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diff --git a/36516-8.txt b/36516-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c11db85 --- /dev/null +++ b/36516-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14759 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's New Monthly Magazine, v. 3, number +18, 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: Harper's New Monthly Magazine, v. 3, number 18 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Unknown + +Release Date: June 30, 2011 [EBook #36516] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY *** + + + + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + HARPER'S + + NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. + + No. XVIII.--NOVEMBER, 1851.--VOL. III. + + + [Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by Harper + and Brothers, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the + Southern District of New York.] + + + + +NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. + +BY JOHN S.C. ABBOTT. + +IV. THE SIEGE OF MANTUA. + + +Early in July, 1796, the eyes of all Europe were turned to Mantua. +Around its walls these decisive battles were to be fought which were to +establish the fate of Italy. This bulwark of Lombardy was considered +almost impregnable. It was situated upon an island, formed by lakes and +by the expansion of the river Mincio. It was approached only by five +long and narrow causeways, which were guarded by frowning batteries. To +take the place by assault was impossible. Its reduction could only be +accomplished by the slow, tedious, and enormously expensive progress of +a siege. + +[Illustration: THE ENCAMPMENT.] + +Napoleon, in his rapid advances, had not allowed his troops to encumber +themselves with tents of any kind. After marching all day, drenched with +rain, they threw themselves down at night upon the wet ground, with no +protection whatever from the pitiless storm which beat upon them. "Tents +are always unhealthy," said Napoleon at St. Helena. "It is much better +for the soldier to bivouac in the open air, for then he can build a fire +and sleep with warm feet. Tents are necessary only for the general +officers who are obliged to read and consult their maps." All the +nations of Europe, following the example which Napoleon thus +established, have now abandoned entirely the use of tents. The sick, the +wounded, the exhausted, to the number of fifteen thousand, filled the +hospitals. Death, from such exposures, and from the bullet and sword of +the enemy, had made fearful ravages among his troops. Though Napoleon +had received occasional reinforcements from France, his losses had kept +pace with his supplies, and he had now an army of but thirty thousand +men with which to retain the vast extent of country he had overrun, to +keep down the aristocratic party, ever upon the eve of an outbreak, and +to encounter the formidable legions which Austria was marshaling for his +destruction. Immediately upon his return from the south of Italy, he was +compelled to turn his eyes from the siege of Mantua, which he was +pressing with all possible energy, to the black and threatening cloud +gathering in the North. An army of sixty thousand veteran soldiers under +General Wurmser, an officer of high renown, was accumulating its +energies in the wild fastnesses of the northern Alps, to sweep down upon +the French through the gorges of the Tyrol, like a whirlwind. + +About sixty miles north of Mantua, at the northern extremity of Lake +Garda, embosomed among the Tyrolean hills, lies the walled town of +Trent. Here Wurmser had assembled sixty thousand men, most abundantly +provided with all the munitions of war, to march down to Mantua, and +co-operate with the twenty thousand within its walls in the annihilation +of the audacious foe. The fate of Napoleon was now considered as sealed. +The republicans in Italy were in deep dismay. "How is it possible," said +they, "that Napoleon, with thirty thousand men, can resist the combined +onset of eighty thousand veteran soldiers?" The aristocratic party were +in great exultation, and were making preparations to fall upon the +French the moment they should see the troops of Napoleon experiencing +the slightest reverse. Rome, Venice, Naples began to incite revolt, and +secretly to assist the Austrians. The Pope, in direct violation of his +plighted faith, refused any further fulfillment of the conditions of the +armistice, and sent Cardinal Mattei to negotiate with the enemy. This +sudden development of treachery, which Napoleon aptly designated as a +"Revelation," impressed the young conqueror deeply with a sense of his +hazardous situation. + +Between Mantua and Trent there lies, extended among the mountains, the +beautiful Lake of Garda. This sheet of water, almost fathomless, and +clear as crystal, is about thirty miles in length, and from four to +twelve in breadth. Wurmser was about fifteen miles north of the head of +this lake at Trent; Napoleon was at Mantua, fifteen miles south of its +foot. The Austrian general, eighty years of age, a brave and generous +soldier, as he contemplated his mighty host, complacently rubbed his +hands, exclaiming, "We shall soon have the boy now." He was very +fearful, however, that Napoleon, conscious of the utter impossibility of +resisting such numbers, might, by a precipitate flight, escape. To +prevent this, he disposed his army at Trent in three divisions of twenty +thousand each. One division, under General Quasdanovich, was directed to +march down the western bank of the lake, to cut off the retreat of the +French by the way of Milan. General Wurmser, with another division of +twenty thousand, marched down the eastern shore of the lake, to relieve +Mantua. General Melas, with another division, followed down the valley +of the Adige, which ran parallel with the shores of the lake, and was +separated from it by a mountain ridge, but about two miles in width. A +march of a little more than a day would reunite those vast forces, thus +for the moment separated. Having prevented the escape of their +anticipated victims, they could fall upon the French in a resistless +attack. The sleepless vigilance and the eagle eye of Napoleon, instantly +detected the advantage thus presented to him. It was in the evening of +the 31st of July, that he first received the intimation from his scouts +of the movements of the enemy. Instantly he formed his plan of +operations, and in an hour the whole camp was in commotion. He gave +orders for the immediate abandonment of the siege of Mantua, and for the +whole army to arrange itself in marching order. It was an enormous +sacrifice. He had been prosecuting the works of the siege with great +vigor for two months. He had collected there, at vast labor and expense, +a magnificent battering train and immense stores of ammunition. The city +was on the very point of surrender. By abandoning his works all would be +lost, the city would be revictualed, and it would be necessary to +commence the whole arduous enterprise of the siege anew. The promptness +with which Napoleon decided to make the sacrifice, and the unflinching +relentlessness with which the decision was executed, indicated the +energetic action of a genius of no ordinary mould. + +The sun had now gone down, and gloomy night brooded over the agitated +camp. But not an eye was closed. Under cover of the darkness every one +was on the alert. The platforms and gun carriages were thrown upon the +campfires. Tons of powder were cast into the lake. The cannon were +spiked and the shot and shells buried in the trenches. Before midnight +the whole army was in motion. Rapidly they directed their steps to the +western shore of Lake Garda, to fall like an avalanche upon the division +of Quasdanovich, who dreamed not of their danger. When the morning sun +arose over the marshes of Mantua, the whole embattled host, whose +warlike array had reflected back the beams of the setting sun, had +disappeared. The besieged, who were half famished, and who were upon the +eve of surrender, as they gazed, from the steeples of the city, upon the +scene of solitude, desolation, and abandonment, could hardly credit +their eyes. At ten o'clock in the morning, Quasdanovich was marching +quietly along, not dreaming that any foe was within thirty miles of him, +when suddenly the whole French army burst like a whirlwind upon his +astonished troops. Had the Austrians stood their ground they must have +been entirely destroyed. But after a short and most sanguinary conflict +they broke in wild confusion, and fled. Large numbers were slain, and +many prisoners were left in the hands of the French. The discomfited +Austrians retreated to find refuge among the fastnesses of the Tyrol, +from whence they had emerged. Napoleon had not one moment to lose in +pursuit. The two divisions which were marching down the eastern side of +the lake, heard across the water the deep booming of the guns, like the +roar of continuous thunder, but they were entirely unable to render any +assistance to their friends. They could not even imagine from whence the +foe had come, whom Quasdanovich had encountered. That Napoleon would +abandon all his accumulated stores and costly works at Mantua, was to +them inconceivable. They hastened along with the utmost speed to reunite +their forces, still forty thousand strong, at the foot of the lake. +Napoleon also turned upon his track, and urged his troops almost to the +full run. The salvation of his army depended upon the rapidity of his +march, enabling him to attack the separated divisions of the enemy +before they should reunite at the foot of the mountain range which +separated them. "Soldiers?" he exclaimed, in hurried accents, "it is +with your legs alone that victory can now be secured. Fear nothing. In +three days the Austrian army shall be destroyed. Rely only on me. You +know whether or not I am in the habit of keeping my word." + +Regardless of hunger, sleeplessness, and fatigue, unincumbered by +baggage or provisions, with a celerity, which to the astonished +Austrians seemed miraculous, he pressed on, with his exhausted, bleeding +troops, all the afternoon and deep into the darkness of the ensuing +night. He allowed his men at midnight to throw themselves upon the +ground an hour for sleep, but he did not indulge himself in one moment +of repose. Early in the morning of the 3d of August, Melas, who but a +few hours before had heard the thunder of Napoleon's guns, over the +mountains and upon the opposite shore of the lake, was astonished to see +the solid columns of the whole French army marching majestically upon +him. Five thousand of Wurmser's division had succeeded in joining him, +and he consequently had twenty-five thousand fresh troops drawn up in +battle array. Wurmser himself was at but a few hours' distance, and was +hastening with all possible speed to his aid, with fifteen thousand +additional men. Napoleon had but twenty-two thousand with whom to meet +the forty thousand whom his foes would thus combine. Exhausted as his +troops were with the Herculean toil they had already endured, not one +moment could be allowed for rest. It was at Lonato, in a few glowing +words he announced to his men their peril, the necessity for their +utmost efforts, and his perfect confidence in their success. They now +regarded their young leader as invincible, and wherever he led they were +prompt to follow. With delirious energy, they rushed upon the foe. The +pride of the Austrians was roused and they fought with desperation. The +battle was long and bloody. Napoleon, as cool and unperturbed as if +making the movements in a game of chess, watched the ebb and the flow of +the conflict. His eagle eye instantly detected the point of weakness and +exposure. The Austrians were routed and in wild disorder took to flight +over the plains, leaving the ground covered with the dead, and five +thousand prisoners and twenty pieces of cannon in the hands of the +victors. Junot, with a regiment of cavalry, dashed at full gallop into +the midst of the fugitives rushing over the plain, and the wretched +victims of war were sabred by thousands and trampled under iron hoofs. + +The battle raged until the sun disappeared behind the mountains of the +Tyrol, and another night, dark and gloomy, came on. The groans of the +wounded and of the dying, and the fearful shrieks of dismembered and +mangled horses, struggling in their agony, filled the night air for +leagues around. The French soldiers, utterly exhausted, threw themselves +upon the gory ground by the side of the mutilated dead, the victor and +the bloody corpse of the foe reposing side by side, and forgot the +horrid butchery in leaden sleep. But Napoleon slept not. He knew that +before the dawn of another morning, a still more formidable host would +be arrayed against him, and that the victory of to-day might be followed +by a dreadful defeat upon the morrow. The vanquished army were falling +back to be supported by the division of Wurmser, coming to their rescue. +All night long Napoleon was on horseback, galloping from post to post, +making arrangements for the desperate battle to which he knew that the +morning sun must guide him. + +Four or five miles from Lonato, lies the small walled town of +Castiglione. Here Wurmser met the retreating troops of Melas, and +rallied them for a decisive conflict. With thirty thousand Austrians, +drawn up in line of battle, he awaited the approach of his indefatigable +foe. Long before the morning dawned, the French army was again in +motion. Napoleon, urging his horse to the very utmost of his speed, rode +in every direction to accelerate the movements of his troops. The peril +was too imminent to allow him to intrust any one else with the execution +of his all-important orders. Five horses successively sank dead beneath +him from utter exhaustion. Napoleon was every where, observing all +things, directing all things, animating all things. The whole army was +inspired with the indomitable energy and ardor of their young leader. +Soon the two hostile hosts were facing each other, in the dim and misty +haze of the early dawn, ere the sun had arisen to look down upon the +awful scene of man's depravity about to ensue. + +A sanguinary and decisive conflict, renowned in history as the battle of +Castiglione, inflicted the final blow upon the Austrians. They were +routed with terrible slaughter. The French pursued them, with merciless +massacre, through the whole day, in their headlong flight, and rested +not until the darkness of night shut out the panting, bleeding fugitives +from their view. Less than one week had elapsed since that proud army, +sixty thousand strong, had marched from the walls of Trent, with +gleaming banners and triumphant music, flushed with anticipated victory. +In six days it had lost in killed, wounded, and prisoners forty thousand +men, ten thousand more than the whole army which Napoleon had at his +command. But twenty thousand tattered, exhausted, war-worn fugitives +effected their escape. In the extreme of mortification and dejection +they returned to Trent, to bear themselves the tidings of their swift +and utter discomfiture. Napoleon, in these conflicts, lost but seven +thousand men. These amazing victories were to be attributed entirely to +the genius of the conqueror. Such achievements history had never before +recorded. The victorious soldiers called it, "_The six days' campaign_." +Their admiration of their invincible chief now passed all bounds. The +veterans who had honored Napoleon with the title of _corporal_, after +"the terrible passage of the bridge of Lodi," now enthusiastically +promoted him to the rank of _sergeant_, as his reward for the signal +victories of this campaign. + +The aristocratic governments which, upon the marching of Wurmser from +Trent, had perfidiously violated their faith, and turned against +Napoleon, supposing that he was ruined, were now terror-stricken, +anticipating the most appalling vengeance. But the conqueror treated +them with the greatest clemency, simply informing them that he was fully +acquainted with their conduct, and that he should hereafter regard them +with a watchful eye. He, however, summoned Cardinal Mattei, the legate +of the perjured Pope, to his head-quarters. The cardinal, conscious that +not a word could be uttered in extenuation of his guilt, attempted no +defense. The old man, high in authority and venerable in years, bowed +with the humility of a child before the young victor, and exclaimed +"peccavi! peccavi!"--_I have sinned! I have sinned!_ This apparent +contrition disarmed Napoleon, and in jocose and contemptuous indignation +he sentenced him to do penance for three months, by fasting and prayer, +in a convent. + +During these turmoils, the inhabitants of Lombardy remained faithful in +their adherence to the French interests. In a delicate and noble letter +which he addressed to them, he said, "When the French army retreated, +and the partisans of Austria considered that the cause of liberty was +crushed, you, though you knew not that this retreat was merely a +stratagem, still proved constant in your attachment to France and your +love of freedom. You have thus deserved the esteem of the French nation. +Your people daily become more worthy of liberty, and will shortly appear +with glory on the theatre of the world. Accept the assurance of my +satisfaction, and of the sincere wishes of the French people to see you +free and happy." + +In the midst of the tumultuous scenes of these days of incessant battle, +when the broken divisions of the enemy were in bewilderment, wandering +in every direction, attempting to escape from the terrible energy with +which they were pursued, Napoleon, by mere accident, came very near +being taken a prisoner. He escaped by that intuitive tact and promptness +of decision which never deserted him. In conducting the operations of +the pursuit, he had entered a small village, upon the full gallop, +accompanied only by his staff and guards. A division of four thousand of +the Austrian army, separated from the main body, had been wandering all +night among the mountains. They came suddenly and unexpectedly upon this +little band of a thousand men, and immediately sent an officer with a +flag of truce, demanding their surrender. Napoleon, with wonderful +presence of mind, commanded his numerous staff immediately to mount on +horseback, and gathering his guard around him, ordered the flag of truce +to be brought into his presence. The officer was introduced, as is +customary, blindfolded. When the bandage was removed, to his utter +amazement he found himself before the commander-in-chief of the French +army, surrounded by his whole brilliant staff. "What means this insult?" +exclaimed Napoleon in tones of affected indignation. "Have you the +insolence to bring a summons of surrender to the French +commander-in-chief, in the middle of his army! Say to those who sent +you, that unless in five minutes they lay down their arms, every man +shall be put to death." The bewildered officer stammered out an apology. +"Go!" Napoleon sternly rejoined, "unless you immediately surrender at +discretion, I will, for this insult, cause every man of you to be shot." +The Austrians, deceived by this air of confidence, and disheartened by +fatigue and disaster, threw down their arms. They soon had the +mortification of learning that they had capitulated to one-fourth of +their own number, and that they had missed making prisoner the +conqueror, before whose blows the very throne of their empire was +trembling. + +It was during this campaign that one night Napoleon, in disguise, was +going the rounds of the sentinels, to ascertain if, in their peculiar +peril, proper vigilance was exercised. A soldier, stationed at the +junction of two roads, had received orders not to let any one pass +either of those routes. When Napoleon made his appearance, the soldier, +unconscious of his rank, presented his bayonet and ordered him back. "I +am a general officer," said Napoleon, "going the rounds to ascertain if +all is safe." "I care not," the soldier replied, "my commands are to let +no one go by; and if you were the Little Corporal himself you should not +pass." The general was consequently under the necessity of retracing his +steps. The next day he made inquiries respecting the character of the +soldier, and hearing a good report of him, he summoned him to his +presence, and extolling his fidelity, raised him to the rank of an +officer. + +[Illustration: THE LITTLE CORPORAL AND THE SENTINEL] + +Napoleon and his victorious army again returned to Mantua. The besieged, +during his absence, had emerged from the walls and destroyed all his +works. They had also drawn all his heavy battering train, consisting of +one hundred and forty pieces, into the city, obtained large supplies of +provisions, over sixty thousand shot and shells, and had received a +reinforcement of fifteen thousand men. There was no suitable siege +equipage which Napoleon could command, and he was liable at any moment +to be again summoned to encounter the formidable legions which the +Austrian empire could again raise to crowd down upon him. He therefore +simply invested the place by blockade. After the terrible struggle +through which they had just passed, the troops, on both sides, indulged +themselves in repose for three weeks. The Austrian government, with +inflexible resolution, still refused to make peace with France. It had +virtually inserted upon its banners, "Gallia delenda est"--"The French +Republic shall be destroyed." Napoleon had now cut up two of their most +formidable armies, each of them nearly three times as numerous as his +own. + +The pride and the energy of the whole empire were aroused in organizing +a third army to crush republicanism. In the course of three weeks +Wurmser found himself again in command of fifty-five thousand men at +Trent. There were twenty thousand troops in Mantua, giving him a force +of seventy-five thousand combatants. Napoleon had received +reinforcements only sufficient to repair his losses, and was again in +the field with but thirty thousand men. He was surrounded by more than +double that number of foes. + +Early in September the Austrian army was again in motion, passing down +from the Tyrol for the relief of Mantua. Wurmser left Davidovich at +Roveredo, a very strong position, about ten miles south of Trent, with +twenty-five thousand men to prevent the incursions of the French into +the Tyrol. With thirty thousand men he then passed over to the valley of +the Brenta, to follow down its narrow defile, and convey relief to the +besieged fortress. There were twenty thousand Austrians in Mantua. +These, co-operating with the thirty thousand under Wurmser, would make +an effective force of fifty thousand men to attack Napoleon in front and +rear. + +Napoleon contemplated with lively satisfaction this renewed division of +the Austrian force. He quietly collected all his resources, and prepared +for a deadly spring upon the doomed division left behind. As soon as +Wurmser had arrived at Bassano, following down the valley of the Brenta, +about sixty miles from Roveredo, where it was impossible for him to +render any assistance to the victims upon whom Napoleon was about to +pounce, the whole French army was put in motion. They rushed, at double +quick step, up the parallel valley of the Adige, delaying hardly one +moment either for food or repose. Early on the morning of the 4th of +September, just as the first gray of dawn appeared in the east, he burst +like a tempest upon the astounded foe. The battle was short, bloody, +decisive. The Austrians were routed with dreadful slaughter. As they +fled in consternation, a rabble-rout, the French cavalry rushed in among +them, with dripping sabres, and for leagues the ground was covered with +the bodies of the slain. Seven thousand prisoners and twenty pieces of +cannon graced the triumph of the victor. The discomfited remains of this +unfortunate corps retired far back into the gorges of the mountains. +Such was the battle of Roveredo, which Napoleon ever regarded as one of +his most brilliant victories. Next morning Napoleon, in triumph, entered +Trent. He immediately issued one of his glowing proclamations to the +inhabitants of the Tyrol, assuring them that he was fighting, not for +conquest, but for peace; that he was not the enemy of the _people_ of +the Tyrol; that the Emperor of Austria, incited and aided by British +gold, was waging relentless warfare against the French Republic; and +that, if the inhabitants of the Tyrol would not take up arms against +him, they should be protected in their persons, their property, and in +all their political rights. He invited the people, in the emergence, to +arrange for themselves the internal government of the country, and +intrusted them with the administration of their own laws. + +Before the darkness of the ensuing night had passed away Napoleon was +again at the head of his troops, and the whole French army was rushing +down the defiles of the Brenta, to surprise Wurmser in his straggling +march. The Austrian general had thirty thousand men. Napoleon could +take with him but twenty thousand. He, however, was intent upon gaining +a corresponding advantage in falling upon the enemy by surprise. The +march of sixty miles was accomplished with a rapidity such as no army +had ever attempted before. On the evening of the 6th, Wurmser heard with +consternation that the corps of Davidovich was annihilated. He was awoke +from his slumbers before the dawn of the next morning by the thunders of +Napoleon's cannon in his rear. The brave old veteran, bewildered by +tactics so strange and unheard of, accumulated his army as rapidly as +possible in battle array at Bassano. Napoleon allowed him but a few +moments for preparation. The troops on both sides now began to feel that +Napoleon was invincible. The French were elated by constant victory. The +Austrians were disheartened by uniform and uninterrupted defeat. The +battle at Bassano was but a renewal of the sanguinary scene at Roveredo. +The sun went down as the horrid carnage continued, and darkness vailed +the awful spectacle from human eyes. Horses and men, the mangled, the +dying, the dead, in indiscriminate confusion were piled upon each other. +The groans of the wounded swelled upon the night air; while in the +distance the deep booming of the cannon of the pursuers and the pursued +echoed along the mountains. There was no time to attend to the claims of +humanity. The dead were left unburied, and not a combatant could be +spared from the ranks to give a cup of water to the wounded and the +dying. Destruction, not salvation was the business of the hour. + +Wurmser, with but sixteen thousand men remaining to him of the proud +array of fifty-five thousand with which, but a few days before, he had +marched from Trent, retreated to find shelter within the walls of +Mantua. Napoleon pursued him with the most terrible energy, from every +eminence plunging cannon-balls into his retreating ranks. When Wurmser +arrived at Mantua the garrison sallied out to aid him. Unitedly they +fell upon Napoleon. The battle of St. George was fought, desperate and +most bloody. The Austrians, routed at every point, were driven within +the walls. Napoleon resumed the siege. Wurmser, with the bleeding +fragment of his army, was held a close prisoner. Thus terminated this +campaign of _ten days_. In this short time Napoleon had destroyed a +third Austrian army, more than twice as numerous as his own. The field +was swept clean of his enemies. Not a man was left to oppose him. +Victories so amazing excited astonishment throughout all Europe. Such +results had never before been recorded in the annals of ancient or +modern warfare. + +While engaged in the rapid march from Roveredo, a discontented soldier, +emerging from the ranks, addressed Napoleon, pointing to his tattered +garments, and said, "We soldiers, notwithstanding all our victories, are +clothed in rags." Napoleon, anxious to arrest the progress of discontent +among his troops, with that peculiar tact which he had ever at command, +looked kindly upon him and said, "You forget, my brave friend, that with +a new coat, your honorable scars would no longer be visible." This well +timed compliment was received with shouts of applause from the ranks. +The anecdote spread like lightning among the troops, and endeared +Napoleon still more to every soldier in the army. + +[Illustration: THE SOLITARY BIVOUAC] + +The night before the battle of Bassano, in the eagerness of the march, +Napoleon had advanced far beyond the main column of the army. He had +received no food during the day, and had enjoyed no sleep for several +nights. A poor soldier had a crust of bread in his knapsack. He broke +it in two, and gave his exhausted and half famished general one half. +After this frugal supper, the commander-in-chief of the French army +wrapt himself in his cloak, and threw himself unprotected upon the +ground, by the side of the soldier, for an hour's slumber. After ten +years had passed away, and Napoleon, then Emperor of France, was making +a triumphal tour through Belgium, this same soldier stepped out from the +ranks of a regiment, which the emperor was reviewing, and said, "Sire! +on the eve of the battle of Bassano, I shared with you my crust of +bread, when you were hungry. I now ask from you bread for my father, who +is worn down with age and poverty." Napoleon immediately settled a +pension upon the old man, and promoted the soldier to a lieutenancy. + +After the battle of Bassano, in the impetuosity of the pursuit, +Napoleon, spurring his horse to his utmost speed, accompanied but by a +few followers, entered a small village quite in advance of the main body +of his army. Suddenly Wurmser, with a strong division of the Austrians, +debouched upon the plain. A peasant woman informed him that but a moment +before Napoleon had passed her cottage. Wurmser, overjoyed at the +prospect of obtaining a prize which would remunerate him for all his +losses, instantly dispatched parties of cavalry in every direction for +his capture. So sure was he of success, that he strictly enjoined it +upon them to bring him in alive. The fleetness of Napoleon's horse saved +him. + +In the midst of these terrible conflicts, when the army needed every +possible stimulus to exertion, Napoleon exposed himself like a common +soldier, at every point where danger appeared most imminent. On one of +these occasions a pioneer, perceiving the imminent peril in which the +commander-in-chief had placed himself, abruptly and authoritively +exclaimed to him, "Stand aside." Napoleon fixed his keen glance upon +him, when the veteran with a strong arm thrust him away, saying, "If +thou art killed who is to rescue us from this jeopardy?" and placed his +own body before him. Napoleon appreciated the sterling value of the +action, and uttered no reproof. After the battle he ordered the pioneer +to be sent to his presence. Placing his hand kindly upon his shoulder he +said, "My friend! your noble boldness claims my esteem. Your bravery +demands a recompense. From this hour an epaulet instead of a hatchet +shall grace your shoulder." He was immediately raised to the rank of an +officer. + +The generals in the army were overawed by the genius and the magnanimity +of their young commander. They fully appreciated his vast superiority, +and approached him with restraint and reverence. The common soldiers, +however, loved him as a father, and went to him freely, with the +familiarity of children. In one of those terrific battles, when the +result had been long in suspense, just as the searching glance of +Napoleon had detected a fault in the movements of the enemy, of which +he was upon the point of taking the most prompt advantage, a private +soldier, covered with the dust and the smoke of the battle, sprung from +the ranks and exclaimed, "General! send a squadron _there_, and the +victory is ours." "You rogue!" rejoined Napoleon, "where did you get my +secret?" In a few moments the Austrians were flying in dismay before the +impetuous charges of the French cavalry. Immediately after the battle +Napoleon sent for the soldier who had displayed such military genius. He +was found dead upon the field. A bullet had pierced his brain. Had he +lived he would but have added another star to that brilliant galaxy, +with which the throne of Napoleon was embellished. + + "Perhaps in that neglected spot is laid, + A heart once pregnant with celestial fire, + Hands which the rod of empire might have swayed. + Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre." + +The night after the battle of Bassano, the moon rose cloudless and +brilliant over the sanguinary scene. Napoleon, who seldom exhibited any +hilarity or even exhilaration of spirits in the hour of victory, rode, +as was his custom, over the plain, covered with the bodies of the dying +and the dead, and, silent and thoughtful, seemed lost in painful +reverie. It was midnight. The confusion and the uproar of the battle had +passed away, and the deep silence of the calm starlight night was only +disturbed by the moans of the wounded and the dying. Suddenly a dog +sprung from beneath the cloak of his dead master, and rushed to +Napoleon, as if frantically imploring his aid, and then rushed back +again to the mangled corpse, licking the blood from the face and the +hands, and howling most piteously. Napoleon was deeply moved by the +affecting scene, and involuntarily stopped his horse to contemplate it. +In relating the event, many years afterward, he remarked, "I know not +how it was, but no incident upon any field of battle ever produced so +deep an impression upon my feelings. This man, thought I, must have had +among his comrades friends; and yet here he lies forsaken by all except +his faithful dog. What a strange being is man! How mysterious are his +impressions! I had, without emotion, ordered battles which had decided +the fate of armies. I had, with tearless eyes, beheld the execution of +those orders, in which thousands of my countrymen were slain. And yet +here my sympathies were most deeply and resistlessly moved by the +mournful howling of a dog. Certainly in that moment I should have been +unable to refuse any request to a suppliant enemy." + +[Illustration: THE DEAD SOLDIER AND HIS DOG.] + +Austria was still unsubdued. With a perseverance worthy of all +admiration, had it been exercised in a better cause, the Austrian +government still refused to make peace with republican France. The +energies of the empire were aroused anew to raise a fourth army. +England, contending against France wherever her navy or her troops could +penetrate, was the soul of this warfare. She animated the cabinet of +Vienna, and aided the Austrian armies with her strong co-operation and +her gold. The _people_ of England, republican in their tendencies, and +hating the utter despotism of the old monarchy of France, were clamorous +for peace. But the royal family and the aristocracy in general, were +extremely unwilling to come to any amicable terms with a nation which +had been guilty of the crime of renouncing monarchy. + +All the resources of the Austrian government were now devoted to +recruiting and equipping a new army. With the wrecks of Wurmser's +troops, with detachments from the Rhine, and fresh levies from the bold +peasants of the Tyrol, in less than a month an army of nearly one +hundred thousand men was assembled. The enthusiasm throughout Austria, +in raising and animating these recruits, was so great that the city of +Vienna alone contributed four battalions. The empress, with her own +hand, embroidered their colors and presented them to the troops. All the +noble ladies of the realm devoted their smiles and their aid to inspire +the enterprise. About seventy-five thousand men were rendezvoused in the +gorges of the northern Tyrol, ready to press down upon Napoleon from the +north, while the determined garrison of twenty-five thousand men, under +the brave Wurmser, cooped up in Mantua, were ready to emerge at a +moment's warning. Thus in about three weeks another army of one hundred +thousand men was ready to fall upon Napoleon. His situation now seemed +absolutely desperate. The reinforcements he had received from France had +been barely sufficient to repair the losses sustained by disease and the +sword. He had but thirty thousand men. His funds were all exhausted. His +troops, notwithstanding they were in the midst of the most brilliant +blaze of victories, had been compelled to strain every nerve of +exertion. They were also suffering the severest privations, and began +loudly to murmur. "Why," they exclaimed, "do we not receive succor from +France? We can not alone contend against all Europe. We have already +destroyed three armies, and now a fourth, still more numerous, is rising +against us. Is there to be no end to these interminable battles?" +Napoleon was fully sensible of the peril of his position, and while he +allowed his troops a few weeks of repose, his energies were strained to +their very utmost tension in preparing for the all but desperate +encounter now before him. The friends and the enemies of Napoleon alike +regarded his case as nearly hopeless. The Austrians had by this time +learned that it was not safe to divide their forces in the presence of +so vigilant a foe. Marching down upon his exhausted band with +seventy-five thousand men to attack him in front, and with twenty-five +thousand veteran troops, under the brave Wurmser, to sally from the +ramparts of Mantua and assail him in the rear, it seemed to all +reasonable calculation that the doom of the French army was sealed. +Napoleon in the presence of his army assumed an air of most perfect +confidence, but he was fearfully apprehensive that, by the power of +overwhelming numbers, his army would be destroyed. The appeal which, +under the circumstances, he wrote to the Directory for reinforcements, +is sublime in its dignity and its eloquence. "All of our superior +officers, all of our best generals, are either dead or wounded. The army +of Italy, reduced to a handful of men, is exhausted. The heroes of +Millesimo, of Lodi, of Castiglione, of Bassano, have died for their +country, or are in the hospitals. Nothing is left to the army but its +glory and its courage. We are abandoned at the extremity of Italy. The +brave men who are left me have no prospect but inevitable death amidst +changes so continual and with forces so inferior. Perhaps the hour of +the brave Augereau, of the intrepid Massena is about to strike. This +consideration renders me cautious. I dare not brave death when it would +so certainly be the ruin of those who have so long been the object of my +solicitude. The army has done its duty. I do mine. My conscience is at +ease, but my soul is lacerated. I never have received a fourth part of +the succors which the minister of war has announced in his dispatches. +My health is so broken that I can with difficulty sit upon horseback. +The enemy can now count our diminished ranks. Nothing is left me but +courage. But that alone is not sufficient for the post which I occupy. +Troops, or Italy is lost." + +Napoleon addressed his soldiers in a very different strain, endeavoring +to animate their courage by concealing from them his anxieties. "We have +but one more effort to make," said he, "and Italy is our own. True, the +enemy is more numerous than we; but half his troops are recruits, who +can never stand before the veterans of France. When Alvinzi is beaten +Mantua must fall, and our labors are at an end. Not only Italy, but a +general peace is to be gained by the capture of Mantua." + +During the three weeks in which the Austrians were recruiting their army +and the French were reposing around the walls of Mantua, Napoleon made +the most Herculean exertions to strengthen his position in Italy, and to +disarm those states which were manifesting hostility against him. During +this period his labors as a statesman and a diplomatist were even more +severe than his toils as a general. He allowed himself no stated time +for food or repose, but day and night devoted himself incessantly to his +work. Horse after horse sunk beneath him, in the impetuous speed with +which he passed from place to place. He dictated innumerable +communications to the Directory, respecting treaties of peace with Rome, +Naples, Venice, Genoa. He despised the feeble Directory, with its +shallow views, conscious that unless wiser counsels than they proposed +should prevail, the republic would be ruined. "So long," said he, "as +your general shall not be the centre of all influence in Italy, every +thing will go wrong. It would be easy to accuse me of ambition, but I am +satiated with honor and worn down with care. Peace with Naples is +indispensable. You must conciliate Venice and Genoa. The influence of +Rome is incalculable. You did wrong to break with that power. We must +secure friends for the Italian army, both among kings and people. The +general in Italy must be the fountain-head of negotiation as well as of +military operations." These were bold assumptions for a young man of +twenty-five. But Napoleon was conscious of his power. He now listened to +the earnest entreaties of the people of the duchy of Modena and of the +papal states of Bologna and Ferrara, and, in consequence of treachery on +the part of the Duke of Modena and the Pope, emancipated those states +and constituted them into a united and independent Republic. As the +whole territory included under this new government extended south of the +Po, Napoleon named it the Cispadane Republic, that is the _This side of +the Po_ Republic. It contained about a million and a half of +inhabitants, compactly gathered in one of the most rich, and fertile, +and beautiful regions of the globe. The joy and the enthusiasm of the +people, thus blessed with a free government, surpassed all bounds. +Wherever Napoleon appeared he was greeted with every demonstration of +affection. He assembled at Modena a convention, composed of lawyers, +landed proprietors, and merchants to organize the government. All leaned +upon the mind of Napoleon, and he guided their counsels with the most +consummate wisdom. Napoleon's abhorrence of the anarchy which had +disgraced the Jacobin reign in France, and his reverence for law were +made very prominent on this occasion. "Never forget," said he in an +address to the Assembly, "that laws are mere nullities without the +necessary force to sustain them. Attend to your military organization, +which you have the means of placing upon a respectable footing. You will +then be more fortunate than the people of France. You will attain +liberty without passing through the ordeal of revolution." + +The Italians were an effeminate people and quite unable to cope in arms +with the French or the Austrians. Yet the new republic manifested its +zeal and attachment for its youthful founder so strongly, that a +detachment of Austrians having made a sally from Mantua, they +immediately sprang to arms, took it prisoner, and conducted it in +triumph to Napoleon. When the Austrians saw that Napoleon was +endeavoring to make soldiers of the Italians, they ridiculed the idea, +saying that they had tried the experiment in vain, and that it was not +possible for an Italian to make a good soldier. "Notwithstanding this," +said Napoleon, "I raised many thousands of Italians, who fought with a +bravery equal to that of the French, and who did not desert me even in +my adversity. What was the cause? I abolished flogging. Instead of the +lash I introduced the stimulus of honor. Whatever debases a man can not +be serviceable. What honor can a man possibly have who is flogged before +his comrades. When a soldier has been debased by stripes he cares little +for his own reputation or for the honor of his country. After an action +I assembled the officers and soldiers and inquired who had proved +themselves heroes. Such of them as were able to read and write I +promoted. Those who were not I ordered to study five hours a day, until +they had learned a sufficiency, and then promoted them. Thus I +substituted honor and emulation for terror and the lash." + +He bound the Duke of Parma and the Duke of Tuscany to him by ties of +friendship. He cheered the inhabitants of Lombardy with the hope, that +as soon as extricated from his present embarrassments, he would do +something for the promotion of their independence. Thus with the skill +of a veteran diplomatist he raised around him friendly governments, and +availed himself of all the resources of politics to make amends for the +inefficiency of the Directory. Never was a man placed in a situation +where more delicacy of tact was necessary. The Republican party in all +the Italian states were clamorous for the support of Napoleon, and +waited but his permission to raise the standard of revolt. Had the +slightest encouragement been given the whole peninsula would have +plunged into the horrors of civil war; and the awful scenes which had +been enacted in Paris would have been re-enacted in every city in Italy. +The aristocratic party would have been roused to perfect desperation, +and the situation of Napoleon would have been still more precarious. It +required consummate genius as a statesman, and moral courage of the +highest order, to wield such opposing influences. But the greatness of +Napoleon shone forth even more brilliantly in the cabinet than in the +field. The course which he had pursued had made him extremely popular +with the Italians. They regarded him as their countryman. They were +proud of his fame. He was driving from their territory the haughty +Austrians whom they hated. He was the enemy of despots, the friend of +the people. Their own beautiful language was his mother tongue. He was +familiar with their manners and customs, and they felt flattered by his +high appreciation of their literature and arts. + +Napoleon, in the midst of these stormy scenes, also dispatched an +armament from Leghorn, to wrest his native island of Corsica from the +dominion of the English. Scott, in allusion to the fact that Napoleon +never manifested any special attachment for the obscure island of his +birth, beautifully says, "He was like the young lion, who, while he is +scattering the herds and destroying the hunters, thinks little of the +forest cave in which he first saw the light." But at St. Helena Napoleon +said, and few will read his remarks without emotion, "What recollections +of childhood crowd upon my memory, when my thoughts are no longer +occupied with political subjects, or with the insults of my jailer upon +this rock. I am carried back to my first impressions of the life of man. +It seems to me always in these moments of calm, that I should have been +the happiest man in the world, with an income of twenty-five hundred +dollars a year, living as the father of a family, with my wife and son, +in our old house at Ajaccio. You, Montholon, remember its beautiful +situation. You have often despoiled it of its finest bunches of grapes, +when you ran off with Pauline to satisfy your childish appetite. Happy +hours! The natal soil has infinite charms. Memory embellishes it with +all its attractions, even to the very odor of the ground, which one can +so realize to the senses, as to be able with the eyes shut, to tell the +spot first trodden by the foot of childhood. I still remember with +emotion the most minute details of a journey in which I accompanied +Paoli. More than five hundred of us, young persons of the first families +in the island, formed his guard of honor. I felt proud of walking by +his side, and he appeared to take pleasure in pointing out to me, with +paternal affection, the passes of our mountains which had been witnesses +of the heroic struggle of our countrymen for independence. The +impression made upon me still vibrates in my heart. Come, place your +hand," said he to Montholon, "upon my bosom! See how it beats!" "And it +was true," Montholon remarks, "his heart did beat with such rapidity as +would have excited my astonishment, had I not been acquainted with his +organization, and with the kind of electric commotion which his thoughts +communicated to his whole being." "It is like the sound of a church +bell," continued Napoleon. "There is none upon this rock. I am no longer +accustomed to hear it. But the tones of a bell never fall upon my ear +without awakening within me the emotions of childhood. The Angelus bell +transported me back to pensive yet pleasant memories, when in the midst +of earnest thoughts and burdened with the weight of an imperial crown, I +heard its first sounds under the shady woods of St. Cloud. And often +have I been supposed to have been revolving the plan of a campaign or +digesting an imperial law, when my thoughts were wholly absorbed in +dwelling upon the first impressions of my youth. Religion is in fact the +dominion of the soul. It is the hope of life, the anchor of safety, the +deliverance from evil. What a service has Christianity rendered to +humanity! What a power would it still have, did its ministers comprehend +their mission." + +Early in November the Austrians commenced their march. The cold winds of +winter were sweeping through the defiles of the Tyrol, and the summits +of the mountains were white with snow. But it was impossible to postpone +operations; for unless Wurmser were immediately relieved Mantua must +fall, and with it would fall all hopes of Austrian dominion in Italy. +The hardy old soldier had killed all his horses, and salted them down +for provisions; but even that coarse fare was nearly exhausted, and he +had succeeded in sending word to Alvinzi that he could not possibly hold +out more than six weeks longer. Napoleon, the moment he heard that the +Austrians were on the move, hastened to the head-quarters of the army at +Verona. He had stationed General Vaubois, with twelve thousand men, a +few miles north of Trent, in a narrow defile among the mountains to +watch the Austrians, and to arrest their first advances. Vaubois and his +division, overwhelmed by numbers, retreated, and thus vastly magnified +the peril of the army. The moment Napoleon received the disastrous +intelligence, he hastened, with such troops as he could collect, like +the sweep of the wind, to rally the retreating forces and check the +progress of the enemy. And here he singularly displayed that thorough +knowledge of human nature which enabled him so effectually to control +and to inspire his army. Deeming it necessary, in his present peril, +that every man should be a hero, and that every regiment should be +nerved by the determination to conquer or to die, he resolved to make a +severe example of those whose panic had proved so nearly fatal to the +army. Like a whirlwind, surrounded by his staff, he swept into the camp, +and ordered immediately the troops to be collected in a circle around +him. He sat upon his horse, and every eye was fixed upon the pale and +wan, and wasted features of their young and adored general. With a stern +and saddened voice he exclaimed, "Soldiers! I am displeased with you. +You have evinced neither discipline nor valor. You have allowed +yourselves to be driven from positions where a handful of resolute men +might have arrested an army. You are no longer French soldiers! Chief of +the staff, cause it to be written on their standards, _They are no +longer of the army of Italy_." + +The influence of these words upon those impassioned men, proud of their +renown and proud of their leader, was almost inconceivable. The terrible +rebuke fell upon them like a thunderbolt. Tears trickled down the cheeks +of these battered veterans. Many of them actually groaned aloud in their +anguish. The laws of discipline could not restrain the grief which burst +from their ranks. They broke their array, crowded around the general, +exclaiming, "we have been misrepresented; the enemy were three to our +one; try us once more; place us in the post of danger, and see if we do +not belong to the army of Italy!" Napoleon relented, and spoke kindly to +them, promising to afford them an early opportunity to retrieve their +reputation. In the next battle he placed them in the van. Contending +against fearful odds they accomplished all that mortal valor could +accomplish, rolling back upon the Austrians the tide of victory. Such +was the discipline of Napoleon. He needed no blood-stained lash to scar +the naked backs of his men. He ruled over mind. His empire was in the +soul. "My soldiers," said he "are my children." The effect of this +rebuke was incalculable. There was not an officer or a soldier in the +army who was not moved by it. It came exactly at the right moment, when +it was necessary that every man in the army should be inspired with +absolute desperation of valor. + +Alvinzi sent a peasant across the country to carry dispatches to Wurmser +in the beleaguered city. The information of approaching relief was +written upon very thin paper, in a minute hand, and inclosed in a ball +of wax, not much larger than a pea. The spy was intercepted. He was seen +to swallow the ball. The stomach was compelled to surrender its trust, +and Napoleon became acquainted with Alvinzi's plan of operation. He left +ten thousand men around the walls of Mantua, to continue the blockade, +and assembled the rest of his army, consisting only of fifteen thousand, +in the vicinity of Verona. The whole valley of the Adige was now +swarming with the Austrian battalions. At night the wide horizon seemed +illuminated with the blaze of their camp fires. The Austrians, +conscious of their vast superiority in numbers, were hastening to +envelop the French. Already forty thousand men were circling around the +little band of fifteen thousand who were rallied under the eagles of +France. The Austrians, wary in consequence of their past defeats, moved +with the utmost caution, taking possession of the most commanding +positions. Napoleon, with sleepless vigilance, watched for some exposed +point, but in vain. The soldiers understood the true posture of affairs, +and began to feel disheartened, for their situation was apparently +desperate. The peril of the army was so great, that even the sick and +the wounded in the hospitals at Milan, Pavia, and Lodi, voluntarily left +their beds and hastened, emaciate with suffering, and many of them with +their wounds still bleeding, to resume their station in the ranks. The +soldiers were deeply moved by this affecting spectacle, so indicative of +their fearful peril and of the devotion of their comrades to the +interests of the army. Napoleon resolved to give battle immediately, +before the Austrians should accumulate in still greater numbers. + +A dark, cold winter's storm was deluging the ground with rain, as +Napoleon roused his troops from the drenched sods upon which they were +slumbering. The morning had not yet dawned through the surcharged +clouds, and the freezing wind, like a tornado, swept the bleak hills. It +was an awful hour in which to go forth to encounter mutilation and +death. The enterprise was desperate. Fifteen thousand Frenchmen, with +frenzied violence, were to hurl themselves upon the serried ranks of +forty thousand foes. The horrid carnage soon began. The roar of the +battle, the shout of onset, and the shriek of the dying, mingled in +midnight gloom, with the appalling rush and wail of the tempest. The +ground was so saturated with rain that it was almost impossible for the +French to drag their cannon through the miry ruts. As the darkness of +night passed and the dismal light of a stormy day was spread around +them, the rain changed to snow, and the struggling French were smothered +and blinded by the storm of sleet whirled furiously into their faces. +Through the live-long day this terrific battle of man and of the +elements raged unabated. When night came the exhausted soldiers, +drenched with rain and benumbed with cold, threw themselves upon the +blood-stained snow, in the midst of the dying and of the dead. Neither +party claimed the victory, and neither acknowledged defeat. No pen can +describe, nor can imagination conceive, the horrors of the dark and +wailing night of storm and sleet which ensued. Through the long hours +the groans of the wounded, scattered over many miles swept by the +battle, blended in mournful unison with the wailings of the tempest. Two +thousand of Napoleon's little band were left dead upon the field, and a +still larger number of Austrian corpses were covered with the +winding-sheet of snow. Many a blood-stained drift indicated the long and +agonizing struggle of the wounded ere the motionlessness of death +consummated the dreadful tragedy. It is hard to die even in the +curtained chambers of our ceiled houses, with sympathizing friends +administering every possible alleviation. Cold must have been those +pillows of snow, and unspeakably dreadful the solitude of those death +scenes, on the bleak hill sides and in the muddy ravines, where +thousands of the young, the hopeful, the sanguine, in horrid mutilation, +struggled through the long hours of the tempestuous night in the agonies +of dissolution. Many of these young men were from the first families in +Austria and in France, and had been accustomed to every indulgence. Far +from mother, sister, brother, drenched with rain, covered with the +drifting snow, alone--all alone with the midnight darkness and the +storm--they writhed and moaned through lingering hours of agony. + +The Austrian forces still were accumulating, and the next day Napoleon +retired within the walls of Verona. It was the first time he had seemed +to retreat before his foes. His star began to wane. The soldiers were +silent and dejected. An ignominious retreat after all their victories, +or a still more ignominious surrender to the Austrians appeared their +only alternative. Night again came. The storm had passed away. The moon +rose clear and cold over the frozen hills. Suddenly the order was +proclaimed, in the early darkness, for the whole army, in silence and +celerity, to be upon the march. Grief sat upon every countenance. The +western gates of the city, looking toward France were thrown open. The +rumbling of the artillery wheels, and the sullen tramp of the dejected +soldiers fell heavily upon the night air. Not a word was spoken. Rapidly +the army emerged from the gates, crossed the river, and pressed along +the road toward France, leaving their foes slumbering behind them, +unconscious of their flight. The depression of the soldiers thus +compelled at last, as they supposed, to retreat, was extreme. Suddenly, +and to the perplexity of all, Napoleon wheeled his columns into another +road, which followed down the valley of the Adige. No one could imagine +whither he was leading them. He hastened along the banks of the river, +in most rapid march, about fourteen miles, and, just at midnight, +recrossed the stream, and came upon the rear of the Austrian army. Here +the soldiers found a vast morass, many miles in extent, traversed by +several narrow causeways, in these immense marshes superiority in number +was of little avail, as the heads of the column only could meet. The +plan of Napoleon instantly flashed upon the minds of the intelligent +French soldiers. They appreciated at once the advantage he had thus +skillfully secured for them. Shouts of joy ran through the ranks. Their +previous dejection was succeeded by corresponding elation. + +It was midnight. Far and wide along the horizon blazed the fires of the +Austrian camps, while the French were in perfect darkness. Napoleon, +emaciate with care and toil, and silent in intensity of thought, as calm +and unperturbed as the clear, cold, serene winter's night, stood upon +an eminence observing the position, and estimating the strength of his +foes. He had but thirteen thousand troops. Forty thousand Austrians, +crowding the hill sides with their vast array, were manoeuvring to +envelop and to crush him. But now indescribable enthusiasm animated the +French army. They no longer doubted of success. Every man felt confident +that the _Little Corporal_ was leading them again to a glorious victory. + +In the centre of these wide spreading morasses was the village of +Arcola, approached only by narrow dykes and protected by a stream, +crossed by a small wooden bridge. A strong division of the Austrian army +was stationed here. It was of the first importance that this position +should be taken from the enemy. Before the break of day the solid +columns of Napoleon were moving along the narrow passages, and the +fierce strife commenced. The soldiers, with loud shouts, rushed upon the +bridge. In an instant the whole head of the column was swept away by a +volcanic burst of fire. Napoleon sprung from his horse, seized a +standard, and shouted, "Conquerors of Lodi, follow your general!" He +rushed at the head of the column, leading his impetuous troops through a +perfect hurricane of balls and bullets, till he arrived at the centre of +the bridge. Here the tempest of fire was so dreadful that all were +thrown into confusion. Clouds of smoke enveloped the bridge in almost +midnight darkness. The soldiers recoiled, and trampling over the dead +and dying, in wild disorder retreated. The tall grenadiers seized the +fragile and wasted form of Napoleon in their arms as if he had been a +child, and regardless of their own danger, dragged him from the mouth of +this terrible battery. But in the tumult they were forced over the dyke, +and Napoleon was plunged into the morass and was left almost smothered +in the mire. The Austrians were already between Napoleon and his column, +when the anxious soldiers perceived, in the midst of the darkness and +the tumult, that their beloved chief was missing. The wild cry arose, +"Forward to save your general." Every heart thrilled at this cry. The +whole column instantly turned, and regardless of death, inspired by love +for their general, rushed impetuously, irresistibly upon the bridge. +Napoleon was extricated and Arcola was taken. + +[Illustration: THE MARSHES OF ARCOLA.] + +As soon as the morning dawned, Alvinzi perceived that Verona was +evacuated, and in astonishment he heard the thunder of Napoleon's guns +reverberating over the marshes which surrounded Arcola. He feared the +genius of his adversary, and his whole army was immediately in motion. +All day long the battle raged on those narrow causeways, the heads of +the columns rushing against each other with indescribable fury, and the +dead and the dying filling the morass. The terrible rebuke which had +been inflicted upon the division of Vaubois still rung in the ears of +the French troops, and every officer and every man resolved to prove +that _he_ belonged to the army of Italy. Said Augereau, as he rushed +into the mouth of a perfect volcano of flame and fire, "Napoleon may +break my sword over my dead body, but he shall never cashier _me_ in the +presence of my troops." Napoleon was every where, exposed to every +danger, now struggling through the dead and the dying on foot, heading +the impetuous charge; now galloping over the dykes, with the balls from +the Austrian batteries plowing the ground around him. Wherever his voice +was heard, and his eye fell, tenfold enthusiasm inspired his men. +Lannes, though severely wounded, had hastened from the hospital at +Milan, to aid the army in this terrible emergence. He received three +wounds in endeavoring to protect Napoleon, and never left his side till +the battle was closed. Muiron, another of those gallant spirits, bound +to Napoleon by those mysterious ties of affection which this strange man +inspired, seeing a bomb shell about to explode, threw himself between it +and Napoleon, saving the life of his beloved general by the sacrifice of +his own. The darkness of night separated the combatants for a few hours, +but before the dawn of the morning the murderous assault was renewed, +and continued with unabated violence through the whole ensuing day. The +French veterans charged with the bayonet, and hurled the Austrians with +prodigious slaughter into the marsh. Another night came and went. The +gray light of another cold winter's morning appeared faintly in the +east, when the soldiers sprang again from their freezing, marshy beds, +and in the dense clouds of vapor and of smoke which had settled down +over the morass, with the fury of blood-hounds rushed again to the +assault. In the midst of this terrible conflict a cannon-ball fearfully +mangled the horse upon which Napoleon was riding. The powerful animal, +frantic with pain and terror, became perfectly unmanageable. Seizing the +bit in his teeth, he rushed through the storm of bullets directly into +the midst of the Austrian ranks. He then, in the agonies of death, +plunged into the morass and expired. Napoleon was left struggling in the +swamp up to his neck in the mire. Being perfectly helpless, he was +expecting every moment either to sink and disappear in that inglorious +grave, or that some Austrian dragoon would sabre his head from his body +or with a bullet pierce his brain. Enveloped in clouds of smoke, in the +midst of the dismay and the uproar of the terrific scene, he chanced to +evade observation, until his own troops, regardless of every peril, +forced their way to his rescue. Napoleon escaped with but a few slight +wounds. Through the long day, the tide of war continued to ebb and to +flow upon these narrow dykes. Napoleon now carefully counted the number +of prisoners taken and estimated the amount of the slain. Computing thus +that the enemy did not outnumber him by more than a third, he resolved +to march out into the open plain for a decisive conflict. He relied upon +the enthusiasm and the confidence of his own troops and the dejection +with which he knew that the Austrians were oppressed. In these +impassable morasses it was impossible to operate with the cavalry. Three +days of this terrible conflict had now passed. In the horrible carnage +of these days Napoleon had lost 8000 men, and he estimated that the +Austrians could not have lost less, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, +than 20,000. Both armies were utterly exhausted, and those hours of +dejection and lassitude had ensued in which every one wished that the +battle was at an end. + +It was midnight. Napoleon, sleepless and fasting, seemed insensible to +exhaustion either of body or of mind. He galloped along the dykes from +post to post, with his whole soul engrossed with preparations for the +renewal of the conflict. Now he checked his horse to speak in tones of +consolation to a wounded soldier, and again by a few words of kind +encouragement animated an exhausted sentinel. At two o'clock in the +morning the whole army, with the ranks sadly thinned, was again roused +and ranged in battle array. It was a cold, damp morning, and the weary +and half-famished soldiers shivered in their lines. A dense, oppressive +fog covered the flooded marsh and added to the gloom of the night. +Napoleon ordered fifty of the guards to struggle with their horses +through the swamp, and conceal themselves in the rear of the enemy. With +incredible difficulty most of them succeeded in accomplishing this +object. Each dragoon had a trumpet. Napoleon commenced a furious attack +along the whole Austrian front. When the fire was the hottest, at an +appointed signal, the mounted guards sounded with their trumpets loudly +the charge, and with perfect desperation plunged into the ranks of the +enemy. The Austrians, in the darkness and confusion of the night, +supposing that Murat,[1] with his whole body of cavalry, was thundering +down upon their rear, in dismay broke and fled. With demoniacal energy +the French troops pursued the victory, and before that day's sun went +down, the proud army of Alvinzi, now utterly routed, and having lost +nearly thirty thousand men, marking its path with a trail of blood, was +retreating into the mountains of Austria. Napoleon, with streaming +banners and exultant music, marched triumphantly back into Verona, by +the eastern gates, directly opposite those from which, three days +before, he had emerged. He was received by the inhabitants with the +utmost enthusiasm and astonishment. Even the enemies of Napoleon so +greatly admired the heroism and the genius of this wonderful +achievement, that they added their applause to that of his friends. This +was the fourth Austrian army which Napoleon had overthrown in less than +eight months, and each of them more than twice as numerous as his own. +In Napoleon's dispatches to the Directory, as usual, silent concerning +himself, and magnanimously attributing the victory to the heroism of the +troops, he says, "Never was a field of battle more valiantly disputed +than the conflict at Arcola. I have scarcely any generals left. Their +bravery and their patriotic enthusiasm are without example." + +In the midst of all these cares he found time to write a letter of +sympathy to the widow of the brave Muiron. "You," he writes, "have lost +a husband who was dear to you; and I am bereft of a friend to whom I +have been long and sincerely attached. But our country has suffered more +than us both, in being deprived of an officer so pre-eminently +distinguished for his talents and his dauntless bravery. If it lies +within the scope of my ability to yield assistance to yourself, or your +infant, I beseech you to reckon upon my utmost exertions." It is +affecting to record that in a few weeks the woe-stricken widow gave +birth to a lifeless babe, and she and her little one sank into an +untimely grave together. The woes of war extend far and wide beyond the +blood-stained field of battle. Twenty thousand men perished around the +marshes of Arcola. And after the thunders of the strife had ceased, and +the groans of the dying were hushed in death, in twenty thousand distant +homes, far away on the plains of France, or in the peaceful glens of +Austria, the agony of that field of blood was renewed, as the tidings +reached them, and a wail burst forth from crushed and lacerated hearts, +which might almost have drowned the roar of that deadly strife. + +How Napoleon could have found time in the midst of such terrific scenes +for the delicate attentions of friendship, it is difficult to conceive. +Yet to a stranger he wrote, announcing the death of a nephew, in the +following affecting terms: "He fell with glory and in the face of the +enemy, without suffering a moment of pain. Where is the man who would +not envy such a death? Who would not gladly accept the choice of thus +escaping from the vicissitudes of an unsatisfying world. Who has not +often regretted that he has not been thus withdrawn from the calumny, +the envy, and all the odious passions which seem the almost exclusive +directors of the conduct of mankind." It was in this pensive strain that +Napoleon wrote, when a young man of twenty-six, and in the midst of a +series of the most brilliant victories which mortal man had ever +achieved. + +The moment the Austrians broke and fled, while the thunders of the +pursuing cannonade were reverberating over the plains, Napoleon seized a +pen and wrote to his faithful Josephine, with that impetuous energy, in +which "sentences were crowded into words, and words into letters." The +courier was dispatched, at the top of his speed, with the following +lines, which Josephine with no little difficulty deciphered. She deemed +them worth the study. "My adored Josephine! at length I live again. +Death is no longer before me, and glory and honor are still in my +breast. The enemy is beaten. Soon Mantua will be ours. Then thy husband +will fold thee in his arms, and give thee a thousand proofs of his +ardent affection. I am a little fatigued. I have received letters from +Eugene and Hortense. I am delighted with the children. Adieu, my +adorable Josephine. Think of me often. Should your heart grow cold +toward me, you will be indeed cruel and unjust. But I am sure that you +will always continue my faithful friend as I shall ever continue your +fond lover. Death alone can break the union which love, sentiment, and +sympathy have formed. Let me have news of your health. A thousand and a +thousand kisses." + +A vein of superstition pervaded the mind of this extraordinary man. He +felt that he was the child of destiny--that he was led by an arm more +powerful than his own, and that an unseen guide was conducting him along +his perilous and bewildering pathway. He regarded life as of little +value, and contemplated death without any dread. "I am," said he, "the +creature of circumstances. I do but go where events point out the way. I +do not give myself any uneasiness about death. When a man's time is +come, he must go." "Are you a Predestinarian?" inquired O'Meara. "As +much so," Napoleon replied, "as the Turks are. I have been always so. +When destiny wills, it must be obeyed. I will relate an example. At the +siege of Toulon I observed an officer very careful of himself, instead +of exhibiting an example of courage to animate his men. 