + he informs us in one part of his book that he is a poet, leans much + more to the practical and positive than to the imaginative and + dreamy, and we moreover suspect is a bit of a democrat. Having, + however, taken the Countess <i>en grippe</i>, as the French call it, + he shows her no mercy, and, it must be owned, displays some + cleverness in hitting off and illustrating the weak points of her + character and writings.</p> + + <p>"Hardly," he resumes, "has the female Nicolai + reached Stockholm, when she begins with her insipid comparisons. + 'The golden brilliancy of Naples and the magic spell of Venice + are here entirely wanting.' Is it possible? Only see what + striking remarks this witty and travelled dame does make! In the next + page she says:—'Upon this very day, exactly one year since, + I was in Barcelona; but here there is nothing that will bear + comparison with the land of the aloe and the orange. Three years ago + I was on the Lake of Como, in that fairy garden beyond the Alps! Five + years ago in Vienna, amongst the rose-groves of Laxenburg;' + &c. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg + 73]</a></span> Who cares in what places the Countess has been? Surely + it is enough that she has written long wearisome books about them. + Every possible corner of Italy, Spain, and Switzerland is dragged + laboriously in, to furnish forth comparisons; and soon, no doubt, a + similar use will be made of Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia. These + comparisons are invariably shown to be to the disadvantage of Sweden; + and although the lady is oftentimes compelled to confess to the + beauty of a Swedish landscape, she never forgets to qualify the + admission, by observing how much more beautiful such or such a place + was. For example, she is standing one night at her window, looking + out on the Maeler lake. 'I wrapped my mantilla shiveringly around + me, stepped back from the window, shut it, and said with a slight + sigh: In Venice the moonlight nights were very different.' Really + this would be hardly credible, did any other than a countess assure + us of it."</p> + + <div class="blockquot"> + "Every thing in Sweden is disagreeable and adverse to her; + roads, houses, food, people, and money; rocks, trees, rivers and + flowers; but especially sun, sky, and air. She talks without + ceasing of heavy clouds and pouring rains, but even this abundance + of water is insufficient to mitigate the dryness of her book." + </div> + + <p>"I am always sorry," says a witty French writer, + "when a woman becomes an author: I would much rather she + remained a woman." Does Mr Boas, perchance, partake this implied + opinion, that authorship unsexes; and is it therefore that he allows + himself to deal out such hard measure to the Countess Ida? Even if we + agreed with his criticisms, we should quarrel with his want of + gallantry. But it is tolerably evident that if Madame Hahn-Hahn, + finding herself on the shores of the Baltic, in a July that might + have answered to December in the sunny climes she had so recently + left, allowed her account of Swedes and Sweden to be shaded a little + <i>en noir</i> by her own physical discomforts; it is evident, we + say, that on the other hand, our present author, either more favoured + by the season, or less susceptible of its influence, sins equally in + the contrary extreme, and throws a rosy tint over all that he + portrays. Though equally likely to induce into error, it is the + pleasanter fault to those persons who merely read the tour for + amusement, without proposing to follow in the footsteps of the + tourist. Your complaining, grumbling travellers are bores, whether on + paper or in a post-chaise; and, truth to tell, we have noticed in + others of the Countess's books a disposition to look on the dark + side of things. But this is not always the case, and, when she gets + on congenial ground, she shines forth as a writer of a very high + order. Witness her Italian tour, and her book upon Turkey and Syria, + with which latter, English readers have recently been made acquainted + through an admirable translation, by the accomplished author of + <i>Caleb Stukely</i>. She has her little conceits, and her little + fancies; rather an overweening pride of caste, and contempt for the + plebeian multitude, and an addiction to filling too many pages of her + books with small personal and egotistical details about herself, and + her sensations, and what dresses she wears, and how thin she is, and + so on. But with all her faults, she is unquestionably a very + accomplished and clever writer. Her criticisms on subjects relating + to art, and especially her original and sparkling remarks on painting + and architecture, although qualified by Mr Boas as twaddle, stamp her + at once as a woman of no common order. She has profound and poetical + conceptions of Beauty, and at times a felicity of expression in + presenting the effects of nature and art upon her own mind, that + strikes and startles by its novelty and power. As a delineator of men + and manners, she is remarkable for shrewdness, subtle perception, and + truthfulness that cannot be mistaken. Should our readers doubt our + statements, or haply Mr Boas turn up his nose at the eulogium, we + would simply refer them and him to the last work that has fallen from + her pen, the Letters from the Orient, and bid them open it at the + page which brings them to a Bedouin encampment—a scene + described with the vigour that belongs to a masculine understanding, + and all the fascination which a feminine mind can bestow.</p> + + <p>Still we are free to confess that the Countess has written perhaps + rather <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg + 74]</a></span> too much for the time she has been about it, and thus + laid herself open to an accusation of bookmaking, the prevailing vice + of the present race of authors. The incorrigible and merciless Mr + Boas does not let this pass.</p> + + <p>"The question now remains to be asked," says he; + "Why did Ida Hahn-Hahn, upon leaving a country in which she had + passed a couple of weeks—a country of the language of which she + confesses herself ignorant, and with which she was in every respect + thoroughly displeased, deem it incumbent on her forthwith to write a + thick book concerning it? The answer is this: her pretended impulse + to authorship is merely feigned, otherwise she would not have + troubled herself any further about such a wearisome country as + Sweden. Through three hundred and fifty pages does she drag herself, + grumbling as she goes; a single day must often fill a score of pages, + for travelling costs money, and the <i>honorarium</i> is not to be + despised. If I thus accuse the Countess of bookmaking, I also feel + that such an accusation should be supported by abundant proof, and + such proof am I ready to give."</p> + + <p>Oh fye, Boas! How can you be so ruthless? Besides the impolicy of + exposing the tricks of your trade, all this is very spiteful indeed. + You would almost tempt us, were it worth while, to take up the + cudgels in earnest in defence of the calumniated Countess, and to + give you a crack on the pate, which, as Maga is regularly translated + into German for the benefit and improvement of your countrymen, would + entirely finish your career, whether as poet, tour-writer, or any + thing else. But seeing that your conceits and lucubrations have + afforded us one or two good laughs, and considering, moreover, that + you are of the number of those small fry with which it is almost + condescension for us to meddle, we will let you off, and close this + notice of your book, if not with entire approbation, at least with a + moderate meed of praise.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <a name="Page_74b" id="Page_74b"></a> + <span class='pagenum'></span> + + <h2><a name="HOUSE-HUNTING_IN_WALES" id= + "HOUSE-HUNTING_IN_WALES"></a>HOUSE-HUNTING IN WALES.</h2> + + <p>"Change of air! change of air!" Every body was in the + same story. "Medicine is of no use," said the doctor; + "a little change of scene will set all to rights again." I + looked in the child's face—she was certainly very pale. + "And how long do you think she should stay away from home?" + "Two or three months will stock her with health for a whole + year." Two or three months!—oh, what a century of time + that is, now that we have railroads all over the world, and steam to + the Pyramids—where in all the wide earth are we to go? So we + got maps of all countries, and took advice from every one we saw. We + shall certainly go among hills, wherever we go; beautiful scenery if + we can—but hills and fresh air at all events. We heard of fine + open downs, and an occasional tempest, in the neighbourhood of Rouen. + A steamer goes from Portsmouth to Havre, and another delightful + little river-boat up the Seine. For a whole day we had determined on + a visit to the burial-place of William the Norman—the + death-place of Joan of Arc; we had devised little tours and detours + all over the mysterious land that sent forth the conquerors of + England; but soon there cane "a frost, a nipping + frost,"—are we to be boxed up in an hotel in a French town + the whole time? No, we must go somewhere, where we can get a + country-house—a place on the swelling side of some romantic + hill, where we can trot about all day upon ponies, or ramble through + fields and meadows at our own sweet will. So we gave up all thoughts + of Rouen. "I'll tell you what, sir," said a + sympathizing neighbour: "when I came home on my three years' + leave, I left the prettiest thing you ever saw, a perfect paradise, + and a bungalow that was the envy of every man in the district." + "Well?" I said with an enquiring look. "It's among + the Neilgherries; and as for bracing air, there isn't such a + place in the whole world. I merely mention it, you know; it's a + little too far off, perhaps; but if <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> you like it, it is quite at + your service, I assure you." It was very tempting, but three + months was scarcely long enough. So we were at a nonplus. Scotland we + thought of; and the Cumberland lakes; and the Malvern hills; and the + Peak of Derbyshire; and where we might finally have fixed can never + be known, for our plans were decided by the advice of a friend, which + was rendered irresistible by being backed by his own experience. + "Go to Wales," he said. "I lived in such a beautiful + place there three or four years ago—in the Vale of + Glasbury—a lovely open space, with hills all round + it—admirable accommodation at the Three Cocks, and the most + civil and obliging landlord that ever offered good entertainment for + man and beast." Out came the maps again; the route was carefully + studied; and one day at the end of May, we found ourselves, eight + people in all, viz., four children and two maids, in a railway coach + at Gosport, fizzing up to Basingstoke. There is such a feeling of + life and earnestness about a railway carriage;—the perpetual + shake, and the continual swing, swing, on and on, without a + moment's pause, with the quick, bustling, breathless sort of + tramp of the engine—all these things, and forty others, put me + in such a state of intense activity that I felt as if I kept a + shop—or was a prodigious man upon 'Change—or was + flying up to make a fortune—or had suddenly been called to form + an administration—or had become a member of the prize ring, and + was going up to fight white-headed Bob. However, on this occasion I + was not called upon either to overthrow white-headed Bob of the ring, + or long-headed Bob of the administration; and at Basingstoke we + suddenly found ourselves, bag and baggage, wife, maids, and children, + standing in a forlorn and disconsolate manner, at the door of the + station-house; while the train pursued its course, and had already + disappeared like a dream, or rather like a nightmare. There were at + least half-a-dozen little carriages, each with one horse; and the + drivers had, each and all of then, the audacity to offer to convey + us—luggage and all—sixteen miles across, to Reading. Why, + there was not a vehicle there that would have held the two trunks; + and as to conveying us all, it would have taken the united energies + of all the Flies in Basingstoke, with the help of the Industrious + Fleas to boot, to get us to our destination within a week. While in + this perplexing situation, wondering what people could possibly want + with such an array of boxes and bags, a quiet-looking man, who had + stood by, chewing the lash of a driving-whip in a very philosophical + manner, said, "Please sir, I'll take you all." "My + good friend, have you seen the whole party?" "Oh yes, sir, + I brought a bigger nor yourn for this here train—we have a fly + on purpose." What a sensible man he must have been who devised a + vehicle so much required by unhappy sires that are ordered to remove + their Lares for change of air! "Bring round the ark," we + cried; and in a minute came two very handsome horses to the door, + drawing a thing that was an aggravated likeness of the old hackney + coaches, with a slight cross of an omnibus in its breed. It held + seven inside with perfect ease, and would have held as many more as + might be required; and it carried all the luggage on the top with an + air of as much ease as if it had only been a bonnet, and it was + rather proud than otherwise of its head-dress. The driving seat was + as capacious as the other parts of the machine, and we had much + interesting conversation with the Jehu—whose epithets, we are + sorry to say, as applied to railroads, were of that class of + adjectives called the emphatic. There is to be a cross line very + shortly between Basingstoke and Reading, uniting the South-Western + and Great Western Railways—and then, what is to become of the + tremendous vehicle and its driver? The coach, to be sure, may be + retained as a specimen of Brobdignaggian fly, but my friend Jehu must + appear in the character of Othello, and confess that "his + occupation's gone." Thank heaven! people wear boots, and + many of them like to have them cleaned, so, with the help of Day and + Martin, you may live. "That's the Duke's gate, + sir," he said, pointing with his whip to a plain lodge and + entrance on the left hand. "The lodge-keeper was his top groom + at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg + 76]</a></span> the time Waterloo was—and a very nice place he + has." This was Strathfieldsaye: there were miles and miles of + the most beautiful plantations, all the fences in excellent order, + the cottages along the road clean and comfortable, and every symptom + of a good landlord to be seen as far as the eye could reach.</p> + + <p>"If it wasn't for all this here luggage," said Jehu + in a confidential whisper, with a backward jerk of his head towards + the moving pyramid behind us; "we might go through the park. The + Duke gives permission to gentlemen's carriages."</p> + + <p>So the poor man deluded himself with the thought, that if it + wer'n't for the bandboxes, we might pass muster as fresh from + the hands of Cork and Spain.</p> + + <p>"That's very kind of the Duke."</p> + + <p>"Oh, he's the best of gentlemen—I hears the best of + characters of him from his tenants, and all the poor folks round + about." Now here was our driver—rather ragged than + otherwise, and as poor as need be—bearing evidence to the + character of the greatest man in these degenerate days, on points + that are perhaps more important than some that will be dwelt on by + his biographers. The best of characters from his tenants and the + poor;—well, glorious Duke, I shall always think of this when I + read about your victories, and all your great doings in peace and + war; and when people call you the Iron Duke, and the great soldier, + and the hero of Waterloo, I shall think of you as the hero of + Strathfieldsaye, and the best of characters among your tenants and + the poor folks round about.</p> + + <p>"Does the Duke often come to Reading?"</p> + + <p>"No; very seldom."</p> + + <p>"I should have thought he would come by the Great Western, + and drive across."</p> + + <p>"He!" exclaimed the driver, giving a cut to the near + horse by way of italicising his observation. "He never comes by + none of their rails. He don't like 'em. He posts every step + of the way. He's a reg'lar gentleman, he is, the + Duke."</p> + + <p>And in the midst of conversation like this, we got to Reading. + Through some wretched streets we drove, and then through some + tolerable ones; and at last pulled up at the Great Western Hotel, a + large handsome house, very near the Railway station; and in a few + minutes were as comfortably settled as if we had travelled with a + couple of outriders, and had ordered our rooms for a month. The + sitting-room had three or four windows, of which two looked out upon + the terminus. At these the whole party were soon happily stationed, + watching the different trains that came sweeping up and down every + few minutes; long luggage trains, pursuing their heavy way with a + business-like solidity worthy of their great weight and + respectability; short dapper trains, that seemed to take a spurt up + the road as if to try their wind and condition; and occasionally a + mysterious engine, squeaking, and hissing, and roaring, and then, + with a succession of curious jumps and pantings, backing itself half + a mile or so down the course, and then spluttering and dashing out of + sight as if madly intent upon suicide, and in search of a stone wall + to run its head upon. As to feeling surprise at the number of + accidents, the only wonder a sensible man can entertain on the + subject is, that there is any thing but accidents from morning to + night. And yet, when you look a little closer into it, every thing + seems so admirably managed, that the chances are thousands to one + against any misfortune occurring. Every engine seems to know its + place as accurately as a cavalry charger; the language also of the + signals seems very intelligible to the iron ears of the Lucifers and + Beelzebubs, and the other evil spirits, who seem on every line to be + the active agents of locomotion. Why can't the directors have + more Christianlike names for their moving power? What connexion is + there between a beautiful new engine, shining in all its + finery—the personification of obedient and beneficent + strength—with the "Infernal," or the + "Phlegethon," or the "Styx?" Are they aware what + a disagreeable association of ideas is produced in the students of + Lemprière's classical dictionary by the two last names? or the + Charon or Atropos? Let these things be mended, and let them be called + by some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg + 77]</a></span> more inviting appellations—Nelson, St Vincent, + Rodney, Watt, Arkwright, Stephenson, Milton, Shakspeare, + Scott;—but leave heathen mythology and diabolic geography + alone. As night began to close, the sights and sounds grew more + strange and awful. A great flaming eye made its appearance at a + distance; the gradual boom of its approach grew louder and louder, + and its look became redder and redder; and then we watched it roll + off into the darkness again, on the other side of the station, on its + way to Bath—till, tearing up at the rate of forty miles an + hour, came another red-eyed monster, breathing horrible flame, and + seeming to burn its way through the sable livery of the night with + the strength and straightness of a red-hot cannon-ball. And then we + called for candles and went to bed.</p> + + <p>The train was to pass on its way to Bristol at half-past eleven, + so we had plenty of time to see the lions of Reading—if there + had been any animals of the kind in the neighbourhood—but after + a short detour in the street, and a glimpse into the country, we + found ourselves irresistibly attracted to the railway. The scene here + was the same as on the previous night, and we were more and more + confirmed in our opinion, that, next to the sea or a navigable river, + a railway is the pleasantest object in a rural view. As to the + impostors who extort thousands of pounds from the unhappy + shareholders, on the pretext that the line will be injurious to their + estates, they ought at once to be sent to Brixton for obtaining money + under false pretences. It gives a greatly increased value to their + lands, as may be seen by the superior rents they can obtain for the + farms along the line; and as to the picturesqueness of the landscape, + it is only because the eye is not yet accustomed to it, nor the mind + embued with railway associations, that it is not considered a finer + "object" than the level greenery of a park, or the + hedgerows of a cultivated farm. Painters have already begun to see + the grandeur of a tempestuous sea ridden over by steamers; and before + the end of the next war, some black "queller of the ocean + flood," with short funnel and smoke-blackened sails, will be + thought as fit a theme for poetry and romance, as the Victory or the + Shannon.</p> + + <p>Knowledge, which we are every where told is now advancing at + railway speed, is still confined within very narrow limits, we are + sorry to say, among railway clerks and other officials. They still + seem to measure the sphere of their studies by distance, and not by + time; for instance, not one of the <i>employés</i> at Reading could + give us more information about Bristol than if it had been three + days' journey removed from him. Three hours conveys us from one + to the other—and yet they did not know the name or situation of + a single inn, nor where the boats to Chepstow sailed from, nor + whether there were any boats to Chepstow at all. In ancient times + such ignorance might be excusable, when the towns were really as + distant as London and York now are; but when three hours is the + utmost limit, and every half hour the communication is kept up + between them, it struck us as something unaccountable that Bristol + should be such a complete <i>terra incognita</i> to at least a dozen + smart-looking individuals, who stamp off the tickets, and chuck the + money into a drawer, with an easy negligence very gratifying to the + beholder. Remembering the recommendation of the Royal Western Hotel + given us by a friend, with the whispered information that the turtle + was inimitable, and only three-and-sixpence a basin; we stowed away + the greater portion of the party in a first-class carriage, and + betook ourselves in economical seclusion to a vehicle of the second + rank. And a first-rate vehicle it was—better in the absence of + stuffing on that warm day, than its more aristocratic companion; and + in less than three minutes we were all spinning down the road—a + line of human and other baggage, at least a quarter of a mile in + length.</p> + + <p>At Swindon we were allowed ten minutes for refreshment. The great + lunching-room is a very splendid apartment—and hungry + passengers rushed in at both doors, and in a moment clustered round + the counters, and were busy in the demolition of pies and sandwiches. + Under a noble arch the counters are placed; the <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> + attendants occupying a space between them, so that one set attend to + the gormandizers who enter by one of the doors, and the rest on the + others. It has exactly the effect of a majestic mirror—and so + completely was this my impression, that it was with the utmost + difficulty I persuaded myself that the crowd on the other side of the + arch was not the reflection of the company upon this. Exactly + opposite the place where I stood—in the act of enjoying a glass + of sherry and a biscuit—I discovered what I took of course to + be the counterfeit presentment of myself. What an extraordinary + mirror, I thought!—for I saw a prodigious man, with enormous + whiskers, ramming a large veal pie into his mouth with one hand, and + holding in the other a tumbler of porter. I looked at the glass of + sherry, and gave the biscuit a more vigorous bite—alas! it had + none of the flavour of the veal and porter; so I discovered that the + law of optics was unchanged, and that I had escaped the infliction of + so voracious a double-ganger.</p> + + <p>The country round Chippenham is as beautiful as can be conceived; + all the fruit-trees were in full blossom, and we swept through long + tracts of the richest and prettiest orchards we ever saw. Hall and + farm, and moated grange, passed in rapid succession; and at last the + fair city of Bath rose like the queen of all the land, and looked + down from her palaces and towers on the fairest champaign that ever + queen looked upon before. Seen from the railway, the upper part of + the town seems to rise up from the very midst of orchards and + gardens; terrace above terrace, but still with a great flush of + foliage between; it is a pity it ever grew into a fashionable + watering-place; though, even now, it is not too late to amend. Like + some cynosure of neighbouring eyes, fed from her gentle youth upon + all the sights and sounds of rural life, she is too beautiful to put + on the airs and graces of a belle of the court. Let her go back to + her country ways—her walks in the village lanes—her + scampers across the fields; she will be more really captivating than + if she was redolent of Park Lane, and never missed a drawing-room or + Almack's. But here we are at Bristol, and must leave our + exhortations to Bath to a future opportunity.</p> + + <p>It is amazing how rapidly the passengers disperse. By the time our + trunks and boxes were all collected, the station was deserted, the + empty carriages had wheeled themselves away, and we began to have + involuntary reminiscences of Campbell's <i>Last Man</i>. + Earth's cities had no sound nor tread—so it was with no + slight gratification that we beheld the cad of an omnibus beckoning + us to take our place on the outside of his buss. The luggage had been + swung down in a lump through a hole in the floor, and by the time we + reached the same level, by the periphrasis of a stair, every thing + had been stowed away on the roof, where in a few moments we joined + it; and careered through the streets of Bristol, for the first time + in our lives. "Do you go to any hotel near the quay where the + Chepstow steamers start from?" was our first enquiry; but before + the charioteer had time to remove the tobacco from his cheek, to let + forth the words of song, a gentleman who sat behind us very kindly + interfered. "The York Hotel, sir, is quite near the river, in a + nice quiet square, and the most comfortable house I ever was in. If + they can give you accommodation, you can't be in better + quarters." Next to the praiseworthiness of a good Samaritan, who + takes care of the houseless and the stranger, is the merit of the + benevolent individual who tells you the good Samaritan's address. + We made up our minds at once to go on to the York Hotel.</p> + + <p>"For Chepstow, sir?" said the stranger—"a + beautiful place, but by no means equal to Linton in North Devon. Do + you go to Chepstow straight?"</p> + + <p>"As soon as a boat will take us: we are going into Wales for + change of air, and the sooner we get there the better."</p> + + <p>"Change of air!—there isn't such air in England, + no, nor anywhere else, as at Linton. Why don't you come to + Linton? You can get there in six hours."</p> + + <p>"But Welsh air is the one recommended."</p> + + <p>"Nonsense. There's no air in Wales to be compared with + Linton. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg + 79]</a></span> I've tried them both—so have hundreds of + other people—and as for beauty and scenery, and walks and + drives, Linton beats the whole world." All this was very + difficult to resist; but we set our minds firmly on the Three Cocks + and Glasbury vale, and repelled all the temptations of the gem of the + North of Devon. Every hour that took us nearer to our goal, brought + out the likeness we had formed of it in our hearts with greater + relief. A fine secluded farm—of which a few rooms were fitted + up as a house of entertainment—a wild hill rising gradually at + its back—a mountain-stream rattling and foaming in + front—all round it, swelling knolls and heathy mountains. What + had Linton to show in opposition to charms like these? We rejected + the advice of our good-natured counsellor with great regret, more + especially as a sojourn in Linton would probably have enabled us to + cultivate his further acquaintance. The York was found all that he + described—clean, quiet, and comfortable. When the young fry had + finished their dinner, away we all set on a voyage of discovery to + Clifton. Up a hill we climbed—which in many neighbourhoods + would be thought a mountain—and passed paragons, and circuses, + and crescents, on left and right, wondering when we were ever to + emerge into the open air. At last we reached the top—a green + elevation surrounded on two sides by streets and villas—crowned + with a curious-looking observatory, and ornamented at one end with a + strange building on the very edge of the cliff; being one of the + <i>termini</i> of the suspension bridge, which got thus far, and no + further. Going across the Green, the sight is the most grand and + striking we ever saw. Far down, skirting its way round cliffs of + prodigious height—which, however, except when they are quarried + for building purposes, are covered with the richest + foliage—along their whole descent winds the Avon, at that + moment in full tide, and covered in all its windings with sails of + every shape and hue. The rocks on the opposite side are of a glorious + rich red, and consort most beautifully with the green leaves of the + plantations that soften their rugged precipices, by festooning them + to the very brink. Then there are wild dells running back in the + wooded parts of the hill, and walks seem to be made through them for + the convenience of maids who love the moon—or more probably, + and more poetically too, for the refreshment of the toiling citizens + of the smoky town, who wander about among these sylvan recesses, with + their wives and families, and enjoy the wondrous beauty of the + landscape, without having consulted Burke or Adam Smith on the causes + of their delight. As you climb upwards towards the observatory, you + fancy you are attending one of Buckland's lectures—the + whole language you hear is geological and philosophic. About a dozen + men, with little tables before them, are dispersed over the latter + part of the ascent, and keep tempting you with "fossiliferous + specimens of the oolite formation," "tertiary," + "silurian," "saurian," + "stratification," "carboniferous." It was quite + wonderful to hear such a stream of learning, and to see, at the same + time, the vigour of these terrene philosophers in polishing their + specimens upon a whetstone, laid upon their knees. A few shillings + put us all in possession of memorials of Clifton, in the shape of + little slabs of different strata, polished on both sides, and + ingeniously moulded to resemble a book. A little further up, we got + besieged by another body of the Clifton Samaritans, the proprietors + of a troop of donkeys, all saddled and bridled in battle array. Into + the hands of a venerable matron, the owner of a vast number of + donkies, and two or three ragged urchins, who acted as the Widdicombs + of the cavalcade, we committed all the younkers for an hour's + joy, between the turnpike and back, and betook ourselves to a seat at + the ledge of the cliff, and "gazed with ever new delight" + at the noble landscape literally at our feet. But the hour quickly + passed; the donkeys resigned their load; and we slid, as safely as + could be expected, down the inclined plane that conducted us to the + York. We did not experiment upon the turtle-soup, as we had been + advised to do at the Royal Western, but some Bristol salmon did as + well; and after a long consultation about boats, and breakfast at an + early hour, we found we had got through <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> our day, + and that hitherto the journey had offered nothing but enjoyment.</p> + + <p>The morning lowered; and, heavily in clouds, but luckily without + rain, we effected our embarkation, at eight o'clock, on board the + Wye—a spacious steamer that plies every day, according to the + tide, between Bristol and Chepstow. We were a numerous crew, and had + a steady captain, with a face so weather-beaten that we concluded his + navigation had not been confined to the Severn sea. The first two or + three miles of our course was through the towering cliffs and wooded + chasms we had admired from the Clifton Down. For that part of its + career, the Avon is so beautiful, and glides along with such an + evident aim after the picturesque, that it is difficult to believe it + any thing but an ornamental piece of water, adding a new feature to a + splendid landscape; and yet this meandering stream is the pathway of + nations, and only inferior in the extent of its traffic to the Thames + and Mersey. The shores soon sink into commonplace meadows, and we + emerge into the Severn, which is about five miles wide, from the + mouth of the Avon to that of the Wye. All the way across, new + headlands open upon the view; and, far down the channel, you catch a + glimpse of the Flat Holms, and other little islands; while in front + the Welsh hills bound the prospect, at a considerable distance, and + form a noble background to the rich, wooded plains of Monmouthshire, + and the low-lying shore we are approaching. Suddenly you jut round an + enormous rock, and find yourself in a river of still more sylvan + gentleness than the Avon. The other passengers seemed to have no eyes + for the picturesque—perhaps they had seen the scenery till they + were tired of it; and some of them were more pleasantly engaged than + gaping and gazing at rocks and trees. Grouped at the tiller-chains + were four or five people, very happily employed in looking at each + other—a lady and gentleman, in particular, seemed to find a + peculiar pleasure in the occupation; and were instructing each other + in the art and mystery of tying the sailor's knot. Time after + time the cord refused to follow the directions of the girl's + fingers—very white fingers they were too, and a very pretty + girl—and, with untiring assiduity, the teacher renewed his + lesson. We ventured a prophecy that they would soon be engaged in the + twisting of a knot that would not be quite so easy to untie as the + sailor's slip that made them so happy.</p> + + <p>On we went on the top of the tide, rounding promontories, and + gliding among bosky bowers and wooded dells, till at last our panting + conveyer panted no more, and we lay alongside the pier of Chepstow. + The tide at this place rises to the incredible height of fifty, and + sometimes, on great occasions, of seventy feet; so they have a + floating sort of foot-bridge from the vessel to the shore, that sinks + and rises with the flood, connected with the land by elongating iron + chains, and illustrating the ups and downs of life in a very + remarkable manner. I will not attempt to describe Chepstow on the + present occasion, for a stay in it did not enter into our plan. The + Three Cocks grew in interest the nearer we got to their interesting + abode. We determined to hurry forward to Abergavenny—thence to + send a missive of enquiry as to the accommodations of the + hostel—to go on at once, if we could be received—and + (leaving all the lumber, including the maids and the younger + children) to make a series of voyages of discovery, that would + entitle us to become members of the Travellers' Club.</p> + + <p>A coach was on the strand ready to start for Monmouth; a whisper + and half-a-crown secured the whole of the inside and two seats out, + against all concurrents; and the Wye, the boat, the knot-tying + passengers, were all left behind, and we began to climb the hill as + fast as two miserable-looking horses could crawl. A leader was added + when we had got a little way up; but as they neglected to furnish our + coachman with a whip long enough to reach beyond his wheeler's + ears, our unicorn pursued the even tenor of his way with very + slackened traces, while our friend sat the picture of indignation, + with his short <i>flagellum</i> in his hand, and implored all the + male population who overtook us, to favour him by kicking the unhappy + leader to death. An occasional benevolent Christian complied with his + request to the extent of a dig with a <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> stout boot under the rib; + but every now and then, the furibund jarvey apologised to us for the + slowness of our course by asking—"Won't I serve him + out when I gets a whip!" A whip he at last got, and made up for + lost time by belabouring the lazy culprit in a very scientific + manner; and having got us all into a gallop, he became quite pleasant + and communicative. All the people in Monmouthshire are Welsh, that is + very clear; and Monmouthshire is as Welsh a county as Carnarvon, in + spite of the maps of geographers, and the circuits of the Judges. The + very faces of the people are evidence of their Taffy-hood. We have + had no experience yet if they carry out the peculiar ideas on the + rights of property, attributed to Taffy in the ancient legend, which + relates the method that gentleman took to supply himself with a leg + of beef and a marrow bone; but their voices and names are redolent of + leeks, and no Act of Parliament can ever make them English. You might + as well pass an Act of Parliament to make our friend Joseph + Hume's speeches English. And therefore, throughout the narrative, + we shall always consider ourselves in Wales, till we cross the Severn + again. We trotted round the park wall of a noble estate called + Pearcefield, and when we had crowned the ascent, our Jehu turned + round with an air of great exultation, pulling up his horses at the + same time, and said—"There! did you ever see a sight like + that? This is the Double View." He might well be proud—for + such a prospect is not to be equalled, I should think, in the world. + The Wye is close below you, with its rich banks, frowned over by a + magnificent crag, that forms the most conspicuous feature of the + landscape; and in the distance is the river Severn, pursuing its + shining way through the fertile valleys of Glo'stershire, and by + some <i>deceptio visus</i>, for which we cannot account, raised + apparently to a great height above the level of its sister stream. It + has the appearance of being conveyed in a vast artificially raised + embankment, laughing into scorn the grandest aqueducts of ancient + Rome, and bearing perhaps a greater resemblance to the lofty-bedded + Po in its passage through the plains of Lombardy. The combination of + the two rivers in the same scene, with the peculiar characteristics + of each brought prominently before the eye at once, make this one of + the finest "sights" that can be imagined. The driver seemed + satisfied with the sincerity of our admiration, and, like a good + patriot, evidently considered our encomiums as a personal compliment + to himself. The whole of the drive to Monmouth is through a + succession of noble views, only to be equalled, as far as our + travelling experience extends, by the stage on the Scottish border, + between Longtown and Langholm. But soon after this, the skies, that + had gloomed for a long time, took fairly to pouring out all the cats + and dogs they possessed upon our miserable heads. An umbrella on the + top of a coach is at all times a nuisance and incumbrance, so, in + gloomy resignation to a fate that was unavoidable, we wrapt our + mantle round us, and made the most of a bad bargain. To Monmouth we + got at last, and to our great discomfort found that it was + market-day, and that we had to dispute the possession of a joint of + meat with some wet and hungry farmers. We compromised the matter for + a beefsteak, for which we had to wait about an hour; and having seen + that the whole of the garrison was well supplied, we proceeded to + make enquiries as to the best method of getting on to Abergavenny. + Finding that information on a matter so likely to remove a + remunerative party from the inn was not very easy to be obtained from + the denizens thereof, we made our way into the market. The civility + of the natives, when their interests are not concerned, is + extraordinary; and in a moment we were recommended to the Beaufort + Arms, a hotel that would do honour to Edinburgh itself—had + ordered a roomy chaise, and procured the services of a man with a + light cart, to follow us with the heavy luggage. The sky began to + clear, the postillion trotted gaily on, and we left the county town, + not much gratified with our experience of its smoky rooms and tough + beefsteaks. We followed the windings of the Trothy, a stream of a + very lively and frisky disposition, <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> passing a seat of the Duke + of Beaufort, who seems lord-paramount of the county, and at length + came in view of the noble ruins of Ragland Castle. But now we were + wiser than we had been at the early part of the journey, and had + bought a very well written guide-book, by Mr W.H. Thomas, which, at + the small outlay of one shilling, made us as learned on "the + Wye, with its associated scenery and ruins," as if we had lived + among them all our days. Inspired by his animated pages, we descanted + with the profoundest erudition, to our astonished companion on the + box, about its machicolated towers, and the finely proportioned + mullions of the hall. "If you ascend the walls of the + castle," we exclaimed in a paroxysm of enthusiasm, as if we were + perched on the very top, "you will see that the castle occupies + the centre of an undulating plain, checkered with white-washed + farm-houses, fields, and noble groves of oak. The tower and village + of Rhaglan lie at a short distance, picturesquely straggling and + irregular. To the north, the bold and diversified forms of the Craig, + the Sugar Loaf, Skyrids, and Blorenge mountains, with the outlines of + the Hatterals, perfect the scene in this direction; whilst the + ever-varying and amphitheatrical boundary of this natural basin, may + be traced over the Blaenavons, Craig-y-garayd, (close to Usk,) the + Gaer Vawr, the round Twm Barlwm, the fir-crowned top of Wentwood + forest, Pen-cae-Mawr, the dreary heights of Newchurch and Devauder; + the continuation of the same range past Llanishen, the white church + of which is plainly visible; Trelleck, Craig-y-Dorth, and the + highlands above Troy Park, where they end." We were going on in + the same easy and off-hand manner to describe some other + peculiarities of the landscape, when a sudden lurch of the carriage + brought the book we were furtively pillaging into open view, and we + were forced, with a very bad grace, to confess our obligations to Mr + W.H. Thomas. A very beautiful ruin it is, certainly, and we made a + vow to devote a day to exploring its remains, and judging for + ourselves of the accuracy of the guide-book's description. Even + if the road had no recommendation from the lovely openings it gives + at every turn, it would be a pleasure to travel by it in sunshine, + for the hedges along its whole extent were a complete rampart of the + sweetest smelling May. Such miles of snow-white blossoms we never saw + before. It looked like Titania's bleaching-ground, and as if all + the fairies had hung out their white frocks to dry. And the hawthorn + blossoms along the road were emulated on all the little terraces at + the side of it; the apple and pear trees were in full bloom, and + every little cottage rejoiced in its orchard—so that, with the + help of hedges and fruit trees, the whole earth was in a glow of + beauty and perfume—and we prophecy this will be a famous year + for cider and perry. Abergavenny has a very bad approach from + Monmouth, and we dreaded a repetition of the delays and toughnesses + we had just escaped from; how great therefore was our gratification + when we pulled up at the door of the Angel, and were shown into a + splendid room, thirty-five or forty feet long by twenty wide, secured + bedrooms as clean and comfortable as heart could desire, and had + every thing we asked for with the precision of clockwork and the + rapidity of steam. The Three Cocks began to descend from the lofty + place they held in our esteem, and we resolved for one day at least + to rest contentedly in such comfortable quarters, and look about us; + so forth we sallied, and in the course of our pilgrimage speedily + arrived at Aberga'ny Castle. Talk of picturesqueness! this was + picturesque enough for poet or painter with a vengeance—great + thick walls all covered over with ivy, crowning a round knoll at the + upper part of the town, and looking over a finer view, we will + venture to say, than that we have just described as seen from + Ragland; and to complete the beauty of it—the comforts of + modern civilization uniting themselves to ancient + magnificence—the main walls have been fitted up by one of the + late lords into a pretty dwelling-house, which is at this moment + occupied by one of the surgeons of the town. This is the true use of + an antique ruin—this is replacing the coat of mail with a + rain-proof mackintosh—the steel casque of Brian de Boisguilbert + with the Kilmarnock nightcap <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" + id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> of Bailie Nicol Jarvie. And in this + instance the change has been effected with the greatest skill; the + coat of mail and steel casque are still there, but only for show; the + mackintosh and nightcap are the habitual dress: and few dwellings in + our poor eyes are comparable to the one, that outside has the date of + the crusaders, and inside, the conveniences of 1845. The town has a + noble body-guard of hills all round it; and perched high up on almost + inaccessible ledges, are little white-walled cottages, that made us + long for the wings of a bird to fly up and inspect them closer; no + other mode of conveyance would be either speedy or safe, for the + sides of the mountains are nearly perpendicular, and would have put + Douglas's horse to its mettle when he was on a visit to Owen + Glendowr. Dark, gloomy, Tartarean hills they appear, and no wonder; + for their whole interior is composed of iron, and day and night they + are glimmering and smoking with a hundred fires. They have a + dreadful, stern, metallic look about them, and are as different in + their configuration from the chalk hills of Hampshire as <i>they</i> + are from cheese. Some day we shall ascend their dusky sides, and dive + into Pluto's drear domains—the iron-works—a god who, + in the present state of railway speculation, might easily be + confounded with Plutus; and with this and many other good + resolutions, we returned to the hospitable care of our friend Mr + Morgan, at the Angel. Next day was Sunday, and very wet. We slipped + across the street and heard a very good sermon in the morning, in a + large handsome church, which was not quite so well filled as it ought + to have been, and were kept close prisoners all day afterwards by the + unrelenting clouds.</p> + + <p>But our object was not yet attained, and we resolved to start off + with fresh vigour on our expedition to the Three Cocks. It was only + two-and-twenty miles off; our host, with none of the spirit that, + they say, is always found between two of a trade, spoke in the + highest terms of the Vale of Glasbury, and its clean and comfortable + hotel. He also made enquiry for us as to its present condition, and + brought back the pleasing intelligence that it was not full, and that + we should find plenty of accommodation at once. This did away with + the necessity of writing to the landlord, and in a short time we were + once more upon the road, maids and children inside as usual, and a + natty postilion cocking his white hat and flicking his little whip, + in the most bumptious manner imaginable. Through Crickhowell we went + without drawing bridle, and went almost too fast to observe + sufficiently its very beautiful situation; past noble country-seats, + bower and hall, we drove; and at last wound our solitary way along a + cross-road, among some pastoral hills, that reminded us more of + Dumfries-shire than any country we have ever seen. The road ascended + gradually for many miles; and on crowning the elevation, we caught a + very noble extensive view of a rich, flat, thickly-wooded plain, that + bore a great resemblance to the unequalled neighbourhood of Warwick. + Down and down we trotted—hills and heights of all kinds left + behind us—trees, shrubs, hedges, all in the fullest leaf, lay + for miles and miles on every side; and the scenery had about as much + resemblance to our ideal of a Welsh landscape, as ditch water to + champagne. Through this wilderness of sweets, stifling and oppressive + from its very richness, we drove for a long way, looking in vain for + the hilly region where the Three Cocks had taken up their abode. At + last we saw, a little way in front of us, at the side of the + road—or rather with one gable-end projecting into it, a large + white house, with a mill appearing to constitute one of its wings. + "The man will surely stop here to water the horses," was + our observation; and so indeed he did—and as he threw the rein + loose over the off horse's neck—there! don't you see + the sign-board on the wall? Alas, alas, this is the Three Cocks! An + admirable fishing quarter it must be, for the river is very near, and + the country rich and beautiful, but not adapted to our particular + case, where mountain air and free exposure are indispensable. But if + it had been ten times less adapted to our purpose we had travelled + too far to give it up.</p> + + <p>"Can you take us in for a few weeks?"</p> + + <p>The landlord laughed at the idea. "I could not find room for + a single <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg + 84]</a></span> individual, if you gave me a thousand pounds. A party + has been with me for some time, and I can't even say how long + they may stay."</p> + + <p>And, corroborative of this, we saw at the window our fortunate + extruders, who no doubt congratulated themselves on so many points of + the law being in their favour. Here were we stuck on the Queen's + high road—tired horses, cooped-up children—and the Three + Cocks as unattainable as the Philosopher's stone. The + sympathizing landlord consoled us in our disappointment as well as he + could. The postilion jumped into his saddle again, and we pursued our + way to the nearest place where there was any likelihood of a + reception—namely, the Hay, a village of some size about five + miles further on. "Come along, we shall easily find a nice + cottage to-morrow, or get into some farm-house, and ruralize for a + month or two delightfully." Our hopes rose as we looked forward + to a settled home, after our experience of the road for so many days; + and we soared to such a pitch of audacity at last, that we + congratulated ourselves that we had not got in at Glasbury, but were + forced to go forward. The world was all before us where to choose. + The country seemed to improve—that is, to get a little less + Dutch in its level, as we proceeded—and we finally reached the + Hay, with the determination of Barnaby's raven, to bear a good + heart at all events, and take for our motto, in all the ills of life, + "Never say die!—never say die!"</p> + + <p>The hotel had been taken by assault, and was occupied in great + force by a troop of dragoons, on their march into Glo'stershire. + We therefore did not come off quite so well as if we had led the + forlorn-hope ourselves; but, after so long a journey, we rejoiced in + being admitted at all. Two or three Welsh girls, who perhaps would + have been excellent waiters under other circumstances, appeared to + consider themselves strictly on military duty, and no other; so we + sate for a very long time in solitary stateliness, wondering when the + water would boil, and the tea-things be brought, and the ham and eggs + be ready. And of our wondering there was likely to be no end, till at + last the hungry captain, the lieutenant, and the cornet, were fairly + settled at dinner, and at about eight o'clock we got tea, but no + bread; then came the loaf—and there was no butter; then the + butter—and there was no knife; but at last, all things arrived, + and the little ones were sent off to bed, and we amused ourselves by + listening to the rain on the window panes, and the whistling of the + wind in the long passages; and, with a resolution to be up in good + time to pursue our house-hunting project on the morrow, we concluded + the fifth day of our peregrinations in search of change of air.</p> + + <p>We had a charming prospect from the window, at breakfast. A gutter + tearing its riotous way down the street, supplied by a whole + night's rain, and clouds resting with the most resolute + countenances on the whole face of the land. At the + post-office—that universal focus of information—to which + we wended in one of the intervals between the showers, we were told + of admirable lodgings. On going to see them, they consisted of two + little rooms, in a narrow lane. Then we were sent to another quarter, + and found the accommodation still more inadequate; and, at last, were + inconceivably cheered, by hearing of a pretty cottage—just the + thing—only left a short time ago by Captain somebody; five + bed-rooms, two parlours, large garden; if it had been planned by our + own architect, it could not have been better. Off we hurried to the + owner of this bijou. The worthy captain, on giving up his lease, had + sold his furniture; but we were very welcome to it as tenant for a + year!</p> + + <p>"Are there no furnished houses in this neighbourhood, at + all?"</p> + + <p>"No—e'es—may be you'll get in at the + shippus,"—which, being Anglicized, is sheep-house; and + away we toddled a mile and a half to the shippus—a nice old + farm-house, with some pretensions to squiredom, and the inhabitants + kind and civil as heart could wish.</p> + + <p>"Yes, they sometimes let their rooms—to families larger + than ours—they supplied them with every thing—waited on + them—<i>did</i> for them—and, as for the children, there + wasn't such a place in the county for nice fields to play + in."</p> + + <p>We looked round the room—a good <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> high + ceiling, large window. "This is just the thing—and I am + delighted we were told of your house."</p> + + <p>"It would have been very delightful, but—but we are + full already, and we expect some of our own family home."</p> + + <p>And why didn't you tell us all this before?—we + <i>nearly</i> said—and to this hour, we can't understand + why there was such a profuse explanation of comforts—which + <i>we</i> were never destined to partake of.</p> + + <p>"But just across the road there is a very nice cottage, where + you can get lodged—and we can supply you with milk, and any + thing else you want."</p> + + <p>Oho! there is some hope for us yet; and a few minutes saw us in + colloquy with the old gentleman, the proprietor of the house. With + the usual politeness of the Welsh, he dilated on the pleasure of + having agreeable visitors; and, with the usual Welsh habit of + forgetting that people don't generally travel with beds and + blankets, carpets and chairs, and tables and crockery, on their + shoulders, he seemed rather astonished when the fact of the rooms + destined for us being unfurnished was a considerable drawback. So, in + not quite such high spirits as we started, we returned to the Hay. + After a little rest, we again sported our seven-league boots, and + took a solitary ramble across the Wye. A beautiful rising ground lay + in front; and as our main object was to get up as high as we could, + we went on and on, enjoying the increasing loveliness of the view, + and wondering if a country so very charming was really left entirely + destitute of furnished houses, and only enjoyed by the selfish + natives, who had no room for pilgrims from a distance. In a nest of + trees, surrounded on all sides by trimly kept orchards, and + clustering round a venerable church, we came, at a winding of the + road, on one of the most enchanting villages we ever saw. Near the + gate of a modest-looking mansion, we beheld a gentleman in earnest + conversation with a beggar. The beggar was a man of rags and + eloquence; the gentleman was evidently a political economist, and + rejected the poor man's petition "upon principle." A + lady, who was at the gentleman's side, looked at a poor little + child the man carried in his arms. "Go to your own place," + said the gentleman; "I never encourage vagrants." But it + was too good-natured a voice to belong to a political economist.</p> + + <p>I wish I were as sure of a house as that the poor fellow will get + a shilling, in spite of the new poor-law and Lord Brougham.</p> + + <p>The lady, after looking at the child, said something or other to + her companion; and, as we turned away at the corner, we heard the + discourager of vagrants apologizing to himself, and also reading a + severe lecture on the impropriety of alms-giving. "Remember, I + disapprove of it entirely. You are indebted for it to this lady, who + interposed for you." So the poor man got his shilling after all; + and we considered it a favourable omen of success in getting a + house.</p> + + <p>The next turn brought us to a dwelling which we think it a sort of + sacrilege to call a public-house. The Baskerville Arms, in the + village of Clyroe, is more fit for the home of a painter or a poet + than for the retail of beer, "to be drunk on the premises." + There was a row of three nice clean windows in the front; the house + seemed to stand in the midst of an orchard of endless extent, though + in reality it faced the road; and, with a clear recollection of the + line,</p><span class="i2">"Oh, that for me some cot like this + would smile,"</span><br /> + + <p>upon our heart and lips, we tapped at the door, and went into the + room on the right hand. Every thing was in the neatest possible + order—bunches of May in the grate, and bouquets of fresh + flowers in two elegant vases upon the table. What nonsense to call + this a public-house! It puts us much more in mind of Sloperton, + Moore's cottage in Wiltshire; and in a finer neighbourhood than + any part of Wiltshire can show.</p> + + <p>The landlady came; a fit spirit to rule over such a + domain—the beau-ideal of tidiness and good humour. There were + only two bedrooms; and one parlour was all they could give up.</p> + + <p>The raven of Barnaby Rudge had a hard fight of it to maintain his + ground. We very nearly said die! for we had felt a sort of assurance + that this was our haven at last.</p> + + <p>The landlady saw our woe.</p> + + <p>"There's such a beautiful cottage," <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> she said, + "a mile and a half further on."</p> + + <p>"Is it furnished?"</p> + + <p>"Well, I don't know. I think somehow it is. Would you + like to go and see it? I don't know but my husband would put + enough of furniture into it to do for you, if you liked it."</p> + + <p>It was, at all events, worth the trial. A little girl was sent + with us to act as guide; and along a road we sauntered in supreme + delight—so quiet, so retired, and so rich in leaf and blossom, + that it seemed like a private drive through some highly-cultivated + estate; and, finally, we reached the cottage. It stood on the side of + an ascent; it commanded a noble view of the Herefordshire hills and + the valley of the Wye; and there could be no doubt that it was the + identical spot that the doctors had seen in their dreams, when they + described the sort of dwelling we were to choose. I wish I were a + half-pay captain, with a wife and three children, a taste for + gardening, and a poney-carriage. I wish I were a Benedict in the + honeymoon. I wish I were a retired merchant, with a good sum at the + bank, and a predilection for farming pursuits. I wish I were a + landscape painter, with a moderate fortune, realized by English art. + I wish—but there is no use of wishing for any thing about the + cottage, except that Mr Chaloner may furnish it at once, and let us + be its tenant for two or three months.</p> + + <p>Mrs Chaloner, on our return to the Baskerville Arms, was gratified + at our estimate of the surpassing beauties of the house. She would + send her husband to us at the Hay the moment he returned; and, in the + midst of "gay dreams, by pleasing fancy bred," we returned + to our barrack, and created universal jubilee by the prospect we + unfolded.</p> + + <p>In a sort of delirium of good nature, we waited patiently till the + soldiers had had all the attentions of the household again. We had + almost a sense of enjoyment in all the discomforts we experienced. + The doors that would not shut—the waiters that would not + come—all things shone of the brightest rose-colour, seen + through the anticipation of ten or twelve weeks' residence in the + paradise we had seen.</p> + + <p>Late at night Mr Chaloner was announced. He had heard the whole + story from his worthy half; was in hopes he should be able to meet + our wishes, but must consult his chief. If <i>he</i> agreed, he would + see us before ten next morning—if not, we were to consider that + the furniture could not be put in.</p> + + <p>And again we were slightly in the dumps.</p> + + <p>At half-past nine next morning we rang the bell, and ordered a + carriage to be at the door at ten. If we hear from Chaloner, we shall + drive at once to the Baskerville Arms; if not, there is no use of + house-hunting in such an inhospitable region any more; let us get + back to our friend at Abergavenny. If there is no house near + <i>it</i>, let us go back to Chepstow; if we are disappointed there, + let us go home, and tell the doctor we have changed the air + enough.</p> + + <p>Ten o'clock.—No Chaloner; but, as usual, also no + carriage. Half-past ten.—No Chaloner. At eleven—the + carriage;—and behold, in three hours more, the smiling face of + Mr Morgan—the great long room and clean apartments of the + Angel, and the end of our expectations of house and home, except in + an hotel.</p> + + <p>We have no time on the present occasion to tell how fortune smiled + upon us at last. How our landlord exerted himself, not only to make + us happy while under his charge, but to get us into comfortable + quarters in a large commodious house in the neighbourhood. In some + future Number we will relate how jollily we fare in our new abode. + How we are waited on like kings by the kindest host and hostess that + ever held a farm; and how we travel in all directions, leaving the + little ones at home, in a great strong gig, drawn by a horse that + hobbles and joggles at a famous pace, and gives us plenty of good + exercise and hearty laughter. All these things we will describe for + the edification of people under similar circumstances to ourselves. + The present lucubration being intended as a warning not to move from + <i>one</i> home till another is secured; the next will be an example + how country quarters are enjoyed, and a description of how pale + cheeks are turned into red ones by living in the open air.</p> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + <p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg + 87]</a></span></p> + + <h2><a name="TORQUATO_TASSO" id="TORQUATO_TASSO"></a>TORQUATO + TASSO.</h2> + + <p>Any thing approaching to an elaborate criticism of the <i>Torquato + Tasso</i> of Goethe we do not, in this place, intend to attempt; our + object is merely to translate some of the more striking and + characteristic passages, and accompany these extracts with such + explanatory remarks as may be necessary to render them quite + intelligible.</p> + + <p>There is, we cannot help remarking, a peculiar awkwardness in + introducing a veritable poet amongst the personages of a drama. We + cannot dissociate his name from the remembrance of the works he has + written, and the heroes whom he has celebrated. Tasso—is it not + another name for the <i>Jerusalem Delivered</i>? and can he be + summoned up in our memory without bringing with him the shades of + Godfrey and Tancred? We expect to hear him singing of these champions + of the cross; this was his life, and we have a difficulty in + according to him any other. It is only after some effort that we + separate the man from the poet—that we can view him standing + alone, on the dry earth, unaccompanied by the creations of his fancy, + his imaginative existence suspended, acting and suffering in the same + personal manner as the rest of us. The poet brought into the ranks of + the <i>dramatis personæ!</i>—the creator of fictions converted + himself into a fictitious personage!—there seems some strange + confusion here. It is as if the magic wand were waved over the + magician himself—a thing not unheard of in the annals of the + black art. But then the second magician should be manifestly more + powerful than the first. The second poet should be capable of + overlooking and controlling the spirit of the first; capable, at all + events, of animating him with an eloquence and a poetry not inferior + to his own.</p> + + <p>For there is certainly this disadvantage in bringing before us a + well-known and celebrated poet—we expect that he should speak + in poetry of the first order—in such as he might have written + himself. It is long before we can admit him to be neither more nor + less poetical than the other speakers; it is long before we can + believe him to talk for any other purpose than to say beautiful and + tender things. Knowing, as we do, the trick of poets, and what is + indeed their office as spokesmen of humanity, we suspect even when he + is relating his own sufferings, and complaining of his own wrongs, + that he is still only making a poem; that he is still busied first of + all with the sweet expression of a feeling which he is bent on + infusing, like an electric fluid, through the hearts of others. + Altogether, he is manifestly a very inconvenient personage for the + dramatist to have to deal with.</p> + + <p>These impressions wear off, however, as the poem + proceeds—just as, in real life, familiar intercourse with the + greatest of bards teaches us to forget the author in the companion, + and the man of genius in the agreeable or disagreeable neighbour. In + the drama of Goethe, we become quite reconciled to the new position + in which the poet of the Holy Sepulchre is placed. <i>Torquato + Tasso</i> is what in this country would be called a dramatic poem, in + opposition to the tragedy composed for the stage, or <i>quasi</i> for + the stage. The <i>dramatis personæ</i> are few, the conduct of the + piece is on the classic model—the model, we mean, of Racine; + the plot is scanty, and keeps very close to history; there is little + action, and much reflection.</p> + + <p>The <i>dramatis personæ</i> are—</p> + + <p>Alphonso, Duke of Ferrara.<br /> + Leonora d'Este, sister of the Duke.<br /> + Leonora Sanvitale, Countess of Scandiano.<br /> + Torquato Tasso.<br /> + Antonio Montecatino, Secretary of State.</p> + + <p>In Tasso we have portrayed to us the poetic temperament, with some + overcharge in the tendency to distrust and suspicion, which belongs, + as we learn from his biography, to the character of Tasso, and which + again was but the symptom and precursor of that insanity to which he + fell a prey. Both to relieve and develope this poetic character, we + have its opposite (the representative of the practical understanding) + in Antonio Montecatino, the secretary of state, the accomplished man + of the world, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id= + "Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> successful diplomatist. It may be well + to mention that the speeches in the play given to Leonora d'Este, + with whom Tasso is in love, are headed <i>The Princess</i>; and it is + her friend Leonora Sanvitale, Countess of Scandiano, who speaks under + the name of <i>Leonora</i>.</p> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + "Act. I.—Scene I. + </div><br /> + + <div class="center"> + <i>A garden in the country palace of Belriguardo, adorned with + busts of the epic poets.<br /> + To the right, that of Virgil—to the left, that of + Ariosto.</i> + </div><br /> + + <div class='smcapcenter'> + Princess, Leonora. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Princess.</i>—My + Leonora, first you look at me</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + And smile, then at yourself, and smile again.<br /> + What is it? Let your friend partake. You seem<br /> + Very considerate, and much amused.<br /> + <br /> + </div><span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Leonora.</i>—My + Princess, I but smiled to see ourselves</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Decked in these pastoral habiliments.<br /> + We look right happy shepherdesses both,<br /> + And what we do is still pure innocence.<br /> + We weave these wreaths. Mine, gay with many flowers,<br /> + Still swells and blushes underneath my hand;<br /> + Thou, moved with higher thought and greater heart,<br /> + Hast only wove the slender laurel bough.<br /> + <br /> + </div><span style= + "margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Princess.</i>—The bough which I, + while wreathing thoughts, have</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + wreathed,<br /> + Soon finds a worthy resting-place. I lay it<br /> + Upon my Virgil's forehead. + </div><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent25_5"> + [<i>Crowns the bust of Virgil.</i> + </div><span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Leonora.</i>  +             And I mine,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + My jocund garland, on the noble brow<br /> + Of Master Ludovico.<br /> + </div> + + <div class="quoteindent25_5"> + [<i>Crowns the bust of Ariosto.</i> + </div> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Well may he,<br /> + Whose sportive verse shall never fade, demand<br /> + His tribute of the spring!<br /> + <br /> + </div><span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Princess.</i>  +             'Twas + amiable</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + In the duke, my brother, to conduct us,<br /> + So early in the year, to this retreat.<br /> + Here we possess ourselves, here we may dream<br /> + Uninterrupted hours—dream ourselves back<br /> + Into the golden age which poets sing.<br /> + I love this Belriguardo; I have here<br /> + Pass'd many youthful, many happy days;<br /> + And the fresh green, and this bright sun, recall<br /> + The feelings of those times.<br /> + <br /> + </div><span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Leonora.</i>  +             Yes, a new + world</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Surrounds us here. How it delights—the shade<br /> + Of leaves for ever green! how it revives—<br /> + The rushing of that brook! with giddy joy<br /> + The young boughs swing them in the morning air;<br /> + And from their beds the little friendly flowers<br /> + Look with the eye of childhood up to us.<br /> + The trustful gardener gives to the broad day<br /> + His winter store of oranges and citrons;<br /> + One wide blue sky rests over all; the snow<br /> + On the horizon, from the distant hills,<br /> + In light dissolving vapour steals away." + </div> + + <p>The conversation winds gracefully towards poetry and Tasso. We + will answer at once the interesting question, whether the poet has + represented Leonora d'Este, the princess, as being in love with + Tasso. He has; and very delicately has he made her express this + sentiment. From the moment when, doubtless thinking of the living + poet, she twined the laurel wreath which she afterwards deposited on + the brow of Virgil, to the last scene where she leads the unhappy + Tasso to a fatal declaration of his <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> passion, there is a gentle + <i>crescendo</i> of what always remains, however, a very subdued and + meditative affection. She loves—but like a princess; she muses + over the danger to herself from suffering such a sentiment towards + one in so different a rank of life to grow upon her; she never thinks + of the danger to <i>him</i>, to the hapless Tasso, by her betrayal of + an affection which she is yet resolved to keep within subjection. To + be sure it may be said, that all women have something of the princess + in them at this epoch of their lives. There is a wonderful + selfishness in the heart, while it still asks itself whether it shall + love or not. The sentiment of the princess is very elegantly + disguised in the jesting vein in which she rallies Leonora + Sanvitale—</p><span style= + "margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Leonora.</i>—Your mind embraces + wider regions; mine</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Lingers content within the little isle,<br /> + And 'midst the laurel grove of poesy. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Princess.</i>—In + which fair isle, in which sweet grove, they say,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + The myrtle also flourishes. And though<br /> + There wander many muses there, we choose<br /> + Our friend and playmate not alone from <i>them</i>,<br /> + We rather greet the poet there himself,<br /> + Who seems indeed to shun us, seems to fly,<br /> + Seeking we know not what, and he himself<br /> + Perhaps as little knows. 'Tis pretty when,<br /> + In some propitious hour, the enraptured youth<br /> + Looking with better eyes, detects in <i>us</i><br /> + The treasure he had been so far to seek. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Leonora.</i>—The jest + is pleasant—touches, but not near.</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + I honour each man's merit; and to Tasso<br /> + Am barely just. His eye, that covets nothing,<br /> + Light ranges over all; his ear is fill'd<br /> + With the rich harmony great nature makes;<br /> + What ancient records, what the living scene,<br /> + Disclose, his open bosom takes it all;<br /> + What beams of truth stray scattered o'er this world,<br /> + His mind collects, converges. How his heart<br /> + Has animated the inanimate!<br /> + How oft ennobled what we little prize,<br /> + And shown how poor the treasures of the great!<br /> + In this enchanted circle of his own<br /> + Proceeds the wondrous man; and us he draws<br /> + Within, to follow and participate.<br /> + He seems to near us, yet he stays remote—<br /> + Seems to regard us, and regards instead<br /> + Some spirit that assumes our place the while. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Princess.</i>—Finely + and delicately hast thou limn'd</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + The poet, moving in his world of thought.<br /> + And yet, methinks, some fair reality<br /> + Has wrought upon him here. Those charming verses<br /> + Found hanging here and there upon our trees,<br /> + Like golden fruit, that to the finer sense<br /> + Breathes of a new Hesperides: think you<br /> + These are not tokens of a genuine love? + </div> + + <hr class="short" /> + + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + And when he gives a name to the fair object<br /> + Of all this praise, he calls it Leonora! + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Leonora.</i>—Thy + name, as well as mine. I, for my part,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Should take it ill were he to choose another.<br /> + Here is no question of a narrow love,<br /> + That would engross its solitary prize,<br /> + And guards it jealously from every eye<br /> + That also would admire. When contemplation<br /> + Is deeply busy with thy graver worth,<br /> + My lighter being haply flits across,<br /> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg + 90]</a></span> And adds its pleasure to the pensive mood.<br /> + It is not us—forgive me if I say it—<br /> + Not us he loves; but down from all the spheres<br /> + He draws the matter of his strong affection,<br /> + And gives it to the name we bear. And we—<br /> + We seem to love the man, yet love in him<br /> + That only which we highest know to love. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Princess.</i>—You + have become an adept in this science,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + And put forth, Leonora, such profundities<br /> + As something more than penetrate the ear,<br /> + yet hardly touch the thought. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Leonora.</i>    +       —Thou, Plato's scholar!</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Not apprehend what I, a neophyte,<br /> + Venture to prattle of"— + </div><br /> + + <p>Alphonso enters, and enquires after Tasso. Leonora answers, that + she had seen him at a distance, with his book and tablets, writing + and walking, and adds that, from some hint he had let fall, she + gathered that his great work was near its completion; and, in fact, + the princess soon after descries him coming towards + them:—</p><span style="margin-left: 18em;">"Slowly he + comes,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Stands still awhile as unresolved, then hastes,<br /> + With quicken'd step, towards us; then again<br /> + Slackens his pace, and pauses." + </div> + + <p>Tasso enters, and presents his <i>Jerusalem Delivered</i> to his + patron, the Duke of Ferrara. Alphonso, seeing the laurel wreath on + the bust of Virgil, makes a sign to his sister; and the princess, + after some remonstrance on the part of Tasso, transfers it from the + statue to the head of the living poet. As she crowns him, she + says—</p> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + "Thou givest me, Tasso, here the rare delight,<br /> + With silent act, to tell thee what I think." + </div> + + <p>But the poet is no sooner crowned than he entreats that the wreath + should be removed. It weighs on him, it is a burden, a pressure, it + sinks and abashes him. Besides, he feels, as the man of genius must + always feel, that not to wear the crown but to earn it, is the real + joy as well as task of his life. The laurel is indeed for the bust, + not for the living head.</p><span style= + "margin-left: 18em;">"Take it away!</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Oh take, ye gods, this glory from my brow!<br /> + Hide it again in clouds! Bear it aloft<br /> + To heights all unattainable, that still<br /> + My whole of life for this great recompense,<br /> + Be one eternal course." + </div> + + <p>He obeys, however, the will of the princess, who bids him retain + it. We are now introduced to the antagonist, in every sense of the + word, of Tasso,—Antonio, secretary of state. In addition to the + causes of repugnance springing from their opposite characters, + Antonio is jealous of the favour which the young poet has won at the + court of Ferrara, both with his patron and the ladies. This + representative of the practical understanding speaks with admiration + of the court of Rome, and the ability of the ruling pontiff. He + says—</p> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + "No nobler object is there in the world<br /> + Than this—a prince who ably rules his people,<br /> + A people where the proudest heart obeys,<br /> + Where each man thinks he serves himself alone,<br /> + Because what fits him is alone commanded. + </div> + + <p>Alphonso speaks of the poem which Tasso has just completed, and + points to the crown which he wears. Then follow some of the unkindest + words which a secretary of state could possibly bestow on the + occasion.</p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg + 91]</a></span> <span style= + "margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Antonio.</i>—You solve a riddle + for me. Entering here</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + I saw to my surprise <i>two</i> crowned. + </div> + + <div class="quoteindent25_5"> + [<i>Looking towards the bust of Ariosto.</i> + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>    +                     + I wish</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Thou could'st as plainly as thou see'st my honours,<br /> + Behold the oppress'd and downcast spirit within. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Antonio</i>—I have + long known that in his recompenses</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Alphonso is immoderate; 'tis thine<br /> + To prove to-day what all who serve the prince<br /> + Have learn'd, or will." + </div> + + <p>Antonio then launches into an eloquent eulogium upon the + <i>other</i> crowned one—upon Ariosto—which has for its + object as well to dash the pride of the living, as to do homage to + the dead. He adds, with a most cruel ambiguity,</p><span style= + "margin-left: 12em;">"Who ventures near this man to place + himself,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Even for his boldness may deserve a crown." + </div> + + <p>The seeds of enmity, it is manifest, are plentifully sown between + Antonio and Tasso. Here ends the 1st Act.</p> + + <p>At the commencement of the 2d Act, the princess is endeavouring to + heal the wound that has been inflicted on the just pride of the poet, + and she alludes, in particular, to the eulogy which Antonio had so + invidiously passed upon Ariosto. The answer of Tasso deserves + attention. It is peculiar to the poetic genius to estimate very + differently at different times the value of its own labours. + Sometimes do but grant to the poet his claim to the possession of + genius, and his head strikes the stars. At other times, when + contemplating the lives of those men whose actions he has been + content to celebrate in song, he doubts whether he should not rank + himself as the very prince of idlers. He is sometimes tempted to + think that to have given one good stroke with the sword, were worth + all the delicate touches of his pen. This feeling Tasso has finely + expressed.</p><span style= + "margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Princess.</i>—When Antonio knows + what thou hast done</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + To honour these our times, then will he place thee<br /> + On the same level, side by side, with him<br /> + He now depicts in so gigantic stature. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>—Believe + me, lady, Ariosto's praise</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Heard from his lips, was likely more to please<br /> + Than wound me. It confirms us, it consoles,<br /> + To hear the man extoll'd whom we have placed<br /> + Before us as a model: we can say<br /> + In secret to ourselves—gain thou a share<br /> + Of his acknowledged merit, and thou gain'st<br /> + As certainly a portion of his fame.<br /> + No—that which to its depths has stirr'd my spirit,<br /> + What still I feel through all my sinking soul,<br /> + It was the picture of that living world,<br /> + Which restless, vast, enormous, yet revolves<br /> + In measured circle round the one great man,<br /> + Fulfils the course which he, the demi-god,<br /> + Dares to prescribe to it. With eager ear<br /> + I listen'd to the experienced man, whose speech<br /> + Gave faithful transcript of a real scene.<br /> + Alas! the more I listen'd, still the more<br /> + I sank within myself: it seem'd my being<br /> + Would vanish like an echo of the hills,<br /> + Resolved to a mere sound—a word—a nothing. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Princess.</i>—Poets + and heroes for each other live,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Poets and heroes seek each other out,<br /> + And envy not each other: this thyself,<br /> + Few minutes past, did vividly portray.<br /> + True, it is glorious to perform the deed<br /> + That merits noble song; yet glorious too<br /> + With noble song the once accomplish'd deed<br /> + Through all the after-world to memorize." + </div><br /> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg + 92]</a></span> + + <p>When she continues to urge Tasso to make the friendship of + Antonio, and assures him that the return of the minister has only + procured him a friend the more, he answers:—</p><span style= + "margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>—I hoped it once, I + doubt it now.</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Instructive were to me his intercourse,<br /> + Useful his counsel in a thousand ways:<br /> + This man possesses all in which I fail.<br /> + And yet—though at his birth flock'd every god,<br /> + To hang his cradle with some special gift—<br /> + The graces came not there, they stood aloof:<br /> + And he whom these sweet sisters visit not,<br /> + May possess much, may in bestowing be<br /> + Most bountiful, but never will a friend,<br /> + Or loved disciple, on his bosom rest." + </div> + + <p>The tendency of this scene is to lull Tasso into the belief that + he is beloved of the princess. Of course he is ardent to obey the + latest injunctions he has received from her, and when Antonio next + makes his appearance, he offers him immediately "his hand and + heart." The secretary of state receives such a sudden offer (as + it might be expected a secretary of state would do) with great + coolness; he will wait till he knows whether he can return the like + offer of friendship. He discourses on the excellence of moderation, + and in a somewhat magisterial tone, little justified by the relative + intellectual position of the speakers. Here, again, we have a true + insight into the character of the man of genius. He is + modest—very—till you become too overbearing; he + exaggerates the superiority in practical wisdom of men who have + mingled extensively with the world, and so invites a tone of + dictation; and yet withal he has a sly consciousness, that this same + superiority of the man of the world consists much more in a certain + fortunate limitation of thought than in any peculiar extension. The + wisdom of such a man has passed through the mind of the poet, with + this difference, that in his mind there is much beside this wisdom, + much that is higher than this wisdom; and so it does not maintain a + very prominent position, but gets obscured and + neglected.</p><span style= + "margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>—Thou hast good title + to advise, to warn,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + For sage experience, like a long-tried friend,<br /> + Stands at thy side. Yet be assured of this,<br /> + The solitary heart hears every day,<br /> + Hears every hour, a warning; cons and proves,<br /> + And puts in practice secretly that lore<br /> + Which in harsh lessons you would teach as new,<br /> + As something widely out of reach." + </div> + + <p>Yet, spurred on by the injunction of the princess, he still makes + an attempt to grasp at the friendship of Antonio.</p><span style= + "margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>—Once more! here is my + hand! clasp it in thine!</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Nay, step not back, nor, noble sir, deny me<br /> + The happiness, the greatest of good men,<br /> + To yield me, trustful, to superior worth,<br /> + Without reserve, without a pause or halt. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Antonio.</i>—You come + full sail upon me. Plain it is</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + You are accustomed to make easy conquests,<br /> + To walk broad paths, to find an open door.<br /> + Thy merit—and thy fortune—I admit,<br /> + But fear we stand asunder wide apart. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>—In years + and in tried worth I still am wanting;</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + In zeal and will, I yield to none. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Antonio.</i>    +               The + will</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Draws the deed after by no magic charm,<br /> + And zeal grows weary where the way is long:<br /> + Who reach the goal, they only wear the crown.<br /> + And yet, crowns are there, or say garlands rather,<br /> + Of many sorts, some gather'd as we go,<br /> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg + 93]</a></span> Pluck'd as we sing and saunter. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>    +               But a + gift</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Freely bestow'd on this mind, and to that<br /> + As utterly denied—this not each man,<br /> + Stretching his hand, can gather if he will. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Antonio.</i>—Ascribe + the gift to fortune—it is well.</span><br /> + + + <hr class="short" /> + + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + The fortunate, with reason good, extol<br /> + The goddess Fortune—give her titles high—<br /> + Call her Minerva—call her what they will—<br /> + Take her blind gifts for just reward, and wear<br /> + Her wind-blown favour as a badge of merit. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>—No need to + speak more plainly. 'Tis enough.</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + I see into thy soul—I know thee now,<br /> + And all thy life I know. Oh, that the princess<br /> + Had sounded thee as I! But never waste<br /> + Thy shafts of malice of the eye and tongue<br /> + Against this laurel-wreath that crowns my brow,<br /> + The imperishable garland. 'Tis in vain.<br /> + First be so great as not to envy it,<br /> + Then perhaps thou may'st dispute. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Antonio.</i>    +               Thyself art + prompt</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + To justify my slight esteem of thee.<br /> + The impetuous boy with violence demands<br /> + The confidence and friendship of the man.<br /> + Why, what unmannerly deportment this! + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>—Better + what you unmannerly may deem,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Than what I call ignoble. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Antonio.</i>    +       There remains</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + One hope for thee. Thou still art young enough<br /> + To be corrected by strict discipline. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>—Not young + enough to bow myself to idols</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + That courtiers make and worship; old enough<br /> + Defiance with defiance to encounter. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Antonio.</i>—Ay, + where the tinkling lute and tinkling speech</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Decide the combat, Tasso is a hero. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>—I were to + blame to boast a sword unknown</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + As yet to war, but I can trust to it. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Antonio.</i>—Trust + rather to indulgence."</span><br /> + + <p>We are in the high way, it is plain, to a duel. Tasso insists upon + an appeal to the sword. The secretary of state contents himself with + objecting the privilege or sanctity of the place, they being within + the precincts of the royal residence. At the height of this debate, + Alphonso enters. Here, again, the minister has a most palpable + advantage over the poet. He insists upon the one point of view in + which he has the clear right, and will not diverge from it; Tasso has + challenged him, has done his utmost to provoke a duel within the + walls of the palace; and is, therefore, amenable to the law. The Duke + can do no other than decide against the poet, whom he dismisses to + his apartment with the injunction that he is there to consider + himself, for the present, a prisoner.</p> + + <p>In the three subsequent acts, there is still less of action; and + we may as well relate at once what there remains of plot to be told, + and then proceed with our extracts. Through the mediation of the + princess and her friend, this quarrel is in part adjusted, and Tasso + is released from imprisonment. But his spirit is wounded, and he + determines to quit the court of Ferrara. He obtains permission to + travel to Rome. At this juncture he meets with the princess. His + impression has been that she also is alienated from him; her + conversation removes and quite reverses this impression; in a moment + of ungovernable tenderness he is about to embrace her; she repulses + him and retires. The duke, who makes his appearance just at this + moment, and who has been a witness to the conclusion of this + interview, orders Tasso into confinement, expressing at the same time + his conviction <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id= + "Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> that the poet has lost his senses. He is + given into the charge of Antonio, and thus ends the drama.</p> + + <p>Glancing back over the three last acts, whose action we have + summed up so briefly, we might select many beautiful passages for + translation; we content ourselves with the following.</p> + + <p>The princess and Leonora Sanvitale are conversing. There has been + question of the departure of Tasso.</p><span style= + "margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Princess.</i>—Each day was + <i>then</i> itself a little life;</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + No care was clamorous, and the future slept.<br /> + Me and my happy bark the flowing stream,<br /> + Without an oar, drew with light ripple down.<br /> + Now—in the turmoil of the present hour,<br /> + The future wakes, and fills the startled ear<br /> + With whisper'd terrors. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Leonora.</i>    +     But the future brings</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + New joys, new friendships. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Princess.</i>    +   Let me keep the old.</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Change may amuse, it scarce can profit us.<br /> + I never thrust, with youthful eagerness,<br /> + A curious hand into the shaken urn<br /> + Of life's great lottery, with hope to find<br /> + Some object for a restless, untried heart.<br /> + I honour'd him, and therefore have I loved;<br /> + It was necessity to love the man<br /> + With whom my being grew into a life<br /> + Such as I had not known, or dream'd before.<br /> + At first, I laid injunctions on myself<br /> + To keep aloof; I yielded, yielded still,<br /> + Still nearer drew—enticed how pleasantly<br /> + To be how hardly punish'd! + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Leonora.</i>    + If a friend</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Fail with her weak consolatory speech,<br /> + Let the still powers of this beautiful world,<br /> + With silent healing, renovate thy spirit. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Princess.</i>—The + world <i>is</i> beautiful! In its wide circuit,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + How much of good is stirring here and there!<br /> + Alas! that it should ever seem removed<br /> + Just one step off! Throughout the whole of life<br /> + Step after step, it leads our sick desire<br /> + E'en to the grave. So rarely do men find<br /> + What yet seem'd destined them—so rarely hold<br /> + What once the hand had fortunately clasp'd;<br /> + What has been giv'n us, rends itself away,<br /> + And what we clutch'd, we let it loose again;<br /> + There is a happiness—we know it not,<br /> + We know it—and we know not how to prize." + </div><br /> + + <p>Tasso says, when he thought himself happy in the love of Leonora + d'Este—</p><span style="margin-left: 12em;">"I have + often dream'd of this great happiness—</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + 'Tis here!—and oh, how far beyond the dream!<br /> + A blind man, let him reason upon light,<br /> + And on the charm of colour, how he will,<br /> + If once the new-born day reveal itself,<br /> + It is a new-born sense." + </div> + + <p>And again on this same felicity,</p><span style= + "margin-left: 12em;">"Not on the wide sands of the rushing + ocean,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + 'Tis in the quiet shell, shut up, conceal'd,<br /> + We find the pearl." + </div> + + <p>It is in another strain that the poet speaks when Leonora + Sanvitale attempts to persuade him that Antonio entertains in reality + no hostility towards him. In what follows, we see the anger and + hatred of a meditative man. It is a hatred which supports and + exhausts itself in reasoning; which we might predict would never go + forth into any act of enmity. It is <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> a mere sentiment, or rather + the mere conception of a sentiment. For the poet rather thinks of + hatred than positively hates.</p><span style= + "margin-left: 12em;">"And if I err, I err + resolvedly.</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + I think of him as of my bitter foe;<br /> + To think him less than this would now distract,<br /> + Discomfort me. It were a sort of folly<br /> + To be with all men reasonable; 'twere<br /> + The abandonment of all distinctive <i>self</i>.<br /> + Are all mankind to us so reasonable?<br /> + No, no! Man in his narrow being needs<br /> + Both feelings, love, and hate. Needs he not night<br /> + As well as day? and sleep as well as waking?<br /> + No! I will hold this man for evermore<br /> + As precious object of my deepest hate,<br /> + And nothing shall disturb the joy I have<br /> + In thinking of him daily worse and worse." + </div> + + <div class="quoteindent25_5"> + <i>Act. 4, Scene 2.</i> + </div><br /> + + <p>We conclude with a passage in which Tasso speaks of the + irresistible passion he feels for his own art. He has sought + permission of the Duke to retire to Rome, on the plea that he will + there, by the assistance of learned men, better complete his great + work, which he regards as still imperfect. Alphonso grants his + request, but advises him rather to suspend his labour for the + present, and partake, for a season, of the distractions of the world. + He would be wise, he tells him, to seek the restoration of his + health.</p><span style= + "margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>—It should seem so; yet + have I health enow</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + If only I can labour, and this labour<br /> + Again bestows the only health I know.<br /> + It is not well with me, as thou hast seen,<br /> + In this luxuriant peace. In rest I find<br /> + Rest least of all. I was not framed,<br /> + My spirit was not destined to be borne<br /> + On the soft element of flowing days,<br /> + And so in Time's great ocean lose itself<br /> + Uncheck'd, unbroken. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Alphonso.</i>—All + feelings, and all impulses, my Tasso,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Drive thee for ever back into thyself.<br /> + There lies about us many an abyss<br /> + Which Fate has dug; the deepest yet of all<br /> + Is here, in our own heart, and very strong<br /> + Is the temptation to plunge headlong in.<br /> + I pray thee snatch thyself away in time.<br /> + Divorce thee, for a season, from thyself.<br /> + The man will gain whate'er the poet lose. + </div><br /> + <span style="margin-left: 12em;">"<i>Tasso.</i>—One + impulse all in vein I should resist,</span><br /> + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + Which day and night within my bosom stirs.<br /> + Life is not life if I must cease to think,<br /> + Or, thinking, cease to poetize.<br /> + Forbid the silk-worm any more to spin,<br /> + Because its own life lies upon the thread.<br /> + Still it uncoils the precious golden web,<br /> + And ceases not till, dying, it has closed<br /> + Its own tomb o'er it. May the good God grant<br /> + We, one day, share the fate of that same worm!—<br /> + That we, too, in some valley bright with heaven,<br /> + Surprised with sudden joy, may spread our wing. + </div> + + + <hr class="short" /> + + + <div class="quoteindent10_5"> + I feel—I feel it well—this highest art<br /> + Which should have fed the mind, which to the strong<br /> + Adds strength and ever new vitality,—<br /> + It is destroying me, it hunts me forth,<br /> + Where'er I rove, an exile amongst men." + </div> + + <div class="quoteindent25_5"> + <i>Act V. Scene 2.</i> + </div><br /> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + <p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg + 96]</a></span></p> + + <h2><a name="DAVID_THE_TELYNWR20_OR_THE_DAUGHTERS_TRIAL" id= + "DAVID_THE_TELYNWR20_OR_THE_DAUGHTERS_TRIAL"></a>DAVID THE + "TELYNWR;"<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id= + "FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class= + "fnanchor">[20]</a> OR, THE DAUGHTER'S TRIAL.<br /> + A TALE OF WALES.</h2> + + <h3>BY JOSEPH DOWNES.</h3> + + <p>The inhabitants of the white mountain village of K——, + in Cardiganshire, were all retired to rest, it being ten o'clock. + No—a single light twinkled from under eaves of thick and mossy + thatch, in one cottage apart, and neater than the rest, that skirted + the steep <i>street</i>, (as the salmon fishers, its chief + inhabitants, were pleased to call it,) being, indeed, the rock, + thinly covered with the soil, and fringed with long grass, but rudely + smoothed, where very rugged, by art, for the transit of a + <i>gamboo</i> (cart with small wheels of entire wood) or sledge. The + moonlight slept in unbroken lustre on the houses of one story, or + without any but what the roof slope formed, and several appearances + marked it as a fisher village. A black, oval, pitched basket, as it + appeared, hung against the wall of several of the cottages, being the + <i>coracle</i>, or boat for one person, much used on the larger Welsh + rivers, very primitive in form and construction, being precisely + described by Cæsar in his account of the ancient Britons. Dried + salmon and other fish also adorned others, pleasingly hinting of the + general honesty and mutual confidence of the humble natives, poor as + they were, for strangers were never thought of; the road, such as it + was, merely mounting up to "the hill" (the lofty desert of + sheepwalk) on one hand, and descending steeply to the river Tivy on + the other. A deadened thunder, rising from some fall and brawling + shallow "rapid" of the river, was the only sound, except + the hooting of an owl from some old ivied building, a ruin + apparently, visible on the olive-hued precipice behind. The russet + mass of mountain, bulging, as it were, over the little range of cots, + gave an air of security to their picturesque white beauty; while + silver clouds curled and rolled in masses, grandly veiling their + higher peaks, and sometimes canopied the roofs, many reddened with + wall-flower; the walls also exhibiting streaks of green, where rains + had drenched the vegetating thatch and washed down its tint of yellow + green. Aged trees, green even to the trunks, luxuriant ivy enveloping + them as well as the branches, stretched their huge arms down the + declivity leading to the Tivy, the flashing of whose waters, through + its rich fringe of underwood, caught the eye of any one standing on + the ridge above. A solitary figure, tall and muffled, did stand with + his back in contact with one of these oaks, so as to be hardly + distinguishable from the trunk.</p> + + <p>A poet might imagine, looking at a Welsh village by moonlight, + thus embosomed in pastoral mountains, canopied with those silver + mists whose very motion was peace, and lulled by those soft solemn + sounds, more peace-breathing than even silence, that <i>there</i>, at + least, care never came; there peace, "if to be found in the + world," would be surely found; and soon that one light + moving—that prettier painted door stealthily + opening—would prove that peace confined to the elements only. + "Here I am!" would be groaned to his mind's ear by the + ubiquitous, foul fiend, Care; for thence emerged a female + form—<i>simplex munditiis</i>—the exact description of it + as to attire—rather tall than otherwise, but its chief + characteristic, a drooping kind of bowed gait, in affecting unison + with a melancholy settled over the pale features, so strongly as to + be visible even by the moon at a very short distance. Brushing away a + tear from each eye, as she held to her breast a little packet of some + kind, as soon as she found (as she imagined) the coast clear, she + proceeded, after fastening her door, toward one of the bowered + footpaths <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg + 97]</a></span> leading to the river. The concealed man looked after + her, prepared to follow, when some belated salmon fisher, his dark + coracle, strapped to his back, nodding over his head, appeared. This + lurking personage was nicknamed "Lewis the Spy" by the + country people. He was the agent, newly appointed, to inspect the + condition of a once fine but most neglected estate, which had + recently come into possession of a "Nabob," as they called + him—a gentleman who had left Wales a boy, and was now on his + voyage home to take possession of a dilapidated mansion called + Talylynn. Lewis, his forerunner and plenipotentiary, was the dread + and hate of the alarmed tenants. He had already ejected from his + stewardship a good but rather indolent old man, John Bevan, who had + grown old in the service of the former "squire;" and + besides kept watch over the doings on the farms in an occult and + treacherous manner, prowling round their "folds" by dusk, + and often listening to conversations by concealing himself. Such was + the man who now accosted the humble fisherman. Reverentially, as if + to the terrible landlord himself, the peasant bared his head to his + sullen representative.</p> + + <p>"Who is that young woman?" he enquired, sternly, though + well knowing who she was.</p> + + <p>"Dim Saesneg," answered the man, bowing.</p> + + <p>"None of your Dim Saesneg to me, fellow," rejoined + Lewis, sternly. "Did not I hear you swearing in good English at + a <i>Saesyn</i> (Englishman or Saxon) yesterday?"</p> + + <p>The Welshman begged pardon in good Saxon, and answered at + last—</p> + + <p>"Why, then, if it please your honour, her name be + Winifred—her other name be Bevan—<i>Miss</i> Bevan, the + school—her father be Mister Bevan of Llaneol, steward that was + to our old squire of the great house, 'the + Hall'—Talylynn Hall—where there's a fine lake. I + warrant your honour has fished there. You Saesonig gentlemen do + mostly do nothing but fish and shoot in our poor country; I beg + pardon, but you look <i>Saesoniadd</i>, (Saxonlike,) I was + thinking—fine lake, but the trout be not to + compare"——</p> + + <p>"Well," interrupted the other laughing, "your + English tongue can wag as glib as your outlandish one. A sweetheart + in the case there, isn't there? What the devil's she going + down to the river for at this time of night, else?"</p> + + <p>"Why, to be sure there be!" the man answered. + "<i>We</i> all know that; poor thing, she had need find some + comforter in all her troubles—her father so poor, and in debt + to this strange foreigner, who's on the water coming home now, + and has made proposals for her in marriage, so they do <i>say</i>; + but it's like your honour knows more of that than I do—for + be not you Mr Lewis, I beg pardon, Lewis Lewis, esquire?"</p> + + <p>"And what do you know of this sweetheart of hers? Is he her + <i>first</i>, think ye? <i>I</i> doubt that," rejoined Lewis, + not noticing his enquiry——</p> + + <p>"<i>You</i> may doubt what your honour pleases, but <i>we</i> + don't—no; never man touched her <i>hand</i> hardly, never + one her lips, before—I did have it from her mother; but as for + this one she's found at last, we wish she'd a + better"——</p> + + <p>"What's the matter with him, then?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, nothing more than that he's poor, sir—poor; + and that <i>we</i> don't know much about the + stranger"——</p> + + <p>"What '<i>we</i>' do you mean, while you talk of + 'we'?"</p> + + <p>"Lord bless ye, sir, why us all of this bankside, and this + side Tivy, the great family of us, she's just like <i>our</i> + little girl to us all; for don't she have all our young ones to + give 'em learning, whether the Cardigan ladies pay for 'em or + don't? And wasn't poor dear old John Bevan the man who would + lend every farmer in the parish a help in money or any way, only for + asking? So it is, you see, she has grown up among us. This young man, + though he may be old for what I know, never seeing him in my + life—you see, sir, we on this side of Tivy are like strangers + to the Cardy men, t'other side—<i>they</i> are + <i>Cardie's</i>, sure enow, <i>true</i> ones, as the Saxon + foreign folk do call us <i>all</i> of this shire. I wouldn't + trust one of 'em t'other side, no further than I could throw + him. I'll tell ye a story"——</p> + + <p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg + 98]</a></span></p> + + <p>"Never mind. What about David?"</p> + + <p>"Oh, ho! You know his name, then? Well, and that's all + <i>I</i> do—pretty nigh. He lives with a woman who fostered him + after his own mother died in travail with him, they do say, who has a + little house, beyond that lump of a mountain, above all the others, + we see by daylight; he has been in England, and is a strange one for + music. He owes (owns, possesses,) a beautiful + harp—<i>beautiful</i>! The Lord knows, some do say, that's + all he owes in the world, so (except) his coracle and the salmon he + takes, and what young people do give him at weddings and biddings, + where he goes to play: and what's that to keep a wife? Poor Davy + <i>Telynwr</i>! Yet, by my soul, we all say we'd rather see her + his than this foreigner gentleman's, who has almost broke her + heart, they say, by coming between her and her own dear + one."</p> + + <p>"He's <i>not</i> come yet," muttered the other, + sullenly; adding, sharply and bitterly, "Mighty good friends you + all are, to wish her married to a beggar, a vagabond harper, rather + than to a gentleman."</p> + + <p>"Why—to be sure, sir—but vows be + vows—love's love—and to tell truth, sir," (the + Welsh blood of the Cardy peasant was now up,) "if any foreign, + half Welsh, half wild Indian, sort of gentleman had sent his fine + letters, asking my sweetheart's friends to turn <i>me</i> off, in + my courting days, and prepare my wench to be his lady, instead of my + wife—I'd have—I'd have"—</p> + + <p>"<i>What</i> would you have done?" asked the other, + laughing heartily.</p> + + <p>"Cursed him to St Elian!" roared the other; then, + dropping his voice into a solemn tone, "put him into his + well.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href= + "#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> <i>I'd</i> have + plagued him, I warrant. But for <i>my</i> part," added the man + archly, "I don't believe there's any <i>squire</i> lover + in the case—nor that your honour ever said there is." The + agent here vanished, as if in haste, abruptly, down the steep + path.</p> + + <p>During this conversation, Winifred had reached the river. While + she stands expectant, not in happiness, but in tears, it is time to + say a few words of the lover so expected.</p> + + <p>David, who was lately become known "on t'other side + Tivy," by the name of <i>Nosdethiol Telynwr</i>, that is, + "night-walking harper," was an idle romantic young man, + almost grown out of youth, who had long lived away from Wales, where + he had neither relative nor friend but one aged woman who had been + his first nurse, he having been early left an orphan. Without settled + occupation or habits, he was understood almost to depend for bread on + the salmon he caught, and trifling presents received. A small + portable harp, of elegant workmanship, (adorned with + "<i>real</i> silver," so <i>ran the tale</i>,) was the + companion of his moonlight wanderings. He had a whim of serenading + those who had never heard of a "serenade," but were not the + less sensible of a placid pleasure at being awakened by soft music in + some summer sight. The simple mountain cottagers, whose slumbers he + thus broke or soothed, often attributed the sweet sounds to the + kindness of some wandering member of the "Fair Family," or + <i>Tylwyth Têg</i>, the fairies. Nor did his figure, if discovered + vanishing between the trees, if some one ventured to peep out, in a + light night, dispel the illusion; for it appears, that the fairy of + old Welsh superstition was not of diminutive stature."<a name= + "FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" + class="fnanchor">[22]</a> That he was "very learned," had + somewhere acquired much knowledge of books, <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> however + little of men, was reported on both sides of the river; and these few + particulars were almost all that was known even to Winifred, who had + so rashly given all her thoughts, all her hopes, all her heart + almost, (reserving only one sacred corner for her beloved parents,) + to this dangerous stranger—for stranger he was still to her in + almost all outer circumstances of life. This was partly owing to the + interposition of that narrow river, however trivial a line of + demarcation that must appear to English people, accustomed to cross + even great rivers of commerce, like the Thames, as they would step + over a brook or ditch, by the frequent aid of bridges and boats. In + Wales, bridges are too costly to be common. When reared, some unlucky + high flood often sweeps them away. Intercourse by ferryboats and + fords is liable to long interruptions. The dwellers of opposite sides + frequent different markets, and belong frequently to different + counties. The nature of the soil also often differs wholly. Hence it + happens, that sometimes a farmer, whose eye rests continually on the + little farm and fields of another, on the opposite "bank," + rising from the river running at the base of his own confronting + hill-side, lives on, ignorant almost of the name, quite of the + character, of their tenant, to whom he could almost make himself + heard by a shout—if it happens that neither ford, ferry, nor + bridge, is within short distance.</p> + + <p>"The people of t'other side," is an expression + implying nearly as much strangeness, and contented ignorance of these + neighbours, and no neighbours, as the same spoken by the people of + Dover or Calais, of those t'other side the Channel. It was not, + therefore, surprising that poor Winifred (albeit not imprudent, save + in this new-sprung passion,) might have said with the poet, too + truly,</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"I know not, I ask not, what guilt's in + that heart;</span> <span class="i2">I but know that I love thee, + whatever thou art."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>This wild reckless sentiment (though scarcely true to love's + nature, which is above all things curious about all belonging to its + object) did in her case illustrate her feelings. Winifred had lately + disclosed to her dear "unknown" the ruin impending over her + father, the result of his mingled good-nature and indolence, he + having permitted the tenants to run in arrears, and suffer + dilapidations, as already said;—the long neglect, however, of + the East Indian landlord being at the root of the evil, who had been + as remiss in his dealings with the steward as the steward with the + tenants. The first appearance of this newly appointed agent, who + announced the early return of his employer to take possession of the + decayed manor-house, was as sudden as ominous of the ruin of old John + Bevan. The hope he held out of the "Nabob" espousing his + long-remembered child, Winifred, and the consequent salvation of her + father, seemed too romantic to be believed. Yet this man proved + himself duly accredited by his principal, and exercised his power + already with severity. The fine old house of Talylynn, a mansion + rising close to a small beautiful lake skirted by an antique park + with many deer, was already almost prepared for the reception of the + "squire from abroad." Meanwhile—what most excited the + ill-will of the tenantry—this odious persecutor of the + all-beloved John Bevan had also furbished up a neat old house + adjoining the park gate, as a residence for himself; while poor + Bevan's farm-house of Llaneol was suffered to fall into ruinous + decay—the new steward even neglecting to keep it + weather-tight.</p> + + <p>Thus decayed, and almost ruinous, it seemed more in harmony with + the fortunes of the ever resigned and patient man. But his less + placid dame, after losing the services of Winifred, had fallen into a + peevish sort of despondency, as the father, missing her society, and + its finer species of consolation, had sunk into a more placid + apathy.</p> + + <p>David had received the hint of her possible self-devotion to the + coming "squire" with very little philosophy, little temper, + and no allowance for the feelings of an only daughter expecting to + see a white-headed, fond father, dragged from his home to a jail. He + had been incensed; he had wronged her by imputations of sordid + motives—of pride, of contempt for <i>himself</i> as a + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg + 100]</a></span> beggar; and at last broke from her in sullen + resentment, after requiring her to bring all his letters, at their + next interview, which was to be a farewell one. And now she was + bringing every thing she had received from him, in sad obedience to + this angry demand. Nor was all his wrath, his injustice, and his + despair, really unacceptable to her secret heart. She would not have + had him patient under even the prospective possibility of her + marrying another.</p> + + <p>But his manner at this meeting announced a change in his whole + sentiments.</p> + + <p>His very first words, (cold, yet kind, but how altered in tone!) + with his constrained deportment, expressed his acquiescence in her + purpose, whether pride, jealousy, or a juster estimate of her filial + virtue, had induced the stern resolve.</p> + + <p>Winifred had never known the full strength of her own passion till + now! The idea of an early eternal end to their ungratified loves, + which had for some time become familiar to her own secret mind, + assumed a new and strange terror for her imagination the moment it + ceased to be hers <i>alone</i>. The shock was novel and overpowering, + when the separation seemed acquiesced in by him, thus putting it out + of her own power to hesitate further between devotion to the lover or + to the parent. His reconciled manner, his calm taking her by the + hand, even the kiss which she could not resist, were more painful + than his utmost resentment would have been. Yet there was a sad + severity in his look, as his fine countenance of deep melancholy + turned to the bright moon, which a little comforted her, and + indicated that it was pride rather than patience which led to his + affected contentment. <i>He</i> had not a parent to nerve <i>his</i> + heart to the sacrifice.</p> + + <p>"I passed <i>your</i> home yesterday," he began + sarcastically: "it is a fine place again, already, that hall of + Talylynn, and wants only as fine a mistress."</p> + + <p>"You wrong me, David <i>bach</i>! on my life and soul you do, + <i>dear</i> David!" she replied sobbing. "'Tis a + hateful hall—a horrid hall! If it were only I, your poor lost + Winifred, that was to suffer, oh! how much sooner would I be carried + dead into a vault, than alive, and dressed in all the finest silks of + India, into that dreadful house you twit me with!—unkind, + unkind!" And almost fainting, her head sunk upon his shoulder, + and his arm was required to support her.</p> + + <p>Instantly she recovered, and stood erect. "But oh, David, + there is another dreadful place, and another dear being besides you, + dearest, that I think of night and day! The horrid castle + jail—my dear, dear father! Oh, if this Lewis speaks truth, and + if that strange boy—I only knew him as a boy, you + know—who has power to ruin him, (<i>will</i> surely ruin him!) + will <i>indeed</i> forgive him all he owes; will really become his + son—his son-in-law, instead of his merciless creditor; oh! + could I refuse <i>my</i> part, shocking part though it be? I should + not suffer long, David—I feel I should not."</p> + + <p>"And pray, what <i>kind</i> of youth—<i>boy</i> as you + are pleased to call him—was this nabob then?" enquired her + lover, apparently startled at learning the fact of her having had + some previous knowledge of his powerful rival.</p> + + <p>"A youth! a mere child, when I last saw him," she + answered. "I thought you had known all about him."</p> + + <p>"Nothing more than his name; how came you in his + company?"</p> + + <p>"His father, living in India, was half-brother to our old + squire, Fitzarthur of Talylynn. His mother dying, his widower father, + whose health was broken up before, came over here, this being his + native country, in hope of recovering it; but died at Talylynn, + leaving one child, that little orphan boy, heir, after his + half-uncle's death, to all this property. You have often heard me + tell how like two brothers my dear father and <i>our</i> old squire + were always—though father was only a steward—how he used + to have me at the great house, for a month at a time, where he had me + taught by a lady who lived with him, before I went to school; and so + I used often to see that little boy in black—very queer and + sullen he was thought; but he had no playfellow, except an owl that + he kept tame, I remember, and cried when he buried <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> him in + the garden,—the only time he was ever known to cry, he was so + still and stern. It was <i>I</i> caught him, then acting the sexton + by himself, close by the high box hedge, under a great tree. I + remember the spot now, and remember how angry I made him by + laughing."</p> + + <p>"And you did wrong to laugh, if it was so serious to + him."</p> + + <p>"Oh! but I did not know he was crying when I laughed, and + <i>was</i> sorry when I detected it. One thing was, the old gentleman + was so jovial, and loved a good laugher, and was rather too fond of + wine, and mostly out hunting, so that the poor boy had to find his + own amusement. He seemed fond of me, but hated, he said, his uncle, + and his hounds, and his ways, and every thing there but his own owl; + so that nobody was sorry when he was fetched back to India, to be put + in the where he was to make the fortune he has now made, I + suppose."</p> + + <p>"And your little heart did throb a little, and sink for a + day, when this playfellow was shipped off for life, as you thought, + and you <i>did</i> remember his funeral tears over his owl, + and"—a quaver of voice and betrayed earnestness revealed + the jealous pang shooting across the heart of the speaker; but her + own was too heavy and deeply anxious to prolong this desultory + talk.</p> + + <p>She only added—"Heaven knows how little I thought that + poor stranger boy would ever grow to be what he is to me + now."</p> + + <p>"<i>What he is to you?</i> Why, what then is he, + Winifred?"</p> + + <p>"The horror of my thoughts, my dreams, + my"——she answered sobbing. "But why should I + say so? Wicked I am to feel him so, if he is <i>indeed</i> to be the + saviour of my dear, dear father!" And she turned away to shed + relieving tears.</p> + + <p>"And this little packet contains my letters—<i>all</i>, + does it?" he asked, touching the small parcel she had deposited + within a cleft of the hollow river-side tree, by which they stood, + the post-office of their happier days, where, concealed by thick moss + gathered from the bole, those letters had every one been searched for + and found—with what a leap of heart, first felt! how fondly + thrust into her bosom, for the leisure delight of opening at + home—and all in vain!</p> + + <p>"All but one," she answered tremulously; "I brought + then because you bade me—but you were so angry + <i>then</i>—let me take them back?" and she clutched them + eagerly. "At least we may wait, David—we don't know + yet; I do suspect that Lewis Lewis—he shuns me as if he was + conscious of some wickedness; he's as horrid to me as his + master—the thought of his master—I do forbode something + awful from that man! It was but just before I heard you brushing + among those great low branches, in your coracle, that I fancied I saw + him stealing, as if to watch, or perhaps waylay you; but I am full of + dismal thoughts."</p> + + <p>He had not the heart to force his letters, so reluctantly + resigned, from her chilly hand. But he held in his what was + calculated to inspire pain quite as poignant. In the fond admiration + of her fancy's first object, she had vehemently longed for a + portrait of that rather singular face—a long oval, with lofty + forehead, already somewhat corrugated by habits of deep thought, in + his lonely night-loving existence; its mixture of passion, dumb + poetry, its constitutional or adventitious profound melancholy, ever + present, till his countenance gradually lighted up, after her coming + and her animating discourse, like some deep gloomy valley growing + light as the sun surmounts a lofty bank, gleaming through its pines. + She had forced him to take a piece of money for procuring this so + desired keepsake, and every time they met, she had fondly hoped to + have the little portrait put into her hand. Now, instead, he + presented the unused money—would she retain the image of a + sweetheart in the home of her stern and lordly husband? Her heart + confessed that she must no longer wish for it—but it sunk + within her at the thought, how soon that innocent would be a guilty + wish; and when he surprised her with the money so suddenly, she + involuntarily shuddered, forebore to close her hand upon it, let it + slide from her palm, and murmured only with her innocent plaintiff + voice, "I shall never have your picture + now—<i>never</i>!" And <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> then she dejected her + eyes to the little parcel of letters, written, received, kissed, and + kept, like something holy, so long in vain; and all the charming + hopeful hours in which each was found, when some longer absence had + given to each a deeper interest, and higher value—those hours + never to return, came shadowing over her mind, memory, and soul, and + a lethargy of despairing grief imposed a ghost-like semblance of calm + on her whole figure, and her face slowly assumed a deadly paleness, + even to the lips, visible even by the moon. David grew alarmed, + relapsed into the full fondness of former hours, folded the dumb, + drooping, and agonized young woman in his arms, to his bosom! without + her betraying consciousness, and yet she was not fainting; she stood + upright, and her eyes, though fixed as if glazed, still expressed + love in their almost shocking fixedness.</p> + + <p>The young man grew terrified. "Look up! speak to me! + Winifred, <i>dear</i> Winifred, my <i>own</i> Winifred, in spite of + all!" he broke forth. "Smile at me, my dearest, once more, + and keep these foolish letters you so value, keep them + <i>all</i>." And he thrust them into her passive hand.</p> + + <p>Aroused by his words and action, poor Winifred, starting with a + gasp, wildly kissed the little packet, and thanked him by an embrace + more passionate than her prudence or modesty would have permitted, + had they been happy.</p> + + <p>"And my portrait—my ugliness in paint, and on ivory + too, dearest, you shall have yet, as you desire it," he added, + forcing pleasantry; "only do not fall into that frightful sort + of trance again."</p> + + <p>He little knew what deadliness of thoughts, almost of purpose, had + produced that long abstracted fit. The most exemplary prudence (the + result of a sound mind and heart) had characterised this young woman + till now. While yet at home, her bodily activity surprised her + parents. Their means having been long but low, they had little help + in their dairy and small farming concerns. She often surprised her + mother with the sight of the butter already churned, the ewes already + milked, or the cheeses pressed, when she arose. She was abroad in the + heavy dews of morning, when the sun at midsummer rises in what is + properly the night, regarded as the hour of rest—abroad, happy + and cheerful, calling the few cows in the misty meadows. Nor did this + habit of early rising prevent her indulging at night her <i>one</i> + unhappy habit—romance-reading; a pleasure which she enjoyed + through the kindness of many ladies of the town of Cardigan, who + afterwards established her in her school at K——. They + supplied her with these dangerous volumes that exalted + passion—love in excess—above all the aims and pursuits of + life: represented her who loves most madly as most worthy of + sympathy; and even, too often, crowned the heroine with the palm of + self-martyrdom—making suicide itself no longer a crime or + folly, but almost a virtue, under certain contingencies.</p> + + <p>When poverty increased, the activity of her powerful intellect was + brought into display, as much as her personal activity had been, in + devising resources. She had acquired some skill in drawing, through + the kindness of the neighbouring gentry, and she improved herself so + far as to execute very respectable drawings of the ruins of Kilgerran + Castle, on her own river, and other fine scenes of Wales; and these + were sold for her (or rather for her parents) by others, at fairs and + wakes, where she never appeared herself. When residing at the + village, her wheel was heard in the morning before others were + stirring, and at late night, after every other one was still. Her + little light, gleaming in the lofty village, espied between the + hanging trees, was the guiding star of the belated fisher up the + narrow goat's-path which led to the village, who could always + obtain light for his pipe at "<i>Miss Bevan's</i>, the + school," when not a casement had exhibited a taper for hours. + But the evil of all this wear and tear of mind and body was, that it + maintained an unnatural state of excitement in the one, and of + weakness (disguised by that fever of imagination) in the other. + Sleep, the preserver of health and tranquillity of mind, was + exchanged for lonely emotions excited by night reading. She was + weeping over the dramatist's fifth act of tragedy, or the + romancist's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id= + "Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> more morbid appeals to the passions, + while nature demanded rest. Then an accidental meeting with the young + harper—he recovering a book she had dropped into the Tivy out + of her hand, from having fallen asleep through exertion, and + restoring it with a grace quite romance-hero like—produced a + new era, and new excitement—that of the heart. Thenceforth, she + became "of imagination all compact," however her strong + sense preserved her purity and virtue. But no more dangerous lover + could be imagined than such a loose hanger-on, rather than member, of + society as David the <i>Telynwr</i>—for <i>his</i> nature was + <i>hers</i>; except, perhaps, in virtuous resolution, he was a female + Winifred. Yet he possessed a romantic "leaning, at least, to + virtue's side."</p> + + <p>This was oddly exemplified now, (to return to their present + position;) for as soon as her partial recovery had removed his alarm, + he grew cold, and almost severe in his manner, and broke + forth—</p> + + <p>"<i>So</i>, then, Winifred would willingly pore over the + love-letters of a sweetheart while under a husband's roof! She + thinks this beauty enough for <i>him</i>—she would reserve her + thoughts, wishes, every thing else, for his old rival;—every + thing but what a ring, and a few words, makes his right by law, the + poor husband is to leave to any old sweetheart that may come prowling + round his gates! That's gross! Is it <i>not</i>, + Winifred?"</p> + + <p>Alas! the heart-broken young woman had been meditating on far + other issue to their brief attachment! On death!—death on her + wedding-day, as the only means of preserving at once her father's + liberty and her own virtue; for her reading had taught her that + marriage, where the mind and heart were so wholly engaged elsewhere, + was no better than legalised prostitution. With a look of dark + intensity of meaning, Winifred broke her lengthened silence, saying + hollowly—</p> + + <p>"I was not looking so far forward—I was not looking + beyond <i>that</i> day—not to + that"——<i>night</i>, she would have said, but + modesty stopped her speech. "And <i>you</i> can be so calm! so + thoughtful! <i>You</i> can be reasoning about my duties during a + life! you can be pleading for <i>my</i> future husband! Oh, I wish I + were like you! And yet, I bless God, that you are not like <i>me</i>! + I would not have you feel as I do for the world! No, not even know + what I am feeling, thinking, dearest, at this moment."</p> + + <p>"No!" David again muttered, more and more severely, + "I cannot submit to have my letters and trifling keepsakes to be + tossed about by <i>him</i>! It is weakness to wish it, Winifred + Bevan; and worse for me to grant it."</p> + + <p>"You shall have them all—all—all!" she + exclaimed in passionate agony composed of tenderness, anguish, anger, + recklessness, with a bitterness of irony keener to her own heart, + than to him who roused that terrible reaction of her nature. + "I'll run and fetch them all this very night! Oh, + they'll serve for <i>your</i> new love. You may copy your + letters. I'm sure, if she have a human heart, they'll move + it—they'll win it! Strike my name out, and you may send the + very letters. She will not know that another heart was broken by + giving them up! She will not know the stains are tears of pleasure + dropped upon them! And you shall have <i>that</i> too, if you + will—if you must!"</p> + + <p>"Which? what? dearest creature, but compose + yourself—pray do!" he said, again alarmed.</p> + + <p>"<i>That</i> you sent with the lock of hair—<i>this</i> + hair!" she answered wildly. "But you <i>will</i> leave me + the little lock? Oh, there's plenty to cut for <i>another</i> + here!" and she laughed hysterically, frightfully, and played + with his profusion of raven hair; but it was mournful play. + "Leave me—<i>do</i> leave poor Winifred that, David, for + the love of God! In mercy, leave it! I will not ask for the picture + again—I will not <i>wish</i> it, if <i>you</i> say I must not; + but the hair—the poor bit of hair—he! oh, misery! he + shall never see it! I myself will never cry over it—never look + at it, if you think it wrong—never till I'm dying, + David—dying! There will be no harm then, you know, in + looking—in a poor dying creature's look, who has done with + passions, life, love, every thing. And none—none shall see it + but those who lay me out, or they who find my—oh! we none of us + know where we may die, or how! It may be alone, + dearest—<i>alone</i>! Oh, <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> the comfort it will be + to have a part of very <i>you</i> to hold—to hold by, like this + very hand, in my death-damp one. Let me have it!" she shrilly + implored, in delirious energy. "I want it to take with me to my + death-bed—to my death-pit—my grave, whatever it may + be—to heaven itself—to our place of meeting again, if it + were possible! Oh, that it <i>were</i> possible! and that I might + bring back to you there the kiss—the long kiss—you shall + leave on these wretched lips when we part for ever and for ever here! + <i>Will</i> you take it from me, David, my heart, my soul? No, you + will not?"</p> + + <p>The crisis of love's parting agony was at its height. + Half-conscious of her own dangerous prostration of soul and mind + under its power, she turned from the dear object, and rested her + forehead against the trunk of their old tree of assignation; and a + steady, sadder shower of tears, relieving her full heart, followed + this storm of various and rapid emotions, sweeping over one weakened + mind, like thunderclouds charged with electric fire, borne on a + whirlwind over a whole landscape, in a few minutes of mingled gloom + and glory. For, in the sublime of passion, whatever be its nature, is + there not a terrible joy, a secret glorifying of the earthy nature, + which we may compare to such elemental war—now hanging all + heaven in mourning, and bringing night on noonday, and presently + illuminating that day with a ghastly, momentary light, brilliant even + beyond its own?</p> + + <h3>CHAPTER II.</h3> + + <p>Llaneol, the dilapidated farm-house of the expelled steward, old + Bevan, stood beautifully in a wooded glen, watered by a shallow + stream, between a brook and river in size. A pretty greensward, of + perpetual vivid hue, stretched quite up to the threshold—its + "fold," or farm-yard, being small, and situated behind. A + wooded mountain rose opposite, topped by a range of many-tinted + cliffs, splintered like thunder-stricken battlements, and resembling, + in their fretted and timeworn fronts, rich cathedral architecture in + ruins. Extensive sheep-walks rose in russet, lofty barrenness behind, + but allowing below breadth for venerable oaks, and a profusion of + underwood, to shelter the white, but no longer well-thatched, + farm-cottage, and screening that umbrageous valley from the colder + wind; while the many sheep, seen, and but just seen, dotting the + lofty barrier, beautified the scene by the pastoral ideas which their + dim-seen white inspired. Only the songs of birds distinguished the + noonday from the night, unless when the flail was heard in the barn, + through the open doors of which, coloured by mosses, the river + glistened, and the green, with its geese, gleamed the more + picturesquely for this rustic perspective.</p> + + <p>As Winifred was approaching this tranquil vale—her native + vale—after an absence at the town of Cardigan, where she had + been seeking assistance for her father, with little success, she was + startled by the unusual sound of many voices, and soon saw, aghast, + the whole of the rustic furniture standing about on the pretty green, + her infant play-place; the noisy auctioneer mounted on the well-known + old oaken table; even her mother's wheel was already knocked down + and sold, and her father's own great wicker chair was ready to be + put up, while rude boys were trying its rickety antiquity by a + furious rocking.</p> + + <p>On no occasion is so much joviality indulged (in Wales) as on that + of an auction "under a distress for rent," (which was the + case here)—an occasion of calamity and ruin to the owner. Even + in the event of an auction caused by a death, where the common course + of nature has removed the possessor from those "goods and + chattels" which are now useless to him, a sale is surely a + melancholy spectacle to creatures who use their minds, and possess + feelings befitting a brotherhood of Christians, or even heathens. To + see the inmost recesses of "home, sweet home," thrown open + to all strangers; the most treasured articles (often descended as + heir-looms from ancestors, and therefore possessing an intrinsic + value, quite unsuspected by others, for the owner,) ransacked, tossed + from hand to hand, and at last "knocked down" at a nominal + price—<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id= + "Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>even this is a mournful exhibition. + But where the ruthless hand of his brother man has wrested those + valuables from their possessor, instead of inevitable death's + tearing him from them—where that very owner and his family are + present, sadly listening to the ceaseless jokes (thoughtlessly + inhuman) lavished by the auctioneer, and re-echoed by the crowd, over + those old familiar objects—witnessing the happy excitement of + rival bidders, and the universal pleasure over his ruin, like the cry + and flocking of vultures over a battle-field, witnessed by wretches + still alive, though mortally wounded; what can exceed the shocking + transgression of human brotherhood presented by such a scene! A scene + of every-day occurrence—a scene never seeming to excite even + one reflection kindred to these natural, surely, and obvious + feelings—yet one terribly recalling to the pensive observer + that axiom, <i>Homo ad hominem lupus est!</i> Doubtless the + fraudulent or utterly reckless debtor is, in the eye of reason, the + first "wolfish" assailant of his brother. But how many of + these familiar tragedies are as truly the result of unforeseen, + unforeseeable contingencies, as diseases or other events, considered + the visitations of God! One, or two, or three, sick and heavy hearts + and wounded minds, in the midst of a hundred happy, light ones, + buoyed up by fierce cupidity and keen bargain-hunting, and + exhilarated by drink and by fun, and all drawn together by the misery + of those outcast few.</p> + + <p>Poor Bevan had been taken by surprise in this sudden execution, + put in by his treacherous supplanter, Lewis Lewis. But what most + excited the anger of his old attached neighbours, was the fact that + many of these goods were bought by an agent of Lewis, to finish + furnishing his own newly repaired house by the old park wall. + Winifred learned that her parents had removed to a friendly + neighbour's, at some distance, but suspected the worst—his + removal to jail.</p> + + <p>Not now the weakness of woman prevailed over her presence of mind, + as we have lately seen it do in her interview with a beloved object. + She commanded her agitation, so far as to bid for her father's + old chair, but in vain; for her timid bidding, faltered from behind a + crowd, failed to catch the ear of the jocular auctioneer, (who, in + Wales, must always be somewhat of a mountebank,) and the favourite + chair was gone at once, after the wheel, and the many old familiar + chattels which she saw standing, now the property of strangers.</p> + + <p>Events crowded fast on each other, hurrying on that terrible hour + in which a revolting act of self-devotion was to render even this + domestic horror of little injury to her parents. "I will buy + 'daddy' a better chair, or he shall have enough to buy a + better, when I am gone," she murmured to herself. For now the + rumour grew rife, that Mr Fitzarthur had actually landed, was daily + expected; and, in confirmation, she received through a neighbour + present, a letter left for her by her father, stating that he had now + actually received, under the Nabob's own hand, a proposal of + marriage, which the generous old man (who well knew her engagements + to another) solemnly charged her to reject, at all hazards to + himself. He further begged her to come quickly to the temporary place + of refuge he and her mother had found under the roof of a hill + cottage, just now tenantless through the death of a relative. + Thither, with heavy heart, Winifred hastened by the first light of + morning.</p> + + <p>"<i>The</i> hill," an expression much in the mouths of + Welsh rural people, signifies not any particular one, as it would in + England, but the whole desolate regions of the mountain heights; the + homeless place of ever-whistling winds, and low bellowing clouds, + mingling with the mist of the mountain, into one black smoke-like + rolling volume—the place of dismal pools and screaming kites, + full of bogs, concealed by a sickly yellowish herbage in the midst of + the russet waste, boundlessly wearying the eye with its sober + monotony of tint. If a pool or lake relieve it by reflecting the sky, + on approach it is found choked all round by high rushes, and shadowed + by low strangely-shaped rocks, tinted by mosses of dingy hue; the + water that glistened pleasantly in the distance, shrinks now to a + mere pond, (the middle space, too deep for bullrushes and other weeds + to take root.) The deep stillness, or the unintermitted hollow + blowing of the wind (according to the weather) are equally mournful. + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg + 106]</a></span> The rotten soil is cleft and torn into gulleys and + small channels, in which the mahogany-coloured rivulets, springing + from the peat morass, straggle silently with a sluggish motion in + harmony with the lifeless scene. There, if a weedy-roofed hut do + appear, (detected by its thin feeble smoke column) or the shepherd + who tenants it should show his solitary figure in the distance, the + only upright object where is not one tree-trunk, neither the home of + man nor man's appearance lessens the sense of almost savage + solitude; the one so lonely, not a smoke-wreath being visible all + round, beside; the other, as he loiters by, watching some sheep on + some distant bank, so shy and wild-looking, and, to appearance, so + melancholy, so forlorn. Meanwhile, as we "plod our weary + way," some dip in the wavy round of olive-hued lumpish + mountains, or an abrupt huge chasm of awful rocks, each side being + almost perpendicular, startles the traveller with a far-down prospect + of some sunshiny, rich, leafy, valley region, at once showing at what + a bleak elevation he has been roaming so long, and tantalizing him + with the contrast of that far, far off, low, luring landscape, + rendering more irksome than before the dead, heathery desert, + interminably undulating before, behind, and all round him.</p> + + <p>The little farm whither old Bevan had retired, stood high in such + a desert as this, on the very verge of such a mountain-portal, (a + <i>bwlch</i>, pronounced boolch, the Welsh call it,) an antique stone + cottage, hanging like a nest on one of the side banks, dismal itself, + but all that under world of pastoral pleasantness below, in full + though dim perspective. A premature decay is always visible on these + kind of wild, weather-beaten homes, in the torn thatch; the walls + tinged with green, and generally propped to resist the effects of the + powerful winds. If white-washed, which they really are, broad streaks + of green are visible, from the frequent heavy rains, tinged by the + mosses and weeds of the roof. The clouds, attracted by the heights, + career on the strong blast, so low and close, as often to shut up the + dingy human nest in a dreary day of its own, while all below is blue + serene.</p> + + <p>To this melancholy abode, its few rustic chattels still standing + there, left since the death of its tenant, Winifred toiled up by a + steep, wild, but well-known track, but found not father, mother, or + living thing, except one, so much in unison with the wild melancholy + of the scene, as to exalt it almost to horror. This was a wretched + idiot man, dressed in female attire, perfectly harmless, and kept, as + a parish pauper, at an adjacent farm. He was noted for fidelity to + any one who flattered him by some little commission. This ragged + object presented to her the key of the padlock on the door, with the + words "gone, gone, gone!" She entered, and found, to her + surprise, excellent refreshment provided in the desolate house, + evidently but lately deserted. But what riveted her eyes, was a + letter to herself in the handwriting of David, but tremulously + written, announcing his inability to keep an appointment, (one more!) + which they had made, to part for ever—her terrible distress, it + will be remembered, on the last occasion, deterring the young man + from any further trial of her feelings. He further informed her that + Mr Fitzarthur was certainly arrived, and had taken up his temporary + abode at the pretty house by the park, designed by Lewis Lewis for + his own residence. Moreover, she learned that her father and mother + anxiously expected her at that house to which they had removed, but + did not reveal that he had <i>been removed</i> in the care of two + bailiffs, and the house named was but a resting place in his transit + to jail.</p> + + <p>When the mind is enfeebled by repeated blows, it often happens + that some one, which to others may appear the slightest of all, + produces the greatest effect, its pain being quite disproportioned to + its real importance. Thus it happened, that, amidst all her trials, + Winifred felt the loss of her father's favourite chair as a + crowning misery, trivial as was that loss, when hope itself was lost. + She had identified that very humble chattel with his figure almost + her life long. She almost expected to see the two fair hands (for, + truth to tell, the aged steward had never worked hard) on each side, + and the venerable kind face projected forwards from its deep concave, + arched over that white head, to smile welcome to her even as it stood + out <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg + 107]</a></span> on the little green. The intrusion of boy clowns, one + after another, into its seat seemed a grievous insult to the unhappy + owner, though absent. Yet a sad comfort rose in the thought of her + ability to reinstate her father in all his lost comforts, through + this terrible marriage. Then she grew impatient in her longing to + console him by assurance of this, notwithstanding his generous wish + that her hand should go where he knew her heart had irretrievably + been given. But these repeated disappointments in finding the parents + she longed to fold to her bosom, postponing this little + gratification, (the telling him she would repurchase the old family + chair,) now quite overcame the fortitude she had till now exhibited. + She sate down sick at heart—turned with aversion from the + refreshment her fatigue required, and wept bitterly. Superstition, + and two mysterious incidents, even while she remained on the hill, if + indeed they were more than superstition's coinage, helped to + depress her. Just before she reached this forlorn house with the + haggard, aged, horrid-looking idiot prowling round it, with his rags + fluttering in the wind, she thought that the figure of the hated + steward and spy moved along a wild path on the opposite side of that + great mountain cleft, traversed by a noisy torrent almost the depth + of the whole hill, near the top of which this cottage was perched. + His being there alone was nothing marvellous, but an ominous horror + seemed, in her mind, to hover round that man, who (as if conscious of + some deadly evil which was through him to overwhelm her some time) + studiously avoided direct intercourse with his victim.</p> + + <p>The second incident which might have sprung from the dwelling of + her mind's eye on the absent features of him, who, it seemed, + refused to meet her again, was an apparition, or what she deemed + such, of her dear Night-harper! One of those dense flying clouds, so + common even at moderate elevations when the mists roll down the + hills, suddenly enveloping the lone lofty spot, left but a little + area of a few yards for vision, a dungeon walled with fog, which kept + circulating furiously on the blast like a great smoke, in continuous + whirls. And through some momentary fissure in this white wall, she + imagined the pallid and almost ghastly visage of her forsaken lover + appeared intensely looking toward her, as she stood on the rude + threshold, looking out on the temporary storm that had shut her up. + Her vague apprehension of some evil arising to David, her mind's + perpetual object, from the man she believed herself to have espied + just before, was rarely absent from her thought. Combining the two + appearances, she became more and more fancy-fraught, thus confined, + as it were, in an elemental solitude of the mountain and the cloud, + where, for the present, we leave her, to narrate the fate of her + father.</p> + + <p>The novel calamity of arrest for debt was borne by the respectable + old man, John Bevan, with a patience and dignity that no study of + philosophy could have inspired. Though somewhat inactive, he felt + that, in the honest discharge of his duty, he stood acquitted in the + sight of God, though not in the eye of the law, of all fault, at + least of any one meriting the terrible punishment of imprisonment. It + was near nightfall when two emissaries of the law appeared, + announcing that horses waited at the neighbouring inn to convey him + to jail with the first light of morning. The poor old dame, his wife, + was not to be pacified by the efforts of the two bailiffs, who + executed their commission with the utmost gentleness, by order, as it + appeared, of the Nabob himself, notwithstanding that the old + man's stern self-denying rejection of his overture for his + daughter's hand had determined him to let his agent proceed to + extremities. Soothing as well as he could both her grief and her + rage—for the latter rose unreflectingly against the mere agents + in this grievous infliction—old Bevan smoked his pipe as usual + to the end, and then requested permission to take a little walk only + to the church, which stood a short way from the solitary house where + they surprised him.</p> + + <p>"You see I cannot run, for I can hardly walk with these + rheumatics, my friend," he observed; "but I have a fancy to + visit the churchyard to-night, as it will be moonlight, and we shall + be pretty busy in the morning. My dame is gone to bed with the good + woman of this cottage, as I begged her to go; so pray let us walk—<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg + 108]</a></span>you shall see me all the while by the moon, without + coming into the churchyard with me."</p> + + <p>Arrived at the low stone stile, he crossed it by the help of the + man, and proceeded alone to the tomb of his old master's grave, + surrounded by a rail, with a yew growing inside, marking the site of + the ancient family vault. The moon now shining clearly, the bailiff + saw him kneel and uncover his head, which shone in its light, in the + distance resembling a scull bleached by the wind. He remained a long + time in this position, and his murmuring voice was partly audible to + the man. At last he returned, thanking him for his patience, and + shaking him very cordially by the hand. So touched was even this + rugged lower limb of the law by this proof of his affectionate + remembrance of his old patron, that he behaved throughout with great + courtesy, and even respect. Bevan and his departed master had lived, + as has been said, almost on the footing of cronies, a certain + phlegmatic ease of nature being the characteristic of both. So proud, + indeed, was Bevan of his brotherlike intercourse with the great man, + that he made himself for years almost a personal <i>fac-simile</i> of + him, even to the cut and colour of his coat, wig, everything; and + being a fine specimen of a "noble peasant," externally as + well as internally, his assumption of the <i>squire</i> in costume + well became his tall figure, mild countenance, (streaked with the + lingering pink of his youthful bloom,) and gentle demeanour. A rigid + observer might have thought, that to this indulgent but indolent + master the poor steward owed his ruin; his habits of + "forgiving" his tenants their rent debts so often, having + extended themselves to the former, further increased by the strange + inattention of the new landlord. The gratitude of Bevan was, however, + deserved—for never was a kinder master.</p> + + <p>"It is a thing not to be thought," he said, while + returning with the man, "that I shall ever come back here, to + the old church again, alive or dead; seeing that I am too poor for + any one to bring my old bones all the way from Cardigan, to put them + in the same ground with <i>his</i>, as I did dream of in my better + days, and too old for a man used to free air and the hill-sides all + his life, to live long in a prison, or indeed out of one—but we + must all die. I assure you, my honest man and kind, you have done me + good, in mind and body, by letting me take leave of his honour! Well + I may call him so, now he is in heaven, whom I did honour when here, + from my very heart of hearts; kind he was to me—a second father + to my child—God bless him! Sure I am, if he were still among + us, how his good heart would melt, how it would <i>bleed</i> for + us—for <i>her</i>—I <i>know</i> it would." Here the + old man sobbed and kept silence a space, then + proceeded—"You see how weak old age and over-love of this + world make a man, sir. Yet I am content. Next to God, I owe to him + whose dear corpse I have just now been so near, a long and happy + life,—thanks, thanks, thanks! To both, up yonder, I do here + render them from my inmost soul;" and he bared his head again, + looking up to the placid moon with a visage of kindred placidity, and + an eye of blue lustre, so brightened by his emotion as almost to be + likened to the heaven in which that moon shone. "Why should I + repine, or fear the walls of a prison, as my passage to that wide + glorious world without wall or bound or end, where I hope to live + free and for ever, in the sight of my Redeemer, and, perhaps, of him + who was Hugh Fitzarthur, Esq., of Tallylynn hall, when here? I hope I + am not irreverent, but in truth, friend, I fear I have almost as + vehemently longed for the presence of him once more, as for that more + awful presence: heaven pardon me if it was wicked! So welcome prison, + welcome death! Half a hundred and nineteen years spent pleasantly on + these green hills, free, and fresh, and hale, I can surely afford a + few weeks or months to a closer place, were it but as in a school for + my poor earthly and ignorant soul, to purify itself, to prepare + itself for that glorious place, to learn to die."</p> + + <p>Next morning the old couple, dame Bevan being mounted on a pillion + behind him, proceeded on their melancholy journey. They reached the + house by the park, where it was proposed that an interview should + take place between the old man and the landlord himself, with some + view to arrangement prior to his imprisonment. <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> While + they there expect the long delayed comfort of Winifred's embrace, + let us return to that good daughter, now more eager to fly to that + dreaded suitor, to reverse her father's resolve, to offer herself + a victim, than ever she had been to reach that dearer one who had now + cruelly disappointed her in the hope of one more meeting—that, + perhaps, the last she could have innocently allowed!</p> + + <p>The dreaded day of trial arrived. But we must revert to her sad + meditations, and wild irresolute thoughts, while shut up by the + storm-cloud, and alone, in the mountain house. Doating passion, pain + of heart, terrible suggestions of despair, kept altering her + countenance as she leaned against the mouldering door-post, + imprisoned by the black mists that prevented her safely leaving the + hovel. A sudden, dire, revolution in her religious impressions was + wrought, or rather completed, in that dismal scene. David had more + than once wrung her very soul by dark hints of self-destruction in + the event of her ever forsaking him. He had thus been led into + discussions on suicide, and had even argued for the moral right of + man to end his own being under circumstances. Persuasion hangs on the + lips of those we love. What she would have rejected as impious, from + some immoral man, in dispute, sank deep into her soul, emanating from + a heart she loved, through lips that, to her, seemed formed for + eloquence as much as love to make its throne.</p> + + <p>Wild and tragical modes of reconciling her two furious, fighting, + irreconcilable wishes—that of saving her father—that of + blessing her lover—began to take terrible form and reality in + her mind, as the wind howled, the ruinous house shook, and its + timbers groaned, and the blackness of the sky, as the storm + increased, deepened the lurid hue of the foul and turbulent fog, (for + such the mountain cloud thus in contact with her eyes appeared.) The + world, as it were, already left behind, or rather below, the elements + alone warring round her, her high-wrought imagination began to regard + life and death, and the world itself, as things no longer + appertaining to her, except as a passive instrument toward one great + object, the preservation of her father's freedom, and, if it + <i>were</i> possible, also of her own inviolate person—that + person which she had, indeed, most solemnly vowed to one alone, David + the Telynwr. Not <i>to</i> him—for her innate delicacy rendered + such vows repugnant to her; but alone, by the moon or stars, by the + cataract, and in the lonely lanes and woods, she had vowed herself to + one alone—had dedicated her virgin beauty (in the spirit of + those romances she had fatally devoured) to her + "night-harper" with as true devotion as ever did white + vestal, at the end of her noviciate, devote herself alive and dead to + the one God. Instilled by the touching tone, the wild pathos, the + swimming eye of a wayward passionate character, weak, yet bold, of + whom she knew almost nothing, this devoted girl yielded up her better + reason to his rash innovations in morals, his examples of suicidal + heroes, and even <i>moralists</i>, among the ancients; and in the + wild height, alone, among the clouds, she almost wrought up her fond + agonizing soul to a terrible part—the accomplishing her + father's preservation, <i>on her wedding-day</i>, through the + influence she might naturally expect to obtain in such a season, and + that done, make her peace with God; and, before night—black + pools—rock precipices, fearful as Leucadia's—mortal + plants, and even the horrid knife and halter—floated before her + mind's eye without her trembling, even like terrible, yet kind, + ministrants proffering escape—escape from legalised + violation!—escape from <i>perjury</i>, to her, the self-doomed + Iphigenia! For her morbid fancy, whispered to by her intense + tenderness, conjured up that dilemma between faith broken to her + lover and abandonment of a dear parent to his fate. Despair suggested + that self-destruction itself might seem venial, even before God, when + rushed upon as the only alternative to perjury—to prostitution; + for such her romantic purity taught her to consider submission to the + embrace of any living man except her heart's own—her + affianced—"her beautiful!"—her lost!</p> + + <p>Such were the feelings under whose influence our humble heroine + pursued her mountain journey, of a few miles, to the place of meeting + with her parents; and it was probably beneath the roof of the lone + cottage in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id= + "Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> cloud that, under the same morbid mood + of mind, she penned a letter to Mr Fitzarthur, which was afterwards + discovered, dated at top "My Wedding Day," containing a + passionate appeal on behalf of her father, for a bond of legal + indemnification to be executed before night, as a present which she + had set her heart on giving her father, as a bridal one, <i>that very + day</i>. Arrived at the house fitted up for the hated supplanter of + her father, "Lewis the Spy," her heart beat so violently + before she could firm her nerves to ring the bell, that she stood + leaning some time against the wall. This old house was now almost + rebuilt, and not without regard to rural beauty, in harmony with the + fine scenery of an antique park, with its mossy ivied remains of + walls and venerable trees overshadowing it, and was called "The + Little Hall of the Park." She sighed deeply as she glanced at + its comfortable aspect, remembering how long it had formed the secret + object of her mother's little ambition (for the dame had a touch + of pride in her composition beyond her ever-contented mate) to occupy + that <i>little</i> hall. It seemed so appropriate that the lesser + squire—the <i>great</i> squire's friend—should also + have <i>his</i> "hall," though a little one!</p> + + <p>Indeed, it had been in incipient repair for him, that the old men + might spend their winter evenings together at the real hall, divided + but by a short path, across an angle of the park, without a dreary + walk for Bevan impending over the end of their carouse, with + never-wearied reminiscences of their boyhood—when sudden death + stopped all proceedings, and left poor Bevan alone in the world, as + it seemed to him—"in simplicity a child," and as + imbecile in conflict with it as any child.</p> + + <p>She nerved her mind and hand by an effort, and rang the + bell—(the <i>bell</i>, there a modern innovation.) No sound but + its own distant deadened one, was heard within; but some dog in the + rear barked, and then howled, as if alarmed at the sudden breach of + long prevailing silence. Again she rang—again the troubled + growl and bark, suppressed by fear of the only living thing, as it + seemed, within hearing, alone responded. The situation was very + solitary, the only adjacent house, the hall, being yet tenantless, + and night was gathering fast; for that storm which had first detained + her in the lofty region, (where a darker storm had gathered round her + mind and soul,) had desolated the lower country all day, flooded the + brooks, and delayed her on the road during several hours.</p> + + <p>She fancied a sort of suppressed commotion within, as of + whisperings and stealthy steps, and one voice she clearly overheard, + but it was not her father's. Whether it was that of Lewis (who, + however, was not yet residing there) she knew not, never having heard + it in her life; he avoiding, as was stated, direct intercourse with + her—disappearing "like a guilty thing" whenever her + figure appeared in distant approach. What should this mean? Wild + fears, even superstitious ones, of some indefinite ill or horror + impending, began to shake her forced fortitude, as she stood, + half-fearing to ring again—again to hear the melancholy voice + of the dog, as of one lost—to wait—listen—and dream + of—David—death—murder—or even worse, till + even the giant horror—the jail!—and the white-headed + prisoner, shrank before the present ominous mystery—ominous of + she <i>knew</i> not what, therefore involving every thing dreadful. + Meanwhile, the swinging of the large oak branches in the close of a + squally day, their groaning, and the vast glooms that their foliage + shed all below, the twilight rapidly deepening into confirmed night, + all tended to the inspiration of a wild unearthly melancholy. + Suddenly the door was opened, while she hesitated to ring again, and + by a <i>black</i> man! Persons of colour are rarely seen inland, in + Wales, and Winifred had never visited a seaport of any consequence; + so that even this was almost a shock. She quickly, however, guessed + that this was a servant of the "Nabob," brought over with + him. The man, learning her name, bade her enter, adding, that she + would see her father <i>soon</i>, but that "massa" was + within, settling some affairs with Mr Lewis, and begged to see her. A + sort of grim grin, though joined to a deference that seemed, to her + troubled and broken spirit, and sunken heart, a cruel mockery, + relaxed the man's features, and half shocked, half irritated her. + Her spirits, however, rose with the occasion, <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> + demanding all her fortitude and all her tact; for now she was to make + that impression on this terrible suitor's fancy, through which + alone she could work out her father's salvation. In a few minutes + more, she stood in the same apartment with her David's detested + rival! The embers of a large fire, decayed, cast red twilight, which + made it appear already dark without; and there he stood, at the long + room's extreme end, between her and the hearth.</p> + + <p>To Winifred, the personal attributes of the man, whom in her awful + resolve she regarded merely as the instrument of that filial good + work, were utterly indifferent; yet she stopped—she + shuddered—and trembled all over, as she caught the mere outline + of his figure by the fire-light. There he was! to her idea, the + embodied evil genius of her family! the sullen apostate from the + finer part of love—the victim of satiety, (as rumour said,) the + selfish contemner of women's better feelings!—indifferent + to all but person in his election of a wife; willing to unite himself + with one whose heart and mind were stranger to him, on bare report of + her health and beauty, and some slight recollections of her + childhood! Seeing her stop, and even totter, he advanced a few steps; + but she, with the instinctive recoil and antipathy of some feeble + creature from its natural enemy, retreated at his first + movement—and, shocked by this betrayed repugnance, he again + stood irresolute. Then rushed back upon her heart, with all the + horror of novelty, the renunciation of poor David, now it was on the + point of being sealed for ever. Now father, mother, all beside, was + forgotten—the ghastliness of a terrible struggle within, the + stern horror of confirmed despair, began to disguise her beauty as + with a death-pale mask—the features grew rigid, her heart beat + audibly, her ears rang and tingled, and sight grew dim. She was + fainting, falling. Mr Fitzarthur sprang to support her, but putting + his arms too boldly round her waist, that detested freedom at once + startled her into temporary self-possession, back into life. She + gasped, struggled against him, as if she had rather have fallen than + have been supported by <i>him</i>; and turned to him that white face, + white even to the lips, imploringly, where was still depicted her + unconquerable aversion. Some astonishment seemed to rivet that look + upon his face, but half-visible by the dusky light—astonishment + no longer painful, when the Nabob, emboldened, renewed his now + permitted clasp, and only uttering "My <i>dear</i>! don't + you know me?" in the tenderest tone to which ever manly voice + was modulated, increased his grasp to a passionate embrace, advanced + his face—his mouth to hers, advanced and pressed + unresisted—and before her bewildered eyes closed in that + fainting fit which had been but suspended, stood revealed to them (as + proved by one delighted smile, flashed out of all the settled gloom + of that countenance,) as her heart's own David—no longer + the night—wandering poor <i>Telynwr</i>, but David Fitzarthur + of Talylynn, Esq.</p> + + <p>The story of the eccentric East Indian may be shortly told. From + childhood he was the victim of excessive morbid sensibility, and + constitutional melancholy. The jovial habits of his good-natured + Welsh uncle were repugnant to his nature; and after becoming an + orphan, the solitary boy had no human object on which the deep + capacity for tenderness of his <i>occult</i> nature could be exerted. + Thus forced by his fate into solitariness of habits, and secreted + emotions, he was deemed unsocial, and reproached for what he felt was + his misfortune—the being wholly misunderstood by those his + early lot was cast among. Hence his perverted ardour of affection was + misplaced on the lower living world—dog, cat, or owl, whatever + chance made his companions. Returning to India, where he had known + two parents, to meet no longer the tenderness of even one, the + melancholy boy-exile (for Wales he ever regarded as his country) + increased in morbid estrangement from mankind, as he increased in + years; till his maturity nearly realized the misanthropic unsocial + character for which his youth had been unjustly reproached. Though in + the high road to a splendid fortune, he loathed East Indian society, + far beyond all former loathing of fox-hunters and topers in Wales, + whose green mountains now became (conformably to the nature, + "<i>semper varium et mutabile</i>," of the melancholic) the + very idols of his romantic regrets and <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> fondest memory. In India + were neither green fields nor green hearts. External nature and human + nature appeared equally to languish under that enfeebling hot death + in the atmosphere, which seemed to wither female beauty in the moment + that it ripened. The pallidness of the European beauties, sickly as + the clime, disgusted him—their venality still more. Female + fortune-hunters were far more intolerable to his delicacy than the + coarsest hunter of vermin—fox or hare—ever had been at + his uncle's hall, whom he began to esteem, and sincerely + mourned—when death had removed all of him from his memory but + his kindness, his desire to amuse him, the "sulky boy," his + substantial goodness and warm-heartedness. Knowing that every female + in his circle was well informed of his ample fortune, still + accumulating, he fancied art, deceit, coquetry in every smile and + glance, (for suspicion of human hearts and motives ever besets the + melancholic character;) and thus, it was natural that he should + sometimes sigh over the idea of some fresh mountain beauty, not + trained by parents in the art and to the task of husband-hunting. + Even the soft-faced child, just growing into woman, who had held her + pinafore for fruit, in the orchard, whose half-fallen apple-tree was + his almost constant seat, floated across his vacant, yet restless + mind. In truth, when she surprised him in his part of sexton to his + owl, she had evinced rather more sympathy than she had admitted to + his other self, David the wood-wanderer; and though she had indeed + laughed, it was with tears in her eyes, elicited by one she detected + in the shy averted orbs of his. Yet was the sweetness of the little + Welsh girl left behind, for a long time, even when manhood failed to + banish its idea, no more than his statue to Pygmalion, or his watery + image to Narcissus. But having no female society, save those + marketable forms that he distrusted and despised; yet pining, in his + romantic refinement, for <i>pure</i> passion—for reciprocal + passion—panting to be loved <i>for himself alone</i>, he kept + imagining her developed graces, exaggerating the conceit of some + childish tenderness toward himself, his position and his nervous + infirmity keeping a solitude of soul and heart ever round him, into + which no female form had free and constant admission, but that aërial + one, the little Winifred, of far, far off, green Wales! The promise + of pure beauty, which her childhood gave, his <i>dream</i> fulfilled; + and his imagination seized and cherished the beautiful cloud, painted + by fancy, till it became the goddess of his idolatry, though + conscious of the self-delusion, and retained with that tenacity + conceivable, perhaps, to the morbidly sensitive alone. The habit of + yielding to the importunity of one idea, strengthens itself; every + recurrence of it produces quicker sensibility to the next; deeper and + deeper impression follows, till one form of mania + supervenes—that which consists in the undue mastery and eternal + presence of one idea.</p> + + <p>Childish and <i>fugitive</i> as it <i>seemed</i>, a passion had + actually commenced in his <i>boy's</i> heart, which clung to that + of the man, though under the same light, fragile, and dreamlike form. + Poetry might liken it to the mere frothy foam of the infant cataract, + when it gushes out of the breast of the mountain to the rising sun, + which, arrested by an intense frost, ere it can fall, in the very act + of evanishing, there hangs, still hangs, the mere air-bubbles + congealed into crystal vesicles, defying all the force of the mounted + sun to dissipate their delicate white beauty, evanescent as it + <i>looks</i>. The chill and the impenetrability of heart, kept by + circumstances within him, such frost might typify—that pure, + fragile-seeming, yet durable passion, that snow-foam of the + waterfall. True it was that this fantastic fancy had the power to + draw him to his Welsh patrimony earlier than worldly ambition would + have warranted. But his after conduct—his actual overtures were + not so wildly romantic, as might appear from the foregoing narrative; + but of this in the sequel.</p> + + <p>And where was her father—mother? Why had the law been + allowed by this eccentric lover to violate the humble sanctuary of + home, at the desolate Llaneol? What was become of the wicker chair? + Was the hated Lewis to be maintained in his usurpation of the chair + of Bevan's <i>ancestral</i> post of steward, (for his father had + been steward to the father of the squire deceased?) Above all, was + Dame Bevan to see that home of her heart's hope, the permanent + home <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg + 113]</a></span> of the harsh supplanter of her husband? Passing over + the affecting scene of poor Winifred's fainting, which drew round + her father and mother, and others from below, proceed we to answer + those queries and conclude our tale.</p> + + <p>When perfectly restored, Winifred, leaning on the arm of her + future husband, accompanied her parents down into the comfortable + kitchen, where, by a huge fire, stood the veritable wicker chair, + familiar to her eyes from infancy, rickety as ever, but surviving its + desecration by the boys at the auction; and looking round, she saw + standing the whole solid old oaken furniture, coffers, dressers, + &c., even to the same bright brazen skillets, pewter dishes, and + sundries—the pride of Mistress Bevan's heart, the splendour + of better days. Mr Fitzarthur led the old man by the hand to his own + chair, his wife to another; and then, having seated himself by their + daughter, began, over the fumes of tea and coffee, (the honours of + which pleasant meal, so needful after her agitation, he solicited + Winifred to perform,) to narrate various matters, which we must + condense into a nutshell.</p> + + <p>To their surprise and amusement, they now learned that the hated + "spy" who had prowled round their folds and fields so long, + would resign to Mistress Bevan the house in which they sat, and that + atonement made, vanish into thin air—<i>a vox et preterea + nihil!</i> being in reality the Proteus-like, mysterious, handsome, + though sallow stranger, and no stranger, sitting among them!</p> + + <p>We said that Mr Fitzarthur's conduct in espousing this + long-unseen mistress of his fancy, was not quite so extraordinary and + wild as it appeared. For coming back grown into maturity, and altered + by climate in complexion and all characteristics, he found himself + quite unrecognised, and conceived the idea of at once reconnoitring + his dilapidated estate, and watching the conduct of his + long-remembered Winifred. <i>Two</i> disguises seemed necessary + toward these two purposes, and he adopted the two we have seen, one + on the "hither side Tivy," the other on the "far side + Tivy," which his coracle allowed him to cross at pleasure. His + close watch of the blameless girl's whole life confirmed the warm + and romantic wishes of his soul, which her beauty inspired—that + beauty as fully confirming the vision of his love-dream when far and + long away.</p> + + <p>It was during the alarm of her prolonged fainting, produced by the + surprise of this discovery, and the previous agitations, (whereby, + perhaps, the prudence rather than the affection of the eccentric + lover was impeached,) that her mother, searching her pocket for a + bottle of volatile salts, turned forth the letter lately referred to, + melancholy evidence of the desperate extremity to which two powerful + antagonist passions—love, and filial love—had driven a + mind not unfortified by religion, but beleaguered by despair and all + its powers, till resolution failed, and peril impended over an + otherwise almost spotless soul.</p> + + <p>As the old man's affections were not wholly weaned from + Llaneol, ruinous as it was, his son-in-law had it restored as a + temporary summer residence for the old people, as well as + occasionally for himself and his beloved bride.</p> + + <p>It hardly needs to be told, that the arrest and its executors were + but parts of the delusion, the amount of real infliction being no + more than a ride in a fine morning of some miles. Whether the whole, + as involving some little added trouble of mind to that whose whole + weight he was going so soon to remove, was too severe a penance for + the steward's neglect, may be variously judged by various + readers. In the halcyon days that followed, Winifred never forgot the + place on the Tivy bank where she slept and dropped her book; nor did + the happy husband, melancholic no more, forsake his coracle or his + harp utterly, but would often serenade his lady-love (albeit his + wedded love also) on some golden evening, as she sat among the + cowslips and harebells, that enamelled with floral blue and gold the + greensward bank of the Tivy, under the fine sycamore tree—the + "trysting-place" of their romantic assignations.</p> + + <div class="footnotes"> + <h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Harper.</p> + + <p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> <i>St + Elian.</i>—A saint of Wales. There is a well bearing his + name; one of the many of the holy wells, or <i>Ffynnonan</i>, in + Wales. A man whom Mr Pennant had affronted, threatened him with + this terrible vengeance. Pins, or other little offerings, are + thrown in, and the curses uttered over them.</p> + </div> + + <div class="footnote"> + <p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href= + "#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> In the + "History of the Gwyder Family," it is stated, that some + members of a leading family in the reign of Henry VII., being + denounced as "Llawrnds," murderers, (from + <i>Llawrnd</i>, red or bloody hand,) and obliged to fly the + country, returned at last, and lived long disguised, in the woods + and caves, being dressed all in green; so that "when they + were espied by the country people, all took them for the + "<i>Tylwyth Têg</i>, the fair family," and straight ran + away.</p> + </div> + </div> + <hr style="width: 65%;" /> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg + 114]</a></span> + + <h2><a name="NORTHS_SPECIMENS_OF_THE_BRITISH_CRITICS" id= + "NORTHS_SPECIMENS_OF_THE_BRITISH_CRITICS"></a>NORTH'S SPECIMENS + OF THE BRITISH CRITICS.</h2> + + <h3>NO. VI.<br /> + SUPPLEMENT TO DRYDEN ON CHAUCER.</h3>. + + <p>From the grand achievements of Glorious John, one experiences a + queer revulsion of the currency in the veins in passing to the small + doings of Messrs Betterton, Ogle, and Co., in 1737 and 1741; and + again, to the still smaller of Mr Lipscomb in 1795, in the way of + modernizations of Chaucer. Who was Mr Betterton, nobody, we presume, + now knows; assuredly he was not Pope, though there is something silly + to that effect in Joseph Warton, which is repeated by Malone. + "Mr Harte assured me," saith Dr Joseph, "that he was + convinced by some circumstances which Fenton had communicated to him, + that Pope wrote the characters that make the introduction (the + Prologue) to the Canterbury Tales, published under the name of + Betterton." Betterton is bitter bad; Ogle, "<i>wersh</i> as + cauld parritch without sawte!" Lipscomb is a jewel. In a + postscript to his preface he says, "I have barely time here, the + tales being already almost all printed off, to apologize to the + reader for having inserted my own translation of The Nun's + Priest's Tale, instead of that of Dryden; but the fact is, <i>I + did not know that Dryden's version existed</i>; for having + undertaken to complete those of the Canterbury Tales which were + wanting in Ogle's collection, and the tale in question <i>not + being in that collection</i>, I proceeded to supply it, having never + till very lately, strange as it may seem, <i>seen the volume of + Dryden's Fables in which it may be found</i>!!"</p> + + <p>It is diverting to hear the worthy who, in 1795, had never seen + Dryden's Fables, offering to the public the first completed + collection of the Canterbury Tales in a modern version, "under + the reasonable confidence that the improved taste in poetry, and the + extended cultivation of that, in common with all the other elegant + arts, which so strongly characterizes the present day, will make the + lovers of verse look up to the old bard, the father of English + poetry, with a veneration proportioned to the improvements they have + made in it." It grieves him to think that the language in which + Chaucer wrote "has decayed from under him." That reason + alone, he says, can justify the attempt of exhibiting him in a modern + dress; and he tells us that so faithfully has he adhered to the great + original, that they who have not given their time to the study of the + old language, "must either find a true likeness of Chaucer + exhibited in this version, or they will find it nowhere else." + With great solemnity he says, "Thence I have imposed it on + myself as a duty somewhat sacred to deviate from my original as + little as possible in the sentiment, and have often in the language + adopted his own expressions, the simplicity and effect of which have + always forcibly struck me, <i>wherever the terms he uses (and that + happens not unfrequently) are intelligible to modern ears</i>." + Yes—Gulielme Lipscomb, thou wert indeed a jewel.</p> + + <p>Happy would he have been to accompany his version of Chaucer with + notes. "But though the version itself has been an agreeable and + easy rural occupation, yet in a remote village, near 250 miles from + London, the very books, <i>trifling as they may seem</i>, to which it + would be necessary to refer <i>to illustrate</i> <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> <i>the + manners of the 14th century</i>, were not to be procured; and + parochial and other engagements would not admit of absence sufficient + to consult them where they are to be found; it is not therefore for + want of deference to the opinions of those who have recommended a + body of notes that they do not accompany these Tales." + Yes—Gulielme, thou wert a jewel.</p> + + <p>It is, however, but too manifest from his alleged versions, that + not only did Mr Lipscomb of necessity eschew the perusal of "the + books, trifling as they may seem, to which it would be necessary to + refer to illustrate the manners of the 14th century," but that + he continued to his dying day almost as ignorant of Chaucer's + Canterbury Tales as of Dryden's Fables.</p> + + <p>In his preface he tells one very remarkable falsehood. "The + Life of Chaucer, and the Introductory Discourse to the Canterbury + Tales, are taken from the valuable edition of his original works + published by Mr Tyrwhitt." The Introductory Discourse is so + taken; but it is plain that poor, dear, fibbing Willy Lipscomb had + not looked into it, for it contradicts throughout all the statements + in the life of Chaucer, which is not from Tyrwhitt, but clumsily + cribbed piecemeal by Willy himself from that rambling and inaccurate + one by a Mr Thomas in Urry's edition. Lipscomb is lying on our + table, and we had intended to quote a few specimens of him and his + predecessor Ogle; but another volume that had fallen aside a year or + two ago, has of itself mysteriously reappeared—and a few words + of it in preference to other "haverers."</p> + + <p>Mr Horne, the author of "The False Medium," + "Orion," the "Spirit of the Age," and some other + clever brochures in prose and in verse, in the laboured rather than + elaborate introduction to "The Poems of Geoffrey Chaucer, + modernized," (1841,) by Leigh Hunt, Wordsworth, Robert Bell, + Thomas Powell, Elizabeth Barrett, and Zachariah Azed, gives us some + threescore pages on Chaucer's versification; but, though they + have an imposing air at first sight, on inspection they prove + stark-naught. He seems to have a just enough general notion of the + principle of the verse in the Canterbury Tales; but with the many + ways of its working—the how, the why, and the + wherefore—he is wholly unacquainted, though he dogmatizes like + a doctor. He soon makes his escape from the real difficulties with + which the subject is beset, and mouths away at immense length and + width about what he calls "the <i>secret</i> of Chaucer's + rhythm in his heroic verse, which has been the baffling subject of so + much discussion among scholars, a trifling increase in the syllables + occasionally introduced for variety, and founded upon the same laws + of contraction by apostrophe, syncope, &c., as those followed by + all modern poets; but employed in a more free and varied manner, all + the words being fully written out, the vowels sounded, and not + subjected to the disruption of inverted commas, as used in after + times." This "secret" was patent to all the world + before Mr Horne took pen in hand, and his eternal blazon of it is too + much now for ears of flesh and blood. The modernized versions, + however, are respectably executed—Leigh Hunt's admirably; + and we hope for another volume. But Mr Horne himself must be more + careful in his future modernizations. The very opening of the + Prologue is not happy.</p> + + <p>In Chaucer it runs thus:—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Whannè that April with his shourès + sote</span> <span class="i2">The droughte of March hath perced to + the rote,</span> <span class="i2">And bathed every veine in + swiche licour,</span> <span class="i2">Of whiche vertue + engendered is the flour;</span> <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> <span class= + "i2">When Zephyrus eke with his sotè brethe,</span> <span class= + "i2">Enspired hath in every holt and hethe</span> <span class= + "i2">The tendre croppès, and the yongè sonne</span> <span class= + "i2">Hath in the Ram his halfè cours yronne,</span> <span class= + "i2">And smalè foulès maken melodie,</span> <span class="i2">That + slepen allè night with open eye,</span> <span class="i2">So + priketh hem nature in hire corages;</span> <span class="i2">Than + longen folk to gon on pilgrimages,</span> <span class="i2">And + palmeres for to seken strangè strondes,</span> <span class= + "i2">To servè halwes couthe in sondry londes," + &c.