'Mr. Officer,' +said I, 'come out and observe the effect of your shot. You know not +whether your guns are well pointed or not.' Very reluctantly he came +outside of the parapet, to the place where I was standing. Wishing to +expose as little of his body as possible, he stooped down, and partially +sheltered himself behind the parapet, and looked under my arm. Just then +a shot came close to me, and low down, which knocked him to pieces. Now, +if this man had stood upright, he would have been safe as the ball would +have passed between us without hurting either." Maria Louisa, upon her +marriage with Napoleon, was greatly surprised to find that no sentinels +slept at the door of his chamber; that the doors even were not locked; +and that there were no guns or pistols in the room where they slept. +"Why," said she, "you do not take half so many precautions as my father +does." "I am too much of a fatalist," he replied, "to take any +precautions against assassination." O'Meara, at St. Helena, at one time +urged him to take some medicine. He declined, and calmly raising his +eyes to heaven, said, "That which is written is written. Our days are +numbered." Strange and inconsistent as it may seem, there is a form +which the doctrine of Predestination assumes in the human mind, which +arouses one to an intensity of exertion which nothing else could +inspire. Napoleon felt that he was destined to the most exalted +achievements. Therefore he consecrated himself through days of toil and +nights of sleeplessness to the most Herculean exertions that he might +work out his destiny. This sentiment which inspired Napoleon as a +philosopher, animated Calvin as a Christian. Instead of cutting the +sinews of exertion, as many persons would suppose it must, it did but +strain those sinews to their utmost tension. + +Napoleon had obtained, at the time of his marriage, an exquisite +miniature of Josephine. This, in his romantic attachment, he had +suspended by a ribbon about his neck, and the cheek of Josephine ever +rested upon the pulsations of his heart. Though living in the midst of +the most exciting tumults earth has ever witnessed, his pensive and +reflective mind was solitary and alone. The miniature of Josephine was +his companion, and often during the march, and in the midnight bivouac, +he gazed upon it most fondly. "By what art is it," he once passionately +wrote, "that you, my sweet love, have been able to captivate all my +faculties, and to concentrate in yourself my moral existence? It is a +magic influence which will terminate only with my life. My adorable +wife! I know not what fate awaits me, but if it keep me much longer from +you, it will be insupportable. There was a time when I was proud of my +courage. When contemplating the various evils to which we are exposed, I +could fix my eyes steadfastly upon every conceivable calamity, without +alarm or dread. But now the idea that Josephine may be ill, and, above +all, the cruel thought that she may love me less, withers my soul, and +leaves me not even the courage of despair. Formerly I said to myself, +Man can not hurt him who can die without regret. But now to die without +being loved by Josephine is torment. My incomparable companion! thou +whom fate has destined to make, along with me, the painful journey of +life, the day on which I shall cease to possess thy heart will be to me +the day of utter desolation." On one occasion the glass covering the +miniature was found to be broken. Napoleon considered the accident a +fearful omen of calamity to the beloved original. He was so oppressed +with this presentiment, that a courier was immediately dispatched to +bring him tidings from Josephine. + +It is not surprising that Napoleon should thus have won, in the heart of +Josephine the most enthusiastic love. "He is," said she, "the most +fascinating of men." Said the Duchess of Abrantes, "It is impossible to +describe the charm of Napoleon's countenance when he smiled. His soul +was upon his lips and in his eyes." "I never," said the Emperor +Alexander, "loved any man as I did that man." Says the Duke of Vicenza, +"I have known nearly all the crowned heads of the present day--all our +illustrious contemporaries. I have lived with several of those great +historical characters on a footing quite distinct from my diplomatic +duties. I have had every opportunity of comparing and judging. But it is +impossible to institute any comparison between Napoleon and any other +man. They who say otherwise did not know him." Says Duroc, "Napoleon is +endowed with a variety of faculties, any one of which would suffice to +distinguish a man from the multitude. He is the greatest captain of the +age. He is a statesman who directs the whole business of the country, +and superintends every branch of the service. He is a sovereign whose +ministers are merely his clerks. And yet this Colossus of gigantic +proportions can descend to the most trivial details of private life. He +can regulate the expenditure of his household as he regulates the +finances of the empire." + +Notwithstanding Napoleon had now destroyed four Austrian armies, the +imperial court was still unsubdued, and still pertinaciously refused to +make peace with republican France. Herculean efforts were immediately +made to organize a fifth army to march again upon Napoleon. These +exciting scenes kept all Italy in a state of extreme fermentation. Every +day the separation between the aristocratic and the republican party +became more marked and rancorous. Austria and England exerted all their +arts of diplomacy to rouse the aristocratic governments of Rome, Venice, +and Naples to assail Napoleon in the rear, and thus to crush that spirit +of republican liberty so rapidly spreading through Italy, and which +threatened the speedy overthrow of all their thrones. Napoleon, in +self-defense, was compelled to call to his aid the sympathies of the +republican party, and to encourage their ardent aspirations for free +government. + +And here again the candid mind is compelled to pause, and almost to +yield its assent to that doctrine of destiny which had obtained so +strong a hold upon the mind of Napoleon. How could it be expected that +those monarchs, with their thrones, their wealth, their pride, their +power, their education, their habits, should have submissively +relinquished their exalted inheritance, and have made an unconditional +surrender to triumphant democracy. Kings, nobles, priests, and all the +millions whose rank and property were suspended upon the perpetuity of +those old monarchies, could, by no possibility have been led to such a +measure. Unquestionably many were convinced that the interests of +humanity demanded the support of the established governments. They had +witnessed the accomplishments of democracy in France--a frenzied mob +sacking the palace, dragging the royal family, through every conceivable +insult, to dungeons and a bloody death, burning the chateaus of the +nobles, bruising with gory clubs upon the pavements, the most venerable +in rank and the most austere in virtue, dancing in brutal orgies around +the dissevered heads of the most illustrious and lovely ladies of the +realm, and dragging their dismembered limbs in derision through the +streets. Priests crowded the churches, praying to God to save them from +the horrors of democracy. Matrons and maidens trembled in their chambers +as they wrought with their own hands the banners of royalty, and with +moistened eyes and palpitating hearts they presented them to their +defenders. + +On the other hand, how could republican France tamely succumb to her +proud and aristocratic enemies. "Kings," said a princess of the house of +Austria, "should no more regard the murmurs of the people than does the +moon the barking of dogs." How could the triumphant millions of France, +who had just overthrown this intolerable despotism, and whose hearts +were glowing with aspirations for liberty and equal rights, yield +without a struggle all they had attained at such an enormous expense of +blood and misery. They turned their eyes hopefully to the United States, +where our own Washington and their own La Fayette had fought, side by +side, and had established liberty gloriously; and they could not again +voluntarily place their necks beneath the yoke of kingly domination. +Despotism engenders ignorance and cruelty; and despotism did but reap +the awful harvest of blood and woe, of which, during countless ages of +oppression, it had been scattering broadcast the seed. + +The enfranchised people could not allow the allied monarchs of Europe to +rear again, upon the soil of republican France, and in the midst of +thirty millions of freemen, an execrated and banished dynasty. This was +not a warfare of republican angels against aristocratic fiends, or of +refined, benevolent, intellectual loyalists against rancorous, reckless, +vulgar Jacobins. It was a warfare of frail and erring man against his +fellow--many, both monarchists and republicans, perhaps animated by +motives as corrupt as can influence the human heart. But it can not be +doubted that there were others on each side, who were influenced by +considerations as pure as can glow in the bosom of humanity. Napoleon +recognized and respected these verities. While he had no scruples +respecting his own duty to defend his country from the assaults of the +allied kings, he candidly respected his opponents. Candidly he said, +"Had I been surrounded by the influences which have surrounded these +gentlemen, I should doubtless have been fighting beneath their banners." +There is probably not a reader of these pages, who, had he been an +English or an Austrian noble, would not have fought those battles of the +monarchy, upon which his fortune, his power, and his rank were +suspended. And there probably is not a noble upon the banks of the +Danube or the Thames, who, had he been a young lawyer, merchant, or +artisan, with all his prospects in life depending upon his own merit and +exertions, would not have strained every nerve to hew down these +bulwarks of exclusive privilege, which the pride and oppression of ages +had reared. Such is man; and such his melancholy lot. We would not +detract from the wickedness of these wars, deluging Europe with blood +and woe. But God alone can award the guilt. We would not conceal that +all our sympathies are with the republicans struggling for their +unquestionable rights. But we may also refrain from casting unmerited +obloquy upon those, who were likewise struggling for every thing dear to +them in life. + +The Directory, trembling in view of the vast renown Napoleon was +acquiring, and not at all relishing the idea of having the direction of +affairs thus unceremoniously taken from their hands, sent Gen. Clarke, +as an envoy, to Napoleon's head-quarters, to conduct negotiations with +the Austrians. Napoleon received him with great external courtesy, but +that there might be no embarrassing misunderstanding between them, +informed him in so many words, "If you come here to obey me, I shall +always see you with pleasure; if not, the sooner you return to those who +sent you the better." The proud envoy yielded at once to the +master-mind, and so completely was he brought under the influence of +its strange fascination, that he became a most enthusiastic admirer of +Napoleon, and wrote to the Directory, "It is indispensable that the +General-in-chief should conduct all the diplomatic operations in Italy." + +While Alvinzi had been preparing his overwhelming host to crush +Napoleon, the Pope also, in secret alliance, had been collecting his +resources to attack the common foe. It was an act of treachery. Napoleon +called Mattei from his fastings and penance in the convent, and +commissioned him to go and say to the Pope: "Rome desires war. It shall +have war. But first I owe it to humanity to make a final effort to +recall the Pope to reason. My army is strong. I have but to will it and +the temporal power of the Pope is destroyed. Still France permits me to +listen to words of peace. War, so cruel for all, has terrible results +for the vanquished. I am anxious to close this struggle by peace. War +has for me now neither danger nor glory." The Pope, however, believing +that Austria would still crush Napoleon, met these menaces with +defiance. Napoleon, conscious that he could not then march upon Rome, +devoted all his energies to prepare for the onset of the Austrians, +while he kept a vigilant eye upon his enemies in the south. Some he +overawed. Others, by a change of government, he transformed into fast +friends. Four weeks passed rapidly away, and another vast Austrian army +was crowding down from the north with gigantic steps to relieve Mantua, +now in the last stage of starvation. Wurmser had succeeded in sending a +spy through the French lines, conveying the message to Alvinzi, that +unless relieved he could not possibly hold out many days longer. + +Josephine had now come, at Napoleon's request, to reside at the +head-quarters of the army, that she might be near her husband. Napoleon +had received her with the most tender affection, and his exhausted frame +was re-invigorated by her soothing cares. He had no tendencies to +gallantry, which provoked Madame de Staël once to remark to him, "It is +reported that you are not very partial to the ladies." "I am very fond +of my wife, Madame," was his laconic reply. Napoleon had not a high +appreciation of the female character in general, and yet he highly +valued the humanizing and refining influence of polished female society. +"The English," said he, "appear to prefer the bottle to the society of +their ladies; as is exemplified by dismissing the ladies from the table, +and remaining for hours to drink and intoxicate themselves. Were I in +England I should certainly leave the table with the ladies. You do not +treat them with sufficient regard. If your object is to converse instead +of to drink, why not allow them to be present. Surely conversation is +never so lively or so witty as when ladies take a part in it. Were I an +Englishwoman I should feel very discontented at being turned out by the +men, to wait for two or three hours while they were guzzling their wine. +In France society is nothing unless ladies are present. They are the +life of conversation." At one time Josephine was defending her sex from +some remarks which he had made respecting their frivolity and +insincerity. "Ah! my dear Josephine," he replied, "they are all nothing +compared with you." + +Notwithstanding the boundless wealth at Napoleon's disposal, when +Josephine arrived at the head-quarters of the army, he lived in a very +simple and frugal manner. Though many of his generals were rolling in +voluptuousness, he indulged himself in no ostentation in dress or +equipage. The only relaxation he sought was to spend an occasional hour +in the society of Josephine. In the midst of the movements of these +formidable armies, and just before a decisive battle, it was necessary +that she should take her departure to a place of greater safety. As she +was bidding her husband adieu, a cart passed by, loaded with the +mutilated forms of the wounded. The awful spectacle, and the +consciousness of the terrible peril of her husband moved her tender +feelings. She threw herself upon his neck and wept most bitterly. +Napoleon fondly encircled her in his arms, and said, "Wurmser shall pay +dearly for those tears which he causes thee to shed." Napoleon's +appearance at this time was deplorable in the extreme. His cheeks were +pallid and wan. He was as thin as a skeleton. His bright and burning eye +alone indicated that the fire of his soul was unextinguished. The +glowing energies of his mind sustained his emaciated and exhausted body. +The soldiers took pleasure in contrasting his mighty genius and his +world-wide renown, with his effeminate stature and his wasted and +enfeebled frame. + +In allusion to the wonderful tranquillity of mind which Napoleon +retained in the midst of all harassments, disasters, and perils, he +remarked. "Nature seems to have calculated that I should endure great +reverses. She has given me a mind of marble. Thunder can not ruffle it. +The shaft merely glides along." + +Early in January Alvinzi descended toward Mantua, from the mountains of +Austria. It was the fifth army which the Imperial Court had sent for the +destruction of the Republicans. The Tyrol was in the hands of the +French. Napoleon, to prevent the peasants from rising in guerrilla +bands, issued a decree that every Tyrolese taken in arms should be shot +as a brigand. Alvinzi replied, that for every peasant shot he would hang +a French prisoner of war. Napoleon rejoined, that for every French +prisoner thus slain he would gibbet an Austrian officer, commencing with +Alvinzi's own nephew, who was in his hands. A little reflection taught +both generals that it was not best to add to the inevitable horrors of +war by the execution of these sanguinary threats. With the utmost +vigilance Napoleon, with his army gathered around him in the vicinity of +Mantua, was watching the movements of his formidable enemy, uncertain +respecting his line of march, or upon what points the terrible onset was +to fall. + +The 12th of January, 1797, was a dark, stormy winter's day. The sleet, +swept by the gale over the bleak mountains, covered the earth with an +icy mantle. The swollen streams, clogged with ice, roared through the +ravines. As the sun went down a clear belt of cloudless sky appeared +brilliant in the west. The storm passed away. The cold north wind blew +furiously, and the stars with unwonted lustre, adorned the wintry night. +As the twilight was fading a courier galloped into the camp with the +intelligence that the Austrians had made their appearance in vast +numbers upon the plains of Rivoli, and that they were attacking with +great fury the advanced post of the French stationed there. At the same +time another courier arrived informing him that a powerful division of +the Austrian army was moving in another direction to carry relief to +Mantua. It was a fearful dilemma. Should Napoleon wait for the junction +of these two armies to assail him in front, while the garrison in +Mantua, emerging from the walls should attack him in the rear, his +situation would be hopeless. Should he march to attack one army, he must +leave the road open for the other to enter Mantua with reinforcements +and relief. But Napoleon lost not one moment in deliberation. +Instinctively he decided upon the only course to be pursued. "The +French," said the Austrians, "do not march; they fly." With a rapidity +of movement which seems almost miraculous, before two o'clock in the +morning, Napoleon, with thirty thousand men, stood upon the snow-clad +heights overlooking the encampment of his sleeping foes. It was a +sublime and an appalling spectacle which burst upon his view. For miles +and miles the watch-fires of the mighty host filled the extended plain. +The night was clear, cold, and beautiful. Gloomy firs and pines frowned +along the sides of the mountains, silvered by the rays of an unclouded +moon. The keen eye of Napoleon instantly detected that there were fifty +thousand men, in five divisions of ten thousand each, whom he, with +thirty thousand was to encounter upon that plain. He also correctly +judged, from the position of the divisions, that the artillery had not +arrived, and resolved upon an immediate attack. At four o'clock in the +morning, the Austrians were roused from their slumbers by the rush of +Napoleon's battalions and by the thunders of his artillery. The day of +Rivoli! It was a long, long day of blood and woe. The tide of victory +ebbed and flowed. Again and again Napoleon seemed ruined. Night came, +and the genius of Napoleon had again triumphed. The whole plain was +covered with the dead and the dying. The Austrians, in wild terror, were +flying before the impetuous charges of the French cavalry; while from +every eminence cannon-balls were plunged into the dense ranks of the +fugitives. The genius of this stern warrior never appeared more terrible +than in the unsparing energy with which he rained down his blows upon a +defeated army. Napoleon had three horses shot under him during the day. +"The Austrians," said he, "manoeuvred admirably, and failed only because +they are incapable of calculating the value of minutes." + +An event occurred in the very hottest of the battle which singularly +illustrates Napoleon's wonderful presence of mind. The Austrians had +completely enveloped him, cutting off his retreat, and attacking him in +front, flanks, and rear; the destruction of the army seemed inevitable. +Napoleon, to gain time, instantly sent a flag of truce to Alvinzi, +proposing a suspension of arms for half an hour, to attend to some +propositions to be made in consequence of dispatches just received from +Paris. The Austrian general fell into the snare. The roar of battle +ceased, and the blood-stained combatants rested upon their guns. Junot +repaired to the Austrian head-quarters, and kept Alvinzi busy for half +an hour in discussing the terms of accommodation. In the mean time +Napoleon had re-arranged his army to repel these numerous attacks. As +was to be expected, no terms could be agreed upon, and immediately the +murderous onset was renewed. + +The scene displayed at the close of this battle was awful in the +extreme. The fugitive army, horse, foot, cannon, baggage-wagons, and +ammunition-carts struggled along in inextricable confusion through the +narrow passes, while a plunging fire from the French batteries produced +frightful havoc in the crowd. The occasional explosion of an +ammunition-wagon under this terrific fire, opened in the dense mass a +gap like the crater of a volcano, scattering far and wide over the field +the mangled limbs of the dead. The battle of Rivoli Napoleon ever +regarded as one of the most dreadful battles he ever fought, and one of +the most signal victories he ever won. + +Leaving a few troops to pursue and harass the fugitives, Napoleon, that +very night, with the mass of his army, turned to arrest the Austrian +division of twenty thousand men under Provera, hastening to the +reinforcement of Mantua. He had already marched all of one night, and +fought all of the ensuing day. He allowed his utterly exhausted troops a +few hours for sleep, but closed not his own eyes. He still considered +the peril of his army so great as to demand the utmost vigilance. So +intense was his solicitude, that he passed the hours of the night, while +the rest were sleeping, in walking about the outposts. At one of them he +found a sentinel, utterly worn down by fatigue, asleep at the root of a +tree. Without awaking him, Napoleon took his gun and performed a +sentinel's duty in his place for half an hour. At last the poor man, +starting from his slumbers, overwhelmed with consternation, perceived +the countenance and the occupation of his general. He knew that death +was the penalty for such a crime, and he fell speechless upon his knees. +"My brave friend," said Napoleon kindly, "here is your musket. You have +marched long and fought hard, and your sleep is excusable. But a +moment's inattention at the present time might ruin the army. I happened +to be awake, and have held your post for you. You will be more careful +another time." It is not surprising that such deeds as these, +continually repeated at the campfires of the soldiers, should have +inspired them with the most enthusiastic admiration of their +commander-in-chief. + +[Illustration: THE EXHAUSTED SENTINEL.] + +The hour of midnight had hardly passed before the whole army was again +in motion. The dawn of the morning found them pressing on with all +possible speed, hoping to arrive at Mantua before the Austrian force +should have effected an entrance into the beleaguered city. All the day +long they hurried on their way, and just as the sun was setting, they +heard the roar of the conflict around the ramparts of Mantua. Provera +was attacking the French in their intrenchments upon one side. The brave +old Wurmser was marching from the city to attack them upon the other. An +hour might have settled the unequal conflict. Suddenly Napoleon, like a +thunderbolt, plunged into the midst of the foe. Provera's band was +scattered like chaff before the whirlwind. Wurmser and his half-starved +men were driven back to their fortress and their prison. Thus terminated +this signal campaign of _three days_, during which the Austrians lost +twenty-five thousand prisoners, twenty-five standards, sixty pieces of +cannon, and six thousand men in killed and wounded. The Austrian army +was again destroyed, and the French remained in undisputed possession of +Italy. Such achievements filled the world with astonishment. Military +men of all lands have regarded these brilliant operations of Napoleon as +the most extraordinary which history has recorded. + +Wurmser's situation was now hopeless, and no resource was left him but +to capitulate. One half of his once numerous garrison were in the +hospital. The horses which had been killed and salted down were all +consumed. Famine was now staring the garrison in the face. Wurmser sent +an aid-de-camp to the tent of Serrurier to propose terms of +capitulation. Napoleon was sitting in a corner of the tent unobserved, +wrapped in his cloak. The aid, with the artifice usual on such +occasions, expatiated on the powerful means of resistance Wurmser still +enjoyed, and the large stores of provisions still in the magazines. +Napoleon, without making himself known, listened to the conversation, +taking no part in it. At last he approached the table, silently took the +paper containing Wurmser's propositions, and, to the astonishment of the +aid, wrote upon the margin his answer to all the terms suggested. +"There," said he, "are the conditions which I grant to your marshal. If +he had provisions but for a fortnight and could talk of surrender, he +would not deserve an honorable capitulation. As he sends you, he must be +reduced to extremity. I respect his age, his valor, his misfortunes. +Carry to him the terms which I grant. Whether he leaves the place +to-morrow, in a month, or in six months he shall have neither better nor +worse conditions. He may stay as long as his sense of honor demands." + +The aid now perceived that he was in the presence of Napoleon. Glancing +his eye over the terms of capitulation, he was surprised at the +liberality of the victor, and seeing that dissimulation was of no +further avail, he confessed that Wurmser had provisions but for three +days. The brave old marshal was deeply moved with gratitude in +acknowledging the generosity with which he was treated by his young +adversary. Wurmser was entirely in his power, and must have surrendered +at discretion. Yet Napoleon, to spare the feelings of his foe, allowed +him to march out of the place with all his staff, and to retire +unmolested to Austria. He even granted him two hundred horse and five +hundred men, to be chosen by himself, and six pieces of cannon, to +render his departure less humiliating. Wurmser most gratefully accepted +this magnanimous offer, and to prove his gratitude informed Napoleon of +a plan laid in the Papal States for poisoning him, and this undoubtedly +saved his life. The remainder of the garrison, twenty thousand strong, +surrendered their arms, and were retained as prisoners of war. Fifteen +standards, a bridge equipage, and above five hundred pieces of artillery +fell into the hands of the victor. + +On the following morning the Austrian army, emaciate, humiliated, and +dejected, defiled from the gates of Mantua to throw down their arms at +the feet of the triumphant Republicans. But on this occasion also, +Napoleon displayed that magnanimity and delicacy of mind, which accorded +so well with the heroism of his character and the grandeur of his +achievements. Few young men, twenty-six years of age, at the termination +of so terrific a campaign, would have deprived themselves of the +pleasure of seeing the veteran Austrian marshal and his proud array pass +vanquished before him. But on the morning of that day Napoleon mounted +his horse, and heading a division of his army, disappeared from the +ground, and marched for the Papal States. He left Serrurier to receive +the sword of Wurmser. He would not add to the mortification of the +vanquished general, by being present in the hour of his humiliation. +Delicacy so rare and so noble attracted the attention of all Europe. +This magnanimous and dignified conduct extorted reluctant admiration +even from the bitterest enemies of the young Republican general. + +The Directory, unable to appreciate such nobility of spirit, were +dissatisfied with the liberal terms which had been granted Wurmser. +Napoleon treated their remonstrances with scorn, and simply replied, "I +have granted the Austrian general such terms as, in my judgment, were +due to a brave and honorable enemy, and to the dignity of the French +Republic." + +The Austrians were now driven out of Italy. Napoleon commenced the +campaign with thirty thousand men. He received, during the progress of +these destructive battles, twenty thousand recruits. Thus, in ten +months, Napoleon, with fifty-five thousand men, had conquered five +armies, under veteran generals, and composed of more than two hundred +thousand highly disciplined Austrian troops. He had taken one hundred +thousand prisoners, and killed and wounded thirty-five thousand men. +These were great victories, and "a great victory," said the Duke of +Wellington, "is the most awful thing in the world excepting a great +defeat." + +Napoleon now prepared to march boldly upon Vienna itself, and to compel +the emperor, in his own palace, to make peace with insulted France. Such +an idea he had not conceived at the commencement of the campaign; +circumstances, however, or as Napoleon would say, _his destiny_ led him +on. But first it was necessary to turn aside to humble the Pope, who had +been threatening Napoleon's rear with an army of 40,000 men, but who was +now in utter consternation in view of the hopeless defeat of the +Austrians. Napoleon issued the following proclamation: "The French army +is about to enter the Pope's territories. It will protect religion and +the people. The French soldier carries in one hand the bayonet, as the +guarantee of victory; in the other the olive branch, a symbol of peace, +and a pledge of protection. Woe to those who shall provoke the vengeance +of this army. To the inhabitants of every town and village peace, +protection, and security are offered." All the spiritual machinery of +the Papal Church had been put into requisition to rouse the people to +frenzy. The tocsin had been tolled in every village, forty hours' +prayers offered, indulgences promised, and even miracles employed to +inspire the populace with delirious energy. Napoleon took with him but +four thousand five hundred French soldiers, aided by four thousand +Italian recruits. He first encountered the enemy, seven thousand strong, +under Cardinal Busca, intrenched upon the banks of the Senio. It was in +the evening twilight of a pleasant spring day, when the French +approached the river. The ecclesiastic, but little accustomed to the +weapons of secular warfare, sent a flag of truce, who very pompously +presented himself before Napoleon, and declared, in the name of the +cardinal-in-chief, that if the French continued to advance he should +certainly fire upon them. The terrible menace was reported through the +French lines, and was received with perfect peals of merriment. Napoleon +replied that he should be extremely sorry to expose himself to the +cardinal's fire, and that therefore, as the army was very much fatigued, +with the cardinal's leave it would take up its quarters for the night. +In the darkness a division of the French army was sent across the +stream, by a ford, to cut off the retreat of the Papal troops, and in +the morning the bloody conflict of an hour left nearly every man dead +upon the field, or a prisoner in the hands of Napoleon. Pressing rapidly +on, the French arrived the same day at Faenza. The gates were shut, the +ramparts manned with cannon, and the multitude, in fanatical enthusiasm, +exasperated the French soldiers with every species of insulting +defiance. The gates were instantly battered down, and the French rushed +into the city. They loudly clamored for permission to pillage. "The +case," said they, "is the same as that of Pavia." "No!" replied +Napoleon, "at Pavia the people, after having taken an oath of obedience, +revolted, and attempted to murder our soldiers who were their guests. +These people are deceived, and must be subdued by kindness." All the +prisoners taken here, and in the battle of the Senio, were assembled in +a large garden of one of the convents of Faenza. Napoleon had been +represented to them as a monster of atheism, cruelty, and crime. They +were in a perfect paroxysm of terror, not doubting that they were +gathered there to be shot. Upon the approach of Napoleon they fell upon +their knees, with loud cries for mercy. He addressed them in Italian, +and in those tones of kindness which seemed to have a magic power over +the human heart. "I am the friend," said he, "of all the people of +Italy. I come among you for your good. You are all free. Return to the +bosom of your families, and tell them that the French are the friends of +religion and of order, and of all the poor and the oppressed." From the +garden he went to the refectory of the convent, where the captured +officers were assembled. Familiarly he conversed with them a long time, +as with friends and equals. He explained to them his motives and his +wishes; spoke of the liberty of Italy, of the abuses of the pontifical +government, of its gross violation of the spirit of the gospel, and of +the blood which must be vainly expended in the attempt to resist such a +victorious and well-disciplined army as he had at his disposal. He gave +them all permission to return to their homes, and simply requested them, +as the price of his clemency, to make known to the community the +sentiments with which he was animated. These men now became as +enthusiastic in their admiration of Napoleon as they had previously been +exasperated against him. They dispersed through the cities and villages +of Italy, never weary in eulogizing the magnanimity of their conqueror. +He soon met another army of the Romans at Ancona. He cautiously +surrounded them, and took them all prisoners without hurting a man, and +then, by a few of his convincing words, sent them through the country as +missionaries proclaiming his clemency, and the benevolence of the +commander-in-chief of the Republican army. Ancona was so situated as to +be one of the most important ports of the Adriatic. Its harbor, however, +was in such a neglected condition, that not even a frigate could enter. +He immediately decided what ought to be done to fortify the place and to +improve the port. The great works which he consequently afterward +executed at Ancona, will remain a perpetual memorial of his foresight +and genius. The largest three-decker can now ride in its harbor with +perfect safety. + +At Loretto there was an image of the Virgin, which the Church +represented as of celestial origin, and which, to the great edification +of the populace, seemed miraculously to shed tears in view of the perils +of the Papacy. Napoleon sent for the sacred image, exposed the deception +by which, through the instrumentality of a string of glass beads, tears +appeared to flow, and imprisoned the priests for deluding the people +with trickery which tended to bring all religion into contempt. + +The Papal States were full of the exiled French priests. The Directory +enjoined it upon Napoleon to drive them out of the country. These +unhappy men were in a state of despair. Long inured to Jacobin fury they +supposed that death was now their inevitable doom. One of the +fraternity, weary of years of exile and frantic in view of his supposed +impending fate, presented himself to Napoleon, announced himself as an +emigrant priest, and implored that his doom of death might be +immediately executed. The bewildered man thought it the delirium of a +dream when Napoleon, addressing him in terms of courtesy and of +heartfelt sympathy, assured him that he and all his friends should be +protected from harm. He issued a proclamation enjoining it upon the +army to regard these unfortunate men as countrymen and as brothers, and +to treat them with all possible kindness. The versatile troops instantly +imbibed the humane spirit of their beloved chief. This led to a number +of very affecting scenes. Many of the soldiers recognized their former +pastors, and these unhappy exiles, long accustomed to scorn and insult, +wept with gratitude in being again addressed in terms of respect and +affection. Napoleon was censured for this clemency. "How is it +possible," he wrote to the Directory, "not to pity these unhappy men? +They weep on seeing us." The French emigrant priests were quite a burden +upon the convents in Italy, where they had taken refuge, and the Italian +priests were quite ready, upon the arrival of the French army, to drive +them away, on the pretext that by harboring the emigrants they should +draw down upon themselves the vengeance of the Republican army. Napoleon +issued a decree commanding the convents to receive them, and to furnish +them with every thing necessary for their support and comfort. In that +most singular vein of latent humor which pervaded his nature, he +enjoined that the French priests should make remuneration for this +hospitality in prayers and masses, at the regular market price. He found +the Jews in Ancona suffering under the most intolerable oppression, and +immediately relieved them from all their disabilities. + +The court of Naples, hoping to intimidate Napoleon from advancing upon +the holy city, and not venturing openly to draw the sword against him, +sent a minister to his camp, to act in the capacity of a spy. This +envoy, Prince Pignatelli, assuming an air of great mystery and +confidential kindness, showed Napoleon a letter from the Queen of +Naples, proposing to send an army of thirty thousand men to protect the +Pontiff. "I thank you," said Napoleon, "for this proof of your +confidence, and will repay you in the same way." Opening the portfolio +of papers relating to Naples, he exhibited to him a copy of a dispatch, +in which the contemplated movement was not only anticipated, but +provision made, in case it should be attempted, for marching an army of +twenty-five thousand men to take possession of the capital, and compel +the royal family to seek refuge in Sicily. An extraordinary courier was +dispatched in the night to inform the Queen of the manner in which the +insinuation had been received. Nothing more was heard of the Neapolitan +interference. + +Napoleon was now within three days' march of Rome. Consternation reigned +in the Vatican. Embassadors were hastily sent to Napoleon's +head-quarters at Tolentino, to implore the clemency of the conqueror. +The horses were already harnessed to the state carriages, and Pope Pius +the Sixth was just descending the stairs for flight, when a messenger +arrived from Napoleon informing the Pope that he need apprehend no +personal violence, that Napoleon was contending only for peace. The +Directory, exasperated by the unrelenting hostility and the treachery +of the Pope, enjoined it upon Napoleon to enter into no negotiations +with him, but immediately to deprive him of all temporal power. +Napoleon, however, understood fanatical human nature too well to attempt +such a revolution. Disregarding the wishes of the government at home, he +treated the Pope with that gentlemanly deference and respect which was +due to his exalted rank, as a temporal and a spiritual prince. The +treaty of Tolentino was soon concluded. Its simple terms were peace with +France, the acknowledgment of the Cispadane Republic, and a renewed +promise that the stipulations of the preceding armistice should be +faithfully performed. Even the Pope could not refrain from expressions +of gratitude in view of the moderation of his victor. Napoleon insisted +for a long time upon the suppression of the inquisition. But out of +complaisance to the Pope, who most earnestly entreated that it might not +be suppressed, assuring Napoleon that it no longer was what it had been, +but that it was now rather a tribunal of police than of religious +opinion, Napoleon desisted from pressing the article. All this was +achieved in nine days. Napoleon now returned to Mantua, and prepared for +his bold march upon Vienna. + +Notwithstanding the singular moderation displayed by Napoleon in these +victories, the most atrocious libels respecting his conduct were +circulated by his foes throughout Europe. To exasperate the Catholics he +was reported to have seized the venerable Pope by his gray hairs, and +thus to have dragged him about the room. One day Napoleon was reading +one of these virulent libels, describing him as a perfect monster of +licentiousness, blood-thirstiness, and crime. At times he shrugged his +shoulders, and again laughed heartily, but did not betray the least sign +of anger. To one who expressed surprise at this, he said, "It is the +truth only which gives offense. Every body knows that I was not by +nature inclined to debauchery, and moreover the multiplicity of my +affairs allowed me no time for such vices. Still persons will be found +who will believe these things. But how can that be helped? If it should +enter any one's head to put in print that I had grown hairy and walked +on four paws, there are people who would believe it, and who would say +that God had punished me as he did Nebuchadnezzar. And what could I do? +There is no remedy in such cases." + +[Footnote 1: Joachim Murat, subsequently married Caroline, the youngest +sister of Napoleon, and became Marshal of France, and finally King of +Sicily. After the fall of Napoleon he lost his throne, and was shot, by +command of the King of Naples. "Murat," said Napoleon, "was one of the +most brilliant men I ever saw upon a field of battle. It was really a +magnificent spectacle to see him heading the cavalry in a charge."] + + + + +THE STORY OF REYNARD THE FOX. + +[The Story of Reynard the Fox, in prose and in rhyme, has for centuries +been the favorite popular tale in Europe. We can not go back to the time +when it was not told in every dialect spoken by the Teutonic race. +"Among the people," says Carlyle, "it was long a house-book, and +universal best-companion; it has been lectured on in universities, +quoted in imperial council-halls; it lay on the toilets of princesses, +and was thumbed to pieces on the work-bench of the artisan; we hear of +grave men ranking it next to the Bible.... It comes before us with a +character such as can belong only to a very few; that of being a true +world's book, which through centuries was every where at home, and the +spirit of which diffused itself through all languages and all minds." +The translation which we present is from the old Low-German version, +which, by superseding all previous ones, has come to be considered the +recognized form of the tale. Goethe has expanded it into a long poem, +for which Kaulbach designed some forty illustrations, forming the finest +series of pictures ever produced for the illustration of a single book. +Hermann Plouquet of Stuttgart, has contributed to the Great Exhibition +in London a display of animals stuffed in the most comic attitudes. A +portion of these are in illustration of Reynard the Fox, the designs of +Kaulbach serving as models. The illustrations which we furnish are taken +from daguerreotype pictures of these animals, and afford a striking +example of the expression which the animal face and figure are capable +of conveying.] + +About the feast of Whitsuntide, when the woods were in their lustyhood +and gallantry, when every tree was clothed in the green and white livery +of glorious leaves and sweet-smelling blossoms, when the earth was +covered with her fairest mantle of flowers, and the sweet birds +entertained the groves with the delight of their harmonious songs, the +LION, the Royal King of Beasts, made solemn proclamation that all +quadrupeds whatsoever should attend his court, and celebrate this great +festival. + +Now when the King had assembled all his subjects together, there was no +one absent save Reynard the Fox, against whom many grievous accusations +were laid. First came Isegrim the Wolf, with all his family and kindred, +who, standing before the King, complained loudly how that Reynard had +ill-treated his wife and children. Then there came a little hound named +Curtsie, who accused the fox of having stolen his pudding in the extreme +cold winter-time, when he was nigh dying of starvation. But scarcely had +the hound finished his tale, when, with a fiery countenance, in sprang +Tibert the Cat, and accused Curtsie of having stolen this pudding from +himself, and declared that Reynard had righteously taken it away. + +Then rose the Panther: "Do you imagine, Tibert," quoth he, "that Reynard +ought not to be complained of? The whole world knows that he is a +murderer, a vagabond, and a thief." + +Then quoth Grimbard the Badger, Reynard's nephew: "It is a common +proverb, _Malice never spake well_: what can you say against my kinsman +the fox? All these complaints seem to me to be either absurd or false. +Mine uncle is a gentleman, and can not endure falsehood. I affirm that +he liveth as a recluse; he chastiseth his body, and weareth a shirt of +hair-cloth. It is above a year since he hath eaten any flesh; he hath +forsaken his castle Malepardus, and abandoned all his wealth; he lives +only upon alms and good men's charities, doing infinite penance for his +sins; so that he has become pale and lean with praying and fasting." + +While Grimbard was still speaking, there came down the hill Chanticleer +the Cock, and with him two hens, who brought with them on a bier their +dead sister Copple, who had just been murdered by Reynard. Chanticleer +smote piteously his feathers, and, kneeling before the King, spake in +this manner: + +[Illustration: REYNARD AT HOME (Page 742.)] + +"Most merciful and my great Lord the King, vouchsafe, I beseech you, to +hear our complaint, and redress the injuries which Reynard the Fox has +done to me and my children. Not longer ago than last April, when the +weather was fair, and I was in the height of my pride and glory, because +of my eight valiant sons and seven fair daughters, who were strong and +fat, and who walked in safety in a yard well-fenced round, wherein also +were several large dogs for their protection, Reynard, that false and +dissembling traitor, came to me in the likeness of a hermit, and brought +me a letter to read, sealed with your Majesty's seal, in which I found +written, that your Highness had made peace throughout all your realm, +and that no manner of beast or fowl should do injury one to another; +affirming unto me, that, for his own part, he was become a monk, vowing +to perform a daily penance for his sins; showing unto me his beads, his +books, and the hair shirt next to his skin; saying, in humble wise, unto +me, 'Sir Chanticleer, never henceforth be afraid of me, for I have vowed +never more to eat flesh. I am now waxed old, and would only remember my +soul; therefore I take my leave, for I have yet my noon and my evensong +to say.' Which spake, he departed, saying his _Credo_ as he went, and +laid him down under a hawthorn. At this I was exceeding glad, that I +took no heed, but went and clucked my children together, and walked +without the wall, which I shall ever rue; for false Reynard, lying under +a bush, came creeping betwixt us and the gate, and suddenly surprised +one of my children, which he trussed up and bore away, to my great +sorrow; for, having tasted the sweetness of our flesh, neither hunter +nor hound can protect or keep him from us. Night and day he waits upon +us, with that greediness, that of fifteen of my children, he hath left +me but four unslaughtered; and yesterday, Copple, my daughter, which +here lieth dead on this bier, was, after her murder, rescued from him. +This is my complaint, and this I leave to your Highness's mercy to take +pity on me, and the loss of my fair children." + +Then spake the King; "Sir Grimbard, hear you this of your uncle the +recluse? he hath fasted and prayed well: believe me, if I live a year, +he shall dearly abide it. As for you, Chanticleer, your complaint is +heard, and shall be cured; to your daughter that is dead we will give +the rites of burial, and with solemn dirges bring her to the earth, with +worship." + +After this the King sent for his lords and wisest counselors, to consult +how this foul murder of Reynard's might be punished. And in the end, it +was concluded that Reynard should be sent for, and without all excuse, +he should be commanded to appear before the King, to answer whatever +trespasses should be objected against him; and that this message should +be delivered by Bruin the Bear. + +To all this the King gave consent, and calling the bear before him, he +said, "Sir Bruin, it is our pleasure that you deliver this message, yet +in the delivery thereof have great regard to yourself; for Reynard is +full of policy, and knoweth how to dissemble, flatter, and betray; he +hath a world of snares to entangle you withal, and without great +exercise of judgment, will make a scorn and mock of the best wisdom +breathing." + +[Illustration] + +"My Lord," answered Sir Bruin, "let me alone with Reynard; I am not such +a truant in discretion to become a mock to his knavery;" and thus, full +of jollity, the bear departed. + +[Illustration: SIR TIBERT DELIVERING THE KING'S MESSAGE. (PAGE 746.)] + +The next morning Bruin set out in quest of the fox; and after passing +through a dark forest and over a high mountain, he came to Malepartus, +Reynard's chiefest and most ancient castle. Reynard was at home, and +pretended to be ill with eating too much honey. When the bear heard +this, he was extremely desirous of knowing where such excellent food +could be obtained; and Reynard promised to take him to a garden where he +should find more honey-combs than ten bears could eat at a meal. But the +treacherous rascal took him to a carpenter's yard, where lay the trunk +of a huge oak-tree, half-riven asunder, with two great wedges in it, so +that the cleft stood a great way open. "Behold now, dear uncle," said +the fox, "within this tree is so much honey that it is unmeasurable." +The bear, in great haste, thrust his nose and fore-paws into the tree; +and immediately Reynard pulled out the two great wedges, and caught +Bruin in so sharp a trap, that the poor beast howled with pain. This +noise quickly brought out the carpenter, who, perceiving how matters +stood, alarmed the whole village, who came and belabored the bear's +sides with sticks and hoes and pitchforks, until, mad with rage, he tore +his bleeding face and paws from the tree, and rushed blindly into a +river that ran close by, knocking into the water with him many of the +villagers, and among them, Dame Julock, the parson's wife, for whose +sake every one bestirred himself; and so poor Bruin got safe away. After +some delay, the bear returned to the court, where, in dismal accents, he +recounted the sad trick that Reynard had played him. + +Then said the King, "Now, by my crown, I will take such revenge as +shall make that traitor tremble;" and sending for his counselors, they +decided that Reynard should be again summoned to court, and that Tibert +the Cat should be the bearer of the message. "It is your wisdom, Sir +Tibert, I employ," said the great King, "and not your strength: many +prevail with art, when violence returns with lost labor." + +So Tibert made ready, and set out with the King's letter to Malepardus, +where he found the fox standing before his castle-gates; to whom Tibert +said, "Health to my fair cousin Reynard; the King, by me, summons you to +the court, in which if you fail, there is nothing more assured unto you +than a cruel and a sudden death." + +The fox answered, "Welcome, dear cousin Tibert; I obey your command, and +wish my Lord the King infinite days of happiness; only let me entreat +you to rest with me to-night, and take such cheer as my simple house +affordeth, and to-morrow, as early as you will, we will go toward the +court, for I have no kinsman I trust so dearly as yourself." + +Tibert replied, "You speak like a noble gentleman; and methinks it is +best now to go forward, for the moon shines as bright as day." + +"Nay, dear cousin," said the fox, "let us take the day before us, so may +we encounter with our friends; the night is full of danger." + +"Well," said the cat, "if it be your pleasure, I am content; what shall +we eat?" + +Reynard said, "Truly my store is small; the best I have is a honey-comb, +pleasant and sweet; what think you of it?" + +To which Tibert replieth, "It is meat I little respect, and seldom eat; +I had rather have one mouse than all the honey in Europe." + +[Illustration: REYNARD BRINGS FORWARD THE HARE AS HIS WITNESS. (PAGE +750.)] + +[Illustration: REYNARD ON HIS PILGRIMAGE TO ROME. (PAGE 751.)] + +"A mouse!" said Reynard; "why, my dear cousin, here dwelleth a priest +hard by, who hath a barn by his house so full of mice, that I think half +the wagons in the parish are not able to bear them." + +"Oh, dear Reynard," quoth the cat, "do but lead me thither, and make me +your servant forever." + +"Why," said the fox, "love you mice so exceedingly?" + +"Beyond expression," quoth the cat. + +Then away they went with all speed to the priest's barn, which was well +walled about with a mud wall, where, but the night before, the fox had +broken in and stolen an exceeding fat hen, at which the priest was so +angry, that he had set a snare before the hole to catch him at his next +coming, which the false fox knew of; and therefore said to the cat, "Sir +Tibert, creep in at this hole, and believe it, you shall not tarry a +minute's space but you shall have more mice than you are able to devour; +hark, you may hear how they peep. When you have eaten your fill, come +again, and I will stay and await for you here at this hole, that +to-morrow we may go together to the court; but, good cousin, stay not +too long, for I know my wife will hourly expect us." + +Then Tibert sprang quickly in at the hole, but was presently caught fast +by the neck in the snare, which as soon as the cat felt, he quickly +leaped back again; and the snare running close together, he was +half-strangled, so that he began to struggle and cry out and exclaim +most piteously. + +Then the priest, hearing the outcry, alarmed all his servants, crying +out, "The Fox is taken!" and away they all ran to where poor Tibert was +caught in the snare, and, without finding out their mistake, they beat +him most unmercifully, and cruelly wounded one of his eyes. The cat, mad +with pain, suddenly gnawed the cord, and seizing the priest by the legs, +bit him and tore him in such a way that he fell down in a swoon, and +then, as every one ran to help his master, Tibert leaped out of the +hole, and limped as fast as his wounded legs would carry him to the +court where the King was infinitely angry at the treatment he had +received. + +Then Grimbard the Badger, Reynard's nephew fearing it was likely to go +hard with his uncle, offered to go to Malepardus and take the King's +message to his most subtle kinsman; to which his Majesty graciously +consented. So Grimbard set forth; and when he came to Malepardus, he +found Reynard with Dame Ermelin his wife, sporting with their children. +When Grimbard had delivered the King's letter, Reynard found that it +would be better for him to show himself at court at once; so bidding an +affectionate farewell to his dear wife and children, he immediately set +out with the badger to go with him before the King. On his way, Reynard, +remembering the heavy crimes he had committed, and fearing that his end +was at hand, desired of the holy Grimbard, who had always led a hermit's +life, that he would hear him confess, and set him a penance for his +sins. Grimbard bade him proceed. And the fox confessed how shamefully he +had ill-used the bear, and the cat, and the wolf, and Chanticleer's +children, and many other ill-doings during his life; and when he had +finished, he knelt before Grimbard, and said, "Thus have I told you my +wickedness; now order my penance, as shall seem fit in your discretion." + +Grimbard was both learned and wise; and therefore brake a rod from a +tree, and said, "Uncle, you shall three times strike your body with this +rod, and then lay it down upon the ground, and spring three times over +it without bowing your legs or stumbling; then shall you take it up and +kiss it gently, in sign of meekness and obedience to your penance; which +done, you are absolved of your sins committed up to this day, for I +pronounce unto you clear remission." + +[Illustration: REYNARD ATTACKETH LAPRELL THE RABBIT. (PAGE 752.)] + +At this the fox was exceeding glad; and immediately he performed the +penance to Grimbard's satisfaction. But as they went journeying on, it +happened that they passed by the poultry-yard of a convent; and as one +young cock strayed far from the rest, Reynard leaped at him, and caught +him by the feathers, but the cock escaped. + +"Villain that you are," said Grimbard, "will you, for a silly pullet, +fall again into your sins?" + +To which Reynard answered, "Pardon me, dear nephew, I had forgotten +myself; but I will ask forgiveness, and mine eye shall no more wander." + +However, Grimbard noted that he turned many times to look at the +poultry. But soon afterward they arrived at the court. + +As soon as it was bruited in the court that Reynard the Fox and Grimbard +his kinsman were arrived there, every one, from the highest to the +lowest, prepared himself to complain of the fox; at which Reynard's +heart quaked, but his countenance kept the old look, and he went as +proudly as ever he was wont with his nephew through the high street, and +came as gallantly into the court as if he had been the King's son, and +as clear from trespass as the most innocent whosoever; and when he came +before the chair of state in which the King sat, he said, "Heaven give +your Majesty glory and renown above all the princes of the earth." + +But the King cut him short at these words, and said, "Peace, traitorous +Reynard; think you I can be caught with the music of your words? no, it +hath too oft deceived me; the peace which I commanded and swore unto, +that have you broken." + +Then Bellin the Ram, and Oleway his wife, and Bruin the Bear, and Tibert +the Cat, and Isegrim the Wolf, and Kyward the Hare, and Bruel the Goose, +and Baldwin the Ass, and Bortle the Bull, and Hamel the Ox, and +Chanticleer the Cock, and Partlett the Hen, and many others, came +forward; and all these with one entire noise cried out against the fox, +and so moved the King with their complaints, that the fox was taken and +arrested. + +Upon this arrest a parliament was called; and notwithstanding that he +answered every objection severally, and with great art, Reynard was +condemned, and judgment was given that he should be hanged till his body +was dead; at which sentence the fox cast down his head, for all his +jollity was lost, and no flattery nor no words now prevailed. + +Then Isegrim on the one side and Bruin on the other led the poor fox to +the gallows, Tibert running before with the halter. And when they were +come to the place of execution, the King and the Queen, and all the rest +of the nobility, took their places to see the fox die. + +When all things were prepared, the fox said, "Now my heart is heavy, for +death stands in all his horror before me, and I can not escape. My dread +Lord the King, and you my sovereign Lady the Queen, and you my lords +that stand to behold me die, I beseech you grant me this charitable +boon, that I may unlock my heart before you, and clear my soul of her +burdens, so that hereafter no man may be blamed for me; which done, my +death will be easy." + +Every creature now took compassion on the fox, and said his request was +small, beseeching the King to grant it, which was done; and then the fox +thus spake, "Help me, Heaven, for I see no man here whom I have not +offended; yet was this evil no natural inclination in me, for in my +youth I was accounted as virtuous as any breathing. This know, I have +played with the lambs all the day long, and taken delight in their +pretty bleating; yet at last in my play I bit one, and the taste of its +blood was so sweet unto me, that I approved the flesh, and both were so +good, that since I could never forbear it. This liquorish humor drew me +into the woods among the goats, where hearing the bleating of the little +kids, I slew one of them, and afterward two more, which slaughter made +me so hardy, that then I fell to murder hens, geese, and other poultry. +And thus my crimes increased by custom, and fury so possessed me, that +all was fish which came to my net. After this, in the winter season, I +met with Isegrim, where, as he lay hid under a hollow tree, he unfolded +unto me how he was my uncle, and laid the pedigree down so plain, that +from that day forth we became fellows and companions; which knot of +friendship I may ever curse, for then began the flood of our thefts and +slaughters. He stole the great things, I the small; he murdered nobles, +I the mean subjects; and in all our actions his share was still ever the +greatest: when he got a ram or a calf, his fury would hardly afford me +the horns to pick on; nay, when he had an ox or a cow, after himself, +his wife, and his seven children were served, nothing remained to me but +the bare bones to pick. This I speak not in that I wanted (for it is +well known I have more plate, jewels, and coin than twenty carts are +able to carry), but only to show his ingratitude." + +When the King heard him speak of this infinite treasure and riches, his +heart grew inflamed with a desire thereof; and he said, "Reynard, where +is that treasure you speak of?" + +The fox answered: "My Lord, I shall willingly tell you, for it is true +the wealth was stolen; and had it not been stolen in that manner which +it was, it had cost your Highness your life (which Heaven, I beseech, +keep ever in protection)." + +When the Queen heard that dangerous speech, she started, and said: "What +dangers are these you speak of, Reynard? I do command you, upon your +soul's health, to unfold these doubtful speeches, and to keep nothing +concealed which concerns the life of my dread Lord." + +Then the fox in these words unfolded to the King and Queen this most +foul treason: "Know, then, my dread sovereign Lord the King, that my +father, by a strange accident, digging in the ground, found out King +Ermerick's great treasure--a mass of jewels infinite and innumerable; of +which being possessed, he grew so proud and haughty, that he held in +scorn all the beasts of the wilderness, which before had been his +kinsmen and companions. At last he caused Tibert the Cat to go into the +vast forest of Arden to Bruin the Bear, and to tender to him his homage +and fealty; and to say that if it would please him to be king, he should +come into Flanders, where he would show him means how to set the crown +upon his head. Bruin was glad of this embassage (for he was exceeding +ambitious, and had long thirsted for sovereignty), and thereupon came +into Flanders, where my father received him nobly. Then presently he +sent for the wise Grimbard, my nephew, and for Isegrim the Wolf, and for +Tibert the Cat; then these five coming between Gaunt and the village +called Elfe, they held a solemn council for the space of a whole night, +in which, by the assistance of the evil one, and the strong confidence +of my father's riches, it was there concluded that your Majesty should +be forthwith murdered; which to effect, they took a solemn oath in this +manner: the bear, my father, the badger, and the cat, laying their hands +on Isegrim's crown, swore, first to make Bruin their king, and to place +him in the chair of estate at Aeon, and to set the imperial diadem on +his head; and if by any of your Majesty's blood and alliance they should +be gainsaid, that then my father with his treasure should hire those +which should utterly chase and root them out of the forest. Now after +this determination held and finished, it happened that my nephew +Grimbard being on a time high flown with wine, he discovered this dread +plot to Dame Slopecade, his wife, commanding her upon her life to keep +secret the same; but she, forgetful of her charge, disclosed it in +confession to my wife, as they went a pilgrimage over an heath, with +like conjuration of secrecy. But she, woman-like, contained it no longer +than till she met with me, and gave me a full knowledge of all that had +passed, yet so as by all means that I must keep it secret too, for she +had sworn by the Three Kings of Cologne never to disclose it: and withal +she gave me such assurance by certain tokens, that I right well found +all was true which she had spoken; insomuch that the very affright +thereof made my hair stand upright, and my heart become like lead, cold +and heavy in my bosom. + +"But to proceed from this sorrow, I began to meditate how I might undo +my father's false and wicked conspiracies, who sought to bring a base +traitor and a slave into the throne imperial; for I well perceived as +long as he held the treasure, there was a possibility of deposing your +Majesty. And this troubled my thought exceedingly, so that I labored how +I might find out where my father's treasure was hid; and to that end I +watched and attended night and day in the woods, in the bushes, and in +the open fields; nay in all places wheresoever my father laid his eyes, +there was I ever watching and attending. Now it happened on a time, as I +was laid down flat on the ground, I saw my father come running out of a +hole, and as soon as he was come out, he gazed round about him, to see +if any discovered him; then seeing the coast clear, he stopped the hole +with sand, and made it so even, smooth, and plain, that no curious eye +could discern a difference betwixt it and the other earth; and where +the print of his foot remained, that with his tail he stroked over, and +with his mouth so smoothed, that no man might perceive it: and indeed +that and many other subtleties I learned of him there at that instant. +When he had thus finished, away he went toward the village about his +private affairs. Then I went presently toward the hole, and +notwithstanding all his subtlety, I quickly found it; then I entered the +cave, where I found that innumerable quantity of treasure, which can not +be expressed; which found, I took Ermelin my wife to help me; and we +ceased not, day nor night, with infinite great toil and labor, to carry +and convey away this treasure to another place, much more convenient for +us, where we laid it safe from the search of any creature. + +"Thus by my art only was the treason of Bruin defeated, for which I now +suffer. From hence sprang all my misfortune, as thus: these foul +traitors, Bruin and Isegrim, being of the King's privatest council, and +sitting in high and great authority, tread upon me, poor Reynard, and +work my disgrace; notwithstanding, for your Majesty's sake, I have lost +my natural father. O my dread Lord, what is he, or who can tender you a +better affection, thus to lose himself to save you?" + +Then the King and Queen, having great hope to get this inestimable +treasure from Reynard, took him from the gibbet; and the King, taking a +straw from the ground, pardoned the fox of all his trespasses which +either he or his father had ever committed. If the fox now began to +smile, it was no wonder; the sweetness of life required it: yet he fell +down before the King and Queen, and humbly thanked them for mercy, +protesting that for that favor he would make them the richest princes in +the world. + +Then the King began to inquire where all these treasures were hid, and +Reynard told that he had hid them in a wood called Hustreloe, near a +river named Crekinpit. But when the King said that he had never heard of +such a place, Reynard called forth Kyward the Hare from among the rest +of the beasts, and commanded him to come before the King, charging him, +upon his faith and allegiance which he bore to the King and Queen, to +answer truly to such questions as he should ask him. + +The hare answered, "I will speak truth in all things, though I were sure +to die for the same." + +Then the fox said, "Know you not where Crekinpit floweth?" + +"Yes," said the hare, "I have known it any time these dozen years; it +runneth in a wood called Hustreloe, upon a vast and wide wilderness." + +"Well," said the fox, "you have spoken sufficiently; go to your place +again;" so away went the hare. + +Then said the fox, "My sovereign Lord the King, what say you now to my +relation; am I worthy your belief or no?" + +The King said, "Yes, Reynard, and I beseech thee excuse my jealousies; +it was my ignorance which did the evil; therefore forthwith make +preparation that we may go to this pit where the treasure lieth." + +But the fox answered that he could not go with his Majesty without +dishonor; for that at present he was under excommunication, and that it +was necessary that he should go to Rome to be absolved, and that from +thence he intended to travel in the Holy Land. "The course you propose +is good," said the King; "go on and prosper in your intent." + +Then the King mounted on a rock, and addressing his subjects, told them +how that, for divers reasons best known to himself, he had freely given +pardon to Reynard, who had cast his wickedness behind him, and would no +more be guilty of wrong-doing; and furthermore, he commanded them all to +reverence and honor not only Reynard, but also his wife and children. At +this, Isegrim the Wolf and Bruin the Bear inveighed against the fox in +such an unseemly way, that his Majesty caused them both to be arrested +for high treason. Now when the fox saw this, he begged of the Queen that +he might have so much of the bear's skin as would make him a large scrip +for his journey; and also the skin of the wolf's feet for a pair of +shoes, because of the stony ways he would have to pass over. To this the +Queen consented, and Reynard saw his orders executed. + +The next morning Reynard caused his new shoes to be well oiled, and made +them fit his feet as tightly as they had fitted the wolf's. And the King +commanded Bellin the Ram to say mass before the fox; and when he had +sung mass and used many ceremonies over the fox, he hung about Reynard's +neck his rosary of beads, and gave him into his hands a palmer's staff. + +Then the King took leave of him, and commanded all that were about him, +except the bear and the wolf, to attend Reynard some part of his +journey. Oh! he that had seen how gallant and personable Reynard was, +and how well his staff and his mail became him, as also how fit his +shoes were for his feet, it could not have chosen but have stirred in +him very much laughter. But when they had got onward on their way, the +fox entreated all the beasts to return and pray for him, and only begged +of Bellin the Ram and Kyward the Hare that they would accompany him as +far as Malepardus. + +Thus marched these three together; and when Reynard was come to the +gates of his own house, he said to Bellin, "Cousin, I will entreat you +to stay here without a little, while I and Kyward go in." Bellin was +well content; and so the fox and the hare went into Malepardus, where +they found Dame Ermelin lying on the ground with her younglings about +her, who had sorrowed exceedingly for the loss and danger of her +husband; but when she saw his return, her joy was ten times doubled. But +beholding his mail, his staff, and his shoes, she grew into great +admiration, and said, "Dear husband, how have you fared?" so he told all +that had passed with him at the King's court, as well his danger as his +release, and that now he was to go a pilgrimage. As for Kyward, he said +the King had bestowed him upon them, to do with him what they pleased, +affirming that Kyward was the first that had complained of him, for +which, questionless, he vowed to be sharply revenged. + +When Kyward heard these words, he was much appalled, and would fain have +fled away, but he could not, for the fox had got between him and the +gate; who presently seized the hare by the neck, at which the hare cried +unto Bellin for help, but could not be heard, for the fox in a trice had +torn out his throat; which done, he, his wife, and young ones feasted +therewith merrily, eating the flesh, and drinking to the King's health. + +All this while stood Bellin the Ram at the gate, and grew exceedingly +angry both against the fox and the hare, that they made him wait so +long; and therefore called out aloud for Reynard to come away, which +when Reynard heard, he went forth, and said softly to the ram, "Good +Bellin, be not offended, for Kyward is in earnest conference with his +dearest aunt, and entreated me to say unto you, that if you would please +to walk before he would speedily overtake you, for he is light of foot +and speedier than you: nor will his aunt part with him thus suddenly, +for she and her children are much perplexed at my departure." + +"Ay, but," quoth Bellin, "methought I heard Kyward cry for help." + +"How! cry for help! can you imagine he shall receive hurt in my house? +far be such a thought from you; but I will tell you the reason. As soon +as we were come into my house, and that Ermelin my wife understood of my +pilgrimage, presently she fell down in a swoon, which, when Kyward saw, +he cried aloud, 'O Bellin, come, help my aunt, she dies, she dies!'" + +Then said the ram: "In sadness, I mistook the cry, and thought the hare +had been in danger." + +"It was your too much care of him," said the fox. "But, letting this +discourse pass, you remember, Bellin, that yesterday the King and his +council commanded me that, before I departed from the land, I should +send unto him two letters, which I have made ready, and will entreat +you, my dearest cousin, to bear them to his Majesty." + +The ram answered: "I would willingly do you the service if there be +nothing but honorable matter contained in your letters; but I am +unprovided of any thing to carry them in." + +The fox said: "That is provided for you already, for you shall have my +mail, which you may conveniently hang about your neck; I know they will +be thankfully received of his Majesty, for they contain matter of great +importance." + +Then Bellin promised to carry them. So the fox returned into his house, +and took the mail, and put therein the head of Kyward, and brought it to +the ram, and gave him a great charge not to look therein till it was +presented to the King, as he did expect the King's favor; and that he +might further endear himself with his Majesty, he bade the ram take upon +him the inditing of the letters, "which will be so pleasing to the King, +that questionless he will pour upon you many favors." + +This said, Bellin took leave of the fox and went toward the court, in +which journey he made such speed, that he came thither before noon, +where he found the King in his palace sitting among the nobility. + +The king wondered when he saw the ram come in with the mail, which was +made of the bear's skin, and said: "Whence comest thou, Bellin, and +where is the fox, that you have that mail about you?" + +Bellin answered: "My dread Lord, I attended the noble fox to his house, +where, after some repose, he desired me to bear certain letters to your +Majesty of infinite great importance, to which I easily consented. +Wherefore he delivered me the letters inclosed in this mail, which +letters I myself indited, and I doubt not but they are such as will give +your highness both contentment and satisfaction." Presently the King +commanded the letters to be delivered to Bocart, his secretary, who was +an excellent linguist and understood all languages, that he might read +them publicly; so that he and Tibert the Cat took the mail from Bellin's +neck, and opening the same instead of letters they drew out the head of +Kyward the Hare, at which being amazed, they said: "Wo and alas, what +letters call you these? Believe it, my dread Lord, here is nothing but +the head of poor murdered Kyward." + +Which the King seeing, he said, "Alas, how unfortunate was I to believe +the traitorous fox!" And with that, being oppressed with anger, grief, +and shame, he held down his head for a good space, and so did the Queen +also. But in the end, shaking his curled locks, he groaned out such a +dreadful noise, that all the beasts of the forest did tremble to hear +it. + +Then the King, full of wrath, commanded the bear and the wolf to be +released from prison, and gave to them and to their heirs forever Bellin +and all his generation. + +Thus was peace made between the King and these nobles, and Bellin the +Ram was forthwith slain by them; and all these privileges doth the wolf +hold to this hour, nor could ever any reconcilement be made between the +wolf's and the ram's kindred. When this peace was thus finished, the +King, for joy thereof, proclaimed a feast to be held for twelve days +after, which was done with all solemnity. + +To this feast came all manner of wild beasts, for it was known through +the whole kingdom, nor was there wanting any pleasure that could be +imagined. Also to this feast resorted abundance of feathered fowl, and +all other creatures that held peace with his Majesty, and no one missing +but the fox only. + +Now after this feast had thus continued in all pomp the space of eight +days, about high noon came Laprell the Rabbit before the King and Queen, +as they sat at dinner, and with a heavy and lamentable voice said, "My +gracious and great Lord, have pity upon my misery and attend to my +complaint, which is of great violence which Reynard the Fox would +yesterday have committed against me. As I passed by the castle of +Malepardus, supposing to go peaceably toward my nest, I saw the fox, +standing without his gates, attired like a pilgrim and telling his beads +so devoutly, that I saluted him; but he, returning no answer, stretched +forth his right foot, and with his pilgrim's staff gave me such a blow +on the neck between the head and shoulders, that I imagined my head had +been stricken from my body; but yet so much memory was left me that I +leaped from his claws, though most grievously hurt and wounded. At this +he was wrathful extremely, because I escaped; only of one of my ears he +utterly deprived me, which I beseech your Majesty in your royal nature +to pity, and that this bloody murderer may not live thus to afflict your +poor subjects." + +The royal King was much moved with anger when he heard this complaint, +so that his eyes darted out fire among the beams of majesty; his +countenance was dreadful and cruel to look on, and the whole court +trembled to behold him. In the end he said, "By my crown, I will so +revenge these outrages committed against my dignity, that goodness shall +adore me, and the wicked shall die with the remembrance; his falsehood +and flattery shall no more get belief in me. Is this his journey to Rome +and to the Holy Land? are these the fruits of his mail, his staff, and +other ornaments becoming a devout pilgrim? Well, he shall find the +reward of his treason. I will besiege Malepardus instantly, and destroy +Reynard and his generation from the earth forever." + +When Grimbard heard this, he grew exceedingly sorry, and stealing from +the rest, he made all haste to Malepardus, and told to his uncle all +that had happened. Reynard received him with great courtesy, and the +next morning accompanied him back to court, confessing on his way many +heinous sins, and obtaining absolution from the badger. The King +received him with a severe and stately countenance, and immediately +asked him touching the complaint of Laprell the Rabbit. + +To which Reynard made answer, "Indeed, sire, what Laprell received he +most richly deserved. I gave him a cake when he was hungry; and when my +little son Rossel wanted to share a bit, the rabbit struck him on the +mouth and made his teeth bleed; whereupon my eldest son Reynardine +forthwith leaped upon him, and would have slain him had I not gone to +the rescue." Then the rabbit, fearing Reynard, stole away out of court. + +"But," quoth the King, "I must charge you with another foul treason. +When I had pardoned all your great transgressions, and you had promised +me to go a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; when I had furnished you with +mail, scrip, and all things fitting that holy order; then, in the +greatest despite, you sent me back in the mail, by Bellin the Ram, the +head of Kyward the Hare; a thing so notoriously to my disgrace and +dishonor, that no treason can be fouler." + +Then spake Reynard to the King, and said, "Alas, my sovereign Lord, what +is that you have said? Is good Kyward the Hare dead? Oh, where is then +Bellin the Ram, or what did he bring to your Majesty at his return? For +it is certain I delivered him three rich and inestimable jewels, I would +not for the wealth of India they should be detained from you; the chief +of them I determined for you my Lord the King, and the other two for my +sovereign Lady the Queen." + +"But," said the King, "I received nothing but the head of poor murdered +Kyward, for which I executed the ram, he having confessed the deed to be +done by his advice and counsel." + +"Is this true?" said the fox; "then woe is me that ever I was born, for +there are lost the goodliest jewels that ever were in the possession of +any prince living; would I had died when you were thus defrauded, for I +know it will be the death of my wife, nor will she ever henceforth +esteem me." + +Then Reynard told the King and Queen of the great value of these +inestimable jewels. One was a gold ring, another a comb polished like +unto fine silver, and the third was a glass mirror; and so great were +the virtues of this rare glass that Reynard shed tears to think of the +loss of it. When the fox had told all this, he thus concluded, "If any +one can charge me with crime and prove it by witness, here I stand to +endure the uttermost the law can inflict upon me; but if malice only +slander me without witness, I crave the combat, according to the law and +instance of the court." + +Then said the King, "Reynard, you say well, nor know I any thing more of +Kyward's death than the bringing of his head unto me by Bellin the Ram; +therefore of it I here acquit you." + +"My dear Lord," said the fox, "I humbly thank you; yet is his death +grievous unto me." + +But Isegrim the Wolf was not content with this conclusion, and defied +the fox to mortal combat. This challenge the fox accepted; and the next +day was appointed for the meeting. + +When all the ceremonies were done, and none but the combatants were in +the lists, the wolf went toward the fox with infinite rage and fury, +thinking to take him in his fore-feet; but the fox leaped nimbly from +him, and the wolf pursued him, so that there began a tedious chase +between them, on which their friends gazed. The wolf taking larger +strides than the fox, often overtook him, and lifted up his feet to +strike him; but the fox avoided the blow, and smote him on the face with +his tail, so that the wolf was stricken almost blind, and was forced to +rest while he cleared his eyes; which advantage when Reynard saw, he +scratched up the dust with his feet, and threw it in the eyes of the +wolf. This grieved him worse than the former, so that he durst follow +him no longer, for the dust and sand sticking in his eyes smarted so +sore, that of force he must rub and wash it away; which Reynard seeing, +with all the fury he had he ran upon him, and with his teeth gave him +three sore wounds on his head. + +Then the wolf being enraged, said, "I will make an end of this combat, +for I know my very weight is able to crush him to pieces; and I lose +much of my reputation to suffer him thus long to contend against me." +And this said, he struck the fox again so sore a blow on the head with +his foot, that he fell down to the ground; and ere he could recover +himself and arise, the wolf caught him in his feet and threw him under +him, lying upon him in such wise, as if he would have pressed him to +death. + +Then the fox bethought himself how he might best get free: and thrusting +his hand down, he caught the wolf fast by the belly, and he wrung him so +extremely hard thereby, that he made him shriek and howl out with the +anguish, and in the end the wolf fell over and over in a swoon; then +presently Reynard leaped upon him, and drew him about the lists and +dragged him by the legs, and struck, wounded, and bit him in many +places, so that the whole field might take notice thereof. + +Then a great shout was raised, the trumpets were sounded, and every one +cried, "Honor to the fox for this glorious conquest." Reynard thanked +them all kindly, and received their congratulations with great joy and +gladness. And, the marshals going before, they went all to the King, +guarding the fox on every side, all the trumpets, pipes, and minstrelsy +sounding before him. + +When Reynard came before the King he fell on his knees, but the King +bade him stand up, and said to him, "Reynard, you may well rejoice, for +you have won much honor this day; therefore here I discharge you, and +set you free to go whither your own will leads you." So the court broke +up, and every beast returned to his own home. + +With Reynard, all his friends and kinsfolk, to the number of forty, took +their leave also of the King, and went away with the fox, who was no +little glad that he had sped so well, and stood so far in the King's +favor; for now he had power enough to advance whom he pleased, and pull +down any that envied his fortune. + +After some travel the fox and his friends came to his borough or castle +of Malepardus, where they all, in noble and courteous manner, took leave +of each other, and Reynard did to every one of them great reverence, and +thanked them for the love and honor he had received from them, +protesting evermore to remain their faithful servant, and to send them +in all things wherein his life or goods might be available unto them; +and so they shook hands and departed. + +Then the fox went to Dame Ermelin his wife, who welcomed him with great +tenderness; and to her and her children he related at large all the +wonders which had befallen him at court, and missed no tittle or +circumstance therein. Then grew they proud that his fortune was so +excellent; and the fox spent his days from thenceforth, with his wife +and children, in great joy and content. + + + + +A STORY OF AN ORGAN. + +"It is haunted with an evil thing, believe me, sir. Never till the +plowshare has passed over the place will men dwell there in peace." + +The gray-headed speaker turned away, and left me alone to gaze on the +mansion he had thus banned. I had heard the same when I was a child; the +nurse had been chidden for talking of it in my presence, and my own +questions on the subject had always been evaded. Strange that now, after +thirty years' sojourning in a far-off land, I should come back to hear +the same mystery alluded to, the same destiny foretold! The impressions +were more than half effaced; but now, like the colors of a picture +brought to light after long obscurity, they returned vividly to my mind. +I gazed on the mansion; it was the only thing in the village of my birth +that I found greatly changed; but in looking at this once stately Tudor +hall I was reminded painfully how long I had been absent. When I last +saw it, the sunshine had glowed upon the gables and mullions of a goodly +mansion; the clear starlight now only showed a moss-grown ruin. The +balustrades and urns were cracked and thrown down; there were no peacocks +on the sloping lawn, and its once trim grass was overgrown with nettles +and coltsfoot. The quaint-patterned beds of the garden, too, had lost the +shapes of diamonds and stars, and, no longer glittering with flowers, +were scarcely to be distinguished from the walks save by more luxuriant +crops of weeds. The roof of the private chapel had recently fallen in, +and little remained of the building but an exquisitely-sculptured window, +amidst the tracery of which the wall-flower and the ivy had long taken +the place of the herald's blazon. The shadow of all this ruined beauty +was on my spirit; so being just in the humor for a ghostly legend, I +determined, on my return, to ask my friend L., with whom I was spending +a few days, for an explanation of the mystery. Thus much was readily +told. Briarhurst had been suffered to fall into decay ever since old +Sir Lambert's death; another branch of the family had become the +possessors; and as no tenant staid there, the present owner intended +very shortly to have it pulled down. + +"Well, but what is the difficulty of living there?" said I. "It is quite +possible, with the aid of a yearly run up to town in the season, and +plenty of books, to exist even in that 'lonesome lodge' without hanging +one's self. Do any lords spiritual interfere with one's repose?" + +"Ring for Edward and Hetty, my dear," said L. to his wife. Then, turning +to me, "Please don't allude to that subject before the children, or we +shall have them both afraid to stir after dark." + +My curiosity was balked again; so, after a more constrained evening than +we had yet passed, I wished the family good night. My friend followed me +out of the room. + +"Look at that picture for five minutes, while I fetch something," said +he, pointing to a portrait, evidently just rescued from damp and +destruction, that leant against the wall. + +I obeyed. It represented a lady in a white morning dress of the fashion +of a century ago. She was young and beautiful, with bright hair, and +blue eyes of infinite depth and lustre. In her bosom she wore a +curiously-shaped ruby brooch; a bracelet, set with the same stones, was +clasped round the white arm that supported her head; and on her knee was +an open book. Inscribed on its page was the name "Cicely Clayton," and +the initials "L.E." She was apparently seated in some church or chapel, +for over her head was a grotesque Gothic corbel, and the polished oak of +a sombre-looking organ was visible in the back-ground. My eyes had +wandered from the mild face, and I was pondering on the significance of +the Cain and Abel on the carving, when L. returned. + +"I see you are bent on hearing the legend. Professionally connected as I +am with the Evrards and their affairs, it is not my place to encourage +such tales; but you are nobody; and," he added, smiling, "I rather want +to know your opinion of my style: I may turn author one of these days." +So saying, he handed me a few sheets of exceedingly legal-looking paper, +and, wishing me pleasant dreams, left me to the perusal of the following +story. + +From the time of the fourth Henry to the beginning of the present +century, Briarhurst was in the possession of the Evrard family. The last +baronet was a Sir Lambert Evrard; at the time I speak of, a gallant, +hearty gentleman, who, after a youth spent amidst the brilliance and +gayety of the court, the acquaintance of Walpole, and the worshiper of +Lady Montague had, in the evening of his days, settled down at his +country seat, a quiet country gentleman. He was not rich, for his +father's extravagance had mortgaged and wasted every thing available. +Worldly wisdom, undoubtedly, would have had Sir Lambert marry an +heiress, but, most perversely, he chose the Daphne of his early love +sonnets--a lady whose sweet voice and sparkling eyes had captivated him +on his Italian travels. His wife had no fortune, so he could not afford +to keep up a town house, and, soon after the birth of his first son, +came to reside permanently at Briarhurst. They had two sons, whom the +father, before they were three years old, had respectively destined for +the bar and the army, and his time was principally occupied in their +education. It was natural, in the then state of his affairs, that he +should look forward to his sons distinguishing themselves, as the only +means of restoring the family to its former position. Circumstances, +however, pointed out another way by which the desired wealth might be +more easily secured. On the death of a distant relative, Sir Lambert +became the guardian of an orphan heiress; he earnestly hoped his eldest +son would marry her, and thus fulfill the wish of his life. Contrary to +the custom of the heroes and heroines of romance, who always wantonly +thwart the desires of their parents and guardians in affairs of +matrimony, young Lambert Evrard and his beautiful cousin, Cicely +Clayton, glided imperceptibly from childhood's pretty playing at man +and wife to the more serious kind of love-making, and by the time they +had reached respectively the ages of twenty and seventeen, their union +was fixed on. + +The young man was of a strangely meditative turn of mind; he was very +studious, too, and had imbued his ladye love with a taste for the sombre +musings and sage books he loved himself. There is one spot in the old +garden--a knot of lindens shading a broken figure of Niobe--where I have +often fancied those two lovers might have sat. It seems just the place +for such an earnest, thoughtful love as theirs was, to hold communion +in. Lambert inherited from his mother a rare skill in music; and he and +Cicely would spend hours at the organ in the chapel, his fingers seeming +unconsciously to wander over the keys, and his spirit apparently +floating heavenward in the tide of glorious anthem and solemn symphony +his art awakened. He was a painter, too; and many an hour would she sit +before him as he sketched her lovely face, sometimes in the simple dress +she wore at her books or work, at other times as the garlanded +Pastorella, or the green-robed Laura of their favorite poets. His +brother Maurice was seldom their companion in these pursuits. In +disposition, and even in person, he was the very opposite of Lambert. +When a child, his temper had been morose and reserved; and, as he grew +up, all the unamiable points of his character became more conspicuous. +In fact, he was galled perpetually by the manifest superiority of his +brother, by his success in all he undertook, by his popularity with the +tenantry, by Cicely's preference for him. He had great command of +temper, however, and contrived to prevent any outbreaks of passion +before his father or Cicely; but when alone with Lambert he would vent +his ill-humor in sarcasms and taunts that would have bred innumerable +quarrels, had the temper of the elder brother been a whit less equable +than it was. But no human being is less prone to seek offense or +contention than a gentle scholar whose poet-mind is just awakened by the +spirit of love; and such was Lambert Evrard. + +It was settled that the wedding should take place on Cicely's eighteenth +birthday; and preparations had long been making for the ceremony and its +attendant festival, when the destined bridegroom was suddenly taken ill. +His physician never assigned a name to his complaint, and its origin +appeared unaccountable. He was in danger for weeks; and on his being +sufficiently recovered was immediately ordered abroad for change of air. +The marriage was, of course, deferred till his health was +re-established. Maurice, whose attention to his sick brother had been as +exemplary as it was unexpected, accompanied him to the Continent. They +had not been abroad three months before letters brought tidings of his +brother's rapid convalescence. The soft Italian air was doing wonders +for his enfeebled constitution; he was comparatively well, and they +purposed to prolong their absence, and convert the quest of health into +a tour of pleasure. We may be sure that with the announcement of their +intention came many a line of kind regret and wistful longing (lines +destined to be read alone and often), many a leaf plucked from the +haunts of song, and many a plaintive verse inscribed to Cicely. There +were tears, perhaps, when the news of lengthened separation came; but +the lady consoled herself with the reflection that it would prevent +Lambert leaving her after their marriage, and give them both many happy +hours of converse in the sunny days to come. All the hopes and promises +of future happiness, however, were fated to be disappointed. The next +letter that arrived brought news of a fearful calamity. Lambert Evrard +was dead! The particulars of the accident were thus given in a letter +written by a friend of Maurice's, for he himself was too much afflicted +by the event to give any detailed account. It appeared that the brothers +had set out with the intention of ascending one of the loftiest peaks in +the Tyrol, and had started overnight, that they might reach the summit +in time to see the glories of an Alpine sunrise. The guide left them for +a moment to see whether a stream was fordable, when Lambert, attempting, +against his brother's advice, to pass a ledge of rock unassisted by the +mountaineer's pole, fell into a chasm between the glaciers. + +The body was never found. It was said that for days Maurice remained in +the neighborhood, offering immense rewards to any peasant who would even +commence a search for the remains; but the men knew too well the +hopelessness and peril of the task to attempt it. Finding this +unavailing, he left the place. His return was delayed by severe illness; +but at length, in one gray autumn twilight, a traveling-carriage dashed +up the shadowy avenue of Briarhurst, and Maurice was received in his +father's hall--a mourner amid mourners. He was much altered. The demure +severity of his old manner was changed to at least an appearance of +candor and trustfulness. Grief for his brother _seemed_ to have bettered +his whole nature, to have opened his heart to the influences of kindness +and gentleness--to have made him, in short, more lovable. Such appeared +the best interpretation of the change that was wrought in him, and which +showed itself conspicuously in his conduct to the afflicted ones around +him. Kindly and thoughtfully did he console the anguish of his parents, +and with innumerable offices of delicate care and thoughtful +consideration did he show his respect and sympathy for Cicely's +affliction. By no intrusive efforts at comforting, but silently and +gently did he seek to wean his cousin from the remembrance of her +bereavement. By sparing her feelings in every possible way, by avoiding +the mention of Lambert's name, save in a manner calculated to awaken +those tender memories which are the softeners of grief, he strove to +divert Cicely's mind from dwelling too constantly on her dead betrothed; +and thus, without appearing to drive away the impression, he gradually +supplied her with other objects and pursuits; and though at first her +walks were always to the scenes he had loved, and her mornings spent +over the books he had read, their beauties were soon explored with other +interests than those which arose merely from the pleasures of +remembrance. The chapel which had been wont to recall Lambert most +painfully to her mind was now unentered. + +The dell of lindens, through the bright leaves of which the sunbeams had +so often poured upon his open book, was now unfrequented. With none of +the ardor of first love, but with a regard originating in their mutual +sharing of the same grief, and nurtured by gratitude for his constant +sympathy, Cicely accepted Maurice for her lover; then, in obedience to +the earnest wish of those whom she had always reverenced as parents, +consented to be his wife. It had ever been the fervent hope of Sir +Lambert that he might live to see the wealth of his family restored +before he died. The plan for the accomplishment of this wish of a life +had been once fatally disappointed. It was natural, then, that he should +rejoice in this new prospect of its realization. Lady Evrard also was +desirous that the stain the baronet had brought on the family escutcheon +by his marriage with her should be blotted out. Sir Lambert was a kind +husband in the main, but his wife's penetration could not help +perceiving that he often inwardly sighed for the society of his +aristocratic neighbors, when his inability to return their hospitality +made him refuse their invitations. She had another inducement. Her +mother's eye had observed with pleasure what seemed to her the +beneficial influence of adversity upon her wayward son's character, and +she hoped the gentleness of his cousin would complete his reformation. +All seemed to favor the alliance. The day was fixed; and Cicely Clayton, +in a strange mood of alternating doubt and hope, arrayed herself for her +bridal. The hour had come. The wedding party were assembled in the +chapel. Few had been invited, for it had been the express wish of the +bride that the rite should be celebrated as privately as possible. Two +bridemaids, daughters of a neighboring gentleman, Lord R., a friend of +the late Lambert, and the family lawyer were the only bidden guests. +They approached the communion rails. The ruby-tinged sunbeams streamed +through the graceful trefoil on the white-robed Cicely and on the +trembling Maurice. There was need of something to lend a glow to his +haggard face, for he was ghastly pale. No artist's tint was half so +radiant as the rising blush upon her cheek. The minister had commenced +the service; the address had been read; the irrevocable "I will" had +been uttered in a stifled whisper by the bridegroom, had been murmured +in accents of gentlest music by the bride, when, as Maurice received the +ring from the priest, a strange unearthly sound rang through the +chapel--a strange interruption stayed every hand, hushed every voice. +From the organ (untouched since Lambert in his happy youth awoke its +melody) burst forth a wailing, plaintive sound, more like a restless +spirit's cry, than any mortal note--so loud, so long, so wild, that it +seemed to rack the senses that it held in horrible uncertainty till it +was done. Such a strain that nameless minstrel might have used to kindle +prophet-fire in Elisha. Then it stopped. But only for an instant; and a +dirge, sad as the contrite's weeping, clear as the accents of +forgiveness, came from that wondrous organ. Such a strain the +shepherd-harper might have woke who calmed the demon rage in Saul. + +But the second solemn threne was more terrible than the first crashing +peal, for it called up an awful memory and a dark suspicion. It was the +very same air that Lambert had composed and played the night before he +left. With a cry as of recognition the mother stood expectant. With +clasped hands and broken voice the father prayed. Cicely and Maurice +thought only of that strain as they had heard it first. The bride +remembered how on that sad night Lambert had sought to smile away her +tears, and called them dearest tributes to his music. + +It seemed like listening to his voice to hear again that unforgotten +melody; she listened then unfearing, in very delight of spirit; but when +the dirge was done, the influence that had upheld her in such ecstasy +gave way too, and she fell fainting on the steps. The bridegroom +remembered the purpose that was in his heart that night, and which had +made the music jarring discord. In his ears the sound was but the voice +of retribution, and, in an agony of passion, he hurried down the aisle +to see who woke a strain so dreadful to him. But no human hand had +touched the keys. + +Maurice was taken to bed in a state of delirium, and expired the next +morning. Those who watched beside him remembered long, that through the +live-long night he raved of nothing but a deep abyss that he was falling +down, and that he prayed them to stretch a hand and help him, for that +down there rotted a ghastly corpse, whose stare was death to him. + +The vault in Briarhurst church was next opened to receive the remains of +Lady Evrard. + +Cicely survived for some years, the good genius of the village poor, a +ministering angel to the sorrowing and the helpless; then, full of that +glorious confidence which faith engenders, entered into her rest. + +Sir Lambert lived to a great age; but happily he had sunk into perfect +childishness before Cicely was taken from him. It was a sad sight to +watch that desolate old man as he would sometimes wander about the +neglected shrubbery, or sometimes stand pondering before the pictures of +his sons and of their betrothed bride, apparently quite forgetful of the +features of Lambert and Maurice, but often asking anxiously why the +beautiful lady that was once so kind to him sat always silent now. + + + + +THE HOUSEHOLD OF SIR THOs. MORE. + +[Concluded from the October Number.] + +LIBELLUS A MARGARETA MORE, QUINDECIM ANNOS NATA, CHELSEIÆ INCEPTVS. + + "Nulla dies sine linea." + + + September. + +Seeing ye woodman fell a noble tree, which, as it went to the ground, +did uptear several small plants by ye roots, methoughte such woulde be +the fall of dear father, herein more sad than that of the abbot of Sion +and the Charterhouse monks, inasmuch as, being celibate, they involve +noe others in theire ruin. Brave, holie martyrs! how cheerfully they +went to theire death. I'm glad to have seene how pious men may turn e'en +an ignominious sentence into a kind of euthanasy. Dear father bade me +note how they bore themselves as bridegrooms going to theire marriage, +and converted what mighte have beene a shock to my surcharged spiritts, +into a lesson of deep and high comfort. + +One thing hath grieved me sorelie. He mistooke somewhat I sayd at +parting for an implication of my wish that he shoulde yield up his +conscience. Oh, no, dearest father, that be far from me! It seems to +have cut him to the heart, for he hath writ that "none of the terrible +things that may befall him touch him soe nearlie as that his dearly +beloved child, whose opinion he soe much values, shoulde desire him to +overrule his conscience." That be far from me, father! I have writ to +explayn the matter, but his reproach, undeserved though it be, hath +troubled my heart. + + + November. + +Parliament will meet to-morrow. 'Tis expected father and ye good bishop +of Rochester will be attainted for misprison of treason by ye slavish +members thereof, and though not given hithertoe unto much heede of omens +and bodements while our hearts were light and our courage high, yet now +ye coming evil seemeth foreshadowed unto alle by I know not how many +melancholick presages, sent, for aught we know, in mercy. Now that the +days are dark and short, and the nights stormy, we shun to linger much +after dusk in lone chambers and passages, and what was sayd of the +enemies of Israel may be nigh sayd of us, "that a falling leaf shall +chase them." I'm sure "a going in the tops of the mulberry-trees" on a +blusterous evening, is enow to draw us alle, men, mothers, and maids, +together in an heap.... We goe about ye house in twos and threes, and +care not much to leave the fireside. Last Sunday we had closed about ye +the hearth, and little Bill was a reading by the fire-light how +Herodias' daughter danced off the head of St. John the Baptist, when +down comes an emptie swallow's nest tumbling adown the chimnie, bringing +with it enow of soot, smoke, and rubbish to half smother us alle; but +the dust was nothing to the dismay thereby occasioned, and I noted one +or two of our bravest turn as pale as death. Then, the rats have +skirmished and galloped behind the wainscoat more like a troop of horse +than a herd of such smaller deer, to ye infinite annoyance of mother, +who coulde not be more firmly persuaded they were about to leave a +falling house, if, like the sacred priests in the temple of Jerusalem, +she had heard a voyce utter, "Let us depart hence." The round upper half +of the cob-loaf rolled off the table this morning, and Rupert, as he +picked it up, gave a kind of shudder, and muttered somewhat about a head +rolling from the scaffold. Worse than this was o' Tuesday night.... +'Twas bedtime, and yet none were liking to goe, when, o' suddain, we +hearde a screech that made every body's heart thrill, followed by one or +two hollow groans. Will snatches up the lamp and runs forth, I close +following, and alle the others at our heels, and after looking into +sundrie deserted cupboards and corners, we descend the broad stone steps +of the cellars, halfway down which Will, stumbling over something he +sees not, takes a flying leap to clear himself down to the bottom, +luckily without extinguishing the lamp. We find Gillian on the steps in +a swoon; on bringing her to, she exclayms about a ghost without a head, +wrapped in a winding-sheet, that confronted her and then sank to the +ground as she entered the vaults. We cast a fearfulle look about, and +descry a tall white sack of flour, recently overturned by the rats, +which clears up the mystery, and procures Gillian a little jeering, but +we alle return to the hall with fluttered spiritts. Another time I, +going up to the nurserie in the dark, on hearing baby cry, am passed on +the stairs by I know not what breathing heavilie. I reach forthe my arm, +but pass cleare through the spirituall nature, whatever it is, yet +distinctlie feel my cheek and neck fanned by its breath. I turn very +faint, and get nurse to goe with me when I return, bearing a light, yet +think it as well to say naught to distress the rest. + +But worst of alle was last night ... After I had been in bed awhile, I +minded me that deare Will had not returned me father's letter. I awoke +him and asked if he had broughte it upstairs; he sleepily replied he had +not, soe I hastily arose, threw on a cloke, took a light, and entered +the gallery, when, halfway along it, between me and the pale moonshine, +I was scared to behold a slender figure alle in white, with naked feet +and arms extended. I stoode agaze, speechlesse, and to my terror made +out the features of Bess ... her eyes open, but vacant; then saw John +Dancey softly stealing after her, and signing to me with his finger on +his lips. She passed without noting me, on to father's door, there knelt +as if in prayer, making a low sort of wail, while Dancey, with tears +running down his cheeks, whispered, "'Tis the third time of her thus +sleep-walking ... the token of how troubled a mind!" + +We disturbed her not, dreading that a suddain waking might bring on +madness; soe, after making moan awhile, she kisses the senseless door, +rises up, moves toward her own chamber, followed by Dancey and me, +wrings her hands a little, then lies down, and graduallie falls into +what seems a dreamless sleep, we watching her in silence till she's +quiet, and then squeezing each other's hands ere we part. + +... Will was wide awake when I got back; he sayd, "Why, Meg, how long +you have beene! coulde you not lighte on the letter?" ... When I tolde +him what had hindered me by the way, he turned his face to the wall and +wept. + + + Midnight. + +The wild wind is abroad, and, methinketh, _nothing else_. Sure, how it +rages through our empty courts! In such a season, men, beasts, and fowls +cower beneath ye shelter of their rocking walls, yet almost fear to +trust them. Lord, I know that thou canst give the tempest double force, +but do not, I beseech thee! Oh! have mercy on the frail dwelling and the +ship at sea. + +Dear little Bill hath ta'en a feverish attack. I watch beside him while +his nurse sleeps. Earlie in the night his mind wandered, and he told me +of a pretty ring-streaked poney noe bigger than a bee, that had golden +housings and barley-sugar eyes; then dozed, but ever and anon kept +starting up, crying "Mammy, dear!" and softlie murmured "Oh" when he saw +I was by. At length I gave him my forefinger to hold, which kept him +ware of my presence without speaking, but presentlie he stares hard +toward ye foot of the bed, and says fearfullie, "Mother, why hangs yon +hatchet in the air, with its sharp edge turned toward us?" I rise, move +the lamp, and say, "Do you see it now?" He sayth, "No, not now," and +closes his eyes. After a good space, during the which I hoped he slept, +he says in quite an altered tone, most like unto soft, sweet music, +"There's a pretty little cherub there now, alle head and noe body, with +two little wings aneath his chin; but, for alle he's soe pretty, he is +just like dear Gaffer, and seems to know me ... and he'll have a body +agayn, too, I believe, by and by ... Mother, mother, tell Hobbinol +there's such a gentle lamb in heaven!" And soe, slept. + + * * * * * + +He's gone, my pretty ...! slipt through my fingers like a bird! upfled +to his own native skies, and yet whenas I think on him, I can not choose +but weepe.... Such a guileless little lamb!... My Billy-bird! his +mother's owne heart. They are alle wondrous kind to' me.... + + * * * * * + +How strange that a little child shoulde be permitted to suffer soe much +payn, when of such is the kingdom of heaven! But 'tis onlie transient, +whereas a mother makes it permanent, by thinking it over and over agayn. +One lesson it taughte us betimes, that a naturall death is not, +necessarilie, the most easie. We must alle die.... As poor Patteson was +used to say, "The greatest king that ever was made, must bed at last +with shovel and spade," ... and I'd sooner have my Billy's baby deathbed +than King Harry's, or Nan Boleyn's either, however manie years they may +yet carry matters with a high hand. Oh, you ministers of evill, whoever +you be, visible or invisible, you shall not build a wall between my God +and me.... I've something within me, grows stronger and stronger, as +times grow more and more evill; some woulde call it resolution, but +methinketh 'tis faith. + +Meantime, father's foes ... alack that anie can shew 'emselves such! are +aiming by fayr seemings of friendlie conference, to draw from him +admissions they can come at after noe other fashion. The new Solicitor +General hath gone to ye Tower to deprive him of ye few books I have +taken him from time to time.... Ah, Master Rich, you must deprive him of +his brains afore you can rob him of their contents!... and, while having +'em packt up, he falls into easie dialogue with him, as thus ... "Why +now, sure, Mr. More, were there an act of parliament made that all ye +realm shoulde take me for king, you woulde take me for such with the +rest." + +"Aye, that would I, sir," returns father. + +"Forsooth, then," pursues Rich, "we'll suppose another act that should +make me the Pope. Would you not take me for Pope?" + +"Or suppose another case, Mr. Rich," returns father, "that another act +shoulde pass, that God shoulde not be God, would you say well and good?" + +"No, truly," returns the other hastily, "for no parliament coulde make +such act lawful." + +"True, as you say," repeats father, "they coulde not" ... soe eluded the +net of the fowler; but how miserable and unhandsome a device to lay wait +for him thus, to catch him in his talk. + +... I stole forthe, ere 'twas lighte, this damp, chill morning, to pray +beside the little grave, but found dear Daisy there before me. How +Christians love one another! + +Will's loss is as heavie as mine, yet he bears with me tenderlie. +Yesternighte, he sayth to me half reproachfullie, "Am not I better unto +thee than ten sons?" + + + March, 1534. + +Spring comes, that brings rejuvenescence to ye land, and joy to the +heart, but it brings none to us, for where hope dieth, joy dieth. But +patience, soul; God's yet in the aumry! + + * * * * * + +May 7. Father arraigned. + + * * * * * + +July 1. By reason of Will's minding to be present at ye triall, which, +for the concourse of spectators, demanded his earlie attendance, he +committed the care of me, with Bess, to Dancey, who got us places to see +father on his way from the Tower to Westminster Hall. We coulde not come +at him for the press, but clambered on a bench to gaze our very hearts +away after him as he went by, sallow, thin, gray-haired, yet in mien not +a whit cast down. Wrapt in a coarse woollen gown, and leaning on a +staff, which unwonted support when Bess markt, she hid her eyes on my +shoulder and wept sore, but soon lookt up agayn, though her eyes were +soe blinded, I think she coulde not see him. His face was calm, but +grave, as he came up, but just as he passed he caughte the eye of some +one in the crowd, and smiled in his old, frank way; then glanced up +toward the windows with the bright look he hath soe oft cast to me at my +casement, but saw us not. I coulde not help crying "Father," but he +heard me not; perchance 'twas soe best.... I woulde not have had his +face cloud at ye sighte of poor Bessy's tears. + +... Will tells me the indictment was ye longest ever hearde; on four +counts. First, his opinion on the king's marriage. Second, his writing +sundrie letters to the Bishop of Rochester, counselling him to hold out. +Third, refusing to acknowledge his grace's supremacy. Fourth, his +positive deniall of it, and thereby willing to deprive the king of his +dignity and title. + +When the reading of this was over, the Lord Chancellor sayth, "You see +how grievouslie you have offended the king his grace, but and yet he is +soe mercifulle, as that if ye will lay aside your obstinacie, and change +your opinion, we hope ye may yet obtayn pardon." + +Father makes answer ... and at sounde of his deare voyce alle men hold +their breaths.... "Most noble Lords, I have great cause to thank your +honors for this your courtesie ... but I pray Almighty God I may +continue in the mind I'm in, through his grace, until death." + +They coulde not make good their accusation agaynst him. 'Twas onlie on +the last count he could be made out a traitor, and proof of 't had they +none; how coulde they have? He shoulde have beene acquitted out of hand, +'steade of which, his bitter enemy, my Lord Chancellor, called on him +for his defense. Will sayth there was a general murmur or sigh ran +through ye court. Father, however, answered the bidding by beginning to +express his hope that the effect of long imprisonment mighte not have +beene such upon his mind and body, as to impair his power of rightlie +meeting alle ye charges agaynst him ... when, turning faint with long +standing, he staggered and loosed hold of his staff, whereon he was +accorded a seat. 'Twas but a moment's weakness of the body, and he then +proceeded frankly to avow his having always opposed the king's marriage +to his grace himself, which he was soe far from thinking high treason, +that he shoulde rather have deemed it treachery to have withholden his +opinion from his sovereign king when solicited by him for his counsell. +His letters to ye good Bishop he proved to have beene harmlesse. +Touching his declining to give his opinion, when askt, concerning the +supremacy, he alleged there coulde be noe transgression in holding his +peace thereon, God only being cognizant of our thoughts. + +"Nay," interposeth the Attorney Generall, "your silence was the token of +a malicious mind." + +"I had always understoode," answers father, "that silence stoode for +consent. Qui tacet, consentire videtur;" which made sundrie smile. On +the last charge, he protested he had never spoken word against ye law +unto anie man. + +The jury are about to acquit him, when up starts the Solicitor Generall, +offers himself as witness for the crown, is sworn, and gives evidence of +his dialogue with father in the Tower, falselie adding, like a liar as +he is, that on his saying "No parliament coulde make a law that God +shoulde not be God," father had rejoined, "No more coulde they make the +king supreme head of the Church." + +I marvell the ground opened not at his feet. Father brisklie made +answer, "If I were a man, my lords, who regarded not an oath, ye know +well I needed not stand now at this bar. And if the oath which you, Mr. +Rich, have just taken, be true, then I pray I may never see God in the +face. In good truth, Mr. Rich, I am more sorry for your perjurie than my +perill. You and I once dwelt long together in one parish; your manner of +life and conversation from your youth up were familiar to me, and it +paineth me to tell ye were ever held very light of your tongue, a great +dicer and gamester, and not of anie commendable fame either there or in +the Temple, the inn to which ye have belonged. Is it credible, +therefore, to your lordships, that the secrets of my conscience touching +the oath, which I never woulde reveal, after the statute once made, +either to the king's grace himself, nor to anie of you, my honorable +lords, I should have thus lightly blurted out in private parley with Mr. +Rich?" + +In short, the villain made not goode his poynt; ne'erthelesse, the issue +of this black day was aforehand fixed; my Lord Audley was primed with a +virulent and venomous speech; the jury retired, and presentlie returned +with a verdict of Guilty; for they knew what the king's grace would have +'em doe in that case. + +Up starts my Lord Audley--commences pronouncing judgment, when-- + +"My lord," says father, "in my time, the custom in these cases was ever +to ask the prisoner before sentence, whether he could give anie reason +why judgment shoulde not proceed agaynst him." + +My lord, in some confusion, puts the question. + +And then came ye frightfulle sentence. + +Yes, yes, my soul, I know; there were saints of old sawn asunder. Men of +whom the world was not worthy. + +... Then he spake unto 'em his mind, how that after lifelong studdy, he +could never find that a layman mighte be head of the church. And bade +his judges and accusers farewell; hoping that like as St. Paul was +present and consenting unto St. Stephen's death, and yet both were now +holy saints in heaven, soe he and they might speedilie meet there, joint +heirs of e'erlasting salvation. + +Meantime, poor Bess and Cecilie, spent with grief and long waiting, were +forct to be carried home by Heron, or ever father returned to his +prison. Was't less feeling, or more strength of body, enabled me to bide +at the Tower wharf with Dancey? God knoweth. They brought him back by +water; my poor sisters must have passed him.... The first thing I saw +was the ax, _turned with its edge toward him_--my first note of his +sentence. I forct my way through the crowd ... some one laid a cold hand +on mine arm; 'twas poor Patteson, soe changed I scarce knew him, with a +rosary of gooseberries he kept running through his fingers. He sayth, +Bide your time, mistress Meg; when he comes past, I'll make a passage +for ye.... Oh, brother, brother! what ailed thee to refuse the oath? +_I've_ taken it! In another moment, "Now, mistress, now!" and flinging +his arms right and left, made a breach through which I darted, fearlesse +of bills and halberds, and did fling mine arms about father's neck. He +cries, "My Meg!" and hugs me to him as though our very souls shoulde +grow together. He sayth, "Bless thee, bless thee! Enough, enough, my +child; what mean ye, to weep and break mine heart? Remember, though I +die innocent, 'tis not without the will of God, who coulde send 's +angels to rescue me if 'twere best; therefore possess your soul in +patience. Kiss them alle for me, thus and thus" ... soe gave me back +into Dancey's arms, the guards about him alle weeping; but I coulde not +thus lose sight of him forever; soe, after a minute's pause, did make a +second rush, brake away from Dancey, clave to father agayn, and agayn +they had pitie on me, and made pause while I hung upon his neck. This +time there were large drops standing on his dear brow; and the big tears +were swelling into his eyes. He whispered, "Meg, for Christ's sake don't +unman me; thou'lt not deny my last request?" I sayd, "Oh! no;" and at +once loosened mine arms. "God's blessing be with you," he sayth with a +last kiss. I could not help crying, "My father! my father!" "The chariot +of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!" he vehementlie whispers, pointing +upward with soe passionate a regard, that I look up, almost expecting a +beatific vision; and when I turn about agayn, he's gone, and I have noe +more sense nor life till I find myself agayn in mine own chamber, my +sisters chafing my hands. + + * * * * * + +Alle's over now ... they've done theire worst, and yet I live. There +were women coulde stand aneath ye cross. The Maccabees' mother-- ... +yes, my soul, yes; I know--Naught but unpardoned sin.... The chariot of +Israel. + + * * * * * + +Dr. Clement hath beene with us. Sayth he went up as blythe as a +bridegroom to be clothed upon with immortality. + +Rupert stoode it alle out. Perfect love casteth out feare. Soe did his. + + * * * * * + +... My most precious treasure is this deare billet, writ with a coal; +the last thing he sett his hand to, wherein he sayth, "I never liked +your manner toward me better than when you kissed me last." + +They have let us bury his poor mangled trunk; but, as sure as there's a +sun in heaven, I'll have his head!--before another sun hath risen, too. +If wise men won't speed me, I'll e'en content me with a fool. + +I doe think men, for ye most part, be cowards in theire hearts ... +moral cowards. Here and there, we find one like father, and like +Socrates, and like ... this and that one, I mind not theire names just +now; but in ye main, methinketh they lack the moral courage of women. +Maybe, I'm unjust to 'em just now, being crost. + + * * * * * + +... I lay down, but my heart was waking. Soon after the first cock crew, +I hearde a pebble cast agaynst my lattice, knew ye signall, rose, +dressed, stole softlie down and let myself out. I knew the touch of ye +poor fool's fingers; his teeth were chattering, 'twixt cold and fear, +yet he laught aneath his breath as he caught my arm and dragged me after +him, whispering, "Fool and fayr lady will cheat 'em yet." At the stairs +lay a wherry with a couple of boatmen, and one of 'em stepping up to me, +cries, "Alas for ruth, mistress Meg, what is 't ye do? Art mad to go on +this errand?" I sayd, "I shall be mad if I go not, and succeed too--put +me in, and push off." + +We went down the river quietlie enow--at length reach London Bridge +stairs. Patteson, starting up, says, "Bide ye all as ye are," and +springs aland and runneth up to the bridge. Anon, returns, and sayth, +"Now, mistress, alle's readie ... readier than ye wist ... come up +quickly, for the coast's clear." Hobson (for 'twas he) helps me forth, +saying, "God speed ye, mistress.... Gin I dared, I woulde goe with ye." +... Thought I, there be others in that case. + +Nor lookt I up, till aneath the bridge-gate, when casting upward a +fearsome look, I beheld ye dark outline of the ghastly yet precious +relic; and, falling into a tremour, did wring my hands and exclaym, +"Alas, alas, that head hath lain full manie a time in my lap, woulde +God, woulde God it lay there now!" When, o' suddain, I saw the pole +tremble and sway toward me; and stretching forth my apron, I did in an +extasy of gladness, pity, and horror, catch its burthen as it fell. +Patteson, shuddering, yet grinning, cries under his breath, "Managed I +not well, mistress? Let's speed away with our theft, for fools and their +treasures are soon parted; but I think not they'll follow hard after us, +neither, for there are well-wishers to us on the bridge. I'll put ye +into the boat, and then say, God speed ye, lady, with your burthen." + + * * * * * + +Rizpah, daughter of Aiah, did watch her dead from the beginning of +harvest until the latter rain, and suffered neither the birds of the air +to light on them by day, nor the wild beasts of the the field by night. +And it was told the king, but he intermeddled not with her. + +Argia stole Polynices' body by night and buried it, for the which, she +with her life did willingly pay forfeit. Antigone, for aiding in the +pious theft, was adjudged to be buried alive. Artemisia did make +herself her loved one's shrine, by drinking his ashes. Such is the love +of woman; many waters can not quench it, neither can the floods drown +it. I've hearde Bonvisi tell of a poor Italian girl, whose brothers did +slay her lover; and in spite of them, she got his heart, and buried it +in a pot of basil, which she watered day and night with her tears, just +as I do my coffer. Will has promised it shall be buried with me; layd +upon my heart; and since then, I've beene easier. + +He thinks he shall write father's life, when he gets more composed, and +we are settled in a new home. We are to be cleared out o' this in alle +haste; the king grutches at our lingering over father's footsteps, and +gazing on the dear familiar scenes associate with his image; and yet, +when the news of the bloody deed was taken to him, as he sate playing at +tables with Queen Anne, he started up and scowled at her, saying, "Thou +art the cause of this man's death!" Father might well say, during our +last precious meeting in the Tower, "'Tis I, Meg, not the king, that +love women. They bely him; he onlie loves himself." Adding, with his own +sweet smile, "Your Gaffer used to say that women were a bag of snakes, +and that the man who put his hand therein woulde be lucky if he founde +one eel among them alle; but 'twas onlie in sport, Meg, and he owned +that I had enough eels to my share to make a goodly pie, and called my +house the eel-pie house to the day of his death. 'Twas our Lord Jesus +raised up women and shewed kindnesse unto 'em, and they've kept theire +level, in the main, ever since." + +I wish Will may sett down everie thing of father's saying he can +remember; how precious will his book then be to us! But I fear me, these +matters adhere not to a man's memory ... he'll be telling of his doings +as Speaker and Chancellor, and his saying this and that in Parliament. +Those are the matters men like to write and to read; he won't write it +after my fashion. + +I had a misgiving of Will's wrath, that night, 'speciallie if I failed; +but he called me his brave Judith. Indeed I was a woman bearing a head, +but one that had oft lain on my shoulder. + +My thoughts beginne to have connexion now; but till last night, I slept +not. 'Twas scarce sunsett. Mercy had been praying beside me, and I lay +outside my bed, inclining rather to stupor than sleep. O' suddain, I +have an impression that some one is leaning over me, though I hear 'em +not nor feel theire breath. I start up, cry "Mercy!" but she's not there +nor anie one else. I turn on my side and become heavie to sleep; but or +ere I drop quite off, agayn I'm sensible or apprehensive of some living +consciousness between my closed eyelids and the setting sunlight; agayn +start up and stare about, but there's nothing. Then I feel like ... like +Eli, maybe, when the child Samuel came to him twice; and tears well into +mine eyes, and I close 'em agayn, and say in mine heart, "If he's at +hand, oh, let me see him next time ... the third time's lucky." But +'steade of this, I fall into quiet, balmy, dreamlesse sleep. Since then, +I've had an abiding, assuring sense of help, of a hand upholding me, and +smoothing and glibbing the way before me. + +We must yield to ye powers that be. At this present, we are weak, but +they are strong; they are honourable, but we are despised. They have +made us a spectacle unto the world, and, I think, Europe will ring with +it; but at this present hour, they will have us forth of our home, +though we have as yet no certayn dwelling-place, and must flee as scared +pigeons from their dove-cot. No matter, our men are willing to labour, +and our women to endure; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we +suffer it. Onlie I marvell how anie honest man, coming after us, will be +able to eat a mouthful of bread with a relish within these walls. And, +methinketh, a dishonest man will have sundrie frights from the Lares and +Lemures. There 'ill be dearth o' black beans in ye market. + +Flow on, bright shining Thames. A good brave man hath walked aforetime +on your margent, himself as bright, and usefull, and delightsome as be +you, sweet river. And like you, he never murmured; like you, he upbore +the weary, and gave drink to the thirsty, and reflected heaven in his +face. I'll not swell your full current with any more fruitless tears. +There's a river whose streams make glad the city of our God. He now +rests beside it. Good Christian folks, as they hereafter pass this spot, +upborne on thy gentle tide, will, maybe, point this way, and say--"There +dwelt Sir Thomas More;" but whether they doe or not, _vox populi_ is a +very inconsiderable matter, for the majority are evil, and "_the people_ +sayd, Let him be crucified!" Who would live on theire breath? They +hailed St. Paul as Jupiter, and then stoned him and cast him out of the +city, supposing him to be dead. Theire favourite of to-day may, for what +they care, goe hang himself to-morrow in his surcingle. Thus it must be +while the world lasts; and the very racks and scrues wherewith they aim +to overcome the nobler spiritt, onlie test and reveal its power of +exaltation above the heaviest gloom of circumstance. + +_Interfecistis, interfecistis hominem omnium Anglorum optimum._ + + + + +THE FLYING ARTIST. + + +Karl Herwitz is a German. He is about fifty years of age, and one of the +most original of characters. Since I have known him, I have passed whole +nights in listening to his adventures, which are in general as +instructive as they are amusing. Married at a very early age, he left +the military career for that of inventions. He had a most marvelous +talent for conceiving novel machines, often of practical utility; but +his soul was set upon perfecting a flying machine. To this he had +devoted nearly his whole life. He made models, he tried experiments, he +brought to bear all his prodigious knowledge of mathematics on the +subject of traveling in air, with an enthusiasm, a childish earnestness, +which is not uncharacteristic of genius. He studied every natural law +which was likely to advance him toward the consummation of all his hopes +and desires, namely, the ability to fly. At one time his little garden +was turned into an aviary. He filled it with birds of various kinds, to +study the mechanism of their powers of flight. There was the eagle and +the dove, the vulture and the sparrow, all of which were made +subservient to his darling object. He has often explained all this to +me. "The Golden Eagle," he once said, "can cleave the air at the rate of +forty miles an hour. Now, if I can succeed in imitating the mechanism by +which he travels in space, exactly and efficiently, of course, my +machine will move in the air at the same pace." What could I say? No +argument, no warning availed. Still he went on, hoping and working, and +buying expensive tools and materials. He completed aerial ships one +after another; and although none of them answered, he was never +discouraged. + +At one time, however, he thought he had succeeded. His contrivance was a +curious affair, shot out of a bomb; but it was about as buoyant as a +shot, fell, and failed, disheartening every body but the persevering +projector. Still he did not wholly neglect useful productions, and +several times made improvements in mechanism, and sold them for very +good prices. But the money went as fast as it came. His winged Pegasus +was a merciless Ogre, which swallowed up all the money the old German +earned. + +Last Christmas-eve, in Paris, five of us were collected, after dinner, +round a roaring fire, half wood, half charcoal. For some time the +conversation was general enough. We spoke of England and of an English +Christmas. The magic spell of the fireside was felt, and the word "home" +hung on the trembling lip of all; for we were in a foreign land; we were +all English, save one. There was a lawyer, the most unlawyer-like man I +ever knew, a noble-hearted fellow, whom to know is to like; there was a +poet, of an eccentric order of merit, whose love of invective, bitter +satire, and intense propensity to hate--whose fantastic and Germanic +cast of philosophy will ever prevent his succeeding among rational +beings; then there was an artist, a young man well known in the world, +not half so much as he deserves, if kindness of soul could ever make a +man famous; there was Citizen Karl Herwitz, as he loved to be called; +lastly myself. I had been speaking of some far-off land, relating some +personal adventure; and, with commendable modesty, feeling that I had +held possession of the chair quite long enough, paused for a reply. + +"Tell us your adventures at the court of Konningen," said the poet, +standing up to see that his hair hung tastefully around his shoulders, +addressing at the same time Karl, and mentioning the name of one of the +smaller German states. "I have heard it before, but it will be new to +the rest, and I promise them a rich treat." + +"Ah!" sighed the German, with a huge puff at his long pipe; "that _was_ +an adventure--or, rather, a whole string of adventures. I have told it +several times; but, if you like, I will tell it again." + +All warmly called on the German to keep his promise. After freshly +loading his pipe, and taking a drain at his glass, he drew his armchair +closer to the fire, settled his feet on the _chenets_, and began his +narrative in a quaint and strange English, which I shall not seek to +copy: + +I had spent all my money. I had sold all my property. There remained +nothing but a little furniture in my house, which was in a quiet retired +quarter of the town; but then I had completed a machine, and sent it for +the approval of the Minister of the Interior, who promised to purchase +it for the government. I now looked forward with delight to a long +career of success, and saw the completion of my flying machine in +prospect. On this I depended, and still depend, for fame, reputation, +and fortune. + +I had then a good wife and four children; she is dead now.--The German +paused, puffed away vigorously at his pipe, and tried to hide his +emotion from our view by enveloping himself in smoke.-- + +I was naturally impatient for some result,--he continued, when his face +became once more visible.