</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Thus modernized by Mr Home:—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"When that sweet April showers with + downward shoot</span> <span class="i2">The drought of March have + pierc'd unto the root,</span> <span class="i2">And bathed + every vein with liquid power,</span> <span class="i2">Whose + virtue rare engendereth the flower;</span> <span class="i2">When + Zephyrus also with his fragrant breath</span> <span class= + "i2">Inspirèd hath in every grove and heath</span> <span class= + "i2">The tender shoots of green, and the young sun</span> + <span class="i2">Hath in the Ram one half his journey run,</span> + <span class="i2">And small birds in the trees make melody,</span> + <span class="i2">That sleep and dream all night with open + eye;</span> <span class="i2">So nature stirs all energies and + ages</span> <span class="i2">That folk are bent to go on + pilgrimages," &c.</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Look back to Chaucer's own lines, and you will see that Mr + Horne's variations are all for the worse. How flat and tame + "sweet April showers," in comparison with "April with + his shourès sote." In Chaucer the month comes boldly on, in his + own person—in Mr Horne he is diluted into his own showers. + 'Tis ominous thus to stumble on the threshold. "Downward + shoot" is very bad indeed in itself, and all unlike the natural + strength of Chaucer. "Liquid power" is even worse and more + unlike; and most tautological the "virtue of power." In + Chaucer the virtue is in the "licour." "Rare" is + poorly dropped in to fill up. Chaucer purposely uses "sotè" + twice—and the repetition tells. Mr Horne must needs change it + into "fragrant." "In the trees" is not in + Chaucer—for he knew that "smalè foulès" shelter in + the "hethe" as well as in the "holt"—among + broom and bracken, and heath and rushes. Chaucer does not <i>say</i>, + as Mr Horne does, that the birds <i>dream</i>—he leaves you to + think for yourself whether they do so or not, while sleeping with + open eye all night. Such conjectural emendations are injurious to + Chaucer. We presume Mr Horne believes he has authority for applying + "so pricketh hem nature in hire corages" to the folks that + "longen to go on pilgrimages"—and not to the + "smalè foulès." Or is it intended for a happy innovation? + To us it seems an unhappy blunder—taking away a fine touch of + nature from Chaucer, and hardening it into horn; while "all + energies and ages" is indeed a free and affected version of + "corages." "For to wander thro'," is a + mistranslation of "to seken;" and to "sing the holy + mass," is not the meaning of to "servè halwes couthe," + <i>i.e.</i> to worship saints known, &c.</p> + + <p>Turning over a couple of leaves, we behold a modernization of the + antique with a vengeance—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"His son, a young squire, with him there I + <i>saw</i>,</span> <span class="i2">A lover and a lusty + bache<i>lor</i>! (aw) (ah!)</span> <span class="i2">With locks + crisp curl'd, as they'd been laid in press,</span> + <span class="i2">Of twenty year of age he was, I + guess."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Chaucer never once in all his writings thus rhymes off two + consecutive couplets in one sentence so slovenly, as with "I + saw," and "I guess." But Mr Horne is so enamoured + "with the old familiar faces" of pet cockneyisms, that he + must have his will of them. Of the same squire, Chaucer + says—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Of his stature he was of <i>even + length</i>;"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>and Mr Horne translates the words into—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"He was in stature of the common + length,"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>They mean "well proportioned." Of this young squire, + Chaucer saith—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"So hote he loved, that by + nightertale</span> <span class="i2">He slep no more than doth the + nightingale."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>We all know how the nightingale employs the night—and here + it is implied that so did the lover. Mr Horne spoils all by an + affected prettiness suggested by a misapplied passage in Milton.</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"His amorous ditties nightly fill'd the + vale;</span> <span class="i2">He slept no more than doth the + nightingale."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Chaucer says of the Prioresse—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Full well she sang the servicè + divine</span> <span class="i2">Entunèd in hire nose ful + swetèly."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Mr Horne must needs say—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Entuned in her nose with <i>accent</i> + sweet."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>The accent, to our ears, is lost in the pious snivel—pardon + the somewhat unclerical word.</p> + + <p>Chaucer says of her—-</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Ful semèly after hire meat she + raught,"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>which Mr Horne improves into—-</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span style="margin-left: 10em;">"And for her meat</span> + <span class="i2">Full seemly bent she forward on her + seat."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Chaucer says—</p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" + id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"<i>And peined hire</i> to contrefeten + chere</span> <span class="i2">Of court, and been astatelich of + manere,</span> <span class="i2">And to be holden digne of + reverence."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>That is, she took pains to imitate the manners of the Court, + &c.; whereas Mr Horne, with inconceivable ignorance of the + meaning of words that occur in Chaucer a hundred times, writes + "<i>it gave her pain</i> to counterfeit the ways of Court," + thereby reversing the whole picture.</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And French she spake full fayre and + fetisly,"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>he translates "full properly <i>and neat</i>!" Dryden + rightly calls her "the mincing Prioress;" Mr Horne wrongly + says, "she was evidently one of the most high-bred and refined + ladies of her time."</p> + + <p>Chaucer says, of that "manly man," the Monk—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Ne that a monk, when he is + rekkeless,</span> <span class="i2">Is like to a fish that is + waterless;</span> <span class="i2">This is to say, a monk out of + his cloistre.</span> <span class="i2">This ilkè text held he not + worth an oistre."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Mr Horne here modernizeth thus—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Or that a monk beyond his bricks and + <i>mortar</i>,</span> <span class="i2">Is like a fish without a + drop of <i>water</i>,</span> <span class="i2">That is to say, a + monk out of his cloister."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>There can be no mortar without water, but the words do not rhyme + except to Cockney ears, though the blame lies at the door of the + mouth. "Bricks and mortar" is an odd and somewhat vulgar + version of "rekkeless;" and to say that a monk "beyond + his bricks and mortar" is a monk "out of his + cloister," is not in the manner of Chaucer, or of any body + else.</p> + + <p>Chaucer says slyly of the Frere, that</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"He hadde ymade ful mony a mariage</span> + <span class="i2">Of yongè women, at his owen coste;"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>and Mister Horne brazen-facedly,</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Full many a marriage had he brought to + bear,</span> <span class="i2">For women young, and <i>paid the + cost with sport</i>."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>O fie, Mister Horne! To hide our blushes, will no maiden for a + moment lend us her fan? We cover our face with our hands.—Of + this same Frere, Mr Horne, in his introduction, when exposing the + faults of another translator, says that "Chaucer shows us the + quaint begging rogue playing his harp among a crowd of admiring + auditors, and <i>turning up his eyes</i> with an attempted expression + of religious enthusiasm;" but Chaucer does no such thing, nor + was the Frere given to any such practice.</p> + + <p>Of the Clerk of Oxenford, Chaucer says, he "loked holwe, and + thereto soberly." Mr Horne needlessly adds "ill-fed." + Chaucer says—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Ful threadbare was his overest + courtepy."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Mr Horne modernizes it into—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"His uppermost short cloak <i>was a bare + thread</i>."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Why exaggerate so? Chaucer says—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"But all that he might of <i>his frendes + hente</i></span> <span class="i2">On bokès and on lerning he it + spente."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Mr Horne says—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"But every farthing that his friends + e'er <i>lent</i>."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>They did not <i>lend</i>, they gave outright to the poor + scholar.</p> + + <p>The Reve's Prologue opens thus in Chaucer—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Whan folk han laughed at this nicè + cas</span> <span class="i2">Of Absalom and <i>hendy</i> + Nicholas."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Mr Horne says—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Of Absalom and <i>credulous</i> + Nicholas!"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>He manifestly mistakes the sly scholar for the credulous + carpenter, whom on the tenderest point he outwitted! To those who + know the nature of the story, the blunder is extreme.</p> + + <p>What is to be thought of such rhymes as these?</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And for to drink strong wine as red as + <i>blood</i>,</span> <span class="i2">Then would he jest, and + shout as he were <i>mad</i>."</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Toward the mill, the bay nag in his + <i>hand</i>,</span> <span class="i2">The miller sitting by the + fire they <i>found</i>."</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And on she went, till she the cradle + <i>found</i>,</span> <span class="i2">While through the dark + still groping with her <i>hand</i>."</span> + </div> + </div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg + 118]</a></span> + + <p>These to our ears, are not happy modernizations of Chaucer.</p> + + <p>Here come a few more Cockneyisms.</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Alas! our warden's palfrey it is + <i>gone</i>.</span> <span class="i2">Allen at once forgot both + meal and <i>corn</i>."</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Allen stole back, and thought ere that it + <i>dawn</i>,</span> <span class="i2">I will creep in by John that + lieth for<i>lorn</i>."</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"For, from the town Arviragus was + <i>gone</i>,</span> <span class="i2">But to herself she spoke + thus, all <i>forlorn</i>."</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Aurelius, thinking of his substance + <i>gone</i>,</span> <span class="i2">Curseth the time that ever + he was <i>born</i>."</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"An arm-brace wore he that was rich and + <i>broad</i>,</span> <span class="i2">And by his side a buckler + and a <i>sword</i>."</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Now grant my ship, that some smooth haven + <i>win her</i>;</span> <span class="i2">I follow Statius first, + and then <i>Corinna</i>."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Alas! this worst of all is Elizabeth Barrett's! "Well of + English <i>undefiled</i>!"</p> + + <p>In Chaucer we have—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"<span class='smcap'>A Sergeant of the + Lawè</span>, ware and wise,</span> <span class="i2">That often + hadde yben <i>at the Parvis</i>."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Mr Horne gives us—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"A Sergeant of the Law, wise, wary, + <i>arch</i>!</span> <span class="i2"><i>Who oft had gossip'd + long in the church porch.</i>"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>The word "arch" is here interpolated to give some colour + to the charge of "gossiping," absurdly asserted of the + learned Sergeant. The Parvis was the place of conference, where + suitors met with their counsel and legal advisers; and Chaucer merely + intimates thereby the extent of the Sergeant's practice. In + Chaucer we have—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"In termès hadde he cas and domès + alle</span> <span class="i2">That fro the time of <i>King + Will.</i> weren falle."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Who does not see the propriety of the customary contraction, + <i>King Will.</i>? Mr Horne does not; and substitutes, "since + King William's reign."</p> + + <p>Of the Frankelein Chaucer says, he was</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"An housholder, and that a gret was + he;"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>the context plainly showing the meaning to be, "hospitable on + a great scale." Mr Horne ignorantly translates the words,</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"A householder of great extent was + he."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>In Chaucer we have—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"His table dormant in his halle + alway</span> <span class="i2">Stood ready covered all the longè + day."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>The meaning of that is, that any person, or party, might sit down, + at any hour of the day, and help himself to something comfortable, as + indeed is the case now in all country houses worth + Visiting—such as Buchanan Lodge. Mr Horne stupidly exaggerates + thus—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"His table with repletion heavy lay</span> + <span class="i2">Amidst his hall throughout the feast-long + day."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>In the prologue to the Reve's Tale, the Reve, nettled by the + miller, who had been satirical on his trade, says he will</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">"<i>somdel set his + howve</i></span> <span class="i2">For leful is with force force + off to showve."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>"Howve" is cap—and in the Miller's Prologue we + had been told</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"How that a clerk had set the wrightès + cappe;"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>that is, "made a fool" of him—nay, a cuckold. Mr. + Horne,</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Though my reply <i>should somewhat fret + his nose</i>."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>In Chaucer the Reve's tale begins with</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"At Trumpington, not far from + Cantebrigge,</span> <span class="i2">There goeth a brook, and + over that a brigge."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Mr Horne saith somewhat wilfully.</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"At Trumpington, near Cambridge, <i>if you + look</i>,</span> <span class="i2">There goeth a bridge, and under + that a brook."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Two Cantabs ask leave of their Warden</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"To geve hem leve <i>but a litel + stound</i>,</span> <span class="i2">To gon to mill and sen hire + corn yground."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p><i>i.e.</i> "to give them leave for a short time." Mr + Horne translates it, "for a merry round."</p><span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> + + <p>In the course of the tale, the miller's wife</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">"Came leping inward at a + renne."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p><i>i.e.</i> "Came leaping into the room at a run." Mr + Horne translates it—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"The miller's wife came <i>laughing + inwardly</i>!"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Chaucer says—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"This miller hath so <i>wisly</i> bibbed + ale."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>And Mr Horne, with incredible ignorance of the meaning of that + word, says—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"The miller hath so <i>wisely</i> bobbed of + ale."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>So wisely that he was "for-drunken"—and "as a + horse he snorteth in his sleep."</p> + + <p>In Chaucer the description of the miller's daughter ends with + this line—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"But right faire was <i>hire here</i>, I + will not lie,"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p><i>i.e.</i> her hair. Mr Horne translates it "was <i>she + here</i>."</p> + + <p>But there is no end to such blunders.</p> + + <p>In Chaucer, as in all our old poets of every degree, there occur, + over and over again, such forms of natural expression as the + following,—and when they do occur, let us have them; but what a + feeble modernizer must he be who keeps adding to the number till he + gives his readers the ear-ache. Not one of the following is in the + original:—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"At Algeziras, in Granada, + he,"</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"At many a noble fight of ships was + he."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"For certainly a prelate fair was + he."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"In songs and tales the prize o'er all + bore he."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And a poor parson of a town was + he."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Such had he often proved, and loath was + he."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"In youth a good trade practised well had + he."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Lordship and servitude at once hath + he."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And die he must as echo did, said + he."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Madam this is impossible, said + he."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Save wretched Aurelius none was sad but + he."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And said thus when this last request heard + he."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <p>In like manner, in Chaucer as in all our old poets of every + degree, there occur over and over again such natural forms of + expression as "I wot," "I wis"—and where + they do occur let us have them too and be thankful; but + poverty-stricken in the article of rhymes must <i>be he</i>, who is + perpetually driven to resort to such expedients as the + following—all of which are Mr Horne's own:—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Of fees and robes he many had, I + ween."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And yet this manciple made them fools, I + wot."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"This Reve upon stallion sat, I + wot."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Than the poor parson in two months, I + wot."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"For certainly when I was born, I + trow."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"A small stalk in mine eyes he sees, I + deem."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"There were two scholars young and poor, I + trow."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"John lieth still and not far off, I + trow."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Eastern astrologers and clerks, I + wis."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"This woful heart found some reprieve, I + wis."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Unto his brother's bed he came, I + wis."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And now Aurelius ever, as I + ween."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"That she could not sustain herself, I + ween."</span><br /> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Mr Horne, in his Introduction, unconscious of his own sins, speaks + with due contempt of the modernizations of Chaucer by Ogle and + Lipscomb and their coadjutors, and of the injury they may have done + to the reputation of the old poet. But whatever injury they may have + occasioned, "there can be doubt," he says, "of the + mischief done by Mr Pope's obscene specimen, <i>placed at the + head</i> of his list of 'Imitations of English Poets.' It is + an imitation of those passages which we should only regard as the + rank offal of a great feast in the olden time. The better taste and + feeling of Pope should have imitated the noble <i>poetry</i> of + Chaucer. He avoided this 'for sundry weighty reasons.' But if + this so-called imitation by Pope was 'done in his youth' he + should have burnt it in his age. Its publication at the present day + among his elegant works, is a disgrace to modern times, and to his + high reputation." Not so fast and strong, good Mister Horne. The + six-and-twenty octosyllabic lines thus magisterially denounced by our + stern moralist in the middle of the nineteenth century, have had a + place in Pope's works for a hundred years, and it is too late now + to seek to delete them. They were written by Pope in his fourteenth + or fifteenth year, and gross <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" + id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> as they are, are pardonable in a + boy of precocious genius, giving way for a laughing hour to his sense + of the grotesque. Joe Warton (not Tom) pompously calls them "a + gross and <i>dull</i> caricature of the Father of English + Poetry." And Mr Bowles says, "he might have added, it is + disgusting as it is dull, and no more like Chaucer than a + <i>Billingsgate</i> is like an Oberea." It is <i>not</i> dull, + but exceedingly clever; and Father Geoffrey himself would have + laughed at it—patted Pope on the head—and enjoined him + for the future to be more discreet. Roscoe, like a wise man, regards + it without horror—remarking of it, and the boyish imitation of + Spenser, that "why these sportive and characteristic sketches + should be brought to so severe an ordeal, and pointed out to the + reprehension of the reader as gross and disagreeable, dull and + disgusting, it is not easy to perceive." Old Joe maunders when + he says, "he that was unacquainted with Spenser, and was to form + his ideas of the turn and manner of his genius from this piece, would + undoubtedly suppose that he abounded in filthy images, and excelled + in describing the lower scenes of life." Let all such blockheads + suppose what they choose. Pope—says Roscoe—"was well + aware as any one of the superlative beauties and merits of Spenser, + whose works he assiduously studied, both in his early and riper + years; but it was not his intention in these few lines to give a + <i>serious</i> imitation of him. All that he attempted was to show + how exactly he could apply the language and manner of Spenser to low + and burlesque subjects; and in this he has completely succeeded. To + compare these lines, as Dr Warton has done, with those more extensive + and highly-finished productions, the <i>Castle of Indolence</i> by + Thomson, and the <i>Minstrel</i> by Beattie, is manifestly + unjust"—and stupidly absurd. What Mr Horne means by saying + that Pope "avoided imitating the noble poetry of Chaucer for + sundry weighty reasons," is not apparent at first sight. It + means, however, that Pope <i>could</i> not have done so—that + the feat was beyond his power. The author of the <i>Messiah</i> and + the <i>Eloïse</i> wrote tolerable poetry of his own; and he knew how + to appreciate, and to emulate, too, some of the finest of + Chaucer's. Why did Mr Horne not mention his <i>Temple of + Fame</i>? A more childish sentence never was written than "its + publication at the present day among his elegant works is a disgrace + to modern times, and to his high reputation." Pope's + reputation is above reproach, enshrined in honour for evermore, and + modern times are not so Miss Mollyish as to sympathize with such + sensitive censorship of an ingeniously versified peccadillo, at which + our <i>avi</i> and <i>proavi</i> could not choose but smile.</p> + + <p>But Mr Horne, thinking, that in this case "the child is + father of the man," rates Pope as roundly for what he seems to + suppose were the misdemeanours of his manhood. "Of the + highly-finished paraphrase, by Mr Pope, of the 'Wife of + Bath's Prologue,' and 'The Merchant's Tale,' + suffice it to say, that the licentious humour of the original being + divested of its <i>quaintness and obscurity</i> (!) becomes yet more + licentious in proportion to the fine touches of skill with which it + is brought into the light. Spontaneous coarseness is made revolting + by meretricious artifice. Instead of keeping in the distance that + which was objectionable, by such shades in the modernizing as should + have answered to the <i>hazy appearance</i> (!) of the original, it + receives a clear outline, and is brought close to us. An ancient + Briton, with his long rough hair and painted body, laughing and + singing half-naked under a tree, may be coarse, yet innocent of all + intention to offend; but if the imagination (absorbing the + anachronism) can conceive him shorn of this falling hair, his paint + washed off, and in this uncovered stated introduced into a + drawing-room full of ladies in rouge and diamonds, hoops <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> and + hair-powder, no one can doubt the injury thus done to the ancient + Briton. This is no unfair illustration of what was done in the time + of Pope," &c.</p> + + <p>It may be "no unfair illustration," and certainly is no + unludicrous one. We must all of us allow, that were an ancient + Briton, habited, or rather unhabited, as above, to bounce into a + modern drawing-room full of ladies, whether in rouge and diamonds, + hoops and hair-powder, or not, the effect of such <i>entrée</i> would + be prodigious on the fair and fluttered Volscians. Our imagination, + "absorbing the anachronism," ensconces us professionally + behind a sofa, to witness and to record the scene. How different in + nature Christopher North and R.H. Horne! While he would be + commiserating "the injury thus done to the ancient Briton," + we should be imploring our savage ancestor to spare the ladies. + "Innocent of all intention to offend" might be Caractacus, + but to the terrified bevy he would seem the king of the Cannibal + Islands at least. What protection against the assault of a savage, + almost <i>in puris naturalibus</i>, could be hoped for in their + hoops! Yet who knows but that, on looking round and about, he might + himself be frightened out of his senses? An ancient Briton, with his + long rough hair and painted body, may laugh and sing by himself, + half-naked under a tree, and in his own conceit be a match for any + amount of women. But shorn of his falling hair, and without a streak + of paint on his cheeks, verily his heart might be found to die within + him, before furies with faces fiery with rouge, and heads horrent + with pomatum—till instinctively he strove to roll himself up in + the Persian carpet, and there prayed for deliverance to his tutelary + gods.</p> + + <p>Our imagination having thus "absorbed the anachronism," + let us now leave Caractacus in the carpet—while our reason has + recourse to the philosophy of criticism. Mr Horne asserts, that in + "Mr Pope's" highly-finished paraphrase of the + "Wife of Bath's Prologue," and the "Merchant's + Tale," "the licentious humour of the original is divested + of its quaintness and obscurity, and becomes yet more licentious in + proportion to the fine touches of skill with which it is brought into + the light." Quaintness and <i>obscurity</i>!! Why, everything in + those tales is as plain as a pike-staff, and clearer than mud. + "The hazy appearance of the original" indeed! What! of the + couple in the Pear-Tree? Mr Horne spitefully and perversely + misrepresents the character of Pope's translations. They are + remarkably free from the vice he charges them withal—and have + been admitted to be so by the most captious critics. Many of the very + strong things in Chaucer, which you may call coarse and gross if you + will, are omitted by Pope, and many softened down; nor is there a + single line in which the spirit is not the spirit of satire. The + folly of senile dotage is throughout exposed as unsparingly, though + with a difference in the imitation, as in the original. Even Joseph + Warton and Bowles, affectedly fastidious over-much as both too often + are, and culpably prompt to find fault, acknowledge that Pope's + versions are blameless. "In the art of telling a story," + says Bowles, "Pope is peculiarly happy; we almost forget the + grossness of the subject of this tale, (the Merchant's,) while we + are struck by the uncommon ease and readiness of the verse, the + suitableness of the expression, and the spirit and happiness of the + whole." While Dr Warton, sensibly remarking, "that the + character of a fond old dotard, betrayed into disgrace by an + unsuitable match, is supported in a lively manner," refrains + from making himself ridiculous by mealy-mouthed moralities which on + such a subject every person of sense and honesty must despise. Mr + Horne keeps foolishly carping at Pope, or "Mr Pope," as he + sometimes calls him, throughout his interminable—no, not + interminable—his hundred-paged Introduction. He abominates + Pope's Homer, and groans to think how it has corrupted the + English ear by its long domination in our schools. He takes up, with + leathern lungs, the howl of the Lakers, and his imitative bray is + louder than the original, "in linked sweetness long drawn + out." Such sonorous strictures are innocent; but his false + charge of licentiousness against Pope is most reprehensible—and + it is insincere. For he has the sense to see Chaucer's broadest + satire in its true light, and its fearless expositions. Yet from his + justification of pictures and all their colouring in the ancient + poet, that might well startle people by no means timid, he turns with + frowning forehead and reproving hand to corresponding delineations in + the modern, that stand less in need of it, and spits his spite on + Pope, which we wipe off that it may not corrode. "This + translation was done at sixteen <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> or seventeen," says + Pope in a note to his January and May—and there is not, among + the achievements of early genius, to be found another such specimen + of finished art and of perfect mastery.</p> + + <p>Mr. Horne has ventured to give in his volume the Reve's Tale. + "It has been thought," he says, "that an idea of the + extraordinary versatility of Chaucer's genius could not be + adequately conveyed, unless one of his matter-of-fact comic tales + were attempted. The Reve's has accordingly been selected, as + presenting a graphic painting of character, equal to those contained + in the 'Prologue to the Canterbury Tales,' displayed in + action by means of a story, which may be designated <i>as a broad + farce, ending in a pantomime of absurd reality</i>. To those who are + acquainted with the original, an apology may not be considered + inadmissible for certain necessary variations and omissions." + For our part, we do not object to this tale, though at the + commencement of such a work its insertion was ill-judged, and will + endanger greatly the volume. But we do object to the hypocritical + cant about the licentiousness of Pope's fine touches, from the + person who wrote the above words in italics. Omissions there must + have been—but they sadly shear the tale of its vigour, and + indeed leave it not very intelligible to readers who know not the + original. The variations are most unhappy—miserable indeed; and + by putting the miller's daughter to lie in a closet at the end of + a passage, this moral modernizer has killed Chaucer. In the matchless + original all the night's action goes on in one room—and + that not a large one—miller, miller's wife, miller's + daughter, and the two strenuous Cantabs, are within the same four + narrow walls—their beds nearly touch—the jeopardized + cradle has just space to rock in—yet this self-elected + expositor of Chaucer is either so blind as not to see how essential + such allocation of the parties is to the wicked comedy, or such a + blunderer as to believe that he can improve on the greatest master + that ever dared, and with perfect success, to picture, without our + condemnation—so wide is the privilege of genius in sportive + fancy—what, but for the self-rectifying spirit of fiction, + would have been an outrage on nature, and in the number not only of + forbidden but unhallowed things. The passages interpolated by Mr + Horne's own pen are as bad as possible—clownish and + anti-Chaucerian to the last degree.</p> + + <p>For example, he thus takes upon himself, in the teeth of Chaucer, + to narrate Alein's night adventure—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And up he rose, and crept along the + floor,</span> <span class="i2">Into the passage humming with + their snore;</span> <span class="i2">As narrow was it as a drum + or tub,</span> <span class="i2">And like a beetle doth he grope + and <i>grub</i>,</span> <span class="i2">Feeling his way, <i>with + darkness in his hands</i>.</span> <span class="i2">Till at the + passage end he stooping stands."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Chaucer tells us, without circumlocution, why the Miller's + Wife for while had left her husband's side; but Mr Horne is + intolerant of the indelicate, and thus elegantly paraphrases the one + original word—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"The wife her routing ceased soon after that:</span> + <span class="i2">And woke and left her bed; <i>for she was pained</i></span> + <span class="i2"><i>With nightmare dreams of skies that madly rained.</i></span> + <span class="i2"><i>Eastern astrologers and clerks, I wis,</i></span> + <span class="i2"><i>In time of Apis tell of storms like this.</i>"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Such is modern refinement!</p> + + <p>In Chaucer, the blind encounter between the Miller and one of the + Cantabs, who, mistaking him for his comrade, had whispered into his + ear what had happened during the night to his daughter, is thus + comically described—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Ye falsè harlot, quod the miller, hast?</span> + <span class="i2">A falsè traitour, falsè clerk, (quod he)</span> + <span class="i2">Thou shalt be deaf by Goddès dignitee,</span> + <span class="i2">Who dorstè be so bold to disparage</span> + <span class="i2">My daughter, that is come of swiche + lineage.</span> <span class="i2">And by the throtè-bolle he + caught Alein,</span> <span class="i2">And he him hente + despiteously again,</span> <span class="i2">And on the nose he + smote him with his fist;</span> <span class="i2">Down ran the + bloody streme upon his brest;</span> <span class="i2">And on the + flore with nose and mouth to-broke,</span> <span class="i2">They + walwe, as don two piggès in a poke.</span> <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> + <span class="i2">And up they gon, and down again anon,</span> + <span class="i2">Till that the miller spurned at a stone,</span> + <span class="i2">And down he fell backward upon his wif,</span> + <span class="i2">That wistè nothing of this nicè strif,</span> + <span class="i2">For she was falle aslepe, a litel wight</span> + <span class="i2">with John the clerk," and ...</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Here comes Mr Horne in his strength.</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Thou slanderous ribald! quoth the miller, + hast!</span> <span class="i2">A traitor false, false lying clerk, + quoth he,</span> <span class="i2">Thou shalt be slain by + heaven's dignity</span> <span class="i2">Who rudely + dar'st disparage with foul lie</span> <span class="i2">My + daughter, that is come of lineage high!</span> <span class= + "i2">And by the throat he Allan grasp'd amain,</span> + <span class="i2">And caught him, yet more furiously again,</span> + <span class="i2">And on his nose he smote him with his + fist!</span> <span class="i2">Down ran the bloody stream upon his + breast,</span> <span class="i2">And on the floor they tumble heel + and crown,</span> <span class="i2">And shake the house, it + seem'd all coming down.</span> <span class="i2">And up they + rise, and down again they roll:</span> <span class="i2">Till that + the Miller, stumbling o'er a coal,</span> <span class= + "i2">Went plunging headlong like a bull at bait,</span> + <span class="i2">And met his wife, and both fell flat as + slate."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Mr Horne cannot read Chaucer. The Miller does not, as he makes him + do, accuse the Cantab of falsely slandering his daughter's + virtue. He does not doubt the truth of the unluckily blabbed secret; + false harlot, false traitor, false clerk, are all words that tell his + belief; but Mr Horne, not understanding "disparage," as it + is here used by Chaucer, wholly mistakes the cause of the + father's fury. He does not even know, that it is the Miller who + gets the bloody nose, not the Cantab. "As don two piggès in a + poke," he leaves out, preferring, as more picturesque, "And + on the floor they tumble <i>heel and crown</i>!" "And shake + the house—it seemed all coming down," is not in Chaucer, + nor could be; but the crowning stupidity is that of making the Miller + meet his wife, and upset her—she being all the while in bed, + and now startled out of sleep by the weight of her fallen + superincumbent husband. And this is modernizing Chaucer!</p> + + <p>What, then—after all we have written about him—we ask, + can, at this day, be done with Chaucer? The true answer + is—<span class='smcap'>read him</span>. The late Laureate dared + to think that every one might; and in his collection, or selection, + of English poets, down to Habington inclusive, he has given the + prologue, and half a dozen of the finest and most finished tales; + believing that every earnest lover of English poetry would by degrees + acquire courage and strength to devour and digest a moderately-spread + banquet. Without doubt, Southey did well. It was a challenge to + poetical Young England to gird up his loins and fall to his work. If + you will have the fruit, said the Laureate, you must climb the tree. + He bowed some heavily-laden branches down to your eye, to tempt you; + but climb you must, if you will eat. He displayed a generous trust in + the growing desire and capacity of the country for her own + time-shrouded poetical treasures. In the same full volume, he gave + the "Faerie Queene" from the first word to the last.</p> + + <p>Let us hope boldly, as Southey hoped. But there are, in the + present world, a host of excellent, sensitive readers, whose natural + taste is perfectly susceptible of Chaucer, if he spoke their + language; yet who have not the courage, or the leisure, or the + aptitude, to master his. They must not be too hastily blamed if they + do not readily reconcile themselves to a garb of thought which + disturbs and distracts all their habitual associations. Consider, the + 'ingenious feeling,' the vital sensibility, with which they + apprehend their own English, may place the insurmountable barrier + which opposes their access to the father of our poetry. What can be + done for them?</p> + + <p>In the first place, what is it that so much removes the language + from us? It is removed by the words and grammatical forms that we + have lost—by its real antiquity; perhaps more by an accidental + semblance of antiquity—the orthography. That last may seem a + small matter; but it is not.</p> + + <p>There are three ways in which literary craftsmen have attempted to + fill up, or bridge over, the gulf of time, <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> and + bring the poet of Edward III. and Richard II. near to modern + readers.</p> + + <p>Dryden and Pope are the representatives, as they are the masters, + of the first method; for the others who have trodden in their + footsteps are hardly to be named or thought of. Dryden and Pope hold, + in their own school of modernizing, this undoubted distinction, that + under their treatment, that which was poetry remains poetry. Their + followers have written, for the most part, intelligible English, but + never poetry. They have told the story, and not that always; but they + have distilled lethargy on the tongue of the narrator.—This + first method the most boldly departs from the type. It was probably + the only way that the culture of Dryden's and Pope's time + admitted of. We have since gradually returned, more and more, upon + our own antiquity, as all the nations of Europe have upon theirs. + Then civilization seemed to herself to escape forwards out of + barbarism. Now she finds herself safe; and she ventures to seek light + for her mature years in the recollections of her own childhood.</p> + + <p>But now, the altered spirit of the age has produced a new manner + of modernization. The problem has been put thus. To retain of Chaucer + whatever in him is our language, or is most nearly our + language—only making good, always, the measure; and for + expression, which time has left out of our speech, to substitute such + as is in use. And several followers of the muses, as we have seen, + have lately tried their hand at this kind of conversion.</p> + + <p>It is hard to judge both the system and the specimens. For if the + specimens be thought to have succeeded, the system may, upon them, be + favourably judged; but if the specimens have failed, the system must + not upon them be unfavourably judged, but must in candour be looked + upon as possibly carrying in itself means and powers that have not + yet been unfolded. But unhappily a difficulty occurs which would not + have occurred with a writer in prose—the law of the verse is + imperious. Ten syllables must be kept, and rhyme must be kept; and in + the experiment it results, generally, that whilst the rehabiting of + Chaucer is undertaken under a necessity which lies wholly in the + obscurity of his dialect—the proposed ground or motive of + modernization—far the greater part of the actual changes are + made for the sake of that which beforehand you might not think of, + namely, the Verse. This it is that puts the translators to the + strangest shifts and fetches, and besets the version, in spite of + their best skill, with anti-Chaucerisms as thick as blackberries.</p> + + <p>It might, at first sight, seem as if there could be no remorse + about dispersing the atmosphere of antiquity; and you might be + disposed to say—a thought is a thought, a feeling a feeling, a + fancy a fancy. Utter the thought, the feeling, the fancy, with what + words you will, provided that they are native to the matter, and the + matter will hold its own worth. No. There is more in poetry than the + definite, separable matter of a fancy, a feeling, a thought. There is + the indefinite, inseparable spirit, out of which they all arise, + which verifies them all, harmonizes them all, interprets them all. + There is the spirit of the poet himself. But the spirit of the time + in which a poet lives, flows through the spirit of the poet. + Therefore, a poet cannot be taken out of his own time, and rightly + and wholly understood. It seems to follow that thought, feeling, + fancy, which he has expressed, cannot be taken out of his own speech, + and his own style, and rightly and wholly understood. Let us bring + this home to Chaucer, and our occasion. The air of antiquity hangs + about him, cleaves to him; therefore he is the venerable Chaucer. One + word, beyond any other, expresses to us the difference betwixt his + age and ours—Simplicity. To read him after his own spirit, we + must be made simple. That temper is called up in us by the simplicity + of his speech and style. Touched by these, and under their power, we + lose our false habituations, and return to nature. But for this + singular power exerted over us, this dominion of an irresistible + sympathy, the hint of antiquity which lies in the language seems + requisite. That summons us to put off our own, and put on another + mind. In a half modernization, there lies the <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> danger + that we shall hang suspended between two minds—between two + ages—taken out of one, and not effectually transported into + that other. Might a poet, if it were worth while, who had imbued + himself with antiquity and with Chaucer, depart more freely from him, + and yet more effectually reproduce him? Imitating, not erasing, the + colours of the old time—untying the strict chain that binds you + to the fourteenth century, but impressing on you candour, clearness, + shrewdness, ingenuous susceptibility, simplicity, <span class= + 'smcap'>Antiquity</span>! A creative translator or + imitator—Chaucer born again, a century and a half later.</p> + + <p>Let us see how Wordsworth deals with Chaucer in the first seven + stanzas of the Cuckoo and Nightingale.</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"The god of love, a benedicite!</span> + <span class="i2">How mighty and how gret a lord is he,</span> + <span class="i2">For he can make of lowè hertès highe,</span> + <span class="i2">Of highè lowe, and likè for to dye,</span> + <span class="i2">And hardè hertès he can maken fre.</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And he can make, within a litel + stounde,</span> <span class="i2">Of sekè folkè, holè, freshe, and + sounde,</span> <span class="i2">Of holè folkè he can maken + seke,</span> <span class="i2">And he can binden and unbinden + eke</span> <span class="i2">That he wol have ybounden or + unbounde.</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"To telle his might my wit may not + suffice,</span> <span class="i2">For he can make of wisè folke + ful nice,</span> <span class="i2">For he may don al that he wol + devise,</span> <span class="i2">And lither folkè to destroien + vice,</span> <span class="i2">And proudè hertès he can make + agrise.</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And shortly al that ever he wol he + may,</span> <span class="i2">Ayenès him dare no wight sayè + nay:</span> <span class="i2">For he can glade and grevè whom he + liketh:</span> <span class="i2">And whoso that he wol, he + lougheth or siketh,</span> <span class="i2">And most his might he + shedeth ever in May.</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"For every truè gentle hertè fre</span> + <span class="i2">That with him is or thinketh for to be</span> + <span class="i2">Ayenès May shal have now som stering,</span> + <span class="i2">Other to joie or elles to som mourning;</span> + <span class="i2">Other to joie or elles to som mourning;</span> + <span class="i2">In no seson so moch as thinketh me.</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"For whan they mayè here the briddès + singe,</span> <span class="i2">And se the flourès and the levès + springe,</span> <span class="i2">That bringeth into hire + rememberaunce</span> <span class="i2">A maner esè, medled with + grevaunce,</span> <span class="i2">And lusty thoughtès fulle of + gret longinge.</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And of that longinge cometh + hevinesse,</span> <span class="i2">And therof groweth oft gret + sekenesse,</span> <span class="i2">Al for lackinge of that that + they desire;</span> <span class="i2">And thus in May ben hertès + sette on fire,</span> <span class="i2">So that they brennen forth + in gret distresse."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class='smcap'> + <span class="i14">Wordsworth.</span> + </div> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"The God of love! Ah, benedicite,</span> + <span class="i2">How mighty and how great a lord is he,</span> + <span class="i2">For he of low hearts can make high, of + high</span> <span class="i2">He can make low and unto death bring + nigh,</span> <span class="i2">And hard hearts he can make them + kind and free.</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg + 126]</a></span> <span class="i2">"Within a little time, as + hath been found,</span> <span class="i2">He can make sick folk + whole, and fresh, and sound.</span> <span class="i2">Them who are + whole in body and in mind</span> <span class="i2">He can make + sick, bind can he and unbind</span> <span class="i2">All that he + will have bound, or have unbound.</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"To tell his might my wit may not + suffice,</span> <span class="i2">Foolish men he can make them out + of wise;</span> <span class="i2">For he may do all that he will + devise,</span> <span class="i2">Loose livers he can make abate + their vice,</span> <span class="i2">And proud hearts can make + tremble in a trice.</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"In brief, the whole of what he will, he + may;</span> <span class="i2">Against him dare not any wight say + nay;</span> <span class="i2">To humble or afflict whome'er he + will,</span> <span class="i2">To gladden or to grieve, he hath + like skill;</span> <span class="i2">But most his might he sheds + on the eve of May.</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"For every true heart, gentle heart and + free,</span> <span class="i2">That with him is, or thinketh so to + be,</span> <span class="i2">Now against May shall have some + stirring—whether</span> <span class="i2">To joy, or be it + to some mourning; never</span> <span class="i2">At other time, + methinks, in like degree.</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"For now when they may hear the small + birds' song,</span> <span class="i2">And see the budding + leaves the branches throng,</span> <span class="i2">This unto + their rememberance doth bring</span> <span class="i2">All kinds + of pleasure, mix'd with sorrowing,</span> <span class= + "i2">And longing of sweet thoughts that ever long.</span> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And of that longing heaviness doth + come,</span> <span class="i2">Whence oft great sickness grows of + heart and home;</span> <span class="i2">Sick are they all for + lack of their desire;</span> <span class="i2">And thus in May + their hearts are set on fire,</span> <span class="i2">So that + they burn forth in great martyrdom."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Here is the master of the art; and his work, most of all, + therefore, makes us doubt the practicability of the thing undertaken. + He works reverently, lovingly, surely with full apprehension of + Chaucer; and yet, at every word where he leaves Chaucer, the spirit + of Chaucer leaves the verse. You see plainly that his rule is to + change the least that can possibly be changed. Yet the gentle grace, + the lingering musical sweetness, the taking simplicity, of the wise + old poet, vanishes—brushed away like the down from the + butterfly's wing, by the lightest and most timorous touch.</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"For he can make of lowè hertès + highe."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>There is the soul of the lover's poet, of the poet himself a + lover, poured out and along in one fond verse, gratefully consecrated + to the mystery of love, which he, too, has experienced when + he—the shy, the fearful, the reserved—was yet by the + touch of that all-powerful ray which</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"Shoots invisible virtue even to the + deep,"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>enkindled, and to his own surprise made elate to hope and to + dare.</p> + + <p>But now contract, as Wordsworth does, the dedicated verse into a + half verse, and bring together the two distinct and opposite + mysteries under one enunciation—in short, divide the one verse + to two subjects—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"For he of low hearts can make + high—of high</span> <span class="i2">He can make + low;"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>and the fact vouched remains the same, the simplicity of the words + is kept, for they are the very words, and yet something is + gone—and in that something every thing! There is no longer the + dwelling upon the words, no longer the dilated utterance of a heart + that melts with its own thoughts, no longer the <span class= + 'pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> + consecration of the verse to its matter, no longer the softness, the + light, the fragrance, the charm—no longer, in a word, the old + manner. Here is, in short, the philosophical observation touching + love, "the saw of might" still; but the love itself here is + not. A kindly and moved observer speaks, not a lover.</p> + + <p>In one of the above-cited stanzas, Urry seems to have misled + Wordsworth. Stanza iv. verse 4, Chaucer says:—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And whoso that he wol, he lougheth or + siketh."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>The sense undoubtedly is, "and whosoever <span class= + 'smcap'>he</span>"—namely, the God of + Love—"will, <span class= + 'smcap'>he</span>"—namely, the Lover—"laugheth + or sigheth accordingly." But Urry mistaking the + construction—supposed that <span class='smcap'>he</span>, in + both places, meant the god only. He had, therefore, to find out in + "lougheth" and "siketh," actions predicable of + the love-god. The verse accordingly runs thus with him,</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And who that he wol, he loweth or + siketh."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Now, it is true, that, after all, we do not exactly know how Urry + understood his own reading; for he did not make his own glossary. But + from his glossary, we find that "to lowe" is to praise, to + allow, to approve—furthermore that "siketh" in this + place means "maketh sick." Wordsworth, following as it + would appear the lection of Urry, but only half agreeing to the + interpretation of Urry's glossarist, has rendered the line</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"To humble or afflict whome'er he + will."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>He has understood in his own way, from an obvious suggestion, + "loweth," to mean, maketh low, humbleth; whilst + "afflict" is a ready turn for "maketh sick" of + the glossary. But here Wordsworth cannot be in the right. For Chaucer + is now busied with magnifying the kingdom of love by accumulated + antitheses—high, low—sick, whole—wise, + foolish—the wicked turns good, the proud shrink and + fear—the God, at his pleasure, gladdens or grieves. The phrase + under question must conform to the manner of the place where it + appears. An opposition of meanings is indispensable. "Humble or + afflict," which are both on one side, cannot be right. + "Approveth or maketh sick," are on opposite sides, but will + hardly pick one another out for antagonists. "Laugheth or + sigheth," has the vividness and simplicity of Chaucer, the most + exact contrariety matches them—and the two phenomena cannot be + left out of a lover's enumeration.</p> + + <p>Chaucer says of his 'bosom's lord,'</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And most his might he sheddeth ever in + May"—</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>renowning here, as we saw that he does elsewhere, the whole month, + as love's own segment of the zodiacal circle. The time of the + poem itself is accordingly 'the thridde night of May.' + Wordsworth has rendered,</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"But most his might he sheds <i>on the eve + of May.</i>"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Why so? Is the approaching visitation of the power more strongly + felt than the power itself in presence? Chaucer says distinctly the + contrary, and why with a word lose, or obscure, or hazard the + appropriation of the month entire, so conspicuous a tenet in the old + poetical mind? And is Eve here taken strictly—the night before + May-day, like the <i>Pervigilium Veneris</i>? Or loosely, on the + verge of May, answerably to 'ayenes May' afterwards? To the + former sense, we might be inclined to propose on the contrary + part,</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"But sheds his might most on the morrow of + May,"</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p><i>i.e.</i> in prose on May-day morning, consonantly to all the + testimonies.</p> + + <p>Chaucer says that the coming-on of the love-month produces in the + heart of the lover</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"A maner easè medled with + grevaunce."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>That is to say, <i>a kind of</i> joy or pleasure, (Fr. + <i>aise</i>,) mixed with sadness. He insists, by this expression, + upon the strangeness of the kind, peculiar to the willing sufferers + under this unique passion, "love's pleasing smart." Did + Wordsworth, by intention or misapprehension, leave out this turn of + expression, by which, in an age less forward than ours in sentimental + researches, Chaucer drew notice to the contradictory nature of the + internal state which he described? <span class='pagenum'><a name= + "Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> As if Chaucer had said, + "<i>al</i> maner esè," Wordsworth says, "all kinds of + pleasure mixed with sorrowing."</p> + + <p>In the next line he adds to the intuitions of his master, one of + his own profound intuitions, if we construe aright—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And longing of sweet thoughts that ever + long."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>That ever long! The sweetest of thoughts are never satisfied with + their own deliciousness. Earthly delight, or heavenly delight upon + earth, penetrating the soul, stirs in it the perception of its native + illimitable capacity for delight. Bliss, which should wholly possess + the blest being, plays traitor to itself, turns into a sort of divine + dissatisfaction, and brings forth from its teeming and infinite bosom + a brood of winged wishes, bright with hues which memory has bestowed, + and restless with innate aspirations. Such is our commentary on the + truly Wordsworthian line, but it is not a line answerable to + Chaucer's—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <span class="i2">"And lusty thoughtès full of gret + longinge."</span> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Is this hypercriticism? It is the only criticism that can be + tolerated betwixt two such rivals as Chaucer and Wordsworth. The + scales that weigh poetry should turn with a grain of dust, with the + weight of a sunbeam, for they weigh spirit. Or is it saying that + Wordsworth has not done his work as well as it was possible to be + done? Rather it is inferring, from the failure of the work in his + hand, that he and his colleagues have attempted that which was + impossible to be done. We will not here hunt down line by line. We + put before the reader the means of comparing verse with verse. We + have, with 'a thoughtful heart of love,' made the comparison, + and feel throughout that the modern will not, cannot, do justice to + the old English. The quick sensibility which thrills through the + antique strain deserts the most cautious version of it. In short, we + fall back upon the old conviction, that verse is a sacred, and song + an inspired thing; that the feeling, the thought, the word, and the + musical breath spring together out of the soul in one creation; that + a translation is a thing not given in <i>rerum natura</i>; + consequently that there is nothing else to be done with a great poet + saving to leave him in his glory.</p> + + <p>And our friend John Dryden? Oh, he is safe enough; for the new + translators all agree that his are no translations at all of Chaucer, + but original and excellent poems of his own.</p> + + <p>A language that is half Chaucer's, and half that of his + renderer, is in great danger to be the language of nobody. But + Chaucer's has its own energy and vivacity which attaches you, and + as soon as you have undergone the due transformation by sympathy, + carries you effectually with it. In the moderate versions that are + best done, you miss this indispensable force of attraction. But + Dryden boldly and freely gives you himself, and along you sweep, or + are swept rejoicingly along. "The grand charge to which his + translations are amenable," says Mr Horne, "is, that he + acted upon an erroneous principle." Be it so. Nevertheless, they + are among the glories of our poetical literature. Mr Horne's, + literal as he supposes them to be, are unreadable. He, too, acts on + an erroneous principle; and his execution betrays throughout the + unskilful hand of a presumptuous apprentice. But he has "every + respect for the genius, and for every thing that belongs to the + memory, of Dryden;" and thus magniloquently eulogizes his most + splendid achievement:—"The fact is, Dryden's version + of the 'Knight's Tale' would be most appropriately read + by the towering shade of one of Virgil's heroes, walking up and + down a battlement, and waving a long, gleaming spear, to the roll and + sweep of his sonorous numbers."</p> + <hr style='width: 45%;' /> + + <p class="center"><i>Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Hughes, Paul's + Work.</i></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol +58, No. 357, July 1845, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, JULY 1845 *** + +***** This file should be named 28336-h.htm or 28336-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/3/28336/ + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Patricia Bennett, Jonathan +Ingram and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Library of Early +Journals.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol 58, No. 357, July 1845 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 15, 2009 [EBook #28336] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, JULY 1845 *** + + + + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Patricia Bennett, Jonathan +Ingram and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Library of Early +Journals.) + + + + + + + + + + BLACKWOOD'S + + Edinburgh + + MAGAZINE + + VOL. LVIII. + + JULY-DECEMBER, 1845. + + + + * * * * * + + + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, EDINBURGH, + + AND + + 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + + * * * * * + + 1845. BLACKWOOD'S + + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + No. CCCLVII. JULY, 1845. Vol. LVIII. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + MARLBOROUGH, NO. I., 1 + PUSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN POET. NO. II., 28 + SUSPIRIA DE PROFUNDIS: BEING A SEQUEL TO THE CONFESSIONS + OF AN ENGLISH OPIUM-EATER, PART II., 43 + NORTHERN LIGHTS, 56 + HOUSE-HUNTING IN WALES, 74 + THE TORQUATO TASSO OF GOETHE, 87 + DAVID THE "TELYNWR," OR THE DAUGHTER'S TRIAL; + A TALE OF WALES, 96 + NORTH'S SPECIMENS OF THE BRITISH CRITICS. + NO. VI.--SUPPLEMENT TO DRYDEN ON CHAUCER, 114 + + + * * * * * + + + EDINBURGH: + WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET; + AND 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. + + _To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed._ + + SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. + + + PRINTED BY BALLANTINE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH. + + + BLACKWOOD'S + + EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. + + + No. CCCLVII. JULY, 1845. VOL. LVIII. + + + + +MARLBOROUGH. + +No. I. + + +Alexander the Great said, when he approached the tomb of Achilles, "Oh! +fortunate youth, who had a Homer to be the herald of your fame!" "And +well did he say so," says the Roman historian: "for, unless the _Iliad_ +had been written, the same earth which covered his body would have +buried his name." Never was the truth of these words more clearly +evinced than in the case of the Duke of MARLBOROUGH. Consummate as were +the abilities, unbroken the success, immense the services of this great +commander, he can scarcely be said to be known to the vast majority of +his countrymen. They have heard the distant echo of his fame as they +have that of the exploits of Timour, of Bajazet, and of Genghis Khan; +the names of Blenheim and Ramillies, of Malplaquet and Oudenarde, awaken +a transient feeling of exultation in their bosoms; but as to the +particulars of these events, the difficulties with which their general +had to struggle, the objects for which he contended, even the places +where they occurred, they are, for the most part, as ignorant as they +are of similar details in the campaigns of Baber or Aurengzebe. What +they do know, is derived chiefly, if not entirely, from the histories of +their enemies. Marlborough's exploits have made a prodigious impression +on the Continent. The French, who felt the edge of his flaming sword, +and saw the glories of the _Grande Monarque_ torn from the long +triumphant brow of Louis XIV.; the Dutch, who found in his conquering +arm the stay of their sinking republic, and their salvation from slavery +and persecution; the Germans, who saw the flames of the Palatinate +avenged by his resistless power, and the ravages of war rolled back from +the Rhine into the territory of the state which had provoked them; the +Lutherans, who beheld in him the appointed instrument of divine +vengeance, to punish the abominable perfidy and cruelty of the +revocation of the edict of Nantes--have concurred in celebrating his +exploits. The French nurses frightened their children with stories of +"Marlbrook," as the Orientals say, when their horses start, they see the +shadow of Richard Coeur-de-Lion crossing their path. Napoleon hummed +the well-known air, "Marlbrook s'en va a la guerre," when he crossed +the Niemen to commence the Moscow campaign. But in England, the country +which he has made illustrious, the nation he has saved, the land of his +birth, he is comparatively forgotten; and were it not for the popular +pages of Voltaire, and the shadow which a great name throws over the +stream of time in spite of every neglect, he would be virtually unknown +at this moment to nineteen-twentieths of the British people. + +It is the fault of the national historians which has occasioned this +singular injustice to one of the greatest of British heroes--certainly +the most consummate, if we except Wellington, of British military +commanders. No man has yet appeared who has done any thing like justice +to the exploits of Marlborough. Smollett, whose unpretending narrative, +compiled for the bookseller, has obtained a passing popularity by being +the only existing sequel to Hume, had none of the qualities necessary to +write a military history, or make the narrative of heroic exploits +interesting. His talents for humour, as all the world knows, were +great--for private adventure, or the delineation of common life in +novels, considerable. But he had none of the higher qualities necessary +to form a great historian; he had neither dramatic nor descriptive +power; he was entirely destitute of philosophic views or power of +general argument. In the delineation of individual character, he is +often happy; his talents as a novelist, and as the narrator of private +events, there appear to advantage. But he was neither a poet nor a +painter, a statesman nor a philosopher. He neither saw whence the stream +of events had come, nor whither it was going. We look in vain in his +pages for the lucid arguments and rhetorical power with which Hume +illustrated, and brought, as it were, under the mind's eye, the general +arguments urged, or rather which might be urged by ability equal to his +own, for and against every great change in British history. As little do +we find the captivating colours with which Robertson has painted the +discovery and wonders of America, or the luminous glance which he has +thrown over the progress of society in the first volume of Charles V. +Gibbon's incomparable powers of classification and description are +wholly awanting. The fire of Napier's military pictures need not be +looked for. What is usually complained of in Smollett, especially by his +young readers, is, that he is so dull--the most fatal of all defects, +and the most inexcusable in an historian. His heart was not in history, +his hand was not trained to it; it is in "Roderick Random" or "Peregrine +Pickle," not the continuation of Hume, that his powers are to be seen. + +Lord Mahon has brought to the subject of the history of England from the +treaty of Utrecht to that of Aix-la-Chapelle, talents of a kind much +better adapted for doing justice to Marlborough's campaigns. He has +remarkable power for individual narrative. His account of the gallant +attempt, and subsequent hair-breadth escapes of the Pretender in 1745, +is full of interest, and is justly praised by Sismondi as by far the +best account extant of that romantic adventure. He possesses also a fair +and equitable judgment, much discrimination, evident talent for drawing +characters, and that upright and honourable heart, which is the first +requisite for success in the delineation, as it is for success in the +conduct of events. His industry in examining and collecting authorities +is great; he is a scholar, a statesman, and a gentleman--no small +requisites for the just delineation of noble and generous achievements. +But notwithstanding all this, his work is not the one to rescue +Marlborough's fame from the unworthy obscurity into which, in this +country, it has fallen. He takes up the thread of events where +Marlborough left them: he begins only at the peace of Utrecht. Besides +this, he is not by nature a military historian, and if he had begun at +the Revolution, the case would probably have been the same. Lord Mahon's +attention has been mainly fixed on domestic story; it is in illustrating +parliamentary contests or court intrigues, not military events, that his +powers have been put forth. He has given a clear, judicious, and elegant +narrative of British history, as regards these, so far as it is embraced +by his accomplished pen; but the historian of Marlborough must treat him +as second to none, not even to Louis XIV. or William III. Justice will +never be done to the hero of the English revolution, till his Life is +the subject of a separate work in every schoolboy's hands. We must have +a memoir of him to be the companion of Southey's Life of Nelson, and +Napier's Peninsular War. + +Voltaire, in his "Siecle de Louis XIV.," could not avoid giving a sketch +of the exploits of the British hero; and his natural impartiality has +led him, so far as it goes, to give a tolerably fair one. It need hardly +be said, that coming from the pen of such a writer, it is lively, +animated, and distinct. But Voltaire was not a military historian; he +had none of the feelings or associations which constitute one. War, when +he wrote, had been for above half a century, with a few brilliant +exceptions, a losing game to the French. In the War of the Succession +they had lost their ascendancy in continental Europe; in that of the +Seven Years, nearly their whole colonial dominions. The hard-won glories +of Fontenoy, the doubtful success of Laffelt, were a poor compensation +for these disasters. It was the fashion of his day to decry war as the +game of kings, or flowing from the ambition of priests; if superstition +was abolished, and popular virtue let into government, one eternal reign +of peace and justice would commence. With these writers the great object +was, to carry the cabinets of kings by assault, and introduce +philosophers into government through the antechambers of mistresses. +Peter the Great was their hero, Catharine of Russia their divinity, for +they placed philosophers at the head of affairs. It was not to be +supposed that in France, the vanquished country, in such an age justice +should be done to the English conqueror. Yet such were the talents of +Voltaire, especially for making a subject popular, that it is on his +work, such as it is, that the fame of Marlborough mainly rests, even in +his own country. + +Marlborough, as might be expected, has not wanted biographers who have +devoted themselves, expressly and exclusively, to transmit his fame and +deeds to posterity. They have for the most part failed, from the faults +most fatal, and yet most common to biographers--undue partiality in +some, dulness and want of genius in others. They began at an early +period after his death, and are distinguished at first by that rancour +on the one side, and exaggeration on the other, by which such +contemporary narratives are generally, and in that age were in a +peculiar manner, distinguished. I. An abridged account of his life, +dedicated to the Duke of Montague, his son-in-law, appeared at Amsterdam +in 12mo; but it is nothing but an anonymous panegyric. II. Not many +years after, a life of Marlborough was published, in three volumes +quarto, by Thomas Ledyard, who had accompanied him in many of his later +travels, and had been the spectator of some of the last of his military +exploits. This is a work of much higher authority, and contains much +valuable information; but it is prolix, long-winded, and diffuse, filled +with immaterial documents, and written throughout in a tone of inflated +panegyric. III. Another life of Marlborough, written with more ability, +appeared at Paris in 1806, in three volumes octavo, by Dutems. The +author had the advantage of all the resources for throwing light on his +history which the archives of France, then at the disposal of Napoleon, +who had a high admiration for the English general, could afford; but it +could hardly be expected that, till national historians of adequate +capacity for the task had appeared, it was to be properly discharged by +foreigners. Yet such is the partiality which an author naturally +contracts for the hero of his biography, that the work of Dutems, though +the author has shown himself by no means blind to his hero's faults, is +perhaps chiefly blameable for being too much of a panegyric. IV. By far +the fullest and most complete history of Marlborough, however, is that +which was published at London in 1818, by Archdeacon Coxe, in five +volumes octavo. This learned author had access to all the official +documents on the subject then known to be in existence, particularly the +Blenheim Papers, and he has made good use of the ample materials placed +at his disposal; but it cannot be said that he has made an interesting, +though he certainly has a valuable, work. It has reached a second +edition, but it is now little heard of: a certain proof, if the +importance of his subject, and value of his materials is taken into +account, that it labours under some insurmountable defects in +composition. Nor is it difficult to see what these defects are. The +venerable Archdeacon, respectable for his industry, his learning, his +researches, had not a ray of genius, and genius is the soul of history. +He gives every thing with equal minuteness, makes no attempt at +digesting or compression, and fills his pages with letters and +state-papers at full length; the certain way, if not connected by +ability, to send them to the bottom. + +Dean Swift's history of the four last years of Queen Anne, and his +Apology for the same sovereign, contain much valuable information +concerning Marlborough's life; but it is so mixed up with the gall and +party spirit which formed so essential a part of the Dean of St +Patrick's character, that it cannot be relied on as impartial or +authentic.[2] The life of James II. by Clarke contains a great variety +of valuable and curious details drawn from the Stuart Papers sent to the +Prince Regent on the demise of the Cardinal York; and it would be well +for the reputation of Marlborough, as well as many other eminent men of +the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, if some of them could be +buried in oblivion. But by far the best life of Marlborough, in a +military point of view, is that recently published by Mr Gleig, in his +"Military Commanders of Great Britain,"--a sketch characterized by all +the scientific knowledge, practical acquaintance with war, and brilliant +power of description, by which the other writings of that gifted author +are distinguished. If he would make as good use of the vast collection +of papers which, under the able auspices of Sir George Murray, have now +issued from the press, as he has of the more scanty materials at his +disposal when he wrote his account of Marlborough, he would write _the_ +history of that hero, and supersede the wish even for any other. + +The fortunate accident is generally known by which the great collection +of papers now in course of publication in London has been brought to +light. That this collection should at length have become known is less +surprising than that it should so long have remained forgotten, and have +eluded the searches of so many persons interested in the subject. It +embraces, as Sir George Murray's lucid preface mentions, a complete +series of the correspondence of the great duke from 1702 to 1712, the +ten years of his most important public services. In addition to the +despatches of the duke himself, the letters, almost equally numerous, of +his private secretary, M. Cardonnell, and a journal written by his +grace's chaplain, Dr Hare, afterwards Bishop of Chichester, are +contained in the eighteen manuscript volumes which were discovered in +the record-room of Hensington, near Woodstock, in October 1842, and are +now given to the public. They are of essential service, especially in +rendering intelligible the details of the correspondence, which would +otherwise in great part be uninteresting, and scarce understood, at +least by the ordinary reader. Some of the most valuable parts of the +work, particularly a full detail of the battle of Blenheim, are drawn +from Dr Hare's journal. In addition to this, the bulletins of most of +the events, issued by government at the time, are to be found in notes +at the proper places; and in the text are occasionally contained short, +but correct and luminous notices, of the preceding or contemporaneous +political and military events which are alluded to, but not described, +in the despatches, and which are necessary to understand many of their +particulars. Nothing, in a word, has been omitted by the accomplished +editor which could illustrate or render intelligible the valuable +collection of materials placed at his disposal; and yet, with all his +pains and ability, it is often very difficult to follow the detail of +events, or understand the matter alluded to in the despatches:--so +great is the lack of information on the eventful War of the Succession +which prevails, from the want of a popular historian to record it, even +among well-informed persons in this country; and so true was the +observation of Alexander the Great, that but for the genius of Homer, +the exploits of Achilles would have been buried under the tumulus which +covered his remains! And what should we have known of Alexander himself +more than of Attila or Genghis Khan, but for the fascinating pages of +Quintus Curtius and Arrian? + +To the historian who is to go minutely into the details of Marlborough's +campaigns and negotiations, and to whom accurate and authentic +information is of inestimable importance, it need hardly be said that +these papers are of the utmost value. But, to the general reader, all +such voluminous publications and despatches must, as a matter of +necessity, be comparatively uninteresting. They always contain a great +deal of repetition, in consequence of the necessity under which the +commander lay, of communicating the same event to those with whom he was +in correspondence in many different quarters. Great part of them relate +to details of discipline, furnishing supplies, getting up stores, and +other necessary matters, of little value even to the historian, except +in so far as they illustrate the industry, energy, and difficulties of +the commander. The general reader who plunges into the midst of the +Marlborough despatches in this age, or into those of Wellington in the +next, when contemporary recollection is lost, will find it impossible to +understand the greater part of the matters referred to, and will soon +lay aside the volumes in despair. Such works are highly valuable, but +they are so to the annalist or historian rather than the ordinary +reader. They are the materials of history, not history itself. They bear +the same relation to the works of Livy or Gibbon which the rude blocks +in the quarry do to the temples of St Peter's or the Parthenon. Ordinary +readers are not aware of this when they take up a volume of despatches; +they expect to be as much fascinated by it as they are by the +correspondence of Madame de Sevigne, Cowper, Gibbon, or Arnold. They +will soon find their mistake: the book-sellers will erelong find it in +the sale of such works. The matter-of-fact men in ordinary life, and the +compilers and drudges in literature--that is, nine-tenths of the readers +and writers in the world--are never weary of descanting on the +inestimable importance of authentic documents for history; and without +doubt they are right so far as the collecting of materials goes. There +must be quarriers before there can be architects: the hewers of wood and +drawers of water are the basis of all civilization. But they are not +civilization itself, they are its pioneers. Truth is essential to an +estimable character: but many a man is insupportably dull who never told +a falsehood. The pioneers of Marlborough, however, have now gone before, +and it will be the fault of English genius if the divine artist does not +erelong make the proper use of the materials at length placed in his +hands. + +John Churchill, afterwards Duke of Marlborough, was born on the 5th July +1650, (new style,) at Ash, in the county of Devon. His father was Sir +Winston Churchill, a gallant cavalier who had drawn his sword in behalf +of Charles I., and had in consequence been deprived of his fortune and +driven into exile by Cromwell. His paternal family was very ancient, and +boasted its descent from the _Courcils_ de Poitou, who came into England +with the Conqueror. His mother was Elizabeth Drake, who claimed a +collateral connexion with the descendants of the illustrious Sir Francis +Drake, the great navigator. Young Churchill received the rudiments of +his education from the parish clergyman in Devonshire, from whom he +imbibed that firm attachment to the Protestant faith by which he was +ever afterwards distinguished, and which determined his conduct in the +most important crisis of his life. He was afterwards placed at the +school of St Paul's; and it was there that he first discovered, on +reading Vegetius, that his bent of mind was decidedly for the military +life. Like many other men destined for future distinction, he made no +great figure as a scholar, a circumstance easily explained, if we +recollect that it is on the knowledge of words that the reputation of a +schoolboy, of things that of a man, is founded. But the despatches now +published demonstrate that, before he attained middle life, he was a +proficient at least in Latin, French, and English composition; for +letters in each, written in a very pure style, are to be found in all +parts of his correspondence. + +From early youth, young Churchill was distinguished by the elegance of +his manners and the beauty of his countenance and figure--advantages +which, coupled with the known loyal principles of his father, and the +sufferings he had undergone in the royal cause, procured for him, at the +early age of fifteen, the situation of page in the household of the Duke +of York, afterwards James II. His inclination for arms was then so +decided, that that prince procured for him a commission in one of the +regiments of guards when he was only sixteen years old. His uncommonly +handsome figure then attracted no small share of notice from the +beauties of the court of Charles II., and even awakened a passion in one +of the royal mistresses herself. Impatient to signalize himself, +however, he left their seductions, and embarked as a volunteer in the +expedition against Tangiers in 1766. Thus his first essay in arms was +made in actions against the Moors. Having returned to Great Britain, he +attracted the notice of the Countess of Castlemaine, afterwards Duchess +of Cleveland, then the favorite mistress of Charles II., who had +distinguished him by her regard before he embarked for Africa, and who +made him a present of L5000, with which the young soldier bought an +annuity of L500 a-year, which laid the foundation, says Chesterfield, of +all his subsequent fortunes. Charles, to remove a dangerous rival in her +unsteady affections, gave him a company in the guards, and sent him to +the Continent with the auxiliary force which, in those days of English +humiliation, the cabinet of St James's furnished to Louis XIV. to aid +him in subduing the United Provinces. Thus, by a singular coincidence, +it was under Turenne, Conde, and Vauban that the future conqueror of the +Bourbons first learned the art of scientific warfare. Wellington went +through the same discipline, but in the inverse order: his first +campaigns were made against the French in Flanders, his next against the +bastions of Tippoo and the Mahratta horse in Hindostan. + +Churchill had not been long in Flanders, before his talents and +gallantry won for him deserved distinction. The campaign of 1672, which +brought the French armies to the gates of Amsterdam, and placed the +United States within a hair's-breadth of destruction, was to him +fruitful in valuable lessons. He distinguished himself afterwards so +much at the siege of Nimeguen, that Turenne, who constantly called him +by his _sobriquet_ of "the handsome Englishman," predicted that he would +one day be a great man. In the following year he had the good fortune to +save the life of his colonel, the Duke of Monmouth; and distinguished +himself so much at the siege of Maestricht, that Louis XIV. publicly +thanked him at the head of his army, and promised him his powerful +influence with Charles II. for future promotion. He little thought what +a formidable enemy he was then fostering at the court of his obsequious +brother sovereign. The result of Louis XIV.'s intercession was, that +Churchill was made lieutenant-colonel; and he continued to serve with +the English auxiliary force in Flanders, under the French generals, till +1677, when he returned with his regiment to London. Beyond all doubt it +was these five years' service under the great masters of the military +art, who then sustained the power and cast a halo round the crown of +Louis XIV., which rendered Marlborough the consummate commander that, +from the moment he was placed at the head of the Allied armies, he +showed himself to have become. One of the most interesting and +instructive lessons to be learned from biography is the long steps, the +vast amount of previous preparation, the numerous changes, some +prosperous, others adverse, by which the mind of a great man is formed, +and he is prepared for playing the important part he is intended to +perform on the theatre of the world. Providence does nothing in vain, +and when it has selected a particular mind for great achievement, the +events which happen to it all seem to conspire in a mysterious way for +its development. Were any one omitted, some essential quality in the +character of the future hero, statesman, or philosopher would be found +to be awanting. + +Here also, as in every other period of history, we may see how +unprincipled ambition overvaults itself, and the measures which seem at +first sight most securely to establish its oppressive reign, are the +unseen means by which an overruling power works out its destruction. +Doubtless the other ministers of Louis XIV. deemed their master's power +secure when this English alliance was concluded; when the English +monarch had become a state pensioner of the court of Versailles; when a +secret treaty had united them by apparently indissoluble bonds; when the +ministers equally and the patriots of England were corrupted by his +bribes; when the dreaded fleets of Britain were to be seen in union with +those of France, to break down the squadrons of an inconsiderable +republic; when the descendants of the conquerors of Cressy, Poitiers, +and Azincour stood side by side with the successors of the vanquished in +those disastrous fields, to achieve the conquest of Flanders and +Holland. Without doubt, so far as human foresight could go, Louvois and +Colbert were right. Nothing could appear so decidedly calculated to fix +the power of Louis XIV. on an immovable foundation. But how vain are the +calculations of the greatest human intellects, when put in opposition to +the overruling will of Omnipotence! It was that very English alliance +which ruined Louis XIV., as the Austrian alliance and marriage, which +seemed to put the keystone in the arch of his greatness, afterwards +ruined Napoleon. By the effect, and one of the most desired effects, of +the English alliance, a strong body of British auxiliaries were sent to +Flanders; the English officers learned the theory and practice of war in +the best of all schools, and under the best of all teachers; that +ignorance of the military art, the result in every age of our insular +situation, and which generally causes the four or five first years of +every war to terminate in disaster, was for the time removed, and that +mighty genius was developed under the eye of Louis XIV., and by the +example of Turenne, which was destined to hurl back to their own +frontiers the tide of Gallic invasion, and close in mourning the reign +of the _Grande Monarque_. "Les hommes agissent," says Bossuet, "mais +Dieu les mene." + +Upon Churchill's return to London, the brilliant reputation which had +preceded, and the even augmented personal advantages which accompanied +him, immediately rendered him the idol of beauty and fashion. The ladies +of the palace vied for his homage--the nobles of the land hastened to +cultivate his society. Like Julius Caesar, he was carried away by the +stream, and plunged into the vortex of courtly dissipation with the +ardour which marks an energetic character in the pursuit whether of good +or evil. The elegance of his person and manners, and charms of his +conversation, prevailed so far with Charles II. and the Duke of York, +that soon after, though not yet thirty years of age, he obtained a +regiment. In 1680 he married the celebrated Sarah Jennings, the +favourite lady in attendance on the Princess Anne, second daughter of +the Duke of York, one of the most admired beauties of the court, and +this alliance increased his influence, already great, with that Prince, +and laid the foundation of the future grandeur of his fortunes. Shortly +after his marriage he accompanied the Duke of York to Scotland, in the +course of which they both were nearly shipwrecked on the coast of Fife. +On this occasion the Duke made the greatest efforts to preserve his +favourite's life, and succeeded in doing so, although the danger was +such that many of the Scottish nobles perished under his eye. On his +return to London in 1682, he was presented by his patron to the King, +who made him colonel of the third regiment of guards. When the Duke of +York ascended the throne in 1685, on the demise of his brother, +Churchill kept his place as one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber, and +was raised to the rank of brigadier-general. He was sent by his +sovereign to Paris to notify his accession to Louis XIV., and on his +return he was created a peer by the title of Baron Churchill of +Sandbridge in the county of Hertford--a title which he took from an +estate there which he had acquired in right of his wife. On the revolt +of the Duke of Monmouth, he had an opportunity of showing at once his +military ability, and, by a signal service, his gratitude to his +benefactor. Lord Feversham had the command of the royal forces, and +Churchill was his major-general. The general-in-chief, however, kept so +bad a look-out, that he was on the point of being surprised and cut to +pieces by the rebel forces, who, on this occasion at least, were +conducted with ability. The general and almost all his officers were in +their beds, and sound asleep, when Monmouth, at the head of all his +forces, silently debouched out of his camp, and suddenly fell on the +royal army. The rout would have been complete, and probably James II. +dethroned, had not Churchill, whose vigilant eye nothing escaped, +observed the movement, and hastily collected a handful of men, with whom +he made so vigorous a resistance as gave time for the remainder of the +army to form, and repel this well-conceived enterprise. + +Churchill's mind was too sagacious, and his knowledge of the feelings of +the nation too extensive, not to be aware of the perilous nature of the +course upon which James had adventured, in endeavouring to bring about, +if not the absolute re-establishment of the Catholic religion, at least +such a quasi-establishment of it as the people deemed, and probably with +reason, was, with so aspiring a body of ecclesiastics, in effect the +same thing. When he saw the headstrong monarch break through all bounds, +and openly trample on the liberties, while he shocked the religious +feelings, of his people, he wrote to him to point out, in firm but +respectful terms, the danger of his conduct. He declared to Lord Galway, +when James's innovations began, that if he persisted in his design of +overturning the constitution and religion of his country, he would leave +his service. So far his conduct was perfectly unexceptionable. Our first +duty is to our country, our second only to our benefactor. If they are +brought into collision, as they often are during the melancholy +vicissitudes of a civil war, an honourable man, whatever it may cost +him, has but one part to take. He must not abandon his public duty for +his private feelings, but he must never betray official duty. If +Churchill, perceiving the frantic course of his master, had withdrawn +from his service, and then either taken no part in the revolution which +followed, or even appeared in arms against him, the most scrupulous +moralist could have discovered nothing reprehensible in his conduct. +History has in every age applauded the virtue, while it has commiserated +the anguish, of the elder Brutus, who sacrificed his sons to the perhaps +too rigorous laws of his country. + +But Churchill did not do this, and thence has arisen an ineffaceable +blot on his memory. He did not relinquish the service of the infatuated +monarch; he retained his office and commands; but he employed the +influence and authority thence derived, to ruin his benefactor. So far +were the representations of Churchill from having inspired any doubts of +his fidelity, that James, when the Prince of Orange landed, confided to +him the command of a corps of five thousand men, destined to oppose his +progress. At the very time that he accepted that command, he had, if we +may believe his panegyrist Ledyard, signed a letter, along with several +other peers, addressed to the Prince of Orange, inviting him to come +over, and had actually concluded with Major-General Kirk, who commanded +at Axminster, a convention, for the seizure of the king and giving him +up to his hostile son-in-law. James was secretly warned that Churchill +was about to betray him, but he refused to believe it of one from whom +he had hitherto experienced such devotion, and was only wakened from his +dream of security by learning that his favourite had gone over with the +five thousand men whom he commanded to the Prince of Orange. Not content +with this, it was Churchill's influence, joined to that of his wife, +which is said to have induced James's own daughter, the Princess Anne, +and Prince George of Denmark, to detach themselves from the cause of the +falling monarch; and drew from that unhappy sovereign the mournful +exclamation, "My God! my very children have forsaken me." In what does +this conduct differ from that of Labedoyere, who, at the head of the +garrison of Grenoble, deserted to Napoleon when sent out to oppose +him?--or Lavalette, who employed his influence, as postmaster under +Louis XVIII., to forward the Imperial conspiracy?--or Marshal Ney, who, +after promising at the court of the Tuileries to bring the ex-emperor +back in an iron cage, no sooner reached the royal camp at Melun, than he +issued a proclamation calling on the troops to desert the Bourbons, and +mount the tricolor cockade? Nay, is not Churchill's conduct, in a moral +point of view, worse than that of Ney; for the latter abandoned the +trust reposed in him by a new master, forced upon an unwilling nation, +to rejoin his old benefactor and companion in arms; but the former +abandoned the trust reposed in him by his old master and benefactor, to +range himself under the banner of a competitor for the throne, to whom +he was bound neither by duty nor obligation. And yet such is often the +inequality of crimes and punishments in this world, that Churchill was +raised to the pinnacle of greatness by the very conduct which consigned +Ney, with justice, so far as his conduct is concerned, to an ignominious +death. + + "Treason ne'er prospers; for when it does, + None dare call it treason." + +History forgets its first and noblest duty when it fails, by its +distribution of praise and blame, to counterbalance, so far as its +verdict can, this inequality, which, for inscrutable but doubtless wise +purposes, Providence has permitted in this transient scene. Charity +forbids us to scrutinize such conduct too severely. It is the deplorable +effect of a successful revolution, even when commenced for the most +necessary purposes, to obliterate the ideas of man on right and wrong, +and leave no other test in the general case for public conduct but +success. It is its first effect to place them in such trying +circumstances that none but the most confirmed and resolute virtue can +pass unscathed through the ordeal. He knew the human heart well, who +commanded us in our daily prayers to supplicate not to be led into +temptation, even before asking for deliverance from evil. Let no man be +sure, however much, on a calm survey, he may condemn the conduct of +Marlborough and Ney, that in similar circumstances he would not have +done the same. + +The magnitude of the service rendered by Churchill to the Prince of +Orange, immediately appeared in the commands conferred upon him. Hardly +was he settled at William's headquarters when he was dispatched to +London to assume the command of the Horse Guards; and, while there, he +signed, on the 20th December 1688, the famous Act of Association in +favour of the Prince of Orange. Shortly after, he was named +lieutenant-general of the armies of William, and immediately made a new +organization of the troops, under officers whom he could trust, which +proved of the utmost service to William on the unstable throne on which +he was soon after seated. He was present at most of the long and +momentous debates which took place in the House of Peers on the question +on whom the crown should be conferred, and at first is said to have +inclined to a regency; but with a commendable delicacy he absented +himself on the night of the decisive vote on the vacancy of the throne. +He voted, however, on the 6th of February for the resolution which +settled the crown on William and Mary; and he assisted at their +coronation, under the title of Earl of Marlborough, to which he had +shortly before been elevated by William. England having, on the +accession of the new monarch, joined the continental league against +France, Marlborough received the command of the British auxiliary force +in the Netherlands, and by his courage and ability contributed in a +remarkable manner to the victory of Walcourt. In 1690 he received orders +to return from Flanders in order to assume a command in Ireland, then +agitated by a general insurrection in favour of James; but, actuated by +some remnant of attachment to his old benefactor, he eluded on various +pretences complying with the order, till the battle of the Boyne had +extinguished the hopes of the dethroned monarch, when he came over and +made himself master of Cork and Kinsale. In 1691 he was sent again into +Flanders, in order to act under the immediate orders of William, who was +then, with heroic constancy, contending with the still superior forces +of France; but hardly had he landed there when he was arrested, deprived +of all his commands, and sent to the Tower of London, along with +several of the noblemen of distinction in the British senate. + +Upon this part of the history of Marlborough there hangs a veil of +mystery, which all the papers brought to light in more recent times have +not entirely removed. At the time, his disgrace was by many attributed +to some cutting sarcasms in which he had indulged on the predilection of +William for the continental troops, and especially the Dutch; by others, +to intrigues conducted by Lady Marlborough and him, to obtain for the +Princess Anne a larger pension than the king was disposed to allow her. +But neither of these causes are sufficient to explain the fall and +arrest of so eminent a man as Marlborough, and who had rendered such +important services to the newly-established monarch. It would appear +from what has transpired in later times, that a much more serious cause +had produced the rupture between him and William. The charge brought +against him at the time, but which was not prosecuted, as it was found +to rest on false or insufficient evidence, was that of having, along +with Lords Salisbury, Cornbury, the Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Basil +Ferebrace, signed the scheme of an association for the restoration of +James. Sir John Fenwick, who was executed for a treasonable +correspondence with James II. shortly after Marlborough's arrest, +declared in the course of his trial that he was privy to the design, had +received the pardon of the exiled monarch, and had engaged to procure +for him the adhesion of the army. The Papers, published in Coxe, rather +corroborate the view that he was privy to it; and it is supported by +those found at Rome in the possession of Cardinal York.[3] That +Marlborough, disgusted with the partiality of William for his Dutch +troops, and irritated at the open severity of his Government, should +have repented of his abandonment of his former sovereign and benefactor, +is highly probable. But it can scarcely be taken as an apology for one +act of treason, that he meditated the commission of another. It only +shows how perilous, in public as in private life, is any deviation from +the path of integrity, that it impelled such a man into so tortuous and +disreputable a path. + +Marlborough, however, was a man whose services were too valuable to the +newly-established dynasty, for him to be permitted to remain long in +disgrace. He was soon liberated, indeed, from the Tower, as no +sufficient evidence of his alleged accession to the conspiracy had been +obtained. Several years elapsed, however, before he emerged from the +privacy into which he prudently retired on his liberation from +confinement. Queen Mary having been carried off by the smallpox on the +17th of January 1696, Marlborough wisely abstained from even taking part +in the debates which followed in Parliament, during which some of the +malcontents dropped hints as to the propriety of conferring the crown on +his immediate patroness, the Princess Anne. This prudent reserve, +together with the absence of any decided proofs at the time of +Marlborough's correspondence with James, seems to have at length +weakened William's resentment, and by degrees he was taken back into +favour. The peace of Ryswick, signed on the 20th of September 1697, +having consolidated the power of that monarch, Marlborough was, on the +19th of June 1698, made preceptor of the young Duke of Gloucester, his +nephew, son of the Princess Anne, and heir-presumptive to the throne; +and this appointment, which at once restored his credit at court, was +accompanied by the gracious expression--"My lord, make my nephew to +resemble yourself, and he will be every thing which I can desire." On +the same day he was re-appointed to his rank as a privy councillor, and +took the oaths and his seat accordingly. So fully had he now regained +the confidence of William, that he was three times named one of the nine +lords justiciars to whom the administration of affairs in Great Britain +was subsequently entrusted, during the temporary absence of William in +Holland; and the War of the Succession having become certain in the year +1700, that monarch, who was preparing to take an active part in it, +appointed Marlborough, on 1st June 1701, his ambassador-extraordinary at +the Hague, and commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in Flanders. This +double appointment in effect invested Marlborough with the entire +direction of affairs civil and military, so far as England was +concerned, on the Continent. William, who was highly indignant at the +recognition of the Chevalier St George as King of England, on the death +of his father James II., in September 1701, was preparing to prosecute +the war with the vigour and perseverance which so eminently +distinguished his character, when he was carried off by the effects of a +fall from his horse, on the 19th March 1702. But that event made no +alteration in the part which England took in the war which was +commencing, and it augmented rather than diminished the influence which +Marlborough had in its direction. The Princess Anne, with whom, both +individually and through Lady Marlborough, he was so intimately +connected, mounted the throne without opposition; and one of her first +acts was to bestow on Marlborough the order of the Garter, confirm him +in his former offices, and appoint him, in addition, her plenipotentiary +at the Hague. War was declared on the 15th May 1702, and Marlborough +immediately went over to the Netherlands to take the command of the +Allied army, sixty thousand strong, then lying before Nimeguen, which +was threatened by a superior force on the part of the French. + +It is at this period--time 1702--that the great and memorable, and +withal blameless period of Marlborough's life commenced; the next ten +years were one unbroken series of efforts, victories, and glory. He +arrived in the camp at Nimeguen on the evening of the 2d July, having +been a few weeks before at the Hague; and immediately assumed the +command. Lord Athlone, who had previously enjoyed that situation, at +first laid claim to an equal authority with him; but this ruinous +division, which never is safe, save with men so great as he and Eugene, +and would unquestionably have proved ruinous to the common cause if +shared with Athlone, was prevented by the States-General, who insisted +upon the undivided direction being conferred on Marlborough. Most +fortunately it is precisely at this period that the correspondence now +published commences, which, in the three volumes already published, +presents an unbroken series of his letters to persons of every +description down to May, 1708. They thus embrace the early successes in +Flanders, the cross march into Bavaria and battle of Blenheim, the +expulsion of the French from Germany, the battle of Ramillies, and +taking of Brussels and Antwerp, the mission to the King of Sweden at +Dresden, the battle of Almanza, in Spain, and all the important events +of the first six years of the war. More weighty and momentous materials +for history never were presented to the public; and their importance +will not be properly appreciated, if the previous condition of Europe, +and imminent hazard to the independence of all the adjoining states, +from the unmeasured ambition, and vast power of Louis XIV., is not taken +into consideration. + +Accustomed as we are to regard the Bourbons as a fallen and unfortunate +race, the objects rather of commiseration than apprehension, and +Napoleon as the only sovereign who has really threatened our +independence, and all but effected the subjugation of the Continent, we +can scarcely conceive the terror with which a century and a half ago +they, with reason, inspired all Europe, or the narrow escape which the +continental states, at least, then made from being all reduced to the +condition of provinces of France. The forces of that monarchy, at all +times formidable to its neighbours, from the warlike spirit of its +inhabitants, and their rapacious disposition, conspicuous alike in the +earliest and the latest times;[4] its central situation, forming, as it +were, the salient angle of a bastion projecting into the centre of +Germany; and its numerous population--were then, in a peculiar manner, +to be dreaded, from their concentration in the hands of an able and +ambitious monarch, who had succeeded for the first time, for two hundred +years, in healing the divisions and stilling the feuds of its nobles, +and turned their buoyant energy into the channel of foreign conquest. +Immense was the force which, by this able policy, was found to exist in +France, and terrible the danger which it at once brought upon the +neighbouring states. It was rendered the more formidable in the time of +Louis XIV., from the extraordinary concentration of talent which his +discernment or good fortune had collected around his throne, and the +consummate talent, civil and military, with which affairs were directed. +Turenne, Boufflers, and Conde, were his generals; Vauban was his +engineer, Louvois and Torcy were his statesmen. The lustre of the +exploits of these illustrious men, in itself great, was much enhanced by +the still greater blaze of fame which encircled his throne, from the +genius of the literary men who have given such immortal celebrity to his +reign. Corneille and Racine were his tragedians; Moliere wrote his +comedies; Bossuet, Fenelon, and Bourdaloue were his theologians; +Massillon his preacher, Boileau his critic; Le Notre laid out his +gardens; Le Brun painted his halls. Greatness had come upon France, as, +in truth, it does to most other states, in all departments at the same +time; and the adjoining nations, alike intimidated by a power which they +could not resist, and dazzled by a glory which they could not emulate, +had come almost to despair of maintaining their independence; and were +sinking into that state of apathy, which is at once the consequence and +the cause of extraordinary reverses. + +The influence of these causes had distinctly appeared in the +extraordinary good fortune which had attended the enterprises of Louis, +and the numerous conquests he had made since he had launched into the +career of foreign aggrandizement. Nothing could resist his victorious +arms. At the head of an army of an hundred thousand men, directed by +Turenne, he speedily overran Flanders. Its fortified cities yielded to +the science of Vauban, or the terrors of his name. The boasted barrier +of the Netherlands was passed in a few weeks; hardly any of its +far-famed fortresses made any resistance. The passage of the Rhine was +achieved under the eyes of the monarch with little loss, and +melodramatic effect. One half of Holland was soon overrun, and the +presence of the French army at the gates of Amsterdam seemed to presage +immediate destruction to the United Provinces; and but for the firmness +of their leaders, and a fortunate combination of circumstances, +unquestionably would have done so. The alliance with England, in the +early part of his reign, and the junction of the fleets of Britain and +France to ruin their fleets and blockade their harbours, seemed to +deprive them of their last resource, derived from their energetic +industry. Nor were substantial fruits awanting from these conquests. +Alsace and Franche Comte were overrun, and, with Lorraine, permanently +annexed to the French monarchy; and although, by the peace of Nimeguen, +part of his acquisitions in Flanders was abandoned, enough was retained +by the devouring monarchy to deprive the Dutch of the barrier they had +so ardently desired, and render their situation to the last degree +precarious, in the neighbourhood of so formidable a power. The heroic +William, indeed, had not struggled in vain for the independence of his +country. The distant powers of Europe, at length wakened to a sense of +their danger, had made strenuous efforts to coerce the ambition of +France; the revolution of 1688 had restored England to its natural +place in the van of the contest for continental freedom; and the peace +of Ryswick in 1697 had in some degree seen the trophies of conquests +more equally balanced between the contending parties. But still it was +with difficulty that the alliance kept its ground against Louis--any +untoward event, the defection of any considerable power, would at once, +it was felt, cast the balance in his favour; and all history had +demonstrated how many are the chances against any considerable +confederacy keeping for any length of time together, when the immediate +danger which had stilled their jealousies, and bound together their +separate interests, is in appearance removed. Such was the dubious and +anxious state of Europe, when the death of Charles II. at Madrid, on the +1st November 1700, and the bequest of his vast territories to Philip +Duke of Anjou, second son of the Dauphin, and grandson of Louis XIV., +threatened at once to place the immense resources of the Castilian +monarchy at the disposal of the ambitious monarch of France, whose +passion for glory had not diminished with his advanced years, and whose +want of moderation was soon evinced by his accepting, after an affected +hesitation, the splendid bequest. + +Threatened with so serious a danger, it is not surprising that the +powers of Europe were in the utmost alarm, and erelong took steps to +endeavour to avert it. Such, however, was the terror inspired by the +name of Louis XIV., and the magnitude of the addition made by this +bequest to his power, that the new monarch, in the first instance, +ascended the throne of Spain and the Indies without any opposition. The +Spanish Netherlands, so important both from their intrinsic riches, +their situation as the certain theatre of war, and the numerous +fortified towns with which they were studded, had been early secured for +the young Bourbon prince by the Elector of Bavaria, who was at that time +the governor of those valuable possessions. Sardinia, Naples, Sicily, +the Milanese, and the other Spanish possessions in Italy, speedily +followed the example. The distant colonies of the crown of Castile, in +America and the Indies, sent in their adhesion. The young Prince of +Anjou made his formal entry into Spain in the beginning of 1701, and was +crowned at Madrid under the title of Philip V. The principal continental +powers, with the exception of the Emperor, acknowledged his title to the +throne. The Dutch were in despair: they beheld the power of Louis XIV. +brought to their very gates. Flanders, instead of being the barrier of +Europe against France, had become the outwork of France against Europe. +The flag of Louis XIV. floated on Antwerp, Brussels, and Ghent. Italy, +France, Spain, and Flanders, were united in one close league, and in +fact formed but one dominion. It was the empire of Charlemagne over +again, directed with equal ability, founded on greater power, and backed +by the boundless treasures of the Indies. Spain had threatened the +liberties of Europe in the end of the sixteenth century: France had all +but proved fatal to them in the close of the seventeenth. What hope was +there of being able to make head against them both, united under such a +head as Louis XIV.? + +Great as these dangers were, however, they had no effect in daunting the +heroic spirit of William III. In concert with the Emperor, and the +United Provinces, who were too nearly threatened to be backward in +falling into his views, he laboured for the formation of a great +confederacy, which might prevent the union of the crowns of France and +Castile in one family, and prevent, before it was too late, the +consolidation of a power which threatened to be so formidable to the +liberties of Europe. The death of that intrepid monarch in March 1702, +which, had it taken place earlier, might have prevented the formation of +the confederacy, as it was, proved no impediment, but rather the +reverse. His measures had been so well taken, his resolute spirit had +laboured with such effect, that the alliance, offensive and defensive, +between the Emperor, England, and Holland, had been already signed. The +accession of the Princess Anne, without weakening its bonds, added +another power, of no mean importance, to its ranks. Her husband, Prince +George of Denmark, brought the forces of that kingdom to aid the common +cause. Prussia soon after followed the example. On the other hand, +Bavaria, closely connected with the French and Spanish monarchies, both +by jealousy of Austria, and the government of the Netherlands, which its +Elector held, adhered to France. Thus the forces of Europe were mutually +arrayed and divided, much as they afterwards were in the coalition +against Napoleon in 1813. It might already be foreseen, that Flanders, +the Bavarian plains, Spain, and Lombardy, would, as in the great contest +which followed a century after, be the theatre of war. But the forces of +France and Spain possessed this advantage, unknown in former wars, but +immense in a military point of view, that they were in possession of the +whole of the Netherlands, the numerous fortresses of which were alike +valuable as a basis of offensive operations, and as affording asylums +all but impregnable in cases of disaster. The Allied generals, whether +they commenced their operations in Flanders or on the side of Germany, +had to begin on the Rhine, and cut their way through the long barrier of +fortresses with which the genius of Vauban and Cohorn had encircled the +frontiers of the monarchy. + +War having been resolved on, the first step was taken by the Emperor, +who laid claim to Milan as a fief of the empire, and supported his +pretensions by moving an army into Italy under the command of Prince +Eugene of Savoy, who afterwards became so celebrated as the brother and +worthy rival of Marlborough in arms. The French and Spaniards assembled +an army in the Milanese to resist his advance; and the Duke of Mantua +having joined the cause, that important city was garrisoned by the +French troops. But Prince Eugene erelong obliged them to fall back from +the banks of the Adige to the line of the Oglio, on which they made a +stand. But though hostilities had thus commenced in Italy, negotiations +were still carried on at the Hague; though unhappily the pretensions of +the French king were found to be of so exorbitant a character, that an +accommodation was impossible. Marlborough's first mission to the +Continent, however, after the accession of Anne, was of a diplomatic +character; and it was by his unwearied efforts, suavity of manner, and +singular talents for negotiation, that the difficulties which attend the +formation of all such extensive confederacies were overcome. And it was +not till war was declared, on 4th May 1702, that he first took the +command as commander-in-chief of the Allied armies. + +The first operation of the Allies was an attack on the small fort of +Kaiserworth, on the right bank of the Rhine, which belonged to the +Elector of Cologne, which surrendered on the 15th May. The main French +army, nominally under the direction of the Duke of Burgundy, really of +Marshal Boufflers, entered the Duchy of Cleves in the end of the same +month, and soon became engaged with the Allied forces, which at first, +being inferior in numbers, fell back. Marlborough reached headquarters +when the French lay before Nimeguen; and the Dutch trembled for that +frontier town. Reinforcements, however, rapidly came in from all +quarters to join the Allied army; and Marlborough, finding himself at +the head of a gallant force sixty thousand strong, resolved to commence +offensive operations. His first operation was the siege of Venloo, which +was carried by storm on the 18th September, after various actions in the +course of the siege. "My Lord Cutts," says Marlborough, "commanded at +one of the breaches; and the English grenadiers had the honour of being +the first that entered the fort."[5] Ruremonde was next besieged; and +the Allies, steadily advancing, opened the navigation of the Meuse as +far as Maestricht. Stevenswart was taken on the 1st October; and, on the +6th, Ruremonde surrendered. Liege was the next object of attack; and the +breaches of the citadel were, by the skilful operations of Cohorn, who +commanded the Allied engineers and artillery, declared practicable on +the 23d of the same month. The assault was immediately ordered; and "by +the extraordinary bravery," says Marlborough, "of the officers and +soldiers, the citadel was carried by storm; and, for the honour of her +Majesty's subjects, the English were the first that got upon the +breach."[6] So early in this, as in every other war where ignorance and +infatuation has not led them into the field, did the native-born valour +of the Anglo-Saxon race make itself known! Seven battalions and a half +were made prisoners on this occasion; and so disheartened was the enemy +by the fall of the citadel, that the castle of the Chartreuse, with its +garrison of 1500 men, capitulated a few days afterwards. This last +success gave the Allies the entire command of Liege, and concluded this +short but glorious campaign, in the course of which they had made +themselves masters by main force, in presence of the French army, of +four fortified towns, conquered all Spanish Guelderland, opened the +Meuse as far as Maestricht, carried the strong castles of Liege by +storm, advanced their standards from the Rhine far into Flanders, and +become enabled to take up their winter quarters in the enemy's +territory, amidst its fertile fields. + +The campaign being now concluded, and both parties having gone into +winter quarters, Marlborough embarked on the Meuse to return to London, +where his presence was much required to steady the authority and direct +the cabinet of the Queen, who had so recently taken her seat on the +throne. When dropping down the Meuse, in company of the Dutch +commissioners, he was made prisoner by a French partisan, who had made +an incursion into those parts; and owed his escape to the presence of +mind of a servant named Gill, who, unperceived, put into his master's +hands an old passport in the name of General Churchill. The Frenchman, +intent only on plunder, seized all the plate and valuables in the boat, +and made prisoners the small detachment of soldiers who accompanied +them; but, ignorant of the inestimable prize within his grasp, allowed +the remainder of the party, including Marlborough, to proceed on their +way. On this occasion, it may truly be said, the boat carried Caesar and +his fortunes. He arrived in safety at the Hague, where the people, who +regarded him as their guardian angel, and had heard of his narrow +escape, received him with the most enthusiastic acclamations. From +thence, having concerted the plan with the Dutch government for the +ensuing campaign, he crossed over to London, where his reception by the +Queen and nation was of the most gratifying description. Her Majesty +conferred on him the title of Duke of Marlborough and Marquis of +Blandford, and sent a message to the House of Commons, suggesting a +pension to him of L5000 a-year, secured on the revenue of the +post-office; but that House refused to consent to the alienation of so +considerable a part of the public revenue. He was amply compensated, +however, for this disappointment, by the enthusiastic reception he met +with from all classes of the nation, which, long unaccustomed to +military success, at least in any cause in which it could sympathize, +hailed with transports of joy this first revival of triumph in support +of the Protestant faith, and over that power with whom, for centuries, +they had maintained so constant a rivalry. + +The campaign of 1703 was not fruitful of great events. Taught, by the +untoward issue of the preceding one, the quality of the general and army +with whom he had to contend, the French general cautiously remained on +the defensive; and so skilfully were the measures of Marshal Boufflers +taken, that all the efforts of Marlborough were unable to force him to a +general action. The war in Flanders was thus limited to one of posts and +sieges; but in that the superiority of the Allied arms was successfully +asserted, Parliament having been prevailed on to consent to an +augmentation of the British contingent. But a treaty having been +concluded with Sweden, and various reinforcements having been received +from the lesser powers, preparations were made for the siege of Bonn, on +the Rhine, a frontier town of Flanders, of great importance from its +commanding the passage of that artery of Germany, and stopping, while in +the enemy's hands, all transit of military stores or provisions for the +use of the armies in Bavaria, or on the Upper Rhine. The batteries +opened with seventy heavy guns and English mortars on the 14th May 1704; +a vigorous sortie with a thousand foot was repulsed, after having at +first gained some success, on the following day, and on the 16th two +breaches having been declared practicable, the garrison surrendered at +discretion. After this success, the army moved against Huys, and it was +taken with its garrison of 900 men on the 23d August. Marlborough and +the English generals, after this success, were decidedly of opinion that +it would be advisable at all hazard to attempt forcing the French lines, +which were strongly fortified between Mehaigne and Leuwe, and a strong +opinion to that effect was transmitted to the Hague on the very day +after the fall of Huys.[7] They alleged with reason, that the Allies +being superior in Flanders, and the French having the upper hand in +Germany and Italy, it was of the utmost importance to follow up the +present tide of success in the only quarter where it flowed in their +favour, and counterbalance disasters elsewhere, by decisive events in +the quarter where it was most material to obtain it. The Dutch +government, however, set on getting a barrier for themselves, could not +be brought to agree to this course, how great soever the advantages +which it promised, and insisted instead, that he should undertake the +siege of Limbourg, which lay open to attack. This was accordingly done; +the trenches were commenced in the middle of September, and the garrison +capitulated on the 27th of the same month: a poor compensation for the +total defeat of the French army, which would in all probability have +ensued if the bolder plan of operation he had so earnestly counselled +had been adopted.[8] This terminated the campaign of 1703, which, though +successful, had led to very different results from what might have been +anticipated if Marlborough's advice had been followed, and an earlier +victory of Ramillies laid open the whole Flemish plains. Having +dispatched eight battalions to reinforce the Prince of Hesse, who had +sustained serious disaster on the Moselle, he had an interview with the +Archduke Charles, whom the Allies had acknowledged as King of Spain, who +presented him with a magnificent sword set with diamonds, and set out +for the Hague, from whence he again returned to London to concert +measures for the ensuing campaign, and stimulate the British government +to the efforts necessary for its successful prosecution. + +But while success had thus attended all the operations of the Allies in +Flanders, where the English contingent acted, and Marlborough had the +command, affairs had assumed a very different aspect in Germany and +Italy. The French were there superior alike in the number and quality of +their troops, and, in Germany at least, in the skill with which they +were commanded. Early in June, Marshal Tallard assumed the command of +the French forces in Alsace, passed the Rhine at Strasburg on the 16th +July, took Brissac on the 7th September, and invested Landau on the 16th +October. The Allies, under the Prince of Hesse, attempted to raise the +siege, but were defeated with considerable loss; and, soon after, Landau +surrendered, thus terminating with disaster the campaign on the Upper +Rhine. Still more considerable were the disasters sustained in Bavaria. +Marshal Villars there commanded, and at the head of the French and +Bavarians, defeated General Stirum, who headed the Imperialists, on the +20th September. In December, Marshal Marsin, who had succeeded Villars +in the command, made himself master of the important city of Augsburg, +and in January 1704 the Bavarians got possession of Passau. Meanwhile, a +formidable insurrection had broken out in Hungary, which so distracted +the cabinet of Vienna, that that capital itself seemed to be threatened +by the combined forces of the French and Bavarians after the fall of +Passau. No event of importance took place in Italy during the campaign; +Count Strahremberg, who commanded the Imperial forces, having with great +ability forced the Duke de Vendome, who was at the head of a superior +body of French troops, to retire. But in Bavaria and on the Danube, it +was evident that the Allies were overmatched; and to the restoration of +the balance in that quarter, the anxious attention of the confederates +was turned during the winter of 1703-4. The dangerous state of the +Emperor and the empire awakened the greatest solicitude at the Hague, as +well as unbounded terror at Vienna, from whence the most urgent +representations were made on the necessity of reinforcements being sent +from Marlborough to their support. But though this was agreed to by +England and Holland, so straitened were the Dutch finances, that they +were wholly unable to form the necessary magazines to enable the Allies +to commence operations. Marlborough, during the whole of January and +February 1704, was indefatigable in his efforts to overcome these +difficulties; and the preparations having at length been completed, it +was agreed by the States, according to a plan of the campaign laid down +by Marlborough, that he himself should proceed into Bavaria with the +great body of the Allied army in Flanders, leaving only an army of +observation there, to restrain any incursion which the French troops +might attempt during his absence. + +Marlborough began his march with the great body of his forces on the 8th +May, and crossing the Meuse at Maestricht, proceeded with the utmost +expedition towards the Rhine by Bedbourg and Kirpen, and arrived at Bonn +on the 22d May. Meanwhile, the French were also powerfully reinforcing +their army on the Danube. Early in the same month 26,000 men joined the +Elector of Bavaria, while Villeroi with the army of Flanders was +hastening in the same direction. Marlborough having obtained +intelligence of these great additions to the enemy's forces in the vital +quarter, wrote to the States-General, that unless they promptly sent him +succour, the Emperor would be entirely ruined.[9] Meanwhile, however, +relying chiefly on himself, he redoubled his activity and diligence. +Continuing his march up the Rhine by Coblentz and Cassel, opposite +Mayence, he crossed the Necker near Ladenbourg on the 3d June. From +thence he pursued his march without intermission by Mundelshene, where +he had, on the 10th June, his first interview with Prince Eugene, who +had been called from Italy to co-operate in stemming the torrent of +disaster in Germany. From thence he advanced by Great Heppach to +Langenau, and first came in contact with the enemy on the 2d July, on +the Schullenberg, near Donawert. Marlborough, at the head of the +advanced guard of nine thousand men, there attacked the French and +Bavarians, 12,000 strong, in their intrenched camp, which was extremely +strong, and after a desperate resistance, aided by an opportune attack +by the Prince of Baden, who commanded the Emperor's forces, carried the +intrenchments, with the whole artillery which they mounted, and the loss +of 7000 men and thirteen standards to the vanquished. He was inclined to +venture upon this hazardous attempt by having received intelligence on +the same day from Prince Eugene, that Marshals Villeroi and Tallard, at +the head of fifty battalions, and sixty squadrons of their best troops, +had arrived at Strasburg, and were using the utmost diligence to reach +the Bavarian forces through the defiles of the Black Forest. + +This brilliant opening of the German campaign was soon followed by +substantial results. A few days after Rain surrendered, Aicha was +carried by assault; and, following up his career of success, Marlborough +advanced to within a league of Augsburg, under the cannon of which the +Elector of Bavaria was placed with the remnant of his forces, in a +situation too strong to admit of its being forced. He here made several +attempts to detach the Elector, who was now reduced to the greatest +straits, from the French alliance; but that prince, relying on the great +army, forty-five thousand strong, which Marshal Tallard was bringing up +to his support from the Rhine, adhered with honourable fidelity to his +engagements. Upon this, Marlborough took post near Friburg, in such a +situation as to cut him off from all communication with his dominions; +and ravaged the country with his light troops, levying contributions +wherever they went, and burning the villages with savage ferocity as far +as the gates of Munich. Thus was avenged the barbarous desolation of the +Palatinate, thirty years before, by the French army under the orders of +Marshal Turenne. Overcome by the cries of his suffering subjects, the +Elector at length consented to enter into a negotiation, which made some +progress; but the rapid approach of Marshal Tallard with the French army +through the Black Forest, caused him to break it off, and hazard all on +the fortune of war. Unable to induce the Elector, by the barbarities +unhappily, at that time, too frequent on all sides in war, either to +quit his intrenched camp under the cannon of Augsburg, or abandon the +French alliance, the English general undertook the siege of Ingolstadt; +he himself with the main body of the army covering the siege, and Prince +Louis of Baden conducting the operations in the trenches. Upon this, the +Elector of Bavaria broke up from his strong position, and, abandoning +with heroic resolution his own country, marched to Biberbach, where he +effected his junction with Marshal Tallard, who now threatened Prince +Eugene with an immediate attack. No sooner had he received intelligence +of this, than Marlborough, on the 10th of August, sent the Duke of +Wirtemburg with twenty-seven squadrons of horse to reinforce the prince; +and early next morning detached General Churchill with twenty battalions +across the Danube, to be in a situation to support him in case of need. +He himself immediately after followed, and joined the Prince with his +whole army on the 11th. Every thing now presaged decisive events. The +Elector had boldly quitted Bavaria, leaving his whole dominions at the +mercy of the enemy, except the fortified cities of Munich and Augsburg, +and periled his crown upon the issue of war at the French headquarters; +while Marlborough and Eugene had united their forces, with a +determination to give battle in the heart of Germany, in the enemy's +territory, with their communications exposed to the utmost hazard, under +circumstances where defeat could be attended with nothing short of total +ruin. + +The French and Bavarian army consisted of fifty-five thousand men, of +whom nearly forty-five thousand were French troops, the very best which +the monarchy could produce. Marlborough and Eugene had sixty-six +battalions and one hundred and sixty squadrons, which, with the +artillery, might be about fifty thousand combatants. The forces on the +opposite sides were thus nearly equal in point of numerical amount; but +there was a wide difference in their composition. Four-fifths of the +French army were national troops, speaking the same language, animated +by the same feelings, accustomed to the same discipline, and the most of +whom had been accustomed to act together. The Allies, on the other hand, +were a motley assemblage, like Hannibal's at Cannae, or Wellington's at +Waterloo, composed of the troops of many different nations, speaking +different languages, trained to different discipline, but recently +assembled together, and under the orders of a stranger general, one of +those haughty islanders, little in general inured to war, but whose cold +or supercilious manners had so often caused jealousies to arise in the +best cemented confederacies. English, Prussians, Danes, Wirtemburgers, +Dutch, Hanoverians, and Hessians, were blended in such nearly equal +proportions, that the arms of no one state could be said by its +numerical preponderance to be entitled to the precedence. But the +consummate address, splendid talents, and conciliatory manners of +Marlborough, as well as the brilliant valour which the English auxiliary +force had displayed on many occasions, had won for them the lead, as +they had formerly done when in no greater force among the confederates +under Richard Coeur-de-Lion in the Holy War. It was universally felt +that upon them, as the Tenth Legion of Caesar, or the Old Guard of +Napoleon, the weight of the contest at the decisive moment would fall. +The army was divided into two _corps-d'armee_; the first commanded by +the duke in person, being by far the strongest, destined to bear the +weight of the contest, and carry in front the enemy's position. These +two corps, though co-operating, were at such a distance from each other, +that they were much in the situation of the English and Prussians at +Waterloo, or Napoleon and Ney's corps at Bautzen. The second, under +Prince Eugene, which consisted chiefly of cavalry, was much weaker in +point of numerical amount, and was intended for a subordinate attack, to +distract the enemy's attention from the principal onset in front under +Marlborough.[10] With ordinary officers, or even eminent generals of a +second order, a dangerous rivalry for the supreme command would +unquestionably have arisen, and added to the many seeds of division and +causes of weakness which already existed in so multifarious an array. +But these great men were superior to all such petty jealousies. Each, +conscious of powers to do great things, and proud of fame already +acquired, was willing to yield what was necessary for the common good to +the other. They had no rivalry, save a noble emulation who should do +most for the common cause in which they were jointly engaged. From the +moment of their junction it was agreed that they should take the command +of the whole army day about; and so perfectly did their views on all +points coincide, and so entirely did their noble hearts beat in unison, +that during eight subsequent campaigns that they for the most part acted +together, there was never the slightest division between them, nor any +interruption of the harmony with which the operations of the Allies were +conducted. + +The French position was in places strong, and their disposition for +resistance at each point where they were threatened by attack from the +Allied forces, judicious; but there was a fatal defect in its general +conception. Marshal Tallard was on the right, resting on the Danube, +which secured him from being turned in that quarter, having the village +of BLENHEIM in his front, which was strongly garrisoned by twenty-six +battalions and twelve squadrons, all native French troops. In the centre +was the village of Oberglau, which was occupied by fourteen battalions, +among whom were three Irish corps of celebrated veterans. The +communication between Blenheim and Oberglau was kept up by a screen +consisting of eighty squadrons, in two lines, having two brigades of +foot, consisting of seven battalions, in its centre. The left, opposite +Prince Eugene, was under the orders of Marshal Marsin, and consisted of +twenty-two battalions of infantry and thirty-six squadrons, consisting +for the most part of Bavarians and Marshal Marsin's men, posted in front +of the village of Lutzingen. Thus the French consisted of sixty-nine +battalions and a hundred and thirty-four squadrons, and were posted in a +line strongly supported at each extremity, but weak in the centre, and +with the wings, where the great body of the infantry was placed, at such +a distance from each other, that, if the centre was broken through, each +ran the risk of being enveloped by the enemy, without the other being +able to render them any assistance. This danger as to the troops in +Blenheim, the flower of their army, was much augmented by the +circumstance, that if their centre was forced where it was formed of +cavalry only, and the victors turned sharp round towards Blenheim, the +horse would be driven headlong into the Danube, and the foot in that +village would run the hazard of being surrounded or pushed into that +river, which was not fordable, even for horse, in any part. But though +these circumstances would, to a far-seeing general, have presaged +serious disaster in the event of defeat, yet the position was strong in +itself, and the French generals, long accustomed to victory, had some +excuse for not having taken sufficiently into view the contingencies +likely to occur in the event of defeat. Both the villages at the +extremity of their line had been strengthened, not only with +intrenchments hastily thrown up around them, thickly mounted with heavy +cannon, but with barricades at all their principal entrances, formed of +overturned carts and all the furniture of the houses, which they had +seized upon, as the insurgents did at Paris in 1830, for that purpose. +The army stood upon a hill or gentle eminence, the guns from which +commanded the whole plain by which alone it could be approached; and +this plain was low, and intersected on the right, in front of Blenheim, +by a rivulet which flows down by a gentle descent to the Danube, and in +front of Oberglau by another rivulet, which runs in two branches till +within a few paces of the Danube; into which it also empties itself. +These rivulets had bridges over them at the points where they flowed +through villages; but they were difficult of passage in the other places +for cavalry and artillery, and, with the ditches cut in the swampy +meadows through which they flowed, proved no small impediment to the +advance of the Allied army. + +The Duke of Marlborough, before the action began, in person visited each +important battery, in order to ascertain the range of the guns. The +troops under his command were drawn up in four lines; the infantry being +in front, and the cavalry behind, in each line. This arrangement was +adopted in order that the infantry, which would get easiest through the +streams, might form on the other side, and cover the formation of the +cavalry, who might be more impeded. The fire of cannon soon became very +animated on both sides, and the infantry advanced to the edge of the +rivulets with that cheerful air and confident step which is so often the +forerunner of success. On Prince Eugene's side the impediments, however, +proved serious; the beds of the rivulets were so broad, that they +required to be filled up with fascines before they could be passed by +the guns; and when they did get across, they replied without much effect +to the French cannon thundering from the heights, which commanded the +whole field. At half-past twelve, however, these difficulties were, by +great efforts on the part of Prince Eugene and his wing, overcome, and +he sent word to Marlborough that he was ready. The English general +instantly called for his horse; the troops every where stood to their +arms, and the signal was given to advance. The rivulets and marshy +ground in front of Blenheim and Unterglau were passed by the first line +without much difficulty, though under a heavy fire of artillery from the +French batteries; and the firm ground on the slope being reached, the +first line advanced in the finest order to the attack--the cavalry in +front having now defiled to a side, so as to let the English infantry +take the lead. The attack must be given in the words of Dr Hare's +Journal. + + "Lord Cutts made the first attack upon Blenheim, with the English + grenadiers. Brigadier-general Rowe led up his brigade, which formed + the first line, and was sustained in the second by a brigade of + Hessians. Rowe was within thirty paces of the palisades about + Blenheim when the enemy gave their first fire, by which a great + many officers and men fell; but notwithstanding this, that brave + officer marched direct up to the pales, on which he struck his + sword before he allowed his men to fire. His orders were to enter + at the point of the bayonet; but the superiority of the enemy, and + the strength of their post, rendered this impossible. The first + line was therefore forced to retire; Rowe was struck down badly + wounded at the foot of the pales; his lieut.-colonel and major were + killed in endeavouring to bring him off, and some squadrons of + French gens-d'armes having charged the brigade while retiring in + disorder, it was partially broken, and one of the colours of Rowe's + regiment was taken. The Hessians in the second line upon this + advanced briskly forward, charged the squadrons, retook the colour, + and repulsed them. Lord Cutts, however, seeing fresh squadrons + coming down upon him, sent to request some cavalry should be sent + to cover his flank. Five British squadrons accordingly were moved + up, and speedily charged by eight of the enemy; the French gave + their fire at a little distance, but the English charged sword in + hand, and put them to the rout. Being overpowered, however, by + fresh squadrons, and galled by the fire which issued from the + enclosures of Blenheim, our horse were driven back in their turn, + and recoiled in disorder. + + "Marlborough, foreseeing that the enemy would pursue this + advantage, resolved to bring his whole cavalry across the rivulets. + The operation was begun by the English horse. It proved more + difficult, however, than was expected, especially to the English + squadrons; as they had to cross the rivulet where it was divided, + and the meadows were very soft. However, they surmounted those + difficulties, and got over; but when they advanced, they were so + severely galled by the infantry in Blenheim firing upon their + flank, while the cavalry charged them in front, that they were + forced to retire, which they did, under cover of Bulow and + Bothmer's German dragoons, who succeeded them in the passage. + Marlborough, seeing the enemy resolute to maintain the ground + occupied by his cavalry, gave orders for the whole remainder of his + cavalry to pass wherever they could get across. There was very + great difficulty and danger in defiling over the rivulet in the + face of an enemy, already formed and supported by several batteries + of cannon; yet by the brave examples and intrepidity of the + officers, they were at length got over, and kept their ground on + the other side. Bulow stretched across, opposite to Oberglau, with + the Danish and Hanoverian horse; but near that village they were so + vigorously charged by the French cavalry, that they were driven + back. Rallying, they were again led to the charge, and again routed + with great slaughter by the charges of the horse in front, and the + dreadful fire from the inclosures of Blenheim. Nor did the attack + on Oberglau to the British right, under Prince Holstein, succeed + better; no sooner had he passed the rivulet, than the Irish + veterans, posted there, came pouring down upon them, took the + prince prisoner, and threw the whole into confusion. Upon this, + Marlborough galloped to the spot at the head of some squadrons, + followed by three battalions, which had not yet been engaged. With + the horse he charged the Irish battalions in flank, and forced them + back; the foot he posted himself, and having re-established affairs + at that point, returned rapidly to the left, where he found the + whole of his corps passed over the streams, and on firm ground on + the other side. The horse were drawn up in two lines fronting the + enemy; the foot in two lines behind them; and some guns, under + Colonel Blood, having been hurried across by means of pontoons, + were brought to bear upon some battalions of foot which were + intermingled with the enemy's horse, and made great havoc in their + ranks. + + "It was now past three, and the Duke, having got his whole men + ready for the attack, sent to Prince Eugene to know if he was ready + to support him. But the efforts of that gallant prince had not been + attended with the same success. In the first onset, indeed, his + Danish and Prussian infantry had gained considerable success, and + taken six guns, and the Imperial cavalry had, by a vigorous charge, + broken the first line of the enemy's horse; but they failed in + their attack on the second line, and were driven back to their + original ground; whereupon the Bavarian cavalry, rushing forward, + enveloped Eugene's foot, who were forced to retire, and with + difficulty regained their original ground. Half an hour afterwards, + Prince Eugene made a second attack with his horse; but they were + again repulsed by the bravery of the Bavarian cavalry, and driven + for refuge into the wood, in the rear of their original position. + Nothing daunted by this bad success, the Prince formed his troops + for a third attack, and himself led his cavalry to the charge; but + so vigorous was the defence, that they were again repulsed to the + wood, and the victorious enemy's dragoons with loud cheers charged + the Prussian foot in flank, and were only repelled by the admirable + steadiness with which they delivered their fire, and stood their + ground with fixed bayonets in front. + + "About five the general forward movement was made which determined + the issue of this great battle, which till then had seemed + doubtful. The Duke of Marlborough, having ridden along the front, + gave orders to sound the charge, when all at once our lines of + horse moved on, sword in hand, to the attack. Those of the enemy + presented their carbines at some distance and fired; but they had + no sooner done so than they wheeled about, broke, and fled. The + gens-d'armes fled towards Hochstedt, which was about two miles in + the rear; the other squadrons towards the village of Sondersheim, + which was nearer, and on the bank of the Danube. The Duke ordered + General Hompesch, with thirty squadrons, to pursue those who fled + to Hochstedt; while he himself, with Prince Hesse and the whole + remainder of the cavalry, drove thirty of the enemy's squadrons + headlong down the banks of the Danube, which, being very steep, + occasioned the destruction of the greater part. Vast numbers + endeavoured to save themselves by swimming, and perished miserably. + Among the prisoners taken here were Marshal Tallard and his suite, + who surrendered to M. Beinenbourg, aid-de-camp to the Prince of + Hesse. Marlborough immediately desired him to be accommodated with + his coach, and sent a pencil note to the duchess[11] to say the + victory was gained. Others, seeing the fate of their comrades in + the water, endeavoured to save themselves by defiling to the right, + along its margin, towards Hochstedt, but they were met and + intercepted by some English squadrons; upon seeing which they fled + in utter confusion towards Morselingen, and did not again attempt + to engage. The victorious horse upon this fell upon several of the + enemy's battalions, who had nearly reached Hochstedt, and cut them + to pieces. + + "Meanwhile Prince Eugene, by a fourth attack, succeeded in driving + the Elector of Bavaria from his position; and the Duke, seeing + this, sent orders to the squadrons in pursuit, towards Morselingen, + to wheel about and join him. All this while the troops in Blenheim + had been incessantly attacked, but it still held out and gave + employment to the Duke's infantry. The moment the cavalry had + beaten off that of the enemy, and cleared the field between the two + villages of them, General Churchill moved both lines of foot upon + the village of Blenheim, and it was soon surrounded so as to cut + off all possibility of escape except on the side next the Danube. + To prevent the possibility of their escape that way, Webb, with the + Queen's regiment, took possession of a barrier the enemy had + constructed to cover their retreat, and, having posted his men + across the street which led to the Danube, several hundreds of the + enemy, who were attempting to make their escape that way, were made + prisoners. The other issue to the Danube was occupied in the same + manner by Prince George's regiment: all who came out that way were + made prisoners or driven into the Danube. Some endeavoured to break + out at other places, but General Wood, with Lord John Hay's + regiment of _grey_ dragoons (Scots Greys) immediately advanced + towards them, and, cantering up to the top of a rising ground, made + them believe they had a larger force behind them, and stopped them + on that side. When Churchill saw the defeat of the enemy's horse + decided, he sent to request Lord Cutts to attack them in front, + while he himself attacked them in flank. This was accordingly done; + the Earl of Orkney and General Ingoldesby entering the village at + the same time, at two different places, at the head of their + respective regiments. But so vigorous was the resistance made by + the enemy, especially at the churchyard, that they were forced to + retire. The vehement fire, however, of the cannon and howitzers, + which set fire to several barns and houses, added to the + circumstance of their commander, M. Clerambault, having fled, and + their retreat on all sides being cut off, led to their surrendering + at discretion, to the number of six-and-twenty battalions. Thus + concluded this great battle, in which the enemy had 5900 more than + the Allies,[12] and the advantage of a very strong position, + difficult of attack."[13] + +In this battle Marlborough's wing lost 3000 men, and Eugene's the same +number, in all 6000. The French lost 13,000 prisoners, including 1200 +officers, almost all taken by Marlborough's wing, besides 34 pieces of +cannon, 26 standards, and 90 colours; Eugene took 13 pieces. The killed +and wounded were 14,000 more. But the total loss of the French and +Bavarians, including those who deserted during their calamitous retreat +through the Black Forest, was not less than 40,000 men,[14] a number +greater than any which they sustained till the still more disastrous day +of Waterloo. + +This account of the battle, which is by far the best and most +intelligible which has ever yet been published, makes it quite evident +to what cause the overwhelming magnitude of this defeat to the French +army was owing. The strength of the position consisted solely in the +rivulets and marshy grounds in its front; when they were passed, the +error of Marshal Tallard's disposition of his troops was at once +apparent. The infantry was accumulated in useless numbers in the +villages. Of the twenty-six battalions in Blenheim, twenty were useless, +and could not get into action, while the long line of cavalry from +thence to Oberglau was sustained only by a few battalions of foot, +incapable of making any effective resistance. This was the more +inexcusable, as the French, having sixteen battalions of infantry more +than the Allies, should at no point have shown themselves inferior in +foot soldiers to their opponents. When the curtain of horse which +stretched from Blenheim to Oberglau was broken through and driven off +the field, the 13,000 infantry accumulated in the former of these +villages could not avoid falling into the enemy's hands; for they were +pressed between Marlborough's victorious foot and horse on the one side, +and the unfordable stream of the Danube on the other. But Marlborough, +it is evident, evinced the capacity of a great general in the manner in +which he surmounted these obstacles, and took advantage of these faulty +dispositions; resolutely, in the first instance, overcoming the numerous +impediments which opposed the passage of the rivulets, and then +accumulating his horse and foot for a grand attack on the enemy's +centre, which, besides destroying above half the troops assembled there, +and driving thirty squadrons into the Danube, cut off, and isolated the +powerful body of infantry now uselessly crowded together in Blenheim, +and compelled them to surrender. + +Immense were the results of this transcendent victory. The French army, +lately so confident in its numbers and prowess, retreated "or rather +fled," as Marlborough says, through the Black Forest; abandoning the +Elector of Bavaria and all the fortresses on the Danube to their fate. +In the deepest dejection, and the utmost disorder, they reached the +Rhine, scarce twelve thousand strong, on the 25th August, and +immediately began defiling over by the bridge of Strasburg. How +different from the triumphant army, which with drums beating, and +colours flying, had crossed at the same place six weeks before! +Marlborough, having detached part of his force to besiege Ulm, drew near +with the bulk of his army to the Rhine, which he passed near Philipsburg +on the 6th September, and soon after commenced the siege of Landau, on +the French side; Prince Louis with 20,000 men forming the besieging +force, and Eugene and Marlborough with 30,000 the covering army. Ulm +surrendered on the 16th September, with 250 pieces of cannon, and 1200 +barrels of powder, which gave the Allies a solid foundation on the +Danube, and effectually crushed the power of the Elector of Bavaria, +who, isolated now in the midst of his enemies, had no alternative but to +abandon his dominions, and seek refuge in Brussels, where he arrived in +the end of September. Meanwhile, as the siege of Landau was found to +require more time than had been anticipated, owing to the extraordinary +difficulties experienced in getting up supplies and forage for the +troops; Marlborough repaired to Hanover and Berlin to stimulate the +Prussian and Hanoverian cabinets to greater exertions in the common +cause, and he succeeded in making arrangements for the addition of 8000 +more Prussian troops to their valuable auxiliary force, to be added to +the army of the Imperialists in Italy, which stood much in need of +reinforcement. The Electress of Bavaria, who had been left Regent of +that State in the absence of the Elector in Flanders, had now no +resource left but submission; and a treaty was accordingly concluded in +the beginning of November, by which she agreed to disband all her +troops. Trarbach was taken in the end of December; the Hungarian +insurrection was appeased; Landau capitulated in the beginning of the +same month; a diversion which the enemy attempted on Treves was defeated +by Marlborough's activity and vigilance, and that city put in a +sufficient posture of defence; and the campaign being now finished, that +accomplished commander returned to the Hague, and London, to receive the +honour due for his past services, and urge their respective cabinets to +the efforts necessary to turn them to good account. + +Thus by the operations of one single campaign was Bavaria crushed, +Austria and Germany delivered. Marlborough's cross-march from Flanders +to the Danube, had extricated the Imperialists from a state of the +utmost peril, and elevated them at once to security, victory, and +conquest. The decisive blow struck at Blenheim, resounded through every +part of Europe; it at once destroyed the vast fabric of power which it +had taken Louis XIV., aided by the talents of Turenne, and the genius of +Vauban, so long to construct. Instead of proudly descending the valley +of the Danube, and threatening Vienna, as Napoleon afterwards did in +1805 and 1809, the French were driven in the utmost disorder across the +Rhine. The surrender of Trarbach and Landau gave the Allies a firm +footing on the left bank of that river. The submission of Bavaria +deprived the French of that great outwork, of which they have made such +good use in their German wars, the Hungarian insurrection, deprived of +the hoped-for aid from the armies on the Rhine, was pacified. Prussia +was induced by this great triumph to co-operate in a more efficient +manner in the common cause; the parsimony of the Dutch gave way before +the tumult of success; and the empire, delivered from invasion, was +preparing to carry its victorious arms into the heart of France. Such +results require no comment; they speak for themselves, and deservedly +place Marlborough in the very highest rank of military commanders. The +campaigns of Napoleon exhibit no more decisive or glorious results. + +Honours and emoluments of every description were showered on the English +hero for this glorious success. He was created a prince of the Holy +Roman empire,[15] and a tract of land in Germany erected into a +principality in his favour. His reception at the courts of Berlin and +Hanover resembled that of a sovereign prince; the acclamations of the +people, in all the towns through which he passed, rent the air; at the +Hague his influence was such that he was regarded as the real +Stadtholder. More substantial rewards awaited him in his own country. +The munificence of the queen and the gratitude of Parliament conferred +upon him the extensive honour and manor of Woodstock, long a royal +palace, and once the scene of the loves of Henry II. and the fair +Rosamond. By order of the Queen, not only was this noble estate settled +on the duke and his heirs, but the royal comptroller commenced a +magnificent palace for the duke on a scale worthy of his services and +England's gratitude. From this origin the superb palace of Blenheim has +taken its rise; which, although not built in the purest taste, or after +the most approved models, remains, and will long remain, a splendid +monument of a nation's gratitude, and of the genius of Vanbrugh. + +Notwithstanding the invaluable services thus rendered by Marlborough, +both to the Emperor of Germany and the Queen of England, he was far from +experiencing from either potentate that liberal support for the future +prosecution of the war, which the inestimable opportunity now placed in +their hands, and the formidable power still at the disposal of the enemy +so loudly required. As usual, the English Parliament were exceedingly +backward in voting supplies either of men or money; nor was the cabinet +of Vienna inclined to be more liberal in its exertions. Though the House +of Commons agreed to give L4,670,000 for the service of the ensuing +year; yet the land forces voted were only 40,000 men, although the +population of Great Britain and Ireland could not be at that period +under ten millions, while France, with about twenty millions, had above +two hundred thousand under arms. It is this excessive and invariable +reluctance of the English Parliament ever to make those efforts at the +commencement of a war, which are necessary to turn to a good account the +inherent bravery of its soldiers and frequent skill of its commanders, +that is the cause of the long duration of our Continental wars, and of +three-fourths of the national debt which now oppresses the empire, and, +in its ultimate results, will endanger its existence. The national +forces are, by the cry for economy and reduction which invariably is +raised in peace, reduced to so low an ebb, that it is only by successive +additions, made in many different years, that it can be raised up to any +thing like the amount requisite for successful operations. Thus disaster +generally occurs in the commencement of every war; or if, by the genius +of any extraordinary commander, as by that of Marlborough, unlooked-for +success is achieved in the outset, the nation is unable to follow it up; +the war languishes for want of the requisite support; the enemy gets +time to recover from his consternation; his danger stimulates him to +greater exertions; and many long years of warfare, deeply checkered with +disaster, and attended with an enormous expense, are required to obviate +the effects of previous undue pacific reduction. + +How bitterly Marlborough felt this want of support, on the part of the +cabinets both of London and Vienna, which prevented him from following +up the victory of Blenheim with the decisive operations against France +which he would otherwise have undoubtedly commenced, is proved by +various parts of his correspondence. On the 16th of December 1704, he +wrote to Mr Secretary Harley--"I am sorry to see nothing has been +offered yet, _nor any care taken by Parliament for recruiting the army_. +I mean chiefly the foot. It is of that consequence for an early +campaign, that without it _we may run the hazard of losing, in a great +measure, the fruits of the last_; and therefore, pray leave to recommend +it to you to advise with your friends, if any proper method can be +thought of, that may be laid before the House immediately, without +waiting my arrival."[16] Nor was the cabinet of Vienna, notwithstanding +the imminent danger they had recently run, more active in making the +necessary efforts to repair the losses of the campaign--"You cannot," +says Marlborough, "say more to us of the _supine negligence of the Court +of Vienna_, with reference to your affairs, _than we are sensible of +every where else_; and certainly if the Duke of Savoy's good conduct and +bravery at Verue had not reduced the French to a very low ebb, the game +must have been over before any help could come to you."[17] It is ever +thus, especially with states such as Great Britain, in which the +democratic element is so powerful as to imprint upon the measures of +government that disregard of the future, and aversion to present efforts +or burdens, which is the invariable characteristic of the bulk of +mankind. If Marlborough had been adequately supported and strengthened +after the decisive blow struck at Blenheim; that is, if the governments +of Vienna and London, with that of the Hague, had by a great and timely +effort doubled his effective force when the French were broken and +disheartened by defeat, he would have marched to Paris in the next +campaign, and dictated peace to the _Grand Monarque_ in his gorgeous +halls of Versailles. It was short-sighted economy which entailed upon +the nations the costs and burdens of the next ten years of the War of +the Succession, as it did the still greater costs and burdens of the +Revolutionary War, after the still more decisive success of the Allies +in the summer of 1793, when the iron frontier of the Netherlands was +entirely broken through, and their advanced posts, without any force to +oppose them, were within an hundred and sixty miles of Paris. + +This parsimony of the Allied governments, and their invincible +repugnance to the efforts and sacrifices which could alone bring, and +certainly would have brought, the war to an early and glorious issue, is +the cause of the subsequent conversion of the war into one of blockades +and sieges, and of its being transferred to Flanders, where its progress +was necessarily slow, and cost enormous, from the vast number of +strongholds which required to be reduced at every stage of the Allied +advance. It was said at the time, that in attacking Flanders in that +quarter, Marlborough took the bull by the horns; that France on the side +of the Rhine was far more vulnerable, and that the war was fixed in +Flanders, in order by protracting it to augment the profits of the +generals employed. Subsequent writers, not reflecting on the difference +of the circumstances, have observed the successful issue of the +invasions of France from Switzerland and the Upper Rhine in 1814, and +Flanders and the Lower Rhine in 1815, and concluded that a similar +result would have attended a like bold invasion under Marlborough and +Eugene. There never was a greater mistake. The great object of the war +was to wrest Flanders from France; when the lilied standard floated on +Brussels and Antwerp, the United Provinces were constantly in danger of +being swallowed up, and there was no security for the independence +either of England, Holland, or any of the German States. If Marlborough +and Eugene had had two hundred thousand effective men at their disposal, +as Wellington and Blucher had in 1815, or three hundred thousand, as +Schwartzenberg and Blucher had in 1814, they would doubtless have left +half their force behind them to blockade the fortresses, and with the +other half marched direct to Paris. But as they had never had more than +eighty thousand on their muster-rolls, and could not bring at any time +more than sixty thousand effective men into the field, this bold and +decisive course was impossible. The French army in their front was +rarely inferior to theirs, often superior; and how was it possible in +these circumstances to adventure on the perilous course of pushing on +into the heart of the enemy's territory, leaving the frontier +fortresses, yet unsubdued, in their rear? The disastrous issue of the +Blenheim campaign to the French arms, even when supported by the +friendly arms and all the fortresses of Bavaria, in the preceding year, +had shown what was the danger of such a course. The still more +calamitous issue of the Moscow campaign to the army of Napoleon, +demonstrated that even the greatest military talents, and most enormous +accumulation of military force, affords no security against the +incalculable danger of an undue advance beyond the base of military +operations. The greatest generals of the last age, fruitful beyond all +others in military talent, have acted on those principles, whenever they +had not an overwhelming superiority of forces at their command. +Wellington never invaded Spain till he was master of Ciudad Rodrigo and +Badajos; nor France till he had subdued St Sebastian and Pampeluna. The +first use which Napoleon made of his victories at Montenotte and Dego +was to compel the Court of Turin to surrender all their fortresses in +Piedmont; of the victory of Marengo, to force the Imperialists to +abandon the whole strongholds of Lombardy as far as the Adige. The +possession of the single fortress of Mantua in 1796, enabled the +Austrians to stem the flood of Napoleon's victories, and gain time to +assemble four different armies for the defence of the monarchy. The case +of half a million of men, flushed by victory, and led by able and +experienced leaders assailing a single state, is the exception, not the +rule. + +Circumstances, therefore, of paramount importance and irresistible +force, compelled Marlborough to fix the war in Flanders, and convert it +into one of sieges and blockades. In entering upon such a system of +hostility, sure, and comparatively free from risk, but slow and +extremely costly, the alliance ran the greatest risk of being +shipwrecked on the numerous discords, jealousies, and separate +interests, which, in almost every instance recorded in history, have +proved fatal to a great confederacy, if it does not obtain decisive +success at the outset, before these seeds of division have had time to +come to maturity. With what admirable skill and incomparable address +Marlborough kept together the unwieldy alliance will hereafter appear. +Never was a man so qualified by nature for such a task. He was courtesy +and grace personified. It was a common saying at the time, that neither +man nor woman could resist him. "Of all the men I ever knew," says no +common man, himself a perfect master of the elegances he so much +admired, "the late Duke of Marlborough possessed the graces in the +highest degree, not to say engrossed them. Indeed he got the most by +them, and contrary to the custom of profound historians, who always +assign deep causes for great events, I ascribe the better half of the +Duke of Marlborough's greatness to those graces. He had no brightness, +nothing shining in his genius. He had most undoubtedly an excellent +plain understanding, and sound judgment. But these qualities alone would +probably have never raised him higher than they found him, which was +page to James the Second's queen. But there the grace protected and +promoted him. His figure was beautiful, but his manner was irresistible, +either by man or woman. It was by this engaging, graceful manner, that +he was enabled, during all his war, to connect the various and jarring +powers of the Grand Alliance, and to carry them on to the main object of +the war, notwithstanding their private and separate views, jealousies, +and wrongheadedness. Whatever court he went to (and he was often obliged +to go to restive and refractory ones) he brought them into his measures. +The pensionary Heinsius, who had governed the United Provinces for forty +years, was absolutely governed by him. He was always cool, and nobody +ever observed the least variation in his countenance; he could refuse +more gracefully than others could grant, and those who went from him the +most dissatisfied as to the substance of their business, were yet +charmed by his manner, and, as it were, comforted by it."[18] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Letters and Despatches of John Churchill, First Duke of +Marlborough, from 1702 to 1712._ Edited by SIR GEORGE MURRAY, G.C.B., +Master-General of the Ordnance, &c. 3 vols. London, 1845. + +[2] "Marlborough," says Swift, "is as voracious as hell, and as +ambitious as the devil. What he desires above every thing is to be made +commander-in-chief for life, and it is to satisfy his ambition and his +avarice that he has opposed so many intrigues to the efforts made for +the restoration of peace." + +[3] "During the interval between the liberation of Marlborough and the +death of Queen Mary, we find him, in conjunction with Godolphin and many +others, maintaining a clandestine intercourse with the exiled family. On +the 2d May 1694, only a few days before he offered his services to King +William, he communicated to James, through Colonel Sackville, +intelligence of an expedition then fitting out, for the purpose of +destroying the fleet in Brest harbour."--COXE'S _Marlborough_, i. 75. +"Marlborough's conduct to the Stuarts," says Lord Mahon, "was a foul +blot on his memory. To the last he persevered in those deplorable +intrigues. In October 1713, he protested to a Jacobite agent he would +rather have his hands cut off than do any thing to prejudice King +James."--MAHON, i. 21-22. + +[4] "Galli turpe esse ducunt frumentum manu quaerere; itaque armati +alienos agros demetunt."--CAESAR. + +[5] _Despatches_, 21st September 1702. + +[6] _Despatches_, 23d October 1702. + +[7] Memorial, 24th August 1703.--_Despatches_, i. 165. + +[8] Marlborough was much chagrined at being interrupted in his meditated +decisive operations by the States-General, on this occasion. On the 6th +September, he wrote to them:--"Vos Hautes Puissances jugeront bien par +le camp que nous venons de prendre, qu'on n'a pas voulu se resoudre a +tenter les lignes. J'ai ete convaincu de plus en plus, depuis l'honneur +que j'ai eu de vous ecrire, par les avis que j'ai recu journellement de +la situation des ennemis, que cette entreprise n'etait pas seulement +practicable, mais meme qu'on pourrait en esperer tout le succes que je +m'etais propose: enfin l'occasion en est perdue, et je souhaite de tout +mon coeur qu'elle n'ait aucune facheuse suite, et qu'on n'ait pas lieu +de s'en repentir quand il sera trop tard."--MARLBOROUGH _aux Etats +Generaux_; _6 Septembre 1703. Despatches_, i. 173. + +[9] "Ce matin j'ai appris par une estafette que les ennemis avaient +joint l'Electeur de Baviere avec 26,000 hommes, et que M. de Villeroi a +passe la Meuse avec la meilleure partie de l'armee des Pays Bas, et +qu'il poussait sa marche en toute diligence vers la Moselle, de sorte +que, sans un prompt secours, l'empire court risque d'etre entierement +abime."--MARLBOROUGH, _aux Etats Generaux; Bonn_, _2 Mai 1704_. +_Despatches_, i. 274. + +[10] The following was the composition of these two corps, which will +show of what a motley array the Allied army was composed:-- + + Left wing, Marlborough. + Batt. Squad. + English, 14 14 + Dutch, 14 22 + Hessians, 7 7 + Hanoverians, 13 25 + Danes, 0 22 + -- -- + 48 86 + + Right wing, Eugene. + Batt. Squad. + Danes, 7 0 + Prussians, 11 15 + Austrians, 0 24 + Of the Empire, 0 35 + -- -- + 18 74 + +[11] This pencil note is still preserved at Blenheim. + +[12] French--Bat. 82. Squad. 146. Allies--Bat. 66. Squad. 160. At 500 to +a battalion, and 150 to a squadron, this gives a superiority of 5900 to +the French. + +[13] Marl., _Desp._ i. 402-409. + +[14] Cardonnell, Desp. to Lord Harley, 25th Sept. 1704, _Desp._ i. 410. +By intercepted letters it appeared the enemy admitted a loss of 40,000 +men before they reached the Rhine. Marlborough to the Duke of +Shrewsbury, 28th Aug. 1704, _Desp._ i. 439. + +[15] The holograph letter of the Emperor, announcing this honour, said, +with equal truth and justice--"I am induced to assign to your highness a +place among the princes of the empire, in order that it may universally +appear how much I acknowledge myself and the empire to be indebted to +the Queen of Great Britain, who sent her arms as far as Bavaria at a +time when the affairs of the empire, by the defection of the Bavarians +to the French, most needed that assistance and support:--And to your +Grace, likewise, to whose prudence and courage, together with the +bravery of the forces fighting under your command, the two victories +lately indulged by Providence to the Allies are principally attributed, +not only by the voice of fame, but by the general officers in my army +who had their share in your labour and your glory."--THE EMPEROR LEOPOLD +TO MARLBOROUGH, _28th August 1704_.--_Desp._ i. 538. + +[16] Marlborough to Mr Secretary Harley, 16th Dec. 1704.--_Desp._ i. +556. + +[17] Marlborough to Mr Hill at Turin, 6th Feb. 1705.--_Desp._ i. 591. + +[18] _Lord Chesterfield's Letters_, Lord Mahon's edition, i. 221-222. + + + + +PUSHKIN, THE RUSSIAN POET. + +No. II. + +SPECIMENS OF HIS LYRICS. + +TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL RUSSIAN, BY THOMAS B. SHAW, B.A. OF +CAMBRIDGE, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE IMPERIAL +ALEXANDER LYCEUM, TRANSLATOR OF "THE HERETIC," &c. &c. + + +In offering to the public the following specimens of Pushkin's poetry in +an English dress, the translator considers it part of his duty to make a +few remarks. The number and extent of these observations, he will, of +course, confine within the narrowest limits consistent with his +important duty of making his countrymen acquainted with the style and +character of Russia's greatest poet; a duty which he would certainly +betray, were he to omit to explain the chief points indispensable for +the true understanding, not only of the extracts which he has selected +as a sample of his author's productions, but of the general tone and +character of those productions, viewed as a whole. + +The translator wishes it therefore to be distinctly understood that he +by no means intends to offer, in the character of a complete poetical +portrait, the few pieces contained in these pages, but rather as an +attempt, however imperfect, to daguerreotype--by means of the most +faithful translation consistent with ease--_one_ of the various +expressions of Pushkin's literary physiognomy; to represent one phase of +his developement. + +That physiognomy is a very flexible and a varying one; Pushkin +(considered only as a _poet_) must be allowed to have attained very high +eminence in various walks of his sublime art; his works are very +numerous, and as diverse in their form as in their spirit; he is +sometimes a romantic, sometimes a legendary, sometimes an epic, +sometimes a satiric, and sometimes a dramatic poet;--in most, if not in +all, of these various lines he has attained the highest eminence as yet +recognised by his countrymen; and, consequently, whatever impression may +be made upon our readers by the present essay at a transfusion of his +works into the English language, will be necessarily a very imperfect +one. In the prosecution of the arduous but not unprofitable enterprise +which the translator set before himself three years ago--viz. the +communication to his countrymen of some true ideas of the scope and +peculiar character of Russian literature--he met with so much +discouragement in the unfavourable predictions of such of his friends as +he consulted with respect to the feasibility of his project, that he may +be excused for some degree of timidity in offering the results of his +labours to an English public. So great, indeed, was that timidity, that +not even the very flattering reception given to his two first attempts +at prose translation, has entirely succeeded in destroying it; and he +prefers, on the present occasion, to run the risk of giving only a +partial and imperfect reflection of Pushkin's intellectual features, to +the danger that might attend a more ambitious and elaborate version of +any of the poet's longer works. + +Pushkin is here presented solely in his _lyrical_ character; and, it is +trusted, that, in the selection of the compositions to be +translated--selections made from a very large number of highly +meritorious works--due attention has been paid not only to the intrinsic +beauty and merit of the pieces chosen, but also to the important +consideration which renders indispensable (in cases where we find an +_embarras de richesses_, and where the merit is equal) the adoption of +such specimens as would possess the greatest degree of novelty for an +English reader. + +The task of translating all Pushkin's poetry is certainly too dignified +a one, not to excite our ambition; and it is meditated, in the event of +the accompanying versions finding in England a degree of approbation +sufficiently marked to indicate a desire for more specimens, to extend +our present labours so far, as to admit passages of the most remarkable +merit from Pushkin's longer works; and, perhaps, even complete versions +of some of the more celebrated. Should, therefore, the British public +give the _fiat_ of its approbation, we would still further contribute to +its knowledge of the great Russian author, by publishing, for example, +some of the more remarkable _places_ in the poem of "Evgenii Oniegin," +the charming "Gypsies," scenes and passages from the tragedy of "Boris +Godunoff," the "Prisoner of the Caucasus," "Mazepa," &c. &c. + +With respect to the present or _lyrical_ specimens, we shall take the +liberty to make a few remarks, having reference to the principles which +have governed the translator in the execution of the versions; and we +shall afterwards preface each poem with a few words of notice, such as +may appear to be rendered necessary either by the subject or by the form +of the composition itself. + +Of the poetical merit of these translations, considered as English +poems, their writer has no very exalted idea; of their _faithfulness as +versions_, on the contrary, he has so deep a conviction, that he regrets +exceedingly the fact, that the universal ignorance prevailing in England +of the Russian language, will prevent the possibility of that important +merit--strict fidelity--being tested by the British reader. Let the +indulgent, therefore, remember, if we have in any case left an air of +stiffness and constraint but too perceptible in our work, that this +fault is to be considered as a sacrifice of grace at the altar of truth. +It would have been not only possible, but easy, to have spun a +collection of easy rhymes, bearing a general resemblance to the vigorous +and passionate poetry of Pushkin; but this would not have been a +_translation_, and a translation it was our object to produce. Bowring's +_Russian Anthology_ (not to speak of his other volumes of translated +poetry) is a melancholy example of the danger of this attractive but +fatal system; while the names of Cary, of Hay, and of Merivale, will +remain as a bright encouragement to those who have sufficient strength +of mind to prefer the "strait and narrow way" of masterly _translation_, +to the "flowery paths of dalliance" so often trodden by the +_paraphraser_. + +In all cases, the metre of the original, the musical movement and +modulation, has, as far as the translator's ear enabled him to judge, +been followed with minute exactness, and at no inconsiderable expense, +in some cases, of time and labour. It would be superfluous, therefore, +to state, that the number of lines in the English version is always the +same as in the original. It has been our study, wherever the differences +in the structure of the two languages would permit, to include the same +thoughts in the same number of lines. There is also a peculiarity of the +Russian language which frequently rendered our task still more arduous; +and the conquest of this difficulty has, we trust, conferred upon us the +right to speak of our triumph without incurring the charge of vanity. We +allude to the great abundance in the Russian of double terminations, and +the consequent recurrence of double rhymes, a peculiarity common also to +the Italian and Spanish versification, and one which certainly +communicates to the versification of those countries a character so +marked and peculiar, that no translator would be justified in neglecting +it. As it would be impossible, without the use of Russian types, to give +our readers an example of this from the writings of Pushkin, and as they +would be unable to pronounce such a quotation even if they saw it, we +will give an illustration of what we mean from the Spanish and the +Italian. + +The first is from the fourth book of the _Galatea_ of Cervantes-- + + "Venga a mirar a la pastora mia + Quien quisiere contar de gente en gente + Que vio otro sol, que daba luz al dia + Mas claro, que el que sale del oriente," &c.; + +and the second from Chiabrera's sublime _Ode on the Siege of Vienna_-- + + "E fino a quanto inulti + Sian, Signore, i tuoi servi? E fino a quanto + Dei barbarici insulti + Orgogliosa n'andra l'empia baldanza? + Dov'e, dov'e, gran Dio, l'antico vanto + Di tua alta possanza?" &c. &c. + +In the two passages here quoted, it will be observed that all the lines +end with two syllables, in both of which the rhyme is engaged; and an +English version of the above verses, however faithful in other respects, +which should omit to use the same species of double termination, and +content itself with the monosyllable rhyme, would indubitably lose some +of the harmony of the original. These double rhymes are far from +abundant in our monosyllabic language; but we venture to affirm, that +their conscientious employment would be found so valuable, as to amply +repay the labour and difficulty attending their search. + +We trust that our readers will pardon the apparent technicality of these +remarks, for the sake of the consideration which induced us to make +them. In all translation, even in the best, there is so great a loss of +spirit and harmony, that the conscientious labourer in this most +difficult and ungrateful art, should never neglect even the most +trifling precaution that tends to hinder a still further depreciation of +the gold of his original; not to mention the principle, that whatever it +is worth our while to do at all, it is assuredly worth our while to do +as well as we can. + + * * * * * + +The first specimen of Pushkin's lyric productions which we shall present +to our countrymen, "done into English," as Jacob Tonson was wont to +phrase it, "by an eminent hand," is a production considered by the +poet's critics to possess the very highest degree of merit in its +peculiar style. We have mentioned some details respecting the nature and +history of the Imperial Lyceum of Tsarskoe Selo, in which Pushkin was +educated, and we have described the peculiar intensity of feeling with +which all who quitted its walls looked back upon the happy days they had +spent within them, and the singular ardour and permanency of the +friendships contracted beneath its roof. On the anniversary of the +foundation (by the Emperor Alexander) of the institution, it is +customary for all the "old Lyceans" to dine together, in the same way as +the Eton, Harrow, or Rugby men are accustomed to unite once a-year in +honour of their school. On many of these occasions Pushkin contributed +to the due celebration of the event by producing poems of various +lengths, and different degrees of merit; we give here the best of these. +It was written during the poet's residence in the government of Pskoff, +and will be found, we think, a most beautiful and touching embodiment of +such feelings as would be suggested in the mind of one obliged to be +absent from a ceremony of the nature in question. Of the comrades whose +names Pushkin has immortalized in these lines, it is only necessary to +specify that the first, Korsakoff, distinguished among his youthful +comrades for his musical talents, met with an early death in Italy; a +circumstance to which the poet has touchingly alluded. Matiushkin is now +an admiral of distinction, and is commanding the Russian squadron in the +Black Sea. Of the two whom he mentions as having passed the anniversary +described in this poem (October 19, 1825) in his company, the first was +Pustchin, since dead, and the second the Prince Gortchakoff, whom he met +by accident, travelling in the neighbourhood of his (the poet's) +seclusion. Our readers cannot fail, we think, to be struck with the +beautiful passage consecrated to his friendship with Delvig; and the +only other personal allusion which seems to stand in need of +explanation, is that indicated by the name Wilhelm, towards the end of +the poem. This is the Christian name of his friend Kuechelbecher, since +dead, and whose family name was hardly harmonious enough to enter +Pushkin's line, and was therefore omitted on the Horatian +principle--"versu quod dicere nolim." We now hasten to present the +lines. + + OCTOBER 19, 1825. + + The woods have doff'd their garb of purply gold; + The faded fields with silver frost are steaming; + Through the pale clouds the sun, reluctant gleaming, + Behind the circling hills his disk hath roll'd. + Blaze brightly, hearth! my cell is dark and lonely: + And thou, O Wine, thou friend of Autumn chill, + Pour through my heart a joyous glow--if only + One moment's brief forgetfulness of ill! + + Ay, I am very sad; no friend is here + With whom to pledge a long unlooked-for meeting, + To press his hand in eagerness of greeting, + And wish him life and joy for many a year. + I drink alone; and Fancy's spells awaken-- + With a vain industry--the voice of friends: + No well-known footstep strikes mine ear forsaken, + No well-beloved face my heart attends. + + I drink alone; ev'n now, on Neva's shore, + Haply my name on friendly lips has trembled.... + Round that bright board, say, are ye _all_ assembled? + Are there no other names ye count no more? + Has our good custom been betray'd by others? + Whom hath the cold world lured from ye away? + Whose voice is silent in the call of brothers? + Who is not come? Who is not with you? Say! + + _He_ is not come, he of the curled hair, + He of the eye of fire and sweet-voiced numbers: + Beneath Italia's myrtle-groves he slumbers; + He slumbers well, although no friend was there, + Above the lonely grave where he is sleeping, + A Russian line to trace with pious hand, + That some sad wanderer might read it, weeping-- + Some Russian, wandering in a foreign land. + + Art _thou_ too seated in the friendly ring, + O restless Pilgrim? Haply now thou ridest + O'er the long tropic-wave; or now abidest + 'Mid seas with ice eternal glimmering! + Thrice happy voyage!... With a jest thou leapedst + From the Lyceum's threshold to thy bark, + Thenceforth thy path aye on the main thou keepedst, + O child beloved of wave and tempest dark! + + Well hast thou kept, 'neath many a stranger sky, + The loves, the hopes of Childhood's golden hour: + And old Lyceum scenes, by memory's power, + 'Mid lonely waves have ris'n before thine eye; + Thou wav'dst thy hand to us from distant ocean, + Ever thy faithful heart its treasure bore; + "A long farewell!" thou criedst, with fond emotion, + "Unless our fate hath doom'd we meet no more." + + The bond that binds us, friends, is fair and true! + Destructless as the soul, and as eternal-- + Careless and free, unshakable, fraternal, + Beneath the Muses' friendly shade it grew. + We are the same: wherever Fate may guide us, + Or Fortune lead--wherever we may go, + The world is aye a foreign land beside us; + _Our_ fatherland is Tsarkoe Selo! + + From clime to clime, pursued by storm and stress, + In Destiny's dark nets long time I wrestled, + Until on Friendship's lap I fluttering nestled, + And bent my weary head for her caress.... + With wistful prayers, with visionary grieving, + With all the trustful hope of early years, + I sought new friends with zeal and new believing; + But bitter was their greeting to mine ears. + + And even here, in this lone dwelling-place + Of desert-storm, of cold, and desolation, + There was prepared for me a consolation: + Three of ye here, O friends! did I embrace. + Thou enteredst first the poet's house of sorrow, + O Pustchin! thanks be with thee, thanks, and praise + Ev'n exile's bitter day from thee could borrow + The light and joy of old Lyceum-days. + + Thee too, my Gortchakoff; although thy name + Was Fortune's spell, though her cold gleam was on thee, + Yet from thy noble thoughts she never won thee: + To honour and thy fiends thou'rt still the same. + Far different paths of life to us were fated, + Far different roads before our feet were traced, + In a by-road, but for a moment mated, + We met by chance, and brotherly embraced. + + When sorrow's flood o'erwhelmd me, like a sea; + And like an orphan, houseless, poor, unfriended, + My head beneath the storm I sadly bended, + Seer of the Aonian maids! I look'd for thee: + Thou camest--lazy child of inspiration, + My Delvig; and thy voice awaken'd straight + In this numb'd heart the glow of consolation; + And I was comforted, and bless'd my fate. + + Even in infancy within us burn'd + The light of song--the poet-spell had bound us; + Even in infancy there flitted round us + Two Muses, whose sweet glamour soon we learn'd. + Even then _I_ loved applause--that vain delusion!