--I used to go every day to the Minister, and +wait in the ante-chamber, with other suitors, for my turn. Weeks passed, +and then months, and yet it never came. But we must all eat, and six +mouths are not fed for nothing. We had no resources, save our clothes +and our furniture. My clothes were needed to go out with, so the +furniture went first. One article was sold, and the produce applied by +my careful wife to the wants of the family. We had come to that point +when food is the only thing which must be looked on as a necessity. We +lived hardly, indeed. Bread, and a little soup, was all we ever +attempted to indulge in. + +Six months passed without any change for the better. I went to the +Minister's every day; sometimes I saw him, and sometimes I did not. He +was always very polite, bowed to me affably, said my machine was under +consideration, should be reported on immediately, and passed on his way. +It was the dead of winter. Every article of furniture was now gone, my +wife and children having not gone out for two months for want of +clothes. We huddled together, for warmth, on two straw mattresses, in +the corner of an empty room, without table, without chairs, without +fire. Catherine had nothing to wear but an old cotton gown and one +under-garment. We had not eaten food for a day and a night, when I rose +in the morning to go to the Minister's. I felt savage, irate, furious. I +thought of my starving and perishing family, of the long delay which had +taken place in the consideration of my machine. I compared the luxurious +ease of the Minister with my own position, and was inclined to do some +desperate act. I think I could have turned conspirator, and have +overthrown the government. I was already half a misanthrope. + +When I entered the Minister's ante-chamber, I placed myself, as usual, +near the stove. I kept away from the well-dressed mob as much as +possible. They were solicitors, it is true, and humble enough, some of +them; but then they had good coats on, smart uniforms, polite boots, and +came, perhaps, in carriages. I came on foot, clad in a long frock +reaching almost to my heels, patched in several places; with trowsers so +darned about the calves as to be almost falling to pieces; with boots +which were absolutely only worn for look, for they had no soles to them. +My hat, too, was a dreadful-looking thing. This day, being faint with +hunger, and pinched by the cold, the heat of the room overcame me, and I +grew dizzy. I am sure I knew nothing of what passed around. I saw my +wife and children, through a misty haze, starving with hunger and cold. +A basket full of logs of wood lay beside my knee. Reckless, wild, not +caring who saw me, I took a thick log, huddled it under my frock, and +went away. I passed the porter's lodge unseen; I was in the open air; I +was proud, I was happy. _I had stolen a log of wood_; but my children +would have fire for one day. + +When I got home I went to bed. I was feverish and ill; wild shapes +floated round me; I saw the officers of justice after me; I beheld a +furious mob chasing me along interminable fields; and on every hedge, +and every tree, and every house, and every post, I read, in large +letters, the word 'thief.' It was evening when I awoke. I looked around +for some minutes without moving or speaking; a delicious fragrance +seemed to fill the air, a fire blazed on the hearth, and round it +huddled my wife and children, sitting on logs of wood. I rubbed my eyes: +The presence of these logs of wood seemed to convince me that I still +dreamed. But there was an odor of mutton-broth which was too real to be +mistaken. + +"Catherine," said I, "why, you seem to have some food." + +All came rushing to my bedside, mother and children. They scarcely +spoke; but one brought a basin of broth, another a hunch of bread, +another a plate of meat and potatoes, which had been kept hot before the +fire. I was too faint and sick to talk. I took my broth slowly. Never +did food prove a greater blessing. Life, reason, courage, hope, all +seemed to return, as mouthful by mouthful I swallowed the nourishing +liquid. It spread warmth and comfort through every fibre of my frame. +When I had taken this, I ate the meat, and vegetables, and bread without +fear. While I did so, my wife, sending the children back to the +fire-place, told me, in a whisper, how she had procured such unexpected +subsistence. It seems that scarcely had I got home, and, after flinging +my log on the ground, rushed to bed, when a knock came to the door. +Catherine went to answer it. A man of middle age entered. He gave a +hurried glance around, seemed to shudder at its emptiness, looked at the +next room through the open door, saw that it was as bare as the other, +turned his eyes away from the crouching form of my half-dressed wife, +and spoke: + +"Have you any children?" + +"Four," said Catherine, tremblingly; but, still, answering at once, so +peremptory was the tone of the stranger. + +"How long have you been in this state?" + +"Six months." + +"Your husband is Karl Herwitz, the mechanist?" + +"He is, sir." + +"Well, madam, please to tell him that I recognized him as he came out of +the Minister's of the Interior, and, noticing what he clutched with such +wild energy, followed him here. Tell him, I am not rich, but I can pay +my debts; I owe him the sum contained in this purse. I am happy to pay +it." + +"And did he owe it you?" said I, anxiously. + +No, replied Karl; he had never seen me or heard of me before. Generous +Englishman, I shall never forget him. I found out afterward that he was +a commercial traveler, with a large family and a moderate income. On +what he left we lived a month, by exercising strict economy. I did not +go to the minister's for several days. I feared some one might have seen +me, and I was bowed by shame. But, at last, I mustered courage, and +presented myself at the audience. I was, as usual, totally unnoticed, +and I resumed my wretched dangling in the ante-chamber, as usual. The +result was always the same. Generally I caught a glimpse of the +minister; but, when I did, it was eternally the same words. Meanwhile +time swept rapidly by, and soon my misery was as great as ever. My +children, who, during the past month, had recovered a little their +health and looks, looked pale and wan again. I was more shabby, more +dirty, more haggard and starved-looking than ever. Once again I went +out, after our all being without food for some twenty-four hours. I knew +not what to do. I walked along the street, turning over every possible +expedient in my mind. + +Suddenly I saw, on the opposite side of the way, a lieutenant belonging +to the regiment I had quitted. He had been my intimate friend, but so +shabby was I, that I sought to avoid him. He saw me, however, and, to my +surprise, hurried across and shook me heartily by the hand. I could +scarce restrain tears; so sure was I, in my present state, to be cut by +even old friends. But, in my worst troubles, something has always turned +up to make me love and cherish the human heart. + +"My poor Karl," said he, "the world uses you badly." + +"Very," said I: and in a few words I told my story. + +"My dear Karl!" he exclaimed, when I had concluded, "I was going to ask +you to dine with me on what I have left. I am come up to claim a year's +arrears of pay, and I have been sent back with a free passage and +promises. But I have a little silver; and, as I said, meant to ask you +to devour it. But after what you have told me, will you share my purse +with me for your wife and children's sake?" And he pulled out a purse +containing about the value of five shillings English, forced me to take +half, shook me heartily by the hand, and hurried away to escape my +thanks. + +Home I rushed with mad eagerness, a loaf in one hand, the rest of the +money in the other. My poor wife once more could give food to her little +ones. On the morning of the third day after I had obtained this little +help, I lay in bed, ruminating. I was turning over in my mind every +possible expedient by which to raise enough money to go on with, a brief +time, until my machine was really decided on by the government. Suddenly +I sat up in my bed and addressed my wife. + +"How much money have you got left, Catherine?" + +She had threepence of your money. + +"Can you manage with the loaf of bread then, and three-halfpence for +to-day?" + +"I have often managed on less," said she. + +"Then give me three-halfpence to take out with me." + +"But what are you going to do? We may have nothing to-morrow, and then +the three-halfpence will be missed." + +"Give!" said I, rather sternly, reflecting as I was on my scheme; "be +assured, it is for our good." + +My poor wife gave me the money with a very ill-grace, but without +another word; and, rising, I went out. When in the street, I directed my +footsteps toward the outskirts. They were soon reached. I halted before +a tavern frequented wholly by workmen, and going into the public room, +called for a _choppe_ of beer. I had purposely chosen my position. +Before me was a handsome, neatly-dressed young workman, who, like all +his companions, was smoking and drinking beer. Quietly, without saying a +word, I drew out a small note-book and a drawing-pencil. I was then +considered a very good artist; but had only used my pencil to sketch +models. But I now sketched the human face with care and anxiety. +Presently, as my pencil was laid down, a man sitting next to me peeped +over my shoulder. + +"Why!" he cried, "that's Alexis to the life." + +"How so?" said the man I had been sketching, holding out his hand, into +which I put my note-book. + +"Good!" cried he, while a smile of satisfaction covered his face. "Will +you sell this? I should like to keep it." + +"I will sell it if you like," replied I, as quietly as I could, though +my heart was nigh bursting with excitement. + +"How much?" + +I knew my man, and asked but six sous, threepence, which the workman +gladly paid, while five others followed his example at the same price. I +went home a proud and happy man with my thirty-six pence of copper. +Would you believe it? that was the commencement of a long and prosperous +career, which lasted until the Revolution of 1848 threw me back again. +Six months after, I received a thousand florins for a portrait in oil +of the Grand Duchess of B----; and about the end of the same year I +drove up to the hotel of the Minister of the Interior in a splendid +carriage, a gentleman by my side; it was the English commercial +traveler. + +We had a letter of audience, and were admitted at once. The Minister +rose, and after a very warm greeting, requested us to be seated. We took +chairs. + +"My dear Herwitz," said the Minister, a little, bowing, smirking man, +"what can I do for you? Glad to see you doing so well. The Grand Duchess +says wonders of you. I will have the committee on your machine." + +"I beg your pardon," said I, "but I have come to request your written +order for its removal. I have sold it to the English house represented +by this gentleman." + +"Its removal!" cried the astonished Minister; "but it is impossible. So +excellent an invention should not pass into the hands of foreigners." + +"So I thought," replied I, coldly, "when for nine months I waited daily +in your ante-chamber, with my family starving at home. But it is now +sold. My word is my bond." + +The Minister bit his lip, but made no reply. He took up a sheet of +paper, and wrote the order for removal. I took it, bowed stiffly, and +came away.-- + +We all heartily thanked the old German for his narrative. Since the +Revolution, and the consequent impossibility of selling his machines in +Germany, he has come to Paris, and taken to portrait-painting once more. +His perseverance and endurance are untiring. His wife died long since, +and he is like a mother to his four girls--all of whom are most +industrious and devoted. He still believes in his flying machine; but, +for the sake of his parental love, his hard-working head and +fingers--for the sake of his goodness of soul, his eccentricities, he +must be forgiven for this invincible credulity. + +None can fail to admire the original dreamer, when he is also a +practical worker; while few will be willing to patronize the mere +visionary, who is always thinking and never doing. + + + + +SEALS AND WHALES. + + +Except, perhaps, to naturalists, the Seal will be known to many readers +only through the medium of Sir Walter Scott's "_Antiquary_." "'What is +that yonder!' says Hector M'Intyre to his uncle, Jonathan Oldbuck. 'One +of the herd of Proteus,' replied the Antiquary--'a _Phoca_, or Seal, +lying asleep on the beach.' Upon which M'Intyre, with the eagerness of a +young sportsman, exclaiming, 'I shall have him! I shall have him!' +snatched the walking-stick out of the hand of the astonished Antiquary, +at some risk of throwing him down, and set off at full speed to get +between the animal and the sea, to which element, having caught the +alarm, she was rapidly retreating.... The Seal finding her retreat +intercepted by the light-footed soldier, confronted him manfully, and +having sustained a heavy blow without injury, she knitted her brows, as +is the fashion of the animal, and making use at once of her fore-paws +and her unwieldy strength, wrenched the weapon out of the assailant's +hand, overturned him on the sands, and scuttled away into the sea +without doing him any further injury." We shall not dwell on the +mortification of the gallant captain, or the gibes of his uncle, as +these will readily occur to the readers of Scott's magic pages. Turning, +then, from the romancer, we shall trace the records of the _Phoca_ +through the denser chapters of the scientific compiler, and the Arctic +voyagers. + +The literature of the Seal, which is very limited, would lead us to +suppose that, like the owl of _terra firma_, it maintains--to quote from +one authority--an "ancient, solitary reign, threading an unfurrowed +track along the dark waters of the Atlantic, and skimming in peace and +security along the margins of ice-bound shores, where all is dumb." But +how stands the actual fact? In the year 1850, no fewer than one hundred +thousand Seals were captured by British vessels, and in the present year +a greater number will probably be slain. What will be the commercial +value of those animals? Reckoning the whole to be even young seals, and +estimating one ton of oil to be produce of one hundred seals, the oil +will yield, in round numbers, thirty-five thousand pounds, and the +skins, calculated at three shillings each, would bring fifteen thousand +pounds--in all, fifty thousand pounds. So that we have an interesting +branch of commerce represented in our literature as all but extinct, +while in reality it is flourishing in a high degree, adding extensively +to national wealth, and giving employment to a large portion of the +seafaring community. + +Whale-fishery in the Arctics has been in a declining state for a number +of years; a result which, so far as mere purposes of illumination are +concerned, might have been of minor consequence, seeing that the +substitution of gas for oil-lamps has rendered us comparatively +independent of oil as a lighting agent; but, concurrently with the +introduction of gas, there has been an increased demand for oil for +lubricating machinery, and for other manufacturing purposes; hence +fish-oil has maintained its price remarkably well, notwithstanding an +opposition that at first seemed fatal to it. Greenland was, at the +beginning of the whale-fishing, the resort of the whale, and thither its +pursuers went, and captured it in large numbers; but in process of time, +the animal finding the peace of its ancient home ruthlessly invaded; +retreated to the more northern latitude of Davis Straits. The distance, +although greater, being still practicable, the chase was still +continued, and the slaughter went on as before. Again, the leviathan, as +if conscious that its track was followed, beat another retreat, which +has turned out more successful than the first. Each spring witnessed the +departure of Arctic fleets from every port of note in Britain, and the +regions of the North were instinct with life, in search of the monster +of the deep. Captains would stand, telescope in hand, in the "crow's +nest," perched on the summit of the main-mast, and peer through the +instrument till eye became dim and hand was frozen--boats' crews would +be dispatched, and pull for weary miles in the sea, or drag their skiffs +for still more weary miles on the surface of the ice--men on deck would +gaze wistfully across the main, and mutter charms, or invoke omens; but +all in vain. The ice would close in like iron mountains around them, and +the time would come that they must bend their sails homeward. Then stray +fish would be seen far off, or very shy fish would dart off in their +immediate vicinity, and the disappointed mariners would return for the +season, either with _clean_ vessels, or at best with small cargoes of +oil. Some accounted for the change by asserting that the whale had been +hunted from Davis Straits just as it had been pursued from Greenland, +and that it had betaken itself to still higher and now inaccessible +latitudes;--some held that the animal had diminished in numbers, and as +gestation takes place only once in two years, there was some ground for +this conjecture;--while a third section, who were principally composed +of superannuated Blowhards, and who harpooned only by the fireside, held +pertinaciously to the notion that the failure arose from the +inefficiency of modern fishermen. But, arise from what cause it might, +whales were either not brought home at all, or else they were brought +home in woefully diminished numbers. Owners became discouraged, and +captains sank in despair; harpoons and flinching gear were flung aside, +and whalers were dispatched to the Baltic for timber, or wherever else a +freight could be procured, and others departed to strange ports, and +returned no more; for they were sold. The whaling fleet became, +therefore, small by degrees. Yet two ports struggled on against the +receding tide; Hull in England, and Peterhead in Scotland, always hoped +against hope, and persevered amid every disadvantage. They still sent +vessels out; if not to catch whales, to be contented with seals. +Peterhead reaped the reward of perseverance. We observe from a recent +return, that out of the hundred thousand Seals captured in 1850, +sixty-three thousand four hundred and twenty-six fell to the share of +ten Peterhead vessels. + +There was something romantic about whale-fishing. When the captain, with +his assisted eye, descried the far-off parabolic _spout_ of his victim, +the cry of "_Fall! fall!_" would resound from stem to stern, and from +hold to cross-trees. Down went the boats, sharp and graceful as regatta +skiffs, and yet as strong and compact as herring yawls; the steerer took +his oar, for rudders are too slow for this kind of navigation; the +line-coiler, stood by his ropes; while last, and most important of all, +the harpooner descended with his glittering instruments. Muffled oars +dip in the waters, and the skiff nears the sleeping leviathan. A single +awkward splash would rouse him; but all is silent as death, and the +harpooner, poising himself, takes his deadly aim, and buries his +javelin in the huge carcase. Smarting with pain, the enormous black mass +lurches, and then with lightning speed darts underneath the wave; the +boiling surge raised by its descent lifts the boat like a feather; the +line attached to the harpoon disappears fathom after fathom, hissing +around the rolling-pin, with a force and velocity that, but for copious +libations, would cause ignition; a long and still extending streak of +gore marks the route of the wounded animal; the rope at last goes less +rapidly off, and as its rapidity decreases, they pull up to the victim, +and insert more instruments, and then after a few deadly slaps with his +tail, the monarch of the ocean yields up the contest. + +What has the Russian, the Dutch or the Hanseatic man, or the Esquimaux, +been doing all this time? They have been following the pastime of +Captain Hector M'Intyre, and endeavoring to slay the _Phoca_. Most of +the Britons pursuing whales, and the foreigners and natives peddling +with seals; just as if Captain Gordon Cumming had been hunting a lion, +while some other sportsmen would stand by shooting sparrows or mice. No +glory in capturing a seal, and as little pay. Thirty large seals are +needed to make up one ton of oil, while an average whale would produce +twenty tons of the oleaginous fluid. The whale-fishers despised such +small game, and regarded mere seal-fishers with contempt;--we say mere +seal-fishers, because if seals did come in the way, they were shot or +knocked down by the whale-fisher; but his main vocation consisted in +waging war with the colossal member of the finny tribe. And apart from +the larger quantity of oil yielded by the one animal, the bone of the +whale was singularly valuable. Twenty tons of oil would indicate one ton +of bone, and that was worth some two hundred and fifty pounds sterling. +The seal, too, had its extrinsic value, for its skin was worth +_seven-pence_--dust in the balance compared with the bone of its huge +contemporary. Whales, then, undoubtedly were the superior subjects for +capture; but as whales could not be had, and seals became plentiful, the +whalers lowered their plumes, and raised their arms against their +amphibious prey. + +Old seals had wont to be pursued, but although their capture was more +profitable than young ones, still the old seals are so excessively shy +that they can only be shot in detail, and hence a preference is given to +the destruction of the young. The seal propagates twice a year--the +first pups of the season lie upon the ice early in the spring, and being +unable to run to the water and swim off, they fall ready prey to the +spoiler. A smart blow with a club stuns them, and a wound does the rest. +Their numbers are very large. During the present season of 1851, a flock +of them extending to about fifteen miles was discovered, not far from +the Scottish coast; a dozen animals at least occupying every hundred +square yards. Of course, with such opportunities, a ship is readily +filled, and bearing homeward with her valuable cargo, there is still +time to undertake a second and more northern voyage, in search of whales +or larger seals. + +The Dutch have been in the habit of prosecuting the trade with small +vessels, but the British although occasionally using tiny craft, prefer +employing large and stout vessels, as with such they can penetrate into +fissures of the ice, instead of timidly sailing by the margin; and their +success in this respect is gradually inducing their foreign competitors +to follow their example. + +The size of ships generally preferred for seal or whale fishing, is +three hundred and fifty tons burden, or upward, although this year some +vessels have gone out so small as eighty tons. A ship of the larger size +carries sixty-five men, of the latter dimensions, twenty. The average +outfit of a large vessel costs about one thousand four hundred pounds, +and the original cost of such varies from two thousand to ten thousand +pounds, according to age and quality of vessel, and also whether a used +ship has been purchased, or one expressly built for the trade. The loss +when a vessel is unsuccessful, is greater than in any other maritime +speculation, there being no return whatever to stand against outlay; +but, on the other hand, if fortunate, no other kind of shipping +adventure yields so large profits. One vessel this year brought home a +cargo of the gross value of six thousand pounds, leaving (it being her +first fishing voyage) a net profit to her owners of three thousand +pounds. The vessels sailing from the small northern port of Peterhead +have, as before stated, been remarkably successful. The following is a +statement of the produce of the ten vessels which sailed from thence in +1850: + + 1,144 tons of oil. + 63,426 seal-skins. + 14 tons of whalebone. + +The aggregate commercial value of the whole would amount to about fifty +thousand pounds. Seal-skins have lately risen in value--the former rate +of seven-pence having been augmented to three shillings; and they are +used principally for the purpose of being manufactured into +patent-leather. Each skin is split into two or three layers, and each +layer is turned to separate account. No other leather possesses the same +closeness of texture, smoothness of surface, and elasticity. From being +employed as rough waist-coats for seamen, and hairy coverings for +trunks, it is now in its _stratified_ state applied to the most delicate +artistic purposes. + +The Seal belongs to the four-limbed mammiliferous animals. It is half +quadruped, half fish. The head and general physiognomy, especially when +seen in the water, resemble those of a dog. The limbs, which in the sea +act as excellent paddles, are indifferent instruments of locomotion on +land--the fore-paws are almost the only motive powers, the posterior +portion of the body having to be dragged over the ground. The young are +very obedient to the parent seals, and are obedient to, and recognize +the voices of their dams amid the loudest tumult. They are decidedly +gregarious in their habits, and hunt and herd together in common; and, +in those cases, when surprised by an enemy, they have great facilities +in expressing, both by tone and gesture, the approach of a dreaded +enemy. There are four different species of the animal; the one to which +we have been referring is called the _Phoca Greenlandica_, and is about +six feet in length, and has the peculiar property of often changing the +color of its skin as it approaches maturity. The seal visiting the +British shores (_Phoca Vitulina_) is seldom more than four or five feet +in length. + +We have now given our contribution to the literature of the Seal, and +submit, that it has the merit of being up to what Mr. Carlyle calls the +"present hour." + + + + +MAURICE TIERNAY, THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. + +[Continued from the October Number.] + + +CHAPTER XLIII. + +A FOREST RIDE. + +While I was dressing, a note was handed to me from the curé, apologizing +for his departure without seeing me, and begging, as a great favor, that +I would not leave the Chateau till his return. He said that the count's +spirits had benefited greatly by our agreeable converse, and that he +requested me to be his guest for some time to come. The postscript added +a suggestion, that I should write down some of the particulars of my +visit to Ettenheim, but particularly of my conversation alluding to the +meditated assassination of Bonaparte. + +There were many points in the arrangement which I did not like. To +begin, I had no fancy whatever for the condition of a dependent, and +such my poverty would at once stamp me. Secondly, I was averse to this +frequent intercourse with men of the Royalist party, whose restless +character and unceasing schemes were opposed to all the principles of +those I had served under; and finally, I was growing impatient under the +listless vacuity of a life that gave no occupation, nor opened any view +for the future. I sat down to breakfast in a mood very little in unison +with the material enjoyments around me. The meal was all that could +tempt appetite; and the view from the open window displayed a beautiful +flower-garden, imperceptibly fading away into a maze of ornamental +planting, which was backed again by a deep forest, the well-known wood +of Belleville. Still I ate on sullenly, scarce noticing any of the +objects around me. I will see the count, and take leave of him, thought +I, suddenly; I can not be his guest without sacrificing feeling in a +dozen ways. + +"At what hour does monsieur rise?" asked I, of the obsequious valet who +waited behind my chair. + +"Usually at three or four in the afternoon, sir; but to-day he has +desired me to make his excuses to you. There will be a consultation of +doctors here; and the likelihood is, that he may not leave his +chamber." + +"Will you convey my respectful compliments, then, to him, and my regrets +that I had not seen him before leaving the Chateau?" + +"The count charged me, sir, to entreat your remaining here till he had +seen you. He said you had done him infinite service already, and indeed +it is long since he has passed a night in such tranquillity." + +There are few slight circumstances which impress a stranger more +favorably, than any semblance of devotion on the part of a servant to +his master. The friendship of those above one in life is easier to +acquire than the attachment of those beneath. Love is a plant whose +tendrils strive ever upward. I could not help feeling struck at the +man's manner, as he spoke these few words; and insensibly my mind +reverted to the master who had inspired such sentiments. + +"My master gave orders, sir," continued he, "that we should do every +thing possible to contribute to your wishes; that the carriage, or, if +you prefer them, saddle-horses, should be ready at any hour you ordered. +The wood has a variety of beautiful excursions; there is a lake, too, +about two leagues away; and the ruins of Monterraye are also worth +seeing." + +"If I had not engagements in Paris," muttered I, while I affected to +mumble over the conclusion of the sentence to myself. + +"Monsieur has seldom done a greater kindness than this will be," added +he, respectfully; "but if monsieur's business could be deferred for a +day or two without inconvenience--" + +"Perhaps that might be managed," said I, starting up, and walking to the +window, when, for the first time, the glorious prospect revealed itself +before me. How delicious, after all, would be a few hours of such a +retreat!--a morning loitered away in that beautiful garden; and then, a +long ramble through the dark wood till sunset. Oh, if Laura were but +here; if she could be my companion along those leafy alleys! If not +_with_, I can at least think _of_ her, thought I; seek out spots she +would love to linger in, and points of view she would enjoy with all a +painter's zest. And this poor count, with all his riches, could not +derive in a whole lifetime the enjoyment that a few brief hours would +yield to us! So is it almost ever in this world; to one man the +appliances, to another the faculties for enjoyment. + +"I am so glad monsieur has consented," said the valet, joyously. + +"Did I say so? I don't know that I said any thing." + +"The count will be so gratified," added he; and hurried away to convey +the tidings. + +Well, be it so. Heaven knows my business in Paris will scarcely suffer +by my absence; my chief occupation there being to cheat away the hours +till meal-time. It is an occupation I can easily resume a few days +hence. I took a book, and strolled out into the garden; but I could not +read. There is a gush of pleasure felt at times from the most familiar +objects, which the most complicated machinery of enjoyment often fails +to equal; and now the odor of moss-roses and geraniums, the rich perfume +of orange flowers, the plash of fountains and the hum of the summer +insects, steeped my mind in delight; and I lay there in a dream of bliss +that was like enchantment. I suppose I must have fallen asleep; for my +thoughts took every form of wildness and incoherency. Ireland; the +campaign; the Bay of Genoa; the rugged height of Kuffstein, all passed +before my mind, peopled with images foreign to all their incidents. It +was late in the afternoon that I aroused myself, and remembered where I +was, the shadows of the dark forest were stretching over the plain; and +I determined on a ride beneath their mellow shade. As if in anticipation +of my wishes, the horses were already saddled, and a groom stood +awaiting my orders. Oh, what a glorious thing it is to be rich! thought +I, as I mounted; from what an eminence does the wealthy man view life. +No petty cares nor calculations mar the conceptions of his fancy. His +will, like his imagination, wanders free and unfettered. And so +thinking, I dashed spurs into my horse, and plunged into the dense wood. +Perhaps I was better mounted than the groom, or perhaps the man was +scarcely accustomed to such impetuosity. Whatever the reason, I was soon +out of sight of him. The trackless grass of the alley, and its noiseless +turf, made pursuit difficult in a spot where the paths crossed and +recrossed in a hundred different directions; and so I rode on for miles +and miles without seeing more of my follower. + +Forest riding is particularly seductive; you are insensibly led on to +see where this alley will open, or how that path will terminate. Some of +the spirit of discovery seems to seal its attractions to the wild and +devious track, untrodden as it looks; and you feel all the charm of +adventure as you advance. The silence, too, is most striking; the +noiseless footfalls of the horse, and the unbroken stillness, add +indescribable charm to the scene, and the least imaginative can not fail +to weave fancies and fictions as he goes. + +Near as it was to a great city, not a single rider crossed my path; not +even a peasant did I meet. A stray bundle of fagots, bound and ready to +be carried away, showed that the ax of the woodman had been heard within +the solitude; but not another trace told that human footstep had ever +pressed the sward. + +Although still a couple of hours from sunset, the shade of the wood was +dense enough to make the path appear uncertain, and I was obliged to +ride more cautiously than before. I had thought that by steadily +pursuing one straight track, I should at last gain the open country, and +easily find some road that would reconduct me to the Chateau; but now I +saw no signs of this. "The alley" was, to all appearance, exactly as I +found it--miles before. A long aisle of beech-trees stretched away in +front and behind me; a short, grassy turf was beneath my feet; and not +an object to tell me how far I had come, or whither I was tending. If +now and then another road crossed the path, it was in all respects like +this one. This was puzzling; and to add to my difficulty, I suddenly +remembered that I had never thought of learning the name of the Chateau, +and well knew that to ask for it as the residence of the Count de +Maurepas would be a perfect absurdity. There was something so ludicrous +in the situation, that I could not refrain from laughing at first; but a +moment's re-consideration made me regard the incident more gravely. In +what a position should I stand, if unable to discover the Chateau. The +curé might have left Paris before I could reach it; all clew to the +count might thus be lost; and although these were but improbable +circumstances, they came now very forcibly before me, and gave me +serious uneasiness. + +I have been so often in false positions in life, so frequently +implicated where no real blame could attach to me, that I shall not be +in the least surprised if I be arrested as a horse-stealer! The night +now began to fall rapidly, so that I was obliged to proceed at a slow +pace; and at length, as the wood seemed to thicken, I was forced to get +off, and walk beside my horse. I have often found myself in situations +of real peril, with far less anxiety than I now felt; my position seemed +at the time inexplicable and absurd. I suppose, thought I, that no man +was ever lost in the wood of Belleville; he must find his way out of it +sooner or later; and then, there can be no great difficulty in returning +to Paris. This was about the extent of the comfort I could afford +myself; for, once back in the capital, I could not speculate on a single +step further. + +I was at last so weary with the slow and cautious progression I was +condemned to, that I half determined to picket my horse to a tree, and +lie down to sleep till daylight. While I sought out a convenient spot +for my bivouac, a bright twinkling light, like a small star, caught my +eye. Twice it appeared, and vanished again so that I was well assured of +its being real, and no phantom of my now over-excited brain. It appeared +to proceed from the very densest part of the wood, and whither, so far +as I could see, no path conducted. As I listened to catch any sounds, I +again caught sight of the faint star, which now seemed at a short +distance from the road where I stood. Fastening my horse to a branch, I +advanced directly through the brushwood for about a hundred yards, when +I came to a small open space, in which stood one of those modest +cottages, of rough timber, wherein, at certain seasons, the game-keepers +take refuge. A low, square, log hut, with a single door, and an unglazed +window, comprised the whole edifice, being one of the humblest, even of +its humble kind, I had ever seen. Stealing cautiously to the window, I +peeped in. On a stone, in the middle of the earthen floor, a small iron +lamp stood, which threw a faint and fickle light around. There was no +furniture of any kind; nothing that bespoke the place as inhabited; and +it was only as I continued to gaze that I detected the figure of a man, +who seemed to be sleeping on a heap of dried leaves, in one corner of +the hovel. I own that, with all my anxiety to find a guide, I began to +feel some scruples about obtruding on the sleeper's privacy. He was +evidently no "Garde de chasse," who are a well-to-do sort of folk, being +usually retired sous-officiers of the army. He might be a poacher, a +robber, or perhaps a dash of both together--a trade I had often heard of +as being resorted to by the most reckless and abandoned of the +population of Paris, when their crimes and their haunts became too well +known in the capital. + +I peered eagerly through the chamber, to see if he were armed; but not a +weapon of any kind was to be seen. I next sought to discover if he were +quite alone; and although one side of the hovel was hidden from my view, +I was well assured that he had no comrade. Come, said I to myself, man +to man, if it should come to a struggle, is fair enough; and the chances +are I shall be able to defend myself. + +His sleep was sound and heavy, like that after fatigue; so that I +thought it would be easy for me to enter the hovel, and secure his arms, +if he had such, before he should awake. I may seem to my reader, all +this time, to have been inspired with an undue amount of caution and +prudence, considering how evenly we were matched; but I would remind +him, that it was a period when the most dreadful crimes were of daily +occurrence. Not a night went over without some terrible assassination; +and a number of escaped galley slaves were known to be at large in the +suburbs and outskirts of the capital. These men, under the slightest +provocation, never hesitated at murder; for their lives were already +forfeited, and they scrupled at nothing which offered a chance of +escape. To add to the terror their atrocities excited, there was a rumor +current at the time, that the Government itself made use of these +wretches for its own secret acts of vengeance; and many implicitly +believed that the dark assassinations of the "Temple" had no other +agency. I do not mean to say that these fears were well founded, or that +I myself partook of them; but such were the reports commonly circulated, +and the impunity of crime certainly favored the impression. I know not +if this will serve as an apology for the circumspection of my +proceeding, as, cautiously, pushing the door, inch by inch, I at length +threw it wide open. Not the slightest sound escaped as I did so; and +yet, certainly before my hand quitted the latch, the sleeper had sprung +to his knees; and with his dark eyes glaring wildly at me, crouched like +a beast about to rush upon an enemy. + +His attitude and his whole appearance at that moment are yet before me. +Long black hair fell in heavy masses at either side of his head; his +face was pale, haggard, and hunger-stricken; a deep, drooping mustache +descended from below his chin, and almost touched his collar-bones +which were starting from beneath the skin; a ragged cloak, that covered +him as he lay, had fallen off, and showed that a worn shirt and a pair +of coarse linen trowsers were all his clothing. Such a picture of +privation and misery I never looked upon before nor since! + +"Qui va là?" cried he, sternly, and with the voice of one not unused to +command; and although the summons showed his soldier training, his +condition of wretchedness suggested deep misgivings. + +"Qui va là?" shouted he again, louder and more determinedly. + +"A friend--perhaps a comrade," said I, boldly. + +"Advance, comrade, and give the counter-sign," replied he, rapidly, and +like one repeating a phrase of routine; and then, as if suddenly +remembering himself, he added with a low sigh, "There is none!" His arms +dropped heavily as he spoke, and he fell back against the wall with his +head drooping on his chest. + +There was something so unutterably forlorn in his looks, as he sat thus, +that all apprehension of personal danger from him left me at the moment, +and advancing frankly, I told him how I had lost my way in the wood, and +by mere accident chanced to descry his light as I wandered along in the +gloom. + +I do not know if he understood me at first, for he gazed half vacantly +at my face while I was speaking, and often stealthily peered round to +see if others were coming; so that I had to repeat more than once that I +was perfectly alone. That the poor fellow was insane seemed but too +probable; the restless activity of his wild eye, the suspicious +watchfulness of his glances, all looked like madness, and I thought that +he had probably made his escape from some military hospital, and +concealed himself within the recesses of the forest. But even these +signs of over-wrought excitement began to subside soon; and as though +the momentary effort at vigilance had been too much for his strength, he +now drew his cloak about him, and lay down once more. + +I handed him my brandy flask, which still contained a little, and he +touched it to his lips with a slight nod of recognition. Invigorated by +the stimulant, he supped again and again, but always cautiously, and +with prudent reserve. + +"You have been a soldier," said I, taking my seat at his side. + +"I _am_ a soldier," said he, with a strong emphasis on the verb. + +"I, too, have served," said I; "although, probably, neither as long nor +as creditably as you have." + +He looked at me fixedly for a second or two and then dropped his eyes +without a reply. + +"You were probably with the Army of the Meuse?" said I, hazarding the +guess, from remembering how many of that army had been invalided by the +terrible attacks of ague contracted in North Holland. + +"I served on the Rhine," said he, briefly, "but I made the campaign of +Jemappes, too. I served the king also--King Louis," cried he, sternly. +"Is that avowal candid enough; or do you want more!" + +Another Royalist, thought I, with a sigh. Whichever way I turn they meet +me--the very ground seems to give them up. + +"And could _you_ find no better trade than that of a Mouchard?" asked +he, sneeringly. + +"I am not a Mouchard--I never was one. I am a soldier like yourself; +and, mayhap, if all were to be told, scarcely a more fortunate one." + +"Dismissed the service--and for what?" asked he, bluntly. + +"If not broke, at least not employed;" said I, bitterly. + +"A Royalist?" + +"Not the least of one, but suspected." + +"Just so. Your letters--your private papers ransacked, and brought in +evidence against you. Your conversations with your intimates noted down +and attested--every word you dropped in a moment of disappointment or +anger; every chance phrase you uttered when provoked, all quoted; wasn't +that it?" + +As he spoke this, with a rapid and almost impetuous utterance, I for the +first time, noticed that both the expressions and the accent implied +breeding and education. Not all his vehemence could hide the evidences +of former cultivation. + +"How comes it," asked I, eagerly, "that such a man as you are, is to be +found thus? You certainly did not always serve in the ranks?" + +"I had my grade," was his short, dry reply. + +"You were a quarter-master; perhaps a sous-lieutenant?" said I, hoping +by the flattery of the surmise to lead him to talk further. + +"I was the colonel of a dragoon regiment," said he; sternly; "and that +neither the least brave nor the least distinguished in the French army." + +Ah! thought I, my good fellow, you have shot your bolt too high this +time; and in a careless, easy way, I asked, "What might have been the +number of the corps?" + +"How can it concern you?" said he, with a savage vehemence. "You say +that you are not a spy. To what end these questions? As it is, you have +made this hovel, which has been my shelter for some weeks back, no +longer of any service to me. I will not be tracked. I will not suffer +espionage, by heaven!" cried he, as he dashed his clenched fist against +the ground beside him. His eyes, as he spoke, glared with all the +wildness of insanity, and great drops of sweat hung upon his damp +forehead. + +"Is it too much," continued he, with all the vehemence of passion, "is +it too much that I was master here? Are these walls too luxurious? Is +there the sign of foreign gold in this tasteful furniture and the +splendor of these hangings? Or is this"--and he stretched out his lean +and naked arms as he spoke--"is this the garb?--is this the garb of a +man who can draw at will on the coffers of Royalty? Ay!" cried he, with +a wild laugh, "if this is the price of my treachery, the treason might +well be pardoned." + +I did all I could to assuage the violence of his manner. I talked to him +calmly and soberly of myself and of him, repeating over and over the +assurance that I had neither the will nor the way to injure him. "You +may be poor," said I, "and yet scarcely poorer than I am--friendless, +and have as many to care for you as I have. Believe me, comrade, save in +the matter of a few years the less on one side, and some services the +more on the other, there is little to choose between us." + +These few words, wrung from me in sorrowful sincerity, seemed to do more +than all I had said previously, and he moved the lamp a little to one +side that he might have a better view of me as I sat; and thus we +remained for several minutes staring steadfastly at each other without a +word spoken on either side. It was in vain that I sought in that face, +livid and shrunk by famine--in that straggling matted hair, and that +figure enveloped in rags, for any traces of former condition. Whatever +might once have been his place in society, now he seemed the very lowest +of that miserable tribe whose lives are at once the miracle and shame of +our century. + +"Except that my senses are always playing me false," said he, as he +passed his hand across his eyes, "I could say that I have seen your face +before. What was your corps?" + +"The Ninth Hussars, 'the Tapageurs,' as they called them." + +"When did you join--and where?" said he, with an eagerness that +surprised me. + +"At Nancy," said I, calmly. + +"You were there with the advanced guard of Moreau's corps," said he, +hastily; "you followed the regiment to the Moselle." + +"How do you know all this?" asked I, in amazement. + +"Now for your name; tell me your name," cried he, grasping my hand in +both of his--"and I charge you by all you care for here or hereafter, no +deception with me. It is not a head that has been tried like mine can +bear a cheat." + +"I have no object in deceiving you; nor am I ashamed to say who I am," +replied I. "My name is Tiernay--Maurice Tiernay." + +The word was but out, when the poor fellow threw himself forward, and +grasping my hands, fell upon and kissed them. + +"So, then," cried he, passionately, "I am not friendless--I am not +utterly deserted in life--_you_ are yet left to me, my dear boy." + +This burst of feeling convinced me that he was deranged; and I was +speculating in my mind how best to make my escape from him, when he +pushed back the long and tangled hair from his face, and staring wildly +at me, said, "You know me now--don't you? Oh, look again, Maurice, and +do not let me think that I am forgotten by all the world." + +"Good heavens!" cried I; "it is Colonel Mahon!" + +"Ay, 'Le Beau Mahon,'" said he, with a burst of wild laughter; "Le Beau +Mahon, as they used to call me long ago. Is this a reverse of fortune, I +ask you?" and he held out the ragged remnants of his miserable clothes. +"I have not worn shoes for nigh a month. I have tasted food but once in +the last thirty hours! I, that have led French soldiers to the charge +full fifty times, up to the very batteries of the enemy, am reduced to +hide and skulk from place to place like a felon, trembling at the clank +of a gendarme's boot, as never the thunder of an enemy's squadron made +me. Think of the persecution that has brought me to this, and made me a +beggar and a coward together!" + +A gush of tears burst from him at these words, and he sobbed for several +minutes like a child. + +Whatever might have been the original source of his misfortunes, I had +very little doubt that now his mind had been shaken by their influence, +and that calamity had deranged him. The flighty uncertainty of his +manner, the incoherent rapidity with which he passed from one topic to +another, increased with his excitement, and he passed alternately from +the wildest expressions of delight at our meeting, to the most +heart-rending descriptions of his own sufferings. By great patience and +some ingenuity, I learned that he had taken refuge in the wood of +Belleville, where the kindness of an old soldier of his own brigade--now +a Garde de Chasse--had saved him from starvation. Jacques Caillon was +continually alluded to in his narrative. It was Jacques sheltered him +when he came first to Belleville. Jacques had afforded him a refuge in +the different huts of the forest, supplying him with food--acts not +alone of benevolence, but of daring courage, as Mahon continually +asserted. If it were but known, "they'd give him a peleton and eight +paces." The theme of Jacques's heroism was so engrossing, that he could +not turn from it; every little incident of his kindness, every stratagem +of his inventive good-nature, he dwelt upon with eager delight, and +seemed half to forget his own sorrows in recounting the services of his +benefactor. I saw that it would be fruitless to ask for any account of +his past calamity, or by what series of mischances he had fallen so low. +I saw--I will own with some chagrin--that, with the mere selfishness of +misfortune, he could not speak of any thing save what bore upon his own +daily life, and totally forgot _me_ and all about me. + +The most relentless persecution seemed to follow him from place to +place. Wherever he went, fresh spies started on his track, and the +history of his escapes was unending. The very fagot-cutters of the +forest were in league against him, and the high price offered for his +capture had drawn many into the pursuit. It was curious to mark the +degree of self-importance all these recitals imparted, and how the poor +fellow, starving and almost naked as he was, rose into all the imagined +dignity of martyrdom, as he told of his sorrows. If he ever asked a +question about Paris, it was to know what people said of _himself_ and +of _his_ fortunes. He was thoroughly convinced that Bonaparte's thoughts +were far more occupied about him than on that empire now so nearly in +his grasp, and he continued to repeat with a proud delight, "He has +caught them all but _me_! _I_ am the only one who has escaped him!" +These few words suggested to me the impression that Mahon had been +engaged in some plot or conspiracy; but of what nature, how composed, or +how discovered, it was impossible to arrive at. + +"There!" said he, at last, "there is the dawn breaking! I must be off. I +must now make for the thickest part of the wood till nightfall. There +are hiding-places there known to none save _myself_. The blood-hounds +can not track me where _I_ go." + +His impatience became now extreme. Every instant seemed full of peril to +him now; every rustling leaf and every waving branch a warning. I was +unable to satisfy myself how far this might be well-founded terror, or a +vague and causeless fear. At one moment I inclined to this--at another, +to the opposite impression. Assuredly nothing could be more complete +than the precautions he took against discovery. His lamp was concealed +in the hollow of a tree; the leaves that formed his bed he scattered and +strewed carelessly on every side; he erased even the foot-tracks on the +clay; and then gathering up his tattered cloak, prepared to set out. + +"When are we to meet again, and where?" said I, grasping his hand. + +He stopped suddenly, and passed his hand over his brow, as if +reflecting. "You must see Caillon; Jacques will tell you all," said he, +solemnly. "Good-by. Do not follow me. I will not be tracked;" and with a +proud gesture of his hand he motioned me back. + +Poor fellow! I saw that any attempt to reason with him would be in vain +at such a moment; and determining to seek out the Garde de Chasse, I +turned away slowly and sorrowfully. + +"What have been _my_ vicissitudes of fortune compared to _his_?" thought +I. "The proud colonel of a cavalry regiment, a beggar and an outcast!" +The great puzzle to me was, whether insanity had been the cause or the +consequence of his misfortunes. Caillon will, perhaps, be able to tell +me his story, said I to myself; and thus ruminating, I returned to where +I had picketed my horse three hours before. My old dragoon experiences +had taught me how to "hobble" a horse, as it is called, by passing the +bridle beneath the counter before tying it, and so I found him just as I +left him. + +The sun was now up, and I could see that a wide track led off through +the forest straight before me. I accordingly mounted, and struck into a +sharp canter. About an hour's riding brought me to a small clearing, in +the midst of which stood a neat and picturesque cottage, over the door +of which was painted the words "Station de Chasse--No. 4." In a little +garden in front, a man was working in his shirt sleeves, but his +military trowsers at once proclaimed him the "Garde." He stopped as I +came up, and eyed me sharply. + +"Is this the road to Belleville?" said I. + +"You can go this way, but it takes you two miles of a round," replied +he, coming closer, and scanning me keenly. + +"You can tell me, perhaps, where Jacques Caillon, Garde de Chasse, is to +be found?" + +"I am Jacques Caillon, sir," was the answer, as he saluted in soldier +fashion, while a look of anxiety stole over his face. + +"I have something to speak to you about," said I, dismounting, and +giving him the bridle of my horse. "Throw him some corn, if you have got +it, and then let us talk together;" and with this I walked into the +garden, and seated myself on a bench. + +If Jacques be an old soldier, thought I, the only way is to come the +officer over him; discipline and obedience are never forgotten, and +whatever chances I may have of his confidence will depend on how much I +seem his superior. It appeared as if this conjecture was well founded, +for as Jacques came back, his manner betrayed every sign of respect and +deference. There was an expression of almost fear in his face, as, with +his hand to his cap, he asked, "What were my orders?" + +The very deference of his air was disconcerting, and so, assuming a look +of easy cordiality, I said, + +"First, I will ask you to give me something to eat; and, secondly, to +give me your company for half an hour." + +Jacques promised both, and learning that I preferred my breakfast in the +open air, proceeded to arrange the table under a blossoming +chestnut-tree. + +"Are you quite alone here?" asked I, as he passed back and forward. + +"Quite alone, sir; and except a stray fagot-cutter or a chance traveler +who may have lost his way, I never see a human face from year's end to +year's end. It's a lonely thing for an old soldier, too," said he, with +a sigh. + +"I know more than one who would envy you, Jacques," said I, and the +words made him almost start as I spoke them. The coffee was now ready, +and I proceeded to make my breakfast with all the appetite of a long +fast. + +There was indeed but little to inspire awe, or even deference in my +personal appearance--a threadbare undress frock and a worn-out old +foraging cap were all the marks of my soldier-like estate; and yet, from +Jacques's manner, one might have guessed me to be a general at the +least. He attended me with the stiff propriety of the parade, and when, +at last, induced to take a seat, he did so full two yards off from the +table, and arose almost every time he was spoken to. Now it was quite +clear that the honest soldier did not know me either as the hero of +Kehl, of Ireland, or of Genoa. Great achievements as they were, they +were wonderfully little noised about the world, and a man might frequent +mixed companies every day of the week, and never hear of one of them. So +far, then, was certain it could not be my fame had imposed on him, and, +as I have already hinted, it could scarcely be my general appearance. +Who knows, thought I, but I owe all this obsequious deference to my +horse. If Jacques be an old cavalry-man, he will have remarked that the +beast is of great value, and doubtless argue to the worth of the rider +from the merits of his "mount." If this explanation was not the most +flattering, it was, at all events, the best I could hit on; and with a +natural reference to what was passing in my own mind, I asked him if he +had looked to my horse? + +"Oh, yes, sir," said he, reddening suddenly, "I have taken off the +saddle, and thrown him his corn." + +What the deuce does his confusion mean, thought I; the fellow looks as +if he had half a mind to run away, merely because I asked him a simple +question. + +"I've had a sharp ride," said I, rather by way of saying something, "and +I shouldn't wonder if he was a little fatigued." + +"Scarcely so, sir," said he, with a faint smile; "he's old now, but it's +not a little will tire him." + +"You know him, then," said I, quickly. + +"Ay, sir, and have known him for eighteen years. He was in the second +squadron of our regiment; the major rode him two entire campaigns!" + +The reader may guess that his history was interesting to me, from +perceiving the impression the reminiscence made on the relator, and I +inquired what became of him after that. + +"He was wounded by a shot at Neuwied, and sold into the train, where +they couldn't manage him; and after three years, when horses grew +scarce, he came back into the cavalry. A sergeant-major of lancers was +killed on him at 'Zwei Brucken.' That was the fourth rider he brought +mishap to, not to say a farrier whom he dashed to pieces in his stable." + +Ah, Jack, thought I, I have it; it is a piece of old-soldier +superstition about this mischievous horse has inspired all the man's +respect and reverence; and, if a little disappointed in the mystery, I +was so far pleased at having discovered the clew. + +"But I have found him quiet enough," said I; "I never backed him till +yesterday, and he has carried me well and peaceably." + +"Ah, that he will now, I warrant him; since the day a shell burst under +him at Waitzen, he never showed any vice. The wound nearly left the ribs +bare, and he was for months and months invalided; after that he was sold +out of the cavalry, I don't know where or to whom. The next time I saw +him was in his present service." + +"Then you are acquainted with the present owner?" asked I, eagerly. + +"As every Frenchman is?" was the curt rejoinder. + +"Parbleu! it will seem a droll confession, then, when I tell you, that I +myself do not even know his name." + +The look of contempt these words brought to my companion's face could +not, it seemed, be either repressed or concealed; and although my +conscience acquitted me of deserving such a glance, I own that I felt +insulted by it. + +"You are pleased to disbelieve me, Master Caillon," said I, sternly, +"which makes me suppose that you are neither so old nor so good a +soldier as I fancied; at least, in the corps I had the honor to serve +with, the word of an officer was respected like an 'order of the day.'" + +He stood erect as if on parade, under this rebuke, but made no answer. + +"Had you simply expressed surprise at what I said, I would have given +you the explanation frankly and freely; as it is, I shall content myself +with repeating what I said--I do not even know his name." + +The same imperturbable look and the same silence met me as before. + +"Now, sir, I ask you how this gentleman is called, whom I alone, of all +France, am ignorant of?" + +"Monsieur Fouché," said he, calmly. + +"What! Fouché, the Minister of Police?" + +This time, at least, my agitated looks seemed to move him, for he +replied, quietly: + +"The same, sir. The horse has the brand of the 'Ministere' on his +haunch." + +"And where is the Ministere?" cried I, eagerly. + +"In the Rue des Victoires, monsieur." + +"But he lives in the country, in a chateau near this very forest." + +"Where does he not live, monsieur? At Versailles, at St. Germain, in the +Luxembourg, in the Marais, at Neuilly, the Battignolles. I have carried +dispatches to him in every quarter of Paris. Ah, monsieur, what secret +are you in possession of, that it was worth while to lay so subtle a +trap to catch you?" + +This question, put in all the frank abruptness of a sudden thought, +immediately revealed every thing before me. + +"Is it not as I have said?" resumed he, still looking at my agitated +face; "is it not as I have said--monsieur is in the web of the +Mouchards?" + +"Good heavens! is such baseness possible?" was all that I could utter. + +"I'll wager a piece of five francs I can read the mystery," said +Jacques. "You served on Moreau's staff, or with Pichegru in Holland; you +either have some of the general's letters, or you can be supposed to +have them, at all events; you remember many private conversations held +with him on politics; you can charge your memory with a number of strong +facts; and you can, if needed, draw up a memoir of all your intercourse. +I know the system well, for I was a Mouchard myself." + +"You a police spy, Jacques?" + +"Ay, sir; I was appointed without knowing what services were expected +from me, or the duties of my station. Two months' trial, however, showed +that I was 'incapable,' and proved that a smart sous-officier is not +necessarily a scoundrel. They dismissed me as impracticable, and made me +Garde de Chasse; and they were right, too. Whether I was dressed up in a +snuff-brown suit, like a Bourgeois of the Rue St. Denis; whether they +attired me as a farmer from the provinces, a retired maitre-de-poste, +an old officer, or the conducteur of a diligence, I was always Jacques +Caillon. Through every thing, wigs and beards, lace or rags, jack-boots +or sabots, it was all alike; and while others could pass weeks in the +Pays Latin as students, country doctors, or 'notaires de village,' I was +certain to be detected by every brat that walked the streets." + +"What a system! And so these fellows assume every disguise?" asked I, my +mind full of my late rencontre. + +"That they do, monsieur. There is one fellow, a Provençal by birth, has +played more characters than ever did Brunet himself. I have known him as +a laquais de place, a cook to an English nobleman, a letter-carrier, a +flower-girl, a cornet-à-piston in the opera, and a curé from the +Ardëche." + +"A curé from the Ardëche!" exclaimed I. "Then I am a ruined man." + +"What! has monsieur fallen in with Paul?" cried he, laughing. "Was he +begging for a small contribution to repair the roof of his little +chapel, or was it a fire that had devastated his poor village? Did the +altar want a new covering, or the curé a vestment? Was it a canopy for +the Fête of the Virgin, or a few sous toward the 'Orphelines de St. +Jude'?" + +"None of these," said I, half angrily, for the theme was no jesting one +to me. "It was a poor girl that had been carried away." + +"Lisette, the miller's daughter, or the schoolmaster's niece?" broke he +in, laughing. "He must have known you were new to Paris, monsieur, that +he took so little trouble about a deception. And you met him at the +'Charette rouge' in the Marais?" + +"No; at a little ordinary in the Quai Voltaire!" + +"Better again. Why half the company there are Mouchards. It is one of +their rallying-points, where they exchange tokens and information. The +laborers, the beggars, the fishermen of the Seine, the hawkers of old +books, the venders of gilt ornaments, are all spies; the most miserable +creature that implored charity behind your chair as you sat at dinner, +has, perhaps, his ten francs a day on the roll of the Prefecture! Ah, +monsieur! if I had not been a poor pupil of that school, I'd have at +once seen that you were a victim and not a follower; but I soon detected +my error--my education taught me at least so much!" + +I had no relish for the self-gratulation of honest Jacques, uttered, as +it was, at my own expense. Indeed I had no thought for any thing but the +entanglement into which I had so stupidly involved myself; and I could +not endure the recollection of my foolish credulity, now that all the +paltry machinery of the deceit was brought before me. All my regard, +dashed as it was with pity for the poor curé; all my compassionate +interest for the dear Lisette; all my benevolent solicitude for the sick +count, who was neither more nor less than Mons. Fouché himself, were +any thing but pleasant reminiscences now, and I cursed my own stupidity +with an honest sincerity that greatly amused my companion. + +"And is France come to this?" cried I, passionately, and trying to +console myself by inveighing against the Government. + +"Even so, sir," said Jacques. "I heard Monsieur de Talleyrand say as +much the other day, as I waited behind his chair. It is only 'dans les +bonnes maisons,' said he, 'that servants ever listen at the doors; +depend upon it, then, that a secret police is a strong symptom that we +are returning to a monarchy.'" + +It was plain that even in his short career in the police service, +Caillon had acquired certain shrewd habits of thought, and some power of +judgment, and so I freely communicated to him the whole of my late +adventure from the moment of my leaving the Temple to the time of my +setting out for the Chateau. + +"You have told me every thing but one, monsieur," said he, as I +finished. "How came you ever to have heard the name of so humble a +person as Jacques Caillon, for you remember you asked for me as you rode +up?" + +"I was just coming to that point, Jacques; and, as you will see, it was +not an omission in my narrative, only that I had not reached so far." + +I then proceeded to recount my night in the forest, and my singular +meeting with poor Mahon, which he listened to with great attention and +some anxiety. + +"The poor colonel!" said he, breaking in, "I suppose he is a hopeless +case; his mind can never come right again." + +"But if the persecution were to cease; if he were at liberty to appear +once more in the world--" + +"What if there was no persecution, sir?" broke in Jacques. "What if the +whole were a mere dream, or fancy? He is neither tracked nor followed. +It is not such harmless game the blood-hounds of the Rue des Victoires +scent out." + +"Was it, then, some mere delusion drove him from the service?" said I, +surprised. + +"I never said so much as that," replied Jacques; "Colonel Mahon has foul +injury to complain of, but his present sufferings are the inflictions of +his own terror; he fancies that the whole power of France is at war with +him; that every engine of the Government is directed against him; with a +restless fear he flies from village to village, fancying pursuit every +where; even kindness now he is distrustful of, and the chances are, that +he will quit the forest this very day, merely because he met you there." + +From being of all men the most open-hearted and frank, he had become the +most suspicious; he trusted nothing nor any one; and if for a moment a +burst of his old generous nature would return, it was sure to be +followed by some excess of distrust that made him miserable almost to +despair. Jacques was obliged to fall in with this humor, and only assist +him by stealth and by stratagem; he was even compelled to chime in with +all his notions about pursuit and danger, to suggest frequent change of +place, and endless precautions against discovery. + +"Were I for once to treat him frankly, and ask him to share my home with +me," said Jacques, "I should never see him more." + +"What could have poisoned so noble a nature?" cried I; "when I saw him +last he was the very type of generous confidence." + +"Where was that, and when?" asked Jacques. + +"It was at Nancy, on the march for the Rhine." + +"His calamities had not fallen on him then. He was a proud man in those +days, but it was a pride that well became him; he was the colonel of a +great regiment, and for bravery had a reputation second to none." + +"He was married, I think?" + +"No, sir; he was never married!" + +As Jacques said this, he arose, and moved slowly away as though he would +not be questioned further. His mind, too, seemed full of its own +crowding memories, for he looked completely absorbed in thought, and +never noticed my presence for a considerable time. At last he appeared +to have decided some doubtful issue within himself, and said, + +"Come, sir, let us stroll into the shade of the wood, and I'll tell you +in a few words the cause of the poor colonel's ruin--for ruin it is! +Even were all the injustice to be revoked to-morrow, the wreck of _his_ +heart could never be repaired." + +We walked along, side by side, for some time, before Jacques spoke +again, when he gave me, in brief and simple words, the following +sorrowful story. It was such a type of the age, so pregnant with the +terrible lessons of the time, that, although not without some +misgivings, I repeat it here as it was told to myself, premising that +however scant may be the reader's faith in many of the incidents of my +own narrative--and I neither beg for his trust in me, nor seek to entrap +it--I implore him to believe that what I am now about to tell was a +plain matter of fact, and, save in the change of one name, not a single +circumstance is owing to imagination. + + +CHAPTER XLIV. + +AN EPISODE OF '94. + +When the French army fell back across the Sambre, after the battle of +Mons, a considerable portion of the rear, who covered the retreat, were +cut off by the enemy, for it became their onerous duty to keep the +allied forces in check, while the Republicans took measures to secure +and hold fast the three bridges over the river. In this service many +distinguished French officers fell, and many more were left badly +wounded on the field; among the latter was a young captain of dragoons, +who, with his hand nearly severed by a sabre cut, yet found strength +enough to crawl under cover of a hedge, and there lie down in the fierce +resolve to die where he was, rather than surrender himself as a +prisoner. + +Although the allied forces had gained the battle, they quickly foresaw +that the ground they had won was untenable; and scarcely had night +closed in when they began their preparations to fall back. With strong +pickets of observation to watch the bridges, they slowly withdrew their +columns toward Mons, posting the artillery on the heights around +Grandrengs. From these movements the ground of the late struggle became +comparatively deserted, and before day began to dawn, not a sound was +heard over its wide expanse, save the faint moan of a dying soldier, or +the low rumble of a cart, as some spoiler of the dead stole stealthily +along. Among the demoralizing effects of war, none was more striking +than the number of the peasantry who betook themselves to this infamous +trade; and who, neglecting all thoughts of honest industry, devoted +themselves to robbery and plunder. The lust of gain did not stop with +the spoil of the dead, but the wounded were often found stripped of +every thing, and in some cases the traces of fierce struggle, and the +wounds of knives and hatchets, showed that murder had consummated the +iniquity of these wretches. + +In part, from motives of pure humanity, in part, from feelings of a more +interested nature--for terror to what this demoralization would tend, +was now great and wide spread--the nobles and gentry of the land +instituted a species of society to reward those who might succor the +wounded, and who displayed any remarkable zeal in their care for the +sufferers after a battle. This generous philanthropy was irrespective of +country, and extended its benevolence to the soldiers of either army: of +course, personal feeling enjoyed all its liberty of preference, but it +is fair to say, that the cases were few where the wounded man could +detect the political leanings of his benefactor. + +The immense granaries, so universal in the Low Countries, were usually +fitted up as hospitals, and many rooms of the chateau itself were often +devoted to the same purpose, the various individuals of the household, +from the "seigneur" to the lowest menial, assuming some office in the +great work of charity; and it was a curious thing to see how the +luxurious indolence of chateau life become converted into the zealous +activity of useful benevolence; and not less curious to the moralist to +observe how the emergent pressure of great crime so instinctively, as it +were, suggested this display of virtuous humanity. + +It was a little before daybreak that a small cart, drawn by a mule, drew +up by the spot where the wounded dragoon sat, with his shattered arm +bound up in his sash, calmly waiting for the death that his sinking +strength told could not be far distant. As the peasant approached him, +he grasped his sabre in the left hand, resolved on making a last and +bold resistance; but the courteous salutation, and the kindly look of +the honest countryman, soon showed that he was come on no errand of +plunder, while, in the few words of bad French he could muster, he +explained his purpose. + +"No, no, my kind friend," said the officer, "your labor would only be +lost on me. It is nearly all over already! A little further on in the +field, yonder, where that copse stands, you'll find some poor fellow or +other better worth your care, and more like to benefit by it. Adieu!" + +But neither the farewell, nor the abrupt gesture that accompanied it, +could turn the honest peasant from his purpose. There was something that +interested him in this very disregard of life, as well as in the +personal appearance of the sufferer, and, without further colloquy, he +lifted the half-fainting form into the cart, and, disposing the straw +comfortably on either side of him, set out homeward. The wounded man was +almost indifferent to what happened, and never spoke a word nor raised +his head as they went along. About three hours' journey brought them to +a large old-fashioned chateau beside the Sambre, an immense straggling +edifice which, with a façade of nearly a hundred windows, looked out +upon the river. Although now in disrepair and neglect, with ill-trimmed +alleys and grass-grown terraces, it had been once a place of great +pretensions, and associated with some of the palmiest days of Flemish +hospitality. The Chateau d'Overbecque was the property of a certain rich +merchant of Antwerp, named D'Aerschot, one of the oldest families of the +land, and was, at the time we speak of, the temporary abode of his only +son, who had gone there to pass the honeymoon. Except that they were +both young, neither of them yet twenty, two people could not easily be +found so discrepant in every circumstance and every quality. He the true +descendant of a Flemish house, plodding, commonplace, and methodical, +hating show and detesting expense. She a lively, volatile girl, bursting +with desire to see and be seen, fresh from the restraint of a convent at +Bruges, and anxious to mix in all the pleasures and dissipations of the +world. Like all marriages in their condition, it had been arranged +without their knowledge or consent; circumstances of fortune made the +alliance suitable; so many hundred thousands florins on one side were +wedded to an equivalent on the other, and the young people were married +to facilitate the "transaction." + +That he was not a little shocked at the gay frivolity of his beautiful +bride, and she as much disappointed at the staid demureness of her +stolid-looking husband, is not to be wondered at; but their friends knew +well that time would smooth down greater discrepancies than even these; +and if ever there was a country, the monotony of whose life could subdue +all to its own leaden tone, it was Holland in old days. Whether engaged +in the active pursuit of gain in the great cities, or enjoying the +luxurious repose of chateau life, a dull, dreary uniformity pervaded +every thing--the same topics, the same people, the