-- + _Thou_ sang'st but for thy Muse, and for thy heart; + _I_ squander'd gifts and life with rash profusion, + _Thou_ cherishedst thy gifts in peace apart. + + The worship of the Muse no care beseems; + The Beautiful is calm, and high, and holy; + Youth is a cunning counsellor--of folly!-- + Lulling our sense with vain and empty dreams.... + Upon the past we gaze--the same, yet other-- + And find no trace.--We wake, alas! too late. + Was it not so with us, Delvig, my brother?-- + My brother in our Muse as in our fate! + + 'Tis time, 'tis time! Let us once more be free! + The world's not worth this torturing resistance! + Beneath retirement's shade will glide existence-- + Thee, my belated friend--I wait for thee! + Come! with the flame of an enchanted story + Tradition's lore shall wake, our hearts to move; + We'll talk of Caucasus, of war, of glory, + Of Schiller, and of genius, and of love. + + 'Tis time no less for me ... Friends, feast amain! + Behold, a joyful meeting is before us; + Think of the poet's prophecy; for o'er us + A year shall pass, and we shall meet again! + My vision's covenant shall have fulfilling; + A year--and I shall be with ye once more! + Oh, then, what shouts, what hand-grasps warm and thrilling! + What goblets skyward heaved with merry roar! + + Unto our Union consecrated be + The first we drain--fill higher yet, and higher! + Bless it, O Muse, in strains of raptured fire! + Bless it! All hail, Lyceum! hail to thee!-- + To those who led our youth with care and praises, + Living and dead! the next we grateful fill; + Let each, as to his lips the cup he raises, + The good remember, and forget the ill. + + Feast, then, while we are here, while yet we may: + Hour after hour, alas! Time thins our numbers; + One pines afar, one in the coffin slumbers; + Days fly; Fate looks on us; we fade away; + Bending insensibly to earth, and chilling, + We near our starting-place with many a groan.... + Whose lot will be in old age to be filling, + On this Lyceum-day, his cup _alone_? + + Unhappy friend! Amid a stranger race, + Like guest intrusive, that superfluous lingers, + He'll think of us that day, with quivering fingers + Hiding the tears that wet his wrinkled face.... + O, may he then at least, in mournful gladness, + Pass with his cup this day for ever dear, + As even I, in exile and in sadness, + Yet with a fleeting joy, have pass'd it here! + + * * * * * + +In the following lines, the poet has endeavoured to reproduce the +impressions made upon his mind by the mountain scenery of the Caucasus; +scenery which he had visited with such rapture, and to which his +imagination returned with undiminished delight. It has been our aim to +endeavour, in our translation, to give an echo, however feeble and +imperfect, of the wild and airy freedom of the versification which +distinguishes these spirited stanzas. The picture which they contain, +rough, sketchy, and unfinished, as it may appear, bears every mark of +being a faithful copy from nature--a study taken on the spot; and will +therefore, we trust, be not unacceptable to our readers, as calculated +to give an idea not only of the vigorous and rapid _handling_ of the +poet's pencil, but also of the wild and sublime region--the Switzerland +of Russia--which he has here essayed to portray. Of the two furious and +picturesque torrents which Pushkin has mentioned in this short poem, +Terek is certainly too well known to our geographical readers to need +any description of its course from the snow-covered peak of Darial to +the Caspian; and the bold comparison in the last stanza will doubtless +be found, though perhaps somewhat exaggerated, not deficient in a kind +of fierce AEschylean energy, perfectly in character with the violent and +thundering course of the torrent itself:-- + + CAUCASUS. + + Beneath me the peaks of the Caucasus lie, + My gaze from the snow-bordered cliff I am bending; + From her sun-lighted eyry the Eagle ascending + Floats movelessly on in a line with mine eye. + I see the young torrent's first leap towards the ocean, + And the cliff-cradled lawine essay its first motion. + + Beneath me the clouds in their silentness go, + The cataract through them in thunder down-dashing, + Far beneath them bare peaks in the sunny ray flashing, + Weak moss and dry shrubs I can mark yet below. + Dark thickets still lower--green meadows are blooming, + Where the throstle is singing, and reindeer are roaming. + + Here man, too, has nested his hut, and the flocks + On the long grassy slopes in their quiet are feeding, + And down to the valley the shepherd is speeding, + Where Aragva gleams out from her wood-crested rocks. + And there in his crags the poor robber is hiding, + And Terek in anger is wrestling and chiding. + + Like a fierce young Wild Beast, how he bellows and raves, + Like that Beast from his cage when his prey he espieth; + 'Gainst the bank, like a Wrestler, he struggleth and plyeth, + And licks at the rock with his ravening waves. + In vain, thou wild River! dumb cliffs are around thee, + And sternly and grimly their bondage hath bound thee. + + * * * * * + +To those who measure the value of a poem, less by the pretension and +ambitiousness of its form, than by the completeness of its execution and +the skill with which the leading idea is developed, we think that the +graceful little production which we are now about to present to the +reader, will possess very considerable interest. It is, it is true, no +more important a thing than a mere song; but the naturalness and unity +of the fundamental thought, and the happy employment of what is +undoubtedly one of the most effective artifices at the command of the +lyric writer--we mean repetition--render the following lines worthy of +the universal admiration which they have obtained in the original, and +may not be devoid of charm in the translation:-- + + TO * * * + + Yes! I remember well our meeting, + When first thou dawnedst on my sight, + Like some fair phantom past me fleeting, + Some nymph of purity and light. + + By weary agonies surrounded, + 'Mid toil, 'mid mean and noisy care, + Long in mine ear thy soft voice sounded, + Long dream'd I of thy features fair. + + Years flew; Fate's blast blew ever stronger, + Scattering mine early dreams to air, + And thy soft voice I heard no longer-- + No longer saw thy features fair. + + In exile's silent desolation + Slowly dragg'd on the days for me-- + Orphan'd of life, of inspiration, + Of tears, of love, of deity. + + I woke--once more my heart was beating-- + Once more thou dawnedst on my sight, + Like some fair phantom past me fleeting, + Some nymph of purity and light. + + My heart has found its consolation-- + All has revived once more for me-- + And vanish'd life, and inspiration, + And tears, and love, and deity. + + * * * * * + +The versification of the following little poem is founded on a system +which Pushkin seems to have looked upon with peculiar favour, as he has +employed the same metrical arrangement in by far the largest proportion +of his poetical works. So gracefully and so easily, indeed, has he +wielded this metre, and with so flexible, so delicate, and so masterly a +hand, that we could not refrain from attempting to imitate it in our +English version; for we considered that it is impossible to say how much +of the peculiar _character_ of a poet's writings depends upon the +colouring, or rather the _touch_--if we may borrow a phrase from the +vocabulary of the critic in painting--of the metre. Undoubtedly a poet +is the best judge not only of the kind, but of the degree of the effect +which he wishes to produce upon his reader; and there may be, between +the thoughts which he desires to embody, and the peculiar harmonies in +which he may determine to clothe those thoughts, analogies and +sympathies too delicate for our grosser ears; or, at least, if not too +subtle and refined for our ears to perceive, yet far too delicate for us +to define, or exactly to appreciate. Moved by this reasoning, we have +always preferred to follow, as nearly as we could, the exact +versification, and even the most minute varieties of tone and metrical +accentuation. Inattention to this point is undoubtedly the +stumbling-block of translators in general; of the dangerous consequences +of such inattention, it is not necessary to give any elaborate proof. +How much, we may ask, does not the poetry of Dante, for instance, lose, +by being despoiled of that great source of its peculiar effect springing +from the employment of the _terza rima_! It is in vain to say, that it +is enormously difficult to produce the _terza rima_ in English. To +translate the "gran padre Alighier" into English _worthily_, the _terza +rima must_ be employed, whatever be the obstacles presented by the +dissimilarities existing between the Italian and English languages. + + THE MOB. + + "Procul este, profani!" + + A Poet o'er his glowing lyre + A wild and careless hand had flung. + The base, cold crowd, that nought admire, + Stood round, responseless to his fire, + With heavy eye and mocking tongue. + + "And why so loudly is he singing?" + ('Twas thus that idiot mob replied,) + "His music in our ears is ringing; + But whither flows that music's tide? + What doth it teach? His art is madness! + He moves our soul to joy or sadness. + A wayward necromantic spell! + Free as the breeze his music floweth, + But fruitless, too, as breeze that bloweth, + What doth it profit, Poet, tell?" + + POET.--Cease, idiot, cease thy loathsome cant! + Day-labourer, slave of toil and want! + I hate thy babble vain and hollow. + Thou art a worm, no child of day: + Thy god is Profit--thou wouldst weigh + By pounds the Belvidere Apollo. + Gain--gain alone to thee is sweet. + The marble is a god! ... what of it + Thou count'st a pie-dish far above it-- + A dish wherein to cook thy meat! + + MOB.--But, if thou be'st the Elect of Heaven, + The gift that God has largely given, + Thou shouldst then for our good impart, + To purify thy brother's heart. + Yes, we are base, and vile, and hateful, + Cruel, and shameless, and ungrateful-- + Impotent and heartless tools, + Slaves, and slanderers, and fools. + Come then, if charity doth sway thee, + Chase from our hearts the viper-brood; + However stern, we will obey thee; + Yes, we will listen, and be good! + + POET.--Begone, begone! What common feeling + Can e'er exist 'twixt ye and me? + Go on, your souls in vices steeling; + The lyre's sweet voice is dumb to ye: + Go! foul as reek of charnel-slime, + In every age, in every clime, + Ye aye have felt, and yet ye feel, + Scourge, dungeon, halter, axe, and wheel. + Go, hearts of sin and heads of trifling, + From your vile streets, so foul and stifling, + They sweep the dirt--no useless trade! + But when, their robes with ordure staining, + Altar and sacrifice disdaining, + Did e'er your _priests_ ply broom and spade? + 'Twas not for life's base agitation + That _we_ were born--for gain nor care-- + No--we were born for inspiration, + For love, for music, and for prayer! + + * * * * * + +The ballad entitled "The Black Shawl" has obtained a degree of +popularity among the author's countrymen, for which the slightness of +the composition renders it in some measure difficult to account. It may, +perhaps, be explained by the circumstance, that the verses are in the +original exceedingly well adapted to be sung--one of the highest merits +of this class of poetry--for all ancient ballads, in every language +throughout the world, were specifically intended to be sung or chanted; +and all modern productions, therefore, written in imitation of these +ancient compositions--the first lispings of the Muse--can only be +successful in proportion as they possess the essential and +characteristic quality of being capable of being sung. Independently of +the highly musical arrangement of the rhythm, which, in the original, +distinguishes "The Black Shawl," the following verses cannot be denied +the merit of relating, in a few rapid and energetic measures, a simple +and striking story of Oriental love, vengeance, and remorse:-- + + THE BLACK SHAWL. + + Like a madman I gaze on a raven-black shawl; + Remorse, fear, and anguish--this heart knows them all. + + When believing and fond, in the spring-time of youth, + I loved a Greek maiden with tenderest truth. + + That fair one caress'd me--my life! oh, 'twas bright, + But it set--that fair day--in a hurricane night. + + One day I had bidden young guests, a gay crew, + When sudden there knock'd at my gate a vile Jew. + + "With guests thou art feasting," he whisperingly said, + "And _she_ hath betray'd thee--thy young Grecian maid." + + I cursed him, and gave him good guerdon of gold, + And call'd me a slave that was trusty and bold. + + "Ho! my charger--my charger!" we mount, we depart, + And soft pity whisper'd in vain at my heart. + + On the Greek maiden's threshold in frenzy I stood-- + I was faint--and the sun seem'd as darken'd with blood: + + By the maiden's lone window I listen'd, and there + I beheld an Armenian caressing the fair. + + The light darken'd round me--then flash'd my good blade.... + The minion ne'er finish'd the kiss that betray'd. + + On the corse of the minion in fury I danced, + Then silent and pale at the maiden I glanced. + + I remember the prayers and the red-bursting stream.... + Thus perish'd the maiden--thus perish'd my dream. + + This raven-black shawl from her dead brow I tore-- + On its fold from my dagger I wiped off the gore. + + The mists of the evening arose, and my slave + Hurl'd the corses of both in the Danube's dark wave. + + Since then, I kiss never the maid's eyes of light-- + Since then, I know never the soft joys of night. + + Like a madman I gaze on the raven-black shawl; + Remorse, fear, and anguish--this heart knows them all! + + * * * * * + +The pretty lines which we are now about to offer, are rather remarkable +as being written in the manner of the ancient national songs of Russia, +than for any thing very new in the ideas, or very striking in the +expression. They possess, however--at least in the original--a certain +charm arising from simplicity and grace. + + THE ROSE. + + Where is our rose, friends? + Tell if ye may! + Faded the rose, friends, + The Dawn-child of Day. + Ah, do not say, + Such is youth's fleetness! + Ah, do not say, + Thus fades life's sweetness! + No, rather say, + I mourn thee, rose--farewell! + Now to the lily-bell + Flit we away. + + * * * * * + +Among the thousand-and-one compositions, in all languages, founded upon +the sublime theme of the downfall and death of Napoleon, there are, we +think, very few which have surpassed, in weight of thought, in splendour +of diction, and in grandeur of versification, Pushkin's noble lyric upon +this subject. The mighty share which Russia had in overthrowing the +gigantic power of the greatest of modern conquerors, could not fail of +affording to a Russian poet a peculiar source of triumphant yet not too +exulting inspiration; and Pushkin, in that portion of the following ode +in which he is led more particularly to allude to the part played by his +country in the sublime drama, whose catastrophe was the ruin of +Bonaparte's blood-cemented empire, has given undeniable proof of his +possessing that union of magnanimity and patriotism, which is not the +meanest characteristic of elevated genius. While the poet gives full way +to the triumphant feelings so naturally inspired by the exploits of +Russian valour, and by the patient fortitude of Russian policy, he +wisely and nobly abstains on indulging in any of those outbursts of +gratified revenge and national hatred which deform the pages of almost +all--poets, and even historians--who have written on this colossal +subject. + + NAPOLEON. + + The wondrous destiny is ended, + The mighty light is quench'd and dead; + In storm and darkness hath descended + Napoleon's sun, so bright and dread. + The captive King hath burst his prison-- + The petted child of Victory; + And for the Exile hath arisen + The dawning of Posterity. + + O thou, of whose immortal story + Earth aye the memory shall keep, + Now, 'neath the shadow of thy glory + Rest, rest, amid the lonely deep! + A grave sublime ... nor nobler ever + Couldst thou have found ... for o'er thine urn + The Nations' hate is quench'd for ever, + And Glory's beacon-ray shall burn. + + There was a time thine eagles tower'd + Resistless o'er the humbled world; + There was a time the empires cower'd + Before the bolt thy hand had hurl'd: + The standards, thy proud will obeying, + Flapp'd wrath and woe on every wind-- + A few short years, and thou wert laying + Thine iron yoke on human kind. + + * * * * * + + And France, on glories vain and hollow, + Had fixed her frenzy-glance of flame-- + Forgot sublimer hopes, to follow + Thee, Conqueror, thee--her dazzling shame! + Thy legions' swords with blood were drunken-- + All sank before thine echoing tread; + And Europe fell--for sleep was sunken, + The sleep of death--upon her head. + + * * * * * + + Thou mightst have judged us, but thou wouldst not! + What dimm'd thy reason's piercing light, + That Russian hearts thou understoodst not, + From thine heroic spirit's height? + Moscow's immortal conflagration + Foreseeing not, thou deem'dst that we + Would kneel for peace, a conquer'd nation-- + Thou knew'st the Russ ... too late for thee! + + Up, Russia! Queen of hundred battles, + Remember now thine ancient right! + + * * * * * + + Blaze, Moscow!--Far shall shine thy light! + Lo! other times are dawning o'er us: + Be blotted out, our short disgrace! + Swell, Russia, swell the battle chorus! + War! is the watchword of our race! + + Lo! how the baffled leader seizeth, + With fetter'd hands, his Iron Crown-- + A dread abyss his spirit freezeth! + Down, down he goes, to ruin down! + And Europe's armaments are driven, + Like mist, along the blood-stain'd snow-- + That snow shall melt 'neath summer's heaven, + With the last footstep of the foe. + + 'Twas a wild storm of fear and wonder, + When Europe woke and burst her chain; + The accursed race, like scatter'd thunder, + After the tyrant fled amain. + And Nemesis a doom hath spoken, + The Mighty hears that doom with dread: + The wrongs thou'st done shall now be wroken, + Tyrant, upon thy guilty head! + + Thou shalt redeem thy usurpation, + Thy long career of war and crime, + In exile's eating desolation, + Beneath a far and stranger clime. + And oft the midnight sail shall wander + By that lone isle, thy prison-place, + And oft a stranger there shall ponder, + And o'er that stone a pardon trace, + + Where mused the Exile, oft recalling + The well-known clang of sword and lance, + The yells, Night's icy ear appalling; + His own blue sky--the sky of France; + Where, in his loneliness forgetting + His broken sword, his ruin'd throne, + With bitter grief, with vain regretting, + On his fair Boy he mused alone. + + But shame, and curses without number, + Upon that reptile head be laid, + Whose insults now shall vex the slumber + Of him--that sad discrowned shade! + No! for his trump the signal sounded, + Her glorious race when Russia ran; + His hand, 'mid strife and battle, founded + Eternal liberty for man! + + * * * * * + +The next specimen for which we have to request the indulgence of our +readers, is a little composition of a very different and much less +ambitious character. The idea is simple enough, and not, we think, +entirely devoid of originality--the primary object of every translator +in the selection of the subjects on which he is to exercise his +dexterity. + + THE STORM. + + See, on yon rock, a maiden's form, + Far o'er the wave a white robe flashing, + Around, before the blackening storm, + On the loud beach the billows dashing; + Along the waves, now red, now pale, + The lightning-glare incessant gleameth; + Whirling and fluttering in the gale, + The snowy robe incessant streameth; + Fair is that sea in blackening storm, + And fair that sky with lightnings riven, + But fairer far that maiden form, + Than wave, or flash, or stormy heaven! + + * * * * * + +We now come to one of the most remarkable lyric productions of our +Poet's genius, the "General;" and in order that our readers may be +enabled to understand and appreciate this exquisite little poem, we +shall preface it with a few remarks of an explanatory character; as the +_details_, at least, of the events upon which it is founded may not be +so generally known in England as they are in Russia. Our English +readers, however, are doubtless sufficiently familiar with the history +of the great campaign of the year 1812, which led to the burning of +Moscow, and to the consequent annihilation of the mighty army which +Napoleon led to perish in the snows of Russia, to remember one +remarkable episode connected with that most important campaign. They +remember that one of the Russian armies was placed under the command of +Field-marshal Barclay de Tolly, a general descended from an ancient +Scottish family which had been settled for some generations in Russia, +but who was in every respect to be considered as a native Russian, being +born a subject of the Tsar, and having, during a long life of service in +the Russian army, gradually reached the highest military rank, and +acquired a well-earned and universal reputation as an able strategist +and a brave man. The mode of operations determined on at the beginning +of this most momentous struggle, and persevered in throughout by the +Russians, with a patience and steadiness no less admirable than the +wisdom of the combinations on which they were founded, was a purely +defensive system of tactics. The event amply demonstrated the soundness +of the principles upon which those operations were based; for while +Napoleon was gradually attracted into the interior of the country by +armies which perpetually retired before him without giving him the +opportunity of coming to a general action, the autumn was gradually +passing away, and the flames of Moscow only served to light up, for the +French army, the beginning of their hopeless retreat through a country +now totally laid waste, and covered with the snows of a Russian winter. +This mode of operations, however, was by no means likely to please the +population of Russia, infuriated by the long unaccustomed presence of a +hostile army within their sacred frontier, and worked up by all the +circumstances of the invasion to the highest pitch of patriotic +enthusiasm. Unable to appreciate the value of what must have appeared to +them a timid and pusillanimous policy, they overwhelmed Barclay de Tolly +with violent accusations of cowardice, and even of treachery; rendered +the more plausible to the mind of the ignorant, by the circumstance of +their object being a foreigner--or at least of foreign blood. So violent +ultimately became these accusations, that although the Field-marshal +continued to enjoy the highest confidence and esteem of his sovereign, +it was found expedient to allow him to resign the chief command, in +which he was succeeded by Kutuzoff. Barclay de Tolly, during the greater +part of the campaign, fought as a simple general of division, in which +character (as Pushkin describes) he took part in the great battle of +Borodino. + +Barclay must still be considered as one of those distinguished persons +to whose memory justice has never been entirely done; and to do this +justice was Pushkin's generous task in the noble lines which follow +these remarks. No traveller has ever visited the winter palace of St +Petersburg without having been struck with the celebrated "Hall of +Marshals," which forms one of its most imposing features. In this +magnificent room are placed the portraits (chiefly painted by Dawe, an +English artist, who passed the greater part of his life in Russia) of +the Russian generals who figured in that great campaign; and among them +is to be found, of course, the "counterfeit presentment" of Barclay de +Tolly, painted, as the field-marshals are in every case in this gallery +of portraits, at full length. With respect to the versification of this +and several other poems which we have selected, the English reader will +not perhaps at first remark that it is nothing more than the measure +used by old Drayton in the _Polyolbion_, and one in which a great deal +of the earlier English poetry is written. It is very favourite measure +of our Russian poet, who has, however, increased, in some degree, its +difficulty for an English versifier, by introducing a great number of +double terminations. It will be found, indeed, that these double rhymes +are as numerous as the single or monosyllabic ones. + + THE GENERAL. + + In the Tsar's palace stands a hall right nobly builded; + Its walls are neither carved, nor velvet-hung, nor gilded, + Nor here beneath the glass doth pearl or diamond glow; + But wheresoe'er ye look, around, above, below, + The quick-eyed Painter's hand, now bold, now softly tender, + From his free pencil here hath shed a magic splendour. + Here are no village nymphs, no dewy forest-glades, + No fauns with giddy cups, no snowy-bosom'd maids, + No hunting-scene, no dance; but cloaks, and plumes, and sabres, + And faces sternly still, and dark with hero-labours. + The Painter's art hath here in glittering crowd portray'd + The chiefs who Russia's line to victory array'd; + Chiefs in that great Campaign attired in fadeless glory + Of the year Twelve, that aye shall live in Russian story. + Here oft in musing mood my silent footstep strays, + Before these well-known forms I love to stop and gaze, + And dream I hear their voice, 'mid battle-thunder ringing. + Some of them are no more; and some, with faces flinging + Upon the canvass still Youth's fresh and rosy bloom, + Are wrinkled now and old, and bending to the tomb + The laurel-wreathed brow. + But chiefly One doth win me + 'Mid the stern throng. With new thoughts swelling in me + Before that One I stand, and cannot lightly brook + To take mine eye from him. And still, the more I look, + The more within my breast is bitterness awaked. + + He's painted at full length. His brow, austere and naked, + Shines like a fleshless skull, and on it ye may mark + A mighty weight of woe. Around him--all is dark; + Behind, a tented field. Tranquil and stern he raises + His mournful eye, and with contemptuous calmness gazes. + Be't that the artist here embodied his own thought, + When on the canvass thus the lineaments he caught, + Or guided and inspired by some unknown Possession-- + I know not: Dawe has drawn the man with this expression. + + Unhappy chief! Alas, thy cup was full of gall; + Unto a foreign land thou sacrificedst all. + The savage mob's dull glance of hate thou calmly balkedst, + With thy great thoughts alone and silently thou walkedst; + The people could not brook thy foreign-sounding name, + Pursued thee with its yell, and piled thy head with shame, + And by thy very hand though saved from ill and danger, + Mock'd at thy sacred age--thou hoary-headed stranger! + And even _he_, whose soul could read thy noble heart, + To please that idiot mob, blamed thee with cruel art.... + And long with patient faith, defying doubt and terror, + Thou heldest on unmoved, spite of a people's error; + And, e'er thy race was run, wert forced at last to yield + The well-earned laurel-wreath of many a bloody field, + Fame, power, and deep-thought plans; and with thy sword beside thee + Within a regiment's ranks, alone, obscure, to hide thee, + And there, a veteran chief, like some young sentinel, + When first upon his ear rings the ball's whistling knell, + Thou rushedst 'mid the fire, a warrior's death desiring-- + In vain!-- + + * * * * * + + O men! O wretched race! O worthy tears and laughter! + Priests of the moment's god, ne'er thinking of hereafter! + How oft among ye, men! a mighty one is seen, + Whom the blind age pursues with insults mad and mean, + But gazing on whose face, some future generation + Shall feel, as I do now, regret and admiration! + + + + +SUSPIRIA DE PROFUNDIS; BEING A SEQUEL TO THE CONFESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH +OPIUM-EATER. + +PART II. + + +The Oxford visions, of which some have been given, were but +anticipations necessary to illustrate the glimpse opened of childhood, +(as being its reaction.) In this SECOND part, returning from that +anticipation, I retrace an abstract of my boyish and youthful days so +far as they furnished or exposed the germs of later experiences in +worlds more shadowy. + +Upon me, as upon others scattered thinly by tens and twenties over every +thousand years, fell too powerfully and too early the vision of life. +The horror of life mixed itself already in earliest youth with the +heavenly sweetness of life; that grief, which one in a hundred has +sensibility enough to gather from the sad retrospect of life in its +closing stage, for me shed its dews as a prelibation upon the fountains +of life whilst yet sparkling to the morning sun. I saw from afar and +from before what I was to see from behind. Is this the description of an +early youth passed in the shades of gloom? No, but of a youth passed in +the divinest happiness. And if the reader has (which so few have) the +passion, without which there is no reading of the legend and +superscription upon man's brow, if he is not (as most are) deafer than +the grave to every _deep_ note that sighs upwards from the Delphic caves +of human life, he will know that the rapture of life (or any thing which +by approach can merit that name) does not arise, unless as perfect music +arises--music of Mozart or Beethoven--by the confluence of the mighty +and terrific discords with the subtle concords. Not by contrast, or as +reciprocal foils do these elements act, which is the feeble conception +of many, but by union. They are the sexual forces in music: "male and +female created he them;" and these mighty antagonists do not put forth +their hostilities by repulsion, but by deepest attraction. + +As "in to-day already walks to-morrow," so in the past experience of a +youthful life may be seen dimly the future. The collisions with alien +interests or hostile views, of a child, boy, or very young man, so +insulated as each of these is sure to be,--those aspects of opposition +which such a person _can_ occupy, are limited by the exceedingly few and +trivial lines of connexion along which he is able to radiate any +essential influence whatever upon the fortunes or happiness of others. +Circumstances may magnify his importance for the moment; but, after all, +any cable which he carries out upon other vessels is easily slipped upon +a feud arising. Far otherwise is the state of relations connecting an +adult or responsible man with the circles around him as life advances. +The network of these relations is a thousand times more intricate, the +jarring of these intricate relations a thousand times more frequent, and +the vibrations a thousand times harsher which these jarrings diffuse. +This truth is felt beforehand misgivingly and in troubled vision, by a +young man who stands upon the threshold of manhood. One earliest +instinct of fear and horror would darken his spirit if it could be +revealed to itself and self-questioned at the moment of birth: a second +instinct of the sane nature would again pollute that tremulous mirror, +if the moment were as punctually marked as physical birth is marked, +which dismisses him finally upon the tides of absolute self-control. A +dark ocean would seem the total expanse of life from the first: but far +darker and more appalling would seem that interior and second chamber of +the ocean which called him away for ever on the direct accountability of +others. Dreadful would be the morning which should say--"Be thou a human +child incarnate;" but more dreadful the morning which should say--"Bear +thou henceforth the sceptre of thy self-dominion through life, and the +passion of life!" Yes, dreadful would be both: but without a basis of +the dreadful there is no perfect rapture. It is a part through the +sorrow of life, growing out of its events, that this basis of awe and +solemn darkness slowly accumulates. _That_ I have illustrated. But, as +life expands, it is more through the _strife_ which besets us, strife +from conflicting opinions, positions, passions, interests, that the +funereal ground settles and deposits itself, which sends upward the dark +lustrous brilliancy through the jewel of life--else revealing a pale and +superficial glitter. Either the human being must suffer and struggle as +the price of a more searching vision, or his gaze must be shallow and +without intellectual revelation. + +Through accident it was in part, and, where through no accident but my +own nature, not through features of it at all painful to recollect, that +constantly in early life (that is, from boyish days until eighteen, when +by going to Oxford, practically I became my own master) I was engaged in +duels of fierce continual struggle, with some person or body of persons, +that sought, like the Roman _retiarius_, to throw a net of deadly +coercion or constraint over the undoubted rights of my natural freedom. +The steady rebellion upon my part in one-half, was a mere human reaction +of justifiable indignation; but in the other half it was the struggle of +a conscientious nature--disdaining to feel it as any mere right or +discretional privilege--no, feeling it as the noblest of duties to +resist, though it should be mortally, those that would have enslaved me, +and to retort scorn upon those that would have put my head below their +feet. Too much, even in later life, I have perceived in men that pass +for good men, a disposition to degrade (and if possible to degrade +through self-degradation) those in whom unwillingly they feel any weight +of oppression to themselves, by commanding qualities of intellect or +character. They respect you: they are compelled to do so: and they hate +to do so. Next, therefore, they seek to throw off the sense of this +oppression, and to take vengeance for it, by co-operating with any +unhappy accidents in your life, to inflict a sense of humiliation upon +you, and (if possible) to force you into becoming a consenting party to +that humiliation. Oh, wherefore is it that those who presume to call +themselves the "friends" of this man or that woman, are so often those +above all others, whom in the hour of death that man or woman is most +likely to salute with the valediction--Would God I had never seen your +face? + +In citing one or two cases of these early struggles, I have chiefly in +view the effect of these upon my subsequent visions under the reign of +opium. And this indulgent reflection should accompany the mature reader +through all such records of boyish inexperience. A good tempered-man, +who is also acquainted with the world, will easily evade, without +needing any artifice of servile obsequiousness, those quarrels which an +upright simplicity, jealous of its own rights, and unpractised in the +science of worldly address, cannot always evade without some loss of +self-respect. Suavity in this manner may, it is true, be reconciled with +firmness in the matter; but not easily by a young person who wants all +the appropriate resources of knowledge, of adroit and guarded language, +for making his good temper available. Men are protected from insult and +wrong, not merely by their own skill, but also in the absence of any +skill at all, by the general spirit of forbearance to which society has +trained all those whom they are likely to meet. But boys meeting with no +such forbearance or training in other boys, must sometimes be thrown +upon feuds in the ratio of their own firmness, much more than in the +ratio of any natural proneness to quarrel. Such a subject, however, will +be best illustrated by a sketch or two of my own principal feuds. + +The first, but merely transient and playful, nor worth noticing at all, +but for its subsequent resurrection under other and awful colouring in +my dreams, grew out of an imaginary slight, as I viewed it, put upon me +by one of my guardians. I had four guardians: and the one of these who +had the most knowledge and talent of the whole, a banker, living about a +hundred miles from my home, had invited me when eleven years old to his +house. His eldest daughter, perhaps a year younger than myself, wore at +that time upon her very lovely face the most angelic expression of +character and temper that I have almost ever seen. Naturally, I fell in +love with her. It seems absurd to say so; and the more so, because two +children more absolutely innocent than we were cannot be imagined, +neither of us having ever been at any school;--but the simple truth is, +that in the most chivalrous sense I was in love with her. And the proof +that I was so showed itself in three separate modes: I kissed her glove +on any rare occasion when I found it lying on a table; secondly, I +looked out for some excuse to be jealous of her; and, thirdly, I did my +very best to get up a quarrel. What I wanted the quarrel for was the +luxury of a reconciliation; a hill cannot be had, you know, without +going to the expense of a valley. And though I hated the very thought of +a moment's difference with so truly gentle a girl, yet how, but through +such a purgatory, could one win the paradise of her returning smiles? +All this, however, came to nothing; and simply because she positively +would _not_ quarrel. And the jealousy fell through, because there was no +decent subject for such a passion, unless it had settled upon an old +music-master whom lunacy itself could not adopt as a rival. The quarrel +meantime, which never prospered with the daughter, silently kindled on +my part towards the father. His offence was this. At dinner, I naturally +placed myself by the side of M., and it gave me great pleasure to touch +her hand at intervals. As M. was my cousin, though twice or even three +times removed, I did not feel taking too great a liberty in this little +act of tenderness. No matter if three thousand times removed, I said, my +cousin is my cousin: nor had I ever very much designed to conceal the +act; or if so, rather on her account than my own. One evening, however, +papa observed my manoeuvre. Did he seem displeased? Not at all: he +even condescended to smile. But the next day he placed M. on the side +opposite to myself. In one respect this was really an improvement; +because it gave me a better view of my cousin's sweet countenance. But +then there was the loss of the hand to be considered, and secondly there +was the affront. It was clear that vengeance must be had. Now there was +but one thing in this world that I could do even decently: but _that_ I +could do admirably. This was writing Latin hexameters. Juvenal, though +it was not very much of him that I had then read, seemed to me a divine +model. The inspiration of wrath spoke through him as through a Hebrew +prophet. The same inspiration spoke now in me. _Facit indignatio +versum_, said Juvenal. And it must be owned that Indignation has never +made such good verses since as she did in that day. But still, even to +me this agile passion proved a Muse of genial inspiration for a couple +of paragraphs: and one line I will mention as worthy to have taken its +place in Juvenal himself. I say this without scruple, having not a +shadow of vanity, nor on the other hand a shadow of false modesty +connected with such boyish accomplishments. The poem opened thus-- + + "Te nimis austerum; sacrae qui foedera mensae + Diruis, insector Satyrae reboante flagello." + +But the line, which I insist upon as of Roman strength, was the closing +one of the next sentence. The general effect of the sentiment was--that +my clamorous wrath should make its way even into ears that were past +hearing: + + "----mea saeva querela + Auribus insidet ceratis, auribus etsi + Non audituris hyberna nocte procellam." + +The power, however, which inflated my verse, soon collapsed; having been +soothed from the very first by finding--that except in this one instance +at the dinner-table, which probably had been viewed as an indecorum, no +further restraint of any kind whatever was meditated upon my intercourse +with M. Besides, it was too painful to lock up good verses in one's own +solitary breast. Yet how could I shock the sweet filial heart of my +cousin by a fierce lampoon or _stylites_ against her father, had Latin +even figured amongst her accomplishments? Then it occurred to me that +the verses might be shown to the father. But was there not something +treacherous in gaining a man's approbation under a mask to a satire upon +himself? Or would he have always understood me? For one person a year +after took the _sacrae mensae_ (by which I had meant the sanctities of +hospitality) to mean the sacramental table. And on consideration I began +to suspect, that many people would pronounce myself the party who had +violated the holy ties of hospitality, which are equally binding on +guest as on host. Indolence, which sometimes comes in aid of good +impulses as well as bad, favoured these relenting thoughts; the society +of M. did still more to wean me from further efforts of satire: and, +finally, my Latin poem remained a _torso_. But upon the whole my +guardian had a narrow escape of descending to posterity in a +disadvantageous light, had he rolled down to it through my hexameters. + +Here was a case of merely playful feud. But the same talent of Latin +verses soon after connected me with a real feud that harassed my mind +more than would be supposed, and precisely by this agency, viz. that it +arrayed one set of feelings against another. It divided my mind as by +domestic feud against itself. About a year after, returning from the +visit to my guardian's, and when I must have been nearly completing my +twelfth year, I was sent to a great public school. Every man has reason +to rejoice who enjoys so great an advantage. I condemned and _do_ +condemn the practice of sometimes sending out into such stormy exposures +those who are as yet too young, too dependent on female gentleness, and +endowed with sensibilities too exquisite. But at nine or ten the +masculine energies of the character are beginning to be developed: or, +if not, no discipline will better aid in their developement than the +bracing intercourse of a great English classical school. Even the +selfish are forced into accommodating themselves to a public standard of +generosity, and the effeminate into conforming to a rule of manliness. I +was myself at two public schools; and I think with gratitude of the +benefit which I reaped from both; as also I think with gratitude of the +upright guardian in whose quiet household I learned Latin so +effectually. But the small private schools which I witnessed for brief +periods, containing thirty to forty boys, were models of ignoble +manners as respected some part of the juniors, and of favouritism +amongst the masters. Nowhere is the sublimity of public justice so +broadly exemplified as in an English school. There is not in the +universe such an areopagus for fair play and abhorrence of all crooked +ways, as an English mob, or one of the English time-honoured public +schools. But my own first introduction to such an establishment was +under peculiar and contradictory circumstances. When my "rating," or +graduation in the school, was to be settled, naturally my altitude (to +speak astronomically) was taken by the proficiency in Greek. But I could +then barely construe books so easy as the Greek Testament and the Iliad. +This was considered quite well enough for my age; but still it caused me +to be placed three steps below the highest rank in the school. Within +one week, however, my talent for Latin verses, which had by this time +gathered strength and expansion, became known. I was honoured as never +was man or boy since Mordecai the Jew. Not properly belonging to the +flock of the head master, but to the leading section of the second, I +was now weekly paraded for distinction at the supreme tribunal of the +school; out of which at first grew nothing but a sunshine of approbation +delightful to my heart, still brooding upon solitude. Within six weeks +this had changed. The approbation indeed continued, and the public +testimony of it. Neither would there, in the ordinary course, have been +any painful reaction from jealousy or fretful resistance to the +soundness of my pretensions; since it was sufficiently known to some of +my schoolfellows, that I, who had no male relatives but military men, +and those in India, could not have benefited by any clandestine aid. +But, unhappily, the head master was at that time dissatisfied with some +points in the progress of his head form; and, as it soon appeared, was +continually throwing in their teeth the brilliancy of my verses at +twelve, by comparison with theirs at seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen. +I had observed him sometimes pointing to myself; and was perplexed at +seeing the gesture followed by gloomy looks, and what French reporters +call "sensation," in these young men, whom naturally I viewed with awe +as my leaders, boys that were called young men, men that were reading +Sophocles--(a name that carried with it the sound of something seraphic +to my ears)--and who never had vouchsafed to waste a word on such a +child as myself. The day was come, however, when all that would be +changed. One of these leaders strode up to me in the public playgrounds, +and delivering a blow on my shoulder, which was not intended to hurt me, +but as a mere formula of introduction, asked me, "What the d--l I meant +by bolting out of the course, and annoying other people in that manner? +Were other people to have no rest for me and my verses, which, after +all, were horribly bad?" There might have been some difficulty in +returning an answer to this address, but none was required. I was +briefly admonished to see that I wrote worse for the future, or +else----At this _aposiopesis_ I looked enquiringly at the speaker, and +he filled up the chasm by saying, that he would "annihilate" me. Could +any person fail to be aghast at such a demand? I was to write worse than +my own standard, which, by his account of my verses, must be difficult; +and I was to write worse than himself, which might be impossible. My +feelings revolted, it may be supposed, against so arrogant a demand, +unless it had been far otherwise expressed; and on the next occasion for +sending up verses, so far from attending to the orders issued, I +double-shotted my guns; double applause descended on myself; but I +remarked with some awe, though not repenting of what I had done, that +double confusion seemed to agitate the ranks of my enemies. Amongst them +loomed out in the distance my "annihilating" friend, who shook his huge +fist at me, but with something like a grim smile about his eyes. He took +an early opportunity of paying his respects to me--saying, "You little +devil, do you call this writing your worst?" "No," I replied; "I call it +writing my best." The annihilator, as it turned out, was really a +good-natured young man; but he soon went off to Cambridge; and with the +rest, or some of them, I continued to wage war for nearly a year. And +yet, for a word spoken with kindness, I would have resigned the +peacock's feather in my cap as the merest of baubles. Undoubtedly, +praise sounded sweet in my ears also. But _that_ was nothing by +comparison with what stood on the other side. I detested distinctions +that were connected with mortification to others. And, even if I could +have got over _that_, the eternal feud fretted and tormented my nature. +Love, that once in childhood had been so mere a necessity to me, _that_ +had long been a mere reflected ray from a departed sunset. But peace, +and freedom from strife, if love were no longer possible, (as so rarely +it is in this world,) was the absolute necessity of my heart. To contend +with somebody was still my fate; how to escape the contention I could +not see; and yet for itself, and the deadly passions into which it +forced me, I hated and loathed it more than death. It added to the +distraction and internal feud of my own mind--that I could not +_altogether_ condemn the upper boys. I was made a handle of humiliation +to them. And in the mean time, if I had an advantage in one +accomplishment, which is all a matter of accident, or peculiar taste and +feeling, they, on the other hand, had a great advantage over me in the +more elaborate difficulties of Greek, and of choral Greek poetry. I +could not altogether wonder at their hatred of myself. Yet still, as +they had chosen to adopt this mode of conflict with me, I did not feel +that I had any choice but to resist. The contest was terminated for me +by my removal from the school, in consequence of a very threatening +illness affecting my head; but it lasted nearly a year; and it did not +close before several amongst my public enemies had become my private +friends. They were much older, but they invited me to the houses of +their friends, and showed me a respect which deeply affected me--this +respect having more reference, apparently, to the firmness I had +exhibited than to the splendour of my verses. And, indeed, these had +rather drooped from a natural accident; several persons of my own class +had formed the practice of asking me to write verses for _them_. I could +not refuse. But, as the subjects given out were the same for all of us, +it was not possible to take so many crops off the ground without +starving the quality of all. + +Two years and a half from this time, I was again at a public school of +ancient foundation. Now I was myself one of the three who formed the +highest class. Now I myself was familiar with Sophocles, who once had +been so shadowy a name in my ear. But, strange to say, now in my +sixteenth year, I cared nothing at all for the glory of Latin verse. All +the business of school was slight and trivial in my eyes. Costing me not +an effort, it could not engage any part of my attention; that was now +swallowed up altogether by the literature of my native land. I still +reverenced the Grecian drama, as always I must. But else I cared little +then for classical pursuits. A deeper spell had mastered me; and I lived +only in those bowers where deeper passions spoke. + +Here, however, it was that began another and more important struggle. I +was drawing near to seventeen, and, in a year after _that_, would arrive +the usual time for going to Oxford. To Oxford my guardians made no +objection; and they readily agreed to make the allowance then +universally regarded as the _minimum_ for an Oxford student, viz. L200 +per annum. But they insisted, as a previous condition, that I should +make a positive and definitive choice of a profession. Now I was well +aware that, if I _did_ make such a choice, no law existed, nor could any +obligation be created through deeds or signature, by which I could +finally be compelled into keeping my engagement. But this evasion did +not suit me. Here, again, I felt indignantly that the principle of the +attempt was unjust. The object was certainly to do me service by saving +money, since, if I selected the bar as my profession, it was contended +by some persons, (misinformed, however,) that not Oxford, but a special +pleader's office, would be my proper destination; but I cared not for +arguments of that sort. Oxford I was determined to make my home; and +also to bear my future course utterly untrammeled by promises that I +might repent. Soon came the catastrophe of this struggle. A little +before my seventeenth birthday, I walked off one lovely summer morning +to North Wales--rambled there for months--and, finally, under some +obscure hopes of raising money on my personal security, I went up to +London. Now I was in my eighteenth year; and, during this period it was +that I passed through that trial of severe distress, of which I gave +some account in my former Confessions. Having a motive, however, for +glancing backwards briefly at that period in the present series, I will +do so at this point. + +I saw in one journal an insinuation that the incidents in the +_preliminary_ narrative were possibly without foundation. To such an +expression of mere gratuitous malignity, as it happened to be supported +by no one argument except a remark, apparently absurd, but certainly +false, I did not condescend to answer. In reality, the possibility had +never occurred to me that any person of judgment would seriously suspect +me of taking liberties with that part of the work, since, though no one +of the parties concerned but myself stood in so central a position to +the circumstances as to be acquainted with _all_ of them, many were +acquainted with each separate section of the memoir. Relays of witnesses +might have been summoned to mount guard, as it were, upon the accuracy +of each particular in the whole succession of incidents; and some of +these people had an interest, more or less strong, in exposing any +deviation from the strictest _letter_ of the truth, had it been in their +power to do so. It is now twenty-two years since I saw the objection +here alluded to; and, in saying that I did not condescend to notice it, +the reader must not find any reason for taxing me with a blamable +haughtiness. But every man is entitled to be haughty when his veracity +is impeached; and, still more, when it is impeached by a dishonest +objection, or, if not _that_, by an objection which argues a +carelessness of attention almost amounting to dishonesty, in a case +where it was meant to sustain an imputation of falsehood. Let a man read +carelessly if he will, but not where he is meaning to use his reading +for a purpose of wounding another man's honour. Having thus, by +twenty-two years' silence, sufficiently expressed my contempt for the +slander,[19] I now feel myself at liberty to draw it into notice, for +the sake, _inter alia_, of showing in how rash a spirit malignity often +works. In the preliminary account of certain boyish adventures which had +exposed me to suffering of a kind not commonly incident to persons in my +station of life, and leaving behind a temptation to the use of opium +under certain arrears of weakness, I had occasion to notice a +disreputable attorney in London, who showed me some attentions, partly +on my own account as a boy of some expectations, but much more with the +purpose of fastening his professional grappling-hooks upon the young +Earl of A----t, my former companion, and my present correspondent. This +man's house was slightly described, and, with more minuteness, I had +exposed some interesting traits in his household economy. A question, +therefore, naturally arose in several people's curiosity--Where was this +house situated? and the more so because I had pointed a renewed +attention to it by saying, that on that very evening, (viz. the evening +on which that particular page of the Confessions was written,) I had +visited the street, looked up at the windows, and, instead of the gloomy +desolation reigning there when myself and a little girl were the sole +nightly tenants, sleeping in fact (poor freezing creatures that we both +were) on the floor of the attorney's law-chamber, and making a pillow +out of his infernal parchments, I had seen with pleasure the evidences +of comfort, respectability, and domestic animation, in the lights and +stir prevailing through different stories of the house. Upon this the +upright critic told his readers that I had described the house as +standing in Oxford Street, and then appealed to their own knowledge of +that street whether such a house could be _so_ situated. Why not--he +neglected to tell us. The houses at the east end of Oxford Street are +certainly of too small an order to meet my account of the attorney's +house; but why should it be at the east end? Oxford Street is a mile and +a quarter long, and being built continuously on both sides, finds room +for houses of _many_ classes. Meantime it happens that, although the +true house was most obscurely indicated, _any_ house whatever in Oxford +Street was most luminously excluded. In all the immensity of London +there was but one single street that could be challenged by an attentive +reader of the Confessions as peremptorily _not_ the street of the +attorney's house--and _that_ one was Oxford Street; for, in speaking of +my own renewed acquaintance with the outside of this house, I used some +expression implying that, in order to make such a visit of +reconnoissance, I had turned _aside_ from Oxford Street. The matter is a +perfect trifle in itself, but it is no trifle in a question affecting a +writer's accuracy. If in a thing so absolutely impossible to be +forgotten as the true situation of a house painfully memorable to a +man's feelings, from being the scene of boyish distresses the most +exquisite--nights passed in the misery of cold, and hunger preying upon +him both night and day, in a degree which very many would not have +survived,--he, when retracing his schoolboy annals, could have shown +indecision even, far more dreaded inaccuracy, in identifying the house, +not one syllable after _that_, which he could have said on any other +subject, would have won any confidence, or deserved any, from a +judicious reader. I may now mention--the Herod being dead whose +persecutions I had reason to fear--that the house in question stands in +Greek Street on the west, and is the house on that side nearest to +Soho-Square, but without looking into the Square. This it was hardly +safe to mention at the date of the published Confessions. It was my +private opinion, indeed, that there were probably twenty-five chances to +one in favour of my friend the attorney having been by that time hanged. +But then this argued inversely; one chance to twenty-five that my friend +might be _un_hanged, and knocking about the streets of London; in which +case it would have been a perfect god-send to him that here lay an +opening (of _my_ contrivance, not _his_) for requesting the opinion of a +jury on the amount of _solatium_ due to his wounded feelings in an +action on the passage in the Confessions. To have indicated even the +street would have been enough. Because there could surely be but one +such Grecian in Greek Street, or but one that realized the other +conditions of the unknown quantity. There was also a separate danger not +absolutely so laughable as it sounds. Me there was little chance that +the attorney should meet; but my book he might easily have met +(supposing always that the warrant of _Sus. per coll._ had not yet on +_his_ account travelled down to Newgate.) For he was literary; admired +literature; and, as a lawyer, he wrote on some subjects fluently; Might +he not publish _his_ Confessions? Or, which would be worse, a supplement +to mine--printed so as exactly to match? In which case I should have had +the same affliction that Gibbon the historian dreaded so much; viz. that +of seeing a refutation of himself, and his own answer to the refutation, +all bound up in one and the same self-combating volume. Besides, he +would have cross-examined me before the public in Old Bailey style; no +story, the most straightforward that ever was told, could be sure to +stand _that_. And my readers might be left in a state of painful doubt +whether _he_ might not, after all, have been a model of suffering +innocence--I (to say the kindest thing possible) plagued with the +natural treacheries of a schoolboy's memory. In taking leave of this +case and the remembrances connected with it, let me say that, although +really believing in the probability of the attorney's having at least +found his way to Australia, I had no satisfaction in thinking of that +result. I knew my friend to be the very perfection of a scamp. And in +the running account between us, (I mean, in the ordinary sense, as to +money,) the balance could not be in _his_ favour; since I, on receiving +a sum of money, (considerable in the eyes of us both,) had transferred +pretty nearly the whole of it to _him_, for the purpose ostensibly held +out to me (but of course a hoax) of purchasing certain law "stamps;" for +he was then pursuing a diplomatic correspondence with various Jews who +lent money to young heirs, in some trifling proportion on my own +insignificant account, but much more truly on the account of Lord +A----t, my young friend. On the other side, he had given to me simply +the reliques of his breakfast-table, which itself was hardly more than a +relique. But in this he was not to blame. He could not give to me what +he had not for himself, nor sometimes for the poor starving child whom I +now suppose to have been his illegitimate daughter. So desperate was the +running fight, yard-arm to yard-arm, which he maintained with creditors +fierce as famine and hungry as the grave; so deep also was his horror (I +know not for which of the various reasons supposable) against falling +into a prison, that he seldom ventured to sleep twice successively in +the same house. That expense of itself must have pressed heavily in +London, where you pay half-a-crown at least for a bed that would cost +only a shilling in the provinces. In the midst of his knaveries, and +what were even more shocking to my remembrance, his confidential +discoveries in his rambling conversations of knavish _designs_, (not +always pecuniary,) there was a light of wandering misery in his eye at +times, which affected me afterwards at intervals when I recalled it in +the radiant happiness of nineteen, and amidst the solemn tranquillities +of Oxford. That of itself was interesting; the man was worse by far than +he had been meant to be; he had not the mind that reconciles itself to +evil. Besides, he respected scholarship, which appeared by the deference +he generally showed to myself, then about seventeen; he had an interest +in literature; _that_ argues something good; and was pleased at any +time, or even cheerful, when I turned the conversation upon books; nay, +he seemed touched with emotion, when I quoted some sentiment noble and +impassioned from one of the great poets, and would ask me to repeat it. +He would have been a man of memorable energy, and for good purposes, had +it not been for his agony of conflict with pecuniary embarrassments. +These probably had commenced in some fatal compliance with temptation +arising out of funds confided to him by a client. Perhaps he had gained +fifty guineas for a moment of necessity, and had sacrificed for that +trifle _only_ the serenity and the comfort of a life. Feelings of +relenting kindness, it was not in my nature to refuse in such a case; +and I wished to * * * But I never succeeded in tracing his steps through +the wilderness of London until some years back, when I ascertained that +he was dead. Generally speaking, the few people whom I have disliked in +this world were flourishing people of good repute. Whereas the knaves +whom I have known, one and all, and by no means few, I think of with +pleasure and kindness. + +Heavens! when I look back to the sufferings which I have witnessed or +heard of even from this one brief London experience, I say if life could +throw open its long suits of chambers to our eyes from some station +_beforehand_, if from some secret stand we could look _by anticipation_ +along its vast corridors, and aside into the recesses opening upon them +from either hand, halls of tragedy or chambers of retribution, simply in +that small wing and no more of the great caravanserai which we ourselves +shall haunt, simply in that narrow tract of time and no more where we +ourselves shall range, and confining our gaze to those and no others for +whom personally we shall be interested, what a recoil we should suffer +of horror in our estimate of life! What if those sudden catastrophes, or +those inexpiable afflictions, which _have_ already descended upon the +people within my own knowledge, and almost below my own eyes, all of +them now gone past, and some long past, had been thrown open before me +as a secret exhibition when first I and they stood within the vestibule +of morning hopes; when the calamities themselves had hardly begun to +gather in their elements of possibility, and when some of the parties to +them were as yet no more than infants! The past viewed not _as_ the +past, but by a spectator who steps back ten years deeper into the rear, +in order that he may regard it as a future; the calamity of 1840 +contemplated from the station of 1830--the doom that rang the knell of +happiness viewed from a point of time when as yet it was neither feared +nor would even have been intelligible--the name that killed in 1843, +which in 1835 would have struck no vibration upon the heart--the +portrait that on the day of her Majesty's coronation would have been +admired by you with a pure disinterested admiration, but which if seen +to-day would draw forth an involuntary groan--cases such as these are +strangely moving for all who add deep thoughtfulness to deep +sensibility. As the hastiest of improvisations, accept--fair reader, +(for you it is that will chiefly feel such an invocation of the +past)--three or four illustrations from my own experience. + +Who is this distinguished-looking young woman with her eyes drooping, +and the shadow of a dreadful shock yet fresh upon every feature? Who is +the elderly lady with her eyes flashing fire? Who is the downcast child +of sixteen? What is that torn paper lying at their feet? Who is the +writer? Whom does the paper concern? Ah! if she, if the central figure +in the group--twenty-two at the moment when she is revealed to +us--could, on her happy birth-day at sweet seventeen, have seen the +image of herself five years onwards, just as _we_ see it now, would she +have prayed for life as for an absolute blessing? or would she not have +prayed to be taken from the evil to come--to be taken away one evening +at least before this day's sun arose? It is true, she still wears a look +of gentle pride, and a relic of that noble smile which belongs to _her_ +that suffers an injury which many times over she would have died sooner +than inflict. Womanly pride refuses itself before witnesses to the total +prostration of the blow; but, for all _that_, you may see that she longs +to be left alone, and that her tears will flow without restraint when +she is so. This room is her pretty boudoir, in which, till +to-night--poor thing!--she has been glad and happy. There stands her +miniature conservatory, and there expands her miniature library; as we +circumnavigators of literature are apt (you know) to regard all female +libraries in the light of miniatures. None of these will ever rekindle a +smile on _her_ face; and there, beyond, is her music, which only of all +that she possesses, will now become dearer to her than ever; but not, as +once, to feed a self-mocked pensiveness, or to cheat a half-visionary +sadness. She will be sad indeed. But she is one of those that will +suffer in silence. Nobody will ever detect _her_ failing in any point of +duty, or querulously seeking the support in others which she can find +for herself in this solitary room. Droop she will not in the sight of +men; and, for all beyond, nobody has any concern with _that_ except God. +You shall hear what becomes of her, before we take our departure; but +now let me tell you what has happened. In the main outline I am sure you +guess already without aid of mine, for we leaden-eyed men, in such +cases, see nothing by comparison with you our quick-witted sisters. That +haughty-looking lady with the Roman cast of features, who must once have +been strikingly handsome--an Agrippina, even yet, in a favourable +presentation--is the younger lady's aunt. She, it is rumoured, once +sustained, in her younger days, some injury of that same cruel nature +which has this day assailed her niece, and ever since she has worn an +air of disdain, not altogether unsupported by real dignity, towards men. +This aunt it was that tore the letter which lies upon the floor. It +deserved to be torn; and yet she that had the best right to do so would +_not_ have torn it. That letter was an elaborate attempt on the part of +an accomplished young man to release himself from sacred engagements. +What need was there to argue the case of _such_ engagements? Could it +have been requisite with pure female dignity to plead any thing, or do +more than _look_ an indisposition to fulfil them? The aunt is now moving +towards the door, which I am glad to see; and she is followed by that +pale timid girl of sixteen, a cousin, who feels the case profoundly, but +is too young and shy to offer an intellectual sympathy. + +One only person in this world there is, who _could_ to-night have been a +supporting friend to our young sufferer, and _that_ is her dear loving +twin-sister, that for eighteen years read and wrote, thought and sang, +slept and breathed, with the dividing-door open for ever between their +bedrooms, and never once a separation between their hearts; but she is +in a far distant land. Who else is there at her call? Except God, +nobody. Her aunt had somewhat sternly admonished her, though still with +a relenting in her eye as she glanced aside at the expression in her +niece's face, that she must "call pride to her assistance." Ay, true; +but pride, though a strong ally in public, is apt in private to turn as +treacherous as the worst of those against whom she is invoked. How could +it be dreamed by a person of sense, that a brilliant young man of +merits, various and eminent, in spite of his baseness, to whom, for +nearly two years, this young woman had given her whole confiding love, +might be dismissed from a heart like hers on the earliest summons of +pride, simply because she herself had been dismissed from _his_, or +seemed to have been dismissed, on a summons of mercenary calculation? +Look! now that she is relieved from the weight of an unconfidential +presence, she has sat for two hours with her head buried in her hands. +At last she rises to look for something. A thought has struck her; and, +taking a little golden key which hangs by a chain within her bosom, she +searches for something locked up amongst her few jewels. What is it? It +is a Bible exquisitely illuminated, with a letter attached, by some +pretty silken artifice, to the blank leaves at the end. This letter is a +beautiful record, wisely and pathetically composed, of maternal anxiety +still burning strong in death, and yearning, when all objects beside +were fast fading from _her_ eyes, after one parting act of communion +with the twin darlings of her heart. Both were thirteen years old, +within a week or two, as on the night before her death they sat weeping +by the bedside of their mother, and hanging on her lips, now for +farewell whispers, and now for farewell kisses. They both knew that, as +her strength had permitted during the latter month of her life, she had +thrown the last anguish of love in her beseeching heart into a letter of +counsel to themselves. Through this, of which each sister had a copy, +she trusted long to converse with her orphans. And the last promise +which she had entreated on this evening from both, was--that in either +of two contingencies they would review her counsels, and the passages to +which she pointed their attention in the Scriptures; namely, first, in +the event of any calamity, that, for one sister or for both, should +overspread their paths with total darkness; and secondly, in the event +of life flowing in too profound a stream of prosperity, so as to +threaten them with an alienation of interest from all spiritual objects. +She had not concealed that, of these two extreme cases, she would prefer +for her own children the first. And now had that case arrived indeed, +which she in spirit had desired to meet. Nine years ago, just as the +silvery voice of a dial in the dying lady's bedroom was striking nine +upon a summer evening, had the last visual ray streamed from her seeking +eyes upon her orphan twins, after which, throughout the night, she had +slept away into heaven. Now again had come a summer evening memorable +for unhappiness; now again the daughter thought of those dying lights of +love which streamed at sunset from the closing eyes of her mother; +again, and just as she went back in thought to this image, the same +silvery voice of the dial sounded nine o'clock. Again she remembered her +mother's dying request; again her own tear-hallowed promise--and with +her heart in her mother's grave she now rose to fulfil it. Here, then +when this solemn recurrence to a testamentary counsel has ceased to be a +mere office of duty towards the departed, having taken the shape of a +consolation for herself, let us pause. + + * * * * * + +Now, fair companion in this exploring voyage of inquest into hidden +scenes, or forgotten scenes of human life--perhaps it might be +instructive to direct our glasses upon the false perfidious lover. It +might. But do not let us do so. We might like him better, or pity him +more, than either of us would desire. His name and memory have long +since dropped out of every body's thoughts. Of prosperity, and (what is +more important) of internal peace, he is reputed to have had no gleam +from the moment when he betrayed his faith, and in one day threw away +the jewel of good conscience, and "a pearl richer than all his tribe." +But, however that may be, it is certain that, finally, he became a +wreck; and of any _hopeless_ wreck it is painful to talk--much more so, +when through him others also became wrecks. + +Shall we, then, after an interval of nearly two years has passed over +the young lady in the boudoir, look in again upon _her_? You hesitate, +fair friend: and I myself hesitate. For in fact she also has become a +wreck; and it would grieve us both to see her altered. At the end of +twenty-one months she retains hardly a vestige of resemblance to the +fine young woman we saw on that unhappy evening with her aunt and +cousin. On consideration, therefore, let us do this. We will direct our +glasses to her room, at a point of time about six weeks further on. +Suppose this time gone; suppose her now dressed for her grave, and +placed in her coffin. The advantage of that is--that, though no change +can restore the ravages of the past, yet (as often is found to happen +with young persons) the expression has revived from her girlish years. +The child-like aspect has revolved, and settled back upon her features. +The wasting away of the flesh is less apparent in the face; and one +might imagine that, in this sweet marble countenance, was seen the very +same upon which, eleven years ago, her mother's darkening eyes had +lingered to the last, until clouds had swallowed up the vision of her +beloved _twins_. Yet, if that were in part a fancy, this at least is no +fancy--that not only much of a child-like truth and simplicity has +reinstated itself in the temple of her now reposing features, but also +that tranquillity and perfect peace, such as are appropriate to +eternity; but which from the _living_ countenance had taken their flight +for ever, on that memorable evening when we looked in upon the +impassioned group--upon the towering and denouncing aunt, the +sympathizing but silent cousin, the poor blighted niece, and the wicked +letter lying in fragments at their feet. + +Cloud, that hast revealed to us this young creature and her blighted +hopes, close up again. And now, a few years later, not more than four or +five, give back to us the latest arrears of the changes which thou +concealest within thy draperies. Once more, "open sesame!" and show us a +third generation. Behold a lawn islanded with thickets. How perfect is +the verdure--how rich the blossoming shrubberies that screen with +verdurous walls from the possibility of intrusion, whilst by their own +wandering line of distribution they shape and umbrageously embay, what +one might call lawny saloons and vestibules--sylvan galleries and +closets. Some of these recesses, which unlink themselves as fluently as +snakes, and unexpectedly as the shyest nooks, watery cells, and crypts, +amongst the shores of a forest-lake, being formed by the mere caprices +and ramblings of the luxuriant shrubs, are so small and so quiet, that +one might fancy them meant for _boudoirs_. Here is one that, in a less +fickle climate, would make the loveliest of studies for a writer of +breathings from some solitary heart, or of _suspiria_ from some +impassioned memory! And opening from one angle of this embowered study, +issues a little narrow corridor, that, after almost wheeling back upon +itself, in its playful mazes, finally widens into a little circular +chamber; out of which there is no exit, (except back again by the +entrance,) small or great; so that, adjacent to his study, the writer +would command how sweet a bed-room, permitting him to lie the summer +through, gazing all night long at the burning host of heaven. How +silent _that_ would be at the noon of summer nights, how grave-like in +its quiet! And yet, need there be asked a stillness or a silence more +profound than is felt at this present noon of day? One reason for such +peculiar repose, over and above the tranquil character of the day, and +the distance of the place from high-roads, is the outer zone of woods, +which almost on every quarter invests the shrubberies--swathing them, +(as one may express it,) belting them, and overlooking them, from a +varying distance of two and three furlongs, so as oftentimes to keep the +winds at a distance. But, however caused and supported, the silence of +these fanciful lawns and lawny chambers is oftentimes oppressive in the +depth of summer to people unfamiliar with solitudes, either mountainous +or sylvan; and many would be apt to suppose that the villa, to which +these pretty shrubberies form the chief dependencies, must be +untenanted. But that is not the case. The house is inhabited, and by its +own legal mistress--the proprietress of the whole domain; and not at all +a silent mistress, but as noisy as most little ladies of five years old, +for that is her age. Now, and just as we are speaking, you may hear her +little joyous clamour as she issues from the house. This way she comes, +bounding like a fawn; and soon she rushes into the little recess which I +pointed out as a proper study for any man who should be weaving the deep +harmonies of memorial _suspiria_. But I fancy that she will soon +dispossess it of that character, for her _suspiria_ are not many at this +stage of her life. Now she comes dancing into sight; and you see that, +if she keeps the promise of her infancy, she will be an interesting +creature to the eye in after life. In other respects, also, she is an +engaging child--loving, natural, and wild as any one of her neighbours +for some miles round; viz. leverets, squirrels and ring-doves. But what +will surprise you most is--that, although a child of pure English blood, +she speaks very little English; but more Bengalee than perhaps you will +find it convenient to construe. That is her Ayah, who comes up from +behind at a pace so different from her youthful mistress's. But, if +their paces are different, in other things they agree most cordially; +and dearly they love each other. In reality, the child has passed her +whole life in the arms of this ayah. She remembers nothing elder than +_her_; eldest of things is the ayah in her eyes; and, if the ayah should +insist on her worshipping herself as the goddess Railroadina or +Steamboatina, that made England and the sea and Bengal, it is certain +that the little thing would do so, asking no question but this--whether +kissing would do for worshipping. + +Every evening at nine o'clock, as the ayah sits by the little creature +lying awake in bed, the silvery tongue of a dial tolls the hour. Reader, +you know who she is. She is the granddaughter of her that faded away +about sunset in gazing at her twin orphans. Her name is Grace. And she +is the niece of that elder and once happy Grace, who spent so much of +her happiness in this very room, but whom, in her utter desolation, we +saw in the boudoir with the torn letter at her feet. She is the daughter +of that other sister, wife to a military officer, who died abroad. +Little Grace never saw her grandmama, nor her lovely aunt that was her +namesake, nor consciously her mama. She was born six months after the +death of the elder Grace; and her mother saw her only through the mists +of mortal suffering, which carried her off three weeks after the birth +of her daughter. + +This view was taken several years ago; and since then the younger Grace +in her turn is under a cloud of affliction. But she is still under +eighteen; and of her there may be hopes. Seeing such things in so short +a space of years, for the grandmother died at thirty-two, we say--Death +we can face: but knowing, as some of us do, what is human life, which of +us is it that without shuddering could (if consciously we were summoned) +face the hour of birth? + +FOOTNOTES: + +[19] Being constantly almost an absentee from London, and very often +from other great cities, so as to command oftentimes no favourable +opportunities for overlooking the great mass of public journals, it is +possible enough that other slanders of the same tenor may have existed. +I speak of what met my own eye, or was accidentally reported to me--but +in fact all of us are exposed to this evil of calumnies lurking +unseen--for no degree of energy, and no excess of disposable time, would +enable any one man to exercise this sort of vigilant police over _all_ +journals. Better, therefore, tranquilly to leave all such malice to +confound itself. + + + + +NORTHERN LIGHTS. + + + "It was on a bright July morning that I found myself whirled away + by railroad from Berlin, 'that great ostrich egg in the sand,' + which the sun of civilization is said to have hatched." + +In these words, and with this somewhat far-fetched simile, does a German +tourist, Edward Boas by name, commence his narrative of a recent +pilgrimage to the far north. Undeterred by the disadvantageous accounts +given of those regions by a traveller who had shortly before visited +them, and unseduced by the allurements of more southerly climes, he +boldly sets forth to breast the mountains and brave the blasts of +Scandinavia, and to form his own judgment of the country and its +inhabitants. Almost, however, before putting foot on Scandinavian +ground, Mr Boas, who, as a traveller, is decidedly of the gossiping and +inquisitive class, fills three chapters with all manner of pleasant +chatter about himself, and his feelings, and his fancies, and the +travelling companions he meets with. His liveliness and versatility, and +a certain bantering satirical vein, in which he occasionally indulges, +would have caused us to take his work, had we met with it in an English +translation, for the production of a French rather than a German pen. + +Leaving the railway at Angermunde, our traveller continues his journey +by the mail, in which he has two companions; a lady, "with an arm like +ivory," about whom he seems more than half inclined to build up a little +episodical romance, and a young man from the neighbouring town of +Pasewalk, "on whose thick lips," we are informed, "the genius of +stupidity seemed to have established its throne." This youth expressed +his great regret that the good old customs of Germany had become +obsolete, and expatiated on the necessity of striving to restore them. +"Those were fine times," he said, "when nobles made war on their own +account, burned down the villages, and drove the cattle of the peasants +on each other's territory. To themselves personally, however, they did +no harm; and if by chance Ritter Jobst fell into the hands of Ritter +Kurt, the latter would say, 'Ritter Jobst, you are my prisoner on +parole, and must pay me a ransom of five hundred thalers.' And thereupon +they passed their time right joyously together, drinking and hunting the +livelong day. But Ritter Jobst wrote to his seneschal that, by fair +means or foul, he must squeeze the five hundred thalers out of his +subjects, who were in duty bound to pay, to enable their gracious lord +to return home again. Those were the times," concluded the young +Pasewalker, "and of such times should I like to witness the return." + +Now, Mr Boas considerably disapproved of these aspirations after the +days of the robber knights, and he accordingly, to avoid hearing any +more of them, took a nap in his corner, which helped him on nearly to +Stralsund. + +"This city," he says, "has acquired an undeserved renown through +Wallenstein's famous vow, 'to have it, though it were hung from heaven +by chains.' This puts me in mind of the trick of a reviewer who, by +enormous and exaggerated praise, induces us to read the stupid literary +production of some dear friend of his own. We take up the book with +great expectations, and find it--trash. It is easy to see that Stralsund +was founded by a set of dirty fish-dealers. Clumsy, gable-ended houses, +streets narrow and crooked, a wretched pavement--such is the city. A +small road along the shore, encumbered with timber, old casks, filth and +rubbish--such is the quay." + +In this uninteresting place, Mr Boas is compelled to pass +eight-and-forty hours, waiting for a steamer. He fills up the time with +a little dissertation on Swedish and Pomeranian dialects, and with a +comical legend about a greedy monk, who bartered his soul to the devil +for a platter of lampreys. By a stratagem of the abbot's, Satan was +outwitted; and, taking himself off in a great rage, he dropped the +lampreys in the lake of Madue, near Stargard, where to this day they +are found in as great perfection as in the lakes of Italy and +Switzerland. This peculiarity, however, might be accounted for otherwise +than by infernal means, for Frederick the Great was equally successful +in introducing the sturgeon of the Wolga into Pomeranian waters, where +it is still to be met with. + +A day's sail brings our traveller to the port of Ystad, where he +receives his first impressions of Sweden, which are decidedly +favourable. At sunrise the next morning he goes on board the steamer +Svithiod, bound from Lubeck to Stockholm. At the same time with himself +are shipped three wandering Tyrolese musicians, who are proceeding +northwards to give the Scandinavians a taste of their mountain melodies, +and two or three hundred pigs, all pickled; the pigs, that is to say. He +finds on board a numerous and agreeable society, of which and of the +passage he gives a graphic description. + +"The ship's bell rang to summon us to breakfast. There is a certain epic +copiousness about a Swedish _frukost_. On first getting up in the +morning it is customary to take a _Kop caffe med skorpor_, a cup of +coffee and a biscuit, and in something less than two hours later one +sits down to a most abundant meal. This commences with a _sup_, that is +to say, a glass of carraway or aniseed brandy; then come tea, bread and +butter, ham, sausage, cheese and beer; and the whole winds up with a +warm _Koettraett_, a beefsteak or cutlet." + +Truly a solid and savoury repast. Whilst discussing it in the cabin of +the Svithiod, Mr Boas makes acquaintance with his fellow-voyagers. + + "At the top of the table sat our captain, a jovial pleasant man. He + was very attentive to the passengers, had a prompt and friendly + answer to every question; in short, he was a Swede all over. Near + him were placed the families of two clergymen, in whose charge was + also travelling a young Swedish countess, a charming, + innocent-looking child, whose large dark eyes seemed destined, at + no very distant period, to give more than one heartache. Beside + them was a tall man, plainly dressed, and of military appearance. + This was Count S----, (Schwerin, probably,) a descendant of that + friend and lieutenant of Frederick the Great who, on the 6th May + 1757, purchased with his life the victory of Prague. He was + returning from the hay-harvest on those estates which had belonged + to his valiant forefather, whose heirs had long been kept out of + them for lack of certain documents. But Frederick William III. + said, 'Right is right, though wax and parchment be not there to + prove it;' and he restored to the family their property, which is + worth half-a-million. + + "The Count's neighbour was Fru Nyberg, a Swedish poetess, who + writes under the name of Euphrosyne. In Germany, nobody troubles + himself about the 'Dikter af Euphrosyne,' but every educated Swede + knows them and their authoress. The latter may once have been + handsome, but wrinkles have now crept in where roses formerly + bloomed. Euphrosyne was born in 1785--authoresses purchase their + fame dearly enough at the price of having their age put down in + every lexicon. A black tulle cap with flame-coloured ribands + covered her head; round her neck she wore a string of large amber + beads, a gold watch-chain, and a velvet riband from which her + eyeglass was suspended. She was quiet, and retiring, spoke little, + and passed the greater portion of the day in the cabin. Fru Nyberg + was returning from Paris, and had with her a young lady of + distinguished family, Emily Holmberg by name. This young person + possesses a splendid musical talent; her compositions are + remarkable for charming originality, and are so much the more + prized that the muse of Harmony has hitherto been but niggard of + her gifts to the sons and daughters of Sweden. There was something + particularly delicate and fairy-like in the whole appearance of + this maiden, whose long curls floated round her transparent white + temples, while her soft dove-like eyes had a sweet and slightly + melancholy expression. + + "Next to Miss Holmberg, there sat a handsome young man, in a sort + of loose caftan of green velvet. His name was Baron R----, and he + was a descendant of the man who cast lots with Ankarstroem and + Horn, which of them should kill the King. He had formerly been one + of the most noted lions and _viveurs_ of Stockholm, but had + latterly taken to himself a beautiful wife, and had become a more + settled character; though his exuberant spirits and love of + enjoyment still remained, and rendered him the gayest and most + agreeable of travelling companions. Nagel, the celebrated violin + player, and his lively little wife, were also among the passengers. + They were returning from America, where he had been exchanging his + silvery notes against good gold coin. Nagel is a Jew by birth, a + most accomplished man, speaking seven languages with equal + elegance, and much esteemed in the musical circles of Stockholm." + +A young Swedish woman, named Maria, whose affecting little history Mr +Boas learns and tells us--an Englishman--"a thorough Englishman, who, as +long as he was eating, had no eyes or ears for any thing else," and a +French _commis voyageur_, travelling to get orders for coloured papers, +champagne, and silk goods, completed the list of all those of the party +who were any way worthy of mention. The Frenchman, Monsieur Robineau by +name, had a little ugly face, nearly hidden by an enormous beard, wore a +red cap upon his head, and looked altogether like a bandy-legged brownie +or gnome. The scene at daybreak the next morning is described with some +humour. + + "A dull twilight reigned in the cabin, the lamp was burning low and + threatening to go out, the first glimmer of day was stealing in + through the windows, and the Englishman had struck a light in order + to shave himself. From each berth some different description of + noise was issuing; the Lubecker was snoring loudly, Baron R---- was + twanging a guitar, Monsieur Robineau singing a barcarole, and every + body was calling out as loud as he could for something or other. + Karl, the steward, was rushing up and down the cabin, so confused + by the fifty different demands addressed to him, that he knew not + how to comply with any one of them. + + "'Karl, clean my boots!' + + "'Ja, Herr.' + + "'Karl, some warm water and a towel.' + + "'Ja, Herr.' + + "'_Amis, la matinee est belle! Sur le rivage + assemblez-vouz!