same landscape, +recurred day after day; and save what the season induced, there was +nothing of change in the whole round of their existence. And what a dull +honeymoon was it for that young bride at the old Chateau of Overbecque! +To toil along the deep sandy roads in a lumbering old coach, with two +long-tailed black horses--to halt at some little eminence, and strain +the eyes over a long unbroken flat, where a wind-ill, miles off, was an +object of interest--to loiter beside the bank of a sluggish canal, and +gaze on some tasteless excrescence of a summerhouse, whose owner could +not be distinguished from the wooden effigy that sat, pipe in mouth, +beside him--to dine in the unbroken silence of a funeral feast, and doze +away the afternoon over the "Handelsblatt," while her husband smoked +himself into the seventh heaven of a Dutch Elysium--Poor Caroline! this +was a sorry realization of all her bright dreamings! It ought to be +borne in mind, that many descendants of high French families, who were +either too proud or too poor to emigrate to England or America, had +sought refuge from the Revolution in the convents of the Low Countries; +where, without entering an order, they lived in all the discipline of a +religious community. These ladies, many of whom had themselves mixed in +all the elegant dissipations of the court, carried with them the most +fascinating reminiscences of a life of pleasure, and could not readily +forget the voluptuous enjoyments of Versailles, and the graceful +caprices of "La Petit Trianon." From such sources as these the young +pupils drew all their ideas of the world, and assuredly it could have +scarcely worn colors more likely to fascinate such imaginations. + +What a shortcoming was the wearisome routine of Overbecque to a mind +full of the refined follies of Marie Antoinette's court! Even war and +its chances offered a pleasurable contrast to such dull monotony, and +the young bride hailed with eagerness the excitement and bustle of the +moving armies--the long columns which poured along the high road, and +the clanking artillery, heard for miles off! Monsieur D'Aerschot, like +all his countrymen who held property near the frontier, was too prudent +to have any political bias. Madame was, however, violently French. The +people who had such admirable taste in "toilet," could scarcely be wrong +in the theories of government; and a nation so invariably correct in +dress, could hardly be astray in morals. Besides this, all their notions +of morality were as pliant and as easy to wear as their own well-fitting +garments. Nothing was wrong but what _looked_ ungracefully; every thing +was right that sat becomingly on her who did it. A short code, and +wonderfully easy to learn. If I have dwelt somewhat tediously on these +tendencies of the time, it is that I may pass the more glibly over the +consequences, and not pause upon the details by which the young French +captain's residence at Overbecque gradually grew, from the intercourse +of kindness and good offices, to be a close friendship with his host, +and as much of regard and respectful devotion as consisted with the +position of his young and charming hostess. + +He thought her, as she certainly was, very beautiful; she rode to +perfection, she sung delightfully; she had all the volatile gayety of a +happy child with the graceful ease of coming womanhood. Her very passion +for excitement gave a kind of life and energy to the dull old chateau, +and made her momentary absence felt as a dreary blank. + +It is not my wish to speak of the feelings suggested by the contrast +between her husband and the gay and chivalrous young soldier, nor how +little such comparisons tended to allay the repinings at her lot. Their +first effect, was, however, to estrange her more and more from +D'Aerschot, a change which he accepted with most Dutch indifference. +Possibly, piqued by this, or desirous of awakening his jealousy, she +made more advances toward the other, selecting him as the companion of +her walks, and passing the greater part of each day in his society. +Nothing could be more honorable than the young soldier's conduct in this +trying position. The qualities of agreeability which he had previously +displayed to requite, in some sort, the hospitality of his hosts, he now +gradually restrained, avoiding as far as he could, without remark, the +society of the young countess, and even feigning indisposition, to +escape from the peril of her intimacy. + +He did more--he exerted himself to draw D'Aerschot more out, to make him +exhibit the shrewd intelligence which lay buried beneath his native +apathy, and display powers of thought and reflection of no mean order. +Alas! these very efforts on his part only increased the mischief, by +adding generosity to his other virtues! He now saw all the danger in +which he was standing, and, although still weak and suffering, resolved +to take his departure. There was none of the concealed vanity of a +coxcomb in this knowledge. He heartily deplored the injury he had +unwittingly done, and the sorry return he had made for all their +generous hospitality. + +There was not a moment to be lost; but the very evening before, as they +walked together in the garden, she had confessed to him the misery in +which she lived by recounting the story of her ill-sorted marriage. What +it cost him to listen to that sad tale with seeming coldness--to hear +her afflictions without offering one word of kindness; nay, to proffer +merely some dry, harsh counsels of patience and submission, while he +added something very like rebuke for her want of that assiduous +affection which should have been given to her husband! + +Unaccustomed to even the slightest censure, she could scarcely trust her +ears as she heard him. Had she humiliated herself, by such a confession, +to be met by advice like this! And was it _he_ that should reproach her +for the very faults his own intimacy had engendered! She could not +endure the thought, and she felt that she could hate, just at the very +moment when she knew she loved him! + +They parted in anger--reproaches, the most cutting and bitter, on her +part; coldness, far more wounding, on his! Sarcastic compliments upon +his generosity, replied to by as sincere expressions of respectful +friendship. What hypocrisy and self-deceit together! And yet deep +beneath all lay the firm resolve for future victory. Her wounded +self-love was irritated, and she was not one to turn from an unfinished +purpose. As for him, he waited till all was still and silent in the +house, and then seeking out D'Aerschot's chamber, thanked him most +sincerely for all his kindness, and, affecting a hurried order to join +his service, departed. While in her morning dreams she was fancying +conquest, he was already miles away on the road to France. + + * * * * * + +It was about three years after this, that a number of French officers +were seated one evening in front of a little café in Freyburg. The town +was then crammed with troops moving down to occupy the passes of the +Rhine, near the Lake of Constance, and every hour saw fresh arrivals +pouring in, dusty and wayworn from the march. The necessity for a sudden +massing of the troops in a particular spot compelled the generals to +employ every possible means of conveyance to forward the men to their +destination, and from the lumbering old diligence with ten horses, to +the light charette with one, all were engaged in this pressing service. + +When men were weary, and unable to march forward, they were taken up for +twelve or fourteen miles, after which they proceeded on their way, +making room for others, and thus forty, and even fifty miles were +frequently accomplished in the same day. + +The group before the café were amusing themselves criticising the +strange appearance of the new arrivals, many of whom certainly made +their entry in the least military fashion possible. Here came a great +country wagon, with forty infantry soldiers all sleeping on the straw. +Here followed a staff-officer trying to look quite at his ease in a +donkey-cart. Unwieldy old bullock-carts were filled with men, and a +half-starved mule tottered along with a drummer-boy in one pannier, and +camp-kettles in the other. + +He who was fortunate enough to secure a horse for himself, was obliged +to carry the swords and weapons of his companions, which were all hung +around and about him on every side, together with helmets and shakos of +all shapes and sizes, whose owners were fain to cover their heads with +the less soldier-like appendages of a nightcap or a handkerchief. Nearly +all who marched carried their caps on their muskets, for in such times +as these all discipline is relaxed, save such as is indispensable to the +maintenance of order; and so far was freedom conceded, that some were to +be seen walking barefoot in the ranks, while their shoes were suspended +by a string on their backs. The rule seemed to be "Get forward--it +matters not how--only get forward!" + +And with French troops, such relaxation of strict discipline is always +practicable; the instincts of obedience return at the first call of the +bugle or the first roll of the drum; and at the word to "fall in!" every +symptom of disorder vanishes, and the mass of seeming confusion becomes +the steady and silent phalanx. + +Many were the strange sights that passed before the eyes of the party at +the café, who, having arrived early in the day, gave themselves all the +airs of ease and indolence before their wayworn comrades. Now laughing +heartily at the absurdity of this one, now exchanging some good-humored +jest with that, they were in the very full current of their criticism, +when the sharp, shrill crack of a postillion's whip informed them that a +traveler of some note was approaching. A mounted courier, all slashed +with gold lace, came riding up the street at the same moment, and a +short distance behind followed a handsome equipage, drawn by six horses, +after which came a heavy "fourgon" with four. + +One glance showed that the whole equipage betokened a wealthy owner. +There was all that cumbrous machinery of comfort about it that tells of +people who will not trust to the chances of the road for their daily +wants. Every appliance of ease was there; and even in the self-satisfied +air of the servants who lounged in the "rumble" might be read habits of +affluent prosperity. A few short years back, and none would have dared +to use such an equipage. The sight of so much indulgence would have +awakened the fiercest rage of popular fury; but already the high fever +of democracy was gradually subsiding, and bit by bit men were found +reverting to old habits and old usages. Still each new indication of +these tastes met a certain amount of reprobation. Some blamed openly, +some condemned in secret; but all felt that there was at least impolicy +in a display which would serve as a pretext for the terrible excesses +that were committed under the banner of "Equality." + +"If we lived in the days of princes," said one of the officers, "I +should say there goes one now. Just look at all the dust they are +kicking up yonder; while, as if to point a moral upon greatness, they +are actually stuck fast in the narrow street, and unable from their own +unwieldiness to get further." + +"Just so," cried another; "they want to turn down toward the 'Swan,' and +there isn't space enough to wheel the leaders." + +"Who or what are they?" asked a third. + +"Some commissary-general, I'll be sworn," said the first. "They are the +most shameless thieves going; for they are never satisfied with robbery, +if they do not exhibit the spoils in public." + +"I see a bonnet and a lace vail," said another, rising suddenly and +pushing through the crowd. "I'll wager it's a 'danseuse' of the Grand +Opera." + +"Look at Merode!" remarked the former, as he pointed to the last +speaker. "See how he thrusts himself forward there. Watch, and you'll +see him bow and smile to her, as if they had been old acquaintances." + +The guess was so far unlucky, that Merode had no sooner come within +sight of the carriage-window, than he was seen to bring his hand to the +salute, and remain in an attitude of respectful attention till the +equipage moved on. + +"Well, Merode, who is it?--who are they?" cried several together, as he +fell back among his comrades. + +"It's our new adjutant-general, parbleu!" said he, "and he caught me +staring at his pretty wife." + +"Colonel Mahon!" said another, laughing; "I wish you joy of your +gallantry, Merode." "And worse, still," broke in a third, "she is not +his wife. She never could obtain the divorce to allow her to marry +again. Some said it was the husband--a Dutchman, I believe--refused it; +but the simple truth is, she never wished it herself." + +"How, not wish it?" remarked three or four in a breath. + +"Why should she? Has she not every advantage the position could give +her, and her liberty into the bargain? If we were back again in the old +days of the Monarchy, I agree with you, she could not go to court; she +would receive no invitations to the 'petits soupers' of the Trianon, nor +be asked to join the discreet hunting-parties at Fontainebleu; but we +live in less polished days; and if we have little virtue, we have less +hypocrisy." + +"Voila!" cried another, "only I, for one, would never believe that we +are a jot more wicked or more dissolute than those powdered and perfumed +scoundrels that played courtier in the King's bed-chamber." + +"There, they are getting out, at the 'Tour d'Argent!'" cried another. +"She _is_ a splendid figure, and what magnificence in her dress!" + +"Mahon waits on her like a laquais," muttered a grim old lieutenant of +infantry. + +"Rather like a well-born cavalier, I should say," interposed a young +hussar. "His manner is all that it ought to be--full of devotion and +respect." + +"Bah!" said the former; "a soldier's wife, or a soldier's mistress--for +it's all one--should know how to climb up to her place on the +baggage-wagon, without three lazy rascals to catch her sleeve or her +petticoats for her." + +"Mahon is as gallant a soldier as any in this army," said the hussar; +"and I'd not be in the man's coat who disparaged him in any thing." + +"By St. Denis!" broke in another, "he's not more brave than he is +fortunate. Let me tell you, it's no slight luck to chance upon so lovely +a woman as that, with such an immense fortune, too." + +"Is she rich?" + +"Enormously rich. _He_ has nothing. An emigré of good family, I believe, +but without a sous; and see how he travels yonder." + +While this conversation was going forward, the new arrivals had alighted +at the chief inn of the town, and were being installed in the principal +suite of rooms, which opened on a balcony over the "Place." The active +preparations of the host to receive such distinguished guests--the +hurrying of servants here and there--the blaze of wax-lights that shone +half way across the street beneath--and, lastly, the appearance of a +regimental band to play under the windows--were all circumstances well +calculated to sustain and stimulate that spirit of sharp criticism which +the group around the café were engaged in. + +The discussion was, however, suddenly interrupted by the entrance of an +officer, at whose appearance every one arose and stood in attitudes of +respectful attention. Scarcely above the middle size, and more +remarkable for the calm and intellectual cast of his features, than for +that air of military pride then so much in vogue among the French +troops--he took his place at a small table near the door, and called for +his coffee. It was only when he was seated, and that by a slight gesture +he intimated his wishes to that effect, that the others resumed their +places, and continued the conversation, but in a lower, more subdued +tone. + +"What distinguished company have we got yonder?" said he, after about +half an hour's quiet contemplation of the crowd before the inn, and the +glaring illumination from the windows. + +"Colonel Mahon, of the Fifth Cuirassiers, general," replied an officer. + +"Our republican simplicity is not so self-denying a system, after all, +gentlemen," said the general, smiling half sarcastically. "Is he very +rich?" + +"His mistress is, general," was the prompt reply. + +"Bah!" said the general, as he threw his cigar away, and, with a +contemptuous expression of looks, arose and walked away. + +"Parbleu! he's going to the inn," cried an officer, who peered out after +him; "I'll be sworn Mahon will get a heavy reprimand for all this +display and ostentation." + +"And why not?" said another. "Is it when men are arriving half dead with +fatigue, without rations, without billets, glad to snatch a few hours' +rest on the stones of the Place, that the colonel of a regiment should +travel with all the state of an eastern despot." + +"We might as well have the Monarchy back again," said an old +weather-beaten captain; "I say far better, for their vices sat +gracefully and becomingly on those essenced scoundrels, whereas they but +disfigure the plainness of our daily habits." + +"All this is sheer envy, comrades," broke in a young major of hussars, +"sheer envy; or, what is worse, downright hypocrisy. Not one of us is a +whit better or more moral than if he wore the livery of a king, and +carried a crown on his shako instead of that naked damsel that +represents French Liberty. Mahon is the luckiest fellow going, and, I +heartily believe, the most deserving of his fortune! And see if General +Moreau be not of my opinion. There he is on the balcony, and she is +leaning on his arm." + +"Parbleu! the major is right!" said another; "but, for certain, it was +not in that humor he left us just now; his lips were closely puckered +up, and his fingers were twisted into his sword-knot, two signs of anger +and displeasure, there's no mistaking." + +"If he's in a better temper, then," said another, "it was never the +smiles of a pretty woman worked the change. There's not a man in France +so thoroughly indifferent to such blandishments." + +"Tant pis pour lui," said the major; "but they're closing the +window-shutters, and we may as well go home." + + +CHAPTER XLV. + +THE CABINET OF A CHEF-DE-POLICE. + +Whatever opinion may be formed of the character of the celebrated +conspiracy of Georges and Pichegru, the mode of its discovery, and the +secret rules by which its plans were detected, are among the great +triumphs of police skill. From the hour when the conspirators first met +together in London, to that last fatal moment when they expired in the +Temple, the agents of Fouché never ceased to track them. + +Their individual tastes and ambitions were studied; their habits +carefully investigated; every thing that could give a clew to their turn +of thought or mind well weighed; so that the Consular Government was not +only in possession of all their names and rank, but knew thoroughly the +exact amount of complicity attaching to each, and could distinguish +between the reckless violence of Georges and the more tempered, but +higher ambition of Moreau. It was a long while doubtful whether the +great general would be implicated in the scheme. His habitual reserve--a +habit less of caution than of constitutional delicacy--had led him to +few intimacies, and nothing like even one close friendship; he moved +little in society; he corresponded with none, save on the duties of the +service. Fouché's well-known boast of, "Give me two words of a man's +writing and I'll hang him," were then scarcely applicable here. + +To attack such a man unsuccessfully, to arraign him on a weak +indictment, would have been ruin; and yet Bonaparte's jealousy of his +great rival pushed him even to this peril, rather than risk the growing +popularity of his name with the army. + +Fouché, and, it is said also, Talleyrand, did all they could to dissuade +the First Consul from this attempt, but he was fixed and immutable in +his resolve, and the Police Minister at once addressed himself to his +task with all his accustomed cleverness. + +High play was one of the great vices of the day. It was a time of wild +and varied excitement, and men sought, even in their dissipations, the +whirlwind passions that stirred them in active life. Moreau, however, +was no gambler; it was said that he never could succeed in learning a +game. He, whose mind could comprehend the most complicated question of +strategy, was obliged to confess himself conquered by écarte! So much +for the vaunted intellectuality of the play-table! Neither was he +addicted to wine. All his habits were temperate, even to the extent of +unsociality. + +A man who spoke little, and wrote less, who indulged in no +dissipations, nor seemed to have taste for any, was a difficult subject +to treat; and so Fouché found, as, day after day, his spies reported to +him the utter failure of all their schemes to entrap him. Lajolais, the +friend of Pichegru, and the man who betrayed him, was the chief +instrument the Police Minister used to obtain secret information. Being +well born, and possessed of singularly pleasing manners, he had the +_entrée_ of the best society of Paris, where his gay, easy humor made +him a great favorite. Lajolais, however, could never penetrate into the +quiet domesticity of Moreau's life, nor make any greater inroad on his +intimacy than a courteous salutation as they passed each other in the +garden of the Luxembourg. At the humble restaurant where he dined each +day for two francs, the "General," as he was distinctively called, never +spoke to any one. Unobtrusive and quiet, he occupied a little table in a +recess of the window, and arose the moment he finished his humble meal. +After this he was to be seen in the garden of the Luxembourg, with a +cigar and a book, or sometimes, without either, seated pensively under a +tree for hours together. + +If he had been conscious of the "espionage" established all over his +actions, he could scarcely have adopted a more guarded or more +tantalizing policy. To the verbal communications of Pichegru and Armand +Polignac, he returned vague replies; their letters he never answered at +all, and Lajolais had to confess that, after two months of close +pursuit, the game was as far from him as ever! + +"You have come to repeat the old song to me, Monsieur Lajolais," said +Fouché, one evening, as his wily subordinate entered the room; "you have +nothing to tell me, eh?" + +"Very little, Monsieur le Ministre, but still something. I have at last +found out where Moreau spends all his evenings. I told you that about +half-past nine o'clock every night all lights were extinguished in his +quarters, and, from the unbroken stillness, it was conjectured that he +had retired to bed. Now, it seems that, about an hour later, he is +accustomed to leave his house, and crossing the Place de l'Odeon, to +enter the little street called the 'Allée de Caire,' where, in a small +house next but one to the corner, resides a certain officer, 'en +retraite'--a Colonel Mahon, of the Cuirassiers." + +"A Royalist?" + +"This is suspected, but not known. His politics, however, are not in +question here; the attraction is of a different order." + +"Ha! I perceive; he has a wife or a daughter." + +"Better still, a mistress. You may have heard of the famous Caroline de +Stassart, that married a Dutchman named D'Aerschot." + +"Madame Laure, as they called her," said Fouché, laughing. + +"The same. She has lived as Mahon's wife for some years, and was as such +introduced into society; in fact, there is no reason, seeing what +society is in these days, that she should not participate in all its +pleasures." + +"No matter for that," broke in Fouché; "Bonaparte will not have it so. +He wishes that matters should go back to the old footing, and wisely +remarks, that it is only in savage life that people or vices go without +clothing." + +"Be it so, monsieur. In the present case no such step is necessary. I +know her maid, and from her I have heard that her mistress is heartily +tired of her protector. It was originally a sudden fancy, taken when she +knew nothing of life--had neither seen any thing, nor been herself seen. +By the most wasteful habits she has dissipated all, or nearly all, her +own large fortune, and involved Mahon heavily in debt; and they are thus +reduced to a life of obscurity and poverty--the very things the least +endurable to her notions." + +"Well, does she care for Moreau?" asked Fouché, quickly; for all stories +to his ear only resolved themselves into some question of utility or +gain. + +"No, but he does for her. About a year back she did take a liking to +him. He was returning from his great German campaign, covered with +honors and rich in fame; but as her imagination is captivated by +splendor, while her heart remains perfectly cold and intact, Moreau's +simple, unpretending habits quickly effaced the memory of his hard-won +glory, and now she is quite indifferent to him." + +"And who is her idol now, for, of course, she has one?" asked Fouché. + +"You would scarcely guess," said Lajolais. + +"Parbleu! I hope it is not myself," said Fouché, laughing. + +"No, Monsieur le Ministre, her admiration is not so well placed. The man +who has captivated her present fancy is neither good-looking nor +well-mannered; he is short and abrupt of speech, careless in dress, +utterly indifferent to women's society, and almost rude to them." + +"You have drawn the very picture of a man to be adored by them," said +Fouché, with a dry laugh. + +"I suppose so," said the other with a sigh; "or General Ney would not +have made this conquest." + +"Ah! it is Ney, then. And he, what of him?" + +"It is hard to say. As long as she lived in a grand house of the Rue St. +Georges, where he could dine four days a week, and, in his dirty boots +and unbrushed frock, mix with all the fashion and elegance of the +capital; while he could stretch full length on a Persian ottoman, and +brush the cinders from his cigar against a statuette by Canova, or a +gold embroidered hanging; while in the midst of the most voluptuous +decorations he alone could be dirty and uncared for, I really believe +that he did care for her, at least, so far as ministering to his own +enjoyments; but in a miserable lodging of the 'Allée de Caire,' without +equipage, lackeys, liveried footmen--" + +"To be sure," interrupted Fouché, "one might as well pretend to be +fascinated by the beauty of a landscape the day after it has been +desolated by an earthquake. Ney is right! Well, now, Monsieur Lajolais, +where does all this bring us to?" + +"Very near to the end of our journey, Monsieur le Ministre. Madame, or +mademoiselle, is most anxious to regain her former position; she longs +for all the luxurious splendor she used to live in. Let us but show her +this rich reward, and she will be our own!" + +"In _my_ trade, Monsieur Lajolais, generalities are worth nothing. Give +me details; let me know how you would proceed." + +"Easily enough, sir; Mahon must first of all be disposed of, and perhaps +the best way will be to have him arrested for debt. This will not be +difficult, for his bills are every where. Once in the Temple, she will +never think more of him. It must then be her task to obtain the most +complete influence over Moreau. She must affect the deepest interest in +the Royalist cause: I'll furnish her with all the watch-words of the +party, and Moreau, who never trusts a man, will open all his confidence +to a woman." + +"Very good, go on!" cried Fouché, gathering fresh interest as the plot +began to reveal itself before him. + +"He hates writing; she will be his secretary, embodying all his thoughts +and suggestions; and now and then, for _her own guidance_, obtaining +little scraps in _his_ hand. If he be too cautious here, I will advise +her to remove to Geneva, for change of air; he likes Switzerland, and +will follow her immediately." + +"This will do; at least it looks practicable," said Fouché, +thoughtfully; "is she equal to the part you would assign her?" + +"Ay, sir, and to a higher one, too! She has considerable ability, and +great ambition; her present narrow fortune has irritated and disgusted +her; the moment is most favorable for us." + +"If she should play us false," said Fouché, half aloud. + +"From all I can learn, there is no risk of this; there is a headlong +determination in her, when once she has conceived a plan, from which +nothing turns her; overlooking all but her object, she will brave any +thing, do any thing to attain it." + +"Bonaparte was right in what he said of Necker's daughter," said Fouché, +musingly, "and there is no doubt it adds wonderfully to a woman's +_head_, that she has no _heart_. And now, the price, Master Lajolais; +remember that our treasury received some deadly wounds lately--what is +to be the price?" + +"It may be a smart one; she is not likely to be a cheap purchase." + +"In the event of success--I mean of such proof as may enable us to +arrest Moreau, and commit him to prison--" He stopped as he got thus +far, and paused for some seconds--"Bethink you, then, Lajolais," said +he, "what a grand step this would be, and how terrible the consequences +if undertaken on rash or insufficient grounds. Moreau's popularity with +the army is only second to one man's! His unambitious character has +made him many friends; he has few, very few enemies." + +"But you need not push matters to the last--an implied, but not a proven +guilt would be enough; and you can pardon him!" + +"Ay, Lajolais, but who would pardon _us_?" cried Fouché, carried beyond +all the bounds of his prudence, by the thought of a danger so imminent. +"Well, well, let us come back; the price--will that do?" And taking up a +pen he scratched some figures on a piece of paper. + +Lajolais smiled dubiously, and added a unit to the left of the sum. + +"What! a hundred and fifty thousand francs!" cried Fouché. + +"And a cheap bargain, too," said the other; "for, after all, it is only +the price of a ticket in the Lottery, of which the great prize is +General Ney!" + +"You say truly," said the Minister; "be it so." + +"Write your name there, then," said Lajolais, "beneath those figures; +that will be warranty sufficient for my negotiation, and leave the rest +to me." + +"Nature evidently meant you for a _Chef-de-Police_, Master Lajolais." + +"Or a cardinal! Monsieur le Ministre," said the other, as he folded up +the paper, a little insignificant slip, scrawled over with a few +figures, and an almost illegible word; and yet pregnant with infamy to +one, banishment to another, ruin and insanity to a third. + +This sad record need not be carried further. It is far from a pleasant +task to tell of baseness unredeemed by one trait of virtue--of +treachery, unrepented even by regret. History records Moreau's unhappy +destiny--the pages of private memoir tell of Ney's disastrous +connection; our own humble reminiscences speak of poor Mahon's fate, the +least known of all, but the most sorrowful victim of a woman's +treachery! + +(TO BE CONTINUED.) + + + + +THE FLOATING ISLAND. + +A LEGEND OF LOCH DOCHART. + + +One night in midsummer, a long, long time ago--so long ago that I may +not venture to assign the date--the moon shone down, as it might have +done last night, over the wild, lone shore of Loch Dochart. Upon a +little promontory on its southern margin stood a girl, meanly clad, +wasted, and wayworn. In her arms she bore a little babe, wrapped up in +the folds of a plaid; and as she bent her thin, pallid face over that of +the child, her rich, long, yellow hair fell in a shower around her, +unconfined either by _snood_ or _curch_. One might have taken her for +Magdalene, in her withered beauty, her penitence, and her grief; but +other than Magdalene, in her passionate despair. She looked around her, +and a shudder shook her feeble frame. Was it the chill of the night +mist?--it might be; for as her eye wandered away toward the hills +beyond, northward, the mists were creeping along their sides, and she +saw the moonlight gleaming on a lowly cot, amid a fir grove. 'Twas the +home of her parents, the home of her happy childhood, her innocent +youth. She looked again at the little one in her bosom; it slept, but a +spasm of pain wrung its pale, pinched, sharp features. It appeared to be +feeble and pining, for sleepless nights and days of grief and tears had +turned the milk of the mother to gall and poison, and the little +innocent drank in death--death, the fruit of sin in all climes and ages. +Gently she laid the little one by the margent of the water, amid the +green rushes; and the breeze of night sweeping by murmured plaintively +to them, and caused them to sigh, and rock to and fro around the infant. +Then the poor mother withdrew a space from the babe, and sat her down +upon a white stone, and covered her face with her long, thin, bloodless +hands. She said in her heart, as Hagar said, "Let me not see the death +of the child." And she wept sore, for the poor girl loved the babe, as a +mother, like her, only can love her babe, with a wild, passionate, +absorbing love, for it is her all, her pearl of great price, which she +has bought with name and fame, with home and friends, with health and +happiness, with earth, and, it may be, with heaven. And she thought +bitterly over that happy home, where, a few months since, in the +gloaming of the autumn's eve, she sat on the heathery braes, and tripped +along the brink of the warbling burn, or milked the kine in the byre, or +sang to her spinning-wheel beside her mother, near the ingle. Next came +the recollection of one who sat beside her in the braes, and strayed +with her down the burn; who won her heart with his false words, and drew +her from the holy shelter of her father's roof, to leave her in her +desolation among the southern strangers. And now, with the +faithfulness--though not with the purity or trustfulness--of the dove, +she was returning over the waste of the world's dark waters to that ark +which had sheltered her early years--from which no father had sent her +forth. The ark is in sight; but the poor bird is weary from her flight, +and she would even now willingly fold her wings and sink down amid the +waters, for she is full of shame, and fear, and sorrow. Ah! will her +father "put forth his hand and take her in, and pull her in unto him +into the ark," with the glory of her whiteness defiled, her plumage +ruffled and drooping? Ah! will her mother draw her again to nestle +within her bosom, when she sees the dark stain upon her breast, once so +pure and spotless? The poor girl wept as she thought these things--at +first wild and bitterly, but at length her sorrow became gentler, and +her soul more calm, for her heavy heart was relieved by the tears that +seemed to have gushed straight up from it, as the dark clouds are lightened +when the rain pours from them. And so she sobbed and mused in the cold, +dreary night, till her thoughts wandered and her vision grew dim, and +she sank down in slumber--a slumber like that of childhood, sweet and +deep. And she dreamed that angels, pure and white, stood around: and, +oh! strange and charming, they looked not on her as the unfallen ones +of the world--the pure and the sinless in their own sight--looked upon +her through the weary days of her humiliation--scornfully, loathingly, +pitilessly; but their sweet eyes were bent upon her full of ruth, and +gentleness, and love; and tears like dew-pearls fell from those mild +and lustrous orbs upon her brow and bosom, as those beautiful beings +hung over her, and those tears calmed her poor wild brain, and each, +where it fell upon her bosom, washed away a stain. Then the angels +took the little one from her breast, and spread their wings as if for +flight; but she put forth her arms to regain her child, and one of the +bright beings repressed her gently, and said, + +"It may not be--the babe goes with us." + +Then said she to the angel, "Suffer me also to go with my child, that I +may be with it and tend it ever." + +But the angel said, in a voice of sweet and solemn earnestness, "Not +yet--not yet. Thou mayest not come with us now, but in a little while +shalt thou rejoin us, and this our little sister." + +And the dreamer thought that they rose slowly on the moonlit air, as the +light clouds float before a gentle breeze at evening; then the child +stretched forth its arms toward her with a plaintive cry, and she awoke +and sprang forward to where her child lay. The waters of the lake +rippled over the feet of the mother, but the babe lay beyond in the +rushes at the point of the promontory where she had laid it. The +bewildered mother essayed to spring across the stream that now flowed +between her and the island, but in vain; her strength failed her, and as +she sank to the earth she beheld the island floating slowly away upon +the waveless bosom of the lake, while eldritch laughter rang from out +the rushes, mingled with sweet tiny voices soothing with a fairy lullaby +the cries of the babe that came fainter and fainter on the ears of the +bereaved mother, as the little hands of the elfin crew impelled the +floating island over the surface of Loch Dochart. + +Some herdsmen going forth in the early morning found a girl apparently +lifeless lying on the edge of the lake. She was recognized and brought +to her early home. When she opened her eyes her parents stood before +her. No word of anger passed from the lips of her father, though his eye +was clouded and his head was bowed down with sorrow and humiliation. Her +mother took the girl's head and laid it on her bosom--as she had done +when she was a little guileless child--and wept, and kissed her, and +prayed over her. Then after a time she came to know those around her and +where she was, and she started up and looked restlessly around, and +cried out with a loud and wild cry, "My child! Where is my child!" + +Near the spot where she had been discovered was found a portion of a +baby's garment. The people feared the child had been drowned, and +searched the loch along its shores. Nothing, however, was found which +could justify their suspicions; but, to the astonishment of the +searchers, they discovered in the midst of the lake a small island, +about fifty feet in length, and more than half that in width, covered +with rushes and water-plants. No one had ever seen it before, and when +they returned with others to show the wonder, they found that it had +sensibly changed its position. The home-returned wanderer whispered into +her mother's ear all her sin and all her sorrow. Then she pined away day +by day. And when the moon was again full in the heavens, she stole forth +in the gloaming. She was missed in the morning, and searched for during +many days, but no trace could be found of her. At length some fishermen +passing by the floating island, scared a large kite from the rushes, and +discovered the decaying body of the hapless girl. How she had reached +the island none could say--whether it drifted sufficiently near the land +to enable her to wade to it in her search for her babe, and then floated +out again from the shore; or whether beings of whom peasants fear to +speak had brought her there. The latter conjecture was, of course, the +one more generally adopted by the people, and there are those who say +that at midnight, when the moon shines down at the full upon Loch +Dochart, he who has sharp ears may hear the cry of a baby mingling with +elfish laughter and sweet low songs from amidst the plants and rushes of +the floating island. + + + + +SIBERIA, AS A LAND OF POLITICAL EXILE. + + +From the reign of Peter the Great to the present moment, exile to +Siberia as a punishment for political offenses, has been of constant +recurrence, and most of the romance of Russian history is connected with +the frozen steppes of that country. To enumerate all the illustrious +names that have swelled the list of exiles up to the reign of Alexander, +would be to write the history of the innumerable conspiracies which at +various periods have shaken the throne of Russia, of the cruel caprices +of a race of absolute and unscrupulous despots, and of the various +individual passions which, under governments such as that of Russia, can +always find means of making the public authorities the avengers of +private hatreds. From the reign of Alexander up to the present time, +sentence of exile to Siberia for political offenses has perhaps been +more frequently pronounced than before; and as within this period the +victims have mostly suffered for opinions, not for criminal deeds, and +in many instances for opinions which, judged from the point of view of +absolute right, must be pronounced to be noble and generous, though, in +opposition to the reigning system in the country, the fate of these +exiles has elicited the sympathy of Europe in a far higher degree than +was ever called forth by the fall of court favorites, whose change of +fortune was generally caused by an inordinate and selfish ambition. That +to the latter, life in Siberia was but a succession of hardships, +privations, and humiliations, history affirms; but what may be the fate +of the exiles in the present day, there are no more authentic means of +ascertaining than the narratives of the few west Europeans who have +visited Siberia, and the inferences which may be drawn from the general +system of convict colonization followed in the country, and from the +spirit which pervades society there. + +A regular system of convict colonization was commenced in 1754, during +the reign of the Empress Elizabeth, who was too tender-hearted to sign +the death-warrant even of the most atrocious criminal, though she +tolerated and countenanced the most barbarous cruelties; but it was +carried on without any attention to the necessities of the various +localities, and was found not to work as favorably as might be desired. +The existing irregularities having been brought to light, by the census +taken in Siberia in 1819, new regulations were issued in 1822; and these +were further improved upon in 1840, and brought into harmony with the +improved penal code of the country. Notwithstanding the energetic +endeavors of Peter the Great to force European civilization upon his +people, he took little pains with regard to the necessary preliminary +process of humanizing the penal laws of the country, and the most +barbarous and degrading punishments continued, during his and several +subsequent reigns, to be inflicted on persons of all ranks and both +sexes. Torture in its most cruel forms was frequently applied, and the +bodies of the criminals mutilated in the most inhuman manner, their +noses and ears being cut off, and their tongues torn out by the root. +Under the reign of Catharine II., mitigations were, however, introduced: +torture was abolished, and the nobles, as also the burghers of the two +first guilds, were exempted from corporeal punishment. The cruel and +capricious Paul I., however, again gave to the world the sad and +degrading spectacle of individuals of high social position and refined +education wincing under the lash of the executioner; and to this day the +knout and the cat-o'-nine-tails are reckoned among the instruments of +correction in Russia. The punishments, as regulated by law at present, +consist, according to the nature of the offense committed, in money +fines, restitution, church penitence, loss of office, forfeiture of +privileges and of honor, and in corporeal punishments of various kinds +and degrees--regarding which it is, however, expressly stipulated that +the sentence must not contain a recommendation "to flog without mercy," +as was formerly the case--and in banishment to Siberia, which, in case +of heinous offenses, is further sharpened by forced labor in the mines +and manufactories. Capital punishment is reintroduced, but for crimes of +high treason only, and is even in such cases but very rarely applied. +From the execution of the Cossack rebel Pugatscher, which took place in +Moscow, in 1775, fifty years elapsed before sentence of death was again +pronounced in Russia, when five of the leaders of the insurrection of +1826, which had nearly deprived the Emperor Nicholas of the throne to +which he had just succeeded, were sentenced to lose their lives at the +hands of the hangman. The knout, in addition to hard labor for life in +the mines of Siberia, is the general substitute for capital punishment; +and up to 1822, all criminals under this last sentence were branded on +the forehead, though the practice of slitting up the ears and nostrils, +which continued in force until the reign of Alexander, was discontinued. +In cases when the criminals are condemned to banishment for life, the +sentence may be rendered still more rigorous by condemnation to _civil +death_, in which cases alone the families of the convicts are not +allowed to follow them into exile, and they are neither allowed to +receive nor to write letters. + +Kasan, in which city there is a bureau of dispatch for exiles, is the +starting point of the detachments of convicts and exiles which +periodically leave Russia for Siberia--their halting-places being +indicated along the line of route by large four-winged wooden buildings, +with yellow walls and red roofs, and surrounded by a stout palisade, +erected at every post-station opposite the crown post-house. According +to the improved regulations of 1840, the convicts condemned to forced +labor are not allowed to travel in company with the criminals of lesser +degree destined for immediate colonization, as was previously the case, +but are sent in separate detachments, care being also taken that several +days shall elapse between the departures of the successive detachments, +so as to preclude all possibility of contact on the road. As far as can +be judged from the very imperfect records which are available, the +number of convicts transported to Siberia up to the year 1818 averaged +2500 yearly; but among these it may be presumed were not numbered the +political exiles. In the year 1819, 3141 persons were transported; in +1820, the number swelled to 4051; and from that period until 1823, the +annual number was from 4000 to 5000. In 1823 a ukase was issued, +ordering that all vagrants who had until then been subjected to forced +labor in the fortresses should in future be sent to Siberia as +colonists. This of course greatly augmented the number transported; and +during the period of six years which elapsed from the date of this ukase +to 1829, 64,035 persons, or 10,067 individuals annually, were sent to +people these uncultivated wilds. Among these, persons convicted of +vagrancy only were, however, in a great majority, the number of criminal +offenders condemned to hard labor, amounting only to one-seventh of the +whole number. The number of women in proportion to that of the men was +one to ten. The convicts travel on foot, all being, on starting, +supplied with clothing at the public expense. The men walk in pairs; +but, except in cases of extreme criminality, are rarely burdened with +fetters during the journey. When passing through towns, however, irons +are generally attached to their ankles, and every attempt at escape is +punished with corporeal chastisement, without any reference to the cause +of exile or the former social position of the individual. To each +detachment are generally attached some wagons or sledges for the women, +the aged, and the infirm; and these usually lead the van, the younger +men following, and the whole party, commonly numbering from fifty to +sixty individuals, being escorted from station to station by a +detachment of the Cossacks stationed in the villages. That a journey of +several thousand wersts on foot, and through such a country as Siberia, +must cause much suffering, can not be doubted; but the stations are not +at very great distances from each other, and travelers agree in +asserting that the ostrogs--that is, fortified places--in which the +convicts rest from their fatigues, afford as comfortable accommodation +as any post-house throughout Siberia; besides which the inhabitants of +the towns and villages through which they pass, either from that +perverse sympathy which so frequently leads the unthinking masses to +look upon a doomed felon as upon a victim of oppression, or from a +knowledge of how many sufferers for mere opinion may be mixed up with +the really guilty individuals in the troop, contribute in every way in +their power to mitigate the hardships of their position. The officer +commanding the escort is intrusted with the sum stipulated by law for +the daily subsistence of each convict, and this must never, under any +pretense, pass into the hands of the latter. Many tales are told of the +barbarous treatment to which the exiles are subjected during their +passage to their various places of destination; but this, it would seem, +must be attributed to the general brutality of the men forming the +escort, and not to any desire in the government to render in an indirect +way the punishment of the condemned more severe than expressed in the +terms of the sentence; though in these cases, as in all others, it is of +course the despotic character of the government in Russia which prevents +the complaints of the oppressed from being heard, and thus perpetuates +all abuses. + +The convicts who have committed heinous offenses, such as murder, +burglary, highway robbery, or who have been judged guilty of high +treason, and are banished for life and condemned to forced labor, are +chiefly under the superintendence of the governor of Irkutsk, who +determines whether they are to be employed in the mines and salt-works, +or in the distilleries, or other manufactories of the crown. For each of +these convicts government allows thirty-six paper rubles yearly; but the +price of the necessaries of life being in Siberia so very low that the +half of this suffices for the support of the convict, the other half +goes to form a fund which, in case, after the lapse of four or six +years, he gives proofs of reform, is given to him to begin life with in +some part of the wide-spread steppes which admits of cultivation, and +where a certain portion of land and materials for building a house are +assigned to him. The house must, however, be erected by his own labor, +and the money laid by for him be applied to the purchasing of the +necessary utensils and implements for commencing house-keeping and +agricultural pursuits. From this moment the convicts become _glebæ +adscripti_ in the strictest sense of the term, as they are, under no +pretense whatsoever, allowed to quit the lands assigned to them, or to +change their condition; thenceforward also they pay the capitation tax +and other imposts in like manner as the other crown peasants of Siberia, +and enjoy in return the same rights, such as they are. The children of +these convicts, born during the parents' period of punishment, are bound +to the soil; but their names are not enrolled among those of the exiles, +and the law orders that they shall be treated in the same manner as the +overseers of the works. + +The second class of convicts is subdivided into five classes, namely, 1. +Exiles sentenced to labor in the manufactories; 2. Those sentenced to +form part of the labor companies engaged on the public works; 3. Those +allowed to work at their respective trades; 4. Those hired out as +domestic servants; and 5. Those destined to become colonists. The +last-mentioned of these are at once established on the waste lands +allotted to them, each person obtaining an area of not less than thirty +acres, and being besides furnished with materials for building a house, +with a cow, some sheep, agricultural implements, and seed corn. During +the first three years these settlers are exempted from all imposts; +during the next seven years they pay half the usual amount of taxes, and +in addition to this, fifteen silver copeks annually toward an economical +fund erected for their benefit. After the lapse of these ten years they +take their rank among the other crown peasants, and are subjected to the +same burdens. Except when especially pardoned, these colonists are not +either allowed to change their condition, or arbitrarily to quit the +lands allotted to them. Colonization, according to this system, being +found excessively expensive, and at the same time very precarious, on +account of the frequent desertion of the colonists, who, living without +families, were bound by no ties, was given up in 1822, but has since +been resumed. In order to promote the speedy amalgamation of the convict +population with the free population, the government bestows on every +free woman who marries one of these colonists a donation of fifty silver +rubles; while the free man who takes to wife a female convict receives a +donation of fifteen rubles. Persons enjoying the privilege of collecting +gold from the sands of the government of Tomsk, and who employ convicts +for the washings, are bound to pay, in addition to the daily wages, one +ruble and fifteen copeks in silver toward the economical fund. The +convicts employed as domestic servants are fed by their employers, and +receive in wages one silver ruble and a half per month. After eight +years of such compulsory service, these exiles may also become +colonists, and be enrolled among the peasants of the crown. Convict +colonists may, should the authorities deem it expedient, be allowed to +work at trades in the towns, but they must not become members of +corporations or guilds, and must never be considered as being withdrawn +from their condition of colonists. + +The convicts condemned to forced labor, and employed in the +manufactories, are the most leniently dealt with of this class, their +position being, indeed, such as to render the sentence a reward rather +than a punishment. In the manufactories of Telma more than eight hundred +convicts are employed, who receive in wages, according to the work +executed by them, from six to fifty rubles per month, besides bread +flour; and their wives, who dwell in the village, earn from two and a +half to five rubles per month by spinning and weaving hemp. The convicts +employed in manufactories, and receiving wages, are, however, generally +such as have previously been under stricter discipline, and are in a +state of transition toward the position of liberated colonists. In +several towns of Siberia there are establishments for them during the +first stage of their punishment. In these establishments, called +_Remeslenui Dom_, or the House of Trades, the convicts are employed as +joiners, turners, saddlers, wheelwrights, smiths, &c., and are housed, +clothed, and fed at the public expense, but do not receive wages, their +wives and children finding employment in other ways. All orders must be +addressed to the officers intrusted with the superintendence of the +establishments; but persons having work executed there are at liberty to +enter the workshops, and to communicate directly with the different +craftsmen, who are not chained, but are guarded by military. In winter, +the hours of labor are eight, in summer, twelve. The proceeds of the +labor of the convicts go to pay the expenses of the establishment, and +the surplus is applied to charitable purposes, such as the building and +maintenance of hospitals. The convict laborers in the mines of the Ural, +as well as those of Nertchynsk, dwell together in large barrack-like +buildings, the worst criminals among them being alone chained; but owing +to the unhealthy nature of the mines, particularly those of Nertchynsk, +their existence is a very miserable one. The usual term of compulsory +labor in the mines is twenty years, at the expiration of which the +convicts are generally established as colonists in the vicinity of the +mines, and continue to labor in them, but as free laborers, receiving +wages. In case there be at any time a scarcity of mining laborers, the +authorities are at liberty to apply to this purpose exiles who have not +been especially sentenced to this punishment; but in such cases the +exiles are paid for their labor, and are not confined to the mines for +more than one year, which counts, besides, for two years of exile. Upon +the whole, great latitude is allowed the central and local authorities +in Siberia with regard to the employment and allocation of the convicts +and exiles, it being merely laid down as a general rule that +agricultural settlements shall always be made in the least populous +districts of the localities capable of cultivation. It seems also to be +the plan, as far as possible, to put each man to the work which he is +most competent to execute; and the exiles belonging to the laboring +classes are therefore, in preference, established as agricultural +colonists, while those belonging to the higher classes, who are +unaccustomed to manual labor, are generally located in the towns, where +it is easier for them to find some means of subsistence, which may +relieve the government from the burden of their support. Even +independently of the political exiles, the number of the latter is +great, for exile is the punishment which usually follows the detection +of those peculations and abuses of power of which the Russian officials +are so frequently guilty. On their first arrival, it seems, the exiles +of this class are made to do penance in the churches, under the +guardianship of the police, but after a time they are allowed to go +about unguarded; and it is said that, when exiled for life, the Russians +even of high birth bear the change of fortune with extraordinary +equanimity, assimilating in a very short time, and without any apparent +struggle, to the Cossacks and peasants among whom they are thrown. When, +as is frequently the case, they marry Siberian women, their children in +no way differ from the people among whom they live. In the city of +Tobolsk, in particular, there are a great many exiles belonging to the +class of unfaithful _employés_, the sentence being considered less +rigorous the nearer the place of exile to the frontiers of Russia +Proper. Political exiles are, on the contrary, sent further north and +east, where the nature of the surrounding country is such as to make an +attempt at flight impossible, or at least very difficult. The hardships +to which these exiles are subjected seem, in by far the greater number +of cases, to be exclusively such as are necessarily connected with their +being torn away from all they hold dear, and transplanted from the +luxurious life of European society (for these exiles mostly belong to +the higher classes) to the uncultivated wilds and rigorous climate of a +country but very partially redeemed from a state of nature; but the +tenderest sympathies of the natives of all races seem, by all accounts, +to be readily bestowed upon the exiles, who, whatever be the nature of +the offense of which they have been guilty, are never named by a harsher +term than that of "unfortunates." In many cases the lot of the political +exiles is also mitigated by the kindness of the local authorities, who +allow them the use of books and other indulgences, and even receive them +as friends in their houses, when this can be done without risk of giving +offense at St. Petersburg. + +As in Russia nothing with which the government is concerned can be +commented on by the press without especial permission, it is difficult +to ascertain correctly how far the system followed in Siberia works +beneficially as regards the moral reformation of the criminals, and +their relations to society in general. The accounts of travelers are +very conflicting--some extolling the extreme leniency with which even +the worst offenders are treated, as the _ne plus ultra_ of social +policy, and dwelling with delight on its happy results; while others +consider it disastrous in its consequences, and relate instances of the +most atrocious crimes committed by the convicts, and of whole tracts of +country in which life and property have been rendered insecure by their +presence. The statistics of Siberia, however, prove the country to be +improving; and all travelers agree as to the freedom from molestation +which they have experienced while traversing its immeasurable steppes; +and it is therefore but fair to conclude, that though the attempt at +moral reformation may be unsuccessful in many instances, in general +convict colonization has here borne good fruits. That great severity in +the chastisement of new transgressions has been found necessary, is on +the other side proved by the penal laws bearing exclusively on Siberia. +According to these laws, drunkenness, fighting, idleness, theft of +articles of small value, unallowed absence from the place of detention, +are considered venial offenses, and are punished with from ten to forty +lashes with the cat-o'-nine-tails; while desertion among the colonists +is punished, the first time with simple flogging, the second and third +time with the cat-o'-nine-tails. If the offense be persisted in after +this, sentence is to be pronounced by the local tribunals, and often +consists in temporary removement to some distant and thinly-populated +district, or incorporation in one of the penal labor companies. Convicts +condemned to hard labor who attempt to escape are punished with the +knout, and are branded on the forehead, in case this mark of ignominy +have not previously been inflicted on them. Repeated thefts, robberies, +and other like offenses are punished in the same way as desertion; but +in these cases the value of the object stolen is not so much taken into +consideration as the motives by which the criminals are actuated, and +the number of times the offense has been repeated. A fourth repetition +by an exile of a crime previously punished renders him liable to forty +lashes with the knout, and to being placed in the category of the +convicts condemned to forced labor. Murder, highway robbery, and +incendiarism are, if the offender be a simple exile, punished with from +thirty-five to fifty lashes with the knout, in addition to branding on +the forehead, and forced labor in irons for a period of not less than +three years--the term beyond this being left to the judgment of the +local tribunals. The convict condemned to forced labor who renders +himself guilty of similar crimes receives fifty-five lashes of the +knout, is branded on the forehead, and is chained to the wall of a +prison for five years, after which period he is allowed to move about, +but must continue to wear fetters during his life. Criminals of this +class are never to be employed beyond the prison walls, and are not even +in illness to be taken into the open air beyond the prison-yard, or to +be relieved from their chains, except by especial permission of the +superior authorities, which can only be granted in consequence of a +medical certificate. + +The river Irtysh is the Styx of the Siberian Hades: from the moment they +cross the ferry in the neighborhood of the city of Tobolsk, the Russian +_employés_ appointed to offices in Siberia are placed in the enjoyment +of the higher grade of rank which they so much covet; and from the +moment they cross this same ferry commences the extinction of the +political life of the exiles. Here they exchange the name by which, +until then, they have been known in the world, for one bestowed upon +them by the authorities, and any change of the latter is punished with +five years' compulsory labor over and above the original sentence. At +Tobolsk sits the board which decides the final destination of each +culprit or each martyr. It consists of a president and assessors, having +under them a chancellerie divided into two sections, and has offices of +dispatch in several of the towns of Siberia. Before their arrival at +Tobolsk the convicts are, however, liable to be detained by the +authorities of Kasan or Perm, for the public works, in their respective +governments. + +It is as the land of political exile that Siberia is generally known, +and that it has gained so unenviable a reputation among the +liberty-loving nations of Europe, whose imagination pictures it to them +as a vast unredeemable desert, whose icy atmosphere chills the breath of +life, and petrifies the soul. Yet the truly benevolent should rejoice in +circumstances which have led a government that punishes a dissentient +word as severely as the direst crime, to select exile as the extreme +penalty of the law. Siberia is, it is true, the great prison-house of +Russia; but it is a prison-house through which the blessed light of the +sun shines, through which the free air of plain and mountain plays, and +in which the prisoner, though he may not labor in a self-elected field, +may still devote his faculties to the benefit of his fellow-creatures, +and continue the great task of moral and intellectual progress. How +different his lot from that of the Austrian prisoner of state, doomed to +drag on long years of a miserable existence in the dungeons of +Spielberg, or some other fortress, severed from all intercourse with the +world beyond his prison-walls, deprived even of the light of day, and +left in solitude and forced idleness to brood over his dark and +despairing thoughts. + + + + +APPLICATION OF ELECTRO-MAGNETIC POWER TO RAILWAY TRANSIT. + + +One of the most wonderful characteristics of scientific discovery is the +singular way in which every advance connects itself with past phases of +progress. Each new victory over the stubborn properties of matter not +only gives man increase of power on its own account, but also reacts on +older conquests, and makes them more productive. Thirty years ago, Davy +and Arago observed that iron-filings became magnetic when lying near a +wire that was carrying a current of galvanic electricity. Since then +powerful temporary magnets have been made for various purposes by +surrounding bars of soft iron by coils of copper-wire, and transmitting +electric currents through these. In fact, it has been ascertained that +iron always becomes a magnet when electricity is passed round it. The +alarm-bells of the electric telegraphs are set ringing by a simple +application of this principle. A conducting wire is made to run for +hundreds of miles, and then coils itself round an iron bar. Electric +currents are sent at will through the hundreds of miles of wire, and the +inert iron becomes an active magnet. Observe the clerk in the Telegraph +Office at London. When he jerks the handle that is before him, he turns +on a stream of electricity that runs to Liverpool or Edinburgh, as the +case may be. In either of those places a piece of iron that is twisted +round with the extremity of the wire becomes a magnet for an instant, +and attracts to itself a steel armature that is connected with a train +of wheel-work. The motion of the armature, as it is drawn up to the +magnet, sets free a spring that was before kept quiet; and this gives +token of its freedom by making an alarm-bell to ring. The clerk in +London awakens the attention of the clerk in Edinburgh by turning a +piece of soft iron placed near to the latter into a magnet for a few +seconds. He is able to do this because currents of electricity induce +magnetism in iron. This, and this alone, is the secret principle to +which he is indebted for the wonderful power that enables him to +annihilate space when he instantaneously attracts the attention of an +ear hundreds of miles away. + +It has recently been announced that this electro-magnetic induction has +been made a means for the instantaneous registration of astronomical +observations. We have already to draw attention to another practical +application of the principle. M. Niklès has just invented an arrangement +of apparatus that enables him to make the wheels of locomotives bite the +rails with any degree of force without increasing the weight that has to +be carried to the extent of a single grain. Our readers are aware that +in wet weather the driving-wheels of locomotives often slip round upon +the rail without acquiring the power of moving the weight that is +attached behind them. Whenever they are asked to ascend inclined planes +with a weight that is beyond the adhesive powers of their wheels this +result invariably follows; and the only practical escape from the +difficulty hitherto has been the adoption of one of two +expedients--either to increase their own intrinsic weight, so that the +earth's attraction might bind the wheels down more firmly, or to let the +railway be level and the load to be dragged proportionally light. In +either of these cases a waste of power is experienced. Power is either +expended in moving a superfluous load, or the same amount of power drags +less weight even upon a level rail than it otherwise could upon an +ascending one, that would have required less outlay in its construction. +It therefore becomes a great desideratum to find some means of making +the locomotive wheels bite more tenaciously without increasing the load +they have to carry. The important problem of how to do this it is that +M. Niklès has solved. + +If our readers will take a common horse-shoe magnet, and slide the +connecting slip of steel that rests upon its ends backward and forward, +they will feel that the slip sticks to the magnet with a certain degree +of force. M. Niklès' plan is to convert the wheel of the locomotive into +a magnet, and make it stick to the iron rail by a like adhesion. This he +does by placing a galvanic battery under the body of the engine. A wire +coming from the poles of this battery is then coiled horizontally round +the lower part of the wheel, close to the rail, but in such a way that +the wheel turns round freely within it, fresh portions of its +circumference coming continually into relation with the coil. The part +of the wheel in immediate contact with the rail is thus made magnetic, +and therefore has a strong adhesion for the surface along which it +moves--and the amount of the adhesion may be increased or diminished at +any time, by merely augmenting or reducing the intensity of the galvanic +current that circulates through the surrounding coil. By means of a +handle the electricity may be turned on or off, and an effectual break +be thus brought into activity that can make the iron rail smooth or +adhesive according to the requirements of the instant, and this without +in any way interfering with the free rotation of the wheels as the +friction-breaks of necessity do. Increased adhesion is effected by +augmented pressure, but the pressure results from an attraction that is +altogether independent of weight. The lower portion of the wheel for the +time being is in exactly the same condition as a bar of soft iron placed +within a coil of wire circulating electricity. But as it rises up out of +the coil during the rotation of the wheel, it grows less and less +magnetic, the descending portions of the opposite side of the +circumference acquiring increased magnetic power in the like degree. + +M. Niklès' experiments have been made with large locomotives in full +operation; and he states as the result, that the velocity of the wheel's +motion does not in any way affect the development of the magnetic force. +He finds the condition of the rail, as regards wetness or dryness, to be +quite unimportant to the success of his apparatus, and he has already +managed by its aid to achieve an ascent as rapid as one in five. + + + + +THE STOLEN ROSE. + + +Geraldine Delisle was the year previous to the late Revolution, which in +one day shattered one of the great monarchies of the earth, the reigning +belle in her circle. Lovely in form and face, she wanted but to correct +some trifling defects of character to be perfect. But if she had large +black eyes and massive brow, and beautiful hair and white teeth--if she +had a lily-white hand and tiny feet, she knew it too well, and knew the +power of her charms over man. She loved admiration, and never was so +happy as when in a ball-room all the men were almost disputing for the +honor of her hand. But Geraldine had no declared suitor; she never gave +the slightest encouragement to any one. Many offered themselves, but +they were invariably rejected, until at twenty her parents began to be +alarmed at the prospect of her never marrying. M. and Mme Delisle had +found so much genuine happiness in marriage--the only natural state for +adult human beings--that they had promoted the early marriage of two +sons and an elder daughter; and now that Geraldine alone remained, they +earnestly desired to see her well and happily married before they died. +They received numerous offers: but the young girl had such winning ways +with her parents, that when she declared that she did not like the +proposer, they never had courage to insist. + +During the season of 1847 Geraldine never missed a party or ball. She +never tired as long as there was music to listen to, and it was +generally very nearly morning before she gained her home. About the +middle of the season she was sitting by her mother's side in the +splendid _salons_ of the Princess Menzikoff. She had been dancing, and +her late partner was saying a few words, to which she scarcely made any +reply. Her eyes were fixed upon a gentleman, who, after observing her +for some time, had turned away in search of some one. He was the +handsomest man she had ever seen in her life, and she was curious to +know who he was. A little above the middle height, slight, pale, with +great eyes, soft in repose like those of a woman, he had at once +interested Geraldine, who, like most women, could excuse every bad +feature in a man save insipid or unmeaning eyes; and she asked her +mother who he was. + +"He's a very bad man," said Mme Delisle. "Of noble family, rich, +titled, young, and handsome, he is celebrated only for his follies. He +throws away thousands on very questionable pleasures, and has the +unpardonable fault, in my eyes of always ridiculing marriage." + +"I can not forgive him for ridiculing marriage, mamma, but I can excuse +him for not wishing to marry." + +"My dear, a man who dislikes marriage is never a good man. A woman may +from caprice or from many motives object to marrying, but a man, except +when under the influence of hopeless affection--and men have rarely +feeling enough for this--always must be a husband to be a good citizen." + +"Ah, mamma, you have been so happy that you think all must be so; but +you see many who are not." + +"Mme Delisle," said the Princess Menzikoff, who unperceived had come +round to her, "allow me to introduce you to my friend Alfred de +Rougement. I must not call him count, he being what we call a democrat +with a clean face and white kid-gloves." + +"The princess is always satirical," replied M. de Rougement smiling; +"and my harmless opposition to the government now in power, and which +she honors with her patronage; is all her ground for so terrible an +announcement." + +Mme Delisle and Geraldine both started and colored, and when Alfred de +Rougement proposed for the next dance, was accepted, though next minute +the mother would gladly have found any excuse to have prevented her +daughter from dancing. Alfred de Rougement was the very "bad man" whom +she had the instant before been denouncing. But it was now too late. +From that evening Geraldine never went to a ball without meeting Alfred. +She received many invitations from most unexpected quarters, but as +surely as she went she found her new admirer, who invited her to dance +as often as he could without breaking the rules of etiquette. And yet he +rarely spoke; the dance once over, he brought her back to her mother's +side, and left her without saying a word, coming back when his turn came +again with clockwork regularity. In their drives Mme Delisle and +Geraldine were always sure to meet him. Scarcely was the carriage +rolling up the Champs Elysées before he was on horseback within sight. +He merely bowed as he passed, however, keeping constantly in sight +without endeavoring to join them. + +One evening, though invited to an early soirée and to a late ball, +during dinner they changed their mind, and decided on going to the Opera +at the very opening, to hear some favorite music which Geraldine very +much admired. They had not yet risen from dessert when a note came from +Alfred de Rougement, offering them his box, one of the best in the +house! + +"Why he is a regular Monte Christo," cried Mme Delisle impatiently. +"How can he know our movements so well?" + +"He must have bribed some one of the servants," replied Geraldine; "we +talked just now of where we were going before they left the room." + +"But what does he mean?" said Mme Delisle. "Is he going to give up his +enmity to marriage, and propose for you!" + +"I don't know, mamma," exclaimed the daughter, coloring very much; "but +he may spare himself the trouble." + +"Geraldine--Geraldine! you will always then make me unhappy!" said her +mother, shaking her head. + +"But you can not want me to marry Alfred? You told me every thing +against him yourself." + +"But if he is going to marry and be steady, I owe him an apology. But go +and dress; you want to hear the overture." + +They went to Alfred's box--father, mother, and daughter. But though in +the house, he scarcely came near them. He came in to inquire after their +health, claimed Geraldine's hand for the opening quadrille at the soirée +to which they were going after the opera, and went away. The young girl +rather haughtily accepted his offer, and then turned round to attend to +the music and singing. + +Next day, to the astonishment of both M. and Mme Delisle, Alfred de +Rougement proposed for the hand of their daughter, expressing the +warmest admiration for her, and declaring with earnestness that the +happiness of his whole life depended on her decision. Geraldine was +referred to. She at once refused him, giving no reason, but expressing +regret that she could not share his sentiments. The young man cast one +look of reproach at her, rose, and went away without a word. When he was +gone she explained to her parents, that though in time she thought she +should have liked him, she did not admire his mode of paying his +addresses; she thought he ought to have spoken to her first. Mme +Delisle replied, that she now very much admired him, and liked his +straightforward manner; but Geraldine stopped the conversation by +reminding her that he was rejected, and that all discussion was now +useless. + +That evening Geraldine danced several times with her cousin Edouard +Delisle, a young man who for a whole year had paid his addresses to her. +They were at a house in the Faubourg St. Germain, where the ball-room +opened into a splendid conservatory. Geraldine was dressed in white, +with one beautiful rose in her hair, its only ornament. Edouard had been +dancing with her, and now sat down by her side. They had never been so +completely alone. They occupied a corner near the end, with a dense mass +of trees behind them and a tapestry door. Edouard once again spoke of +his love and passion, vowed that if she would not consent to be his he +should never be happy; all this in a tone which showed how fully he +expected to be again refused. + +"If you can get mamma's consent, Edouard," she replied quickly, "I am +not unwilling to be your wife." + +Edouard rose from his seat and stood before her the picture of +astonishment. Geraldine rose at the same time. + +"But where is your rose?" said the young man, still scarcely able to +speak with surprise. + +"It is gone--cut away with a knife!" replied she thoughtfully; "but +never mind; let us look for mamma." + +Edouard took her arm, and in a few minutes the whole family were united. +The young man drew his uncle away from a card-table, saying that +Geraldine wished to go home. After handing his aunt and cousin to their +carriage, he got in after them, quite an unusual thing for him. + +"Why, Edouard, you are going out of your way," said the father. + +"I know it. But I can not wait until to-morrow. M. Delisle, will you +give me your daughter's hand? Geraldine has given her consent." + +"My dear girl," exclaimed her mother, "why did you not tell us this +before? You would have saved us so much pain, and your other suitors the +humiliation of being rejected." + +"I did not make up my mind until this evening," replied Geraldine. "I do +not think I should have accepted him to-morrow. But he was cunning +enough to come and propose before I had time for reflection." + +"You will then authorize me to accept him?" said M. Delisle. + +"I have accepted him, papa," replied Geraldine. + +That evening Edouard entered the house with them, and sat talking for +some time. When he went away, he had succeeded in having the wedding +fixed for that day-month. Geraldine looked pale the next day; and when +her mamma noticed it, said that she should go to no more parties, as she +wished to look well the day she was married, and expressed a wish to go +on excursions into the country instead. Mme Delisle freely acquiesced, +Edouard came to dinner, looking much pleased, but still under the +influence of the astonishment which had not yet been effaced from his +plump and rosy face. + +"Why, what do you think?" he said toward the end of the dinner, "Alfred +de Rougement has left Paris. All his servants were dismissed this +morning, and his steward received orders to meet him at Constantinople." + +"Indeed?" replied Mme Delisle, gravely, while Geraldine turned deadly +pale. "But this room is too close for you, my child." + +"No, mamma," said she, quietly; "but we are forgetting all about our +excursions. I should like to go to Versailles to-morrow, and take all +the pretty places round Paris in turn." + +"_Bon!_" cried Edouard; "that suits me. I shall be with you early, for I +suppose you will go in the morning?" + +"I want to breakfast at Versailles," replied Geraldine; "so we must go +to bed early." + +"That I vote to be an admirable proposition. At eleven I will go. But +you are going to practice the new variations on _Pastoris_, are you +not?" + +"Yes; and you are going to sing, monsieur," said Geraldine, rising from +table. "So come along, and ma and papa can play trictrac all the time." + +That evening the cousins played and sang together until about ten, when +they took tea, which Edouard, good-natured fellow, pretended to like +prodigiously, drinking three cups of milk and water under the serious +impression that it was the genuine infusion--a practice very common in +France, where tea is looked on as dangerous to the nerves. Next day they +went to Versailles, breakfasted at the Hôtel de France, visited the +interminable galleries of pictures, and dined in Paris at a late hour. +The day after they went to Montmorency. + +Swiftly passed the hours, and days, and weeks, and soon Geraldine saw +the last day which was to be her own. In twenty-four hours she was to +leave her mother's home forever, to share that of a man to whom it must +be supposed she was very much attached, but who was not exactly the +companion suited to her. Geraldine was very grave that morning. It had +been arranged that they were to go to St. Germain; and though the sky +was a little dark, the young girl insisted on the excursion not being +put off. + +"This is the last day I shall have any will of my own," said she; "so +let me exercise it." + +"My dear Geraldine," replied her cousin, kindly, "you will always find +me ready to yield to you in every thing. I shall be a model husband, for +I am too lazy to oppose any one." + +"My dear Edouard," put in Mme Delisle, "a man who consults his wife's +happiness will always be happy himself. We are very easily pleased when +we see you try to please us. The will is every thing to us." + +"Then let us start," said Edouard, laughing, "it will pass the time, and +I am eager to try." + +They entered the open carriage which they usually used for their +excursions, and started, the sun now shining very brightly. Edouard was +full of spirits: he seemed bursting with happiness, and was forced to +speak incessantly to give it vent. Geraldine was very grave, though she +smiled at her cousin's sallies, and every now and then answered in her +own playful, witty way. The parents, though happy, were serious too. +They were about to lose their last child, and though they knew she would +be always near them, a feeling of involuntary loneliness came over them. +A marriage-day is always for affectionate parents a day of sorrowful +pleasure--a link in the chain of sacrifices which makes a parent's love +so beautiful and holy, so like what we can faintly trace in thought as +the love of the Creator for man. + +They took the road by Bongiral, and they were about a mile distant from +that place when suddenly they found themselves caught in a heavy shower. +The coachman drove hastily for shelter into the midst of a grove of +trees, which led up to a villa that appeared totally uninhabited. But it +was not so; for the _porte cochère_ flew wide open as they drew up, and +two servants advancing, requested them to take shelter in the house. + +"But we are intruding?" said Mme Delisle. + +"No, madame. Our master is out, but had he been at home he would insist +as we do." + +Edouard leaped out, and set the example of compliance. The whole party +followed the servants, who led the way into a splendidly-furnished suite +of rooms. The style was that of the _renaissance_, of the richest +materials, while the walls were covered with genuine paintings by the +first masters. The servants then left them, and they were heard next +minute assisting to take the horses from the carriage. The rain fell +heavily all the time. + +"Upon my word we are very fortunate," said Mme Delisle: "in ten minutes +we should have been soaked through. The master of the house must be some +very noble-minded man; no ordinary person would have such polite and +attentive servants." + +"Some eccentric foreigner," said Edouard: "all his servants are men; I +don't see the sign of a petticoat any where." + +"Some woman-hater, perhaps," said Geraldine, laughing, as she took from +the table before her a celebrated satire against the sex. + +"All the more polite of him," said Mme Delisle, while looking with +absolute horror at a book which she knew spoke irreverently of marriage. + +"If you will pass this way," said a servant entering, "we shall have the +honor to offer you breakfast. The rain has set in for some hours, and +your servants spoke of your wishing to breakfast at St. Germain. But you +will not be able to wait so long." + +The whole party looked unfeignedly surprised; but there was no resisting +a servant who spoke so politely, and who threw open a door whence they +discovered a table magnificently laid out. Several servants were ready +to wait. + +"_Ma foi!_" cried Edouard, "there is no resisting such temptation. You +seem to know your master's character, and we take your word for it that +he would make us welcome." + +With these words he gave Geraldine his arm, and led the way, setting the +example also of attacking the delicate viands offered to them so +unexpectedly. All breakfasted with appetite after their ride, and then +returned to the room they had first occupied. The shower was over, and +the warm sun was quickly clearing away all sign of the rain. + +"What a beautiful house and grounds your master has here!" exclaimed +Edouard: "the garden appears to me even better than the house." + +"It is very beautiful," said the servant addressed. + +"Can we go over it?" continued the young man. + +"Certainly, monsieur: I was about to offer to show it you." + +"I shall remain here," said Geraldine; "my shoes are very thin; besides +I wish to have another look at the pictures." + +Edouard demurred, but the young girl bade him go at once; and, like an +obedient lover, he took the mamma's arm, and went into the garden. + +The instant all were gone Geraldine rose from her chair and tottered +across the room. She was pale, and looked cautiously round, as if about +to do some guilty act. Presently she stood before a curtain which had +been hastily drawn before a kind of niche in the wall, or rather before +a portion of the room. But it had been done very quickly, and through +two apartures you could see stained glass, and on a small table +something under a glass-case. Geraldine could not restrain herself. She +pulled away the curtain, and there, under a large glass on a velvet +cushion, lay the rose which had been cut from her head-dress on the +night she had accepted the hand of her cousin. Near it was a +pencil-sketch of herself. + +"My God!" she cried, passionately, "he did love me then: what a fool I +have been! Wicked pride, to what will you lead me?" + +"My Geraldine," exclaimed Alfred, who rose from a chair where he had +been seated in a dark corner, "pardon me! But I could not resist the +temptation. To see, to hear you once more, for the last time, was my +only wish. Do you forgive me?" + +"Do you forgive _me_?" said Geraldine, hanging down her head, and +speaking in a low, soft, sweet voice, that had never been hers before. + +"My God!--what?" exclaimed Alfred, who, pale and trembling, stood by her +side. + +"You will not force me to say, Alfred," she continued in a beseeching +tone. + +"Do I understand aright? O forgive me, Geraldine, if I say too much; but +is it possible that you do not hate me?" + +"Hate you, Alfred! How can I hate one so generous and good? If you think +me not bold to say it, I will say I love you. After behaving as I did, +that confession will be my punishment." + +"My Geraldine! then why did you refuse me?" cried Alfred, in a tone of +passionate delight. + +"Because you did not seem to love me; because you only in my eyes sought +to marry me because others did." + +"Geraldine, I seemed cold because I loved you with all my heart and +soul. But I was a known satirist on marriage, and I was ashamed to let +the world see my deep affection. I wanted them to think that I married +merely because it was a triumph to carry off the reigning belle." + +"You deceived me and all the world together," replied Geraldine; "but to +own the truth, after you were gone and took my rose with you, I guessed +the truth." + +"The rose! but did you know--" + +"I guessed--" + +"My God!" cried Edouard, returning alone to fetch Geraldine, to whom he +wanted to show the garden, "what is the meaning of this?" + +"My good cousin," said Geraldine, advancing toward him, and taking both +his hands, "come here; you will forgive Geraldine, won't you? I have +been very wicked. Do excuse your cousin, will you not? but I was only +going to marry you because I thought Alfred did not love me." + +"_Hein!_" cried Edouard, quite bewildered. + +"Don't be angry with me," continued Geraldine, gravely: "I should have +been a very good wife, and have loved you very much had I married you." + +"Oh, then, you do not mean to marry me now?" said Edouard, in a tone of +deep sadness. + +"What am I to do?" cried Geraldine. "See, my dear cousin, how he loved +me! How can I marry you when my heart is given to another?" + +"You were going to do so, but for a shower of rain," said Edouard, with +a vain attempt at gravity. "But take her, M. Alfred: I think after all +I'm lucky to have escaped her! I don't forgive you a bit, because it's +hard to find out that when at last one thinks one's self loved, the lady +was only pretending." + +"You do forgive me!" exclaimed Geraldine, shaking her head, and putting +his hand into that of Alfred, who shook it warmly. + +"Yes, yes!--of course you're pleased! But I must marry now. I shall ask +Hélène at Bordeaux to have me, as nobody there will know any thing about +my present mishap." + +At this moment M. and Mme Delisle returned; their astonishment was of +course very great. Edouard gravely introduced the young couple. + +"You see, madame," he said, "that while you were walking round the +garden, I have managed to lose my wife, and you to find a son-in-law." + +"But, my Geraldine," exclaimed her mother, "are you not behaving very +badly to Edouard?" + +"Not at all!" said the young man: "I could not think of marrying her. +Look at her! Five minutes with Alfred has done her more good than all +her excursions in search of roses!" + +"Mischievous man to betray me!" said Geraldine in her turn, warmly +shaking his hand. + +"But what will the world say?" exclaimed M. Delisle. + +"I will tell the truth," said Alfred; and in a few words he explained +the cause of the refusal of Geraldine to have him. + +It was now settled that the day should be spent at the villa; that in +the evening they should return to Paris, without the count, who was to +present himself only next day. He agreed to own frankly to all his +friends the depth and sincerity of his affection, while Edouard +good-naturedly volunteered to tell every one that he had been turned +off--a promise which he gravely kept, relating his discomfiture in a way +that drew tears of laughter from all his hearers. + +And Geraldine and Alfred were married, to the surprise of the world. +They were both cured of their former errors, and I know no instance of a +happier marriage than that of M. and Mme de Rougement. He is now a +member of the Legislative Assembly, and is remarked for the liberality +of his opinions--being one of the many ex-legitimists who have gone over +to the moderate republican party. Edouard married his country cousin. +Both young couples have children, and both are happy: the only revenge +the young man having taken is to persevere on all occasions, even before +his own wife, in calling Geraldine "The Stolen Rose." + + + + +THOMAS MOORE. + + +Thomas Moore, a man of brilliant gifts and large acquirements, if not an +inspired poet, was born on the 28th of May, 1780, in Augier-street, +Dublin, where his father carried on a respectable business as a grocer +and spirit-dealer. Both his parents were strict Roman Catholics, and he, +of course, was educated in the same faith; at that time under the ban +not only of penal statutes, but of influential opinion both in Great +Britain and Ireland. Thus humble and unpromising were the birth and +early prospects of an author who--thanks to the possession of great +popular talent, very industriously cultivated and exercised, together +with considerable tact and prudence, and pleasing social +accomplishments--won for himself not only the general fame which +ordinarily attends the successful display of genius, but the especial +sympathy and admiration of his countrymen and fellow-religionists, and +the smiles and patronage of a large and powerful section of the English +aristocracy, at whose tables and in whose drawing-rooms his sparkling +wit and melodious patriotism rendered him an ever-welcome guest. Few +men, indeed, have passed more pleasantly through the world than Thomas +Moore. His day of life was one continual sunshine, just sufficiently +tempered and shaded by passing clouds--"mere crumpling of the +rose-leaves"--as to soften and enhance its general gayety and +brightness. With its evening thick shadows came--the crushing loss of +children--and the gray-haired poet, pressed by his heavy grief, has +turned in his latter years from the gay vanities of brilliant society, +and sought peace and consolation in seclusion, and the zealous +observance of the precepts and discipline of the church to which he is, +not only from early training and association, but by temperament and +turn of mind, devotedly attached. + +As a child, Moore was, we are told, remarkable for personal beauty, and +might have sat, says a writer not over-friendly to him, "as Cupid for a +picture." This early promise was not fulfilled. Sir Walter Scott, +speaking of him in 1825, says: "He is a little, very little man--less, I +think, than Lewis, whom he resembles: his countenance is plain, but very +animated when speaking or singing." The lowness of his stature was a +sore subject with Moore--almost as much, and as absurdly so, as the +malformation of his foot was with Lord Byron. Leigh Hunt, in a work +published between twenty and thirty years ago, gives the following +detailed portrait of the Irish poet: "His forehead is bony and full of +character, with bumps of wit large and radiant enough to transport a +phrenologist; his eyes are as dark and fine as you would wish to see +under a set of vine-leaves; his mouth, generous and good-humored, with +dimples; 'his nose, sensual and prominent, and at the same time the +reverse of aquiline: there is a very peculiar characteristic in it--as +if it were looking forward to and scenting a feast or an orchard.' The +face, upon the whole, is Irish, not unruffled by care and passion, but +festivity is the predominant expression." In Mr. Hunt's autobiography, +not long since published, this portrait is repeated, with the exception +of the words we have inclosed within single inverted commas--struck out +possibly from a lately-awakened sense of their injustice; and it is +added that "his (Moore's) manner was as bright as his talk was full of +the wish to please and be pleased." To these testimonials as to the +personal appearance and manners of Thomas Moore, we can only add that of +Mr. Joseph Atkinson, one of the poet's most intimate and attached +friends. This gentleman, when speaking to an acquaintance of the author +of the "Melodies," said that to him "Moore always seemed an infant +sporting on the bosom of Venus." This somewhat perplexing idea of the +mature author of the songs under discussion was no doubt suggested by +the speaker's recollections of his friend's childhood. + +Whatever the personal graces or defects of Mr. Moore, it is quite +certain, at all events, that he early exhibited considerable mental +power and imitative faculty. He was placed when very young with Mr. +Samuel Whyte, who kept a respectable school in Grafton-street, Dublin. +This was the Mr. Whyte who attempted to educate Richard Brinsley +Sheridan, and pronounced him to be "an incorrigible dunce;" a verdict in +which at the time the mother of the future author of the "School for +Scandal" fully concurred. Mr. Whyte, it seems, delighted in private +theatricals, and his labors in this mode of diffusing entertaining +knowledge were, it appears, a good deal patronized by the Dublin +aristocracy. Master Moore was his "show-actor," and played frequently at +Lady Borrowes's private theatre. On one occasion the printed bills +announced "An Epilogue--_A Squeeze at St. Paul's_, by Master Moore," in +which he is said to have been very successful. These theatricals were +attended by several members of the ducal family of Leinster, the +Latouches of Dublin, with many other Irish notabilities; and it was +probably here that Moore contracted the taste for aristocratic society +which afterward became a passion with him. + +The obstinate exclusion of the Catholics from the common rights of +citizenship naturally excited violent and growing discontent among that +body of religionists; and Thomas Moore's parents, albeit prudent, wary +folk, were, like thousands of others naturally sensible and pacific +people, carried away for a moment by the tremendous outburst of the +French Revolution. The meteor-blaze which suddenly leaped forth and +dazzled the astonished world, seemed a light from Heaven to the +oppressed nations of Europe; and in Ireland, especially, it was hailed +as the dawn of a great deliverance by millions whom an unwise +legislation had alienated and almost maddened. Young Moore, when little +more than twelve years of age, sat upon his father's knee at a great +banquet in Dublin, where the toast--"May the breezes from France fan our +Irish oak into verdure!" was received with a frantic vehemence which, +child as he was, left an impression upon him that did not pass away with +many years. The Day-star of Liberty, as it was termed, which arose in +France, set in blood and tempest; but the government, alarmed at the +ominous aspect of the times, relaxed (1793) the penal laws, and +Catholics, for the first time, were eligible for admission to the Dublin +University: eligible--that is, to partake of the instruction conferred +at the national seat of learning, but not for its honors or rewards. +These were still jealously reserved for the dominant caste. Young Moore +was immediately entered of Trinity College; and although he succeeded by +his assiduity and ability in extorting an acknowledgment from the +authorities that he had earned a classical degree, he was, for +religion's sake, as a matter of course, denied it. Some English verses, +however, which he presented at one of the quarterly examinations in lieu +of the usual Latin metre, were extolled; and he received a well-bound +copy of the "Travels of Anarchasis" as a reward. The young student's +proficiency in the Greek and Latin languages was also acknowledged, +though not officially. + +For several previous years the thunder-cloud which burst so fatally in +1798, had been slowly gathering in Ireland. Moore sympathized with the +object, if not with the mode of operation contemplated by the opponents +of English rule in that country; and he appears to have been only saved +from serious if not fatal implication in the rebellion by the wise +admonitions of his excellent mother, aided by his own instinctive +aversion to the committal of any act which might compromise his present +and future position, by placing him among extreme men in the front and +forlorn hope of the battle, instead of amid the wiser respectabilities +of liberalism, from whose ranks a man of wit and genius may, he knew, +shoot his diamond-tipt arrows at the enemy not only without danger, but +with almost certain fame and profit to himself. Moore was intimate with +the two Emmets, and an active member of a debating-club, in which the +eldest, the unfortunate Robert, endeavored to mature his oratorical +powers against the time when his dream of political regeneration should +be realized. Toward the close of the year 1797, the, at the time, +celebrated newspaper called "The Press," was started by Arthur O'Connor, +the Emmets, and other chiefs of the United Irishmen. It was published +twice a week, and although, Mr. Moore says, not distinguished at all for +talent, had a large circulation among the excited masses. Moore first +contributed a poetical effusion--anonymously of course--and soon growing +bolder with impunity, contributed a fiery letter, which had the +questionable honor of being afterward quoted in the House of Commons by +the minister as one of his proofs that severe repressive measures were +required to put down the dangerous spirit manifested in Ireland. On the +evening this letter appeared, young Moore read it after supper to the +assembled family--his heart beating violently all the while lest the +sentiments it contained, and the style in which they were expressed, +should reveal the eloquent author. His fears were groundless; no one +suspected him; and the only remark elicited by the violent letter was a +quiet one from his sister--"that it was rather strong!" Next day his +mother, through the indiscretion of a person connected with the +newspaper, discovered his secret, and commanded him, as he valued her +blessing, to disconnect himself at once from so dangerous a pursuit and +companionship. The young man obeyed, and the storm of 1798 passed over +harmlessly for him. Moore was once slightly questioned upon the subject +of the apprehended conspiracy by Lord Chancellor Clare, who insisted +upon compelling a disclosure, upon oath, of any knowledge the students +of the university might possess of the persons and plans of the +plotters. Moore at first declined being sworn, alleging in excuse that +he had never taken an oath, and although perfectly unconscious himself +of offense against the government, that he might unwittingly compromise +others. This odd excuse Lord Clare, after consulting with Duigenan, +famous for his anti-papist polemics, declined to receive, and Moore was +sworn. Three or four questions were asked as to his knowledge of any +conspiracy to overthrow the government, by violence; and these briefly +answered, the matter ended. This is Mr. Moore's own version of a scene +which has been rendered in various amusing and exaggerated forms. + +The precocity of Moore's rhyming genius had been also exemplified by a +sonnet, written when he was only fourteen years of age, and inserted in +a Dublin magazine called "The Anthologia." Two or three years later he +composed a Masque, which was performed by himself, his elder sister, and +some young friends, in the little drawing-room over the shop in +Augier-street, a friend, afterward a celebrated musician, enacting +orchestra on the piano-forte. One of the songs of the masque was +written to the air of Haydn's Spirit Song, and obtained great applause. +Master Moore belonged, moreover, to a band of gay spirits who +occasionally amused themselves by a visit to Dalkey, a small island in +the Bay of Dublin, electing one Stephen Armitage, a respectable +pawnbroker, and "very agreeable singer," King of that Ilk. On one of +these coronation days King Stephen conferred the honor of knighthood +upon Incledon, with the title of Sir Charles Melody; and he created Miss +Battier, a rhyming lady, Henrietta, Countess of Laurel, and His +Majesty's Poetess-Laureate. The working laureate was, however, Master +Moore, and in that capacity he first tried his hand at political +squibbing, by launching some not very brilliant sarcasms against +governments in general. Lord Clare, we are told, was half alarmed at +this Dalkey court and its poets, and insisted upon an explanation from +one of the mock officials. This is, however, we believe, a fable, though +at the time a current one. + +In 1799, being then only in his twentieth year, Thomas Moore arrived in +London, for the purpose of entering himself of the Middle Temple, and +publishing his translation of the Odes of Anacreon. He had already +obtained the friendship of Earl Moira, and that nobleman procured him +permission to dedicate the work to the Prince of Wales. His poetical +career may now be said to have fairly commenced. It was a long and +brilliant one, most of his works having rapidly passed through numerous +editions, and been, perhaps, more extensively read than those of any +contemporary author, always excepting the romances of Scott. There can +be no reasonable doubt that Moore owed much of this popularity and +success to the accident of his position, and the favoring circumstances +of the times in which he wrote. The _enfant gaté_ of high and +influential circles; as well as the melodious expositor and +poet-champion of the wrongs of a nation to whose glorious music he has, +happily for himself, married much of his sweetest verse, he dwelt in a +peculiar and irradiating atmosphere, which greatly enhanced his real +magnitude and brightness. Even now, when the deceptive medium has lost +its influence, it is somewhat difficult, and may seem ungracious, to +assign his true place in the splendid galaxy of British poets to a +writer who has contributed so largely to the delight of the reading and +musical population of these kingdoms. + +The Odes of Anacreon obtained much present popularity at a time when the +moralities of respectable literature were not so strictly enforced by +public opinion as in the present day. Many of them are paraphrases +rather than translations, containing, as Dr. Laurence, Burke's friend, +remarked at the time, "pretty turns not to be found in Anacreon." + +"Thomas Little's Poems, Songs," &c., given to the world by Mr. Moore in +1801, are a collection of puerile rhapsodies still more objectionable +than the Anacreontic Odes: and the only excuse for them was the extreme +youth of the writer. Byron thus alluded to the book in his once famous +satire: + + "'Tis Little, young Catullus of his day, + As sweet but as immoral in his lay." + +Many years afterward his lordship, in a letter to Moore (1820), +reverted, half in jest, half in earnest, to the work in these words, "I +believe all the mischief I have ever done or sung has been owing to that +confounded book of yours." The most objectionable of these songs have +been omitted from the recent editions of Moore's works, and we believe +no one has more deplored their original publication than the author +himself. + +In 1803, thanks to his verses and Lord Moira's patronage, Moore obtained +a place under the government--that of Registrar to the Court of +Admiralty at Bermuda. Moore sailed in the _Phoenix_ frigate, and took +formal possession of his post; but he soon wearied of the social +monotony of the "still vexed Bermoothes," hastily appointed a deputy to +perform all the duties of his office for a share of the income, and +betook himself to America. He was as much out of his proper element +there as in Bermuda. The rugged republicanism of the States disgusted +him, and after a brief glance at Canada he returned to England, having +been absent about fifteen months. + +Soon after his return he favored the world with his impressions of +Bermuda, the United States, and Canada. His sketches of Bermudan scenery +have been pronounced by Captain Basil Hall and others to be extremely +accurate and vivid. On the truthfulness of his American social and +political pictures and prophecies, Time--a much higher authority--has +unmistakably delivered judgment. While in Canada, Mr. Moore composed the +popular "Boat-song," the words and air of which were, he says, inspired +by the scenery and circumstances which the verses portray, and by the +measured chant of the Canadian rowers. Captain Hall also testifies to +the fidelity of this descriptive song. + +The republication in 1806 of Juvenile Songs, Odes, &c., elicited a +fierce and contemptuous denunciation of them from the Edinburgh Review, +and this led to a hostile meeting between the editor of that +publication, the late Lord Jeffrey, and Mr. Moore. They met at Chalk +Farm, near Hampstead; but the progress of the duel was interrupted by +police officers, who, on examining the pistols of the baffled +combatants, found that they had been charged with powder only. This was +probably a sensible device--it was not at all an uncommon one--on the +part of the seconds to prevent mischief; or, it might have been, as is +usually believed, that the bullets dropped out of one or both of the +pistols by the jolting of the carriages in which the combatants reached +the field of expected battle; but of course the discovery created a +great laugh at the time. Moore indignantly denied through the newspapers +that he was cognizant of the innocent state of Mr. Jeffrey's pistol--an +assertion there can not be the slightest reason for doubting. This droll +incident led to his subsequent acquaintance with Lord Byron, who, +unmindful or regardless of Mr. Moore's denial of the "calumny," repeated +it with variations in his "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," chiefly +with a view to annoy Mr. Jeffrey. Moore was again indignant, and +demanded an apology or satisfaction. His letter did not, however, reach +the noble lord till many months afterward, when _explanations_ ensued, +and the affair terminated by a dinner at the house of Mr. Rogers, where +the four poets, Byron, Campbell, Moore, and Rogers, met each other for +the first time. + +The intimacy thus commenced, if we may judge from the biography of +Byron, ripened into a lasting friendship on the part of Moore. This +feeling was but faintly reciprocated by Byron. Indeed, if we are to +believe his own statement, made in one of his latest letters, the noble +poet was almost incapable of friendship, "never having," he says, +"except toward Lord Clare, whom he had known from infancy, and perhaps +little Moore," experienced any such emotion. "Little Tommy dearly loves +a lord," was Byron's sneering expression more than once; and perhaps he +believed Moore's loudly-expressed regard for himself to be chiefly based +on that predilection. + +Moore had before this married a Miss Dyke, who is described as a lady of +great beauty and amiability, and moreover distinguished for considerable +decision of character and strong common sense--qualities which more than +once proved of essential service to her husband. They had several +children, the loss of whom, as we have before stated, has darkened and +embittered the close of the poet's days. + +In 1811, Moore made a first and last appearance before the world as a +dramatist, by the production at the Lyceum theatre of an operatic piece +called "An M.P.; or, The Blue Stocking." It was emphatically damned, +notwithstanding two or three pleasing songs, which somewhat redeemed its +dull and vapid impertinence. The very pretty song of "Young Love lived +once in an humble shed," occurs in this piece. Moore's acquaintance with +Leigh Hunt dates from the acting of the "Blue Stocking." Mr. Hunt was at +the time editor of the "Examiner" newspaper, in which he had just before +paid some compliments to Moore's poetry; and the nervous dramatist, +naturally anxious to propitiate a critic whose opinion was esteemed +oracular in certain circles, wrote him a rather fulsome letter, in which +he set forth, as an _ad misericordiam_ plea for lenient judgment, that +he had rashly been induced to promise Arnold a piece for his theatre, in +consequence of the state of attenuation to which the purses of poets are +proverbially liable. The "M.P." was, as we have said, condemned, and +Esop's disappointed fox received another illustration. "Writing bad +jokes," quoth Mr. Moore, "for the Lyceum to make the galleries laugh is +in itself sufficiently degrading; but to try to make them laugh, and +fail to do so, is indeed deplorable." In sooth, to make "galleries" +either laugh or weep was never Mr. Moore's aim or vocation. His eye was +ever fixed upon the gay company of the "boxes," occasionally only +glancing apprehensively aside from its flattering homage to scan the +faces of the sour critics of the pit. And yet to make the galleries of +the theatre and the world laugh has tasked and evidenced wit and humor, +in comparison with which the gayest sallies, the most sparkling of Mr. +Moore's fancies, are vapidity itself. The mortified dramatist gave up +play-writing forever, or, as he contemptuously expressed it, "made a +hearty abjuration of the stage and all its heresies of pun, equivoque, +and clap-trap." He was wise in doing so. The discretion evinced by the +hasty retreat was only exceeded by the rashness of the venture. + +The intimacy of Thomas Moore and Leigh Hunt continued for some years. +Moore, in company with Lord Byron, dined once or twice with Hunt in +prison during his confinement for a pretended libel upon the regent. A +pertinent anecdote, throwing some light on Byron's sneer respecting +Moore's love of lords, is told of one of these visits. The three +friends, Byron, Moore, and Hunt, were walking before dinner in the +prison garden, when a shower of rain came on, and Moore ran into the +house, and upstairs, leaving his companions to follow as they best +might. Consciousness of the discourtesy of such behavior toward his +noble companion quickly flashed upon him, and he was overwhelmed with +confusion. Mr. Hunt tried to console him. "I quite forgot at the +moment," said Moore, "whom I was walking with; but I was forced to +remember it by his not coming up. I could not in decency go on, and to +return was awkward." This anxiety--on account of Byron's lameness--Mr. +Hunt remarks, appeared to him very amiable. + +This friendship came to an abrupt and unpleasant close. Lord Byron +agreed with Hunt and Shelley to start a new periodical, to be called +"The Liberal," the profits of which were to go to Leigh Hunt. Byron's +parody on Southey's "Vision of Judgment" appeared in it, and ultimately +William Hazlitt became a contributor. Moore immediately became alarmed +for his noble friend's character, which he thought would be compromised +by his connection with Hunt and Hazlitt, and wrote to entreat him to +withdraw himself from a work which had "a taint in it," and from +association with men upon whom society "had set a mark." His prayer was +complied with, and the two last-named gentlemen were very angry, as well +they might be. There has been a good deal of crimination and +recrimination between the parties on the subject, not at all worth +reproducing. The truth is that both Hunt and Hazlitt, but especially the +latter, were at the time under the ban of influential society and a then +powerful Tory press; and Moore, with his usual prudence, declining to be +mad-dog'd in their company and for their sakes, deliberately _cut_ two +such extreme Radicals, and induced his noble friend to do likewise. How +could a prudent man who had given hostages to fortune, which Moore by +this time had, in a wife and children, act otherwise? + +Moore had long cherished a hope of allying his poetry with the +expressive music of Ireland; of giving appropriate vocal utterance to +the strains which had broken fitfully from out the tumults and +tramplings of centuries of unblest rule. A noble task! in which even +partial success demands great powers and deserves high praise. The +execution of the long-meditated design now commenced; and the +"Melodies," as they appeared, obtained immense and well-deserved +popularity. It is upon these his fame, as a poet, will mainly rest; and +no one can deny that, as a whole, they exhibit great felicity of +expression, and much graceful tenderness of thought and feeling, +frequently relieved by flashes of gay and genial wit and humor. No one +could be more keenly aware, or could more gracefully acknowledge than +Moore the great help to a poet's present reputation of connecting his +verse with national or local associations. + +In 1812 Moore determined on writing an Eastern tale in verse; and his +friend Mr. Perry of the "Chronicle" accompanied him to Messrs. Longman, +the publishers, to arrange for the sale of a work of which the proposed +author had not yet written a line nor even settled the subject. Mr. +Perry appears to have been an invaluable intermediary. He proposed at +once, as the basis of the negotiation, that Moore should have the +largest sum ever given for such a work. "That," observed the Messrs. +Longman, "was three thousand guineas." And three thousand guineas it was +ultimately covenanted the price should be, thanks to Moore's reputation, +and the business abilities of his friend Perry. It was further agreed +that the manuscript should be furnished at whatever time might best suit +the author's convenience, and that Messrs. Longman should accept it for +better for worse, and have no power or right to suggest alterations or +changes of any kind. The bargain was altogether a safe one on Moore's +side, and luckily it turned out equally profitable for the publishers. + +In order to obtain the necessary leisure and quiet for the composition +of such a work, Moore resolved to retire from the gayeties of Holland +and Lansdowne Houses, and other mansions of his distinguished patrons +and friends, to the seclusion and tranquillity of the country. He made +choice of Mayfield Cottage, near Ashbourne in Derbyshire, and not far +distant from Donnington Park, Lord Moira's country-seat, where an +excellent library was at his service. It may be as well to mention that +when this early and influential friend of Moore went out to India as +governor-general, he apologized for not being able to present his +poetical protégé with any thing worth his acceptance in that country. +"But," said Lord Moira (Marquis of Hastings), "I can perhaps barter a +piece of India patronage against something at home that might suit you." +This offer, which would have gravely compromised Moore with his Whig +friends, he with some asperity declined. The governor-general went to +India, and Moore retired to Derbyshire, remaining, with the exception of +his Bermudan registrarship, placeless. This offer and refusal Moore +communicated by letter to Leigh Hunt. + +Mayfield Cottage, when the poet and his wife arrived to view it, wore +any thing but an inviting aspect. "It was a poor place," Moore wrote, +"little better than a barn; but we at once took it, and set about making +it habitable and comfortable." He now commenced the formidable task of +working himself up into a proper Oriental state of mind for the +accomplishment of his work. The first part of this process consisted in +reading every work of authority that treated of the topography, climate, +zoology, ornithology, entomology, floriculture, horticulture, +agriculture, manners, customs, religion, ceremonies, and languages of +the East. Asiatic registers, D'Herbelot, Jones, Tavernier, Flemming, and +a host of other writers were industriously consulted; and so perfect did +Mr. Moore become in these various branches of knowledge, that a great +Eastern traveler, after reading "Lalla Rookh," and being assured that +the poet had never visited the scenes in which he placed his stories, +remarked that if it were so, a man might learn as much of those +countries by reading books as by riding on the back of a camel! This, +however, was but a part of the requisite preparation. "I am," says Mr. +Moore, "a slow, painstaking workman, and at once very imaginative and +very matter-of-fact;" and he goes on to say that the slightest exterior +interruption or contradiction to the imaginary state of things he was +endeavoring to conjure up in his brain threw all his ideas into +confusion and disarray. It was necessary, therefore, to surround himself +in some way or other with an Eastern atmosphere. How this could be +managed in the face of the snows of the Derbyshire winters, during which +the four stories which compose "Lalla Rookh" were written, it is +difficult to conceive, and perhaps to the fact that it could _not_ be +effectually done, must be ascribed the ill success which beset the poet +during an entire twelvemonth. Vainly did he string together peris and +bulbuls, and sunny apples of Totkahar: the inspiration would _not_ come. +It was all "Double, double, toil and trouble," to no purpose. Each +story, however trippingly it began, soon flagged, drooped, and, less +fortunate than that of + + ----"The bear and fiddle, + Begun and broke off in the middle," + +expired of collapse after a brief career of a few score lines only, +frequently nothing like so many. Some of these fragments have since been +published. One of them, "The Peri's Daughter," ran to some length, and +is rather pretty and sparkling. + +This uninspiring state of things seemed interminable--the three thousand +guineas were as far off as ever; and apprehension of the necessity of a +bodily journey to the East, in order to get at the genuine "atmosphere," +must have suggested itself, when a gleam of light, in the idea of the +"Fire-Worshipers," broke in upon the poet; the multifarious collection +of Eastern materials deposited in the chambers of his brain arranged +themselves in flowing numbers, without encountering any further +accident; and at the end of three years "Lalla Rookh" was ushered +before an admiring world. Its success was immense, and the work ran +rapidly through many editions. "Paradise and the Peri," the second +story, although not so much praised as the first and third, is, we +fancy, much the most read of the four; and from its light, ringing tone, +its delicate and tender sentiment, its graceful and musical flow, will +always be a principal favorite with the admirers of Thomas Moore's +poetry. + +The bow so long bent required relaxation, and in the first flush of his +great success, while his ears were still ringing with the applauses, and +his nostrils still titillating with the incense which the press showered +upon "Lalla Rookh," pronounced by general consent--"when they _do_ +agree, their unanimity is wonderful"--to be unrivaled as a work of +melody, beauty, and power, Moore set out on a continental tour with his +friend and brother-poet Rogers. On his return to England he published +the "Fudge Family"--not a very brilliant performance, and which, with +the exception of its political hits, is but an imitation of "Les +Anglaises Pour Rire." He also worked at the "Melodies," and wrote +articles for the "Edinburgh Review." In 1818 one of the most pleasing +incidents in his life occurred. A public dinner was given in his honor +at Dublin, the Earl of Charlemont in the chair--the poet's venerable +father, Garret Moore, being present on the chairman's right hand, the +honored and delighted witness of the enthusiastic welcome bestowed upon +his son by his warm-hearted fellow-countrymen. Moore made a graceful, +cleverly-turned speech; but he was no orator: few literary men are. He +could not think upon his legs; and you could see by the abstraction of +his look that he was not speaking, in the popular sense, but reciting +what had previously been carefully composed and committed to memory. +Such speeches frequently read well, but if long, they are terrible +things to sit and hear. + +The following year Moore accompanied Lord John Russell on a continental +tour, taking the road of the Simplon to Italy. Lord John went on to +Genoa, and Moore directed his steps toward Venice, for the purpose of +seeing Byron. It was during this visit the noble lord made Moore a +present of his personal memoirs, for publication after the writer's +death. Moore gives the following account of the transaction: "We were +conversing together when Byron rose and went out. In a minute or two he +returned carrying a white leathern bag. 'Look here!' he said, holding it +up, 'this would be worth something to Murray, though you, I daresay, +would not give sixpence for it.' 'What is it?' I asked, 'My life and +adventures,' he answered. On hearing this I raised my hands in a +gesture. 'It is not a thing that can be published during my life, but +you may have it if you like: then do whatever you please with it.' In +taking the bag, and thanking him most warmly, I added: 'This will make a +nice legacy for my little Tom, who shall astonish the latter end of the +nineteenth century with it.' He then added: 'You may show it to any of +your friends you think worthy of it.' This is as nearly as I can +recollect all that passed." These memoirs Moore sold to Murray for two +thousand guineas, but at Lord Byron's death, his executors and family +induced Moore to repay Mr. Murray and destroy the manuscript. The +precise reasons which decided Moore to yield to the solicitations of the +deceased lord's friends and family are not known, but there can be +little doubt that they were urgent, and in a moral sense irresistible. A +man does not usually throw away two thousand guineas for a caprice, even +of his own, much less for that of others. It is not likely that the +world has lost much by the destruction of these memoirs. Lord Byron's +life is sufficiently written in his published works for all purposes +save that of the gratification of a morbid curiosity and vulgar appetite +for scandal. + +During the journey to and from Italy, Moore sketched the "Rhymes on the +Road," which were soon afterward published. There is nothing remarkable +about them except his abuse of Rousseau and Madame Warens, _à propos_ of +a visit to Les Charmettes. Moore was violently assailed for this by +writers, who held that as he had himself translated Anacreon, and +written juvenile songs of an immoral tendency, he was thereby +incapacitated from fy, fying naughty people in his maturer and better +years. This seems hardly a reasonable maxim, and would, if strictly +interpreted and enforced, silence much grave and learned eloquence, oral +as well as written. His denunciations of the eccentric and fanciful +author of the "Confessions," which twenty years before he would probably +have called the enunciations of "Virtue with her zone loosened;" were +certainly violent and unmeasured, and not, perhaps, in the very best +taste. + +Pecuniary difficulties, arising from the misconduct of his deputy in +Bermuda, now threatened Mr. Moore, and flight to France--for process +against him had issued from the Court of Admiralty--became immediately +necessary. The deputy-registrar, from whom Mr. Moore had exacted no +securities, had made free with the cargoes of several American vessels, +and immediately decamped with the proceeds, leaving his principal +liable, it was feared, to the serious amount of six thousand pounds. +Active and successful efforts were, however, made by Moore's friends to +compromise the claims, and ultimately they were all adjusted by the +payment of one thousand guineas. Three hundred pounds toward this sum +were contributed by the delinquent's uncle, a London merchant; so that +Moore's ultimate loss was seven hundred and fifty pounds only. During +the progress, and at the close of these negotiations, numerous offers of +pecuniary assistance were addressed to Mr. Moore, all of which he +gratefully but firmly declined. + +While the matter was pending, Moore resided near Paris at La Butte +Coaslin, on the road to Belle Vue. This was also the residence of some +agreeable Spanish friends of the poet. Kenny the dramatic writer lived +also in the neighborhood. Here Moore composed his "Loves of the +Angels," passing his days, when they were fine, in walking up and down +the park of Saint Cloud, "polishing verses and making them run easy," +and the evenings in singing Italian duets with his Spanish friends. +Previous to leaving Paris, at the close of 1822, he attended a banquet +got up in his honor by many of the most distinguished and wealthy of the +English residents in that gay city. His speech on this occasion was a +high-flown panegyric upon England and every thing English, and +grievously astonished Byron, Shelley, Hunt, and others, when they read +it in Italy. Either they thought the tone of some of the Irish melodies +was wrong, or the speech was. They did not reflect that a judicious +speaker always adapts his speech to his audience. Apt words in apt +places are the essentials of true eloquence. + +Moore's publishers' account, delivered in the following June, exhibited +a very pleasing aspect. He was credited with one thousand pounds for the +"Loves of the Angels," and five hundred pounds for "Fables for the Holy +Alliance." These were the halcyon days of poetry. There was truth as +well as mirthful jest in Sir Walter Scott's remark a few years +afterward, in reply to Moore's observation, "that hardly a magazine is +now published but contains verses which would once have made a +reputation." "Ecod!" exclaimed the baronet, "we were very lucky to come +before these fellows!" + +In 1825 Moore paid a visit to Sir Walter Scott at Abbottsford. The +meeting was a cordial one, and the baronet, Mr. Lockhart informs us, +pronounced Mr. Moore "to be the prettiest warbler" he ever knew. What +somewhat diminishes the value of this praise is, that, according to the +warbler himself, Sir Walter--but the thing seems incredible--had no +genuine love or taste for music, except indeed for the Jacobite chorus +of "Hey tuttie, tattie," now indissolubly united to "Scots wha hae wi' +Wallace bled!" which, when sung after supper by the company, with hands +clasped across each other, and waving up and down, he hugely delighted +in. Scott accompanied Moore to Edinburgh, and both of them, with Mr. +Lockhart and his lady, went to the theatre on the same evening that it +was honored by the presence of the celebrated Mrs. Coutts, afterward +Duchess of St. Albans. Soon after their at first unmarked entrance, the +attention of the audience which had till then been engrossed by the lady +millionaire, was directed toward the new-comers, and according to a +newspaper report, copied and published by Mr. Moore, in one of his last +prefaces, considerable excitement immediately prevailed. "Eh!" exclaimed +a man in the pit--"eh! yon's Sir Walter, wi' Lockhart and his wife: and +wha's the wee body wi' the pawkie een? Wow, but it's Tam Moore just!" +"Scott--Scott! Moore--Moore!" immediately resounded through the house. +Scott would not rise: Moore did, and bowed several times with his hand +on his heart. Scott afterward acknowledged the plaudits of his +countrymen, and the orchestra, during the rest of the evening, played +alternately Scotch and Irish airs. + +At the request of the Marquis of Lansdowne, who was desirous that he +should reside near him, Moore at this period took a journey into +Wiltshire, to look at a house in the village of Bromham, near Bowood, +the seat of the noble marquis, which it was thought might suit him. He, +however, pronounced it to be too large, and declined taking it. On his +return he told his wife there was a cottage in a thickly-wooded lane in +the neighborhood to let, which he thought might be made to do. Mrs. +Moore immediately left town, secured it, and there they shortly +afterward took up their permanent abode. They have greatly improved and +enlarged Sloperton Cottage; and covered almost as its front and two +porches are with roses and clematis, with the trim miniature lawn and +garden in front, along which runs a raised walk inclosed with +evergreens, from which a fine view is obtained, it presents an entirely +satisfactory aspect of well-ordered neatness, prettiness, and comfort. +It is situated within about two miles of Devizes, and is within easy +reach of the country residence of Lord Lansdowne. It was here he wrote +the biographies of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Lord Byron, and Richard +Brinsley Sheridan, of which we need only remark that they are +industriously compiled and pleasantly written. + +In 1824, five years before the passing of the Catholic Relief Act, Moore +published "The Memoirs of Captain Rock, written by Himself." It is a +bitter, rhapsodical, and of course one-sided commentary upon the +government of Ireland by England, not only since the Reformation, but +from the time of Pope Adrian's famous bull, which is twisted into an +exclusively English grievance and insult. + +The next considerable work of Moore's--for his light Parthian warfare in +the politics of the hour continued as usual, and with about the same +success, as in his younger days--was "The Travels of an Irish Gentleman +in search of a Religion"--a perfectly serious and earnest book in +defense of the Roman Catholic faith. There is a vast amount of erudition +displayed in its pages; and remembering how slow and painstaking a +workman Moore declared himself to be, it must, one would suppose, have +been the work of years. The author's object is to prove, from the +writings of the early fathers and other evidence, that the peculiar +dogmas, and discipline, and practice of the Church of Rome, date from +the apostolic age, or at least from the first centuries of the Christian +era, and are consequently true. This the writer does entirely, at least, +to his own satisfaction, which is the case, we believe, with +controversial writers generally. The book concludes with the following +words, addressed to the Catholic Church, which his after-life proves to +have been earnest and sincere: "In the shadow of thy sacred mysteries +let my soul henceforth repose, remote alike from the infidel who scoffs +at their darkness, and the rash believer who would pry into its +recesses." + +These imaginary travels were published anonymously, but the book was +always known to be Moore's. Apart from any other evidence, the poetic +translations of portions of the writings of ancient bishops would have +amply sufficed to determine the authorship. + +The last, and, according to Moore's own authority, one of the most +successful of his works, as far as a great sale constitutes success, was +the prose romance of "The Epicurean." There is much learning displayed +in this book, and it contains some striking descriptions. We also meet +occasionally with passages of simple and natural beauty and eloquence, +the more striking and effective from the contrast they afford to the +cumbrous and ambitious rhetoric through which they are sparsely +scattered. It was commenced in verse, and gradually reached to a +considerable length in that form, but ultimately, like the "Peri's +Daughter," broke down irretrievably. No one who respects Mr. Moore's +poetical fame will regret this after reading the fragment which has been +published. "The Epicurean" is a moral and religious story; and it has +this great merit, that it has very little of the merely sensuous imagery +in which Mr. Moore generally indulged. The plot is of the most +commonplace kind, and the conduct of the story so entirely languid and +lulling, that it may be freely indulged in without the slightest fear of +ill-consequences by the most nervous and impressionable lady-reader in +the three kingdoms. + +On the 30th of June, 1827, the day after the publication of "The +Epicurean," Moore was one of the gay and distinguished assemblage at a +magnificent fête at Boyle Farm, in the environs of London, the cost of +which had been clubbed by five or six rich young lords. It appears by +Mr. Moore's description to have been a very brilliant affair. There were +crowds of the _élite_ of society present of both sexes; well-dressed men +and groups of fair women, "all looking their best;" together with +dancing, music, the Tyrolese minstrels, and Madame Vestris and Fanny +Ayton, rowing up and down the river, singing Moore's "Oh, come to Me +when Daylight sets!" and so on. The author of "The Epicurean" relates +all this for the purpose of introducing an anecdote concerning his book, +and we notice it for the same reason. During one of the pauses of the +music, the Marquis of Palmella--Moore _disguises_ the name of the +Portuguese embassador in this impenetrable mode, the Marquis of +P-lm---a, approaching the poet, remarked upon the magnificence of the +fête. Moore agreed. "The tents," he remarked, "had a fine effect." +"Nay," said the marquis, "I was thinking of your fête at Athens. I read +it this morning in the newspaper." "Confound the newspaper!" Moore had a +great aversion to having his best _morceaux_ served up without context +in that manner; but worse remained behind. A Mr. D---- accosted him a +few minutes afterward, and mentioning the book, added these flattering +words, "I never read any thing so touching as the death of your +heroine." "What!" exclaimed the delighted author, "have you got so far +as that already?" "Oh, dear, no, I have not seen the book--I read what I +mentioned in the Literary Gazette." "Shameful!" says Mr. Moore, "to +anticipate my catastrophe in that manner!" Perhaps so; but that which we +should like especially to know is whether Mr. B----m, who is mentioned +as being present at the enunciation of these courtesies, was Mr. +Brougham. If so, the flash of the keen gray eyes that followed the +compliment on the touching death of Alethe, must, to an observant +looker-on, have been one of the most entertaining incidents of the fête. + +The smart political squibs, scattered like fire-flies through the dreary +waste of journalism during the last active years of Moore's life, are +not obnoxious to criticism. Squire Corn, Famished Cotton, Weeping +Chancellors, Salmagundian Kings, and knavish Benthamites, as penciled by +Moore, have passed from the domain of wit and verse into that of the +historian and the antiquary, into the hands of the collector of +forgotten trifles; and there we very willingly leave them, pleasant, +piquant, and welcome, as we fully admit them in their day to have been. +Moore has also written several pieces of religious verse, which, +although not of very high merit as poetry, finely at times bring out and +illustrate the Christian spirit in its most engaging aspect--unalloyed, +unclouded by the mists of fanatic sectarianism. + +That Moore was not an inspired creative poet like Shakspeare, Milton, +Burns, and a few others, is true; but beneath those heaven-reaching +heights there are many still lofty eminences upon which gifted spirits +sit enthroned, their brows encircled with coronets bright with gems of +purest ray, serene, though pale, indeed, and dim in presence of the +radiant crowns of the kings of poetry and song, between whom also there +are degrees of glory; for immeasurably above all, far beyond even the +constellated splendor of + + "The blind old man of Scio's rocky isle," + +soars Shakspeare, palm-wreathed and diademed with stars. One of these +lesser heights and circlets must unquestionably be awarded to Thomas +Moore. His wing, it must be admitted, is feeble, requiring artificial +stimulants and help to lift him above the ground a sufficient time for +warbling a brief melody. He did not sing as a flower exhales--from the +law and necessity of its nature; still there is at times a grace, and +tenderness, and music, about his carefully-polished snatches of song, +which the world is not sufficiently rich in to willingly let die. + +Turning from Moore the poet to Moore the politician, there is not much +to remark upon; neither certainly is there place for two opinions. Moore +wrote politics at times--pointed, bitter, rankling politics--but he was +really at heart no politician. There was no earnestness in what he did +in this way, and it was early and abundantly evident from his alternate +eulogies and vituperation of democratic institutions, that he had no +firmly-based convictions. His love for Ireland was a sentiment only: it +never rose to the dignity of a passion. Not one of his patriotic songs +breathes the fiery energy, the martyr zeal, the heroic hate and love, +which pulsate in the veins of men who ardently sympathize with a people +really oppressed, or presumed to be so. But let us hasten to say, that +if there was little of the hero or martyr, there was nothing of the +renegade or traitor about Thomas Moore. The pension of three hundred a +year obtained for him of the crown by his influential friends was not +the reward of baseness or of political tergiversation. It was the prize +and reward of his eminence as a writer, and his varied social +accomplishments. If he did not feel strongly, he at all events felt +honestly; and although he had no mission to evoke the lightning of the +national spirit, and hurl its consuming fire at the men who, had they +possessed the power, would have riveted the bondage of his people, he +could and did soothe their angry paroxysms with lulling words of praise +and hope, and, transforming their terribly real, physical, and moral +griefs and ills into picturesque and sentimental sorrows, awakened a +languid admiration, and a passing sympathy for a nation which could +boast such beautiful music, and whose woes were so agreeably, so +charmingly sung. Liberal opinions Moore supported by tongue and pen, but +then they were fashionable within a sufficiently extensive circle of +notabilities, and had nothing of the coarseness and downrightness of +vulgar Radicalism about them. The political idiosyncrasy of Moore is +developed in the same essential aspect in his memoir of Lord Edward +Fitzgerald as in his national songs. There is nothing impassioned, +nothing which hurries the pulse or kindles the eye--but a graceful +regret, a carefully guarded appreciation of the acts and motives of that +unfortunate and misguided nobleman, run throughout. Moore was what men +call a fair weather politician--which means, not that storms do not +frequently surround them, but that by a prudent forethought, a happy +avoidance of prematurely committing themselves, they contrive to make +fair weather for themselves, however dark and tempestuous may be the +time to other and less sagacious men, and who, when their sun does at +last shine, come out with extreme effulgence and brilliancy. Moore, +therefore, as a politician, was quite unexceptionable, though not +eminent. He was at once a pensioned and unpurchased, and, we verily +believe, unpurchasable partisan; an honest, sincere, and very mild +patriot; a faithful, and at the same time prudent and circumspect lover +of his country, its people, and its faith. There are very high-sounding +names in the list of political celebrities, of whom it would be well if +such real though not highly-flattering praise could be truly spoken. + +Moore's prose works require but little notice at our hands beyond that +incidentally bestowed upon them in our passage through his works. None +of them that we are acquainted with add at all to the reputation for +genius acquired by his poetry. The flow and rhyme of verse are +indispensable to carry the reader through stories without probability or +interest, and to render men and women, not only without +originality--that frequently happens--but destitute of individualism, +decently tolerable. We are ignorant of the