_--Karl, the coffee!--_conduis ta barque avec + prudence! Pecheur, parle bas!_ ... Karl, the coffee!' + + "'Ja, Herr.' + + "'Karl, my carpet-bag!' + + "'Karl, are you deaf? Did you not hear me ask for warm water?' + + "'Ja, Herr.' + + "'_Jette tes filets en silence! Pecheur, parle bas!_--Coffee, + coffee, coffee!--_Le roi des mers ne t'echappera pas!_' + + "'Ja, Herr.' + + "'Karl, look at these boots! You must clean them again.' + + "'No, you must first find my carpet-bag.' + + "'Karl, you good-for-nothing fellow, if you do not bring me the + water immediately, I will complain to the captain.' + + "'_Pecheur, parle bas! Conduis ta barque avec prudence!_ ... Karl, + the coffee, or by my beard I will have you impaled as soon as I am + Emperor of Turkey!' + + "'Ja Herr! Ja, Herr! Ja, Herr!'" + +Aided by the various talents and eccentricities of the passengers, by +the grimaces of the Frenchman, and the songs of the Tyrolese minstrels, +the time passed pleasantly enough; till, on the morning of the third day +after leaving Ystad, the Svithiod was at the entrance of Lake Maeler, +opposite the fortress of Waxholm, which presents more of a picturesque +than of an imposing appearance. + + "It consists of a few loopholed parapets and ramparts, and of a + strong round tower of grey stone, looking very romantic but not + very formidable, and nevertheless entirely commanding the narrow + passage. A sentry, wrapped in his cloak, stood upon the wall and + hailed us through a speaking-trumpet. At the very moment that the + captain was about to answer, another steamer came round a bend of + the channel, meeting the Svithiod point-blank. The sentinel + impatiently repeated his summons, and for a moment there appeared + to be some danger of our either running foul of the other boat, or + getting a shot in our hull from the fort. They do not understand + joking at Waxholm, as was learned a short time since to his cost by + the commander of the Russian steamer Ischora, who did not reply + when summoned. Hastily furnishing the required information to the + castle, our captain shouted out the needful orders to his crew, and + we passed on in safety. + + "The steamer which we now met bore the Swedish flag, and was + conveying the Crown Prince Oscar (the grandson of a lawyer and a + silk-mercer) and his wife, to Germany. They had left Stockholm in + the night time, to avoid all public ceremony and formality. A crowd + of artillerymen now lined the walls of Waxholm to give the usual + salute, and we could hear the booming of the guns long after we + were out of sight of ship and fort. In another hour I obtained my + first view of Stockholm." + +Stockholm, the Venice of the North, has been thought by many travellers +to present a more striking _coup-d'oeil_ than any other European +capital, Constantinople excepted. Built upon seven islands, formed by +inlets of the sea and the Maeler Lake, it spreads over a surface very +large in proportion to the number of its houses and inhabitants, and +exhibits a singular mixture of streets, squares, and churches, with +rock, wood, and water. The ground on which it stands is uneven, and in +many places declivitous; the different parts of the city are connected +by bridges, and on every side is seen the fresh green foliage of the +north. The natural canals which intersect Stockholm are of great depth, +and ships of large burden are enabled to penetrate into the very heart +of the town. The general style of building offers little to admire; the +houses being for the most part flat-fronted, monotonous, and graceless, +without any species of architectural decoration to relieve their +inelegant uniformity. It is the position of the city, the air of +lightness given to it by the water, which traverses it in every +direction, and the life and movement of the port, that form its chief +recommendations. In their architectural ideas the Swedes appear to be +entirely utilitarian, disdainful of ornament; and if a house of more +modern and tasteful build, with windows of a handsome size, cornices, +and entablatures, is here and there to be met with, it is almost certain +to have been erected by Germans or some other foreigners. The royal +palace, of which the first stone was laid in the reign of Charles XII., +is a well-conceived and finely executed work; some of the churches are +also worthy of notice; but most of the public buildings derive their +chief interest, like the squares and market-places, from their +antiquity, or from historical associations connected with them. Few +cities offer richer stores to the lovers of the romance of history +than does the capital of Sweden. One edifice alone, the +Ritterhaus--literally, the House of Knights or Lords--in which the +Swedish nobility were wont to hold their Diets, would furnish +subject-matter for a score of romances. Not a door nor a window, scarce +a stone in the building, but tells of some sanguinary feud, or fierce +insurrection of the populace, in the troublous days of Sweden. From +floor to ceiling of the great hall in which the Diet held its sittings, +hang the coats of arms of Swedish counts, barons, and noblemen. A solemn +gloomy light pervades the apartment, and unites with the grave +black-blue coverings of the seats and balustrades, to convey the idea +that this is no arena for showy shallow orators, but a place in which +stern truth and naked reality have been wont to prevail. The chair of +Gustavus Vasa, of inlaid ivory, and covered with purple velvet, stands +in this room. + +Mr Boas, the pages of whose book are thickly strewn with legends and +historical anecdotes, many of them interesting, devotes a chapter to the +Ritterhaus and its annals. One tragical history, connected with that +building, appears worthy of extraction: + + "One of the chief favourites of Gustavus III. was Count Armfelt, a + young man of illustrious family, and of unusual mental and personal + accomplishments. At an early age he entered the royal guards, and + proved, during the war with Russia, that his courage in the field + fully equalled his more courtierlike merits. He rapidly ascended in + military grade, and, finally, the king appointed him governor of + Stockholm, and named him President of the Council of Regency, + which, in case of his death, was to govern Sweden during the + minority of the heir to the throne. Shortly after these dignities + had been conferred upon Armfelt, occurred the famous masquerade and + the assassination of Gustavus. + + "Upon this event happening, a written will of the king's was + produced, of more recent date than the appointment of the Count, + and, according to which, the guardianship of the Prince Royal was + to devolve upon Duke Karl Sundermanland, the brother of Gustavus. + This was a weak, sensual, and vindictive prince, of limited + capacity, and easily led by flattery and deceit. He belonged to a + secret society, of which Baron Reuterholm was grand-master. A + couple of mysterious and well-managed apparitions were sufficient + to terrify the duke, and render him ductile as wax. The most + implicit submission was required of him, and soon the crafty + Reuterholm got the royal authority entirely into his own hands. + There was discontent and murmuring amongst the true friends of the + royal family, but Reuterholm's spies were ubiquitous, and a + frowning brow or dissatisfied look was punished as a crime. Amongst + others, Count Armfelt, who took no pains to conceal his indignation + at the scandalous proceedings of those in power, was stripped of + his offices, and ordered to set out immediately as ambassador to + Naples. + + "This command fell like a thunderbolt upon the head of the Count, + whom every public and private consideration combined to retain in + Stockholm. Loath as he was to leave his country an undisputed prey + to the knaves into whose hands it had fallen, he was perhaps still + more unwilling to abandon one beloved being to the snares and + dangers of a sensual and corrupt court. + + "It was on a September evening of the year 1792, and the light of + the moon fell cold and clear upon the white houses of Stockholm, + though the streets that intersected their masses were plunged in + deep shadow, when a man, muffled in a cloak, and evidently desirous + of avoiding observation, was seen making his way hastily through + the darkest and least frequented lanes of that city. Stopping at + last, he knocked thrice against a window-shutter; an adjacent door + was opened at the signal, and he passed through a corridor into a + cheerful and well-lighted apartment. Throwing off his cloak, he + received and returned the affectionate greeting of a beautiful + woman, who advanced with outstretched hand to meet him. The + stranger was Count Armfelt--the lady, Miss Rudenskjoeld--the most + charming of the court beauties of the day. The colour left her + cheek when she perceived the uneasiness of her lover; but when he + told her of the orders he had received, her head sank upon his + breast, and her large blue eyes swam in tears. Recovering, however, + from this momentary depression, she vowed to remain ever true to + her country and her love. The Count echoed the vow, and a kiss + sealed the compact. The following morning a ship sailed from + Stockholm, bearing the new ambassador to Naples. + + "Scarcely had Armfelt departed, when Duke Karl began to persecute + Miss Rudenskjoeld with his addresses. At first he endeavoured, by + attention and flatteries, to win her favour; but her avoidance of + his advances and society increased the violence of his passion, + until at last he spoke his wishes with brutal frankness. With + maidenly pride and dignity, the lady repelled his suit, and + severely stigmatized his insolence. Foaming with rage, the duke + left her presence, and from that moment his love was exchanged for + a deadly hatred. + + "Baron Reuterholm had witnessed with pleasure the growth of the + regent's passion for the beautiful Miss Rudenskjoeld; for he knew + that the more pursuits Duke Karl had to occupy and amuse him, the + more undivided would be his own sway. It was with great + dissatisfaction, therefore, that he received an account of the + contemptuous manner in which the proud girl had treated her royal + admirer. The latter insisted upon revenge, full and complete + revenge, and Reuterholm promised that he should have it. Miss + Rudenskjoeld's life was so blameless, and her conduct in every + respect so correct, that it seemed impossible to invent any charge + against her; but Reuterholm set spies to work, and spies will + always discover something. They found out that she kept up a + regular correspondence with Count Armfelt. Their letters were + opened, and evidence found in them of a plan to declare the young + prince of age, or at least to abstract Duke Karl from the + corrupting influence of Reuterholm. The angry feelings entertained + by the latter personage towards Miss Rudenskjoeld were increased + tenfold by this discovery, and he immediately had her thrown into + prison. She was brought to trial before a tribunal composed of + creatures of the baron, and including the Chancellor Sparre, a man + of unparalleled cunning and baseness, than whom Satan himself could + have selected no better advocate. During her examination, Fraulein + von Rudenskjoeld was most cruelly treated, and the words of the + correspondence were distorted, with infamous subtlety, into + whatever construction best suited her accusers. Sparre twisted his + physiognomy, which in character partook of that of the dog and the + serpent, into a thoughtful expression, and regretted that, + according to the Swedish laws, the offence of which Miss + Rudenskjoeld was found guilty, could not be punished by the lash. + The pillory, and imprisonment in the Zuchthaus, the place of + confinement for the most guilty and abandoned of her sex, formed + the scarce milder sentence pronounced upon the unfortunate victim. + + "It was early on an autumn morning--a thick canopy of grey clouds + overspread the heavens--and the dismal half-light which prevailed + in the streets of Stockholm made it difficult to decide whether or + not the sun had yet risen. A cold wind blew across from Lake + Maeler, and caused the few persons who had as yet left their houses + to hasten their steps along the deserted pavement. Suddenly a + detachment of soldiers arrived upon the square in front of the + Ritterhaus, and took up their station beside the pillory. The + officer commanding the party was a slender young man of agreeable + countenance; but he was pale as death, and his voice trembled as he + gave the words of command. The prison-gate now opened, and Miss + Rudenskjoeld came forth, escorted by several jailers. Her cheeks + were whiter than the snow-white dress she wore; her limbs trembled; + her long hair hung in wild dishevelment over her shoulders, and yet + was she beautiful--beautiful as a fading rose. They led her up the + steps of the pillory, and the executioner's hand was already + stretched out to bind her to the ignominious post, when she cast a + despairing glance upon the bystanders, as though seeking aid. As + she did so, a shrill scream of agony burst from her lips. She had + recognised in the young officer her own dearly-loved brother, who, + by a devilish refinement of cruelty, had been appointed to command + the guard that was to attend at her punishment. + + "Strong in her innocence, the delicate and gently-nurtured girl had + borne up against all her previous sufferings; but this was too + much. Her senses left her, and she fell fainting to the ground. Her + brother also swooned away, and never recovered his unclouded + reason. To his dying day his mind remained gloomy and unsettled. + The very executioners refused to inflict further indignity on the + senseless girl, and she was conducted back to her dungeon, where + she soon recovered all the firmness which she had already displayed + before her infamous judges. + + "Meanwhile Armfelt was exposed in Italy to the double danger of + secret assassination, and of a threatened requisition from the + Swedish government for him to be delivered up. He sought safety in + flight, and found an asylum in Germany. His estates were + confiscated, his titles, honours, and nobility declared forfeit, + and he himself was condemned by default as a traitor to his + country." + +Concerning the ultimate fate of this luckless pair of lovers, Mr Boas +deposeth not, but passes on to an account of the disturbances in 1810, +when the Swedish marshal, Count Axel Fersen, suspected by the populace +as cause of the sudden death of the Crown Prince, Charles Augustus, was +attacked, while following the body of the prince through the streets of +Stockholm. He was sitting in full uniform in his carriage, drawn by six +milk-white horses, when he was assailed with showers of stones, from +which he took refuge in a house upon the Ritterhaustmarkt. In spite of +the exertions of General Silversparre, at the head of some dragoons, the +mob broke into the house, and entered the room in which Fersen was. He +folded his hands, and begged for mercy, protesting his innocence. But +his entreaties were in vain. A broad-shouldered fellow, a shopkeeper, +named Lexow, tore off his orders, sword, and cloak, and threw them +through the window to the rioters, who with furious shouts reduced them +to fragments. Silversparre then proposed to take the count to prison, +and have him brought to trial in due form. But, on the way thither, the +crowd struck and ill-treated the old man; and, although numerous troops +were now upon the spot, these remained with shouldered arms, and even +their officers forbade their interference. They appeared to be there to +attend an execution rather than to restore order. The mob dragged the +unfortunate Fersen to the foot of Gustavus Vasa's statue, and there beat +and ill-treated him till he died. It was remarked of the foremost and +most eager of his persecutors, that although dressed as common sailors, +their hands were white and delicate, and linen of fine texture peeped +betrayingly forth from under their coarse outer garments. Doubtless more +than one long-standing hatred was on that day gratified. It was still +borne in mind, that Count Fersen's father had been the chief instrument +in bringing Count Eric Brahe, and several other nobles, to the scaffold, +upon the very spot where, half a century later, his son's blood was +poured out. + +The murder of the Count-Marshal was followed by an attack upon the house +of his sister, the Countess Piper; but she had had timely notice, and +escaped by water to Waxholm. Several officers of rank, who strove to +pacify the mob, were abused, and even beaten; until at length a combat +ensued between the troops and the people, and lasted till nightfall, +when an end was put to it by a heavy fall of rain. The number of killed +and wounded on that day could never be ascertained. + +These incidents are striking and dramatic--fine stuff for novel writers, +as Mr Boas says--but we will turn to less sanguinary subjects. In a +letter to a female friend, who is designated by the fanciful name of +Eglantine, we have a sketch of the present state of Swedish poetry and +literature. According to the account here given us, Olof von Dalin, who +was born in Holland in 1763, was the first to awaken in the Swedes a +real and correct taste for the _belles lettres_. This he did in great +measure by the establishment of a periodical called the _Argus_. He +improved the style of prose writing, and produced some poetry, which +latter appears, however, to have been generally more remarkable for +sweetness than power. We have not space to follow Mr Boas through his +gallery of Swedish _literati_, but we will extract what he says +concerning three authoresses, whose works, highly popular in their own +country and in Germany, have latterly attracted some attention in +England. These are--Miss Bremer, Madame Flygare-Carlen, and the Baroness +Knorring, the delineators of domestic, rural, and aristocratic life in +Sweden. + + "Frederica Bremer was born in the year 1802. After the death of her + father, a rich merchant and proprietor of mines, she resided at + Schonen, and subsequently with a female friend in Norway. She now + lives with her mother and sister alternately in the Norrlands + Gatan, at Stockholm, or at their country seat at Arsta. If I were + to talk to you about Miss Bremer's romances, you would laugh at me, + for you are doubtless ten times better acquainted with them than I + am. But you are curious, perhaps, to learn something about her + appearance, and _that_ I can tell you. + + "You will not expect to hear that Miss Bremer, a maiden lady of + forty, retains a very large share of youthful bloom; but, + independently of that, she is really any thing but handsome. Her + thin wrinkled physiognomy is, however, rendered agreeable by its + good-humoured expression, and her meagre figure has the benefit of + a neat and simple style of dress. From the style of her writings, I + used always to take her to be a governess; and she looks exactly + like one. She knows that she is not handsome, and on that account + has always refused to have her portrait taken; the one they sell of + her in Germany is a counterfeit, the offspring of an artist's + imagination, stimulated by speculative book-sellers. This summer, + there was a quizzing paragraph in one of the Swedish papers, saying + that a painter had been sent direct from America to Rome and + Stockholm, to take portraits of the Pope and of Miss Bremer. + + "In Sweden, the preference is given to her romance of _Hemmet_, + (Home,) over all her other works. Any thing like a bold originality + of invention she is generally admitted to lack, but she is skilled + in throwing a poetical charm over the quiet narrow circle of + domestic life. She is almost invariably successful in her female + characters, but when she attempts to draw those of men, her + creations are mere caricatures, full of emptiness and + improbability. Her habit of indulging in a sort of aimless and + objectless philosophizing vein, _a propos_ of nothing at all, is + also found highly wearisome. For my part, it has often given me an + attack of nausea. She labours, however, diligently to improve + herself; and, when I saw her, she had just been ordering at a + bookseller's two German works--Bossen's _Translation of Homer_, and + Creuzer's _Symbolics_. + + "Emily Flygare is about thirty years of age. She is the daughter of + a country clergyman, and has only to write down her own + recollections in order to depict village life, with its pains and + its pleasures. Accordingly, that is her strongest line in + authorship; and her book, _Kyrkoinvigningen_, (the Church + Festival,) has been particularly successful. Married in early life + to an officer, she contracted, after his death, several + engagements, all of which she broke off, whereby her reputation in + some degree suffered. At last she gave her hand to Carlen, a very + middling sort of poet, some years younger than she is; and she now + styles herself--following the example of Madame Birch-Pfeiffer, and + other celebrated singers--Flygare-Carlen. She lives very happily at + Stockholm with her husband, and is at least as good a housewife as + an authoress, not even thinking it beneath her dignity to + superintend the kitchen. Her great modesty as to her own merits, + and the esteem she expresses for her rivals, are much to her + credit. She is a little restless body, and does not like sitting + still. Her countenance is rather pleasing than handsome, and its + charm is heightened by the lively sparkle of her quick dark eyes. + + "The third person of the trio is the Baroness Knorring, a very + noble lady, who lives far away from Stockholm, and is married to an + officer. She is between thirty and forty years old, and it is + affirmed that she would be justified in exclaiming with + Wallenstein's Thekla-- + + 'Ich habe gelebt und geliebet.' + + She was described to me as nervous and delicate, which is perhaps + the right temperament to enable her accurately to depict in her + romances the strained artificiality and silken softness of + aristocratic existence. Her style also possesses the needful + lightness and grace, and she accordingly succeeds admirably in her + sketches of high life, with all its elegant nullities and + spiritless pomp. One of her best works is the romance of + _Cousinerna_, (The Cousins,) which, as well as the other works of + Knorring, Bremer, and Flygare, has been placed before the German + public by our diligent translators." + +Upon the subjects of Swedish society and conversation, Mr Boas is +pleased to be unusually funny. Like the foreigner who asserted that +Goddam was the root of the English language, he seems prepared to +maintain that two monosyllables constitute the essence of the Swedish +tongue, and that they alone are required to carry on an effective and +agreeable dialogue. "It is not at all difficult," he says, "to keep up a +conversation with a Swede, when you are once acquainted with a certain +mystical formula, whereby all emotions and sentiments are to be +expressed, and by the aid of which you may love and hate, curse and +bless, be good-humoured or satirical, and even witty. The mighty and +all-sufficing words are, '_Ja so!_' (Yes, indeed!) usually pronounced +_Jassoh_. It is wonderful to hear the infinite variety of modulation +which a Swede gives to these two insignificant syllables. Does he hear +some agreeable intelligence, he exclaims, with sparkling eyes and brisk +intonation, 'Ja so!' If bad news are brought to him, he droops his head, +and, after a pause, murmurs mournfully, 'Ja so!' The communication of an +important affair is received with a thoughtful 'Ja so!' a joke elicits a +humorous one; an attempt to banter or deceive him is met by a sarcastic +repetition of the same mysterious words. + + "A romance might be constructed out of these four letters. + Thus:--Lucy is sitting at her window, when a well-known messenger + brings her a bouquet. She joyfully exclaims, 'Ja so!' and presses + the flowers to her lips. A friend comes in; she shows her the + flowers, and the friend utters an envious 'Ja so!' Soon afterwards + Lucy's lover hears that she is faithless; he gnashes his teeth, and + vociferates a furious 'Ja so!' He writes to tell her that he + despises her, and will never see her again; whereupon she weeps, + and says to herself, between two tears, 'Ja so!' She manages, + however, to see him, and convinces him that she has been + calumniated. He clasps her in his arms, and utters a 'Ja so!' + expressive of entire conviction. Suddenly his brow becomes clouded, + and muttering a meditative 'Ja so!' he remembers that a peremptory + engagement compels him to leave her. He seeks out the man who has + sought to rob him of his mistress, and reproaches him with his + perfidy. This rival replies by a cold, scornful 'Ja so!' and a + meeting is agreed upon. The next day they exchange shots, and I + fully believe that the man who is killed sighs out with his last + breath 'Ja so!' His horror-stricken antagonist exclaims 'Ja so!' + and flies the country; and surgeon, relations, friends, judge, all, + in short, who hear of the affair, will inevitably cry out, 'Ja so!' + Grief and joy, doubt and confidence, jest and anger, are all to be + rendered by those two words." + +The province of Dalarna, or Dalecarlia, which lies between Nordland and +the Norwegian frontier, and in which Miss Bremer has laid the scene of +one of her most recent works, is spoken of at some length by Mr Boas, +who considers it to be, in various respects, the most interesting +division of Sweden. Its inhabitants, unable to find means of subsistence +in their own poor and mountainous land, are in the habit of wandering +forth to seek a livelihood in more kindly regions, and Mr Boas likens +them in this respect to the Savoyards. They might, perhaps, be more +aptly compared to the Galicians, who leave their country, not, as many +of the Savoyards do, to become beggars and vagabonds, by the aid of a +marmoset and a grinding organ, but to strive, by the hardest labour and +most rigid economy, to accumulate a sum that will enable them to return +and end their lives in their native village. + + "The dress of the Dalecarlians (_dale carls_, or men of the valley) + consists of a sort of doublet and leathern apron, to the latter of + which garments they get so accustomed that they scarcely lay it + aside even on Sundays. Above that they wear a short overcoat of + white flannel. Their round hats are decorated with red tufts, and + their breeches fastened at the knees with red ties and tassels. The + costume of their wives and daughters, who are called Dalecullen, + (women of the valley,) is yet more peculiar and outlandish. It is + composed of a coloured cap, fitting close to the head, of a boddice + with red laces, a gown, usually striped with red and green, and of + scarlet stockings. They wear enormous shoes, large, awkward, and + heavy, made of the very thickest leather, and adorned with the + eternal red frippery. The soles are an inch thick, with huge heels, + stuck full of nails, and placed, not where the heel of the foot is, + but in front, under the toes; and as these remarkable shoes _lift_ + at every step, the heels of the stockings are covered with leather. + On Sundays, ample white shirt-sleeves, broad cap-ribands, and large + wreaths of flowers are added to this singular garb, amongst the + wearers of which pretty faces and laughing blue eyes are by no + means uncommon. + + "The occupations of these women are of the rudest and most + laborious description. They may be literally said to earn their + bread by the sweat of their brow, and their hands are rendered + callous as horn by the nature of their toil. They act as + bricklayers' labourers, and carry loads of stones upon their + shoulders and up ladders. Besides this, it is a monopoly of theirs + to row a sort of boat, which is impelled by machinery imitating + that of a steamer, but worked by hand. These are tolerably large + vessels, having paddle-wheels fitted to them, which are turned from + within. Each wheel is worked by two young Dalecarlian girls, who + perform this severe labour with the utmost cheerfulness, while an + old woman steers. They pass their lives upon the water, plying from + earliest dawn till late in the night, and conveying passengers, for + a trifling copper coin, across the broad canals which intersect + Stockholm in every direction. Cheerful and pious, the bloom of + health on her cheeks, and the fear of God in her heart, the + Dalecarlian maiden is contented in her humble calling. On Sunday + she would sooner lose a customer than miss her attendance at + church. One sorrowful feeling, and only one, at times saddens her + heart, and that is the _Heimweh_, the yearning after her native + valley, when she longs to return to her wild and beautiful country, + which the high mountains encircle, and the bright stream of the + Dalelf waters. There she has her father and mother, or perhaps a + lover, as poor as herself, and she sees no possibility of ever + earning enough to enable her to return home, and become his wife. + + "It was in this province that I now found myself, and its + inhabitants pleased me greatly. Nature has made them hardy and + intelligent, for their life is a perpetual struggle to extract a + scanty subsistence from the niggard and rocky soil. Unenervated by + luxury, uncorrupted by the introduction of foreign vices, they have + been at all periods conspicuous for their love of freedom, for + their penetration in discovering, and promptness in repelling, + attacks upon it. Faithful to their lawful sovereign, they yet + brooked no tyranny; and when invaders entered the land, or bad + governors oppressed them, they were ever ready to defend their just + rights with their lives. From the remotest periods, such has been + the character of this people, which has preserved itself + unsophisticated, true, and free. It is interesting to trace the + history of the Dalecarlians. Isolated in a manner from the rest of + the world amongst their rugged precipices and in their lonely + valleys, it might be supposed they would know nothing of what + passed without; yet whenever the moment for action has come, they + have been found alert and prepared. + + "At the commencement of the fifteenth century, Eric XIII., known + also as the Pomeranian, ascended the Swedish throne. His own + disposition was neither bad nor good, but he had too little + knowledge of the country he was called upon to reign over; and his + governors and vice-gerents, for the most part foreigners, + tyrannized unsparingly over the nation. The oppressed people + stretched out their hands imploringly to the king; but he, who was + continually requiring fresh supplies of money for the prosecution + of objectless wars, paid no attention to their complaints. Of all + his Voegte, or governors, not one was so bad and cruel as Jesse + Ericson, who dwelt at Westeraes, and ruled over Dalarna. He laid + enormous imposts on the peasantry, and when they were unable to + pay, he took every thing from them, to their last horse, and + harnessed themselves to the plough. Pregnant matrons were compelled + at his command to draw heavy hay-waggons, women and girls were + shamefully outraged by him, and persons possessing property + unjustly condemned, in order that he might take possession of their + goods. When the peasants came to him to complain, he had them + driven away with stripes, or else cut off their ears, or hung them + up in the smoke till they were suffocated. + + "Then the men of Dalarna murmured; they assembled in their valleys, + and held counsel together. An insurrection was decided upon, and + Engelbrecht of Falun was chosen to head it, because, although small + of stature, he had a courageous heart, and knew how to talk or to + fight, as occasion required. He repaired to Copenhagen, laid the + just complaints of his countrymen before the king, and pledged his + head to prove their truth. Eric gave him a letter to the + counsellors of state, some of whom accompanied him back to Dalarna, + and convinced themselves that the distress of the province was + inconceivably great. They exposed this state of things to the king + in a letter, with which Engelbrecht returned to Copenhagen. But, on + seeking audience of Eric, the latter cried out angrily, 'You do + nothing but complain! Go your ways, and appear no more before me.' + So Engelbrecht departed, but he murmured as he went, 'Yet once more + will I return.' + + "Although the counsellors themselves urged the king to appoint + another governor over Dalecarlia, he did not think fit to do so. + Then, in the year 1434, so soon as the sun had melted the snow, the + Dalecarlians rose up as one man, marched through the country, and + Jesse Ericson fled before them into Denmark. They destroyed the + dwellings of their oppressors, drove away their hirelings and + retainers, and Engelbrecht advanced, with a thousand picked men, to + Wadstena, where he found an assembly of bishops and counsellors. + From these he demanded assistance, but they refused to accord it, + until Engelbrecht took the bishop of Linkoeping by the collar, to + deliver him over to his followers. Thereupon they became more + tractable, and renounced in writing their allegiance to Eric, on + the grounds that he had 'made bishops of ignorant ribalds, + entrusted high offices to unworthy persons, and neglected to punish + tyrannical governors.' The Dalecarlians advanced as far as Schonen, + where Engelbrecht concluded a truce, and dismissed them. His army + had consisted of ten thousand peasants, all burning with anger + against their oppressors, and without military discipline; yet, to + his great credit be it said, not a single excess or act of plunder + had been committed. + + "On hearing of these disturbances, the king repaired in all haste + to Stockholm, whereupon Engelbrecht again summoned his followers, + and marched upon the capital, in which Eric entrenched himself with + various nobles and governors, who had burned down their castles, + and hastened to join him. Things looked threatening, but + nevertheless ended peaceably, for Eric was afraid of the Swedes. He + obtained peace by promising that in future the provinces, with few + exceptions, should name their own governors, and that Engelbrecht + should be voegt at Oerebro. As usual, however, he broke his word, + and, before sailing for Denmark, he appointed as voegt a man who was + a notorious pirate, a robber of churches, and abuser of women. For + the third time the peasants revolted. In the winter of 1436 they + appeared before Stockholm, which they took, the burghers themselves + helping them to burst open the gates. Engelbrecht seized upon one + fortress after another, meeting no resistance from King Eric, who + fled secretly to Pomerania, leaving the war and his kingdom to take + care of themselves. Several members of the council followed him + thither, and, after some persuasion, brought him back with them. + + "In the midst of these changes and commotions, Engelbrecht was + treacherously assassinated by the son of that bishop whom he had + formerly affronted at Wadstena. With tears and lamentations, the + boors fetched the body of their brave and faithful leader from the + little island where his death had occurred, and which to this day + bears his name. The spot on which the murder was committed is said + to be accursed, and no grass ever grows there. Subsequently the + coffin was brought to the church at Oerebro, and so exalted was the + opinion entertained of Engelbrecht's worth and virtue, that the + country people asserted that miracles were wrought at his tomb, as + at the shrine of a saint." + +It was nearly a century later that Gustavus Vasa, flying, with a price +upon his head, from the assassins of his father and friends, took refuge +in Dalecarlia. Disguised in peasant's garb, and with an axe in his hand, +he hired himself as a labourer; but was soon recognised, and his +employer feared to retain him in his service. He then appealed to the +Dalecarlians to espouse his cause; but, although they admired and +sympathised with the gallant youth who thus placed his trust in them, +they hesitated to take up arms in his behalf; and, hopeless of their +assistance, he at last turned his steps towards Norway. But scarcely +had he done so, when the incursion of a band of Danish mercenaries sent +to seek him, and the full confirmation of what he had told them +concerning the massacre at Stockholm, roused the Dalecarlians from their +inaction. The tocsin was sounded throughout the provinces, the Danes +were driven away, and the two swiftest runners in the country bound on +their snow-shoes, and set out with the speed of the wind to bring back +the royal fugitive. They overtook him at the foot of the Norwegian +mountains, and soon afterwards he found himself at the head of five +thousand white-coated Dalecarlians. + +The Danes were approaching, and one of their bishops asked--"How many +men the province of Dalarna could furnish?" + +"At least twenty thousand," was the reply; "for the old men are just as +strong and as brave as the young ones." + +"But what do they all live upon?" + +"Upon bread and water. They take little account of hunger and thirst, +and when corn is lacking, they make their bread out of tree-bark." + +"Nay," said the bishop, "a people who eat tree-bark and drink water, the +devil himself would not vanquish, much less a man." + +And neither were they vanquished. Like an avalanche from the mountains, +they fell upon their foes, beat them with clubs, and drove them into the +river. Their progress was one series of triumphs, till they placed +Gustavus Vasa on the throne of Sweden. + +The last outbreak of the Dalecarlians was less successful. On the 19th +of June 1743, five thousand of these hardy and determined men appeared +before Stockholm, bringing with them in fetters the governor of their +province, and demanding the punishment of the nobles who had instigated +a war with Russia, and a new election of an heir to the crown. They were +not to be pacified by words; and even the next morning, when the old +King Frederick, surrounded by his general and guards, rode out to +harangue them, all he could obtain was the release of their prisoner. On +the other hand, they seized three pieces of cannon, and dragged them to +the square named after Gustavus Adolphus, where they posted themselves. + + "There were eight thousand men of regular troops in Stockholm, but + these were not all to be depended upon, and it was necessary to + bring up some detachments of the guards. A company of Suederlaenders + who had been ordered to cross the bridge, went right about face, as + soon as they came in sight of the Dalecarlians, and did not halt + till they reached the sluicegate, which had been drawn up, so that + nobody might pass. It was now proclaimed with beat of drum, that + those of the Dalecarlians who should not have left the city by five + o'clock, would be dealt with as rebels and traitors. More than a + thousand did leave, but the others stood firm. Counsellors and + generals went to them, and exhorted them to obedience; but they + cried out that they would make and unmake the king, according to + their own good right and decree, and that if it was attempted to + hinder them, the very child in the cradle should meet no mercy at + their hands. To give greater weight to their words, they fired a + cannon and a volley of musketry, by which a counsellor was killed. + + "Orders were now given to the soldiers to fire, but they had pity + on the poor peasants, and only aimed at the houses, shattering the + glass in hundreds of windows. But the artillerymen were obliged to + put match to touch-hole, and a murderous fire of canister did + execution in the masses of the Dalecarlians. Many a white camisole + was stained with the red heart's-blood of its wearer; fifty men + fell dead upon the spot, eighty were wounded, and a crowd of others + sprang into the Norderstroem, or sought to fly. The regiment of + body-guards pursued them, and drove the discomfited boors into the + artillery court. A severe investigation now took place, and these + thirsters after liberty were punished by imprisonment and running + the gauntlet. Their leader and five others were beheaded. + + "The Dalecarlians are a tenacious and obstinate people, and their + character is not likely to change; but God forbid that they should + again deem it necessary to visit Stockholm. They were doubtless + just as brave in the year 1743 as in 1521 and 1434; but though + _they_ had not altered, the times had. Civilization and cartridges + are powerful checks upon undisciplined courage and an unbridled + desire of liberty." + +Returning from Dalecarlia to Stockholm, Mr Boas takes, not without +regret, his final farewell of that city, and embarks for Gothenburg, +passing through the Gotha canal, that splendid monument of Swedish +industry and perseverance, which connects the Baltic with the North Sea. +He passes the island of Moerkoe, on which is Hoeningsholm Castle, where +Marshal Banner was brought up. A window is pointed out in the third +story of the castle, at which Banner, when a child, was once playing, +when he overbalanced himself and fell out. The ground beneath was hard +and rocky, but nevertheless he got up unhurt, ran into the house, and +related how a gardener had saved him by catching him in his white apron. +Enquiry was immediately made, but, far or near, no gardener was to be +found. By an odd coincidence, Wallenstein, Banner's great opponent, when +a page at Innspruck, also fell out of a high window without receiving +the least injury. + +On the first evening of the voyage, the steamer anchors for the night +near Mem, a country-seat belonging to a certain Count Saltza, an +eccentric old nobleman, who traces his descent from the time of Charles +XII., and fancies himself a prophet and ghost-seer. His predictions +relate usually to the royal family or country of Sweden, and are +repeated from mouth to mouth throughout every province of the kingdom. +And here we must retract an assertion we made some pages back, as to the +possibility of our supposing this book to proceed from any other than a +German pen. No one but a German would have thought it necessary or +judicious to intrude his own insipid sentimentalities into a narrative +of this description, and which was meant to be printed. But there is +probably no conceivable subject on which a German could be set to write, +in discussing which he would not manage to drag in, by neck and heels, a +certain amount of sentiment or metaphysics, perhaps of both. Mr Boas, we +are sorry to say, is guilty of this sin against good taste. The steamer +comes to an anchor about ten o'clock, and he goes ashore with Baron +K----, a friend he has picked up on board, to take a stroll in the +Prophet's garden at Mem. There they encounter Mesdemoiselles Ebba and +Ylfwa, lovely and romantic maidens, who sit in a bower of roses under +the shadow of an umbrageous maple-tree, their arms intertwined, their +eyes fixed upon a moonbeam, piping out Swedish melodies, which, to our +two swains, prove seductive as the songs of a Siren. The moonbeam +aforesaid is kind enough to convert into silver all the trees, bushes, +leaves and twigs in the vicinity of the young ladies with the +Thor-and-Odin names; whilst to complete this German vision, a white bird +with a yellow tuft upon its head stands sentry upon a branch beside +them, the said bird being, we presume, a filthy squealing cockatoo, +although Mr Boas, gay deceiver that he is, evidently wishes us to infer +that it was an indigenous volatile of the phoenix tribe. Sentinel +Cockatoo, however, was caught napping, and the garrison of the bower had +to run for it. And now commences a series of hopes and fears, and doubts +and anxieties, and sighings and perplexities, which keep the tender +heart of Boas in a state of agreeable palpitation, through four or five +chapters; at the end of which he steps on board the steam-boat +Christiana, blows in imagination a farewell kiss to Miss Ebba, of whom, +by the bye, he has never obtained more than half a glimpse, and awaking, +as he tells us, from his love-dream, which we should call his nightmare, +sets sail for Copenhagen. + +Of the various places visited by Mr Boas during his ramble, few seem to +have pleased him better than Copenhagen, and he becomes quite +enthusiastic when speaking of that city, and of what he saw there. The +pleasure he had in meeting Thorwaldsen is perhaps in part the cause of +his remembering the Danish capital with peculiar favour. He gives +various details concerning that celebrated sculptor, his character and +habits, and commences the chapter, which he styles, "A Fragment of +Italy in the North," with a comparison between Sweden and Denmark, two +countries which, both in trifling and important matters, but especially +in the character of their inhabitants, are far more dissimilar than from +their juxtaposition might have been supposed. Listen to Mr Boas. + + "On meeting an interesting person for the first time, one + frequently endeavours to trace a resemblance with some previous + acquaintance or friend. I have a similar propensity when I visit + interesting cities; but I had difficulty in calling to mind any + place to which I could liken Copenhagen. Between Sweden and Denmark + generally, there are more points of difference than of resemblance. + Sweden is the land of rocks, and Denmark of forest. Oehlenschlaegel + calls the latter country, 'the fresh and grassy,' but he might also + have added 'the cool and wooded.' + + "The Swedish language is soft and melodious, the Danish sharp and + accentuated. The former is better suited to lyrical, the latter to + dramatic poetry. + + "When a Swede laughs, he still looks more serious than a Dane who + is out of humour. In Sweden, the people are quiet, even when + indulging in the pleasures they love best; in Denmark there is no + pleasure without noise. In a political point of view, the + difference between the two nations is equally marked. Beyond the + Sound, all demonstrations are made with fierce earnestness; on this + side of it, satire and wit are the weapons employed. On the one + hand shells and heavy artillery, on the other, light and brilliant + rockets. The Swedes have much liberty of the press and very little + humour; the Danes have a great deal of humour and small liberty of + the press. As a people, the former are of a choleric and melancholy + temperament, the latter of a sanguine and phlegmatic one. + + "Whilst the Swedish national hatred is directed against Russia, + that of Denmark takes England for its object. Finland and the fleet + are not yet forgotten. + + "The Swede is constantly taking off his hat; the Dane always shakes + hands. The former is courteous and sly, the latter simple and + honest. + + "If Denmark has little similarity with its northern neighbour, + neither has it any marked point of resemblance with its southern + one. It always reminds me of the _tongue_ of a balance, vibrating + between Sweden and Germany, and inclining ever to that side on + which the greatest weight lies. Thus its literary tendency is + German, its political one Swedish. + + "The best comparison that can be made of Denmark is with Italy; and + to me, although I shall probably surprise the reader by saying so, + Copenhagen appears like a part of Rome transplanted into the north. + In some degree, perhaps, Thorwaldsen is answerable for this + impression; for where he works and creates, one is apt to fancy + oneself surrounded by that warm southern atmosphere in which nature + and art best flourish. When he returned to Copenhagen, it was a + festival day for the whole population of the city. A crew of gaily + dressed sailors rowed him to land, and whilst they were doing so, a + rainbow suddenly appeared in the heavens. The multitude assembled + on the shore set up a shout of jubilation, to see that the sky + itself assumed its brightest tints, to celebrate the return of + their favourite. + + "I had been told that I should not see Thorwaldsen, because he was + staying with the Countess Stampe. This lady is about forty years of + age, and possesses that blooming _embonpoint_ which makes up in + some women for the loss of youthful freshness. She became + acquainted with the artist in Italy, and fascinated him to such a + degree that he made her a present of the whole of his drawings, + which are of immense artistical value. She excited much ill-will by + accepting them, but at the same time it must in justice be owned, + that Thorwaldsen is under great obligations to her. He had hardly + arrived in Copenhagen, when innumerable invitations to breakfasts, + dinners, and suppers were poured upon him. Every body wanted to + have him; and, as he was known to love good living, the most + sumptuous repasts were prepared for him. The sturdy old man, who + had never been ill in his life, became pale and sickly, lost his + taste for work, and was in a fair way to die of an indigestion, + when the Countess Stampe stepped in to the rescue, carried him off + to her country-seat, and there fitted him up a studio. His health + speedily returned, and with it the energy for which he has always + been remarkable, and he joyfully resumed the chisel and modelling + stick. + + "I had scarcely set foot in the streets of Copenhagen, when I saw + Thorwaldsen coming towards me. I was sure that I was not mistaken, + for no one who has ever looked upon that fine benevolent + countenance, that long silver hair, clear, high forehead and gently + smiling mouth--no one who has ever gazed into those divine blue + orbs, wherein creative power seems so sweetly to repose, could ever + forget them again. I went up and spoke to him. He remembered me + immediately, shook my hand with that captivating joviality of + manner which is peculiar to him, and invited me into his house. He + inhabits the Charlottenburg, an old chateau on the Koenigsneumarkt, + by crossing the inner court of which one reaches his studio. My + most delightful moments in Copenhagen were passed there, looking on + whilst he worked at the statues of deities and heroes--he himself + more illustrious than them all. There they stand, those lifelike + and immortal groups, displaying the most wonderful variety of form + and attitude, and yet, strange to say, Thorwaldsen scarcely ever + makes use of a model. His most recently commenced works were two + gigantic allegorical figures, Samson and Aesculapius. The first was + already completed, and I myself saw the bearded physiognomy of + Aesculapius growing each day more distinct and perfect beneath the + cunning hand of the master. The statues represent Strength and + Health." + +In his house, and as a private individual, Thorwaldsen is as amiable and +estimable as in his studio. In the centre of one of his rooms is a +four-sided sofa, which was embroidered expressly for him by the fair +hands of the Copenhagen ladies. The walls are covered with pictures, +some of them very good, others of a less degree of merit. They were not +all bought on account of their excellence; Thorwaldsen purchased many of +them to assist young artists who were living, poor and in difficulties, +at Rome. Dressed in his blue linen blouse, he explained to his visitor +the subjects of these pictures, without the slightest tinge of vanity in +his manner or words. None of the dignities or honours that have been +showered upon him, have in the slightest degree turned his head. +Affable, cheerful, and even-tempered, he appears to have preserved, to +his present age of sixty, much of the joyous lightheartedness of youth. +With great glee he related to Mr Boas the trick he had played the +architects of the church of Our Lady at Copenhagen. + +"Architects are obstinate people," said he, "and one must know how to +manage them. Thank God, that is a knowledge which I possess in a +tolerable degree. When the church of Our Lady was built, the architect +left six niches on either side of the interior, and these were to +contain the twelve apostles. In vain did I represent to them that +statues were meant to be looked at on all sides, and that nobody could +see through a stone wall; I implored, I coaxed them, it was all in vain. +Then thought I to myself, he is best served who serves himself, and +thereupon I made the statues a good half-foot higher than the niches. +You should have seen the length of the architects' faces when they found +this out. But they could not help themselves; the infernal sentry-boxes +were bricked up, and my apostles stand out upon their pedestals, as you +may have seen when you visited the church." + +Thorwaldsen is devotedly attached to Copenhagen, and has made a present +to the city of all his works and collections, upon condition that a +fitting locality should be prepared for their reception, and that the +museum should bear his name. The king gave a wing of the Christiansburg +for this purpose, the call for subscriptions was enthusiastically +responded to, and the building is now well advanced. Its style of +architecture is unostentatious, and its rows of large windows will admit +a broad decided light upon the marble groups. Pending its completion, +the majority of the statues and pictures are lodged in the palace. + +Mr Boas appears bent upon establishing his parallel between Denmark and +Italy. He traces it in the fondness of the Danes for art, poetry, and +music, in their gay and joyous character, and in their dress. He even +discovers an Italian punchinello figuring in a Danish puppet-show; and +as it was during the month of August that he found himself in Denmark, +the weather was not such as to dispel his illusions. + +"It would be erroneous," he says, "to suppose that Danish costumes +weaken or obliterate the idea of a southern region conveyed by this +country. A Bolognese professor would not think of covering his head with +the red cap of a Lazzarone, and Roman marchesas dress themselves, like +Danish countesses, according to the _Journal des Modes_. National +costumes in all countries have taken refuge in villages, and the +peasants in the environs of Copenhagen have no reason to be ashamed of +their garb, which is both showy and picturesque. The men wear round hats +and dark-blue jackets, lined with scarlet and adorned with long +glittering rows of bullet-shaped buttons. The women are very tasteful in +their attire. Their dark-green gowns, with variegated borders, reach +down to their heels, and the shoulder-strap of the closely fitting +boddice is a band of gold lace. The chief pains are bestowed upon the +head-dress, which is various in its fashion, sometimes composed of clear +white stuff, with an embroidered lappet, falling down upon the neck; +sometimes of a cap of many colours, heavily embroidered with gold, and +having broad ribands of a red purple, which flutter over the shoulders. +One meets every where with this original sort of costume; for the +peasant women repair in great numbers to the festivals at the various +towns, and in Copenhagen they are employed as nurses to the children of +the higher classes. + + "During my sojourn in the Danish capital, the weather was so + obliging as in no way to interfere with my Cisalpine illusions. The + sky continued a spotless dome of lapis-lazuli, out of which the sun + beamed like a huge diamond; and if now and then a little cloud + appeared, it was no bigger than a white dove flitting across the + blue expanse. The days were hot, a bath in the lukewarm sea + scarcely cooled me, and at night a soft dreamy sort of vapour + spread itself over the earth. I only remember one single moment + when the peculiarities of a northern climate made themselves + obvious. It was in the evening, and I was returning with my friend + Holst from the delightful forest-park of Friedrichsberg. The sky + was one immense blue prairie, across which the moon was solitarily + wandering, when suddenly the atmosphere became illuminated with a + bright and fiery light; a large flaming meteor rushed through the + air, and, bursting with a loud report, divided itself into a + hundred dazzling balls of fire. These disappeared, and immediately + afterwards a white mist seemed to rise out of the earth, and the + stars shone more dimly than before. Over stream and meadow rolled + the fog, in strange fantastical shapes, floating like a silver + gauze among the tree-stems and foliage, till it gradually wove + itself into one close and impervious veil. To such appearances as + these must legends of elves and fairies owe their origin." + +It is something rather new for an author to introduce into his book a +criticism of another work on the same subject. This, Mr Boas, who +appears to be a bold man, tolerably confident in his own capabilities +and acquirements, has done, and in a very amusing, although not +altogether an unobjectionable manner. He must be sanguine, however, if +he expects his readers to place implicit faith in his impartiality. +Under the title of "A Tour in the North," he devotes a long chapter to a +bitter attack on the Countess Hahn-Hahn's book of that name. Here is its +commencement:-- + + "A year previously to myself, Ida, Countess Hahn-Hahn, had visited + Sweden, and the fruit of her journey was, as is infallible with + that lady, a book. When I arrived at Stockholm, people were just + reading it, and I found them highly indignant at the nonsense and + misrepresentations it contains. When a German goes to Sweden he is + received as a brother, with a warmth and heartiness which should + make a doubly pleasing impression, if we reflect how important it + is in our days to preserve a mutual confidence and good-will + between nations. When meddling persons make the perfidious attempt + to embitter a friendly people by scoffing and abuse, there should + be an end to forbearance, and it becomes a duty to strike in with + soothing words. We must show the Swedes how such scribblings are + appreciated in Germany, lest they should think we take a pleasure + in ridiculing what is noble and good." + +And thereupon, Mr Boas does "strike in," as he calls it; but however +soothing his words may prove to his ill-used Swedish friends, we have +considerable doubts as to their emollient effect upon the Countess, +supposing always that she condescends to read them. He hits that lady +some very hard knocks, not all of them, perhaps, entirely undeserved; +makes out an excellent case for the Swedes, and proves, much more +satisfactorily to himself than to us, that Madame Hahn-Hahn is of a very +inferior grade of bookmaking tourists. + +"In the first place" he says, "I declare that her work on Sweden is no +original, but a dull imitation of Gustavus Nicolai's notorious book, +'Italy, as it really is.' Like that author, the Countess labours +assiduously to collect together all the darkest shades and least +favourable points of the country and people she visits; exaggerates them +when she finds them, and invents them when she does not. For the +beauties of the country she has neither eye nor feeling; she +intentionally avoids speaking of them, and her book is meant, like that +of Nicolai, to operate as a warning, and scare away travellers. The good +lady says this very explicitly. 'Travellers are beginning to turn their +attention a good deal to the north, for the south is becoming +insufficient to gratify that universal rage for rambling, with which I +myself, as a true child of the century, am also infected. But the north +is so little known--I, for my part, only knew it through Dahl's poetical +landscapes--that one feels involuntarily disposed to deck it with the +colours of the south, because the south is beautiful, and the north is +said also to be so. Thus one is apt to set out with a delusion, and I +think it will therefore be an act of kindness to those who may visit +Sweden after me, if I say exactly how I found it.' Uncommonly good, +Gustavus the second. But it would be unfair to Nicolai to assert that +his book is as dull and nonsensical as that of the Countess Hahn-Hahn. +He went to Italy with the idea that it never rained there, and that +oranges grew on the hedges, as sloes do with us. This was childish, and +one could not help laughing at it. But when his imitatress perpetually +laments and complains, because on the Maeler lake, under the 59th degree +of latitude, she does not find the sultry southern climate--it becomes +worse than childish, and one is compelled to pity her. The Countess +chanced to hit upon a cool rainy month for her visit--I am wrong, she +was not a month in Scandinavia altogether--and thereupon she cries out +as if she were drowning, and despises both country and people." + +It is easy to understand that there can be little sympathy between the +Countess Hahn-Hahn, an imaginative and somewhat capricious fine lady, +with strong aristocratic and exclusive tendencies, and such a +matter-of-fact person as Mr Boas, who, in spite of his sentimentality, +which is a sort of national infirmity, and although he informs us in one +part of his book that he is a poet, leans much more to the practical and +positive than to the imaginative and dreamy, and we moreover suspect is +a bit of a democrat. Having, however, taken the Countess _en grippe_, as +the French call it, he shows her no mercy, and, it must be owned, +displays some cleverness in hitting off and illustrating the weak points +of her character and writings. + +"Hardly," he resumes, "has the female Nicolai reached Stockholm, when +she begins with her insipid comparisons. 'The golden brilliancy of +Naples and the magic spell of Venice are here entirely wanting.' Is it +possible? Only see what striking remarks this witty and travelled dame +does make! In the next page she says:--'Upon this very day, exactly one +year since, I was in Barcelona; but here there is nothing that will bear +comparison with the land of the aloe and the orange. Three years ago I +was on the Lake of Como, in that fairy garden beyond the Alps! Five +years ago in Vienna, amongst the rose-groves of Laxenburg;' &c. Who +cares in what places the Countess has been? Surely it is enough that she +has written long wearisome books about them. Every possible corner of +Italy, Spain, and Switzerland is dragged laboriously in, to furnish +forth comparisons; and soon, no doubt, a similar use will be made of +Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia. These comparisons are invariably shown to +be to the disadvantage of Sweden; and although the lady is oftentimes +compelled to confess to the beauty of a Swedish landscape, she never +forgets to qualify the admission, by observing how much more beautiful +such or such a place was. For example, she is standing one night at her +window, looking out on the Maeler lake. 'I wrapped my mantilla +shiveringly around me, stepped back from the window, shut it, and said +with a slight sigh: In Venice the moonlight nights were very different.' +Really this would be hardly credible, did any other than a countess +assure us of it." + + "Every thing in Sweden is disagreeable and adverse to her; roads, + houses, food, people, and money; rocks, trees, rivers and flowers; + but especially sun, sky, and air. She talks without ceasing of + heavy clouds and pouring rains, but even this abundance of water is + insufficient to mitigate the dryness of her book." + +"I am always sorry," says a witty French writer, "when a woman becomes +an author: I would much rather she remained a woman." Does Mr Boas, +perchance, partake this implied opinion, that authorship unsexes; and is +it therefore that he allows himself to deal out such hard measure to the +Countess Ida? Even if we agreed with his criticisms, we should quarrel +with his want of gallantry. But it is tolerably evident that if Madame +Hahn-Hahn, finding herself on the shores of the Baltic, in a July that +might have answered to December in the sunny climes she had so recently +left, allowed her account of Swedes and Sweden to be shaded a little _en +noir_ by her own physical discomforts; it is evident, we say, that on +the other hand, our present author, either more favoured by the season, +or less susceptible of its influence, sins equally in the contrary +extreme, and throws a rosy tint over all that he portrays. Though +equally likely to induce into error, it is the pleasanter fault to those +persons who merely read the tour for amusement, without proposing to +follow in the footsteps of the tourist. Your complaining, grumbling +travellers are bores, whether on paper or in a post-chaise; and, truth +to tell, we have noticed in others of the Countess's books a disposition +to look on the dark side of things. But this is not always the case, +and, when she gets on congenial ground, she shines forth as a writer of +a very high order. Witness her Italian tour, and her book upon Turkey +and Syria, with which latter, English readers have recently been made +acquainted through an admirable translation, by the accomplished author +of _Caleb Stukely_. She has her little conceits, and her little fancies; +rather an overweening pride of caste, and contempt for the plebeian +multitude, and an addiction to filling too many pages of her books with +small personal and egotistical details about herself, and her +sensations, and what dresses she wears, and how thin she is, and so on. +But with all her faults, she is unquestionably a very accomplished and +clever writer. Her criticisms on subjects relating to art, and +especially her original and sparkling remarks on painting and +architecture, although qualified by Mr Boas as twaddle, stamp her at +once as a woman of no common order. She has profound and poetical +conceptions of Beauty, and at times a felicity of expression in +presenting the effects of nature and art upon her own mind, that strikes +and startles by its novelty and power. As a delineator of men and +manners, she is remarkable for shrewdness, subtle perception, and +truthfulness that cannot be mistaken. Should our readers doubt our +statements, or haply Mr Boas turn up his nose at the eulogium, we would +simply refer them and him to the last work that has fallen from her pen, +the Letters from the Orient, and bid them open it at the page which +brings them to a Bedouin encampment--a scene described with the vigour +that belongs to a masculine understanding, and all the fascination which +a feminine mind can bestow. + +Still we are free to confess that the Countess has written perhaps +rather too much for the time she has been about it, and thus laid +herself open to an accusation of bookmaking, the prevailing vice of the +present race of authors. The incorrigible and merciless Mr Boas does not +let this pass. + +"The question now remains to be asked," says he; "Why did Ida Hahn-Hahn, +upon leaving a country in which she had passed a couple of weeks--a +country of the language of which she confesses herself ignorant, and +with which she was in every respect thoroughly displeased, deem it +incumbent on her forthwith to write a thick book concerning it? The +answer is this: her pretended impulse to authorship is merely feigned, +otherwise she would not have troubled herself any further about such a +wearisome country as Sweden. Through three hundred and fifty pages does +she drag herself, grumbling as she goes; a single day must often fill a +score of pages, for travelling costs money, and the _honorarium_ is not +to be despised. If I thus accuse the Countess of bookmaking, I also feel +that such an accusation should be supported by abundant proof, and such +proof am I ready to give." + +Oh fye, Boas! How can you be so ruthless? Besides the impolicy of +exposing the tricks of your trade, all this is very spiteful indeed. You +would almost tempt us, were it worth while, to take up the cudgels in +earnest in defence of the calumniated Countess, and to give you a crack +on the pate, which, as Maga is regularly translated into German for the +benefit and improvement of your countrymen, would entirely finish your +career, whether as poet, tour-writer, or any thing else. But seeing that +your conceits and lucubrations have afforded us one or two good laughs, +and considering, moreover, that you are of the number of those small fry +with which it is almost condescension for us to meddle, we will let you +off, and close this notice of your book, if not with entire approbation, +at least with a moderate meed of praise. + + + + +HOUSE-HUNTING IN WALES. + + +"Change of air! change of air!" Every body was in the same story. +"Medicine is of no use," said the doctor; "a little change of scene will +set all to rights again." I looked in the child's face--she was +certainly very pale. "And how long do you think she should stay away +from home?" "Two or three months will stock her with health for a whole +year." Two or three months!--oh, what a century of time that is, now +that we have railroads all over the world, and steam to the +Pyramids--where in all the wide earth are we to go? So we got maps of +all countries, and took advice from every one we saw. We shall certainly +go among hills, wherever we go; beautiful scenery if we can--but hills +and fresh air at all events. We heard of fine open downs, and an +occasional tempest, in the neighbourhood of Rouen. A steamer goes from +Portsmouth to Havre, and another delightful little river-boat up the +Seine. For a whole day we had determined on a visit to the burial-place +of William the Norman--the death-place of Joan of Arc; we had devised +little tours and detours all over the mysterious land that sent forth +the conquerors of England; but soon there cane "a frost, a nipping +frost,"--are we to be boxed up in an hotel in a French town the whole +time? No, we must go somewhere, where we can get a country-house--a +place on the swelling side of some romantic hill, where we can trot +about all day upon ponies, or ramble through fields and meadows at our +own sweet will. So we gave up all thoughts of Rouen. "I'll tell you +what, sir," said a sympathizing neighbour: "when I came home on my three +years' leave, I left the prettiest thing you ever saw, a perfect +paradise, and a bungalow that was the envy of every man in the +district." "Well?" I said with an enquiring look. "It's among the +Neilgherries; and as for bracing air, there isn't such a place in the +whole world. I merely mention it, you know; it's a little too far off, +perhaps; but if you like it, it is quite at your service, I assure +you." It was very tempting, but three months was scarcely long enough. +So we were at a nonplus. Scotland we thought of; and the Cumberland +lakes; and the Malvern hills; and the Peak of Derbyshire; and where we +might finally have fixed can never be known, for our plans were decided +by the advice of a friend, which was rendered irresistible by being +backed by his own experience. "Go to Wales," he said. "I lived in such a +beautiful place there three or four years ago--in the Vale of +Glasbury--a lovely open space, with hills all round it--admirable +accommodation at the Three Cocks, and the most civil and obliging +landlord that ever offered good entertainment for man and beast." Out +came the maps again; the route was carefully studied; and one day at the +end of May, we found ourselves, eight people in all, viz., four children +and two maids, in a railway coach at Gosport, fizzing up to Basingstoke. +There is such a feeling of life and earnestness about a railway +carriage;--the perpetual shake, and the continual swing, swing, on and +on, without a moment's pause, with the quick, bustling, breathless sort +of tramp of the engine--all these things, and forty others, put me in +such a state of intense activity that I felt as if I kept a shop--or was +a prodigious man upon 'Change--or was flying up to make a fortune--or +had suddenly been called to form an administration--or had become a +member of the prize ring, and was going up to fight white-headed Bob. +However, on this occasion I was not called upon either to overthrow +white-headed Bob of the ring, or long-headed Bob of the administration; +and at Basingstoke we suddenly found ourselves, bag and baggage, wife, +maids, and children, standing in a forlorn and disconsolate manner, at +the door of the station-house; while the train pursued its course, and +had already disappeared like a dream, or rather like a nightmare. There +were at least half-a-dozen little carriages, each with one horse; and +the drivers had, each and all of then, the audacity to offer to convey +us--luggage and all--sixteen miles across, to Reading. Why, there was +not a vehicle there that would have held the two trunks; and as to +conveying us all, it would have taken the united energies of all the +Flies in Basingstoke, with the help of the Industrious Fleas to boot, to +get us to our destination within a week. While in this perplexing +situation, wondering what people could possibly want with such an array +of boxes and bags, a quiet-looking man, who had stood by, chewing the +lash of a driving-whip in a very philosophical manner, said, "Please +sir, I'll take you all." "My good friend, have you seen the whole +party?" "Oh yes, sir, I brought a bigger nor yourn for this here +train--we have a fly on purpose." What a sensible man he must have been +who devised a vehicle so much required by unhappy sires that are ordered +to remove their Lares for change of air! "Bring round the ark," we +cried; and in a minute came two very handsome horses to the door, +drawing a thing that was an aggravated likeness of the old hackney +coaches, with a slight cross of an omnibus in its breed. It held seven +inside with perfect ease, and would have held as many more as might be +required; and it carried all the luggage on the top with an air of as +much ease as if it had only been a bonnet, and it was rather proud than +otherwise of its head-dress. The driving seat was as capacious as the +other parts of the machine, and we had much interesting conversation +with the Jehu--whose epithets, we are sorry to say, as applied to +railroads, were of that class of adjectives called the emphatic. There +is to be a cross line very shortly between Basingstoke and Reading, +uniting the South-Western and Great Western Railways--and then, what is +to become of the tremendous vehicle and its driver? The coach, to be +sure, may be retained as a specimen of Brobdignaggian fly, but my friend +Jehu must appear in the character of Othello, and confess that "his +occupation's gone." Thank heaven! people wear boots, and many of them +like to have them cleaned, so, with the help of Day and Martin, you may +live. "That's the Duke's gate, sir," he said, pointing with his whip to +a plain lodge and entrance on the left hand. "The lodge-keeper was his +top groom at the time Waterloo was--and a very nice place he has." This +was Strathfieldsaye: there were miles and miles of the most beautiful +plantations, all the fences in excellent order, the cottages along the +road clean and comfortable, and every symptom of a good landlord to be +seen as far as the eye could reach. + +"If it wasn't for all this here luggage," said Jehu in a confidential +whisper, with a backward jerk of his head towards the moving pyramid +behind us; "we might go through the park. The Duke gives permission to +gentlemen's carriages." + +So the poor man deluded himself with the thought, that if it wer'n't for +the bandboxes, we might pass muster as fresh from the hands of Cork and +Spain. + +"That's very kind of the Duke." + +"Oh, he's the best of gentlemen--I hears the best of characters of him +from his tenants, and all the poor folks round about." Now here was our +driver--rather ragged than otherwise, and as poor as need be--bearing +evidence to the character of the greatest man in these degenerate days, +on points that are perhaps more important than some that will be dwelt +on by his biographers. The best of characters from his tenants and the +poor;--well, glorious Duke, I shall always think of this when I read +about your victories, and all your great doings in peace and war; and +when people call you the Iron Duke, and the great soldier, and the hero +of Waterloo, I shall think of you as the hero of Strathfieldsaye, and +the best of characters among your tenants and the poor folks round +about. + +"Does the Duke often come to Reading?" + +"No; very seldom." + +"I should have thought he would come by the Great Western, and drive +across." + +"He!" exclaimed the driver, giving a cut to the near horse by way of +italicising his observation. "He never comes by none of their rails. He +don't like 'em. He posts every step of the way. He's a reg'lar +gentleman, he is, the Duke." + +And in the midst of conversation like this, we got to Reading. Through +some wretched streets we drove, and then through some tolerable ones; +and at last pulled up at the Great Western Hotel, a large handsome +house, very near the Railway station; and in a few minutes were as +comfortably settled as if we had travelled with a couple of outriders, +and had ordered our rooms for a month. The sitting-room had three or +four windows, of which two looked out upon the terminus. At these the +whole party were soon happily stationed, watching the different trains +that came sweeping up and down every few minutes; long luggage trains, +pursuing their heavy way with a business-like solidity worthy of their +great weight and respectability; short dapper trains, that seemed to +take a spurt up the road as if to try their wind and condition; and +occasionally a mysterious engine, squeaking, and hissing, and roaring, +and then, with a succession of curious jumps and pantings, backing +itself half a mile or so down the course, and then spluttering and +dashing out of sight as if madly intent upon suicide, and in search of a +stone wall to run its head upon. As to feeling surprise at the number of +accidents, the only wonder a sensible man can entertain on the subject +is, that there is any thing but accidents from morning to night. And +yet, when you look a little closer into it, every thing seems so +admirably managed, that the chances are thousands to one against any +misfortune occurring. Every engine seems to know its place as accurately +as a cavalry charger; the language also of the signals seems very +intelligible to the iron ears of the Lucifers and Beelzebubs, and the +other evil spirits, who seem on every line to be the active agents of +locomotion. Why can't the directors have more Christianlike names for +their moving power? What connexion is there between a beautiful new +engine, shining in all its finery--the personification of obedient and +beneficent strength--with the "Infernal," or the "Phlegethon," or the +"Styx?" Are they aware what a disagreeable association of ideas is +produced in the students of Lempriere's classical dictionary by the two +last names? or the Charon or Atropos? Let these things be mended, and +let them be called by some more inviting appellations--Nelson, St +Vincent, Rodney, Watt, Arkwright, Stephenson, Milton, Shakspeare, +Scott;--but leave heathen mythology and diabolic geography alone. As +night began to close, the sights and sounds grew more strange and awful. +A great flaming eye made its appearance at a distance; the gradual boom +of its approach grew louder and louder, and its look became redder and +redder; and then we watched it roll off into the darkness again, on the +other side of the station, on its way to Bath--till, tearing up at the +rate of forty miles an hour, came another red-eyed monster, breathing +horrible flame, and seeming to burn its way through the sable livery of +the night with the strength and straightness of a red-hot cannon-ball. +And then we called for candles and went to bed. + +The train was to pass on its way to Bristol at half-past eleven, so we +had plenty of time to see the lions of Reading--if there had been any +animals of the kind in the neighbourhood--but after a short detour in +the street, and a glimpse into the country, we found ourselves +irresistibly attracted to the railway. The scene here was the same as on +the previous night, and we were more and more confirmed in our opinion, +that, next to the sea or a navigable river, a railway is the pleasantest +object in a rural view. As to the impostors who extort thousands of +pounds from the unhappy shareholders, on the pretext that the line will +be injurious to their estates, they ought at once to be sent to Brixton +for obtaining money under false pretences. It gives a greatly increased +value to their lands, as may be seen by the superior rents they can +obtain for the farms along the line; and as to the picturesqueness of +the landscape, it is only because the eye is not yet accustomed to it, +nor the mind embued with railway associations, that it is not considered +a finer "object" than the level greenery of a park, or the hedgerows of +a cultivated farm. Painters have already begun to see the grandeur of a +tempestuous sea ridden over by steamers; and before the end of the next +war, some black "queller of the ocean flood," with short funnel and +smoke-blackened sails, will be thought as fit a theme for poetry and +romance, as the Victory or the Shannon. + +Knowledge, which we are every where told is now advancing at railway +speed, is still confined within very narrow limits, we are sorry to say, +among railway clerks and other officials. They still seem to measure the +sphere of their studies by distance, and not by time; for instance, not +one of the _employes_ at Reading could give us more information about +Bristol than if it had been three days' journey removed from him. Three +hours conveys us from one to the other--and yet they did not know the +name or situation of a single inn, nor where the boats to Chepstow +sailed from, nor whether there were any boats to Chepstow at all. In +ancient times such ignorance might be excusable, when the towns were +really as distant as London and York now are; but when three hours is +the utmost limit, and every half hour the communication is kept up +between them, it struck us as something unaccountable that Bristol +should be such a complete _terra incognita_ to at least a dozen +smart-looking individuals, who stamp off the tickets, and chuck the +money into a drawer, with an easy negligence very gratifying to the +beholder. Remembering the recommendation of the Royal Western Hotel +given us by a friend, with the whispered information that the turtle was +inimitable, and only three-and-sixpence a basin; we stowed away the +greater portion of the party in a first-class carriage, and betook +ourselves in economical seclusion to a vehicle of the second rank. And a +first-rate vehicle it was--better in the absence of stuffing on that +warm day, than its more aristocratic companion; and in less than three +minutes we were all spinning down the road--a line of human and other +baggage, at least a quarter of a mile in length. + +At Swindon we were allowed ten minutes for refreshment. The great +lunching-room is a very splendid apartment--and hungry passengers rushed +in at both doors, and in a moment clustered round the counters, and were +busy in the demolition of pies and sandwiches. Under a noble arch the +counters are placed; the attendants occupying a space between them, so +that one set attend to the gormandizers who enter by one of the doors, +and the rest on the others. It has exactly the effect of a majestic +mirror--and so completely was this my impression, that it was with the +utmost difficulty I persuaded myself that the crowd on the other side of +the arch was not the reflection of the company upon this. Exactly +opposite the place where I stood--in the act of enjoying a glass of +sherry and a biscuit--I discovered what I took of course to be the +counterfeit presentment of myself. What an extraordinary mirror, I +thought!--for I saw a prodigious man, with enormous whiskers, ramming a +large veal pie into his mouth with one hand, and holding in the other a +tumbler of porter. I looked at the glass of sherry, and gave the biscuit +a more vigorous bite--alas! it had none of the flavour of the veal and +porter; so I discovered that the law of optics was unchanged, and that I +had escaped the infliction of so voracious a double-ganger. + +The country round Chippenham is as beautiful as can be conceived; all +the fruit-trees were in full blossom, and we swept through long tracts +of the richest and prettiest orchards we ever saw. Hall and farm, and +moated grange, passed in rapid succession; and at last the fair city of +Bath rose like the queen of all the land, and looked down from her +palaces and towers on the fairest champaign that ever queen looked upon +before. Seen from the railway, the upper part of the town seems to rise +up from the very midst of orchards and gardens; terrace above terrace, +but still with a great flush of foliage between; it is a pity it ever +grew into a fashionable watering-place; though, even now, it is not too +late to amend. Like some cynosure of neighbouring eyes, fed from her +gentle youth upon all the sights and sounds of rural life, she is too +beautiful to put on the airs and graces of a belle of the court. Let her +go back to her country ways--her walks in the village lanes--her +scampers across the fields; she will be more really captivating than if +she was redolent of Park Lane, and never missed a drawing-room or +Almack's. But here we are at Bristol, and must leave our exhortations to +Bath to a future opportunity. + +It is amazing how rapidly the passengers disperse. By the time our +trunks and boxes were all collected, the station was deserted, the empty +carriages had wheeled themselves away, and we began to have involuntary +reminiscences of Campbell's _Last Man_. Earth's cities had no sound nor +tread--so it was with no slight gratification that we beheld the cad of +an omnibus beckoning us to take our place on the outside of his buss. +The luggage had been swung down in a lump through a hole in the floor, +and by the time we reached the same level, by the periphrasis of a +stair, every thing had been stowed away on the roof, where in a few +moments we joined it; and careered through the streets of Bristol, for +the first time in our lives. "Do you go to any hotel near the quay where +the Chepstow steamers start from?" was our first enquiry; but before the +charioteer had time to remove the tobacco from his cheek, to let forth +the words of song, a gentleman who sat behind us very kindly interfered. +"The York Hotel, sir, is quite near the river, in a nice quiet square, +and the most comfortable house I ever was in. If they can give you +accommodation, you can't be in better quarters." Next to the +praiseworthiness of a good Samaritan, who takes care of the houseless +and the stranger, is the merit of the benevolent individual who tells +you the good Samaritan's address. We made up our minds at once to go on +to the York Hotel. + +"For Chepstow, sir?" said the stranger--"a beautiful place, but by no +means equal to Linton in North Devon. Do you go to Chepstow straight?" + +"As soon as a boat will take us: we are going into Wales for change of +air, and the sooner we get there the better." + +"Change of air!