contributions to the +"Edinburgh Review;" but they could scarcely have much enhanced the power +and attractiveness of a periodical which in his time numbered among its +contributors such names as Jeffrey, Brougham, Sidney Smith, Hallam, +Macaulay, and others of that mint and standard. Moore is assigned by his +friends a high rank among the defenders or apologists of the Church of +Rome; and we believe his "Travels," like Cobbett's "Reformation," have +been translated by papal authority and command into most of the +languages of Europe. Of his merits in this department of literature, +which is quite out of our way, we do not presume to offer an opinion. +His book unquestionably displays a vast deal of research and learning; +but whether it is so entirely perverse as its adversaries contend, or so +pre-eminently irrefragable and convincing as its admirers assert, we +really can not say. + +It is, after all, in the home-life of individuals that their true +character must be read and studied. The poet and the politician--the +latter more especially--dwell, as regards their vocations, apart from +the household tests which really measure the worth, the truth, the +kindliness of individual men and women. Moore, we are pleased to be able +to repeat, as a son, a husband, a father, a friend, and neighbor, bore, +and deservedly, the highest character. His domestic affections were +ardent, tender, and sincere; and the brilliant accomplishments which +caused his society to be courted by the great ones of the world, shed +their genial charm over the quiet fireside at which sat his wife, and in +whose light and warmth the children whose loss has bowed him to the +grave, grew up only to bloom and perish. There have been much greater +poets, more self-sacrificing, though perhaps no more sincere lovers of +their country; but in the intimate relations of domestic life, and the +discharge of its common, every-day, but sacred obligations, there are +few men who have borne a more unspotted and deservedly-high reputation +than Thomas Moore. + + + + +THE FAIRY'S CHOICE. + + +Many, many years ago, before fairies were exploded, and when every noble +family had a guardian spirit attached to it, the fairy Aquarella, my +heroine, existed. The date is so far back, that it belongs to those good +old days known as "once upon a time." Now, Aquarella was the spirit of a +pretty, sparkling streamlet, which strayed through the grounds of a +mighty lord, in whose welfare she had always been interested. She was +but a tiny little thing--one of the progeny of Isis and Thames; but +people said she inherited the beauties of both her parents. Her little +stream was of the purest water, and in her way she carefully avoided all +ugly spots, while her banks were always studded with the choicest +flowers. Here, the Narcissus found a fitting mirror for his waxen +leaves; here, the water-lilies spread their broad petals, and formed +cups fit for a fairy's board; and here, the humble forget-me-not crept +under the foliage, nestling close to its birth-place, and looking so +innocent, you could scarcely believe it had once lured a gay knight to a +melancholy death. Aquarella, however, could never become an accessary to +so sad a crime--her waters could never injure any one, save in one +place, where the young Lord Albert loved to come and bathe. + +The lord's bath, as it was called, was in a sweet, shady spot--the +weeping willow and gentle aspen shielded it from the sun's rays, and the +bright smooth pebbles that lined it seemed quite to form a pavement. +This was Aquarella's favorite retreat, and hither she would calmly +repose after her capricious wanderings. Sometimes she would almost hide +herself under a sedgy canopy, when you could only trace her course by +the deeper verdure on either side of her; and this was the chosen +lurking-place of the speckled trout, the rosy dace, and other dandy +fish, for she would only allow her waters to be inhabited by the +choicest of their kind; slimy eels, vulgar tittlebats, or the voracious +pike, were forbidden to approach her court. Sometimes she would tire of +this quiet life, and suddenly making a prodigious fuss in the world, +would splash around a few great stones that lay in her path, spreading +herself out as wide as she could, sparkling and dancing in the sunlight, +till each tiny ripple seemed to wear a crown of diamonds, and you could +hardly fancy the noisy, smiling waters, belonged to the tranquil stream +that had been creeping along so gently. + +Few mortals were acquainted with Aquarella; but she was well-known to +the gallant kingfisher, to the lordly heron, who would pursue their +sport by her banks. + +It was when the Lord Albert was a baby, that Aquarella first saw and +loved him; his nurses had brought him to bask in her waters. The fairy +was resting in her chosen retreat, and never before having noticed a +mortal infant, was greatly struck with his beauty. She tempered her +natural delicious coolness to receive him, and the child crowed, and +clapped his pretty pink fingers, as the clear stream closed around him; +he laughed as he emerged from his bath, and struggled for another dip; +his women could scarcely tear him away. From that day the bath was his +favorite amusement; invisibly supported by Aquarella, he sported in her +waters, and each day imbibed new virtues from them. Health, strength, +good temper, and good looks--these were the fairy's gifts to her +protégé, and wherever her wanderings led her, she heard him cited as the +kindest, the bravest, the wisest, and the best of young noblemen. + +Albert knew not of the beneficent being who protected him, and when he +occasionally saw a vapory wreath arising from the brook, he little +suspected whom it concealed; and yet if he could have seen Aquarella, +her loveliness would have charmed him. She was fair--as all English +maidens are--and was attired in the highest fashion of her father's +court. Her dress was of that changing blue-green--known to aquatic +beauties as mackerel-back--spangled with scales from the gold and silver +fish. Some of her father's marine friends had brought her pearls and +coral, from the great ocean itself, and with them she looped up her +drapery, and braided her long tresses, while over all she threw a rich +vail of mist which concealed her from the common gaze; and thus she +would float along, hearing the praises of her beloved mortal, or busily +occupied in increasing his wealth, ornamenting his ground, and shielding +him from evil. + +So passed Aquarella's days. She was now seldom seen in her father's +court; her whole happiness was centred in Albert. She cared not to join +in her sisters' gambols, as each brought their tribute to their august +parents--she was pining away for love, and only lived when in Albert's +domain; elsewhere she dwindled away till her fond mother feared she +would lose all her beauty and animation, and become a mere rillet. It +was proposed to unite her waters with those of a neighboring river, who +wished to marry, but she would not hear of such a thing, and threatened +if it were mentioned again to hide herself underground for the rest of +her life. + +"But, good gracious! what is to be done?" asked Isis; "we can not let +the poor child, our youngest and prettiest, incur the unhappy fate of +the unfortunate little Fleet River." + +"No, no," replied father Thames, "that must not be; I will take her +to-morrow to London Bridge; he is older, and has seen more of the world +than any one we know. I dare say he can give us some good advice." + +"Very well," said Isis, "you may speak to the Bridge, as you go to meet +those nauseous salt rivers; I hate them, they are so rough and roar so +when they are angry. I will see what I can learn nearer home, at the +Universities; there are plenty of doctors there." + +"You had better call at Sion House, too, and Richmond." + +"To be sure, that I will; there--where fair queens have fretted and have +mourned, where noble ladies have dwelt and wept--they must know +something of this strange disease, called Love, for I really fear that +is Aquarella's disorder." + +"Nonsense! where could she get that complaint?" + +"On earth, to be sure. It is very prevalent there, and I am told it is +infectious; we can but ask, you know." + +The two anxious parents now separated, Isis remaining impatiently till +old Thames's return from his sea visit allowed her to proceed on her +inland course. They gained but little information at any of the places +they had mentioned, as, though such things had occasionally happened in +Greece, the case was quite new to all the sages here. Aquarella was the +first English fairy who had been known to die of love for a mortal. This +low attachment of hers made her friends very unhappy, and at last they +summoned her godfather Aquarius. As he was the god of all the rivers, +and a very high personage, there was a great deal of ceremony in his +reception, and he came to the bed of Thames in a special train of +thunder, lightning, and rain, accompanied by his friend Boreas. This +high honor made the old couple so proud, that they spread out their +waters to make room for him, till they even covered their banks, and +frightened all who lived near them. + +Aquarius, from his long experience and intimate acquaintance with +lady-rivers of all nations, was quite the most proper person to treat +with the poor fairy. He did not scold, rough as he was, for he knew +scolding was of no good in her complaint; he reasoned with her, but that +was scarce more efficient. + +"Do you know, child, that to marry this mortal, you must take his +religion?" + +"And is not that better than ours, your Mightiness?" + +"Give up your immortality?" + +"And gain his. Ours must cease with this world; his can never end." + +"But it may be an immortality of grief?" + +"Not unless we deserve it, and we will not. I learned much, your +Mightiness, while washing the walls of a little chapel, by whose side I +flow." + +"You must relinquish your high privileges." + +"What are they, without love?" + +"Aquarella, you are mad! Do you know what the life of a mortal woman +is?" + +"Oh, yes. Have I not watched Albert's mother? I know how she spends her +days; in providing comforts for son and husband, in instructing the +ignorant, in relieving the poor, in doing good to all. Hers is indeed a +happy and useful life." + +"And suppose Albert should not love you?" + +"I could still watch over him." + +"Suppose he should become poor--should fall from his high estate?" + +"I would work for, and comfort him." + +"If he live, he will lose his youthful beauty." + +"But he will preserve his virtues." + +"He will become old and decrepit." + +"I will nurse him." + +"She has an answer for every thing; there must be a woman's soul in her. +After all--listen to me seriously, daughter--you may indeed do all you +say, and become the blessing of Albert's life; but to do this, you must +leave your parents, your sisters--leave them, and forever." + +"Must I, indeed?" + +"You must. Albert is of another class; he may be as good as you, still +he is not your equal, nor can you enjoy his love and that of your +family. Now choose between them." + +"My sisters--my father--Albert." + +"Choose--weigh them well in the balance; or one, or the other--both you +can not have." + +"Does my father disapprove?" + +"You can not expect he wishes you to leave him for one of another sort. +Your separation must be eternal." + +"Will Albert be happy?" + +"Why not? Even if he knew you, he could not think much of a wife who +could sever herself from her earliest ties." + +"My mother, too! No, no, you are right; I should never be happy. What! +To feel I had offended those who have the best claim to my love and +affection! I must not think of it. Still, are they not a little +prejudiced?" + +"Perhaps they are; but if you do your duty, their prejudices may +eventually give way." + +"I am afraid all you say is true; I can not leave them. Oh! I am very +miserable. What shall I do?" + +"Do good to every one, make yourself useful--that is the only cure for a +broken heart." + +"Can I help Albert?" + +"To be sure you can. And now you have shown yourself to be a dutiful +daughter, and a fairy of proper sense, I will teach you how to assist +him, and all his fellow-men." + +I can not tell all the advice the old god gave to the disconsolate +Aquarella, but its consequences were of great benefit to the young lord, +and ultimately to all the world, for she consented to restrain her +vagaries, and become a useful member of society, a working river. The +same lively energy that helped her to quarrel with the stones, now +enabled her to turn a mill; there is no saying what amount of water +power is within her. Like all really benevolent, sensible persons, she +considers no good work a degradation; and her activity is boundless. She +has turned from her course to assist a paper manufacturer, her waters +are invaluable to a calico printer also, and she may be seen in a +bleaching ground. + +She is not so wildly beautiful as in her early days, but her banks are +still charming, and, like a kind old maiden aunt, she is ever indulgent +to youth. She has famous bays, where rosy boys can launch their tiny +vessels; deep recesses, where sober anglers enjoy their silent sport; +and sweet nooks, where Albert's posterity have often mused on pleasant +thoughts, have pledged the faith, and vowed the love denied to the poor +fairy, and here her course flows placidly and serenely along, as if she +still took an interest in human happiness, and the trifles that compose +it. + +It is even said that for the greater benefit of mankind, and of the +loved one's descendents in particular, she has consented to be united +with a sluggish, but wealthy canal, who wishes to get some pure water. +This report at present wants good authority; however, we shall see. + +At all events the fairy's fate may teach us that all--even those who +have known great troubles--may be happy if they do their duty; that no +lot is without its trials and its reward, and that there is no cure to +sorrow so potent as a good conscience. + + + + +A GALLOP FOR LIFE. + + +About twenty years ago, after a fatiguing London season, I was stopping +at the decayed port and bathing village of Parkgate, on the Dee, +opposite the equally decayed town and castle of Flint. It was a curious +place to choose for amusement, for it had, and has, no recommendation +except brackish water, pleasant scenery at high water, and excessive +dullness. But, to own the truth, I was in love, desperately in love, +with one of the most charming, provoking little sylphs in the world, +who, after driving me half crazy in London, was staying on a visit with +an uncle, a Welsh parson, at dreary Parkgate. Not that it was dreary to +me when Laura was amiable; on the contrary, I wrote to my friends and +described it as one of the most delightful watering-places in England, +and, by so doing, lost forever the good graces and legacy of my Aunt +Grumph, who traveled all the way from Brighton on my description, and +only staid long enough to change horses. One sight of the one street of +tumble-down houses, in face of a couple of miles of sand and shingle at +low water, was enough. She never spoke to me again, except to express +her extreme contempt for my opinion. + +Our chief amusement was riding on the sand, and sometimes crossing to +Flint at low water. You know, of course, that formerly the Dee was a +great commercial river, with important ports at Chester, Parkgate, and +Flint; but, in the course of time, the banks have fallen in, increasing +the breadth at the expense of the depth; so that at Parkgate, whence +formerly the Irish packets sailed, the fisher-girls can walk over at low +water, merely tucking up their petticoats in crossing the channel, down +which the main stream of fresh water flows. + +But although this broad expanse of sand affords a firm footing, at low +water, for the whole way across, except just round Flint, where there +are several quicksands, when the tide turns, in certain states of the +wind, the whole estuary is covered with wonderful rapidity; for the tide +seems to creep up subterranean channels, and you may find yourself +surrounded by salt-water when you least expect it. + +This was of no consequence to us, as we were never tied for time. I was +teaching Laura to ride on a little Welsh pony, and the sands made a +famous riding-school. I laugh now when I think of the little rat of a +pony she used to gallop about, for she now struggles into a Brougham of +ordinary dimensions with great difficulty, and weighs nearly as much as +her late husband, Mr. Alderman Mallard. In a short time, Laura made so +much progress in horsemanship that she insisted on mounting my hackney, +a full-sized well-bred animal, and putting me on the rat-pony. When I +indulged her in this fancy--for of course she had her own way--I had the +satisfaction of being rewarded by her roars of laughter at the +ridiculous figure I cut, ambling beside her respectable uncle, on his +cart-horse cob, with my legs close to the ground, and my nose peering +over the little Welshman's shaggy ears, while my fairy galloped round +us, drawing all sorts of ridiculous comparisons. This was bad enough, +but when Captain Egret, the nephew of my charmer's aunt's husband, a +handsome fellow, with "a lovely gray horse, with such a tail," as Laura +described it, came up from Chester to stay a few days, I could stand my +rat-pony no longer, and felt much too ill to ride out; so stood at the +window of my lodgings with my shirt-collar turned down, and Byron in my +hand open at one of the most murderous passages, watching Laura on my +chestnut, and Captain Egret on his gray, cantering over the deserted bed +of the Dee. They were an aggravatingly handsome couple, and the existing +state of the law on manslaughter enabled me to derive no satisfaction +from the hints contained in the "Giaour" or the "Corsair." These were +our favorite books of reference for Young England in those days. Indeed, +we were all amateur pirates, and felons in theory; but when I had been +cast down in disgust at the debased state of civilization, which +prevented me from challenging Captain Egert to single combat, with Laura +for the prize of the victor, instead of a cell in Chester Castle, my +eyes fell on an advertisement in a local paper, which turned my thoughts +into a new channel, of "_Sale of Blood Stock, Hunters, and Hackneys_, at +Plas * * *, near Holywell." + +I determined to give up murder, and buy another horse, for I could ride +as well as the captain; and then what glorious _tête-à-têtes_ I could +have, with my hand on the pommel of Laura's side-saddle. The idea put me +in good-humor. Regimental duties having suddenly recalled Captain Egret, +I spent a delightful evening with Laura; she quite approved of my +project, and begged that I would choose a horse "with a long tail, of a +pretty color," which is every young lady's idea of what a horse should +be. + +Accordingly I mounted my chestnut on a bright morning of July, and rode +across to Flint, accompanied by a man to bring back my intended +purchase. It was dead low water; when, full of happy thoughts, in the +still warm silence of the summer morning, holding my eager horse hard +in, I rode at a foot-pace across the smooth, hard, wave-marked bed of +the river. There was not a cloud in the sky. The sun, rising slowly, +cast a golden glow over the sparkling sand. Pat-pat-pit-pat, went my +horse's feet, not loud enough to disturb the busy crows and gulls +seeking their breakfast; they were not afraid of me; they knew I had no +gun. I remember it; I see it all before me, as if it were yesterday, for +it was one of the most delicious moments of my life. But the screaming +gulls and whistling curlews were put to flight, before I had half +crossed the river's bed, by the cheerful chatter, laughter, and +fragments of Welsh airs sung in chorus by a hearty crowd of cockle and +mussel gatherers, fishermen, and farmers' wives, on their way to the +market on the Cheshire side--men, women (they were the majority), and +children, on foot, on ponies, and donkeys, and in little carts. +Exchanging good-humored jokes, I passed on until I came to the ford of +the channel, where the river runs between banks of deep soft sand. At +low water, at certain points, in summer, it is but a few inches deep; +but after heavy rains, and soon after the turning of the tide, the depth +increases rapidly. + +At the ford I met a second detachment of Welsh peasantry preparing to +cross, by making bundles of shoes and stockings, and tucking up +petticoats very deftly. Great was the fun and the splashing, and plenty +of jokes on the _Saxon_ and his red horse going the wrong way. The Welsh +girls in this part of the country are very pretty, with beautiful +complexions, a gleam of gold in their dark hair, and an easy, graceful +walk, from the habit of carrying the water-pitchers from the wells on +their heads. The scene made me feel any thing but melancholy or +ill-natured. I could not help turning back to help a couple of little +damsels across, pillion-wise, who seemed terribly afraid of wetting +their finery at the foot ford. + +Having passed the channels, the wheels and footmarks formed a plain +direction for a safe route, which, leaving Flint Castle on my right, +brought me into the centre of Flint, without any need of a guide. The +rest of my road was straightforward and commonplace. I reached the farm +where the sale was to take place, in time for breakfast, and was soon +lost in a crowd of country squires, Welsh parsons, farmers, +horse-dealers, and grooms. + +Late in the day I purchased a brown stallion, with a strain of Arab +blood, rather undersized, but compact, and one of the handsomest horses +I ever saw before or since, very powerful, nearly thorough-bred. When +the auctioneer had knocked him down to me, I said to one of the grooms +of the establishment who was helping my man--handing him a crown-piece +at the same time: + +"As the little brown horse is mine, with all faults, just have the +goodness to tell me what is his fault?" + +"Why, sir," he answered, "he can walk, trot, gallop, and jump, first +rate, surely; but he's very awkward to mount; and when you are on, he'll +try uncommon hard to get you off, for two minutes; if you stick fast, he +will be quiet enough all day." + +"Thank you, my man," I replied; "I'll try him directly." + +Just before starting I found the chestnut had a shoe loose, and had to +send him to the nearest village, two miles off. I had promised Laura to +return by eight o'clock, to finish a delightful book we were reading +aloud together, until the tiff about Captain Egret had interrupted us. +You may judge if I was not impatient; and yet, with fifteen miles to +ride to Flint, I had no time to spare. + +My friend, the groom, saddled the brown horse, and brought him down to +the open road to me. He trotted along, with shining coat and arched +neck, snorting and waving his great tail like a lion. As he piaffed and +paraded sideways along, casting back his full eye most wickedly, every +motion spoke mischief; but there was no time for consideration; I had +barely an hour to do fifteen miles of rough roads before crossing the +river, and must get to the river-side, cool. I had intended to have +ridden the chestnut, who was experienced in water, but the loose shoe +upset that arrangement. + +Without giving him any time to see what I was about, I caught him by the +mane and the reins, threw myself from a sloping bank into the saddle, +and, although he dragged the groom across the road, I had both feet in +the stirrups before he burst from his hold. Snorting fiercely, he bucked +and plunged until I thought the girths would surely crack; but other +horsemen galloping past, enabled me to bustle him into full speed, and +in five minutes he settled down into a long, luxurious stride, with his +legs under his haunches, that felt like a common canter, but really +devoured the way, and swept me past every thing on the road. Up hill and +down, it was all the same, he bounded, like a machine full of power on +the softest of steel-springs. + +Ten miles were soon past, and we reached Holywell; up the steep hill and +through the town, and down the steep narrow lanes, we went, and reached +the level road along the shore leading to Flint, without halt, until +within two miles of that town; then I drew bridle, to walk in cool. + +By this time the weather, which had been bright all day, had changed; a +few heat drops of rain fell, thunder was heard rolling in the distance, +and a wind seemed rising and murmuring from the sea. + +I looked at my watch as we entered the town; it was an hour past the +time when I intended to have crossed--but Laura must not be +disappointed; so I only halted at the inn long enough to let the brown +wash his mouth out, and, without dismounting, rode on to the guide's +house. As I passed the Castle, I heard a band playing; it was a party of +officers, with their friends, who had come up on a pic-nic from Chester. + +When I reached the cottage of old David, the guide, he was sitting on +the bench at the door, putting on his shoes and stockings; and part of +the party I had met in the morning, as they passed, cried, "You're late, +master; you must hurry on to cross to-night." David was beginning to +dissuade me; but when I threw him a shilling, and trotted on, he +followed me, pattering down the beach. + +"You must make haste, master, for the wind's getting up, and will bring +the tide like a roaring lion--it will. But I suppose the pretty lady +with the rosy face expects you. But where's the red horse? I wish you +had him. I do not like strange horses on such a time as this--indeed, +and I do not," he added. But I had no time for explanations, although +David was a great ally of ours. I knew I was expected; it was getting +dusk, and Laura would be anxious, _I hoped_. + +Pushing briskly along, we soon reached the ford of the channel, so calm +and shallow in the morning, but now filling fast with the tide; dark +clouds were covering the sky, and the wind brought up a hollow murmuring +sound. + +"Now get across, young gentleman, as fast as you can, and keep your eye +on the wind-mill, and don't spare your spurs, and you will have plenty +of time; so, good-evening, God bless you! young gentleman, and the +pretty lady, too," cried David, honestest of Welsh guides. + +I tried to walk the brown horse through the ford where it was not more +than three or four feet deep; but he first refused; then, when pressed, +plunged fiercely in, and was out of his depth in a moment. He swam +boldly enough, but obstinately kept his head down the stream, so that, +instead of landing on an easy, shelving shore, he came out where all but +a perpendicular bank of soft sand had to be leaped and climbed over. +After several unsuccessful efforts, I was obliged to slip off, and climb +up on foot, side by side with my horse, holding on by the flap of the +saddle. If I had not dismounted, we should probably have rolled back +together. + +When I reached the top of the bank, rather out of breath, I looked back, +and saw David making piteous signs, as he moved off rapidly, for me to +push along. But this was easier said than done; the brown horse would +not let me come near him. Round and round he went, rearing and plunging, +until I was quite exhausted. Coaxing and threatening were alike useless; +every moment it was getting darker. Once I thought of letting the brute +go, and swimming back to David. But when I looked at the stream, and +thought of Laura, that idea was dismissed. Another tussle, in which we +plowed up the sand in a circle, was equally fruitless, and I began to +think he would keep me there to be drowned, for to cross the Parkgate on +foot before the tide came up strong, seemed hopeless. At length, finding +I could not get to touch his shoulder, I seized the opportunity, when he +was close to the bank of the stream, and catching the curb sharply in +both hands, backed him half way down almost into the water. Before he +had quite struggled up to the top, I threw myself into the saddle, and +was carried off at the rate of thirty miles an hour toward the sea. + +But I soon gathered up the reins, and, firm in my seat, turned my +Tartar's head toward the point where I could see the white wind-mill +gleaming through the twilight on the Cheshire shore. + +I felt that I had not a moment to spare. The sand, so firm in the +morning, sounded damp under my horse's stride; the little stagnant pools +filled visibly, and joining formed shallow lakes, through which we +dashed in a shower of spray; and every now and then we leaped over, or +plunged into deep holes. At first I tried to choose a path, but as it +rapidly grew darker, I sat back in my saddle, and with my eyes fixed on +the tower of the wind-mill, held my horse firmly into a hand gallop, and +kept a straight line. He was a famous deep-chested, long-striding, +little fellow, and bounded along as fresh as when I started. By degrees +my spirits began to rise; I thought the danger past; I felt confidence +in myself and horse, and shouted to him in encouraging triumph. Already +I was, in imagination, landed and relating my day's adventures to Laura, +when with a heavy plunge down on his head, right over went the brown +stallion, and away I flew as far as the reins, fortunately fast grasped, +would let me. Blinded with wet sand, startled, shaken, confused, by a +sort of instinct, I scrambled to my feet almost as soon as my horse, who +had fallen over a set of salmon-net stakes. Even in the instant of my +fall, all the honor of my situation was mentally visible to me. In a +moment I lived years. I felt that I was a dead man; I wondered if my +body would be found; I thought of what my friends would say; I thought +of letters in my desk I wished burned. I thought of relatives to whom my +journey to Parkgate was unknown, of debts I wished paid, of parties with +whom I had quarreled, and wished I had been reconciled. I wondered +whether Laura would mourn for me, whether she really loved me. In fact, +the most serious and ridiculous thoughts were jumbled altogether, while +I muttered, once or twice, a hasty prayer; and yet I did not lose a +moment in remounting. This time my horse made no resistance, but stood +over his hocks in a pool of salt water, and trembled and snorted--not +fiercely, but in fear. There was no time to lose. I looked round for the +dark line of the shore; it had sunk in the twilight. I looked again for +the white tower; it had disappeared. The fall and the rolling, and +turning of the horse in rising, had confused all my notions of the +points of the compass. I could not tell whether it was the dark clouds +from the sea, or the dizzy whirling of my brain; but it seemed to have +become black night in a moment. + +The water seemed to flow in all directions round and round. I tried, but +could not tell which was the sea, and which the river side. The wind, +too, seemed to shift and blow from all points of the compass. + +Then, "Softly," I said to myself, "be calm; you are confused by terror; +be a man;" and pride came to my rescue. I closed my eyes for a moment, +and whispered, "Oh Lord, save me." Then with an effort, calmer, as +though I had gulped down something, I opened my eyes, stood up in my +stirrups, and peered into the darkness. As far as I could see, were +patches of water eating up the dry bits of sand; as far as I could hear, +a rushing tide was on all sides. Four times, in different directions, I +pushed on, and stopped when I found the water rising over the shoulders +of my horse. + +I drew up on a sort of island of sand, which was every minute growing +less, and gathering all the strength of my lungs, shouted again and +again, and then listened; but there came no answering shout. Suddenly, a +sound of music came floating past me. I could distinguish the air; it +was the military band playing "Home, sweet Home." I tried to gather from +what quarter the sound came; but each time the wind instruments brayed +out loudly, the sounds seemed to come to me from every direction at +once. "Ah!" I thought, "I shall see home no more." I could have wept, +but I had no time; my eyes were staring through the darkness, and my +horse plunging and rearing, gave me no rest for weeping. I gave him his +head once, having heard that horses, from ships sunk at sea, have +reached land distant ten miles, by instinct; but the alternation of +land, and shallow and deep water confused his senses, and destroyed the +calm power which might have been developed in the mere act of swimming. + +At length, after a series of vain efforts, I grew calm and resigned. I +made up my mind to die. I took my handkerchief from my neck, and tied my +pocket-book to the D's of the saddle. I pulled my rings off my fingers, +and put them in my pocket--I had heard of wreckers cutting off the +fingers of drowned men--and then was on the point of dashing forward at +random, when some inner feeling made me cast another steady glance all +round. At that moment, just behind me, something sparkled twice, and +disappeared, and then reappearing, shone faintly, but so steadily, that +there could be no doubt it was a light on the Cheshire shore. In an +instant my horse's head was turned round. I had gathered him together, +dug in the spurs, and crying from the bottom of my heart, "Thank God!" +in the same moment, not profanely, but with a horseman's instinct, +shouting encouragingly, and dashed away toward the light. It was a hard +fight; the ground seemed melting from under us--now struggling through +soft sand, now splashing over hard, now swimming (that was easy), and +now and again leaping and half falling, but never losing hold of my +horse or sight of the beacon; we forced through every obstacle, until at +length the water grew shallower and shallower; we reached the sand, and, +passing the sand, rattled over the shingle at high-water mark--and I was +saved! But I did not, could not stop; up the loose shingles I pressed on +to the light that had saved me. I could not rest one instant, even for +thanksgiving, until I knew to what providential circumstance I owed my +safety. I drew up at a fisherman's hut of the humblest kind, built on +the highest part of the shore, full two miles from Parkgate; a light, +which seemed faint when close to it, twinkled from a small latticed +window. I threw myself from my horse, and knocked loudly at the door, +and as I knocked, fumbled with one hand in my soaked pocket for my +purse. Twice I knocked again, and the door, which was unhasped, flew +open. A woman, weeping bitterly, rose at this rude summons; and at the +same moment I saw on the table the small coffin of a young child, with a +rushlight burning at either end. I owed my life to death! + + + + +SKETCHES OF ORIENTAL LIFE. + +BY F.A. NEALE, ESQ. + +LIFE OF A TURKISH GENTLEMAN. + + +The life of the Turkish Effendi, or gentleman, at Antioch, is rather of +a monotonous character. He lives in his own, or rather in two +houses--for the harem, though part of the same house, is entirely +partitioned off, and no one but himself and his slaves know where it is, +or how to get in or out of it. He always keeps the door-key in his +pocket, and when the ladies want any thing, they rap, like so many +woodpeckers, at a kind of revolving cupboard, which is securely fastened +into the wall. Through this cupboard at which neither party can see the +other, the lady speaks to the servant, and tells him what to fetch or +buy for her at the bazaars; and the article is brought and placed in the +cupboard, which is wheeled round by the lady inside, so that she may +take it out. When they are desirous of walking in the garden, or going +to the bath, the key is delivered into the charge of some old duenna, +and the Effendi sees nothing more of it till the party has returned, and +the ladies are safely locked up again. + +The Effendi is, generally speaking, an early riser, and seldom sits up +till a late hour at night. On issuing from his harem, he is waited upon +by half a dozen slaves, who assist in his ablutions: one holds the ewer, +another the soap, a third the towel, and a fourth and fifth assist him +with his clean apparel. Having washed and dressed, he goes through his +morning devotions at the nearest mosque. Returning home, his servants +serve him with his cup of bitter coffee and pipe of real gibili, by +which time it is about seven A.M., the fashionable hour for a Turkish +gentleman to call and receive visits. Acquaintances and friends saunter +in, and salute the host, who salutes them. Beyond this, there is little +conversation; for Turks hate talking; and still less joking, for they +detest laughing. They inquire like a parcel of anxious doctors, very +kindly after each other's health, and after the general salubrity of +their respective houses, for no one ever dreams of asking how his +friend's wife is; that would be considered the grossest breach of +decorum. Draft-boards, and pipes, and coffee are introduced. Some play, +others look on; and, save the rattling of the dice, very little is heard +to interrupt the silence of the room. The Effendi's clerk comes in +occasionally, with a batch of unanswered letters in his hands, and +whispers mysteriously to the Effendi, who either goes off into a violent +fit of rage, or nods his consent in approval of what has been done, just +as the contents of the letter are pleasing or the reverse. Most of these +letters are from the overseers, or the laborers in the Effendi's +silk-gardens, or olive-plantations; some few from people craving his +assistance; others demanding repayment of loans of money; for there are +but few of the Effendis of Antioch, though all rolling in riches, that +are not indebted to some person or other for cash loans, as, such is +their strange avarice, that though they possess (to use an Oriental +expression) rooms full of money, they are loth to extract one farthing +from their treasures for their daily expenditure. + +About ten A.M., the Effendi orders his horse, and followed by his +pipe-bearer, who is equally well-mounted, takes a sedate ride in the +environs of the town. On Saturdays, in lieu of riding, he goes to the +bath, but in either case he is pretty punctual as to the hour of his +return. On reaching home, more pipes and coffee are produced, and he +affixes his seal (for a Turk never signs his name) to the various +business letters that his secretary has prepared, ready for dispatching. +The cry from the minaret now warns him that it is the hour for mid-day +prayer. Washing his hands, face, and feet, he proceeds to the sami +(mosque), where he remains till it is time to breakfast; and when the +breakfast is served, he goes through the forms of ablution again. After +his meals, he is required to wash once more. + +I may here remark, for the guidance of strangers, that there is nothing +a Turk considers more degrading than the want of this scrupulous +cleanliness in Europeans; and considering the climate, and the wisdom of +doing in Rome as Rome does (apart from all other arguments), travelers, +although seldom obliged to use their fingers as Turks do at their meals, +ought strictly to adhere to this custom while among Orientals. + +The Effendi, after his breakfast, which is generally a very good one, +and is prepared by the careful hands of the fair ladies of the harem, +retires into his seraglio for a couple of hours' siesta, during the heat +of the day. In this interval, if a Pasha, or a bosom-friend, or the +devil himself were to appear, and ask of the servants to see their +master immediately, they would reply that he was asleep in the harem, +and that it was as much as their heads were worth to disturb him. + +At about two, P.M., the Effendi is again visible. He then occupies his +time in playing drafts, or reading a Turkish newspaper. At four, he goes +once more to the mosque, and thence proceeds to the secluded garden, on +the banks of the Orontes. Here several other Effendis are sure to meet +him, for it is their usual evening rendezvous. Carpets are spread; +baskets of cucumbers and bottles of spirit produced; and they drink +brandy, and nibble cucumbers, till nigh upon sundown. Sometimes +cachouks, or dancing boys, dressed up in gaudy tinsel-work, and +musicians, are introduced, for the entertainment of the party. By +nightfall, every individual has finished his two--some more--bottles of +strong _aqua vitæ_, and they return homeward, and dine--and dine +heartily. Coffee is then introduced, but nothing stronger--as they never +drink spirit or wine after their evening meals. The nine o'clock summons +to prayer, resounds from the minaret, and nine minutes after that, the +Effendi is fast asleep, and nothing under an earthquake would bring him +forth from the harem again, till he rises simultanously with the sun +next day. + + +LIVING IN ANTIOCH. + +Antioch is, beyond dispute, the cheapest place in the world, as well as +one of the healthiest; and if it were not for the ragged little boys, +who hoot at every stranger, and throw stones at his door, annoying you +in every possible way, I should prefer it, as a place of residence, to +any spot I have visited in Europe, Asia, Africa, or America. + +My house was of perfectly new construction, well planted, and well +situated, and proof against water, as well as wind. I had four rooms--a +sitting-room, a dining-room, a bed-room, and a dressing-room. I had a +walled inclosure of about eighty feet square, where roses and geraniums +vied in beauty with jessamines and lilies. There was also a +poultry-yard, a pigeon-house, stables for three horses, a store-house, +a kitchen, and a servants' room. I had in the garden a grape-vine +(muscatel), a pomegranate-tree, a peach-tree, a plum-tree, an apricot, +and a China quince; and, in addition to all these, a fountain +perpetually jetting up water, and a well, and a bathing-room. For all +this accommodation, I paid three hundred and fifty piastres--about three +pounds sterling--and this was a higher rent than would be paid by any +native. Of course, the house was unfurnished, but furniture in the East +is seldom on a grand scale: a divan, half a dozen chairs, a bedstead, a +mattress, a looking-glass, a table or two, and half a dozen pipes, and +narghilies are all one requires. Servants cost about three pounds a head +per annum. Seven and a half pounds of good mutton may be had for a +shilling. Fowls--and fat ones, too--twopence each. Fish is sold by the +weight--thirteen rotolos for a beshlik, or about seventy pounds weight +for a shilling. Eels--the very best flavored in the world--three +halfpence each. As for vegetables, whether cabbages, lettuces, _des +asperges_, celery, watercresses, parsley, beans, peas, radishes, +turnips, carrots, cauliflowers, and onions, a pennyworth would last a +man a week. Fruit is sold at the same rates; and grapes cost about five +shillings the horse-load. Game is also abundant. Dried fruits and nuts +can be obtained in winter. In fact, living as well as one could wish, I +found it impossible--house-rent, servants, horses, board, washing, and +wine included--to exceed the expenditure of forty pounds per annum. + +Under these circumstances, it may appear marvelous that many Europeans, +possessed of limited means, have not made Antioch their temporary home; +but every question has two sides, and every thing its _pros_ and _cons_. +The cons, in this instance, are the barbarous character of the people +among whom you live; the perpetual liability of becoming, at one +instant's warning, the victim of some fanatical _émeute_; the small +hopes you have of redress for the grossest insults offered; the +continual intrigues entered into by the Ayans to disturb your peace and +comfort; the absence of many of the luxuries enjoyed in Europe; the want +of society and books, and the total absence of all places of worship, +which gradually creates in the mind a morbid indifference to religion, +and which feeling frequently degenerates into absolute infidelity. It is +better to choose with David in such a case, and say, "I would rather be +a door-keeper in the house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of +iniquity." + + +AN ENGLISH PHILANTHROPIST IN THE EAST. + +Two hours and a half ride from Antioch, through a country that is a +perfect paradise upon earth, but over the most execrable and detestable: +road, brought me to the ancient Seleucia. Famed in the olden history as +the emporium of Eastern commerce and as a port unequaled for safe +harborage, Suedia is celebrated in our own days as having been the +residence and favorite retreat of the late John Barker, Esq., formerly +her Majesty's Consul-general in Egypt, equally eminent as a +philanthropist and a Christian gentleman. + +Suedia, or, as it is termed by the Syrians, Zectoonli, embraces a wide +range of mulberry gardens, extending over a space of ten miles by three, +and containing a scattered and mixed population, equal, if not exceeding +in number, to that of Antioch. The village is spread chiefly upon the +banks of the Orontes, and running parallel with the beach, which forms a +boundary to the waves of the Seleucian gulf where the Orontes ends her +course, and nature has scattered around her choicest gifts. + +It would require the pen of an inspired writer to describe in adequate +colors this garden of Eden. Mulberry, lemon, and orange-trees form an +uninterrupted succession of gardens, surrounding picturesque little +cottages, each one eclipsing the other in neatness and beauty of +situation. The peasants themselves are hale, robust, and sturdy-looking +men; the children are rosy and healthy; and the women beautiful, +innocent, and happy. Each stops, as a stranger passes, to make a bashful +salute, and bid him welcome to their country. This is what I never met +elsewhere; and it was very pleasing to find uncivilized and untaught +Arabs so polite and courteous. There is, in fact, nothing that a native +of Suedia will not do to render a sojourn among them agreeable and +pleasant. They are a simple people, and as simple in their habits as in +their character. The sun teaches them when to rise, and darkness when to +seek their beds. They labor for subsistence; they sleep for refreshment; +they laugh with the merry, and weep with the afflicted. Their simple old +pastor, in their venerable rustic church, has pointed out to them from +childhood how heinous is sin--how amiable virtue; and they are taught +ever to remember that an all-seeing Eye will detect and punish sins +hidden to men, as surely as public offenses will entail flagellation +from the pasha and governors of the district. Thus they live happy in +their innocence, and in each other, and almost void of offense toward +God and man; a meet people to inhabit a country like that they dwell in. + +To this quiet retreat, Mr. Barker, after zealously serving his king and +country for a long period of years, retired, on quitting Egypt, to enjoy +in seclusion the pension awarded him by the government, and devote the +remainder of his days to the peaceful pursuit of agriculture. Few men +could better appreciate the rich gifts Nature had lavished on this spot. +A perfect botanist, and skilled in agriculture, his time and income +during a period of nearly twenty years, were spent in promoting every +improvement in the cultivation of the soil; and many have grown rich, +directly or indirectly, from the methods of tillage introduced into the +country by Mr. Barker. + +On taking possession of his wife's landed inheritance, Mr. Barker's +first steps were to erect an edifice becoming his means and station, and +one that would render his sojourn in the country agreeable to himself +and his family, and the many friends and strangers, who delighted in +visiting him, remaining his guests for days, weeks, and, in some +instances, months. There was no mistake as to the genuine hospitality +of the worthy host. His word of welcome was truth itself; and the warm +cordiality of his excellent heart was felt in the firm grasp of his +hand. "Sir," he has said to me on more than one occasion, "it is the +traveler who confers a favor upon me by remaining, and giving me the +benefit of his society, provided he be a man that is at all sufferable. +Some few, I must own, have staid longer than myself or my family could +have wished, but they have been very few." A perfect gentleman, an +accomplished scholar, a sagacious thinker, a philosopher, and +philanthropist, people wondered how so great a heart could content +itself to remain in a place like Suedia. I had the honor to be on +intimate terms with him during my two years' residence in Suedia, and I +learned to love and respect him so much, that when he died, full of +years and honor, I felt a void in my heart, to which I still recur with +the deepest regret. + +Mr. Barker's main object in life was to confer benefits upon his +suffering neighbors. He knew how much misery and wretchedness was to be +every day met with in England, and how incompetent were his means, +all-sufficient though they were for his own wants, to relieve such +distress; but in Syria a more available field for benevolence presented +itself. How far and how well his charitable disposition exerted itself +may be imagined, when I say that out of more than six thousand +inhabitants, there is not one who does not to this day bless the memory +of the good man, who through so many years was the friend of all. I +ought to add that through fifty years of uninterrupted intercourse with +as many thousand people, he never made one enemy, but was universally +respected and beloved. + +The gardens of Mr. Barker have been long celebrated for the quantity, +variety, and excellent quality of their fruit. In the piece of ground +attached to his own private residence, I have plucked from the tree the +guava, the sweet-kerneled apricot, the Stanwick nectarine (for which the +Duke of Northumberland obtained for him a silver medal), the +sweet-kerneled peach, the shucapara, the celebrated apricot of Damascus, +the plaqueminia kaki, the loquot or nepolis japonica, the mandarin, and +the Malta blood-orange; in short, the fruit of every country in the +world. At Mr. Barker's request, I wrote to Penang and China for seeds of +some rare fruits and spices, which Colonel Butterworth and Sir George +Bonham had the kindness to send me; and though previously produced +solely in those climes, they have since sprung up in these charming +gardens. But, alas! they did not thus display themselves till the +excellent old man had passed away. On the demise of Mr. Barker, the +whole of his landed property reverted to his amiable and kind-hearted +widow. + +Besides introducing the finest fruit-trees in the world, and many rare +ornamental trees, from the cuttings and graftings of which the whole of +the gardens of Suedia have been supplied, Mr. Barker greatly ameliorated +the conditions of the natives by obtaining from Italy regular supplies +of the best silk worm seed, which was then divided among them. +Originally, the silk produced was of a very inferior quality; it has now +become the finest in any part of the East. As for flowers, it was a +perfect sight to see the garden attached to Mr. Barker's house at any +season of the year, even in the depth of winter, when the surrounding +mountains were covered with snow, and every where else vegetation had +disappeared, thousands of Bengal roses and other rare and beautiful +flowers here presented the appearance of perpetual summer. + + +A ROMANCE OF CYPRUS. + +Every traveler who has ever visited Cyprus has heard of Signor Baldo +Matteo, the Ebenezer Scrooge of the East. While I was at Larnaca, a sad +adventure, furnishing ample materials for a melodrama, nearly terminated +old Baldo's life, and all his speculations. His only daughter, and +heiress, lost her heart to a needy Austrian, who had come to Cyprus +expressly to make his fortune by marriage. Hearing of the wealth of old +Baldo, and of his daughter, he fixed upon him at once; but Baldo was not +to be easily caught, and totally repulsed every advance. The Austrian +grew desperate, and, as a final resource, became fanatically religious, +attending the Catholic chapel morning, noon, and night. Nothing could +exceed his devotion to a certain old priest troubled with the cramp, on +whose leg he sat, whenever it was attacked, till the pain passed off. +When, after this, he whispered to him the sin that preyed most heavily +upon his mind, which was a wish to possess riches, that he might bestow +them on Mother Church, and hinted at a passion for Miss Baldo, he +received immediate absolution, and was next day dining at old Baldo's +table, in company with the Padre Presidenti, and seated next to the +object in whom all his hopes were concentrated. Miss Baldo was luckily +placed on his right, and heard with unspeakable rapture all his +protestations of love and devotion. Had she been on his left, these +would all have been lost, as she had been perfectly deaf on that side +from her birth. + +To be brief, the Austrian proposed, and was accepted, and all that he +had now to obtain was old Baldo's consent. Baldo, however, as a man of +the world, saw clearly through his designs, and knew him to be a knave, +though he had too much reverence for the priestly clique, who had +introduced the Austrian, to give a decided negative. All he asked was +time--a year--to consider so important a measure. This was accorded, and +Baldo devoutly prayed that the true character of his daughter's suitor +might before that time be unmasked. His prayer was granted, but in a way +the least expected, and certainly the least agreeable to himself. + +The lover of the Signorina Baldo, finding his exchequer rather low, and +being sorrowfully conscious of his inability to increase his wealth, so +as to enable him to keep up necessary appearances, came to the desperate +resolution of grasping, without further delay, his intended wife's +fortune, by sending poor old Baldo out of the world. Accordingly, armed +with a loaded double-barreled pistol, which he concealed about his +person, he proceeded to Matteo's house at an hour when he knew he would +find him alone, the daughter and servants being in the habit of +attending high mass on Sunday mornings; and he knocked at the door, +which, after a little hesitation, was opened to him. Old Baldo, though +believed to be an honorable man, and fair and just in his transactions +with others, was a confirmed miser. He had accumulated great sums in +hard cash, which, unseen by human eye, he had buried in his garden, and +hidden in various parts of his house. The house was going to ruin, and +wanted whitewashing and repairing in many parts. The garden was a +perfect wilderness of weeds and thistles; but these he set fire to +regularly once a year, and by this means, to a certain extent, kept them +under. As for gardeners armed with a spade, which might dig up and bring +to light all kinds of secret hoards, if there was one trade Baldo +detested, it was this. He kept the key of his walled-in garden, and on +Sundays, when all his family were absent, he strolled about in it till +their return. + +He was thus occupied when he admitted his would-be son-in-law; and the +first thing this promising youth did, was to draw forth his pistol and +take deliberate aim, discharging it at the breast of the feeble old man, +who, tottering backward a few paces, fell to the earth apparently a +corpse. For such the murderer took him; and depositing the pistol close +by his side, to make it appear he had died by his own hand, he rushed +into the street, closing the door after him. + +Running with the haste of a man charged with some important news, he +came suddenly on a gentleman attached to the Austrian consulate, whom he +breathlessly informed that passing near Baldo's house, he had heard the +report of a pistol, followed by a sound like that of some heavy body +falling to the earth, that he had in vain knocked at the door for +admission, and that he had no doubt in his own mind that some sad +catastrophe had occurred. + +In a few seconds a perfect mob was collected at Baldo's door, which they +broke open, and rushing in, beheld old Baldo stretched upon the ground, +his clothes literally saturated with blood, and a pistol lying close by +his side. The assassin, who never dreamt that the old man was still +alive, witnessed this spectacle with fiendish triumph, though loudly +lamenting the loss of him, whom he called the best friend on earth. But +it happened that the ball, though it struck against a part where a wound +would have been mortal, had come in contact with the sharp edge of a +bone, which turned it in another direction, and it was now safely lodged +between the skin and the spine. Baldo, who had fainted from fright and +loss of blood, now, to the amazement of all, recovered his senses, and +hearing the voice of his late assailant, slowly raised himself up, and +denounced him on the spot. Having done this, he fell back, and again +became unconscious. The wretch was immediately seized and handcuffed, +and safely borne away to the Austrian consulate, where he was placed in +confinement. + +Doctors were now assembled from all parts of Cyprus, and all examined +the wound, and declared it fatal, expressing the greatest surprise that +the patient should have lingered so long. The blood being stanched, and +Baldo suffering from no real injury, but laboring under a sense of +approaching dissolution, begged that a confessor might be sent for. To +this confessor, he acknowledged, among other offenses, the commission of +one sin which weighed heavier than all the rest upon his guilty +conscience. It appeared that his niece, who was then married to a French +merchant at Larnaca, had been left at a very early age an orphan, and +had become his ward. She had, however, been well provided for by her +parents, and a large sum of money had been deposited in his hands, +which, after covering the expenses of her education and board, &c., +would still leave a considerable surplus as a marriage portion. Now old +Baldo, never forgetting his thrift, had more than twice turned this +capital over before the date of the niece's marriage, but he had +retained the proceeds of his own, handing over the principal to the +bridegroom on the nuptial day. But on the approach of death, as it +seemed, he felt considerable qualms of conscience, and confessed his +unworthy stewardship, and indicated the spots where these savings were +concealed. The husband of the niece quickly dug them up, and came into +possession. Scarcely was this done, when Baldo recovered, and would +almost have forgiven the attempt upon his life, had it not involved such +serious results. + +The Austrian was by the Turkish authorities handed over to his own +consulate, and was eventually removed to Trieste, but I believe, for +lack of sufficient testimony, escaped punishment. This affair, as it may +be imagined, created a great sensation in Cyprus, which was once the +scene of the memorable tragedy which terminated the life of Desdemona. + + +ANECDOTES OF A PRIEST. + +It was in Nicosia, about the year 1840, that Dame Fortune once more +played off one of her eccentric frolics on the person of a poor Greek +priest, who had little to depend upon in this world, save such meagre +offerings as the more charitable of his parishioners bestowed upon him. +As the story goes, he was a devout and holy man, but beyond being able +to go through the regular routine of his priestly office, possessed but +scant learning, and was equally ignorant of the world's ways and +manners. At the commencement of a fast, fearing he should, from his +defective memory, forget its exact duration, he carefully filled his +pockets with so many dried peas as there were fast days, and each day +extracting one from his pockets, as the peas diminished, he was warned +of the proximity of a feast, and prepared accordingly. On one occasion, +his wife happening to find a few peas in her husband's pockets, and +imagining the devout man was fond of this Eastern luxury, very +affectionately replenished his pockets from her own store of cadamies, +or roasted peas. Great was the consternation of his congregation, when +on the eve of the feast day, instead of proclaiming its advent from the +pulpit, as is usual, he informed them that eight or ten days yet +remained for the approaching festival. A discussion on this point +immediately ensued, when the priest, in confirmation of what he +asserted, produced from his pocket the remaining peas, making known at +the same time his method of calculating. Upon this, his wife stepped +forward, and acknowledged what she had done, and great merriment ensued, +in which the priest joined. + +To this poor man, fortune now brought one of those rare windfalls which +are more frequently heard of than experienced. One summer's evening he +was seated in the courtyard of his humble house, watching with +satisfaction and delight the gambols of his little children, who were +amusing themselves with throwing stones at a hole in the wall. At length +he remarked, that whenever a stone chanced to go near the crevice, he +heard a ringing sound, and to convince himself that he was not deceived, +he stepped nearer, and hit it repeatedly with a stone, each time hearing +the sound distinctly. It now occurred to him that there was some +concealed treasure within, and the thought made him tremble with +expectation. He went to bed early, but not to sleep, having formed the +determination that he would that night make a rigorous search. When all +was still, he rose from his sleepless couch, and going out stealthily +and noiselessly, commenced, by aid of a small pickax, breaking into the +wall, removing stone by stone. He had hardly worked an hour, when out +fell a bag of doubloons, followed by a second and a third. This was +indeed a treasure, sufficient to satisfy a more covetous man; but he +felt there would be no safety with it in Cyprus. That very night, he +carefully stowed his riches in two saddle-bags, and before daybreak, +awoke his wife and acquainted her with their good fortune, when horses +were hired at a neighboring khan, and priest, wife, and children turned +their backs upon Nicosia, and arriving early at Larnaca, embarked that +very day on board a vessel sailing for Italy. The priest became the head +of one of the wealthiest mercantile firms now established at Leghorn, +and is, I believe, still living. + + + + +THE SHADOW OF BEN JONSON'S MOTHER. + + +In Hartshorn Lane, near Charing Cross, about the year 1580, dwells Mr. +Thomas Fowler, a master bricklayer. He had married, in 1575, Mrs. +Margaret Jonson, a widow; and had become the protector of her little +boy, Benjamin, then about a year and a half old. + +Benjamin is now in his sixth year. He duly attends the parish school in +St. Martin's Church; for his father was "a grave minister of the +gospel," and his mother is anxious that her only child, poor although he +must be, shall lack no advantages of education. We see the sturdy boy +daily pacing to school, through the rough and miry way of that +half-rural district. In his play-hours he is soon in the fields, picking +blackberries in Hedge-lane, or flying his kite by the Windmill in Saint +Giles's. His father-in-law is a plain, industrious, trusty man--not rich +enough to undertake any of the large works which the luxurious wants of +the town present; and oft-times interfered with, in the due course of +his labor, by royal proclamations against the increase of houses, which +are rigidly enforced when a humble man desires to build a cottage. But +young Ben has found friends. To the parish school sometimes comes Master +Camden; and he observes the bold boy, always at the head of his class, +and not unfrequently having his "clear and fair skin" disfigured by +combats with his dirty companions, who litter about the alleys of Saint +Martin's-lane. The boy has won good Master Camden's heart; and so, in +due time, he proposes to remove him to Westminster School. + +Let us look at the Shadow of his Mother, as she debates this question +with her husband, at their frugal supper. "The boy must earn his +living," says the bricklayer. "He is strong enough to be of help to me. +He can mix the mortar; he will soon be able to carry the hod. Learning! +stuff! he has learning enow, for all the good it will do him."--"Thomas +Fowler," responds the mother, "if I wear my fingers to the bone, my boy +shall never carry the hod. Master Camden, a good man, and a learned, +will pay for his schooling. Shall we not give him his poor meals and his +pallet-bed? Master Camden says he will make his way. I owe it to the +memory of him who is gone, that Benjamin shall be a scholar, and perhaps +a minister."--"Yes; and be persecuted for his opinions, as his father +was. These are ticklish times, Margaret--the lowest are the safest. Ben +is passionate, and obstinate, and will quarrel for a straw. Make him a +scholar, and he becomes Papist or Puritan--the quiet way is not for the +like of him. He shall be apprenticed to me, wife, and earn his daily +bread safely and honestly." Night after night is the debate renewed. But +the mother triumphs. Ben does go to Westminster School. He has hard fare +at home; he has to endure many a taunt as he sits apart in the Abbey +cloisters, intent upon his task. But Camden is his instructor and his +friend. The bricklayer's boy fights his way to distinction. + +Look again at the Shadow of that proud Mother as, after three or four +anxious years, she hears of his advancement. He has an exhibition. He is +to remove to Cambridge. Her Benjamin must be a bishop. Thomas Fowler is +incredulous--and he is not generous: "When Benjamin leaves this roof he +must shift for himself, wife." The mother drops one tear when her boy +departs; the leathern purse which holds her painful savings is in +Benjamin's pocket. + +It is a summer night of 1590, when Benjamin Jonson walks into the poor +house of Hartshorn-lane. He is travel-stained and weary. His jerkin is +half hidden beneath a dirty cloak. That jerkin, which looked so smart in +a mother's eyes when last they parted, is strangely shrunk--or, rather, +has not the spare boy grown into a burly youth, although the boy's +jerkin must still do service? The bricklayer demands his business; the +wife falls upon his neck. And well may the bricklayer know him not. His +face is "pimpled;" hard work and irregular living have left their marks +upon him. The exhibition has been insufficient for his maintenance. His +spirit has been sorely wounded. The scholar of sixteen thinks he should +prefer the daily bread which is to be won by the labor of his hands, to +the hunger for which pride has no present solace. Benjamin Jonson +becomes a bricklayer. + +And now, for two years, has the mother--her hopes wholly gone, her love +only the same--to bear up under the burden of conflicting duties. The +young man duly works at the most menial tasks of his business. He has +won his way to handle a trowel; but he is not conformable in all things. +"Wife," says Thomas Fowler, "that son of yours will never prosper. Can +not he work--and can not he eat his meals--without a Greek book in his +vest? This very noon must he seat himself, at dinner-hour, in the shade +of the wall in Chancery-lane, on which he had been laboring; and then +comes a reverend Bencher and begins discourse with him; and Ben shows +him his book--and they talk as if they were equal. Margaret, he is too +grand for me; he is above his trade."--"Shame on ye, husband! Does he +not work, honestly and deftly? and will you grudge him his books?"--"He +haunts the play-houses; he sits in the pit--and cracks nuts--and hisses +or claps hands, in a way quite unbeseeming a bricklayer's apprentice. +Margaret, I fear he will come to no good." One night there is a fearful +quarrel. It is late when Benjamin returns home. In silence and darkness, +the son and mother meet. She is resolved. "Benjamin, my son, my dear +son, we will endure this life no longer. There is a sword; it was your +grandfather's. A gentleman wore it; a gentleman shall still wear it. Go +to the Low-Countries. Volunteers are called for. There is an expedition +to Ostend. Take with you these few crowns, and God prosper you." + +Another year, and Benjamin's campaign is ended. At the hearth in +Hartshorn-lane sits Margaret Fowler--in solitude. There will be no more +strife about her son. Death has settled the controversy. Margaret is +very poor. Her trade is unprosperous; for the widow is defrauded by her +servants. "Mother, there is my grandfather's sword--it has done service; +and now, I will work for you."--"How, my son?"--"I will be a bricklayer +again." We see the Shadow of the Mother, as she strives to make her son +content. He has no longer the "lime and mortar" hands with which it was +his after-fate to be reproached; but he bestows the master's eye upon +his mother's workmen. Yet he has hours of leisure. There is a chamber in +the old house now filled with learned books. He reads, and he writes, as +his own pleasure dictates. "Mother," he one day says, "I wish to +marry."--"Do so, my son; bring your wife home; we will dwell together." +So a few years roll on. He and his wife weep + + "Mary, the daughter of their youth." + +But there is an event approaching which sets aside sorrow. "Daughter," +says the ancient lady, "we must to the Rose Playhouse to-night. There is +a new play to be acted, and that play is Benjamin's."--"Yes, mother, he +has had divers moneys already. Not much, I wot, seeing the labor he has +given to this 'Comedy of Humors'--five shillings, and ten shillings, +and, once, a pound."