--there isn't such air in England, no, nor anywhere else, +as at Linton. Why don't you come to Linton? You can get there in six +hours." + +"But Welsh air is the one recommended." + +"Nonsense. There's no air in Wales to be compared with Linton. I've +tried them both--so have hundreds of other people--and as for beauty and +scenery, and walks and drives, Linton beats the whole world." All this +was very difficult to resist; but we set our minds firmly on the Three +Cocks and Glasbury vale, and repelled all the temptations of the gem of +the North of Devon. Every hour that took us nearer to our goal, brought +out the likeness we had formed of it in our hearts with greater relief. +A fine secluded farm--of which a few rooms were fitted up as a house of +entertainment--a wild hill rising gradually at its back--a +mountain-stream rattling and foaming in front--all round it, swelling +knolls and heathy mountains. What had Linton to show in opposition to +charms like these? We rejected the advice of our good-natured counsellor +with great regret, more especially as a sojourn in Linton would probably +have enabled us to cultivate his further acquaintance. The York was +found all that he described--clean, quiet, and comfortable. When the +young fry had finished their dinner, away we all set on a voyage of +discovery to Clifton. Up a hill we climbed--which in many neighbourhoods +would be thought a mountain--and passed paragons, and circuses, and +crescents, on left and right, wondering when we were ever to emerge into +the open air. At last we reached the top--a green elevation surrounded +on two sides by streets and villas--crowned with a curious-looking +observatory, and ornamented at one end with a strange building on the +very edge of the cliff; being one of the _termini_ of the suspension +bridge, which got thus far, and no further. Going across the Green, the +sight is the most grand and striking we ever saw. Far down, skirting its +way round cliffs of prodigious height--which, however, except when they +are quarried for building purposes, are covered with the richest +foliage--along their whole descent winds the Avon, at that moment in +full tide, and covered in all its windings with sails of every shape and +hue. The rocks on the opposite side are of a glorious rich red, and +consort most beautifully with the green leaves of the plantations that +soften their rugged precipices, by festooning them to the very brink. +Then there are wild dells running back in the wooded parts of the hill, +and walks seem to be made through them for the convenience of maids who +love the moon--or more probably, and more poetically too, for the +refreshment of the toiling citizens of the smoky town, who wander about +among these sylvan recesses, with their wives and families, and enjoy +the wondrous beauty of the landscape, without having consulted Burke or +Adam Smith on the causes of their delight. As you climb upwards towards +the observatory, you fancy you are attending one of Buckland's +lectures--the whole language you hear is geological and philosophic. +About a dozen men, with little tables before them, are dispersed over +the latter part of the ascent, and keep tempting you with "fossiliferous +specimens of the oolite formation," "tertiary," "silurian," "saurian," +"stratification," "carboniferous." It was quite wonderful to hear such a +stream of learning, and to see, at the same time, the vigour of these +terrene philosophers in polishing their specimens upon a whetstone, laid +upon their knees. A few shillings put us all in possession of memorials +of Clifton, in the shape of little slabs of different strata, polished +on both sides, and ingeniously moulded to resemble a book. A little +further up, we got besieged by another body of the Clifton Samaritans, +the proprietors of a troop of donkeys, all saddled and bridled in battle +array. Into the hands of a venerable matron, the owner of a vast number +of donkies, and two or three ragged urchins, who acted as the Widdicombs +of the cavalcade, we committed all the younkers for an hour's joy, +between the turnpike and back, and betook ourselves to a seat at the +ledge of the cliff, and "gazed with ever new delight" at the noble +landscape literally at our feet. But the hour quickly passed; the +donkeys resigned their load; and we slid, as safely as could be +expected, down the inclined plane that conducted us to the York. We did +not experiment upon the turtle-soup, as we had been advised to do at the +Royal Western, but some Bristol salmon did as well; and after a long +consultation about boats, and breakfast at an early hour, we found we +had got through our day, and that hitherto the journey had offered +nothing but enjoyment. + +The morning lowered; and, heavily in clouds, but luckily without rain, +we effected our embarkation, at eight o'clock, on board the Wye--a +spacious steamer that plies every day, according to the tide, between +Bristol and Chepstow. We were a numerous crew, and had a steady captain, +with a face so weather-beaten that we concluded his navigation had not +been confined to the Severn sea. The first two or three miles of our +course was through the towering cliffs and wooded chasms we had admired +from the Clifton Down. For that part of its career, the Avon is so +beautiful, and glides along with such an evident aim after the +picturesque, that it is difficult to believe it any thing but an +ornamental piece of water, adding a new feature to a splendid landscape; +and yet this meandering stream is the pathway of nations, and only +inferior in the extent of its traffic to the Thames and Mersey. The +shores soon sink into commonplace meadows, and we emerge into the +Severn, which is about five miles wide, from the mouth of the Avon to +that of the Wye. All the way across, new headlands open upon the view; +and, far down the channel, you catch a glimpse of the Flat Holms, and +other little islands; while in front the Welsh hills bound the prospect, +at a considerable distance, and form a noble background to the rich, +wooded plains of Monmouthshire, and the low-lying shore we are +approaching. Suddenly you jut round an enormous rock, and find yourself +in a river of still more sylvan gentleness than the Avon. The other +passengers seemed to have no eyes for the picturesque--perhaps they had +seen the scenery till they were tired of it; and some of them were more +pleasantly engaged than gaping and gazing at rocks and trees. Grouped at +the tiller-chains were four or five people, very happily employed in +looking at each other--a lady and gentleman, in particular, seemed to +find a peculiar pleasure in the occupation; and were instructing each +other in the art and mystery of tying the sailor's knot. Time after time +the cord refused to follow the directions of the girl's fingers--very +white fingers they were too, and a very pretty girl--and, with untiring +assiduity, the teacher renewed his lesson. We ventured a prophecy that +they would soon be engaged in the twisting of a knot that would not be +quite so easy to untie as the sailor's slip that made them so happy. + +On we went on the top of the tide, rounding promontories, and gliding +among bosky bowers and wooded dells, till at last our panting conveyer +panted no more, and we lay alongside the pier of Chepstow. The tide at +this place rises to the incredible height of fifty, and sometimes, on +great occasions, of seventy feet; so they have a floating sort of +foot-bridge from the vessel to the shore, that sinks and rises with the +flood, connected with the land by elongating iron chains, and +illustrating the ups and downs of life in a very remarkable manner. I +will not attempt to describe Chepstow on the present occasion, for a +stay in it did not enter into our plan. The Three Cocks grew in interest +the nearer we got to their interesting abode. We determined to hurry +forward to Abergavenny--thence to send a missive of enquiry as to the +accommodations of the hostel--to go on at once, if we could be +received--and (leaving all the lumber, including the maids and the +younger children) to make a series of voyages of discovery, that would +entitle us to become members of the Travellers' Club. + +A coach was on the strand ready to start for Monmouth; a whisper and +half-a-crown secured the whole of the inside and two seats out, against +all concurrents; and the Wye, the boat, the knot-tying passengers, were +all left behind, and we began to climb the hill as fast as two +miserable-looking horses could crawl. A leader was added when we had got +a little way up; but as they neglected to furnish our coachman with a +whip long enough to reach beyond his wheeler's ears, our unicorn pursued +the even tenor of his way with very slackened traces, while our friend +sat the picture of indignation, with his short _flagellum_ in his hand, +and implored all the male population who overtook us, to favour him by +kicking the unhappy leader to death. An occasional benevolent Christian +complied with his request to the extent of a dig with a stout boot +under the rib; but every now and then, the furibund jarvey apologised to +us for the slowness of our course by asking--"Won't I serve him out when +I gets a whip!" A whip he at last got, and made up for lost time by +belabouring the lazy culprit in a very scientific manner; and having got +us all into a gallop, he became quite pleasant and communicative. All +the people in Monmouthshire are Welsh, that is very clear; and +Monmouthshire is as Welsh a county as Carnarvon, in spite of the maps of +geographers, and the circuits of the Judges. The very faces of the +people are evidence of their Taffy-hood. We have had no experience yet +if they carry out the peculiar ideas on the rights of property, +attributed to Taffy in the ancient legend, which relates the method that +gentleman took to supply himself with a leg of beef and a marrow bone; +but their voices and names are redolent of leeks, and no Act of +Parliament can ever make them English. You might as well pass an Act of +Parliament to make our friend Joseph Hume's speeches English. And +therefore, throughout the narrative, we shall always consider ourselves +in Wales, till we cross the Severn again. We trotted round the park wall +of a noble estate called Pearcefield, and when we had crowned the +ascent, our Jehu turned round with an air of great exultation, pulling +up his horses at the same time, and said--"There! did you ever see a +sight like that? This is the Double View." He might well be proud--for +such a prospect is not to be equalled, I should think, in the world. The +Wye is close below you, with its rich banks, frowned over by a +magnificent crag, that forms the most conspicuous feature of the +landscape; and in the distance is the river Severn, pursuing its shining +way through the fertile valleys of Glo'stershire, and by some _deceptio +visus_, for which we cannot account, raised apparently to a great height +above the level of its sister stream. It has the appearance of being +conveyed in a vast artificially raised embankment, laughing into scorn +the grandest aqueducts of ancient Rome, and bearing perhaps a greater +resemblance to the lofty-bedded Po in its passage through the plains of +Lombardy. The combination of the two rivers in the same scene, with the +peculiar characteristics of each brought prominently before the eye at +once, make this one of the finest "sights" that can be imagined. The +driver seemed satisfied with the sincerity of our admiration, and, like +a good patriot, evidently considered our encomiums as a personal +compliment to himself. The whole of the drive to Monmouth is through a +succession of noble views, only to be equalled, as far as our travelling +experience extends, by the stage on the Scottish border, between +Longtown and Langholm. But soon after this, the skies, that had gloomed +for a long time, took fairly to pouring out all the cats and dogs they +possessed upon our miserable heads. An umbrella on the top of a coach is +at all times a nuisance and incumbrance, so, in gloomy resignation to a +fate that was unavoidable, we wrapt our mantle round us, and made the +most of a bad bargain. To Monmouth we got at last, and to our great +discomfort found that it was market-day, and that we had to dispute the +possession of a joint of meat with some wet and hungry farmers. We +compromised the matter for a beefsteak, for which we had to wait about +an hour; and having seen that the whole of the garrison was well +supplied, we proceeded to make enquiries as to the best method of +getting on to Abergavenny. Finding that information on a matter so +likely to remove a remunerative party from the inn was not very easy to +be obtained from the denizens thereof, we made our way into the market. +The civility of the natives, when their interests are not concerned, is +extraordinary; and in a moment we were recommended to the Beaufort Arms, +a hotel that would do honour to Edinburgh itself--had ordered a roomy +chaise, and procured the services of a man with a light cart, to follow +us with the heavy luggage. The sky began to clear, the postillion +trotted gaily on, and we left the county town, not much gratified with +our experience of its smoky rooms and tough beefsteaks. We followed the +windings of the Trothy, a stream of a very lively and frisky +disposition, passing a seat of the Duke of Beaufort, who seems +lord-paramount of the county, and at length came in view of the noble +ruins of Ragland Castle. But now we were wiser than we had been at the +early part of the journey, and had bought a very well written +guide-book, by Mr W.H. Thomas, which, at the small outlay of one +shilling, made us as learned on "the Wye, with its associated scenery +and ruins," as if we had lived among them all our days. Inspired by his +animated pages, we descanted with the profoundest erudition, to our +astonished companion on the box, about its machicolated towers, and the +finely proportioned mullions of the hall. "If you ascend the walls of +the castle," we exclaimed in a paroxysm of enthusiasm, as if we were +perched on the very top, "you will see that the castle occupies the +centre of an undulating plain, checkered with white-washed farm-houses, +fields, and noble groves of oak. The tower and village of Rhaglan lie at +a short distance, picturesquely straggling and irregular. To the north, +the bold and diversified forms of the Craig, the Sugar Loaf, Skyrids, +and Blorenge mountains, with the outlines of the Hatterals, perfect the +scene in this direction; whilst the ever-varying and amphitheatrical +boundary of this natural basin, may be traced over the Blaenavons, +Craig-y-garayd, (close to Usk,) the Gaer Vawr, the round Twm Barlwm, the +fir-crowned top of Wentwood forest, Pen-cae-Mawr, the dreary heights of +Newchurch and Devauder; the continuation of the same range past +Llanishen, the white church of which is plainly visible; Trelleck, +Craig-y-Dorth, and the highlands above Troy Park, where they end." We +were going on in the same easy and off-hand manner to describe some +other peculiarities of the landscape, when a sudden lurch of the +carriage brought the book we were furtively pillaging into open view, +and we were forced, with a very bad grace, to confess our obligations to +Mr W.H. Thomas. A very beautiful ruin it is, certainly, and we made a +vow to devote a day to exploring its remains, and judging for ourselves +of the accuracy of the guide-book's description. Even if the road had no +recommendation from the lovely openings it gives at every turn, it would +be a pleasure to travel by it in sunshine, for the hedges along its +whole extent were a complete rampart of the sweetest smelling May. Such +miles of snow-white blossoms we never saw before. It looked like +Titania's bleaching-ground, and as if all the fairies had hung out their +white frocks to dry. And the hawthorn blossoms along the road were +emulated on all the little terraces at the side of it; the apple and +pear trees were in full bloom, and every little cottage rejoiced in its +orchard--so that, with the help of hedges and fruit trees, the whole +earth was in a glow of beauty and perfume--and we prophecy this will be +a famous year for cider and perry. Abergavenny has a very bad approach +from Monmouth, and we dreaded a repetition of the delays and toughnesses +we had just escaped from; how great therefore was our gratification when +we pulled up at the door of the Angel, and were shown into a splendid +room, thirty-five or forty feet long by twenty wide, secured bedrooms as +clean and comfortable as heart could desire, and had every thing we +asked for with the precision of clockwork and the rapidity of steam. The +Three Cocks began to descend from the lofty place they held in our +esteem, and we resolved for one day at least to rest contentedly in such +comfortable quarters, and look about us; so forth we sallied, and in the +course of our pilgrimage speedily arrived at Aberga'ny Castle. Talk of +picturesqueness! this was picturesque enough for poet or painter with a +vengeance--great thick walls all covered over with ivy, crowning a round +knoll at the upper part of the town, and looking over a finer view, we +will venture to say, than that we have just described as seen from +Ragland; and to complete the beauty of it--the comforts of modern +civilization uniting themselves to ancient magnificence--the main walls +have been fitted up by one of the late lords into a pretty +dwelling-house, which is at this moment occupied by one of the surgeons +of the town. This is the true use of an antique ruin--this is replacing +the coat of mail with a rain-proof mackintosh--the steel casque of Brian +de Boisguilbert with the Kilmarnock nightcap of Bailie Nicol Jarvie. +And in this instance the change has been effected with the greatest +skill; the coat of mail and steel casque are still there, but only for +show; the mackintosh and nightcap are the habitual dress: and few +dwellings in our poor eyes are comparable to the one, that outside has +the date of the crusaders, and inside, the conveniences of 1845. The +town has a noble body-guard of hills all round it; and perched high up +on almost inaccessible ledges, are little white-walled cottages, that +made us long for the wings of a bird to fly up and inspect them closer; +no other mode of conveyance would be either speedy or safe, for the +sides of the mountains are nearly perpendicular, and would have put +Douglas's horse to its mettle when he was on a visit to Owen Glendowr. +Dark, gloomy, Tartarean hills they appear, and no wonder; for their +whole interior is composed of iron, and day and night they are +glimmering and smoking with a hundred fires. They have a dreadful, +stern, metallic look about them, and are as different in their +configuration from the chalk hills of Hampshire as _they_ are from +cheese. Some day we shall ascend their dusky sides, and dive into +Pluto's drear domains--the iron-works--a god who, in the present state +of railway speculation, might easily be confounded with Plutus; and with +this and many other good resolutions, we returned to the hospitable care +of our friend Mr Morgan, at the Angel. Next day was Sunday, and very +wet. We slipped across the street and heard a very good sermon in the +morning, in a large handsome church, which was not quite so well filled +as it ought to have been, and were kept close prisoners all day +afterwards by the unrelenting clouds. + +But our object was not yet attained, and we resolved to start off with +fresh vigour on our expedition to the Three Cocks. It was only +two-and-twenty miles off; our host, with none of the spirit that, they +say, is always found between two of a trade, spoke in the highest terms +of the Vale of Glasbury, and its clean and comfortable hotel. He also +made enquiry for us as to its present condition, and brought back the +pleasing intelligence that it was not full, and that we should find +plenty of accommodation at once. This did away with the necessity of +writing to the landlord, and in a short time we were once more upon the +road, maids and children inside as usual, and a natty postilion cocking +his white hat and flicking his little whip, in the most bumptious manner +imaginable. Through Crickhowell we went without drawing bridle, and went +almost too fast to observe sufficiently its very beautiful situation; +past noble country-seats, bower and hall, we drove; and at last wound +our solitary way along a cross-road, among some pastoral hills, that +reminded us more of Dumfries-shire than any country we have ever seen. +The road ascended gradually for many miles; and on crowning the +elevation, we caught a very noble extensive view of a rich, flat, +thickly-wooded plain, that bore a great resemblance to the unequalled +neighbourhood of Warwick. Down and down we trotted--hills and heights of +all kinds left behind us--trees, shrubs, hedges, all in the fullest +leaf, lay for miles and miles on every side; and the scenery had about +as much resemblance to our ideal of a Welsh landscape, as ditch water to +champagne. Through this wilderness of sweets, stifling and oppressive +from its very richness, we drove for a long way, looking in vain for the +hilly region where the Three Cocks had taken up their abode. At last we +saw, a little way in front of us, at the side of the road--or rather +with one gable-end projecting into it, a large white house, with a mill +appearing to constitute one of its wings. "The man will surely stop here +to water the horses," was our observation; and so indeed he did--and as +he threw the rein loose over the off horse's neck--there! don't you see +the sign-board on the wall? Alas, alas, this is the Three Cocks! An +admirable fishing quarter it must be, for the river is very near, and +the country rich and beautiful, but not adapted to our particular case, +where mountain air and free exposure are indispensable. But if it had +been ten times less adapted to our purpose we had travelled too far to +give it up. + +"Can you take us in for a few weeks?" + +The landlord laughed at the idea. "I could not find room for a single +individual, if you gave me a thousand pounds. A party has been with me +for some time, and I can't even say how long they may stay." + +And, corroborative of this, we saw at the window our fortunate +extruders, who no doubt congratulated themselves on so many points of +the law being in their favour. Here were we stuck on the Queen's high +road--tired horses, cooped-up children--and the Three Cocks as +unattainable as the Philosopher's stone. The sympathizing landlord +consoled us in our disappointment as well as he could. The postilion +jumped into his saddle again, and we pursued our way to the nearest +place where there was any likelihood of a reception--namely, the Hay, a +village of some size about five miles further on. "Come along, we shall +easily find a nice cottage to-morrow, or get into some farm-house, and +ruralize for a month or two delightfully." Our hopes rose as we looked +forward to a settled home, after our experience of the road for so many +days; and we soared to such a pitch of audacity at last, that we +congratulated ourselves that we had not got in at Glasbury, but were +forced to go forward. The world was all before us where to choose. The +country seemed to improve--that is, to get a little less Dutch in its +level, as we proceeded--and we finally reached the Hay, with the +determination of Barnaby's raven, to bear a good heart at all events, +and take for our motto, in all the ills of life, "Never say die!--never +say die!" + +The hotel had been taken by assault, and was occupied in great force by +a troop of dragoons, on their march into Glo'stershire. We therefore did +not come off quite so well as if we had led the forlorn-hope ourselves; +but, after so long a journey, we rejoiced in being admitted at all. Two +or three Welsh girls, who perhaps would have been excellent waiters +under other circumstances, appeared to consider themselves strictly on +military duty, and no other; so we sate for a very long time in solitary +stateliness, wondering when the water would boil, and the tea-things be +brought, and the ham and eggs be ready. And of our wondering there was +likely to be no end, till at last the hungry captain, the lieutenant, +and the cornet, were fairly settled at dinner, and at about eight +o'clock we got tea, but no bread; then came the loaf--and there was no +butter; then the butter--and there was no knife; but at last, all things +arrived, and the little ones were sent off to bed, and we amused +ourselves by listening to the rain on the window panes, and the +whistling of the wind in the long passages; and, with a resolution to be +up in good time to pursue our house-hunting project on the morrow, we +concluded the fifth day of our peregrinations in search of change of +air. + +We had a charming prospect from the window, at breakfast. A gutter +tearing its riotous way down the street, supplied by a whole night's +rain, and clouds resting with the most resolute countenances on the +whole face of the land. At the post-office--that universal focus of +information--to which we wended in one of the intervals between the +showers, we were told of admirable lodgings. On going to see them, they +consisted of two little rooms, in a narrow lane. Then we were sent to +another quarter, and found the accommodation still more inadequate; and, +at last, were inconceivably cheered, by hearing of a pretty +cottage--just the thing--only left a short time ago by Captain somebody; +five bed-rooms, two parlours, large garden; if it had been planned by +our own architect, it could not have been better. Off we hurried to the +owner of this bijou. The worthy captain, on giving up his lease, had +sold his furniture; but we were very welcome to it as tenant for a year! + +"Are there no furnished houses in this neighbourhood, at all?" + +"No--e'es--may be you'll get in at the shippus,"--which, being +Anglicized, is sheep-house; and away we toddled a mile and a half to the +shippus--a nice old farm-house, with some pretensions to squiredom, and +the inhabitants kind and civil as heart could wish. + +"Yes, they sometimes let their rooms--to families larger than ours--they +supplied them with every thing--waited on them--_did_ for them--and, as +for the children, there wasn't such a place in the county for nice +fields to play in." + +We looked round the room--a good high ceiling, large window. "This is +just the thing--and I am delighted we were told of your house." + +"It would have been very delightful, but--but we are full already, and +we expect some of our own family home." + +And why didn't you tell us all this before?--we _nearly_ said--and to +this hour, we can't understand why there was such a profuse explanation +of comforts--which _we_ were never destined to partake of. + +"But just across the road there is a very nice cottage, where you can +get lodged--and we can supply you with milk, and any thing else you +want." + +Oho! there is some hope for us yet; and a few minutes saw us in colloquy +with the old gentleman, the proprietor of the house. With the usual +politeness of the Welsh, he dilated on the pleasure of having agreeable +visitors; and, with the usual Welsh habit of forgetting that people +don't generally travel with beds and blankets, carpets and chairs, and +tables and crockery, on their shoulders, he seemed rather astonished +when the fact of the rooms destined for us being unfurnished was a +considerable drawback. So, in not quite such high spirits as we started, +we returned to the Hay. After a little rest, we again sported our +seven-league boots, and took a solitary ramble across the Wye. A +beautiful rising ground lay in front; and as our main object was to get +up as high as we could, we went on and on, enjoying the increasing +loveliness of the view, and wondering if a country so very charming was +really left entirely destitute of furnished houses, and only enjoyed by +the selfish natives, who had no room for pilgrims from a distance. In a +nest of trees, surrounded on all sides by trimly kept orchards, and +clustering round a venerable church, we came, at a winding of the road, +on one of the most enchanting villages we ever saw. Near the gate of a +modest-looking mansion, we beheld a gentleman in earnest conversation +with a beggar. The beggar was a man of rags and eloquence; the gentleman +was evidently a political economist, and rejected the poor man's +petition "upon principle." A lady, who was at the gentleman's side, +looked at a poor little child the man carried in his arms. "Go to your +own place," said the gentleman; "I never encourage vagrants." But it was +too good-natured a voice to belong to a political economist. + +I wish I were as sure of a house as that the poor fellow will get a +shilling, in spite of the new poor-law and Lord Brougham. + +The lady, after looking at the child, said something or other to her +companion; and, as we turned away at the corner, we heard the +discourager of vagrants apologizing to himself, and also reading a +severe lecture on the impropriety of alms-giving. "Remember, I +disapprove of it entirely. You are indebted for it to this lady, who +interposed for you." So the poor man got his shilling after all; and we +considered it a favourable omen of success in getting a house. + +The next turn brought us to a dwelling which we think it a sort of +sacrilege to call a public-house. The Baskerville Arms, in the village +of Clyroe, is more fit for the home of a painter or a poet than for the +retail of beer, "to be drunk on the premises." There was a row of three +nice clean windows in the front; the house seemed to stand in the midst +of an orchard of endless extent, though in reality it faced the road; +and, with a clear recollection of the line, + + "Oh, that for me some cot like this would smile," + +upon our heart and lips, we tapped at the door, and went into the room +on the right hand. Every thing was in the neatest possible +order--bunches of May in the grate, and bouquets of fresh flowers in two +elegant vases upon the table. What nonsense to call this a public-house! +It puts us much more in mind of Sloperton, Moore's cottage in Wiltshire; +and in a finer neighbourhood than any part of Wiltshire can show. + +The landlady came; a fit spirit to rule over such a domain--the +beau-ideal of tidiness and good humour. There were only two bedrooms; +and one parlour was all they could give up. + +The raven of Barnaby Rudge had a hard fight of it to maintain his +ground. We very nearly said die! for we had felt a sort of assurance +that this was our haven at last. + +The landlady saw our woe. + +"There's such a beautiful cottage," she said, "a mile and a half +further on." + +"Is it furnished?" + +"Well, I don't know. I think somehow it is. Would you like to go and see +it? I don't know but my husband would put enough of furniture into it to +do for you, if you liked it." + +It was, at all events, worth the trial. A little girl was sent with us +to act as guide; and along a road we sauntered in supreme delight--so +quiet, so retired, and so rich in leaf and blossom, that it seemed like +a private drive through some highly-cultivated estate; and, finally, we +reached the cottage. It stood on the side of an ascent; it commanded a +noble view of the Herefordshire hills and the valley of the Wye; and +there could be no doubt that it was the identical spot that the doctors +had seen in their dreams, when they described the sort of dwelling we +were to choose. I wish I were a half-pay captain, with a wife and three +children, a taste for gardening, and a poney-carriage. I wish I were a +Benedict in the honeymoon. I wish I were a retired merchant, with a good +sum at the bank, and a predilection for farming pursuits. I wish I were +a landscape painter, with a moderate fortune, realized by English art. I +wish--but there is no use of wishing for any thing about the cottage, +except that Mr Chaloner may furnish it at once, and let us be its tenant +for two or three months. + +Mrs Chaloner, on our return to the Baskerville Arms, was gratified at +our estimate of the surpassing beauties of the house. She would send her +husband to us at the Hay the moment he returned; and, in the midst of +"gay dreams, by pleasing fancy bred," we returned to our barrack, and +created universal jubilee by the prospect we unfolded. + +In a sort of delirium of good nature, we waited patiently till the +soldiers had had all the attentions of the household again. We had +almost a sense of enjoyment in all the discomforts we experienced. The +doors that would not shut--the waiters that would not come--all things +shone of the brightest rose-colour, seen through the anticipation of ten +or twelve weeks' residence in the paradise we had seen. + +Late at night Mr Chaloner was announced. He had heard the whole story +from his worthy half; was in hopes he should be able to meet our wishes, +but must consult his chief. If _he_ agreed, he would see us before ten +next morning--if not, we were to consider that the furniture could not +be put in. + +And again we were slightly in the dumps. + +At half-past nine next morning we rang the bell, and ordered a carriage +to be at the door at ten. If we hear from Chaloner, we shall drive at +once to the Baskerville Arms; if not, there is no use of house-hunting +in such an inhospitable region any more; let us get back to our friend +at Abergavenny. If there is no house near _it_, let us go back to +Chepstow; if we are disappointed there, let us go home, and tell the +doctor we have changed the air enough. + +Ten o'clock.--No Chaloner; but, as usual, also no carriage. Half-past +ten.--No Chaloner. At eleven--the carriage;--and behold, in three hours +more, the smiling face of Mr Morgan--the great long room and clean +apartments of the Angel, and the end of our expectations of house and +home, except in an hotel. + +We have no time on the present occasion to tell how fortune smiled upon +us at last. How our landlord exerted himself, not only to make us happy +while under his charge, but to get us into comfortable quarters in a +large commodious house in the neighbourhood. In some future Number we +will relate how jollily we fare in our new abode. How we are waited on +like kings by the kindest host and hostess that ever held a farm; and +how we travel in all directions, leaving the little ones at home, in a +great strong gig, drawn by a horse that hobbles and joggles at a famous +pace, and gives us plenty of good exercise and hearty laughter. All +these things we will describe for the edification of people under +similar circumstances to ourselves. The present lucubration being +intended as a warning not to move from _one_ home till another is +secured; the next will be an example how country quarters are enjoyed, +and a description of how pale cheeks are turned into red ones by living +in the open air. + + + + +TORQUATO TASSO. + + +Any thing approaching to an elaborate criticism of the _Torquato Tasso_ +of Goethe we do not, in this place, intend to attempt; our object is +merely to translate some of the more striking and characteristic +passages, and accompany these extracts with such explanatory remarks as +may be necessary to render them quite intelligible. + +There is, we cannot help remarking, a peculiar awkwardness in +introducing a veritable poet amongst the personages of a drama. We +cannot dissociate his name from the remembrance of the works he has +written, and the heroes whom he has celebrated. Tasso--is it not another +name for the _Jerusalem Delivered_? and can he be summoned up in our +memory without bringing with him the shades of Godfrey and Tancred? We +expect to hear him singing of these champions of the cross; this was his +life, and we have a difficulty in according to him any other. It is only +after some effort that we separate the man from the poet--that we can +view him standing alone, on the dry earth, unaccompanied by the +creations of his fancy, his imaginative existence suspended, acting and +suffering in the same personal manner as the rest of us. The poet +brought into the ranks of the _dramatis personae!_--the creator of +fictions converted himself into a fictitious personage!--there seems +some strange confusion here. It is as if the magic wand were waved over +the magician himself--a thing not unheard of in the annals of the black +art. But then the second magician should be manifestly more powerful +than the first. The second poet should be capable of overlooking and +controlling the spirit of the first; capable, at all events, of +animating him with an eloquence and a poetry not inferior to his own. + +For there is certainly this disadvantage in bringing before us a +well-known and celebrated poet--we expect that he should speak in poetry +of the first order--in such as he might have written himself. It is long +before we can admit him to be neither more nor less poetical than the +other speakers; it is long before we can believe him to talk for any +other purpose than to say beautiful and tender things. Knowing, as we +do, the trick of poets, and what is indeed their office as spokesmen of +humanity, we suspect even when he is relating his own sufferings, and +complaining of his own wrongs, that he is still only making a poem; that +he is still busied first of all with the sweet expression of a feeling +which he is bent on infusing, like an electric fluid, through the hearts +of others. Altogether, he is manifestly a very inconvenient personage +for the dramatist to have to deal with. + +These impressions wear off, however, as the poem proceeds--just as, in +real life, familiar intercourse with the greatest of bards teaches us to +forget the author in the companion, and the man of genius in the +agreeable or disagreeable neighbour. In the drama of Goethe, we become +quite reconciled to the new position in which the poet of the Holy +Sepulchre is placed. _Torquato Tasso_ is what in this country would be +called a dramatic poem, in opposition to the tragedy composed for the +stage, or _quasi_ for the stage. The _dramatis personae_ are few, the +conduct of the piece is on the classic model--the model, we mean, of +Racine; the plot is scanty, and keeps very close to history; there is +little action, and much reflection. + +The _dramatis personae_ are-- + +Alphonso, Duke of Ferrara. +Leonora d'Este, sister of the Duke. +Leonora Sanvitale, Countess of Scandiano. +Torquato Tasso. +Antonio Montecatino, Secretary of State. + +In Tasso we have portrayed to us the poetic temperament, with some +overcharge in the tendency to distrust and suspicion, which belongs, as +we learn from his biography, to the character of Tasso, and which again +was but the symptom and precursor of that insanity to which he fell a +prey. Both to relieve and develope this poetic character, we have its +opposite (the representative of the practical understanding) in Antonio +Montecatino, the secretary of state, the accomplished man of the world, +the successful diplomatist. It may be well to mention that the speeches +in the play given to Leonora d'Este, with whom Tasso is in love, are +headed _The Princess_; and it is her friend Leonora Sanvitale, Countess +of Scandiano, who speaks under the name of _Leonora_. + + + "ACT. I.--SCENE I. + + _A garden in the country palace of Belriguardo, adorned with busts of + the epic poets. To the right, that of Virgil--to the left, that of + Ariosto._ + + PRINCESS, LEONORA. + + "_Princess._--My Leonora, first you look at me + And smile, then at yourself, and smile again. + What is it? Let your friend partake. You seem + Very considerate, and much amused. + + "_Leonora._--My Princess, I but smiled to see ourselves + Decked in these pastoral habiliments. + We look right happy shepherdesses both, + And what we do is still pure innocence. + We weave these wreaths. Mine, gay with many flowers, + Still swells and blushes underneath my hand; + Thou, moved with higher thought and greater heart, + Hast only wove the slender laurel bough. + + "_Princess._--The bough which I, while wreathing thoughts, have + wreathed, + Soon finds a worthy resting-place. I lay it + Upon my Virgil's forehead. + + [_Crowns the bust of Virgil._ + + "_Leonora._ And I mine, + My jocund garland, on the noble brow + Of Master Ludovico. + + [_Crowns the bust of Ariosto._ + + Well may he, + Whose sportive verse shall never fade, demand + His tribute of the spring! + + "_Princess._ 'Twas amiable + In the duke, my brother, to conduct us, + So early in the year, to this retreat. + Here we possess ourselves, here we may dream + Uninterrupted hours--dream ourselves back + Into the golden age which poets sing. + I love this Belriguardo; I have here + Pass'd many youthful, many happy days; + And the fresh green, and this bright sun, recall + The feelings of those times. + + "_Leonora._ Yes, a new world + Surrounds us here. How it delights--the shade + Of leaves for ever green! how it revives-- + The rushing of that brook! with giddy joy + The young boughs swing them in the morning air; + And from their beds the little friendly flowers + Look with the eye of childhood up to us. + The trustful gardener gives to the broad day + His winter store of oranges and citrons; + One wide blue sky rests over all; the snow + On the horizon, from the distant hills, + In light dissolving vapour steals away." + +The conversation winds gracefully towards poetry and Tasso. We will +answer at once the interesting question, whether the poet has +represented Leonora d'Este, the princess, as being in love with Tasso. +He has; and very delicately has he made her express this sentiment. From +the moment when, doubtless thinking of the living poet, she twined the +laurel wreath which she afterwards deposited on the brow of Virgil, to +the last scene where she leads the unhappy Tasso to a fatal declaration +of his passion, there is a gentle _crescendo_ of what always remains, +however, a very subdued and meditative affection. She loves--but like a +princess; she muses over the danger to herself from suffering such a +sentiment towards one in so different a rank of life to grow upon her; +she never thinks of the danger to _him_, to the hapless Tasso, by her +betrayal of an affection which she is yet resolved to keep within +subjection. To be sure it may be said, that all women have something of +the princess in them at this epoch of their lives. There is a wonderful +selfishness in the heart, while it still asks itself whether it shall +love or not. The sentiment of the princess is very elegantly disguised +in the jesting vein in which she rallies Leonora Sanvitale-- + + "_Leonora._--Your mind embraces wider regions; mine + Lingers content within the little isle, + And 'midst the laurel grove of poesy. + + "_Princess._--In which fair isle, in which sweet grove, they say, + The myrtle also flourishes. And though + There wander many muses there, we choose + Our friend and playmate not alone from _them_, + We rather greet the poet there himself, + Who seems indeed to shun us, seems to fly, + Seeking we know not what, and he himself + Perhaps as little knows. 'Tis pretty when, + In some propitious hour, the enraptured youth + Looking with better eyes, detects in _us_ + The treasure he had been so far to seek. + + "_Leonora._--The jest is pleasant--touches, but not near. + I honour each man's merit; and to Tasso + Am barely just. His eye, that covets nothing, + Light ranges over all; his ear is fill'd + With the rich harmony great nature makes; + What ancient records, what the living scene, + Disclose, his open bosom takes it all; + What beams of truth stray scattered o'er this world, + His mind collects, converges. How his heart + Has animated the inanimate! + How oft ennobled what we little prize, + And shown how poor the treasures of the great! + In this enchanted circle of his own + Proceeds the wondrous man; and us he draws + Within, to follow and participate. + He seems to near us, yet he stays remote-- + Seems to regard us, and regards instead + Some spirit that assumes our place the while. + + "_Princess._--Finely and delicately hast thou limn'd + The poet, moving in his world of thought. + And yet, methinks, some fair reality + Has wrought upon him here. Those charming verses + Found hanging here and there upon our trees, + Like golden fruit, that to the finer sense + Breathes of a new Hesperides: think you + These are not tokens of a genuine love? + + * * * * * + + And when he gives a name to the fair object + Of all this praise, he calls it Leonora! + + "_Leonora._--Thy name, as well as mine. I, for my part, + Should take it ill were he to choose another. + Here is no question of a narrow love, + That would engross its solitary prize, + And guards it jealously from every eye + That also would admire. When contemplation + Is deeply busy with thy graver worth, + My lighter being haply flits across, + And adds its pleasure to the pensive mood. + It is not us--forgive me if I say it-- + Not us he loves; but down from all the spheres + He draws the matter of his strong affection, + And gives it to the name we bear. And we-- + We seem to love the man, yet love in him + That only which we highest know to love. + + "_Princess._--You have become an adept in this science, + And put forth, Leonora, such profundities + As something more than penetrate the ear, + yet hardly touch the thought. + + "_Leonora._ --Thou, Plato's scholar! + Not apprehend what I, a neophyte, + Venture to prattle of"-- + +Alphonso enters, and enquires after Tasso. Leonora answers, that she had +seen him at a distance, with his book and tablets, writing and walking, +and adds that, from some hint he had let fall, she gathered that his +great work was near its completion; and, in fact, the princess soon +after descries him coming towards them:-- + + "Slowly he comes, + Stands still awhile as unresolved, then hastes, + With quicken'd step, towards us; then again + Slackens his pace, and pauses." + +Tasso enters, and presents his _Jerusalem Delivered_ to his patron, the +Duke of Ferrara. Alphonso, seeing the laurel wreath on the bust of +Virgil, makes a sign to his sister; and the princess, after some +remonstrance on the part of Tasso, transfers it from the statue to the +head of the living poet. As she crowns him, she says-- + + "Thou givest me, Tasso, here the rare delight, + With silent act, to tell thee what I think." + +But the poet is no sooner crowned than he entreats that the wreath +should be removed. It weighs on him, it is a burden, a pressure, it +sinks and abashes him. Besides, he feels, as the man of genius must +always feel, that not to wear the crown but to earn it, is the real joy +as well as task of his life. The laurel is indeed for the bust, not for +the living head. + + "Take it away! + Oh take, ye gods, this glory from my brow! + Hide it again in clouds! Bear it aloft + To heights all unattainable, that still + My whole of life for this great recompense, + Be one eternal course." + +He obeys, however, the will of the princess, who bids him retain it. We +are now introduced to the antagonist, in every sense of the word, of +Tasso,--Antonio, secretary of state. In addition to the causes of +repugnance springing from their opposite characters, Antonio is jealous +of the favour which the young poet has won at the court of Ferrara, both +with his patron and the ladies. This representative of the practical +understanding speaks with admiration of the court of Rome, and the +ability of the ruling pontiff. He says-- + + "No nobler object is there in the world + Than this--a prince who ably rules his people, + A people where the proudest heart obeys, + Where each man thinks he serves himself alone, + Because what fits him is alone commanded. + +Alphonso speaks of the poem which Tasso has just completed, and points +to the crown which he wears. Then follow some of the unkindest words +which a secretary of state could possibly bestow on the occasion. + + "_Antonio._--You solve a riddle for me. Entering here + I saw to my surprise _two_ crowned. + + [_Looking towards the bust of Ariosto._ + + "_Tasso._ I wish + Thou could'st as plainly as thou see'st my honours, + Behold the oppress'd and downcast spirit within. + + "_Antonio_--I have long known that in his recompenses + Alphonso is immoderate; 'tis thine + To prove to-day what all who serve the prince + Have learn'd, or will." + +Antonio then launches into an eloquent eulogium upon the _other_ crowned +one--upon Ariosto--which has for its object as well to dash the pride of +the living, as to do homage to the dead. He adds, with a most cruel +ambiguity, + + "Who ventures near this man to place himself, + Even for his boldness may deserve a crown." + +The seeds of enmity, it is manifest, are plentifully sown between +Antonio and Tasso. Here ends the 1st Act. + +At the commencement of the 2d Act, the princess is endeavouring to heal +the wound that has been inflicted on the just pride of the poet, and she +alludes, in particular, to the eulogy which Antonio had so invidiously +passed upon Ariosto. The answer of Tasso deserves attention. It is +peculiar to the poetic genius to estimate very differently at different +times the value of its own labours. Sometimes do but grant to the poet +his claim to the possession of genius, and his head strikes the stars. +At other times, when contemplating the lives of those men whose actions +he has been content to celebrate in song, he doubts whether he should +not rank himself as the very prince of idlers. He is sometimes tempted +to think that to have given one good stroke with the sword, were worth +all the delicate touches of his pen. This feeling Tasso has finely +expressed. + + "_Princess._--When Antonio knows what thou hast done + To honour these our times, then will he place thee + On the same level, side by side, with him + He now depicts in so gigantic stature. + + "_Tasso._--Believe me, lady, Ariosto's praise + Heard from his lips, was likely more to please + Than wound me. It confirms us, it consoles, + To hear the man extoll'd whom we have placed + Before us as a model: we can say + In secret to ourselves--gain thou a share + Of his acknowledged merit, and thou gain'st + As certainly a portion of his fame. + No--that which to its depths has stirr'd my spirit, + What still I feel through all my sinking soul, + It was the picture of that living world, + Which restless, vast, enormous, yet revolves + In measured circle round the one great man, + Fulfils the course which he, the demi-god, + Dares to prescribe to it. With eager ear + I listen'd to the experienced man, whose speech + Gave faithful transcript of a real scene. + Alas! the more I listen'd, still the more + I sank within myself: it seem'd my being + Would vanish like an echo of the hills, + Resolved to a mere sound--a word--a nothing. + + "_Princess._--Poets and heroes for each other live, + Poets and heroes seek each other out, + And envy not each other: this thyself, + Few minutes past, did vividly portray. + True, it is glorious to perform the deed + That merits noble song; yet glorious too + With noble song the once accomplish'd deed + Through all the after-world to memorize." + +When she continues to urge Tasso to make the friendship of Antonio, and +assures him that the return of the minister has only procured him a +friend the more, he answers:-- + + "_Tasso._--I hoped it once, I doubt it now. + Instructive were to me his intercourse, + Useful his counsel in a thousand ways: + This man possesses all in which I fail. + And yet--though at his birth flock'd every god, + To hang his cradle with some special gift-- + The graces came not there, they stood aloof: + And he whom these sweet sisters visit not, + May possess much, may in bestowing be + Most bountiful, but never will a friend, + Or loved disciple, on his bosom rest." + +The tendency of this scene is to lull Tasso into the belief that he is +beloved of the princess. Of course he is ardent to obey the latest +injunctions he has received from her, and when Antonio next makes his +appearance, he offers him immediately "his hand and heart." The +secretary of state receives such a sudden offer (as it might be expected +a secretary of state would do) with great coolness; he will wait till he +knows whether he can return the like offer of friendship. He discourses +on the excellence of moderation, and in a somewhat magisterial tone, +little justified by the relative intellectual position of the speakers. +Here, again, we have a true insight into the character of the man of +genius. He is modest--very--till you become too overbearing; he +exaggerates the superiority in practical wisdom of men who have mingled +extensively with the world, and so invites a tone of dictation; and yet +withal he has a sly consciousness, that this same superiority of the man +of the world consists much more in a certain fortunate limitation of +thought than in any peculiar extension. The wisdom of such a man has +passed through the mind of the poet, with this difference, that in his +mind there is much beside this wisdom, much that is higher than this +wisdom; and so it does not maintain a very prominent position, but gets +obscured and neglected. + + "_Tasso._--Thou hast good title to advise, to warn, + For sage experience, like a long-tried friend, + Stands at thy side. Yet be assured of this, + The solitary heart hears every day, + Hears every hour, a warning; cons and proves, + And puts in practice secretly that lore + Which in harsh lessons you would teach as new, + As something widely out of reach." + +Yet, spurred on by the injunction of the princess, he still makes an +attempt to grasp at the friendship of Antonio. + + "_Tasso._--Once more! here is my hand! clasp it in thine! + Nay, step not back, nor, noble sir, deny me + The happiness, the greatest of good men, + To yield me, trustful, to superior worth, + Without reserve, without a pause or halt. + + "_Antonio._--You come full sail upon me. Plain it is + You are accustomed to make easy conquests, + To walk broad paths, to find an open door. + Thy merit--and thy fortune--I admit, + But fear we stand asunder wide apart. + + "_Tasso._--In years and in tried worth I still am wanting; + In zeal and will, I yield to none. + + "_Antonio._ The will + Draws the deed after by no magic charm, + And zeal grows weary where the way is long: + Who reach the goal, they only wear the crown. + And yet, crowns are there, or say garlands rather, + Of many sorts, some gather'd as we go, + Pluck'd as we sing and saunter. + + "_Tasso._ But a gift + Freely bestow'd on this mind, and to that + As utterly denied--this not each man, + Stretching his hand, can gather if he will. + + "_Antonio._--Ascribe the gift to fortune--it is well. + + * * * * * + + The fortunate, with reason good, extol + The goddess Fortune--give her titles high-- + Call her Minerva--call her what they will-- + Take her blind gifts for just reward, and wear + Her wind-blown favour as a badge of merit. + + "_Tasso._--No need to speak more plainly. 'Tis enough. + I see into thy soul--I know thee now, + And all thy life I know. Oh, that the princess + Had sounded thee as I! But never waste + Thy shafts of malice of the eye and tongue + Against this laurel-wreath that crowns my brow, + The imperishable garland. 'Tis in vain. + First be so great as not to envy it, + Then perhaps thou may'st dispute. + + "_Antonio._ Thyself art prompt + To justify my slight esteem of thee. + The impetuous boy with violence demands + The confidence and friendship of the man. + Why, what unmannerly deportment this! + + "_Tasso._--Better what you unmannerly may deem, + Than what I call ignoble. + + "_Antonio._ There remains + One hope for thee. Thou still art young enough + To be corrected by strict discipline. + + "_Tasso._--Not young enough to bow myself to idols + That courtiers make and worship; old enough + Defiance with defiance to encounter. + + "_Antonio._--Ay, where the tinkling lute and tinkling speech + Decide the combat, Tasso is a hero. + + "_Tasso._--I were to blame to boast a sword unknown + As yet to war, but I can trust to it. + + "_Antonio._--Trust rather to indulgence." + +We are in the high way, it is plain, to a duel. Tasso insists upon an +appeal to the sword. The secretary of state contents himself with +objecting the privilege or sanctity of the place, they being within the +precincts of the royal residence. At the height of this debate, Alphonso +enters. Here, again, the minister has a most palpable advantage over the +poet. He insists upon the one point of view in which he has the clear +right, and will not diverge from it; Tasso has challenged him, has done +his utmost to provoke a duel within the walls of the palace; and is, +therefore, amenable to the law. The Duke can do no other than decide +against the poet, whom he dismisses to his apartment with the injunction +that he is there to consider himself, for the present, a prisoner. + +In the three subsequent acts, there is still less of action; and we may +as well relate at once what there remains of plot to be told, and then +proceed with our extracts. Through the mediation of the princess and her +friend, this quarrel is in part adjusted, and Tasso is released from +imprisonment. But his spirit is wounded, and he determines to quit the +court of Ferrara. He obtains permission to travel to Rome. At this +juncture he meets with the princess. His impression has been that she +also is alienated from him; her conversation removes and quite reverses +this impression; in a moment of ungovernable tenderness he is about to +embrace her; she repulses him and retires. The duke, who makes his +appearance just at this moment, and who has been a witness to the +conclusion of this interview, orders Tasso into confinement, expressing +at the same time his conviction that the poet has lost his senses. He +is given into the charge of Antonio, and thus ends the drama. + +Glancing back over the three last acts, whose action we have summed up +so briefly, we might select many beautiful passages for translation; we +content ourselves with the following. + +The princess and Leonora Sanvitale are conversing. There has been +question of the departure of Tasso. + + "_Princess._--Each day was _then_ itself a little life; + No care was clamorous, and the future slept. + Me and my happy bark the flowing stream, + Without an oar, drew with light ripple down. + Now--in the turmoil of the present hour, + The future wakes, and fills the startled ear + With whisper'd terrors. + + "_Leonora._ But the future brings + New joys, new friendships. + + "_Princess._ Let me keep the old. + Change may amuse, it scarce can profit us. + I never thrust, with youthful eagerness, + A curious hand into the shaken urn + Of life's great lottery, with hope to find + Some object for a restless, untried heart. + I honour'd him, and therefore have I loved; + It was necessity to love the man + With whom my being grew into a life + Such as I had not known, or dream'd before. + At first, I laid injunctions on myself + To keep aloof; I yielded, yielded still, + Still nearer drew--enticed how pleasantly + To be how hardly punish'd! + + "_Leonora._ If a friend + Fail with her weak consolatory speech, + Let the still powers of this beautiful world, + With silent healing, renovate thy spirit. + + "_Princess._--The world _is_ beautiful! In its wide circuit, + How much of good is stirring here and there! + Alas! that it should ever seem removed + Just one step off! Throughout the whole of life + Step after step, it leads our sick desire + E'en to the grave. So rarely do men find + What yet seem'd destined them--so rarely hold + What once the hand had fortunately clasp'd; + What has been giv'n us, rends itself away, + And what we clutch'd, we let it loose again; + There is a happiness--we know it not, + We know it--and we know not how to prize." + +Tasso says, when he thought himself happy in the love of Leonora +d'Este-- + + "I have often dream'd of this great happiness-- + 'Tis here!--and oh, how far beyond the dream! + A blind man, let him reason upon light, + And on the charm of colour, how he will, + If once the new-born day reveal itself, + It is a new-born sense." + +And again on this same felicity, + + "Not on the wide sands of the rushing ocean, + 'Tis in the quiet shell, shut up, conceal'd, + We find the pearl." + +It is in another strain that the poet speaks when Leonora Sanvitale +attempts to persuade him that Antonio entertains in reality no hostility +towards him. In what follows, we see the anger and hatred of a +meditative man. It is a hatred which supports and exhausts itself in +reasoning; which we might predict would never go forth into any act of +enmity. It is a mere sentiment, or rather the mere conception of a +sentiment. For the poet rather thinks of hatred than positively hates. + + "And if I err, I err resolvedly. + I think of him as of my bitter foe; + To think him less than this would now distract, + Discomfort me. It were a sort of folly + To be with all men reasonable; 'twere + The abandonment of all distinctive _self_. + Are all mankind to us so reasonable? + No, no! Man in his narrow being needs + Both feelings, love, and hate. Needs he not night + As well as day? and sleep as well as waking? + No! I will hold this man for evermore + As precious object of my deepest hate, + And nothing shall disturb the joy I have + In thinking of him daily worse and worse." + + _Act. 4, Scene 2._ + + +We conclude with a passage in which Tasso speaks of the irresistible +passion he feels for his own art. He has sought permission of the Duke +to retire to Rome, on the plea that he will there, by the assistance of +learned men, better complete his great work, which he regards as still +imperfect. Alphonso grants his request, but advises him rather to +suspend his labour for the present, and partake, for a season, of the +distractions of the world. He would be wise, he tells him, to seek the +restoration of his health. + + "_Tasso._--It should seem so; yet have I health enow + If only I can labour, and this labour + Again bestows the only health I know. + It is not well with me, as thou hast seen, + In this luxuriant peace. In rest I find + Rest least of all. I was not framed, + My spirit was not destined to be borne + On the soft element of flowing days, + And so in Time's great ocean lose itself + Uncheck'd, unbroken. + + "_Alphonso._--All feelings, and all impulses, my Tasso, + Drive thee for ever back into thyself. + There lies about us many an abyss + Which Fate has dug; the deepest yet of all + Is here, in our own heart, and very strong + Is the temptation to plunge headlong in. + I pray thee snatch thyself away in time. + Divorce thee, for a season, from thyself. + The man will gain whate'er the poet lose. + + "_Tasso._--One impulse all in vein I should resist, + Which day and night within my bosom stirs. + Life is not life if I must cease to think, + Or, thinking, cease to poetize. + Forbid the silk-worm any more to spin, + Because its own life lies upon the thread. + Still it uncoils the precious golden web, + And ceases not till, dying, it has closed + Its own tomb o'er it. May the good God grant + We, one day, share the fate of that same worm!-- + That we, too, in some valley bright with heaven, + Surprised with sudden joy, may spread our wing. + + * * * * * + + I feel--I feel it well--this highest art + Which should have fed the mind, which to the strong + Adds strength and ever new vitality,-- + It is destroying me, it hunts me forth, + Where'er I rove, an exile amongst men." + + + _Act V. Scene 2._ + + + + +DAVID THE "TELYNWR;"[20] OR, THE DAUGHTER'S TRIAL. + +A TALE OF WALES. + +BY JOSEPH DOWNES. + + +The inhabitants of the white mountain village of K----, in +Cardiganshire, were all retired to rest, it being ten o'clock. No--a +single light twinkled from under eaves of thick and mossy thatch, in one +cottage apart, and neater than the rest, that skirted the steep +_street_, (as the salmon fishers, its chief inhabitants, were pleased to +call it,) being, indeed, the rock, thinly covered with the soil, and +fringed with long grass, but rudely smoothed, where very rugged, by art, +for the transit of a _gamboo_ (cart with small wheels of entire wood) or +sledge. The moonlight slept in unbroken lustre on the houses of one +story, or without any but what the roof slope formed, and several +appearances marked it as a fisher village. A black, oval, pitched +basket, as it appeared, hung against the wall of several of the +cottages, being the _coracle_, or boat for one person, much used on the +larger Welsh rivers, very primitive in form and construction, being +precisely described by Caesar in his account of the ancient Britons. +Dried salmon and other fish also adorned others, pleasingly hinting of +the general honesty and mutual confidence of the humble natives, poor as +they were, for strangers were never thought of; the road, such as it +was, merely mounting up to "the hill" (the lofty desert of sheepwalk) on +one hand, and descending steeply to the river Tivy on the other. A +deadened thunder, rising from some fall and brawling shallow "rapid" of +the river, was the only sound, except the hooting of an owl from some +old ivied building, a ruin apparently, visible on the olive-hued +precipice behind. The russet mass of mountain, bulging, as it were, over +the little range of cots, gave an air of security to their picturesque +white beauty; while silver clouds curled and rolled in masses, grandly +veiling their higher peaks, and sometimes canopied the roofs, many +reddened with wall-flower; the walls also exhibiting streaks of green, +where rains had drenched the vegetating thatch and washed down its tint +of yellow green. Aged trees, green even to the trunks, luxuriant ivy +enveloping them as well as the branches, stretched their huge arms down +the declivity leading to the Tivy, the flashing of whose waters, through +its rich fringe of underwood, caught the eye of any one standing on the +ridge above. A solitary figure, tall and muffled, did stand with his +back in contact with one of these oaks, so as to be hardly +distinguishable from the trunk. + +A poet might imagine, looking at a Welsh village by moonlight, thus +embosomed in pastoral mountains, canopied with those silver mists whose +very motion was peace, and lulled by those soft solemn sounds, more +peace-breathing than even silence, that _there_, at least, care never +came; there peace, "if to be found in the world," would be surely found; +and soon that one light moving--that prettier painted door stealthily +opening--would prove that peace confined to the elements only. "Here I +am!" would be groaned to his mind's ear by the ubiquitous, foul fiend, +Care; for thence emerged a female form--_simplex munditiis_--the exact +description of it as to attire--rather tall than otherwise, but its +chief characteristic, a drooping kind of bowed gait, in affecting unison +with a melancholy settled over the pale features, so strongly as to be +visible even by the moon at a very short distance. Brushing away a tear +from each eye, as she held to her breast a little packet of some kind, +as soon as she found (as she imagined) the coast clear, she proceeded, +after fastening her door, toward one of the bowered footpaths leading +to the river. The concealed man looked after her, prepared to follow, +when some belated salmon fisher, his dark coracle, strapped to his back, +nodding over his head, appeared. This lurking personage was nicknamed +"Lewis the Spy" by the country people. He was the agent, newly +appointed, to inspect the condition of a once fine but most neglected +estate, which had recently come into possession of a "Nabob," as they +called him--a gentleman who had left Wales a boy, and was now on his +voyage home to take possession of a dilapidated mansion called Talylynn. +Lewis, his forerunner and plenipotentiary, was the dread and hate of the +alarmed tenants. He had already ejected from his stewardship a good but +rather indolent old man, John Bevan, who had grown old in the service of +the former "squire;" and besides kept watch over the doings on the farms +in an occult and treacherous manner, prowling round their "folds" by +dusk, and often listening to conversations by concealing himself. Such +was the man who now accosted the humble fisherman. Reverentially, as if +to the terrible landlord himself, the peasant bared his head to his +sullen representative. + +"Who is that young woman?" he enquired, sternly, though well knowing who +she was. + +"Dim Saesneg," answered the man, bowing. + +"None of your Dim Saesneg to me, fellow," rejoined Lewis, sternly. "Did +not I hear you swearing in good English at a _Saesyn_ (Englishman or +Saxon) yesterday?" + +The Welshman begged pardon in good Saxon, and answered at last-- + +"Why, then, if it please your honour, her name be Winifred--her other +name be Bevan--_Miss_ Bevan, the school--her father be Mister Bevan of +Llaneol, steward that was to our old squire of the great house, 'the +Hall'--Talylynn Hall--where there's a fine lake. I warrant your honour +has fished there. You Saesonig gentlemen do mostly do nothing but fish +and shoot in our poor country; I beg pardon, but you look _Saesoniadd_, +(Saxonlike,) I was thinking--fine lake, but the trout be not to +compare"---- + +"Well," interrupted the other laughing, "your English tongue can wag as +glib as your outlandish one. A sweetheart in the case there, isn't +there? What the devil's she going down to the river for at this time of +night, else?" + +"Why, to be sure there be!" the man answered. "_We_ all know that; poor +thing, she had need find some comforter in all her troubles--her father +so poor, and in debt to this strange foreigner, who's on the water +coming home now, and has made proposals for her in marriage, so they do +_say_; but it's like your honour knows more of that than I do--for be +not you Mr Lewis, I beg pardon, Lewis Lewis, esquire?" + +"And what do you know of this sweetheart of hers? Is he her _first_, +think ye? _I_ doubt that," rejoined Lewis, not noticing his enquiry---- + +"_You_ may doubt what your honour pleases, but _we_ don't--no; never man +touched her _hand_ hardly, never one her lips, before--I did have it +from her mother; but as for this one she's found at last, we wish she'd +a better"---- + +"What's the matter with him, then?" + +"Oh, nothing more than that he's poor, sir--poor; and that _we_ don't +know much about the stranger"---- + +"What '_we_' do you mean, while you talk of 'we'?" + +"Lord bless ye, sir, why us all of this bankside, and this side Tivy, +the great family of us, she's just like _our_ little girl to us all; for +don't she have all our young ones to give 'em learning, whether the +Cardigan ladies pay for 'em or don't? And wasn't poor dear old John +Bevan the man who would lend every farmer in the parish a help in money +or any way, only for asking? So it is, you see, she has grown up among +us. This young man, though he may be old for what I know, never seeing +him in my life--you see, sir, we on this side of Tivy are like strangers +to the Cardy men, t'other side--_they_ are _Cardie's_, sure enow, _true_ +ones, as the Saxon foreign folk do call us _all_ of this shire. I +wouldn't trust one of 'em t'other side, no further than I could throw +him. I'll tell ye a story"---- + +"Never mind. What about David?" + +"Oh, ho! You know his name, then? Well, and that's all _I_ do--pretty +nigh. He lives with a woman who fostered him after his own mother died +in travail with him, they do say, who has a little house, beyond that +lump of a mountain, above all the others, we see by daylight; he has +been in England, and is a strange one for music. He owes (owns, +possesses,) a beautiful harp--_beautiful_! The Lord knows, some do say, +that's all he owes in the world, so (except) his coracle and the salmon +he takes, and what young people do give him at weddings and biddings, +where he goes to play: and what's that to keep a wife? Poor Davy +_Telynwr_! Yet, by my soul, we all say we'd rather see her his than this +foreigner gentleman's, who has almost broke her heart, they say, by +coming between her and her own dear one." + +"He's _not_ come yet," muttered the other, sullenly; adding, sharply and +bitterly, "Mighty good friends you all are, to wish her married to a +beggar, a vagabond harper, rather than to a gentleman." + +"Why--to be sure, sir--but vows be vows--love's love--and to tell truth, +sir," (the Welsh blood of the Cardy peasant was now up,) "if any +foreign, half Welsh, half wild Indian, sort of gentleman had sent his +fine letters, asking my sweetheart's friends to turn _me_ off, in my +courting days, and prepare my wench to be his lady, instead of my +wife--I'd have--I'd have"-- + +"_What_ would you have done?" asked the other, laughing heartily. + +"Cursed him to St Elian!" roared the other; then, dropping his voice +into a solemn tone, "put him into his well.[21] _I'd_ have plagued him, +I warrant. But for _my_ part," added the man archly, "I don't believe +there's any _squire_ lover in the case--nor that your honour ever said +there is." The agent here vanished, as if in haste, abruptly, down the +steep path. + +During this conversation, Winifred had reached the river. While she +stands expectant, not in happiness, but in tears, it is time to say a +few words of the lover so expected. + +David, who was lately become known "on t'other side Tivy," by the name +of _Nosdethiol Telynwr_, that is, "night-walking harper," was an idle +romantic young man, almost grown out of youth, who had long lived away +from Wales, where he had neither relative nor friend but one aged woman +who had been his first nurse, he having been early left an orphan. +Without settled occupation or habits, he was understood almost to depend +for bread on the salmon he caught, and trifling presents received. A +small portable harp, of elegant workmanship, (adorned with "_real_ +silver," so _ran the tale_,) was the companion of his moonlight +wanderings. He had a whim of serenading those who had never heard of a +"serenade," but were not the less sensible of a placid pleasure at being +awakened by soft music in some summer sight. The simple mountain +cottagers, whose slumbers he thus broke or soothed, often attributed the +sweet sounds to the kindness of some wandering member of the "Fair +Family," or _Tylwyth Teg_, the fairies. Nor did his figure, if +discovered vanishing between the trees, if some one ventured to peep +out, in a light night, dispel the illusion; for it appears, that the +fairy of old Welsh superstition was not of diminutive stature."[22] That +he was "very learned," had somewhere acquired much knowledge of books, +however little of men, was reported on both sides of the river; and +these few particulars were almost all that was known even to Winifred, +who had so rashly given all her thoughts, all her hopes, all her heart +almost, (reserving only one sacred corner for her beloved parents,) to +this dangerous stranger--for stranger he was still to her in almost all +outer circumstances of life. This was partly owing to the interposition +of that narrow river, however trivial a line of demarcation that must +appear to English people, accustomed to cross even great rivers of +commerce, like the Thames, as they would step over a brook or ditch, by +the frequent aid of bridges and boats. In Wales, bridges are too costly +to be common. When reared, some unlucky high flood often sweeps them +away. Intercourse by ferryboats and fords is liable to long +interruptions. The dwellers of opposite sides frequent different +markets, and belong frequently to different counties. The nature of the +soil also often differs wholly. Hence it happens, that sometimes a +farmer, whose eye rests continually on the little farm and fields of +another, on the opposite "bank," rising from the river running at the +base of his own confronting hill-side, lives on, ignorant almost of the +name, quite of the character, of their tenant, to whom he could almost +make himself heard by a shout--if it happens that neither ford, ferry, +nor bridge, is within short distance. + +"The people of t'other side," is an expression implying nearly as much +strangeness, and contented ignorance of these neighbours, and no +neighbours, as the same spoken by the people of Dover or Calais, of +those t'other side the Channel. It was not, therefore, surprising that +poor Winifred (albeit not imprudent, save in this new-sprung passion,) +might have said with the poet, too truly, + + "I know not, I ask not, what guilt's in that heart; + I but know that I love thee, whatever thou art." + +This wild reckless sentiment (though scarcely true to love's nature, +which is above all things curious about all belonging to its object) did +in her case illustrate her feelings. Winifred had lately disclosed to +her dear "unknown" the ruin impending over her father, the result of his +mingled good-nature and indolence, he having permitted the tenants to +run in arrears, and suffer dilapidations, as already said;--the long +neglect, however, of the East Indian landlord being at the root of the +evil, who had been as remiss in his dealings with the steward as the +steward with the tenants. The first appearance of this newly appointed +agent, who announced the early return of his employer to take possession +of the decayed manor-house, was as sudden as ominous of the ruin of old +John Bevan. The hope he held out of the "Nabob" espousing his +long-remembered child, Winifred, and the consequent salvation of her +father, seemed too romantic to be believed. Yet this man proved himself +duly accredited by his principal, and exercised his power already with +severity. The fine old house of Talylynn, a mansion rising close to a +small beautiful lake skirted by an antique park with many deer, was +already almost prepared for the reception of the "squire from abroad." +Meanwhile--what most excited the ill-will of the tenantry--this odious +persecutor of the all-beloved John Bevan had also furbished up a neat +old house adjoining the park gate, as a residence for himself; while +poor Bevan's farm-house of Llaneol was suffered to fall into ruinous +decay--the new steward even neglecting to keep it weather-tight. + +Thus decayed, and almost ruinous, it seemed more in harmony with the +fortunes of the ever resigned and patient man. But his less placid dame, +after losing the services of Winifred, had fallen into a peevish sort of +despondency, as the father, missing her society, and its finer species +of consolation, had sunk into a more placid apathy. + +David had received the hint of her possible self-devotion to the coming +"squire" with very little philosophy, little temper, and no allowance +for the feelings of an only daughter expecting to see a white-headed, +fond father, dragged from his home to a jail. He had been incensed; he +had wronged her by imputations of sordid motives--of pride, of contempt +for _himself_ as a beggar; and at last broke from her in sullen +resentment, after requiring her to bring all his letters, at their next +interview, which was to be a farewell one. And now she was bringing +every thing she had received from him, in sad obedience to this angry +demand. Nor was all his wrath, his injustice, and his despair, really +unacceptable to her secret heart. She would not have had him patient +under even the prospective possibility of her marrying another. + +But his manner at this meeting announced a change in his whole +sentiments. + +His very first words, (cold, yet kind, but how altered in tone!) with +his constrained deportment, expressed his acquiescence in her purpose, +whether pride, jealousy, or a juster estimate of her filial virtue, had +induced the stern resolve. + +Winifred had never known the full strength of her own passion till now! +The idea of an early eternal end to their ungratified loves, which had +for some time become familiar to her own secret mind, assumed a new and +strange terror for her imagination the moment it ceased to be hers +_alone_. The shock was novel and overpowering, when the separation +seemed acquiesced in by him, thus putting it out of her own power to +hesitate further between devotion to the lover or to the parent. His +reconciled manner, his calm taking her by the hand, even the kiss which +she could not resist, were more painful than his utmost resentment would +have been. Yet there was a sad severity in his look, as his fine +countenance of deep melancholy turned to the bright moon, which a little +comforted her, and indicated that it was pride rather than patience +which led to his affected contentment. _He_ had not a parent to nerve +_his_ heart to the sacrifice. + +"I passed _your_ home yesterday," he began sarcastically: "it is a fine +place again, already, that hall of Talylynn, and wants only as fine a +mistress." + +"You wrong me, David _bach_! on my life and soul you do, _dear_ David!" +she replied sobbing. "'Tis a hateful hall--a horrid hall! If it were +only I, your poor lost Winifred, that was to suffer, oh! how much sooner +would I be carried dead into a vault, than alive, and dressed in all the +finest silks of India, into that dreadful house you twit me +with!--unkind, unkind!" And almost fainting, her head sunk upon his +shoulder, and his arm was required to support her. + +Instantly she recovered, and stood erect. "But oh, David, there is +another dreadful place, and another dear being besides you, dearest, +that I think of night and day! The horrid castle jail--my dear, dear +father! Oh, if this Lewis speaks truth, and if that strange boy--I only +knew him as a boy, you know--who has power to ruin him, (_will_ surely +ruin him!) will _indeed_ forgive him all he owes; will really become his +son--his son-in-law, instead of his merciless creditor; oh! could I +refuse _my_ part, shocking part though it be? I should not suffer long, +David--I feel I should not." + +"And pray, what _kind_ of youth--_boy_ as you are pleased to call +him--was this nabob then?" enquired her lover, apparently startled at +learning the fact of her having had some previous knowledge of his +powerful rival. + +"A youth! a mere child, when I last saw him," she answered. "I thought +you had known all about him." + +"Nothing more than his name; how came you in his company?" + +"His father, living in India, was half-brother to our old squire, +Fitzarthur of Talylynn. His mother dying, his widower father, whose +health was broken up before, came over here, this being his native +country, in hope of recovering it; but died at Talylynn, leaving one +child, that little orphan boy, heir, after his half-uncle's death, to +all this property. You have often heard me tell how like two brothers my +dear father and _our_ old squire were always--though father was only a +steward--how he used to have me at the great house, for a month at a +time, where he had me taught by a lady who lived with him, before I went +to school; and so I used often to see that little boy in black--very +queer and sullen he was thought; but he had no playfellow, except an owl +that he kept tame, I remember, and cried when he buried him in the +garden,--the only time he was ever known to cry, he was so still and +stern. It was _I_ caught him, then acting the sexton by himself, close +by the high box hedge, under a great tree. I remember the spot now, and +remember how angry I made him by laughing." + +"And you did wrong to laugh, if it was so serious to him." + +"Oh! but I did not know he was crying when I laughed, and _was_ sorry +when I detected it. One thing was, the old gentleman was so jovial, and +loved a good laugher, and was rather too fond of wine, and mostly out +hunting, so that the poor boy had to find his own amusement. He seemed +fond of me, but hated, he said, his uncle, and his hounds, and his ways, +and every thing there but his own owl; so that nobody was sorry when he +was fetched back to India, to be put in the where he was to make the +fortune he has now made, I suppose." + +"And your little heart did throb a little, and sink for a day, when this +playfellow was shipped off for life, as you thought, and you _did_ +remember his funeral tears over his owl, and"--a quaver of voice and +betrayed earnestness revealed the jealous pang shooting across the heart +of the speaker; but her own was too heavy and deeply anxious to prolong +this desultory talk. + +She only added--"Heaven knows how little I thought that poor stranger +boy would ever grow to be what he is to me now." + +"_What he is to you?_ Why, what then is he, Winifred?" + +"The horror of my thoughts, my dreams, my"----she answered sobbing. "But +why should I say so? Wicked I am to feel him so, if he is _indeed_ to be +the saviour of my dear, dear father!" And she turned away to shed +relieving tears. + +"And this little packet contains my letters--_all_, does it?" he asked, +touching the small parcel she had deposited within a cleft of the hollow +river-side tree, by which they stood, the post-office of their happier +days, where, concealed by thick moss gathered from the bole, those +letters had every one been searched for and found--with what a leap of +heart, first felt! how fondly thrust into her bosom, for the leisure +delight of opening at home--and all in vain! + +"All but one," she answered tremulously; "I brought then because you +bade me--but you were so angry _then_--let me take them back?" and she +clutched them eagerly. "At least we may wait, David--we don't know yet; +I do suspect that Lewis Lewis--he shuns me as if he was conscious of +some wickedness; he's as horrid to me as his master--the thought of his +master--I do forbode something awful from that man! It was but just +before I heard you brushing among those great low branches, in your +coracle, that I fancied I saw him stealing, as if to watch, or perhaps +waylay you; but I am full of dismal thoughts." + +He had not the heart to force his letters, so reluctantly resigned, from +her chilly hand. But he held in his what was calculated to inspire pain +quite as poignant. In the fond admiration of her fancy's first object, +she had vehemently longed for a portrait of that rather singular face--a +long oval, with lofty forehead, already somewhat corrugated by habits of +deep thought, in his lonely night-loving existence; its mixture of +passion, dumb poetry, its constitutional or adventitious profound +melancholy, ever present, till his countenance gradually lighted up, +after her coming and her animating discourse, like some deep gloomy +valley growing light as the sun surmounts a lofty bank, gleaming through +its pines. She had forced him to take a piece of money for procuring +this so desired keepsake, and every time they met, she had fondly hoped +to have the little portrait put into her hand. Now, instead, he +presented the unused money--would she retain the image of a sweetheart +in the home of her stern and lordly husband? Her heart confessed that +she must no longer wish for it--but it sunk within her at the thought, +how soon that innocent would be a guilty wish; and when he surprised her +with the money so suddenly, she involuntarily shuddered, forebore to +close her hand upon it, let it slide from her palm, and murmured only +with her innocent plaintiff voice, "I shall never have your picture +now--_never_!" And then she dejected her eyes to the little parcel of +letters, written, received, kissed, and kept, like something holy, so +long in vain; and all the charming hopeful hours in which each was +found, when some longer absence had given to each a deeper interest, and +higher value--those hours never to return, came shadowing over her mind, +memory, and soul, and a lethargy of despairing grief imposed a +ghost-like semblance of calm on her whole figure, and her face slowly +assumed a deadly paleness, even to the lips, visible even by the moon. +David grew alarmed, relapsed into the full fondness of former hours, +folded the dumb, drooping, and agonized young woman in his arms, to his +bosom! without her betraying consciousness, and yet she was not +fainting; she stood upright, and her eyes, though fixed as if glazed, +still expressed love in their almost shocking fixedness. + +The young man grew terrified. "Look up! speak to me! Winifred, _dear_ +Winifred, my _own_ Winifred, in spite of all!" he broke forth. "Smile at +me, my dearest, once more, and keep these foolish letters you so value, +keep them _all_." And he thrust them into her passive hand. + +Aroused by his words and action, poor Winifred, starting with a gasp, +wildly kissed the little packet, and thanked him by an embrace more +passionate than her prudence or modesty would have permitted, had they +been happy. + +"And my portrait--my ugliness in paint, and on ivory too, dearest, you +shall have yet, as you desire it," he added, forcing pleasantry; "only +do not fall into that frightful sort of trance again." + +He little knew what deadliness of thoughts, almost of purpose, had +produced that long abstracted fit. The most exemplary prudence (the +result of a sound mind and heart) had characterised this young woman +till now. While yet at home, her bodily activity surprised her parents. +Their means having been long but low, they had little help in their +dairy and small farming concerns. She often surprised her mother with +the sight of the butter already churned, the ewes already milked, or the +cheeses pressed, when she arose. She was abroad in the heavy dews of +morning, when the sun at midsummer rises in what is properly the night, +regarded as the hour of rest--abroad, happy and cheerful, calling the +few cows in the misty meadows. Nor did this habit of early rising +prevent her indulging at night her _one_ unhappy habit--romance-reading; +a pleasure which she enjoyed through the kindness of many ladies of the +town of Cardigan, who afterwards established her in her school at K----. +They supplied her with these dangerous volumes that exalted +passion--love in excess--above all the aims and pursuits of +life: represented her who loves most madly as most worthy of +sympathy; and even, too often, crowned the heroine with the palm of +self-martyrdom--making suicide itself no longer a crime or folly, but +almost a virtue, under certain contingencies. + +When poverty increased, the activity of her powerful intellect was +brought into display, as much as her personal activity had been, in +devising resources. She had acquired some skill in drawing, through the +kindness of the neighbouring gentry, and she improved herself so far as +to execute very respectable drawings of the ruins of Kilgerran Castle, +on her own river, and other fine scenes of Wales; and these were sold +for her (or rather for her parents) by others, at fairs and wakes, where +she never appeared herself. When residing at the village, her wheel was +heard in the morning before others were stirring, and at late night, +after every other one was still. Her little light, gleaming in the lofty +village, espied between the hanging trees, was the guiding star of the +belated fisher up the narrow goat's-path which led to the village, who +could always obtain light for his pipe at "_Miss Bevan's_, the school," +when not a casement had exhibited a taper for hours. But the evil of all +this wear and tear of mind and body was, that it maintained an unnatural +state of excitement in the one, and of weakness (disguised by that fever +of imagination) in the other. Sleep, the preserver of health and +tranquillity of mind, was exchanged for lonely emotions excited by night +reading. She was weeping over the dramatist's fifth act of tragedy, or +the romancist's more morbid appeals to the passions, while nature +demanded rest. Then an accidental meeting with the young harper--he +recovering a book she had dropped into the Tivy out of her hand, from +having fallen asleep through exertion, and restoring it with a grace +quite romance-hero like--produced a new era, and new excitement--that of +the heart. Thenceforth, she became "of imagination all compact," however +her strong sense preserved her purity and virtue. But no more dangerous +lover could be imagined than such a loose hanger-on, rather than member, +of society as David the _Telynwr_--for _his_ nature was _hers_; except, +perhaps, in virtuous resolution, he was a female Winifred. Yet he +possessed a romantic "leaning, at least, to virtue's side." + +This was oddly exemplified now, (to return to their present position;) +for as soon as her partial recovery had removed his alarm, he grew cold, +and almost severe in his manner, and broke forth-- + +"_So_, then, Winifred would willingly pore over the love-letters of a +sweetheart while under a husband's roof! She thinks this beauty enough +for _him_--she would reserve her thoughts, wishes, every thing else, for +his old rival;--every thing but what a ring, and a few words, makes his +right by law, the poor husband is to leave to any old sweetheart that +may come prowling round his gates! That's gross! Is it _not_, Winifred?" + +Alas! the heart-broken young woman had been meditating on far other +issue to their brief attachment! On death!--death on her wedding-day, as +the only means of preserving at once her father's liberty and her own +virtue; for her reading had taught her that marriage, where the mind and +heart were so wholly engaged elsewhere, was no better than legalised +prostitution. With a look of dark intensity of meaning, Winifred broke +her lengthened silence, saying hollowly-- + +"I was not looking so far forward--I was not looking beyond _that_ +day--not to that"----_night_, she would have said, but modesty stopped +her speech. "And _you_ can be so calm! so thoughtful! _You_ can be +reasoning about my duties during a life! you can be pleading for _my_ +future husband! Oh, I wish I were like you! And yet, I bless God, that +you are not like _me_! I would not have you feel as I do for the world! +No, not even know what I am feeling, thinking, dearest, at this moment." + +"No!" David again muttered, more and more severely, "I cannot submit to +have my letters and trifling keepsakes to be tossed about by _him_! It +is weakness to wish it, Winifred Bevan; and worse for me to grant it." + +"You shall have them all--all--all!" she exclaimed in passionate agony +composed of tenderness, anguish, anger, recklessness, with a bitterness +of irony keener to her own heart, than to him who roused that terrible +reaction of her nature. "I'll run and fetch them all this very night! +Oh, they'll serve for _your_ new love. You may copy your letters. I'm +sure, if she have a human heart, they'll move it--they'll win it! Strike +my name out, and you may send the very letters. She will not know that +another heart was broken by giving them up! She will not know the stains +are tears of pleasure dropped upon them! And you shall have _that_ too, +if you will--if you must!" + +"Which? what? dearest creature, but compose yourself--pray do!" he said, +again alarmed. + +"_That_ you sent with the lock of hair--_this_ hair!" she answered +wildly. "But you _will_ leave me the little lock? Oh, there's plenty to +cut for _another_ here!" and she laughed hysterically, frightfully, and +played with his profusion of raven hair; but it was mournful play. +"Leave me--_do_ leave poor Winifred that, David, for the love of God! In +mercy, leave it! I will not ask for the picture again--I will not _wish_ +it, if _you_ say I must not; but the hair--the poor bit of hair--he! oh, +misery! he shall never see it! I myself will never cry over it--never +look at it, if you think it wrong--never till I'm dying, David--dying! +There will be no harm then, you know, in looking--in a poor dying +creature's look, who has done with passions, life, love, every thing. +And none--none shall see it but those who lay me out, or they who find +my--oh! we none of us know where we may die, or how! It may be alone, +dearest--_alone_! Oh, the comfort it will be to have a part of very +_you_ to hold--to hold by, like this very hand, in my death-damp one. +Let me have it!" she shrilly implored, in delirious energy. "I want it +to take with me to my death-bed--to my death-pit--my grave, whatever it +may be--to heaven itself--to our place of meeting again, if it were +possible! Oh, that it _were_ possible! and that I might bring back to +you there the kiss--the long kiss--you shall leave on these wretched +lips when we part for ever and for ever here! _Will_ you take it from +me, David, my heart, my soul? No, you will not?" + +The crisis of love's parting agony was at its height. Half-conscious of +her own dangerous prostration of soul and mind under its power, she +turned from the dear object, and rested her forehead against the trunk +of their old tree of assignation; and a steady, sadder shower of tears, +relieving her full heart, followed this storm of various and rapid +emotions, sweeping over one weakened mind, like thunderclouds charged +with electric fire, borne on a whirlwind over a whole landscape, in a +few minutes of mingled gloom and glory. For, in the sublime of passion, +whatever be its nature, is there not a terrible joy, a secret glorifying +of the earthy nature, which we may compare to such elemental war--now +hanging all heaven in mourning, and bringing night on noonday, and +presently illuminating that day with a ghastly, momentary light, +brilliant even beyond its own? + + +CHAPTER II. + +Llaneol, the dilapidated farm-house of the expelled steward, old Bevan, +stood beautifully in a wooded glen, watered by a shallow stream, between +a brook and river in size. A pretty greensward, of perpetual vivid hue, +stretched quite up to the threshold--its "fold," or farm-yard, being +small, and situated behind. A wooded mountain rose opposite, topped by a +range of many-tinted cliffs, splintered like thunder-stricken +battlements, and resembling, in their fretted and timeworn fronts, rich +cathedral architecture in ruins. Extensive sheep-walks rose in russet, +lofty barrenness behind, but allowing below breadth for venerable oaks, +and a profusion of underwood, to shelter the white, but no longer +well-thatched, farm-cottage, and screening that umbrageous valley from +the colder wind; while the many sheep, seen, and but just seen, dotting +the lofty barrier, beautified the scene by the pastoral ideas which +their dim-seen white inspired. Only the songs of birds distinguished the +noonday from the night, unless when the flail was heard in the barn, +through the open doors of which, coloured by mosses, the river +glistened, and the green, with its geese, gleamed the more picturesquely +for this rustic perspective. + +As Winifred was approaching this tranquil vale--her native vale--after +an absence at the town of Cardigan, where she had been seeking +assistance for her father, with little success, she was startled by the +unusual sound of many voices, and soon saw, aghast, the whole of the +rustic furniture standing about on the pretty green, her infant +play-place; the noisy auctioneer mounted on the well-known old oaken +table; even her mother's wheel was already knocked down and sold, and +her father's own great wicker chair was ready to be put up, while rude +boys were trying its rickety antiquity by a furious rocking. + +On no occasion is so much joviality indulged (in Wales) as on that of an +auction "under a distress for rent," (which was the case here)--an +occasion of calamity and ruin to the owner. Even in the event of an +auction caused by a death, where the common course of nature has removed +the possessor from those "goods and chattels" which are now useless to +him, a sale is surely a melancholy spectacle to creatures who use their +minds, and possess feelings befitting a brotherhood of Christians, or +even heathens. To see the inmost recesses of "home, sweet home," thrown +open to all strangers; the most treasured articles (often descended as +heir-looms from ancestors, and therefore possessing an intrinsic value, +quite unsuspected by others, for the owner,) ransacked, tossed from hand +to hand, and at last "knocked down" at a nominal price--even this is a +mournful exhibition. But where the ruthless hand of his brother man has +wrested those valuables from their possessor, instead of inevitable +death's tearing him from them--where that very owner and his family are +present, sadly listening to the ceaseless jokes (thoughtlessly inhuman) +lavished by the auctioneer, and re-echoed by the crowd, over those old +familiar objects--witnessing the happy excitement of rival bidders, and +the universal pleasure over his ruin, like the cry and flocking of +vultures over a battle-field, witnessed by wretches still alive, though +mortally wounded; what can exceed the shocking transgression of human +brotherhood presented by such a scene! A scene of every-day +occurrence--a scene never seeming to excite even one reflection kindred +to these natural, surely, and obvious feelings--yet one terribly +recalling to the pensive observer that axiom, _Homo ad hominem lupus +est!_ Doubtless the fraudulent or utterly reckless debtor is, in the eye +of reason, the first "wolfish" assailant of his brother. But how many of +these familiar tragedies are as truly the result of unforeseen, +unforeseeable contingencies, as diseases or other events, considered the +visitations of God! One, or two, or three, sick and heavy hearts and +wounded minds, in the midst of a hundred happy, light ones, buoyed up by +fierce cupidity and keen bargain-hunting, and exhilarated by drink and +by fun, and all drawn together by the misery of those outcast few. + +Poor Bevan had been taken by surprise in this sudden execution, put in +by his treacherous supplanter, Lewis Lewis. But what most excited the +anger of his old attached neighbours, was the fact that many of these +goods were bought by an agent of Lewis, to finish furnishing his own +newly repaired house by the old park wall. Winifred learned that her +parents had removed to a friendly neighbour's, at some distance, but +suspected the worst--his removal to jail. + +Not now the weakness of woman prevailed over her presence of mind, as we +have lately seen it do in her interview with a beloved object. She +commanded her agitation, so far as to bid for her father's old chair, +but in vain; for her timid bidding, faltered from behind a crowd, failed +to catch the ear of the jocular auctioneer, (who, in Wales, must always +be somewhat of a mountebank,) and the favourite chair was gone at once, +after the wheel, and the many old familiar chattels which she saw +standing, now the property of strangers. + +Events crowded fast on each other, hurrying on that terrible hour in +which a revolting act of self-devotion was to render even this domestic +horror of little injury to her parents. "I will buy 'daddy' a better +chair, or he shall have enough to buy a better, when I am gone," she +murmured to herself. For now the rumour grew rife, that Mr Fitzarthur +had actually landed, was daily expected; and, in confirmation, she +received through a neighbour present, a letter left for her by her +father, stating that he had now actually received, under the Nabob's own +hand, a proposal of marriage, which the generous old man (who well knew +her engagements to another) solemnly charged her to reject, at all +hazards to himself. He further begged her to come quickly to the +temporary place of refuge he and her mother had found under the roof of +a hill cottage, just now tenantless through the death of a relative. +Thither, with heavy heart, Winifred hastened by the first light of +morning. + +"_The_ hill," an expression much in the mouths of Welsh rural people, +signifies not any particular one, as it would in England, but the whole +desolate regions of the mountain heights; the homeless place of +ever-whistling winds, and low bellowing clouds, mingling with the mist +of the mountain, into one black smoke-like rolling volume--the place of +dismal pools and screaming kites, full of bogs, concealed by a sickly +yellowish herbage in the midst of the russet waste, boundlessly wearying +the eye with its sober monotony of tint. If a pool or lake relieve it by +reflecting the sky, on approach it is found choked all round by high +rushes, and shadowed by low strangely-shaped rocks, tinted by mosses of +dingy hue; the water that glistened pleasantly in the distance, shrinks +now to a mere pond, (the middle space, too deep for bullrushes and other +weeds to take root.) The deep stillness, or the unintermitted hollow +blowing of the wind (according to the weather) are equally mournful. +The rotten soil is cleft and torn into gulleys and small channels, in +which the mahogany-coloured rivulets, springing from the peat morass, +straggle silently with a sluggish motion in harmony with the lifeless +scene. There, if a weedy-roofed hut do appear, (detected by its thin +feeble smoke column) or the shepherd who tenants it should show his +solitary figure in the distance, the only upright object where is not +one tree-trunk, neither the home of man nor man's appearance lessens the +sense of almost savage solitude; the one so lonely, not a smoke-wreath +being visible all round, beside; the other, as he loiters by, watching +some sheep on some distant bank, so shy and wild-looking, and, to +appearance, so melancholy, so forlorn. Meanwhile, as we "plod our weary +way," some dip in the wavy round of olive-hued lumpish mountains, or an +abrupt huge chasm of awful rocks, each side being almost perpendicular, +startles the traveller with a far-down prospect of some sunshiny, rich, +leafy, valley region, at once showing at what a bleak elevation he has +been roaming so long, and tantalizing him with the contrast of that far, +far off, low, luring landscape, rendering more irksome than before the +dead, heathery desert, interminably undulating before, behind, and all +round him. + +The little farm whither old Bevan had retired, stood high in such a +desert as this, on the very verge of such a mountain-portal, (a _bwlch_, +pronounced boolch, the Welsh call it,) an antique stone cottage, hanging +like a nest on one of the side banks, dismal itself, but all that under +world of pastoral pleasantness below, in full though dim perspective. A +premature decay is always visible on these kind of wild, weather-beaten +homes, in the torn thatch; the walls tinged with green, and generally +propped to resist the effects of the powerful winds. If white-washed, +which they really are, broad streaks of green are visible, from the +frequent heavy rains, tinged by the mosses and weeds of the roof. The +clouds, attracted by the heights, career on the strong blast, so low and +close, as often to shut up the dingy human nest in a dreary day of its +own, while all below is blue serene. + +To this melancholy abode, its few rustic chattels still standing there, +left since the death of its tenant, Winifred toiled up by a steep, wild, +but well-known track, but found not father, mother, or living thing, +except one, so much in unison with the wild melancholy of the scene, as +to exalt it almost to horror. This was a wretched idiot man, dressed in +female attire, perfectly harmless, and kept, as a parish pauper, at an +adjacent farm. He was noted for fidelity to any one who flattered him by +some little commission. This ragged object presented to her the key of +the padlock on the door, with the words "gone, gone, gone!" She entered, +and found, to her surprise, excellent refreshment provided in the +desolate house, evidently but lately deserted. But what riveted her +eyes, was a letter to herself in the handwriting of David, but +tremulously written, announcing his inability to keep an appointment, +(one more!) which they had made, to part for ever--her terrible +distress, it will be remembered, on the last occasion, deterring the +young man from any further trial of her feelings. He further informed +her that Mr Fitzarthur was certainly arrived, and had taken up his +temporary abode at the pretty house by the park, designed by Lewis Lewis +for his own residence. Moreover, she learned that her father and mother +anxiously expected her at that house to which they had removed, but did +not reveal that he had _been removed_ in the care of two bailiffs, and +the house named was but a resting place in his transit to jail. + +When the mind is enfeebled by repeated blows, it often happens that some +one, which to others may appear the slightest of all, produces the +greatest effect, its pain being quite disproportioned to its real +importance. Thus it happened, that, amidst all her trials, Winifred felt +the loss of her father's favourite chair as a crowning misery, trivial +as was that loss, when hope itself was lost. She had identified that +very humble chattel with his figure almost her life long. She almost +expected to see the two fair hands (for, truth to tell, the aged steward +had never worked hard) on each side, and the venerable kind face +projected forwards from its deep concave, arched over that white head, +to smile welcome to her even as it stood out on the little green. The +intrusion of boy clowns, one after another, into its seat seemed a +grievous insult to the unhappy owner, though absent. Yet a sad comfort +rose in the thought of her ability to reinstate her father in all his +lost comforts, through this terrible marriage. Then she grew impatient +in her longing to console him by assurance of this, notwithstanding his +generous wish that her hand should go where he knew her heart had +irretrievably been given. But these repeated disappointments in finding +the parents she longed to fold to her bosom, postponing this little +gratification, (the telling him she would repurchase the old family +chair,) now quite overcame the fortitude she had till now exhibited. She +sate down sick at heart--turned with aversion from the refreshment her +fatigue required, and wept bitterly. Superstition, and two mysterious +incidents, even while she remained on the hill, if indeed they were more +than superstition's coinage, helped to depress her. Just before she +reached this forlorn house with the haggard, aged, horrid-looking idiot +prowling round it, with his rags fluttering in the wind, she thought +that the figure of the hated steward and spy moved along a wild path on +the opposite side of that great mountain cleft, traversed by a noisy +torrent almost the depth of the whole hill, near the top of which this +cottage was perched. His being there alone was nothing marvellous, but +an ominous horror seemed, in her mind, to hover round that man, who (as +if conscious of some deadly evil which was through him to overwhelm her +some time) studiously avoided direct intercourse with his victim. + +The second incident which might have sprung from the dwelling of her +mind's eye on the absent features of him, who, it seemed, refused to +meet her again, was an apparition, or what she deemed such, of her dear +Night-harper! One of those dense flying clouds, so common even at +moderate elevations when the mists roll down the hills, suddenly +enveloping the lone lofty spot, left but a little area of a few yards +for vision, a dungeon walled with fog, which kept circulating furiously +on the blast like a great smoke, in continuous whirls. And through some +momentary fissure in this white wall, she imagined the pallid and almost +ghastly visage of her forsaken lover appeared intensely looking toward +her, as she stood on the rude threshold, looking out on the temporary +storm that had shut her up. Her vague apprehension of some evil arising +to David, her mind's perpetual object, from the man she believed herself +to have espied just before, was rarely absent from her thought. +Combining the two appearances, she became more and more fancy-fraught, +thus confined, as it were, in an elemental solitude of the mountain and +the cloud, where, for the present, we leave her, to narrate the fate of +her father. + +The novel calamity of arrest for debt was borne by the respectable old +man, John Bevan, with a patience and dignity that no study of philosophy +could have inspired. Though somewhat inactive, he felt that, in the +honest discharge of his duty, he stood acquitted in the sight of God, +though not in the eye of the law, of all fault, at least of any one +meriting the terrible punishment of imprisonment. It was near nightfall +when two emissaries of the law appeared, announcing that horses waited +at the neighbouring inn to convey him to jail with the first light of +morning. The poor old dame, his wife, was not to be pacified by the +efforts of the two bailiffs, who executed their commission with the +utmost gentleness, by order, as it appeared, of the Nabob himself, +notwithstanding that the old man's stern self-denying rejection of his +overture for his daughter's hand had determined him to let his agent +proceed to extremities. Soothing as well as he could both her grief and +her rage--for the latter rose unreflectingly against the mere agents in +this grievous infliction--old Bevan smoked his pipe as usual to the end, +and then requested permission to take a little walk only to the church, +which stood a short way from the solitary house where they surprised +him. + +"You see I cannot run, for I can hardly walk with these rheumatics, my +friend," he observed; "but I have a fancy to visit the churchyard +to-night, as it will be moonlight, and we shall be pretty busy in the +morning. My dame is gone to bed with the good woman of this cottage, as +I begged her to go; so pray let us walk--you shall see me all the +while by the moon, without coming into the churchyard with me." + +Arrived at the low stone stile, he crossed it by the help of the man, +and proceeded alone to the tomb of his old master's grave, surrounded by +a rail, with a yew growing inside, marking the site of the ancient +family vault. The moon now shining clearly, the bailiff saw him kneel +and uncover his head, which shone in its light, in the distance +resembling a scull bleached by the wind. He remained a long time in this +position, and his murmuring voice was partly audible to the man. At last +he returned, thanking him for his patience, and shaking him very +cordially by the hand. So touched was even this rugged lower limb of the +law by this proof of his affectionate remembrance of his old patron, +that he behaved throughout with great courtesy, and even respect. Bevan +and his departed master had lived, as has been said, almost on the +footing of cronies, a certain phlegmatic ease of nature being the +characteristic of both. So proud, indeed, was Bevan of his brotherlike +intercourse with the great man, that he made himself for years almost a +personal _fac-simile_ of him, even to the cut and colour of his coat, +wig, everything; and being a fine specimen of a "noble peasant," +externally as well as internally, his assumption of the _squire_ in +costume well became his tall figure, mild countenance, (streaked with +the lingering pink of his youthful bloom,) and gentle demeanour. A rigid +observer might have thought, that to this indulgent but indolent master +the poor steward owed his ruin; his habits of "forgiving" his tenants +their rent debts so often, having extended themselves to the former, +further increased by the strange inattention of the new landlord. The +gratitude of Bevan was, however, deserved--for never was a kinder +master. + +"It is a thing not to be thought," he said, while returning with the +man, "that I shall ever come back here, to the old church again, alive +or dead; seeing that I am too poor for any one to bring my old bones all +the way from Cardigan, to put them in the same ground with _his_, as I +did dream of in my better days, and too old for a man used to free air +and the hill-sides all his life, to live long in a prison, or indeed out +of one--but we must all die. I assure you, my honest man and kind, you +have done me good, in mind and body, by letting me take leave of his +honour! Well I may call him so, now he is in heaven, whom I did honour +when here, from my very heart of hearts; kind he was to me--a second +father to my child--God bless him! Sure I am, if he were still among us, +how his good heart would melt, how it would _bleed_ for us--for _her_--I +_know_ it would." Here the old man sobbed and kept silence a space, then +proceeded--"You see how weak old age and over-love of this world make a +man, sir. Yet I am content. Next to God, I owe to him whose dear corpse +I have just now been so near, a long and happy life,--thanks, thanks, +thanks! To both, up yonder, I do here render them from my inmost soul;" +and he bared his head again, looking up to the placid moon with a visage +of kindred placidity, and an eye of blue lustre, so brightened by his +emotion as almost to be likened to the heaven in which that moon shone. +"Why should I repine, or fear the walls of a prison, as my passage to +that wide glorious world without wall or bound or end, where I hope to +live free and for ever, in the sight of my Redeemer, and, perhaps, of +him who was Hugh Fitzarthur, Esq., of Tallylynn hall, when here? I hope +I am not irreverent, but in truth, friend, I fear I have almost as +vehemently longed for the presence of him once more, as for that more +awful presence: heaven pardon me if it was wicked! So welcome prison, +welcome death! Half a hundred and nineteen years spent pleasantly on +these green hills, free, and fresh, and hale, I can surely afford a few +weeks or months to a closer place, were it but as in a school for my +poor earthly and ignorant soul, to purify itself, to prepare itself for +that glorious place, to learn to die." + +Next morning the old couple, dame Bevan being mounted on a pillion +behind him, proceeded on their melancholy journey. They reached the +house by the park, where it was proposed that an interview should take +place between the old man and the landlord himself, with some view to +arrangement prior to his imprisonment. While they there expect the long +delayed comfort of Winifred's embrace, let us return to that good +daughter, now more eager to fly to that dreaded suitor, to reverse her +father's resolve, to offer herself a victim, than ever she had been to +reach that dearer one who had now cruelly disappointed her in the hope +of one more meeting--that, perhaps, the last she could have innocently +allowed! + +The dreaded day of trial arrived. But we must revert to her sad +meditations, and wild irresolute thoughts, while shut up by the +storm-cloud, and alone, in the mountain house. Doating passion, pain of +heart, terrible suggestions of despair, kept altering her countenance as +she leaned against the mouldering door-post, imprisoned by the black +mists that prevented her safely leaving the hovel. A sudden, dire, +revolution in her religious impressions was wrought, or rather +completed, in that dismal scene. David had more than once wrung her very +soul by dark hints of self-destruction in the event of her ever +forsaking him. He had thus been led into discussions on suicide, and had +even argued for the moral right of man to end his own being under +circumstances. Persuasion hangs on the lips of those we love. What she +would have rejected as impious, from some immoral man, in dispute, sank +deep into her soul, emanating from a heart she loved, through lips that, +to her, seemed formed for eloquence as much as love to make its throne. + +Wild and tragical modes of reconciling her two furious, fighting, +irreconcilable wishes--that of saving her father--that of blessing her +lover--began to take terrible form and reality in her mind, as the wind +howled, the ruinous house shook, and its timbers groaned, and the +blackness of the sky, as the storm increased, deepened the lurid hue of +the foul and turbulent fog, (for such the mountain cloud thus in contact +with her eyes appeared.) The world, as it were, already left behind, or +rather below, the elements alone warring round her, her high-wrought +imagination began to regard life and death, and the world itself, as +things no longer appertaining to her, except as a passive instrument +toward one great object, the preservation of her father's freedom, and, +if it _were_ possible, also of her own inviolate person--that person +which she had, indeed, most solemnly vowed to one alone, David the +Telynwr. Not _to_ him--for her innate delicacy rendered such vows +repugnant to her; but alone, by the moon or stars, by the cataract, and +in the lonely lanes and woods, she had vowed herself to one alone--had +dedicated her virgin beauty (in the spirit of those romances she had +fatally devoured) to her "night-harper" with as true devotion as ever +did white vestal, at the end of her noviciate, devote herself alive and +dead to the one God. Instilled by the touching tone, the wild pathos, +the swimming eye of a wayward passionate character, weak, yet bold, of +whom she knew almost nothing, this devoted girl yielded up her better +reason to his rash innovations in morals, his examples of suicidal +heroes, and even _moralists_, among the ancients; and in the wild +height, alone, among the clouds, she almost wrought up her fond +agonizing soul to a terrible part--the accomplishing her father's +preservation, _on her wedding-day_, through the influence she might +naturally expect to obtain in such a season, and that done, make her +peace with God; and, before night--black pools--rock precipices, fearful +as Leucadia's--mortal plants, and even the horrid knife and +halter--floated before her mind's eye without her trembling, even like +terrible, yet kind, ministrants proffering escape--escape from legalised +violation!--escape from _perjury_, to her, the self-doomed Iphigenia! +For her morbid fancy, whispered to by her intense tenderness, conjured +up that dilemma between faith broken to her lover and abandonment of a +dear parent to his fate. Despair suggested that self-destruction itself +might seem venial, even before God, when rushed upon as the only +alternative to perjury--to prostitution; for such her romantic purity +taught her to consider submission to the embrace of any living man +except her heart's own--her affianced--"her beautiful!"--her lost! + +Such were the feelings under whose influence our humble heroine pursued +her mountain journey, of a few miles, to the place of meeting with her +parents; and it was probably beneath the roof of the lone cottage in the +cloud that, under the same morbid mood of mind, she penned a letter to +Mr Fitzarthur, which was afterwards discovered, dated at top "My Wedding +Day," containing a passionate appeal on behalf of her father, for a bond +of legal indemnification to be executed before night, as a present which +she had set her heart on giving her father, as a bridal one, _that very +day_. Arrived at the house fitted up for the hated supplanter of her +father, "Lewis the Spy," her heart beat so violently before she could +firm her nerves to ring the bell, that she stood leaning some time +against the wall. This old house was now almost rebuilt, and not without +regard to rural beauty, in harmony with the fine scenery of an antique +park, with its mossy ivied remains of walls and venerable trees +overshadowing it, and was called "The Little Hall of the Park." She +sighed deeply as she glanced at its comfortable aspect, remembering how +long it had formed the secret object of her mother's little ambition +(for the dame had a touch of pride in her composition beyond her +ever-contented mate) to occupy that _little_ hall. It seemed so +appropriate that the lesser squire--the _great_ squire's friend--should +also have _his_ "hall," though a little one! + +Indeed, it had been in incipient repair for him, that the old men might +spend their winter evenings together at the real hall, divided but by a +short path, across an angle of the park, without a dreary walk for Bevan +impending over the end of their carouse, with never-wearied +reminiscences of their boyhood--when sudden death stopped all +proceedings, and left poor Bevan alone in the world, as it seemed to +him--"in simplicity a child," and as imbecile in conflict with it as any +child. + +She nerved her mind and hand by an effort, and rang the bell--(the +_bell_, there a modern innovation.) No sound but its own distant +deadened one, was heard within; but some dog in the rear barked, and +then howled, as if alarmed at the sudden breach of long prevailing +silence. Again she rang--again the troubled growl and bark, suppressed +by fear of the only living thing, as it seemed, within hearing, alone +responded. The situation was very solitary, the only adjacent house, the +hall, being yet tenantless, and night was gathering fast; for that storm +which had first detained her in the lofty region, (where a darker storm +had gathered round her mind and soul,) had desolated the lower country +all day, flooded the brooks, and delayed her on the road during several +hours. + +She fancied a sort of suppressed commotion within, as of whisperings and +stealthy steps, and one voice she clearly overheard, but it was not her +father's. Whether it was that of Lewis (who, however, was not yet +residing there) she knew not, never having heard it in her life; he +avoiding, as was stated, direct intercourse with her--disappearing "like +a guilty thing" whenever her figure appeared in distant approach. What +should this mean? Wild fears, even superstitious ones, of some +indefinite ill or horror impending, began to shake her forced fortitude, +as she stood, half-fearing to ring again--again to hear the melancholy +voice of the dog, as of one lost--to wait--listen--and dream +of--David--death--murder--or even worse, till even the giant horror--the +jail!--and the white-headed prisoner, shrank before the present ominous +mystery--ominous of she _knew_ not what, therefore involving every thing +dreadful. Meanwhile, the swinging of the large oak branches in the close +of a squally day, their groaning, and the vast glooms that their foliage +shed all below, the twilight rapidly deepening into confirmed night, all +tended to the inspiration of a wild unearthly melancholy. Suddenly the +door was opened, while she hesitated to ring again, and by a _black_ +man! Persons of colour are rarely seen inland, in Wales, and Winifred +had never visited a seaport of any consequence; so that even this was +almost a shock. She quickly, however, guessed that this was a servant of +the "Nabob," brought over with him. The man, learning her name, bade her +enter, adding, that she would see her father _soon_, but that "massa" +was within, settling some affairs with Mr Lewis, and begged to see her. +A sort of grim grin, though joined to a deference that seemed, to her +troubled and broken spirit, and sunken heart, a cruel mockery, relaxed +the man's features, and half shocked, half irritated her. Her spirits, +however, rose with the occasion, demanding all her fortitude and all +her tact; for now she was to make that impression on this terrible +suitor's fancy, through which alone she could work out her father's +salvation. In a few minutes more, she stood in the same apartment with +her David's detested rival! The embers of a large fire, decayed, cast +red twilight, which made it appear already dark without; and there he +stood, at the long room's extreme end, between her and the hearth. + +To Winifred, the personal attributes of the man, whom in her awful +resolve she regarded merely as the instrument of that filial good work, +were utterly indifferent; yet she stopped--she shuddered--and trembled +all over, as she caught the mere outline of his figure by the +fire-light. There he was! to her idea, the embodied evil genius of her +family! the sullen apostate from the finer part of love--the victim of +satiety, (as rumour said,) the selfish contemner of women's better +feelings!--indifferent to all but person in his election of a wife; +willing to unite himself with one whose heart and mind were stranger to +him, on bare report of her health and beauty, and some slight +recollections of her childhood! Seeing her stop, and even totter, he +advanced a few steps; but she, with the instinctive recoil and antipathy +of some feeble creature from its natural enemy, retreated at his first +movement--and, shocked by this betrayed repugnance, he again stood +irresolute. Then rushed back upon her heart, with all the horror of +novelty, the renunciation of poor David, now it was on the point of +being sealed for ever. Now father, mother, all beside, was +forgotten--the ghastliness of a terrible struggle within, the stern +horror of confirmed despair, began to disguise her beauty as with a +death-pale mask--the features grew rigid, her heart beat audibly, her +ears rang and tingled, and sight grew dim. She was fainting, falling. Mr +Fitzarthur sprang to support her, but putting his arms too boldly round +her waist, that detested freedom at once startled her into temporary +self-possession, back into life. She gasped, struggled against him, as +if she had rather have fallen than have been supported by _him_; and +turned to him that white face, white even to the lips, imploringly, +where was still depicted her unconquerable aversion. Some astonishment +seemed to rivet that look upon his face, but half-visible by the dusky +light--astonishment no longer painful, when the Nabob, emboldened, +renewed his now permitted clasp, and only uttering "My _dear_! don't you +know me?" in the tenderest tone to which ever manly voice was modulated, +increased his grasp to a passionate embrace, advanced his face--his +mouth to hers, advanced and pressed unresisted--and before her +bewildered eyes closed in that fainting fit which had been but +suspended, stood revealed to them (as proved by one delighted smile, +flashed out of all the settled gloom of that countenance,) as her +heart's own David--no longer the night--wandering poor _Telynwr_, but +David Fitzarthur of Talylynn, Esq. + +The story of the eccentric East Indian may be shortly told. From +childhood he was the victim of excessive morbid sensibility, and +constitutional melancholy. The jovial habits of his good-natured Welsh +uncle were repugnant to his nature; and after becoming an orphan, the +solitary boy had no human object on which the deep capacity for +tenderness of his _occult_ nature could be exerted. Thus forced by his +fate into solitariness of habits, and secreted emotions, he was deemed +unsocial, and reproached for what he felt was his misfortune--the being +wholly misunderstood by those his early lot was cast among. Hence his +perverted ardour of affection was misplaced on the lower living +world--dog, cat, or owl, whatever chance made his companions. Returning +to India, where he had known two parents, to meet no longer the +tenderness of even one, the melancholy boy-exile (for Wales he ever +regarded as his country) increased in morbid estrangement from mankind, +as he increased in years; till his maturity nearly realized the +misanthropic unsocial character for which his youth had been unjustly +reproached. Though in the high road to a splendid fortune, he loathed +East Indian society, far beyond all former loathing of fox-hunters and +topers in Wales, whose green mountains now became (conformably to the +nature, "_semper varium et mutabile_," of the melancholic) the very +idols of his romantic regrets and fondest memory. In India were neither +green fields nor green hearts. External nature and human nature appeared +equally to languish under that enfeebling hot death in the atmosphere, +which seemed to wither female beauty in the moment that it ripened. The +pallidness of the European beauties, sickly as the clime, disgusted +him--their venality still more. Female fortune-hunters were far more +intolerable to his delicacy than the coarsest hunter of vermin--fox or +hare--ever had been at his uncle's hall, whom he began to esteem, and +sincerely mourned--when death had removed all of him from his memory but +his kindness, his desire to amuse him, the "sulky boy," his substantial +goodness and warm-heartedness. Knowing that every female in his circle +was well informed of his ample fortune, still accumulating, he fancied +art, deceit, coquetry in every smile and glance, (for suspicion of human +hearts and motives ever besets the melancholic character;) and thus, it +was natural that he should sometimes sigh over the idea of some fresh +mountain beauty, not trained by parents in the art and to the task of +husband-hunting. Even the soft-faced child, just growing into woman, who +had held her pinafore for fruit, in the orchard, whose half-fallen +apple-tree was his almost constant seat, floated across his vacant, yet +restless mind. In truth, when she surprised him in his part of sexton to +his owl, she had evinced rather more sympathy than she had admitted to +his other self, David the wood-wanderer; and though she had indeed +laughed, it was with tears in her eyes, elicited by one she detected in +the shy averted orbs of his. Yet was the sweetness of the little Welsh +girl left behind, for a long time, even when manhood failed to banish +its idea, no more than his statue to Pygmalion, or his watery image to +Narcissus. But having no female society, save those marketable forms +that he distrusted and despised; yet pining, in his romantic refinement, +for _pure_ passion--for reciprocal passion--panting to be loved _for +himself alone_, he kept imagining her developed graces, exaggerating the +conceit of some childish tenderness toward himself, his position and his +nervous infirmity keeping a solitude of soul and heart ever round him, +into which no female form had free and constant admission, but that +aerial one, the little Winifred, of far, far off, green Wales! The +promise of pure beauty, which her childhood gave, his _dream_ fulfilled; +and his imagination seized and cherished the beautiful cloud, painted by +fancy, till it became the goddess of his idolatry, though conscious of +the self-delusion, and retained with that tenacity conceivable, perhaps, +to the morbidly sensitive alone. The habit of yielding to the +importunity of one idea, strengthens itself; every recurrence of it +produces quicker sensibility to the next; deeper and deeper impression +follows, till one form of mania supervenes--that which consists in the +undue mastery and eternal presence of one idea. + +Childish and _fugitive_ as it _seemed_, a passion had actually commenced +in his _boy's_ heart, which clung to that of the man, though under the +same light, fragile, and dreamlike form. Poetry might liken it to the +mere frothy foam of the infant cataract, when it gushes out of the +breast of the mountain to the rising sun, which, arrested by an intense +frost, ere it can fall, in the very act of evanishing, there hangs, +still hangs, the mere air-bubbles congealed into crystal vesicles, +defying all the force of the mounted sun to dissipate their delicate +white beauty, evanescent as it _looks_. The chill and the +impenetrability of heart, kept by circumstances within him, such frost +might typify--that pure, fragile-seeming, yet durable passion, that +snow-foam of the waterfall. True it was that this fantastic fancy had +the power to draw him to his Welsh patrimony earlier than worldly +ambition would have warranted. But his after conduct--his actual +overtures were not so wildly romantic, as might appear from the +foregoing narrative; but of this in the sequel. + +And where was her father--mother? Why had the law been allowed by this +eccentric lover to violate the humble sanctuary of home, at the desolate +Llaneol? What was become of the wicker chair? Was the hated Lewis to be +maintained in his usurpation of the chair of Bevan's _ancestral_ post of +steward, (for his father had been steward to the father of the squire +deceased?) Above all, was Dame Bevan to see that home of her heart's +hope, the permanent home of the harsh supplanter of her husband? +Passing over the affecting scene of poor Winifred's fainting, which drew +round her father and mother, and others from below, proceed we to answer +those queries and conclude our tale. + +When perfectly restored, Winifred, leaning on the arm of her future +husband, accompanied her parents down into the comfortable kitchen, +where, by a huge fire, stood the veritable wicker chair, familiar to her +eyes from infancy, rickety as ever, but surviving its desecration by the +boys at the auction; and looking round, she saw standing the whole solid +old oaken furniture, coffers, dressers, &c., even to the same bright +brazen skillets, pewter dishes, and sundries--the pride of Mistress +Bevan's heart, the splendour of better days. Mr Fitzarthur led the old +man by the hand to his own chair, his wife to another; and then, having +seated himself by their daughter, began, over the fumes of tea and +coffee, (the honours of which pleasant meal, so needful after her +agitation, he solicited Winifred to perform,) to narrate various +matters, which we must condense into a nutshell. + +To their surprise and amusement, they now learned that the hated "spy" +who had prowled round their folds and fields so long, would resign to +Mistress Bevan the house in which they sat, and that atonement made, +vanish into thin air--_a vox et preterea nihil!_ being in reality the +Proteus-like, mysterious, handsome, though sallow stranger, and no +stranger, sitting among them! + +We said that Mr Fitzarthur's conduct in espousing this long-unseen +mistress of his fancy, was not quite so extraordinary and wild as it +appeared. For coming back grown into maturity, and altered by climate in +complexion and all characteristics, he found himself quite unrecognised, +and conceived the idea of at once reconnoitring his dilapidated estate, +and watching the conduct of his long-remembered Winifred. _Two_ +disguises seemed necessary toward these two purposes, and he adopted the +two we have seen, one on the "hither side Tivy," the other on the "far +side Tivy," which his coracle allowed him to cross at pleasure. His +close watch of the blameless girl's whole life confirmed the warm and +romantic wishes of his soul, which her beauty inspired--that beauty as +fully confirming the vision of his love-dream when far and long away. + +It was during the alarm of her prolonged fainting, produced by the +surprise of this discovery, and the previous agitations, (whereby, +perhaps, the prudence rather than the affection of the eccentric lover +was impeached,) that her mother, searching her pocket for a bottle of +volatile salts, turned forth the letter lately referred to, melancholy +evidence of the desperate extremity to which two powerful antagonist +passions--love, and filial love--had driven a mind not unfortified by +religion, but beleaguered by despair and all its powers, till resolution +failed, and peril impended over an otherwise almost spotless soul. + +As the old man's affections were not wholly weaned from Llaneol, ruinous +as it was, his son-in-law had it restored as a temporary summer +residence for the old people, as well as occasionally for himself and +his beloved bride. + +It hardly needs to be told, that the arrest and its executors were but +parts of the delusion, the amount of real infliction being no more than +a ride in a fine morning of some miles. Whether the whole, as involving +some little added trouble of mind to that whose whole weight he was +going so soon to remove, was too severe a penance for the steward's +neglect, may be variously judged by various readers. In the halcyon days +that followed, Winifred never forgot the place on the Tivy bank where +she slept and dropped her book; nor did the happy husband, melancholic +no more, forsake his coracle or his harp utterly, but would often +serenade his lady-love (albeit his wedded love also) on some golden +evening, as she sat among the cowslips and harebells, that enamelled +with floral blue and gold the greensward bank of the Tivy, under the +fine sycamore tree--the "trysting-place" of their romantic assignations. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[20] Harper. + +[21] _St Elian._--A saint of Wales. There is a well bearing his name; +one of the many of the holy wells, or _Ffynnonan_, in Wales. A man whom +Mr Pennant had affronted, threatened him with this terrible vengeance. +Pins, or other little offerings, are thrown in, and the curses uttered +over them. + +[22] In the "History of the Gwyder Family," it is stated, that some +members of a leading family in the reign of Henry VII., being denounced +as "Llawrnds," murderers, (from _Llawrnd_, red or bloody hand,) and +obliged to fly the country, returned at last, and lived long disguised, +in the woods and caves, being dressed all in green; so that "when they +were espied by the country people, all took them for the "_Tylwyth Teg_, +the fair family," and straight ran away. + + + + +NORTH'S SPECIMENS OF THE BRITISH CRITICS. + +No. VI. + +SUPPLEMENT TO DRYDEN ON CHAUCER. + + +From the grand achievements of Glorious John, one experiences a queer +revulsion of the currency in the veins in passing to the small doings of +Messrs Betterton, Ogle, and Co., in 1737 and 1741; and again, to the +still smaller of Mr Lipscomb in 1795, in the way of modernizations of +Chaucer. Who was Mr Betterton, nobody, we presume, now knows; assuredly +he was not Pope, though there is something silly to that effect in +Joseph Warton, which is repeated by Malone. "Mr Harte assured me," saith +Dr Joseph, "that he was convinced by some circumstances which Fenton had +communicated to him, that Pope wrote the characters that make the +introduction (the Prologue) to the Canterbury Tales, published under the +name of Betterton." Betterton is bitter bad; Ogle, "_wersh_ as cauld +parritch without sawte!" Lipscomb is a jewel. In a postscript to his +preface he says, "I have barely time here, the tales being already +almost all printed off, to apologize to the reader for having inserted +my own translation of The Nun's Priest's Tale, instead of that of +Dryden; but the fact is, _I did not know that Dryden's version existed_; +for having undertaken to complete those of the Canterbury Tales which +were wanting in Ogle's collection, and the tale in question _not being +in that collection_, I proceeded to supply it, having never till very +lately, strange as it may seem, _seen the volume of Dryden's Fables in +which it may be found_!!" + +It is diverting to hear the worthy who, in 1795, had never seen Dryden's +Fables, offering to the public the first completed collection of the +Canterbury Tales in a modern version, "under the reasonable confidence +that the improved taste in poetry, and the extended cultivation of that, +in common with all the other elegant arts, which so strongly +characterizes the present day, will make the lovers of verse look up to +the old bard, the father of English poetry, with a veneration +proportioned to the improvements they have made in it." It grieves him +to think that the language in which Chaucer wrote "has decayed from +under him." That reason alone, he says, can justify the attempt of +exhibiting him in a modern dress; and he tells us that so faithfully has +he adhered to the great original, that they who have not given their +time to the study of the old language, "must either find a true likeness +of Chaucer exhibited in this version, or they will find it nowhere +else." With great solemnity he says, "Thence I have imposed it on myself +as a duty somewhat sacred to deviate from my original as little as +possible in the sentiment, and have often in the language adopted his +own expressions, the simplicity and effect of which have always forcibly +struck me, _wherever the terms he uses (and that happens not +unfrequently) are intelligible to modern ears_." Yes--Gulielme Lipscomb, +thou wert indeed a jewel. + +Happy would he have been to accompany his version of Chaucer with notes. +"But though the version itself has been an agreeable and easy rural +occupation, yet in a remote village, near 250 miles from London, the +very books, _trifling as they may seem_, to which it would be necessary +to refer _to illustrate the manners of the 14th century_, were not to be +procured; and parochial and other engagements would not admit of absence +sufficient to consult them where they are to be found; it is not +therefore for want of deference to the opinions of those who have +recommended a body of notes that they do not accompany these Tales." +Yes--Gulielme, thou wert a jewel. + +It is, however, but too manifest from his alleged versions, that not +only did Mr Lipscomb of necessity eschew the perusal of "the books, +trifling as they may seem, to which it would be necessary to refer to +illustrate the manners of the 14th century," but that he continued to +his dying day almost as ignorant of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales as of +Dryden's Fables. + +In his preface he tells one very remarkable falsehood. "The Life of +Chaucer, and the Introductory Discourse to the Canterbury Tales, are +taken from the valuable edition of his original works published by Mr +Tyrwhitt." The Introductory Discourse is so taken; but it is plain that +poor, dear, fibbing Willy Lipscomb had not looked into it, for it +contradicts throughout all the statements in the life of Chaucer, which +is not from Tyrwhitt, but clumsily cribbed piecemeal by Willy himself +from that rambling and inaccurate one by a Mr Thomas in Urry's edition. +Lipscomb is lying on our table, and we had intended to quote a few +specimens of him and his predecessor Ogle; but another volume that had +fallen aside a year or two ago, has of itself mysteriously +reappeared--and a few words of it in preference to other "haverers." + +Mr Horne, the author of "The False Medium," "Orion," the "Spirit of the +Age," and some other clever brochures in prose and in verse, in the +laboured rather than elaborate introduction to "The Poems of Geoffrey +Chaucer, modernized," (1841,) by Leigh Hunt, Wordsworth, Robert Bell, +Thomas Powell, Elizabeth Barrett, and Zachariah Azed, gives us some +threescore pages on Chaucer's versification; but, though they have an +imposing air at first sight, on inspection they prove stark-naught. He +seems to have a just enough general notion of the principle of the verse +in the Canterbury Tales; but with the many ways of its working--the how, +the why, and the wherefore--he is wholly unacquainted, though he +dogmatizes like a doctor. He soon makes his escape from the real +difficulties with which the subject is beset, and mouths away at immense +length and width about what he calls "the _secret_ of Chaucer's rhythm +in his heroic verse, which has been the baffling subject of so much +discussion among scholars, a trifling increase in the syllables +occasionally introduced for variety, and founded upon the same laws of +contraction by apostrophe, syncope, &c., as those followed by all modern +poets; but employed in a more free and varied manner, all the words +being fully written out, the vowels sounded, and not subjected to the +disruption of inverted commas, as used in after times." This "secret" +was patent to all the world before Mr Horne took pen in hand, and his +eternal blazon of it is too much now for ears of flesh and blood. The +modernized versions, however, are respectably executed--Leigh Hunt's +admirably; and we hope for another volume. But Mr Horne himself must be +more careful in his future modernizations. The very opening of the +Prologue is not happy. + +In Chaucer it runs thus:-- + + "Whanne that April with his shoures sote + The droughte of March hath perced to the rote, + And bathed every veine in swiche licour, + Of whiche vertue engendered is the flour; + When Zephyrus eke with his sote brethe, + Enspired hath in every holt and hethe + The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne + Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne, + And smale foules maken melodie, + That slepen alle night with open eye, + So priketh hem nature in hire corages; + Than longen folk to gon on pilgrimages, + And palmeres for to seken strange strondes, + To serve halwes couthe in sondry londes," &c. + +Thus modernized by Mr Home:-- + + "When that sweet April showers with downward shoot + The drought of March have pierc'd unto the root, + And bathed every vein with liquid power, + Whose virtue rare engendereth the flower; + When Zephyrus also with his fragrant breath + Inspired hath in every grove and heath + The tender shoots of green, and the young sun + Hath in the Ram one half his journey run, + And small birds in the trees make melody, + That sleep and dream all night with open eye; + So nature stirs all energies and ages + That folk are bent to go on pilgrimages," &c. + +Look back to Chaucer's own lines, and you will see that Mr Horne's +variations are all for the worse. How flat and tame "sweet April +showers," in comparison with "April with his shoures sote." In Chaucer +the month comes boldly on, in his own person--in Mr Horne he is diluted +into his own showers. 'Tis ominous thus to stumble on the threshold. +"Downward shoot" is very bad indeed in itself, and all unlike the +natural strength of Chaucer. "Liquid power" is even worse and more +unlike; and most tautological the "virtue of power." In Chaucer the +virtue is in the "licour." "Rare" is poorly dropped in to fill up. +Chaucer purposely uses "sote" twice--and the repetition tells. Mr Horne +must needs change it into "fragrant." "In the trees" is not in +Chaucer--for he knew that "smale foules" shelter in the "hethe" as well +as in the "holt"--among broom and bracken, and heath and rushes. Chaucer +does not _say_, as Mr Horne does, that the birds _dream_--he leaves you +to think for yourself whether they do so or not, while sleeping with +open eye all night. Such conjectural emendations are injurious to +Chaucer. We presume Mr Horne believes he has authority for applying "so +pricketh hem nature in hire corages" to the folks that "longen to go on +pilgrimages"--and not to the "smale foules." Or is it intended for a +happy innovation? To us it seems an unhappy blunder--taking away a fine +touch of nature from Chaucer, and hardening it into horn; while "all +energies and ages" is indeed a free and affected version of "corages." +"For to wander thro'," is a mistranslation of "to seken;" and to "sing +the holy mass," is not the meaning of to "serve halwes couthe," _i.e._ +to worship saints known, &c. + +Turning over a couple of leaves, we behold a modernization of the +antique with a vengeance-- + + "His son, a young squire, with him there I _saw_, + A lover and a lusty bache_lor_! (aw) (ah!) + With locks crisp curl'd, as they'd been laid in press, + Of twenty year of age he was, I guess." + +Chaucer never once in all his writings thus rhymes off two consecutive +couplets in one sentence so slovenly, as with "I saw," and "I guess." +But Mr Horne is so enamoured "with the old familiar faces" of pet +cockneyisms, that he must have his will of them. Of the same squire, +Chaucer says-- + + "Of his stature he was of _even length_;" + +and Mr Horne translates the words into-- + + "He was in stature of the common length," + +They mean "well proportioned." Of this young squire, Chaucer saith-- + + "So hote he loved, that by nightertale + He slep no more than doth the nightingale." + +We all know how the nightingale employs the night--and here it is +implied that so did the lover. Mr Horne spoils all by an affected +prettiness suggested by a misapplied passage in Milton. + + "His amorous ditties nightly fill'd the vale; + He slept no more than doth the nightingale." + +Chaucer says of the Prioresse-- + + "Full well she sang the service divine + Entuned in hire nose ful swetely." + +Mr Horne must needs say-- + + "Entuned in her nose with _accent_ sweet." + +The accent, to our ears, is lost in the pious snivel--pardon the +somewhat unclerical word. + +Chaucer says of her--- + + "Ful semely after hire meat she raught," + +which Mr Horne improves into--- + + "And for her meat + Full seemly bent she forward on her seat." + +Chaucer says-- + + "_And peined hire_ to contrefeten chere + Of court, and been astatelich of manere, + And to be holden digne of reverence." + +That is, she took pains to imitate the manners of the Court, &c.; +whereas Mr Horne, with inconceivable ignorance of the meaning of words +that occur in Chaucer a hundred times, writes "_it gave her pain_ to +counterfeit the ways of Court," thereby reversing the whole picture. + + "And French she spake full fayre and fetisly," + +he translates "full properly _and neat_!" Dryden rightly calls her "the +mincing Prioress;" Mr Horne wrongly says, "she was evidently one of the +most high-bred and refined ladies of her time." + +Chaucer says, of that "manly man," the Monk-- + + "Ne that a monk, when he is rekkeless, + Is like to a fish that is waterless; + This is to say, a monk out of his cloistre. + This ilke text held he not worth an oistre." + +Mr Horne here modernizeth thus-- + + "Or that a monk beyond his bricks and _mortar_, + Is like a fish without a drop of _water_, + That is to say, a monk out of his cloister." + +There can be no mortar without water, but the words do not rhyme except +to Cockney ears, though the blame lies at the door of the mouth. "Bricks +and mortar" is an odd and somewhat vulgar version of "rekkeless;" and to +say that a monk "beyond his bricks and mortar" is a monk "out of his +cloister," is not in the manner of Chaucer, or of any body else. + +Chaucer says slyly of the Frere, that + + "He hadde ymade ful mony a mariage + Of yonge women, at his owen coste;" + +and Mister Horne brazen-facedly, + + "Full many a marriage had he brought to bear, + For women young, and _paid the cost with sport_." + +O fie, Mister Horne! To hide our blushes, will no maiden for a moment +lend us her fan? We cover our face with our hands.--Of this same Frere, +Mr Horne, in his introduction, when exposing the faults of another +translator, says that "Chaucer shows us the quaint begging rogue playing +his harp among a crowd of admiring auditors, and _turning up his eyes_ +with an attempted expression of religious enthusiasm;" but Chaucer does +no such thing, nor was the Frere given to any such practice. + +Of the Clerk of Oxenford, Chaucer says, he "loked holwe, and thereto +soberly." Mr Horne needlessly adds "ill-fed." Chaucer says-- + + "Ful threadbare was his overest courtepy." + +Mr Horne modernizes it into-- + + "His uppermost short cloak _was a bare thread_." + +Why exaggerate so? Chaucer says-- + + "But all that he might of _his frendes hente_ + On bokes and on lerning he it spente." + +Mr Horne says-- + + "But every farthing that his friends e'er _lent_." + +They did not _lend_, they gave outright to the poor scholar. + +The Reve's Prologue opens thus in Chaucer-- + + "Whan folk han laughed at this nice cas + Of Absalom and _hendy_ Nicholas." + +Mr Horne says-- + + "Of Absalom and _credulous_ Nicholas!" + +He manifestly mistakes the sly scholar for the credulous carpenter, whom +on the tenderest point he outwitted! To those who know the nature of the +story, the blunder is extreme. + +What is to be thought of such rhymes as these? + + "And for to drink strong wine as red as _blood_, + Then would he jest, and shout as he were _mad_." + + "Toward the mill, the bay nag in his _hand_, + The miller sitting by the fire they _found_." + + "And on she went, till she the cradle _found_, + While through the dark still groping with her _hand_." + +These to our ears, are not happy modernizations of Chaucer. + +Here come a few more Cockneyisms. + + "Alas! our warden's palfrey it is _gone_. + Allen at once forgot both meal and _corn_." + + "Allen stole back, and thought ere that it _dawn_, + I will creep in by John that lieth for_lorn_." + + "For, from the town Arviragus was _gone_, + But to herself she spoke thus, all _forlorn_." + + "Aurelius, thinking of his substance _gone_, + Curseth the time that ever he was _born_." + + "An arm-brace wore he that was rich and _broad_, + And by his side a buckler and a _sword_." + + "Now grant my ship, that some smooth haven _win her_; + I follow Statius first, and then _Corinna_." + +Alas! this worst of all is Elizabeth Barrett's! "Well of English +_undefiled_!" + +In Chaucer we have-- + + "A SERGEANT OF THE LAWE, ware and wise, + That often hadde yben _at the Parvis_." + +Mr Horne gives us-- + + "A Sergeant of the Law, wise, wary, _arch_! + _Who oft had gossip'd long in the church porch._" + +The word "arch" is here interpolated to give some colour to the charge +of "gossiping," absurdly asserted of the learned Sergeant. The Parvis +was the place of conference, where suitors met with their counsel and +legal advisers; and Chaucer merely intimates thereby the extent of the +Sergeant's practice. In Chaucer we have-- + + "In termes hadde he cas and domes alle + That fro the time of _King Will._ weren falle." + +Who does not see the propriety of the customary contraction, _King +Will._? Mr Horne does not; and substitutes, "since King William's +reign." + +Of the Frankelein Chaucer says, he was + + "An housholder, and that a gret was he;" + +the context plainly showing the meaning to be, "hospitable on a great +scale." Mr Horne ignorantly translates the words, + + "A householder of great extent was he." + +In Chaucer we have-- + + "His table dormant in his halle alway + Stood ready covered all the longe day." + +The meaning of that is, that any person, or party, might sit down, at +any hour of the day, and help himself to something comfortable, as +indeed is the case now in all country houses worth Visiting--such as +Buchanan Lodge. Mr Horne stupidly exaggerates thus-- + + "His table with repletion heavy lay + Amidst his hall throughout the feast-long day." + +In the prologue to the Reve's Tale, the Reve, nettled by the miller, who +had been satirical on his trade, says he will + + "_somdel set his howve_ + For leful is with force force off to showve." + +"Howve" is cap--and in the Miller's Prologue we had been told + + "How that a clerk had set the wrightes cappe;" + +that is, "made a fool" of him--nay, a cuckold. Mr. Horne, + + "Though my reply _should somewhat fret his nose_." + +In Chaucer the Reve's tale begins with + + "At Trumpington, not far from Cantebrigge, + There goeth a brook, and over that a brigge." + +Mr Horne saith somewhat wilfully. + + "At Trumpington, near Cambridge, _if you look_, + There goeth a bridge, and under that a brook." + +Two Cantabs ask leave of their Warden + + "To geve hem leve _but a litel stound_, + To gon to mill and sen hire corn yground." + +_i.e._ "to give them leave for a short time." Mr Horne translates it, +"for a merry round." + +In the course of the tale, the miller's wife + + "Came leping inward at a renne." + +_i.e._ "Came leaping into the room at a run." Mr Horne translates it-- + + "The miller's wife came _laughing inwardly_!" + +Chaucer says-- + + "This miller hath so _wisly_ bibbed ale." + +And Mr Horne, with incredible ignorance of the meaning of that word, +says-- + + "The miller hath so _wisely_ bobbed of ale." + +So wisely that he was "for-drunken"--and "as a horse he snorteth in his +sleep." + +In Chaucer the description of the miller's daughter ends with this +line-- + + "But right faire was _hire here_, I will not lie," + +_i.e._ her hair. Mr Horne translates it "was _she here_." + +But there is no end to such blunders. + +In Chaucer, as in all our old poets of every degree, there occur, over +and over again, such forms of natural expression as the following,--and +when they do occur, let us have them; but what a feeble modernizer must +he be who keeps adding to the number till he gives his readers the +ear-ache. Not one of the following is in the original:-- + + "At Algeziras, in Granada, he," + + "At many a noble fight of ships was he." + + "For certainly a prelate fair was he." + + "In songs and tales the prize o'er all bore he." + + "And a poor parson of a town was he." + + "Such had he often proved, and loath was he." + + "In youth a good trade practised well had he." + + "Lordship and servitude at once hath he." + + "And die he must as echo did, said he." + + "Madam this is impossible, said he." + + "Save wretched Aurelius none was sad but he." + + "And said thus when this last request heard he." + +In like manner, in Chaucer as in all our old poets of every degree, +there occur over and over again such natural forms of expression as "I +wot," "I wis"--and where they do occur let us have them too and be +thankful; but poverty-stricken in the article of rhymes must _be he_, +who is perpetually driven to resort to such expedients as the +following--all of which are Mr Horne's own:-- + + "Of fees and robes he many had, I ween." + + "And yet this manciple made them fools, I wot." + + "This Reve upon stallion sat, I wot." + + "Than the poor parson in two months, I wot." + + "For certainly when I was born, I trow." + + "A small stalk in mine eyes he sees, I deem." + + "There were two scholars young and poor, I trow." + + "John lieth still and not far off, I trow." + + "Eastern astrologers and clerks, I wis." + + "This woful heart found some reprieve, I wis." + + "Unto his brother's bed he came, I wis." + + "And now Aurelius ever, as I ween." + + "That she could not sustain herself, I ween." + +Mr Horne, in his Introduction, unconscious of his own sins, speaks with +due contempt of the modernizations of Chaucer by Ogle and Lipscomb and +their coadjutors, and of the injury they may have done to the reputation +of the old poet. But whatever injury they may have occasioned, "there +can be doubt," he says, "of the mischief done by Mr Pope's obscene +specimen, _placed at the head_ of his list of 'Imitations of English +Poets.' It is an imitation of those passages which we should only regard +as the rank offal of a great feast in the olden time. The better taste +and feeling of Pope should have imitated the noble _poetry_ of Chaucer. +He avoided this 'for sundry weighty reasons.' But if this so-called +imitation by Pope was 'done in his youth' he should have burnt it in his +age. Its publication at the present day among his elegant works, is a +disgrace to modern times, and to his high reputation." Not so fast and +strong, good Mister Horne. The six-and-twenty octosyllabic lines thus +magisterially denounced by our stern moralist in the middle of the +nineteenth century, have had a place in Pope's works for a hundred +years, and it is too late now to seek to delete them. They were written +by Pope in his fourteenth or fifteenth year, and gross as they are, are +pardonable in a boy of precocious genius, giving way for a laughing hour +to his sense of the grotesque. Joe Warton (not Tom) pompously calls them +"a gross and _dull_ caricature of the Father of English Poetry." And Mr +Bowles says, "he might have added, it is disgusting as it is dull, and +no more like Chaucer than a _Billingsgate_ is like an Oberea." It is +_not_ dull, but exceedingly clever; and Father Geoffrey himself would +have laughed at it--patted Pope on the head--and enjoined him for the +future to be more discreet. Roscoe, like a wise man, regards it without +horror--remarking of it, and the boyish imitation of Spenser, that "why +these sportive and characteristic sketches should be brought to so +severe an ordeal, and pointed out to the reprehension of the reader as +gross and disagreeable, dull and disgusting, it is not easy to +perceive." Old Joe maunders when he says, "he that was unacquainted with +Spenser, and was to form his ideas of the turn and manner of his genius +from this piece, would undoubtedly suppose that he abounded in filthy +images, and excelled in describing the lower scenes of life." Let all +such blockheads suppose what they choose. Pope--says Roscoe--"was well +aware as any one of the superlative beauties and merits of Spenser, +whose works he assiduously studied, both in his early and riper years; +but it was not his intention in these few lines to give a _serious_ +imitation of him. All that he attempted was to show how exactly he could +apply the language and manner of Spenser to low and burlesque subjects; +and in this he has completely succeeded. To compare these lines, as Dr +Warton has done, with those more extensive and highly-finished +productions, the _Castle of Indolence_ by Thomson, and the _Minstrel_ by +Beattie, is manifestly unjust"--and stupidly absurd. What Mr Horne means +by saying that Pope "avoided imitating the noble poetry of Chaucer for +sundry weighty reasons," is not apparent at first sight. It means, +however, that Pope _could_ not have done so--that the feat was beyond +his power. The author of the _Messiah_ and the _Eloise_ wrote tolerable +poetry of his own; and he knew how to appreciate, and to emulate, too, +some of the finest of Chaucer's. Why did Mr Horne not mention his +_Temple of Fame_? A more childish sentence never was written than "its +publication at the present day among his elegant works is a disgrace to +modern times, and to his high reputation." Pope's reputation is above +reproach, enshrined in honour for evermore, and modern times are not so +Miss Mollyish as to sympathize with such sensitive censorship of an +ingeniously versified peccadillo, at which our _avi_ and _proavi_ could +not choose but smile. + +But Mr Horne, thinking, that in this case "the child is father of the +man," rates Pope as roundly for what he seems to suppose were the +misdemeanours of his manhood. "Of the highly-finished paraphrase, by Mr +Pope, of the 'Wife of Bath's Prologue,' and 'The Merchant's Tale,' +suffice it to say, that the licentious humour of the original being +divested of its _quaintness and obscurity_ (!) becomes yet more +licentious in proportion to the fine touches of skill with which it is +brought into the light. Spontaneous coarseness is made revolting by +meretricious artifice. Instead of keeping in the distance that which was +objectionable, by such shades in the modernizing as should have answered +to the _hazy appearance_ (!) of the original, it receives a clear +outline, and is brought close to us. An ancient Briton, with his long +rough hair and painted body, laughing and singing half-naked under a +tree, may be coarse, yet innocent of all intention to offend; but if the +imagination (absorbing the anachronism) can conceive him shorn of this +falling hair, his paint washed off, and in this uncovered stated +introduced into a drawing-room full of ladies in rouge and diamonds, +hoops and hair-powder, no one can doubt the injury thus done to the +ancient Briton. This is no unfair illustration of what was done in the +time of Pope," &c. + +It may be "no unfair illustration," and certainly is no unludicrous one. +We must all of us allow, that were an ancient Briton, habited, or rather +unhabited, as above, to bounce into a modern drawing-room full of +ladies, whether in rouge and diamonds, hoops and hair-powder, or not, +the effect of such _entree_ would be prodigious on the fair and +fluttered Volscians. Our imagination, "absorbing the anachronism," +ensconces us professionally behind a sofa, to witness and to record the +scene. How different in nature Christopher North and R.H. Horne! While +he would be commiserating "the injury thus done to the ancient Briton," +we should be imploring our savage ancestor to spare the ladies. +"Innocent of all intention to offend" might be Caractacus, but to the +terrified bevy he would seem the king of the Cannibal Islands at least. +What protection against the assault of a savage, almost _in puris +naturalibus_, could be hoped for in their hoops! Yet who knows but that, +on looking round and about, he might himself be frightened out of his +senses? An ancient Briton, with his long rough hair and painted body, +may laugh and sing by himself, half-naked under a tree, and in his own +conceit be a match for any amount of women. But shorn of his falling +hair, and without a streak of paint on his cheeks, verily his heart +might be found to die within him, before furies with faces fiery with +rouge, and heads horrent with pomatum--till instinctively he strove to +roll himself up in the Persian carpet, and there prayed for deliverance +to his tutelary gods. + +Our imagination having thus "absorbed the anachronism," let us now leave +Caractacus in the carpet--while our reason has recourse to the +philosophy of criticism. Mr Horne asserts, that in "Mr Pope's" +highly-finished paraphrase of the "Wife of Bath's Prologue," and the +"Merchant's Tale," "the licentious humour of the original is divested of +its quaintness and obscurity, and becomes yet more licentious in +proportion to the fine touches of skill with which it is brought into +the light." Quaintness and _obscurity_!! Why, everything in those tales +is as plain as a pike-staff, and clearer than mud. "The hazy appearance +of the original" indeed! What! of the couple in the Pear-Tree? Mr Horne +spitefully and perversely misrepresents the character of Pope's +translations. They are remarkably free from the vice he charges them +withal--and have been admitted to be so by the most captious critics. +Many of the very strong things in Chaucer, which you may call coarse and +gross if you will, are omitted by Pope, and many softened down; nor is +there a single line in which the spirit is not the spirit of satire. The +folly of senile dotage is throughout exposed as unsparingly, though with +a difference in the imitation, as in the original. Even Joseph Warton +and Bowles, affectedly fastidious over-much as both too often are, and +culpably prompt to find fault, acknowledge that Pope's versions are +blameless. "In the art of telling a story," says Bowles, "Pope is +peculiarly happy; we almost forget the grossness of the subject of this +tale, (the Merchant's,) while we are struck by the uncommon ease and +readiness of the verse, the suitableness of the expression, and the +spirit and happiness of the whole." While Dr Warton, sensibly remarking, +"that the character of a fond old dotard, betrayed into disgrace by an +unsuitable match, is supported in a lively manner," refrains from making +himself ridiculous by mealy-mouthed moralities which on such a subject +every person of sense and honesty must despise. Mr Horne keeps foolishly +carping at Pope, or "Mr Pope," as he sometimes calls him, throughout his +interminable--no, not interminable--his hundred-paged Introduction. He +abominates Pope's Homer, and groans to think how it has corrupted the +English ear by its long domination in our schools. He takes up, with +leathern lungs, the howl of the Lakers, and his imitative bray is louder +than the original, "in linked sweetness long drawn out." Such sonorous +strictures are innocent; but his false charge of licentiousness against +Pope is most reprehensible--and it is insincere. For he has the sense to +see Chaucer's broadest satire in its true light, and its fearless +expositions. Yet from his justification of pictures and all their +colouring in the ancient poet, that might well startle people by no +means timid, he turns with frowning forehead and reproving hand to +corresponding delineations in the modern, that stand less in need of it, +and spits his spite on Pope, which we wipe off that it may not corrode. +"This translation was done at sixteen or seventeen," says Pope in a +note to his January and May--and there is not, among the achievements of +early genius, to be found another such specimen of finished art and of +perfect mastery. + +Mr. Horne has ventured to give in his volume the Reve's Tale. "It has +been thought," he says, "that an idea of the extraordinary versatility +of Chaucer's genius could not be adequately conveyed, unless one of his +matter-of-fact comic tales were attempted. The Reve's has accordingly +been selected, as presenting a graphic painting of character, equal to +those contained in the 'Prologue to the Canterbury Tales,' displayed in +action by means of a story, which may be designated _as a broad farce, +ending in a pantomime of absurd reality_. To those who are acquainted +with the original, an apology may not be considered inadmissible for +certain necessary variations and omissions." For our part, we do not +object to this tale, though at the commencement of such a work its +insertion was ill-judged, and will endanger greatly the volume. But we +do object to the hypocritical cant about the licentiousness of Pope's +fine touches, from the person who wrote the above words in italics. +Omissions there must have been--but they sadly shear the tale of its +vigour, and indeed leave it not very intelligible to readers who know +not the original. The variations are most unhappy--miserable indeed; and +by putting the miller's daughter to lie in a closet at the end of a +passage, this moral modernizer has killed Chaucer. In the matchless +original all the night's action goes on in one room--and that not a +large one--miller, miller's wife, miller's daughter, and the two +strenuous Cantabs, are within the same four narrow walls--their beds +nearly touch--the jeopardized cradle has just space to rock in--yet this +self-elected expositor of Chaucer is either so blind as not to see how +essential such allocation of the parties is to the wicked comedy, or +such a blunderer as to believe that he can improve on the greatest +master that ever dared, and with perfect success, to picture, without +our condemnation--so wide is the privilege of genius in sportive +fancy--what, but for the self-rectifying spirit of fiction, would have +been an outrage on nature, and in the number not only of forbidden but +unhallowed things. The passages interpolated by Mr Horne's own pen are +as bad as possible--clownish and anti-Chaucerian to the last degree. + +For example, he thus takes upon himself, in the teeth of Chaucer, to +narrate Alein's night adventure-- + + "And up he rose, and crept along the floor, + Into the passage humming with their snore; + As narrow was it as a drum or tub, + And like a beetle doth he grope and _grub_, + Feeling his way, _with darkness in his hands_. + Till at the passage end he stooping stands." + +Chaucer tells us, without circumlocution, why the Miller's Wife for +while had left her husband's side; but Mr Horne is intolerant of the +indelicate, and thus elegantly paraphrases the one original word-- + + "The wife her routing ceased soon after that: + And woke and left her bed; _for she was pained_ + _With nightmare dreams of skies that madly rained._ + _Eastern astrologers and clerks, I wis, + In time of Apis tell of storms like this_." + +Such is modern refinement! + +In Chaucer, the blind encounter between the Miller and one of the +Cantabs, who, mistaking him for his comrade, had whispered into his ear +what had happened during the night to his daughter, is thus comically +described-- + + "Ye false harlot, quod the miller, hast? + A false traitour, false clerk, (quod he) + Thou shalt be deaf by Goddes dignitee, + Who dorste be so bold to disparage + My daughter, that is come of swiche lineage. + And by the throte-bolle he caught Alein, + And he him hente despiteously again, + And on the nose he smote him with his fist; + Down ran the bloody streme upon his brest; + And on the flore with nose and mouth to-broke, + They walwe, as don two pigges in a poke. + And up they gon, and down again anon, + Till that the miller spurned at a stone, + And down he fell backward upon his wif, + That wiste nothing of this nice strif, + For she was falle aslepe, a litel wight + with John the clerk," and ... + +Here comes Mr Horne in his strength. + + "Thou slanderous ribald! quoth the miller, hast! + A traitor false, false lying clerk, quoth he, + Thou shalt be slain by heaven's dignity + Who rudely dar'st disparage with foul lie + My daughter, that is come of lineage high! + And by the throat he Allan grasp'd amain, + And caught him, yet more furiously again, + And on his nose he smote him with his fist! + Down ran the bloody stream upon his breast, + And on the floor they tumble heel and crown, + And shake the house, it seem'd all coming down. + And up they rise, and down again they roll: + Till that the Miller, stumbling o'er a coal, + Went plunging headlong like a bull at bait, + And met his wife, and both fell flat as slate." + +Mr Horne cannot read Chaucer. The Miller does not, as he makes him do, +accuse the Cantab of falsely slandering his daughter's virtue. He does +not doubt the truth of the unluckily blabbed secret; false harlot, false +traitor, false clerk, are all words that tell his belief; but Mr Horne, +not understanding "disparage," as it is here used by Chaucer, wholly +mistakes the cause of the father's fury. He does not even know, that it +is the Miller who gets the bloody nose, not the Cantab. "As don two +pigges in a poke," he leaves out, preferring, as more picturesque, "And +on the floor they tumble _heel and crown_!" "And shake the house--it +seemed all coming down," is not in Chaucer, nor could be; but the +crowning stupidity is that of making the Miller meet his wife, and upset +her--she being all the while in bed, and now startled out of sleep by +the weight of her fallen superincumbent husband. And this is modernizing +Chaucer! + +What, then--after all we have written about him--we ask, can, at this +day, be done with Chaucer? The true answer is--READ HIM. The late +Laureate dared to think that every one might; and in his collection, or +selection, of English poets, down to Habington inclusive, he has given +the prologue, and half a dozen of the finest and most finished tales; +believing that every earnest lover of English poetry would by degrees +acquire courage and strength to devour and digest a moderately-spread +banquet. Without doubt, Southey did well. It was a challenge to poetical +Young England to gird up his loins and fall to his work. If you will +have the fruit, said the Laureate, you must climb the tree. He bowed +some heavily-laden branches down to your eye, to tempt you; but climb +you must, if you will eat. He displayed a generous trust in the growing +desire and capacity of the country for her own time-shrouded poetical +treasures. In the same full volume, he gave the "Faerie Queene" from the +first word to the last. + +Let us hope boldly, as Southey hoped. But there are, in the present +world, a host of excellent, sensitive readers, whose natural taste is +perfectly susceptible of Chaucer, if he spoke their language; yet who +have not the courage, or the leisure, or the aptitude, to master his. +They must not be too hastily blamed if they do not readily reconcile +themselves to a garb of thought which disturbs and distracts all their +habitual associations. Consider, the 'ingenious feeling,' the vital +sensibility, with which they apprehend their own English, may place the +insurmountable barrier which opposes their access to the father of our +poetry. What can be done for them? + +In the first place, what is it that so much removes the language from +us? It is removed by the words and grammatical forms that we have +lost--by its real antiquity; perhaps more by an accidental semblance of +antiquity--the orthography. That last may seem a small matter; but it is +not. + +There are three ways in which literary craftsmen have attempted to fill +up, or bridge over, the gulf of time, and bring the poet of Edward III. +and Richard II. near to modern readers. + +Dryden and Pope are the representatives, as they are the masters, of the +first method; for the others who have trodden in their footsteps are +hardly to be named or thought of. Dryden and Pope hold, in their own +school of modernizing, this undoubted distinction, that under their +treatment, that which was poetry remains poetry. Their followers have +written, for the most part, intelligible English, but never poetry. They +have told the story, and not that always; but they have distilled +lethargy on the tongue of the narrator.--This first method the most +boldly departs from the type. It was probably the only way that the +culture of Dryden's and Pope's time admitted of. We have since gradually +returned, more and more, upon our own antiquity, as all the nations of +Europe have upon theirs. Then civilization seemed to herself to escape +forwards out of barbarism. Now she finds herself safe; and she ventures +to seek light for her mature years in the recollections of her own +childhood. + +But now, the altered spirit of the age has produced a new manner of +modernization. The problem has been put thus. To retain of Chaucer +whatever in him is our language, or is most nearly our language--only +making good, always, the measure; and for expression, which time has +left out of our speech, to substitute such as is in use. And several +followers of the muses, as we have seen, have lately tried their hand at +this kind of conversion. + +It is hard to judge both the system and the specimens. For if the +specimens be thought to have succeeded, the system may, upon them, be +favourably judged; but if the specimens have failed, the system must not +upon them be unfavourably judged, but must in candour be looked upon as +possibly carrying in itself means and powers that have not yet been +unfolded. But unhappily a difficulty occurs which would not have +occurred with a writer in prose--the law of the verse is imperious. Ten +syllables must be kept, and rhyme must be kept; and in the experiment it +results, generally, that whilst the rehabiting of Chaucer is undertaken +under a necessity which lies wholly in the obscurity of his dialect--the +proposed ground or motive of modernization--far the greater part of the +actual changes are made for the sake of that which beforehand you might +not think of, namely, the Verse. This it is that puts the translators to +the strangest shifts and fetches, and besets the version, in spite of +their best skill, with anti-Chaucerisms as thick as blackberries. + +It might, at first sight, seem as if there could be no remorse about +dispersing the atmosphere of antiquity; and you might be disposed to +say--a thought is a thought, a feeling a feeling, a fancy a fancy. Utter +the thought, the feeling, the fancy, with what words you will, provided +that they are native to the matter, and the matter will hold its own +worth. No. There is more in poetry than the definite, separable matter +of a fancy, a feeling, a thought. There is the indefinite, inseparable +spirit, out of which they all arise, which verifies them all, harmonizes +them all, interprets them all. There is the spirit of the poet himself. +But the spirit of the time in which a poet lives, flows through the +spirit of the poet. Therefore, a poet cannot be taken out of his own +time, and rightly and wholly understood. It seems to follow that +thought, feeling, fancy, which he has expressed, cannot be taken out of +his own speech, and his own style, and rightly and wholly understood. +Let us bring this home to Chaucer, and our occasion. The air of +antiquity hangs about him, cleaves to him; therefore he is the venerable +Chaucer. One word, beyond any other, expresses to us the difference +betwixt his age and ours--Simplicity. To read him after his own spirit, +we must be made simple. That temper is called up in us by the simplicity +of his speech and style. Touched by these, and under their power, we +lose our false habituations, and return to nature. But for this singular +power exerted over us, this dominion of an irresistible sympathy, the +hint of antiquity which lies in the language seems requisite. That +summons us to put off our own, and put on another mind. In a half +modernization, there lies the danger that we shall hang suspended +between two minds--between two ages--taken out of one, and not +effectually transported into that other. Might a poet, if it were worth +while, who had imbued himself with antiquity and with Chaucer, depart +more freely from him, and yet more effectually reproduce him? Imitating, +not erasing, the colours of the old time--untying the strict chain that +binds you to the fourteenth century, but impressing on you candour, +clearness, shrewdness, ingenuous susceptibility, simplicity, ANTIQUITY! +A creative translator or imitator--Chaucer born again, a century and a +half later. + +Let us see how Wordsworth deals with Chaucer in the first seven stanzas +of the Cuckoo and Nightingale. + + "The god of love, a benedicite! + How mighty and how gret a lord is he, + For he can make of lowe hertes highe, + Of highe lowe, and like for to dye, + And harde hertes he can maken fre. + + "And he can make, within a litel stounde, + Of seke folke, hole, freshe, and sounde, + Of hole folke he can maken seke, + And he can binden and unbinden eke + That he wol have ybounden or unbounde. + + "To telle his might my wit may not suffice, + For he can make of wise folke ful nice, + For he may don al that he wol devise, + And lither folke to destroien vice, + And proude hertes he can make agrise. + + "And shortly al that ever he wol he may, + Ayenes him dare no wight saye nay: + For he can glade and greve whom he liketh: + And whoso that he wol, he lougheth or siketh, + And most his might he shedeth ever in May. + + "For every true gentle herte fre + That with him is or thinketh for to be + Ayenes May shal have now som stering, + Other to joie or elles to som mourning; + In no seson so moch as thinketh me. + + "For whan they maye here the briddes singe, + And se the floures and the leves springe, + That bringeth into hire rememberaunce + A maner ese, medled with grevaunce, + And lusty thoughtes fulle of gret longinge. + + "And of that longinge cometh hevinesse, + And therof groweth oft gret sekenesse, + Al for lackinge of that that they desire; + And thus in May ben hertes sette on fire, + So that they brennen forth in gret distresse." + + + WORDSWORTH. + + "The God of love! Ah, benedicite, + How mighty and how great a lord is he, + For he of low hearts can make high, of high + He can make low and unto death bring nigh, + And hard hearts he can make them kind and free. + + "Within a little time, as hath been found, + He can make sick folk whole, and fresh, and sound. + Them who are whole in body and in mind + He can make sick, bind can he and unbind + All that he will have bound, or have unbound. + + "To tell his might my wit may not suffice, + Foolish men he can make them out of wise; + For he may do all that he will devise, + Loose livers he can make abate their vice, + And proud hearts can make tremble in a trice. + + "In brief, the whole of what he will, he may; + Against him dare not any wight say nay; + To humble or afflict whome'er he will, + To gladden or to grieve, he hath like skill; + But most his might he sheds on the eve of May. + + "For every true heart, gentle heart and free, + That with him is, or thinketh so to be, + Now against May shall have some stirring--whether + To joy, or be it to some mourning; never + At other time, methinks, in like degree. + + "For now when they may hear the small birds' song, + And see the budding leaves the branches throng, + This unto their rememberance doth bring + All kinds of pleasure, mix'd with sorrowing, + And longing of sweet thoughts that ever long. + + "And of that longing heaviness doth come, + Whence oft great sickness grows of heart and home; + Sick are they all for lack of their desire; + And thus in May their hearts are set on fire, + So that they burn forth in great martyrdom." + +Here is the master of the art; and his work, most of all, therefore, +makes us doubt the practicability of the thing undertaken. He works +reverently, lovingly, surely with full apprehension of Chaucer; and yet, +at every word where he leaves Chaucer, the spirit of Chaucer leaves the +verse. You see plainly that his rule is to change the least that can +possibly be changed. Yet the gentle grace, the lingering musical +sweetness, the taking simplicity, of the wise old poet, +vanishes--brushed away like the down from the butterfly's wing, by the +lightest and most timorous touch. + + "For he can make of lowe hertes highe." + +There is the soul of the lover's poet, of the poet himself a lover, +poured out and along in one fond verse, gratefully consecrated to the +mystery of love, which he, too, has experienced when he--the shy, the +fearful, the reserved--was yet by the touch of that all-powerful ray +which + + "Shoots invisible virtue even to the deep," + +enkindled, and to his own surprise made elate to hope and to dare. + +But now contract, as Wordsworth does, the dedicated verse into a half +verse, and bring together the two distinct and opposite mysteries under +one enunciation--in short, divide the one verse to two subjects-- + + "For he of low hearts can make high--of high + He can make low;" + +and the fact vouched remains the same, the simplicity of the words is +kept, for they are the very words, and yet something is gone--and in +that something every thing! There is no longer the dwelling upon the +words, no longer the dilated utterance of a heart that melts with its +own thoughts, no longer the consecration of the verse to its matter, no +longer the softness, the light, the fragrance, the charm--no longer, in +a word, the old manner. Here is, in short, the philosophical observation +touching love, "the saw of might" still; but the love itself here is +not. A kindly and moved observer speaks, not a lover. + +In one of the above-cited stanzas, Urry seems to have misled Wordsworth. +Stanza iv. verse 4, Chaucer says:-- + + "And whoso that he wol, he lougheth or siketh." + +The sense undoubtedly is, "and whosoever HE"--namely, the God of +Love--"will, HE"--namely, the Lover--"laugheth or sigheth accordingly." +But Urry mistaking the construction--supposed that HE, in both places, +meant the god only. He had, therefore, to find out in "lougheth" and +"siketh," actions predicable of the love-god. The verse accordingly runs +thus with him, + + "And who that he wol, he loweth or siketh." + +Now, it is true, that, after all, we do not exactly know how Urry +understood his own reading; for he did not make his own glossary. But +from his glossary, we find that "to lowe" is to praise, to allow, to +approve--furthermore that "siketh" in this place means "maketh sick." +Wordsworth, following as it would appear the lection of Urry, but only +half agreeing to the interpretation of Urry's glossarist, has rendered +the line + + "To humble or afflict whome'er he will." + +He has understood in his own way, from an obvious suggestion, "loweth," +to mean, maketh low, humbleth; whilst "afflict" is a ready turn for +"maketh sick" of the glossary. But here Wordsworth cannot be in the +right. For Chaucer is now busied with magnifying the kingdom of love by +accumulated antitheses--high, low--sick, whole--wise, foolish--the +wicked turns good, the proud shrink and fear--the God, at his pleasure, +gladdens or grieves. The phrase under question must conform to the +manner of the place where it appears. An opposition of meanings is +indispensable. "Humble or afflict," which are both on one side, cannot +be right. "Approveth or maketh sick," are on opposite sides, but will +hardly pick one another out for antagonists. "Laugheth or sigheth," has +the vividness and simplicity of Chaucer, the most exact contrariety +matches them--and the two phenomena cannot be left out of a lover's +enumeration. + +Chaucer says of his 'bosom's lord,' + + "And most his might he sheddeth ever in May"-- + +renowning here, as we saw that he does elsewhere, the whole month, as +love's own segment of the zodiacal circle. The time of the poem itself +is accordingly 'the thridde night of May.' Wordsworth has rendered, + + "But most his might he sheds _on the eve of May._" + +Why so? Is the approaching visitation of the power more strongly felt +than the power itself in presence? Chaucer says distinctly the contrary, +and why with a word lose, or obscure, or hazard the appropriation of the +month entire, so conspicuous a tenet in the old poetical mind? And is +Eve here taken strictly--the night before May-day, like the _Pervigilium +Veneris_? Or loosely, on the verge of May, answerably to 'ayenes May' +afterwards? To the former sense, we might be inclined to propose on the +contrary part, + + "But sheds his might most on the morrow of May," + +_i.e._ in prose on May-day morning, consonantly to all the testimonies. + +Chaucer says that the coming-on of the love-month produces in the heart +of the lover + + "A maner ease medled with grevaunce." + +That is to say, _a kind of_ joy or pleasure, (Fr. _aise_,) mixed with +sadness. He insists, by this expression, upon the strangeness of the +kind, peculiar to the willing sufferers under this unique passion, +"love's pleasing smart." Did Wordsworth, by intention or +misapprehension, leave out this turn of expression, by which, in an age +less forward than ours in sentimental researches, Chaucer drew notice to +the contradictory nature of the internal state which he described? As +if Chaucer had said, "_al_ maner ese," Wordsworth says, "all kinds of +pleasure mixed with sorrowing." + +In the next line he adds to the intuitions of his master, one of his own +profound intuitions, if we construe aright-- + + "And longing of sweet thoughts that ever long." + +That ever long! The sweetest of thoughts are never satisfied with their +own deliciousness. Earthly delight, or heavenly delight upon earth, +penetrating the soul, stirs in it the perception of its native +illimitable capacity for delight. Bliss, which should wholly possess the +blest being, plays traitor to itself, turns into a sort of divine +dissatisfaction, and brings forth from its teeming and infinite bosom a +brood of winged wishes, bright with hues which memory has bestowed, and +restless with innate aspirations. Such is our commentary on the truly +Wordsworthian line, but it is not a line answerable to Chaucer's-- + + "And lusty thoughtes full of gret longinge." + +Is this hypercriticism? It is the only criticism that can be tolerated +betwixt two such rivals as Chaucer and Wordsworth. The scales that weigh +poetry should turn with a grain of dust, with the weight of a sunbeam, +for they weigh spirit. Or is it saying that Wordsworth has not done his +work as well as it was possible to be done? Rather it is inferring, from +the failure of the work in his hand, that he and his colleagues have +attempted that which was impossible to be done. We will not here hunt +down line by line. We put before the reader the means of comparing verse +with verse. We have, with 'a thoughtful heart of love,' made the +comparison, and feel throughout that the modern will not, cannot, do +justice to the old English. The quick sensibility which thrills through +the antique strain deserts the most cautious version of it. In short, we +fall back upon the old conviction, that verse is a sacred, and song an +inspired thing; that the feeling, the thought, the word, and the musical +breath spring together out of the soul in one creation; that a +translation is a thing not given in _rerum natura_; consequently that +there is nothing else to be done with a great poet saving to leave him +in his glory. + +And our friend John Dryden? Oh, he is safe enough; for the new +translators all agree that his are no translations at all of Chaucer, +but original and excellent poems of his own. + +A language that is half Chaucer's, and half that of his renderer, is in +great danger to be the language of nobody. But Chaucer's has its own +energy and vivacity which attaches you, and as soon as you have +undergone the due transformation by sympathy, carries you effectually +with it. In the moderate versions that are best done, you miss this +indispensable force of attraction. But Dryden boldly and freely gives +you himself, and along you sweep, or are swept rejoicingly along. "The +grand charge to which his translations are amenable," says Mr Horne, +"is, that he acted upon an erroneous principle." Be it so. Nevertheless, +they are among the glories of our poetical literature. Mr Horne's, +literal as he supposes them to be, are unreadable. He, too, acts on an +erroneous principle; and his execution betrays throughout the unskilful +hand of a presumptuous apprentice. But he has "every respect for the +genius, and for every thing that belongs to the memory, of Dryden;" and +thus magniloquently eulogizes his most splendid achievement:--"The fact +is, Dryden's version of the 'Knight's Tale' would be most appropriately +read by the towering shade of one of Virgil's heroes, walking up and +down a battlement, and waving a long, gleaming spear, to the roll and +sweep of his sonorous numbers." + + * * * * * + +_Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Hughes, Paul's Work._ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol +58, No. 357, July 1845, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, JULY 1845 *** + +***** This file should be named 28336.txt or 28336.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/3/28336/ + +Produced by Brendan OConnor, Patricia Bennett, Jonathan +Ingram and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Library of Early +Journals.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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