--"No matter, daughter, he will be famous; I always +knew he would be famous." A calamity clouds that fame. The play-writer +has quarrels on every side. In the autumn of 1598, Philip Henslowe, the +manager of "the Lord Admiral's men," writes thus to his son-in-law, +Alleyn; "Since you were with me, I have lost one of my company, which +hurteth me greatly--that is, Gabriel; for he is slain in Hogsden Fields, +by the hands of Benjamin Jonson, bricklayer." Twenty years after, the +great dramatist, the laureat, thus relates the story to Drummond: "Being +appealed to the fields, he had killed his adversary, which had hurt him +in the arm, and whose sword was ten inches longer than his; for the +which he was imprisoned and almost at the gallows." There is the proud +Shadow of a Roman Matron hovering about his cell, in those hours when +the gallows loomed darkly in the future. + +The scholar and the poet has won his fame. Bricklayer no longer, Ben is +the companion of the illustrious. Shakspeare hath "wit-combats" with +him; Camden and Selden try his metal, in learned controversies; Raleigh, +and Beaumont, and Donne, and Fletcher, exchange with him "words of +subtle flame" at "The Mermaid." But a new trouble arises--James is come +to the throne. Hear Jonson's account of a remarkable transaction: "He +was delated by Sir James Murray to the King, for writing something +against the Scots, in a play, 'Eastward Ho,' and voluntarily imprisoned +himself, with Chapman and Marston, who had written it among them. The +report was, that they should then have had their ears cut, and noses." +They are at length released. We see the shadow of a banquet, which the +poet gave to his friends in commemoration of his deliverance. There is a +joyous company of immortals at that feast. There, too, is that loving +and faithful mother. The wine-cups are flowing; there are song and jest, +eloquence, and the passionate earnestness with which such friends speak +when the heart is opened. But there is one, whose Shadow we now see, +more passionate and more earnest than any of that company. She rises, +with a full goblet in her hand: "Son, I drink to thee. Benjamin, my +beloved son, thrice I drink to thee. See ye this paper; one grain of the +subtle drug which it holds is death. Even as we now pledge each other in +rich canary, would I have pledged thee in lusty strong poison, had thy +sentence taken execution. Thy shame would have been my shame, and +neither of us should have lived after it." + +"She was no churl," says Benjamin. + + + + +LIGHT AND AIR. + + +Light and Air are two good things: two necessaries of existence to us +animals, possessing eyes and lungs: two of the things prayed for by +sanitary philosophers in the back streets of London; where, we fear, +they might as well be crying for the moon. + +Light and Air, then, being two good things, what happens when they come +together? Spirit and water combined, says the toper, are two good things +spoiled; and how do light and air mix? Pick out of Cheapside the busiest +of men, and he will tell you that he loves the sky-blue in its proper +place, making a sickly joke about his milk-jug. There is not a Scrub in +the whole world who would not think it necessary to show pleasure--yes, +and feel some indication of it--over sunset colors, when, by chance, he +treads the fields upon a summer evening. We all look up at the stars, +and feel that they would seem much less the confidential friends they +really are, if they were shining down upon us with a rigid light. There +is a beating human pulse which answers to our hearts in their incessant +twinkling. And then the rainbow! Light that might pass down to us, and +give us sight, but nothing more, gives sight and blesses it at once. Its +touch converts the air into a region of delightful visions, ever +changing, ever new. To reach us it must penetrate our atmosphere, and it +is a fact that He who made the Universe, so made it that, in the whole +range of Nature there is not one barren combination. Light must pass +through the air; and, from a knowledge of the other laws of Nature, it +might confidently be proclaimed, that, in addition to the useful +purposes of each, and their most necessary action on each other, beauty +and pleasure would be generated also by their union, to delight the +creatures of this world. + +It is not our design just now to talk about the nature of the +atmosphere; to attempt any analysis of light, or even to mention its +recondite mysteries. But in a plain way we propose to look into the +reason of those changes made by light in the appearance of the sky, +those every-day sights with which we are the most familiar. + +Blue sky itself, for example. Why is the sky blue? To explain that, we +must state a few preliminary facts concerning light, and beg pardon of +any one whose wisdom may be outraged by the elementary character of our +information. There are some among our readers, no doubt, who may find it +useful. In the first place, then, we will begin with the erection of a +pole upon a play-ground, and, like boys and girls, we will go out to +play about it with an india-rubber ball. The pole being planted upright, +is said to be planted at right angles to the surface of the ground. Now, +if we climb the pole, and throw our ball down in the same line with it, +it will run down the pole and strike the ground, and then jump back +again by the same road into our fingers. The bouncing back is called in +scientific phrase, Reflection; and so we may declare about our ball, +that if it strike a plane surface at right angles, it is reflected +immediately back upon the line it went by, or, as scientific people +say, "the line of incidence." Now, let us walk off, and mount a wall at +a short distance from the pole. We throw our ball so that it strikes the +ground quite close to the spot at which the pole is planted in the +earth, and we observe that the said ball no longer returns into our +hand, but flies up without deviating to the right or left (in the same +plane, says Science) beyond the pole, with exactly the same inclination +toward the pole on one side, and the surface of the ground on the other, +as we gave it when we sent it down. So if there were a wall on the other +side of our pole, exactly as distant and as high as our own, and +somebody should sit thereon directly opposite to us, the ball would +shoot down from our fingers to the root of the pole, and then up from +the pole into his hand. Spread a string on each side along the course +the ball has taken, from wall to pole, and from pole to wall. The string +on each side will make with the pole an equal angle: the angle to the +pole, by which the ball went, is called, we said, the angle of +incidence; the angle from the pole, by which it bounced off, is called +the angle of reflection. Now, it is true not only of balls, but of all +things that are reflected; of light, for example, reflected from a +looking-glass, or a sheet of water, that "the angle of reflection is +equal to the angle of incidence." + +The light that shines back to us from a sheet of water, has not +penetrated through its substance, certainly. But now, let us be Tritons, +or sea-nymphs, and let us live in a cool crystal grot under the waves. +We don't live in the dark, unless we be unmitigated deep-sea Tritons. +The deeper we go, the darker we find it. Why? Now, let us be absurd, and +suppose that it is possible for light to be measured by the bushel. Ten +bushels of light are poured down from the sun upon a certain bit of +water; six of these, we will say, reflected from its surface, cause the +glittering appearance, which is nothing to us Tritons down below. But +light can pass through water; that is to say, water is a transparent +substance; so the other four bushels soak down to illuminate the fishes. +But this light, so soaking down, is by the water (and would be by any +other transparent substance) absorbed, altered, partly converted into +heat--when we understand exactly what Mr. Grove calls the Correlation of +Physical Forces, we shall understand the why and how--we only know just +now the fact, that all transparent bodies do absorb and use up light; so +that the quantity of light which entered at the surface of our water +suffers robbery, becoming less and less as if sinks lower down toward +our coral caves. + +Furthermore, beside reflection and absorption, there is one more thing +that light suffers; and that we must understand before we can know +properly why skies are blue, and stars are twinkling. That one thing +more is called Refraction. A horse trots fairly over the stones, but +slips the moment stones end, and he comes upon wood pavement. A ray of +light travels straight as a dancing-master's back, so long as it is in +air, or water, or glass, or any other "medium," as the books say, of a +certain unvarying thinness or thickness, fineness or coarseness, or +according to the school-word "density." But if a ray that has been +traveling through warm and light air, suddenly plunges into air cold and +heavy, it is put out of the way by such a circumstance, and in the +moment of making such a change, it alters its direction. Still more, a +ray of light that has been traveling in a straight line through air, is +put out of its course on entering the denser medium of water; it is +dislocated, refracted very much, alters its course, and then continues +in a straight line on the new course, so long as the new medium +continues. In the same way, a ray of light which travels through a +medium that becomes denser and denser very gradually would be +perpetually swerving from its straight path, and would travel on a +curve. Our atmosphere is heaviest upon the surface of the earth, and +becomes lighter and thinner as we rise; the ray, therefore, from a star +comes to us after traveling in such a curve. But we see all objects in +the direction of a perfectly straight line continued in the direction +which the rays sent from them took at the moment of falling upon our +sense of sight. Therefore we see all stars in a part of the heavens +where they really are not; we see the sun before it really rises. Light +entering a denser medium is refracted from, entering a lighter medium is +refracted toward, a line drawn at right angles to its surface. Light +entering a new medium at right angles--that is to say, not +aslant--continues its own course unaltered. + +There is but one more fact necessary to fill up the small measure of +preliminary knowledge necessary for a general understanding of the +phenomena produced by the mixing of light with air. Light in its perfect +state is white, but the white light is a compound of other rays in due +proportion, each ray being different in color and different in quality. +So it takes place, because their qualities are different, that grass +reflects the green ray and absorbs the rest, and therefore grass is +green; while orange-peel reflects another ray, and swallows up the green +and all the rest. These colors being in the light, not in the substance +colored; in a dark room it is not merely a fact that we can not see red +curtains and pictures; but the curtains really are not red, the +paintings have no color in them, till the morning come, and artfully +constructed surfaces once more in a fixed manner decompose the light. +Beside the color of these rays, from which light is compounded, there +are combined with them other subtle principles which act mysteriously +upon matter. Upon the hard surface of a pebble there are changes that +take place whenever a cloud floats before the sun. Never mind that now. +The colored rays of which pure white light is compounded are usually +said to be seven--Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red; and +they may be technically remembered in their proper order by combining +their initials into the barbarous word Vibgyor. These are called +prismatic colors, because they were first separated by the passing of a +ray of pure light through a prism. In that passage light is much +refracted, and it happens that the contained rays all disagree with one +another as to the extent to which they suffer themselves to be put out +by a change of medium. Violet refracts most, and red least; the others +stand between in the order in which they have just been named, the order +in which you see them in the rainbow. So the rays after refraction come +out in a state of dissension; all the rays--made refractory--having +agreed to separate, because they are not of one mind, but of seven +minds, about the degree to which they should be put out by the trouble +they have gone through. + +Now we have settled our preliminaries, we have got our principles; the +next thing is to put them into practice. Let us first note what has been +said of the absorption of light by transparent bodies. The air is one of +the most transparent bodies known. On a clear day--when vapor (that is +not air) does not mingle with our atmosphere--mechanical obstacles and +the earth's figure form the only limits to our vision. You may see +Cologne Cathedral from a mountain distant nearly sixty miles. +Nevertheless, if the atmosphere had no absorbing power, only direct rays +of the sun, or rays reflected from the substances about us, would be +visible; the sky would be black, not blue; and sunset would abruptly +pitch us into perfect night. The air, however, absorbs light, which +becomes intermixed with its whole substance. Hold up your head, open +your eyes widely, and stare at the noonday sun. You will soon shut your +eyes and turn your head away; look at him in the evening or in the +morning, and he will not blind you. Why? Remembering the earth to be a +globe surrounded by an atmosphere, you will perceive that the sun's rays +at noonday have to penetrate the simple thickness of the atmosphere, +measured in a straight line upward from the earth; but in the evening or +morning its beams fall aslant, and have to slip through a great deal of +air before they reach us; suffering, therefore, a great deal of robbery; +that is to say, having much light absorbed. + +Now, why is the sky blue? Not only does the air absorb light; it +reflects it also. The particles of air reflect, however, most especially +the blue ray, while they let the red and his companions slip by. This +constant reflection of the blue ray causes the whole air to appear blue; +but what else does it cause? Let us consider. If air reflects or turns +aside, or hustles out of its place the blue ray, suffering the rest to +pass, it follows as a consequence that the more air a ray of light +encounters, the more blue will it lose. The sun's rays in the morning +and the evening falling aslant, as we have said, across a great breadth +of our atmosphere, must lose their blue light to a terrible extent, and +very likely reach us with the blue all gone, and red lord paramount. But +so, in truth, the case is; and the same fact which explains the blueness +of the atmosphere, explains the redness of the sunrise and the sunset. +It will now easily be understood, also, why the blue color of the sky is +deepest in the zenith, faintest when we look over the horizon; why the +blue is at noon deeper than after mid-day; why it grows more intense as +we ascend to higher elevations. From what we have already said, the +reason of these things will come out with a very little thought. Again, +in the example of our London fogs, &c., when in the upper portion of the +dense mass the blue rays have been all refracted, there can penetrate +only those other rays which make the lurid sky, with which we are +familiar, or the genuine old yellow fog. Fog in moderation, the thin +vapor on the open sea, and so forth, simply gives a lightness to the +blue tint, or more plentiful, an absolute whiteness to the atmosphere. + +Now let us see whether we are yet able to make out the philosophy of a +fine autumn sunset. As the sun comes near the horizon, he and the air +about him become red, because the light from that direction has been +robbed of the blue rays in traversing horizontally so large a portion of +the atmosphere. The sky in the zenith pales, for it has little but the +absorbed or diffused light to exist upon. Presently, we see a redness in +the east, quite opposite to the sun, and this redness increases till the +sun sinks from our sight. In this case, the last rays of the sun that +traverse the whole breadth of the atmosphere, reflected from the east, +from vapors there, and more especially from clouds, come red to our +eyes; no blue can be remaining in them. From the west, where the sun is +setting, the rays come from the surrounding air, and from the clouds, +variously colored; they lose their blue, but there remain the red, +green, orange, yellow, and the purple rays; and some or all of these may +make the tints that come to us, according to the state and nature of the +clouds, the atmosphere, and other circumstances that may modify the +process of refraction. The sun has set; it is immediately below the +horizon, and its rays still dart through all our atmosphere, except that +portion which is shielded from them by the intervening shadow of the +earth. That shadow appears in the east, soon after sunset, in the shape +of a calm blue arch, which rises gradually in the sky, immediately +opposite to the part glorified by sunset colors. Over this arch the sky +is red, with the rays not shut out by the round shadow of our ball. As +the sun sinks, our shadow of course rises; and within it there can be +only the diffused twilight, always blue. When this arch--this shadow of +the earth--has risen almost to the zenith, and the sun is at some +distance below the horizon, then the red color in the west becomes much +more distinct and vivid; for the sun then shoots up thither its rays +through a still larger quantity of intervening atmosphere; so that the +redness grows as the sun sinks, until the shadow of the earth has +covered all, and the stars--of which the brightest soon were +visible--grow numerous upon the vault of heaven. When stars of the sixth +magnitude are visible, then, astronomically speaking, twilight ends. The +length of twilight will depend upon the number of rays of light that are +reflected and dispersed, and that, again, will depend entirely on the +atmosphere. Where there is much vapor, and the days are dull by reason +of the quantity of kidnapped light, there compensation is made by the +consequent increase of twilight. In the interior of Africa night follows +immediately upon sunset. In summer the vapor rises to a great height, +and pervades the atmosphere; the twilight then is longer than in winter, +when the colder air contains less vapor, and the vapor it contains lies +low. + +Now, since the appearances at twilight depend on the condition of the +sky, it follows that our weather-wisdom, drawn from such appearances, is +based upon a philosophical foundation. When there is a blue sky, and +after sunset a slight purple in the west, we have reason for expecting +fine weather. After rain, detached clouds, colored red and tolerably +bright, may rejoice those who anticipate a pic-nic party. If the +twilight show a partiality for whitish yellow in its dress, we say that +very likely there will be some rain next day; the more that whitish +yellow spreads over the sky, the more the chance of water out of it. +When the sun is brilliantly white, and sets in a white light, we think +of storms; especially so when light high clouds that dull the whole sky +become deeper near the horizon. When the color of the twilight is a +grayish red, with portions of deep red passing into gray that hide the +sun, then be prepared, we say, for wind and rain. The morning signs are +different. When it is very red, we expect rain; a gray dawn means fine +weather. The difference between a gray dawn and a gray twilight is +this--in the morning, grayness depends usually upon low clouds, which +melt before the rising sun; but in the evening grayness is caused by +high clouds, which continue to grow denser through the night. But if in +the morning there be so much vapor as to make a red dawn, it is most +probable that thick clouds will be formed out of it in the course of the +operations of the coming day. + +Refraction of light has a good deal to do also with the twinkling of the +stars; though there may go to the explanation of the phenomenon other +principles which do not concern our present purpose. The air contains +layers of different density, shifting over each other in currents. The +fixed stars are, to our eyes, brilliant points of light; their rays +broken in passing through these currents, exhibit an agitation which is +not shown by the planets. The planets are not points to our sight, nor +points to our telescopes; being much nearer, although really smaller, +they are to our eyes of a decided, measurable size; so being in greater +body, we at most could only see their edges scintillate; and this we can +do sometimes through a telescope, but scarcely with the naked eye. + +In rainbows, light is both refracted and reflected. You can only see a +rainbow when the sun is low, your own position being between the rainbow +and the sun. The rays of light refracted by the shower into their +prismatic colors, are then reflected by the shower back into your eye, +and so, from the principles we started with, it will be clear that while +a thousand people may see under the same circumstances a rainbow of the +same intensity, no two people see precisely the same object, but each +man enjoys a rainbow to himself. + +Of halos, and of lunar rainbows, of double suns, of the mirage, or any +other extraordinary things developed by the play of light and air +together, we did not intend to speak. Our discussion was confined to +such an explanation of some every-day sights as may lend aid to +contemplation sometimes of an autumnal evening, when + + ----"the soft hour + Of walking comes: for him who lonely loves + To seek the distant hills, and there converse + With Nature." + +Do you not think the man impenetrably deaf who, professing to converse +with Nature, can not hear the tale which Nature is forever telling? + + + + +THE WIDOW OF COLOGNE. + + +In the year 1641, there lived in a narrow, obscure street of Cologne a +poor woman named Marie Marianni. With an old female servant for her sole +companion, she inhabited a small, tumble-down, two-storied house, which +had but two windows in front. Nothing could well be more miserable than +the furniture of this dark dwelling. Two worm-eaten four-post bedsteads, +a large deal-press, two rickety tables, three or four old wooden chairs, +and a few rusty kitchen utensils, formed the whole of its domestic +inventory. + +Marie Marianni, despite of the wrinkles which nearly seventy years had +left on her face, still preserved the trace of former beauty. There was +a grace in her appearance, and a dignity in her manner, which +prepossessed strangers in her favor whenever they happened to meet her; +but this was rarely. Living in the strictest retirement, and avoiding as +much as possible all intercourse with her neighbors, she seldom went out +except for the purpose of buying provisions. Her income consisted of a +small pension, which she received every six months. In the street where +she lived she was known by the name of "The Old Nun," and was regarded +with considerable respect. + +Marie Marianni usually lived in the room on the ground-floor, where she +spent her time in needlework; and her old servant Bridget occupied the +upper room, which served as a kitchen, and employed herself in spinning. + +Thus lived these two old women in a state of complete isolation. In +winter, however, in order to avoid the expense of keeping up two fires, +Marie Marianni used to call down her domestic, and cause her to place +her wheel in the chimney-corner, while she herself occupied a large old +easy-chair at the opposite side. They would sometimes sit thus evening +after evening without exchanging a single word. + +One night, however, the mistress happened to be in a more communicative +temper than usual, and addressing her servant, she said: "Well, Bridget, +have you heard from your son?" + +"No, madame, although the Frankfort post has come in." + +"You see, Bridget, it is folly to reckon on the affection of one's +children; you are not the only mother who has to complain of their +ingratitude." + +"But, madame, my Joseph is not ungrateful: he loves me, and if he has +not written now, I am certain it is only because he has nothing to say. +One must not be too hard upon young people." + +"Not too hard, certainly; but we have a right to their submission and +respect." + +"For my part, dear lady, I am satisfied with possessing, as I do, my +son's affection." + +"I congratulate you, Bridget," said her mistress, with a deep sigh. +"Alas! I am also a mother, and I ought to be a happy one. Three sons, +possessing rank, fortune, glory; yet here I am, forgotten by them, in +poverty, and considered importunate if I appeal to them for help. You +are happy, Bridget, in having an obedient son--mine are hard and +thankless!" + +"Poor, dear lady, my Joseph loves me so fondly!" + +"You cut me to the heart, Bridget: you little know what I have suffered. +An unhappy mother, I have also been a wretched wife. After having lived +unhappily together during several years, my husband died, the victim of +an assassin. And whom, think you, did they accuse of instigating his +murder? Me! In the presence of my children--ay, at the instance of my +eldest son--I was prosecuted for this crime!" + +"But doubtless, madame, you were acquitted?" + +"Yes; and had I been a poor woman, without power, rank, or influence, my +innocence would have been publicly declared. But having all these +advantages, it suited my enemies' purpose to deprive me of them, so they +banished me, and left me in the state in which I am!" + +"Dear mistress!" said the old woman. + +Marie Marianni hid her face in her handkerchief, and spoke no more +during the remainder of the evening. + +As the servant continued silently to turn her wheel, she revolved in her +mind several circumstances connected with the "Old Nun." She had often +surprised her reading parchments covered with seals of red wax, which, +on Bridget's entrance, her mistress always hurriedly replaced in a small +iron box. + +One night Marie Marianni, while suffering from an attack of fever, cried +out in a tone of unutterable horror: "No: I will not see him! Take away +yon red robe--that man of blood and murder!" + +These things troubled the simple mind of poor Bridget, yet she dared not +speak of them to her usually haughty and reserved mistress. + +On the next evening, as they were sitting silently at work, a knock was +heard at the door. + +"Who can it be at this hour?" said Marie Marianni. + +"I can not think," replied her servant; "'tis now nine o'clock." + +"Another knock! Go, Bridget, and see who it is, but open the door with +precaution." + +The servant took their solitary lamp in her hand, went to the door. She +presently returned, ushering into the room Father Francis, a priest who +lived in the city. He was a man of about fifty years old, whose hollow +cheeks, sharp features, and piercing eyes wore a sinister and far from +hallowed expression. + +"To what, father, am I indebted for this late visit?" asked the old +lady. + +"To important tidings," replied the priest, "which I am come to +communicate." + +"Leave us, Bridget," said her mistress. The servant took an old iron +lamp, and went upstairs to her fireless chamber. + +"What have you to tell me?" asked Marie Marianni of her visitor. + +"I have had news from France." + +"Good news?" + +"Some which may eventually prove so." + +"The stars, then, have not deceived me!" + +"What, madam!" said the priest, in a reproving tone; "do you attach any +credit to this lying astrology? Believe me, it is a temptation of Satan +which you ought to resist. Have you not enough of real misfortune +without subjecting yourself to imaginary terrors?" + +"If it be a weakness, father, it is one which I share in common with +many great minds. Who can doubt the influence which the celestial bodies +have on things terrestrial?" + +"All vanity and error, daughter. How can an enlightened mind like yours +persuade itself that events happen by aught save the will of God?" + +"I will not now argue the point, father; tell me rather what are the +news from France?" + +"The nobles' discontent at the prime minister has reached its height. +Henri d'Effiat, grand-equerry of France, and the king's favorite, has +joined them, and drawn into the plot the Duke de Bouillon, and Monsieur, +his majesty's brother. A treaty, which is upon the point of being +secretly concluded with the king of Spain, has for its object peace, on +condition of the cardinal's removal." + +"Thank God!" + +"However, madame, let us not be too confident; continue to act with +prudence, and assume the appearance of perfect resignation. Frequent the +church in which I minister, place yourself near the lower corner of the +right-hand aisle, and I will forewarn you of my next visit." + +"I will do so, father." + +Resuming his large cloak, the priest departed, Bridget being summoned by +her mistress to open the door. + +From that time, during several months, the old lady repaired regularly +each day to the church; she often saw Father Francis, but he never +spoke, or gave her the desired signal. The unaccustomed daily exercise +of walking to and from church, together with the "sickness of hope +deferred," began to tell unfavorably on her health; she became subject +to attacks of intermitting fever, and her large, bright eyes seemed each +day to grow larger and brighter. One morning, in passing down the aisle, +Father Francis for a moment bent his head toward her, and whispered, +"All is lost!" + +With a powerful effort Marie Marianni subdued all outward signs of the +terrible emotion which these words caused her, and returned to her +cheerless dwelling. In the evening Father Francis came to her. When they +were alone, she asked, "Father, what has happened?" + +"Monsieur de Cinq-Mars is arrested." + +"And the Duke de Bouillon?" + +"Fled." + +"The treaty with the king of Spain?" + +"At the moment it was signed at Madrid, the cunning cardinal received a +copy of it." + +"By whom was the plot discovered?" + +"By a secret agent, who had wormed himself into it." + +"My enemies, then, still triumph?" + +"Richelieu is more powerful, and the king more subject to him than +ever." + +That same night the poor old woman was seized with a burning fever. In +her delirium the phantom-man in red still pursued her, and her ravings +were terrible to hear. Bridget, seated at her bedside, prayed for her; +and at the end of a month she began slowly to recover. Borne down, +however, by years, poverty, and misfortune, Marie Marianni felt that her +end was approaching. Despite Father Francis's dissuasion, she again had +recourse to the astrological tablets, on which were drawn, in black and +red figures, the various houses of the sun, and of the star which +presided over her nativity. On this occasion their omens were +unfavorable; and rejecting all spiritual consolation--miserable in the +present, and hopeless for the future--Marie Marianni expired in the +beginning of July, 1642. + +As soon as her death was known a magistrate of Cologne came to her +house, in order to make an official entry of the names of the defunct +and her heirs. Bridget could not tell either, she merely knew that her +late mistress was a stranger. + +Father Francis arrived. "I can tell you the names of her heirs," he +said. "Write--the King of France; Monsieur the Duke of Orleans; +Henrietta of France, queen of England." + +"And what," asked the astounded magistrate, "was the name of the +deceased?" + +"The High and Mighty Princess Marie de Medicis, widow of Henri IV., and +mother of the reigning king!" + + + + +MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE. + +[Continued from the October Number.] + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Before a table in the apartments appropriated to him in his father's +house at Knightsbridge, sate Lord L'Estrange, sorting or destroying +letters and papers--an ordinary symptom of change of residence. There +are certain trifles by which a shrewd observer may judge of a man's +disposition. Thus, ranged on the table, with some elegance, but with +soldier-like precision, were sundry little relics of former days, +hallowed by some sentiment of memory, or perhaps endeared solely by +custom; which, whether he was in Egypt, Italy, or England, always made +part of the furniture of Harley's room. Even the small, old-fashioned, +and somewhat inconvenient inkstand in which he dipped the pen as he +labeled the letters he put aside, belonged to the writing-desk which had +been his pride as a schoolboy. Even the books that lay scattered round +were not new works, not those to which we turn to satisfy the curiosity +of an hour, or to distract our graver thoughts: they were chiefly either +Latin or Italian poets, with many a pencil-mark on the margin; or books +which, making severe demand on thought, require slow and frequent +perusal, and become companions. Somehow or other, in remarking that even +in dumb inanimate things the man was averse to change, and had the habit +of attaching himself to whatever was connected with old associations, +you might guess that he clung with pertinacity to affections more +important, and you could better comprehend the freshness of his +friendship for one so dissimilar in pursuits and character as Audley +Egerton. An affection once admitted into the heart of Harley L'Estrange, +seemed never to be questioned or reasoned with: it became tacitly fixed, +as it were, into his own nature; and little less than a revolution of +his whole system could dislodge or disturb it. + +Lord L'Estrange's hand rested now upon a letter in a stiff legible +Italian character; and instead of disposing of it at once, as he had +done with the rest, he spread it before him, and reread the contents. It +was a letter from Riccabocca, received a few weeks since, and ran thus: + + _Letter from Signor Riccabocca to Lord L'Estrange_. + +"I thank you, my noble friend, for judging of me with faith in my honor, +and respect for my reverses. + +"No, and thrice no, to all concessions, all overtures, all treaty with +Giulio Franzini. I write the name, and my emotions choke me. I must +pause and cool back into disdain. It is over. Pass from that subject. +But you have alarmed me. This sister! I have not seen her since her +childhood; and she was brought under his influence--she can but work as +his agent. She wish to learn my residence! It can be but for some +hostile and malignant purpose. I may trust in you. I know that. You say +I may trust equally in the discretion of your friend. Pardon me--my +confidence is not so elastic. A word may give the clew to my retreat. +But, if discovered, what harm can ensue? An English roof protects me +from Austrian despotism, true; but not the brazen tower of Danaë could +protect me from Italian craft. And were there nothing worse, it would be +intolerable to me to live under the eyes of a relentless spy. Truly +saith our proverb, 'He sleeps ill for whom the enemy wakes.' Look you, +my friend, I have done with my old life--I wish to cast it from me as a +snake its skin. I have denied myself all that exiles deem consolation. +No pity for misfortune, no messages from sympathizing friendship, no +news from a lost and bereaved country follow me to my hearth under the +skies of the stranger. From all these I have voluntarily cut myself off. +I am as dead to the life I once lived as if the Styx rolled between _it_ +and me. With that sternness which is admissible only to the afflicted, I +have denied myself even the consolation of your visits. I have told you +fairly and simply that your presence would unsettle all my enforced and +infirm philosophy, and remind me only of the past, which I seek to blot +from remembrance. You have complied, on the one condition, that whenever +I really want your aid I will ask it; and, meanwhile, you have +generously sought to obtain me justice from the cabinets of ministers +and in the courts of kings. I did not refuse your heart this luxury; for +I have a child--(Ah! I have taught that child already to revere your +name, and in her prayers it is not forgotten). But now that you are +convinced that even your zeal is unavailing, I ask you to discontinue +attempts that may but bring the spy upon my track, and involve me in new +misfortunes. Believe me, O brilliant Englishman, that I am satisfied and +contented with my lot. I am sure it would not be for my happiness to +change it. 'Chi non ha provato il male non conosce il bene.' ('One does +not know when one is well off till one has known misfortune.') You ask +me how I live--I answer, _alla giornata_--to the day--not for the +morrow, as I did once. I have accustomed myself to the calm existence of +a village. I take interest in its details. There is my wife, good +creature, sitting opposite to me, never asking what I write, or to whom, +but ready to throw aside her work and talk the moment the pen is out of +my hand. Talk--and what about? Heaven knows! But I would rather hear +that talk, though on the affairs of a hamlet, than babble again with +recreant nobles and blundering professors about commonwealths and +constitutions. When I want to see how little those last influence the +happiness of wise men, have I not Machiavel and Thucydides? Then, +by-and-by, the Parson will drop in, and we argue. He never knows when he +is beaten, so the argument is everlasting. On fine days I ramble out by +a winding rill with my Violante, or stroll to my friend the Squire's, +and see how healthful a thing is true pleasure; and on wet days I shut +myself up, and mope, perhaps, till, hark! a gentle tap at the door, and +in comes Violante, with her dark eyes that shine out through reproachful +tears--reproachful that I should mourn alone, while she is under my +roof--so she puts her arms round me, and in five minutes all is sunshine +within. What care we for your English gray clouds without? + +"Leave me, my dear Lord--leave me to this quiet happy passage toward old +age, serener than the youth that I wasted so wildly; and guard well the +secret on which my happiness depends. + +"Now to yourself, before I close. Of that same _yourself_ you speak too +little, as of me too much. But I so well comprehend the profound +melancholy that lies underneath the wild and fanciful humor with which +you but suggest, as in sport, what you feel so in earnest. The laborious +solitude of cities weighs on you. You are flying back to the _dolce far +niente_--to friends few, but intimate; to life monotonous, but +unrestrained; and even there the sense of loneliness will again seize +upon you; and you do not seek, as I do, the annihilation of memory; your +dead passions are turned to ghosts that haunt you, and unfit you for the +living world. I see it all--I see it still, in your hurried fantastic +lines, as I saw it when we two sat amidst the pines and beheld the blue +lake stretched below. I troubled by the shadow of the Future, you +disturbed by that of the Past. + +"Well, but you say, half-seriously, half in jest, 'I _will_ escape from +this prison-house of memory; I will form new ties, like other men, and +before it be too late; I _will_ marry--ay, but I must love--there is the +difficulty'--difficulty--yes, and Heaven be thanked for it! Recall all +the unhappy marriages that have come to your knowledge--pray, have not +eighteen out of twenty been marriages for love? It always has been so, +and it always will. Because, whenever we love deeply, we exact so much +and forgive so little. Be content to find some one with whom your hearth +and your honor are safe. You will grow to love what never wounds your +heart--you will soon grow out of love with what must always disappoint +your imagination. _Cospetto!_ I wish my Jemima had a younger sister for +you. Yet it was with a deep groan that I settled myself to a--Jemima. + +"Now, I have written you a long letter, to prove how little I need of +your compassion or your zeal. Once more let there be long silence +between us. It is not easy for me to correspond with a man of your rank, +and not incur the curious gossip of my still little pool of a world +which the splash of a pebble can break into circles. I must take this +over to a post-town some ten miles off, and drop it into the box by +stealth. + +"Adieu, dear and noble friend, gentlest heart and subtlest fancy that I +have met in my walk through life. Adieu--write me word when you have +abandoned a day-dream and found a Jemima. + + ALPHONSO. + +"_P.S._--For heaven's sake, caution and recaution your friend the +minister, not to drop a word to this woman that may betray my +hiding-place." + +"Is he really happy?" murmured Harley, as he closed the letter; and he +sunk for a few moments into a reverie. + +"This life in a village--this wife in a lady who puts down her work to +talk about villagers--what a contrast to Audley's full existence. And I +can never envy nor comprehend either--yet my own--what is it?" + +He rose, and moved toward the window, from which a rustic stair +descended to a green lawn--studded with larger trees than are often +found in the grounds of a suburban residence. There were calm and +coolness in the sight, and one could scarcely have supposed that London +lay so near. + +The door opened softly, and a lady, past middle age, entered; and, +approaching Harley, as he still stood musing by the window, laid her +hand on his shoulder. What character there is in a hand! Hers was a hand +that Titian would have painted with elaborate care! Thin, white, and +delicate--with the blue veins raised from the surface. Yet there was +something more than mere patrician elegance in the form and texture. A +true physiologist would have said at once, "there are intellect and +pride in that hand, which seems to fix a hold where it rests; and, lying +so lightly, yet will not be as lightly shaken off." + +"Harley," said the lady--and Harley turned--"you do not deceive me by +that smile," she continued, sadly; "you were not smiling when I +entered." + +"It is rarely that we smile to ourselves, my dear mother; and I have +done nothing lately so foolish as to cause me to smile _at_ myself." + +"My son," said Lady Lansmere, somewhat abruptly, but with great +earnestness, "you come from a line of illustrious ancestors; and +methinks they ask from their tombs why the last of their race has no aim +and no object--no interest--no home in the land which they served, and +which rewarded them with its honors." + +"Mother," said the soldier, simply, "when the land was in danger I +served it as my fore-fathers served--and my answer would be the scars on +my breast." + +"Is it only in danger that a country is served--only in war that duty is +fulfilled? Do you think that your father, in his plain, manly life of +country gentleman, does not fulfill, though obscurely, the objects for +which aristocracy is created and wealth is bestowed?" + +"Doubtless he does, ma'am--and better than his vagrant son ever can." + +"Yet his vagrant son has received such gifts from nature--his youth was +so rich in promise--his boyhood so glowed at the dream of glory?" + +"Ay," said Harley, very softly, "it is possible--and all to be buried in +a single grave!" + +The Countess started, and withdrew her hand from Harley's shoulder. + +Lady Lansmere's countenance was not one that much varied in expression. +She had in this, as in her cast of feature, little resemblance to her +son. + +Her features were slightly aquiline--the eyebrows of that arch which +gives a certain majesty to the aspect: the lines round the mouth were +habitually rigid and compressed. Her face was that of one who had gone +through great emotion, and subdued it. There was something formal, and +even ascetic, in the character of her beauty, which was still +considerable;--in her air and in her dress. She might have suggested to +you the idea of some Gothic baroness of old, half chatelaine, half +abbess; you would see at a glance that she did not live in the light +world round her, and disdained its fashions and its mode of thought; yet +with all this rigidity it was still the face of the woman who has known +human ties and human affections. And now, as she gazed long on Harley's +quiet, saddened brow, it was the face of a mother. + +"A single grave," she said, after a long pause. "And you were then but a +boy, Harley! Can such a memory influence you even to this day? It is +scarcely possible; it does not seem to me within the realities of man's +life--though it might be of woman's." + +"I believe," said Harley, half soliloquizing, "that I have a great deal +of the woman in me. Perhaps men who live much alone; and care not for +men's objects, do grow tenacious of impressions, as your sex does. But +oh," he cried aloud, and with a sudden change of countenance, "oh, the +hardest and the coldest man would have felt as I do, had he known +_her_--had he loved _her_. She was like no other woman I have ever met. +Bright and glorious creature of another sphere! She descended on this +earth, and darkened it when she passed away. It was no use striving. +Mother, I have as much courage as our steel-clad fathers ever had. I +have dared in battle and in deserts--against man and the wild +beast--against the storm and the ocean--against the rude powers of +Nature--dangers as dread as ever pilgrim or Crusader rejoiced to brave. +But courage against that one memory! no, I have none!" + +"Harley, Harley, you break my heart," cried the Countess, clasping her +hands. + +"It is astonishing," continued her son, so wrapped in his own thoughts +that he did not, perhaps, hear her outcry--"yea, verily, it is +astonishing, that considering the thousands of women I have seen and +spoken with, I never see a face like hers--never hear a voice so sweet. +And all this universe of life can not afford me one look and one tone +that can restore me to man's privilege--love. Well, well, well, life has +other things yet--Poetry and Art live still--still smiles the heaven, +and still wave the trees. Leave me to happiness in my own way." + +The Countess was about to reply, when the door was thrown hastily open, +and Lord Lansmere walked in. + +The Earl was some years older than the Countess, but his placid face +showed less wear and tear; a benevolent, kindly face--without any +evidence of commanding intellect, but with no lack of sense in its +pleasant lines. His form not tall, but upright, and with an air of +consequence--a little pompous, but good-humoredly so. The pomposity of +the _Grand Seigneur_, who has lived much in provinces--whose will has +been rarely disputed, and whose importance has been so felt and +acknowledged as to react insensibly on himself; an excellent man; but +when you glanced toward the high brow and dark eye of the Countess, you +marveled a little how the two had come together, and, according to +common report, lived so happily in the union. + +"Ho, ho! my dear Harley," cried Lord Lansmere, rubbing his hands with an +appearance of much satisfaction. "I have just been paying a visit to the +Duchess." + +"What Duchess, my dear father?" + +"Why, your mother's first cousin, to be sure--the Duchess of +Knaresborough, whom, to oblige me, you condescended to call upon; and +delighted I am to hear that you admire Lady Mary--" + +"She is very high-bred, and rather--high-nosed," answered Harley. Then +observing that his mother looked pained, and his father disconcerted, he +added seriously, "But handsome, certainly." + +"Well, Harley," said the Earl, recovering himself, "the Duchess, taking +advantage of our connection to speak freely, has intimated to me that +Lady Mary has been no less struck with yourself; and to come to the +point, since you allow that it is time you should think of marrying, I +do not know a more desirable alliance. What do you say, Catherine?" + +"The Duke is of a family that ranks in history before the Wars of the +Roses," said Lady Lansmere, with an air of deference to her husband; +"and there has never been one scandal in its annals, or one blot in its +scutcheon. But I am sure my dear Lord must think that the Duchess should +not have made the first overture--even to a friend and a kinsman?" + +"Why, we are old-fashioned people," said the Earl, rather embarrassed, +"and the Duchess is a woman of the world." + +"Let us hope," said the Countess mildly, "that her daughter is not." + +"I would not marry Lady Mary, if all the rest of the female sex were +turned into apes," said Lord L'Estrange, with deliberate fervor. + +"Good Heavens!" cried the Earl, "what extraordinary language is this! +And pray why, sir?" + +HARLEY.--"I can't say--there is no why in these cases. But, my dear +father, you are not keeping faith with me." + +LORD LANSMERE.--"How?" + +HARLEY.--"You, and my Lady here, entreat me to marry--I promise to do my +best to obey you; but on one condition--that I choose for myself, and +take my time about it. Agreed on both sides. Whereon, off goes your +Lordship--actually before noon, at an hour when no lady without a +shudder could think of cold blonde and damp orange flowers--off goes +your Lordship, I say, and commits poor Lady Mary and your unworthy son +to a mutual admiration--which neither of us ever felt. Pardon me, my +father--but this is grave. Again let me claim your promise--full choice +for myself, and no reference to the Wars of the Roses. What war of the +roses like that between Modesty and Love upon the cheek of the virgin!" + +LADY LANSMERE.--"Full choice for yourself, Harley--so be it. But we, +too, named a condition--Did we not, Lansmere?" + +The EARL (puzzled).--"Eh--did we? Certainly we did." + +HARLEY.--"What was it?" + +LADY LANSMERE.--"The son of Lord Lansmere can only marry the daughter of +a gentleman." + +The EARL.--"Of course--of course." + +The blood rushed over Harley's fair face, and then as suddenly left it +pale. + +He walked away to the window--his mother followed him, and again laid +her hand on his shoulder. + +"You were cruel," said he, gently, and in a whisper, as he winced under +the touch of the hand. Then turning to the Earl, who was gazing at him +in blank surprise--(it never occurred to Lord Lansmere that there could +be a doubt of his son's marrying beneath the rank modestly stated by the +Countess)--Harley stretched forth his hand, and said, in his soft, +winning tone, "You have ever been most gracious to me, and most +forbearing; it is but just that I should sacrifice the habits of an +egotist, to gratify a wish which you so warmly entertain. I agree with +you, too, that our race should not close in me--_Noblesse oblige_. But +you know I was ever romantic; and I must love where I marry--or, if not +love, I must feel that my wife is worthy of all the love I could once +have bestowed. Now, as to the vague word 'gentleman' that my mother +employs--word that means so differently on different lips--I confess +that I have a prejudice against young ladies brought up in the +'excellent foppery of the world,' as the daughters of gentlemen of our +rank mostly are. I crave, therefore, the most liberal interpretation of +this word 'gentleman.' And so long as there be nothing mean or sordid in +the birth, habits, and education of the father of this bride to be, I +trust you will both agree to demand nothing more--neither titles nor +pedigree." + +"Titles, no--assuredly," said Lady Lansmere; "they do not make +gentlemen." + +"Certainly not," said the Earl. "Many of our best families are +untitled." + +"Titles--no," repeated Lady Lansmere; "but ancestors--yes." + +"Ah, my mother," said Harley, with his most sad and quiet smile, "it is +fated that we shall never agree. The first of our race is ever the one +we are most proud of; and pray what ancestors had he? Beauty, virtue, +modesty, intellect--if these are not nobility enough for a man, he is a +slave to the dead." + +With these words Harley took up his hat and made toward the door. + +"You said yourself, '_Noblesse oblige_,'" said the Countess, following +him to the threshold; "we have nothing more to add." + +Harley slightly shrugged his shoulders, kissed his mother's hand, +whistled to Nero, who started up from a doze by the window, and went his +way. + +"Does he really go abroad next week?" said the Earl. + +"So he says." + +"I am afraid there is no chance for Lady Mary," resumed Lord Lansmere, +with a slight but melancholy smile. + +"She has not intellect enough to charm him. She is not worthy of +Harley," said the proud mother. + +"Between you and me," rejoined the Earl, rather timidly, "I don't see +what good his intellect does him. He could not be more unsettled and +useless if he were the merest dunce in the three kingdoms. And so +ambitious as he was when a boy! Catherine, I sometimes fancy that you +know what changed him." + +"I! Nay, my dear Lord, it is a common change enough with the young, when +of such fortunes; who find, when they enter life, that there is really +little left for them to strive for. Had Harley been a poor man's son, it +might have been different." + +"I was born to the same fortunes as Harley," said the Earl, shrewdly, +"and yet I flatter myself I am of some use to old England." + +The Countess seized upon the occasion, complimented her Lord, and turned +the subject. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +Harley spent his day in his usual desultory, lounging manner--dined in +his quiet corner at his favorite club--Nero, not admitted into the club, +patiently waited for him outside the door. The dinner over, dog and man, +equally indifferent to the crowd, sauntered down that thoroughfare +which, to the few who can comprehend the Poetry of London, has +associations of glory and of woe sublime as any that the ruins of the +dead elder world can furnish--thoroughfare that traverses what was once +the courtyard of Whitehall, having to its left the site of the palace +that lodged the royalty of Scotland--gains, through a narrow strait, +that old isle of Thorney, in which Edward the Confessor received the +ominous visit of the Conqueror--and, widening once more by the Abbey and +the Hall of Westminster, then loses itself, like all memories of earthly +grandeur amidst humble passages and mean defiles. + +Thus thought Harley L'Estrange--ever less amidst the actual world around +him, than the images invoked by his own solitary soul--as he gained the +Bridge, and saw the dull lifeless craft sleeping on the "Silent Way," +once loud and glittering with the gilded barks of the antique Seignorie +of England. + +It was on that bridge that Audley Egerton had appointed to meet +L'Estrange, at an hour when he calculated he could best steal a respite +from debate. For Harley, with his fastidious dislike to all the resorts +of his equals, had declined to seek his friend in the crowded regions of +Bellamy's. + +Harley's eye, as he passed along the bridge, was attracted by a still +form, seated on the stones in one of the nooks, with its face covered +by its hands. "If I were a sculptor," said he to himself, "I should +remember that image whenever I wished to convey the idea of +_Despondency_!" He lifted his looks and saw, a little before him in the +midst of the causeway, the firm erect figure of Audley Egerton. The +moonlight was full on the bronzed countenance of the strong public +man--with its lines of thought and care, and its vigorous but cold +expression of intense self-control. + +"And looking yonder," continued Harley's soliloquy, "I should remember +that form when I wished to hew out from the granite the idea of +_Endurance_." + +"So you are come, and punctually," said Egerton, linking his arm in +Harley's. + +HARLEY.--"Punctually, of course, for I respect your time, and I will not +detain you long. I presume you will speak to-night." + +EGERTON.--"I have spoken." + +HARLEY (with interest).--"And well, I hope." + +EGERTON.--"With effect, I suppose, for I have been loudly cheered, which +does not always happen to me." + +HARLEY.--"And that gave you pleasure?" + +EGERTON (after a moment's thought).--"No, not the least." + +HARLEY.--"What, then, attaches you so much to this life--constant +drudgery, constant warfare--the more pleasurable faculties dormant, all +the harsher ones aroused, if even its rewards (and I take the best of +those to be applause) do not please you?" + +EGERTON.--"What?--custom." + +HARLEY.--"Martyr!" + +EGERTON.--"You say it. But turn to yourself; you have decided, then, to +leave England next week." + +HARLEY (moodily).--"Yes. This life in a capital, where all are so +active, myself so objectless, preys on me like a low fever. Nothing here +amuses me, nothing interests, nothing comforts and consoles. But I am +resolved, before it be too late, to make one great struggle out of the +Past, and into the natural world of men. In a word, I have resolved to +marry." + +EGERTON.--"Whom?" + +HARLEY (seriously).--"Upon my life, my dear fellow, you are a great +philosopher. You have hit the exact question. You see I can not marry a +dream; and where, out of dreams, shall I find this 'whom?'" + +EGERTON.--"You do not search for her." + +HARLEY.--"Do we ever search for love? Does it not flash upon us when we +least expect it? Is it not like the inspiration to the muse? What poet +sits down and says, 'I will write a poem?' What man looks out and says, +'I will fall in love?' No! Happiness, as the great German tells us, +'falls suddenly from the bosom of the gods;' so does love." + +EGERTON.--"You remember the old line in Horace: 'Life's tide flows away, +while the boor sits on the margin and waits for the ford.'" + +HARLEY.--"An idea which incidentally dropped from you some weeks ago, +and which I had before half meditated, has since haunted me. If I could +but find some child with sweet dispositions and fair intellect not yet +formed, and train her up, according to my ideal. I am still young enough +to wait a few years, and meanwhile I shall have gained what I so sadly +want--an object in life." + +EGERTON.--"You are ever the child of romance. But what--" + +Here the minister was interrupted by a messenger from the House of +Commons, whom Audley had instructed to seek him on the bridge should his +presence be required-- + +"Sir, the opposition are taking advantage of the thinness of the House +to call for a division. Mr.---- is put up to speak for time, but they +won't hear him." + +Egerton turned hastily to Lord L'Estrange, "You see you must excuse me +now. To-morrow I must go to Windsor for two days; but we shall meet on +my return." + +"It does not matter," answered Harley; "I stand out of the pale of your +advice, O practical man of sense. And if," added Harley, with +affectionate and mournful sweetness--"If I worry you with complaints +which you can not understand, it is only because of old schoolboy +habits. I can have no trouble that I do not confide in you." + +Egerton's hand trembled as it pressed his friend's; and, without a word, +he hurried away abruptly. Harley remained motionless for some seconds, +in deep and quiet reverie; then he called to his dog, and turned back +toward Westminster. + +He passed the nook in which had sate the still figure of Despondency. +But the figure had now risen, and was leaning against the balustrade. +The dog who preceded his master paused by the solitary form, and sniffed +it suspiciously. + +"Nero, sir, come here," said Harley. + +"Nero," that was the name by which Helen had said that her father's +friend had called his dog. And the sound startled Leonard as he leaned, +sick at heart, against the stone. He lifted his head and looked +wistfully, eagerly into Harley's face. Those eyes, bright, clear, yet so +strangely deep and absent, which Helen had described, met his own, and +chained them. For L'Estrange halted also; the boy's countenance was not +unfamiliar to him. He returned the inquiring look fixed on his own, and +recognized the student by the book-stall. + +"The dog is quite harmless, sir," said L'Estrange, with a smile. + +"And you call him Nero?" said Leonard, still gazing on the stranger. + +Harley mistook the drift of the question. + +"Nero, sir; but he is free from the sanguinary propensities of his Roman +namesake." Harley was about to pass on, when Leonard said, falteringly, + +"Pardon me, but can it be possible that you are one whom I have sought +in vain, on behalf of the child of Captain Digby?" + +Harley stopped short. "Digby!" he exclaimed, "where is he? He should +have found me easily. I gave him an address." + +"Ah, Heaven be thanked," cried Leonard. "Helen is saved; she will not +die;" and he burst into tears. + +A very few moments, and a very few words sufficed to explain to Harley +the state of his old fellow-soldier's orphan. And Harley himself soon +stood in the young sufferer's room, supporting her burning temples on +his breast, and whispering into ears that heard him, as in a happy +dream, "Comfort, comfort; your father yet lives in me." + +And then Helen, raising her eyes, said, "But Leonard is my brother--more +than brother--and he needs a father's care more than I do." + +"Hush, hush, Helen. I need no one--nothing now!" cried Leonard; and his +tears gushed over the little hand that clasped his own. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Harley L'Estrange was a man whom all things that belong to the romantic +and poetic side of our human life deeply impressed. When he came to +learn the ties between these two children of nature, standing side by +side, alone amidst the storms of fate, his heart was more deeply moved +than it had been for many years. In those dreary attics, overshadowed by +the smoke and reek of the humble suburb--the workday world in its +harshest and tritest forms below and around them--he recognized that +divine poem which comes out from all union between the mind and the +heart. Here, on the rough deal table (the ink scarcely dry), lay the +writings of the young wrestler for fame and bread; there, on the other +side the partition, on that mean pallet, lay the boy's sole +comforter--the all that warmed his heart with living mortal affection. +On one side the wall, the world of imagination; on the other this world +of grief and of love. And in both, a spirit equally sublime--unselfish +Devotion--"the something afar from the sphere of our sorrow." + +He looked round the room into which he had followed Leonard, on quitting +Helen's bedside. He noted the MSS. on the table, and, pointing to them, +said gently, "And these are the labors by which you supported the +soldier's orphan?--soldier yourself, in a hard battle!" + +"The battle was lost--I could not support her," replied Leonard, +mournfully. + +"But you did not desert her. When Pandora's box was opened, they say +Hope lingered last--" + +"False, false," said Leonard; "a heathen's notion. There are deities +that linger behind Hope: Gratitude, Love, and Duty." + +"Yours is no common nature," exclaimed Harley, admiringly, "but I must +sound it more deeply hereafter; at present I hasten for the physician; I +shall return with him. We must move that poor child from this low, close +air as soon as possible. Meanwhile, let me qualify your rejection of the +old fable. Wherever Gratitude, Love, and Duty remain to man, believe me +that Hope is there too, though she may be oft invisible, hidden behind +the sheltering wings of the nobler deities." + +Harley said this with that wondrous smile of his, which cast a +brightness over the whole room--and went away. + +Leonard stole softly toward the grimy window; and looking up toward the +stars that shone pale over the roof-tops, he murmured, "O thou, the +All-seeing and All-merciful!--how it comforts me now to think that +though my dreams of knowledge may have sometimes obscured the Heaven, I +never doubted that Thou wert there--as luminous and everlasting, though +behind the cloud!" So, for a few minutes, he prayed silently--then +passed into Helen's room, and sate beside her motionless, for she slept. +She woke just as Harley returned with a physician, and then Leonard, +returning to his own room, saw among his papers the letter he had +written to Mr. Dale; and muttering, "I need not disgrace my calling--I +need not be the mendicant now," held the letter to the flame of the +candle. And while he said this, and as the burning tinder dropped on the +floor, the sharp hunger, unfelt during his late anxious emotions, gnawed +at his entrails. Still even hunger could not reach that noble pride +which had yielded to a sentiment nobler than itself--and he smiled as he +repeated, "No mendicant! the life that I was sworn to guard is saved. I +can raise against Fate the front of the Man once more." + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +A few days afterward, and Helen, removed to a pure air, and under the +advice of the first physician, was out of all danger. + +It was a pretty, detached cottage, with its windows looking over the +wild heaths of Norwood, to which Harley rode daily to watch the +convalescence of his young charge--an object in life was already found. +As she grew better and stronger, he coaxed her easily into talking, and +listened to her with pleased surprise. The heart so infantine, and the +sense so womanly, struck him much by its rare contrast and combination. +Leonard, whom he had insisted on placing also in the cottage, had staid +there willingly till Helen's recovery was beyond question. Then he came +to Lord L'Estrange, as the latter was about one day to leave the +cottage, and said, quietly, "Now, my Lord, that Helen is safe, and now +that she will need me no more, I can no longer be a pensioner on your +bounty. I return to London." + +"You are my visitor--not my pensioner, foolish boy," said Harley, who +had already noticed the pride which spoke in that farewell; "come into +the garden, and let us talk." + +Harley seated himself on a bench on the little lawn; Nero crouched at +his feet; Leonard stood beside him. + +"So," said Lord L'Estrange, "you would return to London! What to do?" + +"Fulfill my fate." + +"And that?" + +"I can not guess. Fate is the Isis whose vail no mortal can ever raise." + +"You should be born for great things," said Harley, abruptly. "I am sure +that you write well. I have seen that you study with passion. Better +than writing and better than study, you have a noble heart, and the +proud desire of independence. Let me see your MSS., or any copies of +what you have already printed. Do not hesitate--I ask but to be a +reader. I don't pretend to be a patron; it is a word I hate." + +Leonard's eyes sparkled through their sudden moisture. He brought out +his portfolio, placed it on the bench beside Harley, and then went +softly to the farther part of the garden. Nero looked after him, and +then rose and followed him slowly. The boy seated himself on the turf, +and Nero rested his dull head on the loud heart of the poet. + +Harley took up the various papers before him and read them through +leisurely. Certainly he was no critic. He was not accustomed to analyze +what pleased or displeased him; but his perceptions were quick, and his +taste exquisite. As he read, his countenance, always so genuinely +expressive, exhibited now doubt, and now admiration. He was soon struck +by the contrast in the boy's writings; between the pieces that sported +with fancy, and those that grappled with thought. In the first, the +young poet seemed so unconscious of his own individuality. His +imagination, afar and aloft from the scenes of his suffering, ran riot +amidst a paradise of happy golden creations. But in the last, the +THINKER stood out alone and mournful, questioning, in troubled sorrow, +the hard world on which he gazed. All in the thought was unsettled, +tumultuous; all in the fancy serene and peaceful. The genius seemed +divided into twain shapes; the one bathing its wings amidst the starry +dews of heaven; the other wandering "melancholy, slow," amidst desolate +and boundless sands. Harley gently laid down the paper and mused a +little while. Then he rose and walked to Leonard, gazing on his +countenance as he neared the boy, with a new and deeper interest. + +"I have read your papers," he said, "and recognize in them two men, +belonging to two worlds, essentially distinct." + +Leonard started, and murmured, "True, true!" + +"I apprehend," resumed Harley, "that one of these men must either +destroy the other, or that the two must become fused and harmonized into +a single existence. Get your hat, mount my groom's horse, and come with +me to London; we will converse by the way. Look you, I believe you and I +agree in this, that the first object of every noble spirit is +independence. It is toward this independence that I alone presume to +assist you; and this is a service which the proudest man can receive +without a blush." + +Leonard lifted his eyes toward Harley's, and those eyes swam with +grateful tears; but his heart was too full to answer. + +"I am not one of those," said Harley, when they were on the road, "who +think that because a young man writes poetry he is fit for nothing else, +and that he must be a poet or a pauper. I have said that in you there +seems to me to be two men, the man of the Ideal world, the man of the +Actual. To each of these men I can offer a separate career. The first +is, perhaps, the more tempting. It is the interest of the state to draw +into its service all the talent and industry it can obtain; and under +his native state every citizen of a free country should be proud to take +service. I have a friend who is a minister, and who is known to +encourage talent--Audley Egerton. I have but to say to him, 'There is a +young man who will well repay to the government whatever the government +bestows on him;' and you will rise to-morrow independent in means, and +with fair occasions to attain to fortune and distinction. This is one +offer, what say you to it?" + +Leonard thought bitterly of his interview with Audley Egerton, and the +minister's proffered crown-piece. He shook his head, and replied: + +"Oh, my lord, how have I deserved such kindness? Do with me what you +will; but if I have the option, I would rather follow my own calling. +This is not the ambition that inflames me." + +"Hear, then, the other offer. I have a friend with whom I am less +intimate than Egerton, and who has nothing in his gift to bestow. I +speak of a man of letters--Henry Norreys--of whom you have doubtless +heard, who, I should say, conceived an interest in you when he observed +you reading at the book-stall. I have often heard him say, that +literature, as a profession, is misunderstood, and that rightly +followed, with the same pains and the same prudence which are brought to +bear on other professions, a competence, at least, can be always +ultimately obtained. But the way may be long and tedious--and it leads +to no power but over thought; it rarely attains to wealth; and, though +_reputation_ may be certain, _Fame_, such as poets dream of, is the lot +of few. What say you to this course?" + +"My lord, I decide," said Leonard, firmly; and then his young face +lighting up with enthusiasm, he exclaimed, "Yes, if, as you say, there +be two men within me, I feel, that were I condemned wholly to the +mechanical and practical world, one would indeed destroy the other. And +the conqueror would be the ruder and the coarser. Let me pursue those +ideas that, though they have but flitted across me vague and +formless--have ever soared toward the sunlight. No matter whether or not +they lead to fortune or to fame, at least they will lead me upward! +Knowledge for itself I desire--what care I, if it be not power!" + +"Enough," said Harley, with a pleased smile at his young companion's +outburst. "As you decide so shall it be settled. And now permit me, if +not impertinent, to ask you a few questions. Your name is Leonard +Fairfield?" + +The boy blushed deeply, and bowed his head as if in assent. + +"Helen says you are self-taught; for the rest she refers me to +you--thinking, perhaps, that I should esteem you less--rather than yet +more highly--if she said you were, as I presume to conjecture, of humble +birth." + +"My birth," said Leonard, slowly, "is very--very--humble." + +"The name of Fairfield is not unknown to me. There was one of that name +who married into a family in Lansmere--married an Avenel--" continued +Harley--and his voice quivered. "You change countenance. Oh, could your +mother's name have been Avenel?" + +"Yes," said Leonard, between his set teeth. Harley laid his hand on the +boy's shoulder. "Then, indeed, I have a claim on you--then, indeed, we +are friends. I have a right to serve any of that family." + +Leonard looked at him in surprise--"For," continued Harley, recovering +himself, "they always served my family; and my recollections of +Lansmere, though boyish, are indelible." He spurred on his horse as the +words closed--and again there was a long pause; but from that time +Harley always spoke to Leonard in a soft voice, and often gazed on him +with earnest and kindly eyes. + +They reached a house in a central, though not fashionable street. A +man-servant of a singularly grave and awful aspect opened the door; a +man who had lived all his life with authors. Poor devil, he was indeed +prematurely old! The care on his lip, and the pomp on his brow--no +mortal's pen can describe! + +"Is Mr. Norreys at home?" asked Harley. + +"He is at home--to his friends, my lord," answered the man, +majestically; and he stalked across the hall with the step of a Dangeau +ushering some Montmorenci to the presence of _Louis le Grand_. + +"Stay--show this gentleman into another room. I will go first into the +library; wait for me, Leonard." The man nodded, and ushered Leonard into +the dining-room. Then pausing before the door of the library, and +listening an instant, as if fearful to disturb some mood of inspiration, +opened it very softly. To his ineffable disgust, Harley pushed before, +and entered abruptly. It was a large room, lined with books from the +floor to the ceiling. Books were on all the tables--books were on all +the chairs. Harley seated himself on a folio of Raleigh's History of the +World, and cried: + +"I have brought you a treasure!" + +"What is it?" said Norreys, good-humoredly, looking up from his desk. + +"A mind!" + +"A mind!" echoed Norreys, vaguely. "Your own?" + +"Pooh--I have none--I have only a heart and a fancy. Listen: you +remember the boy we saw reading at the book-stall. I have caught him +for you, and you shall train him into a man. I have the warmest interest +in his future--- for I knew some of his family--and one of that family +was very dear to me. As for money, he has not a shilling, and not a +shilling would he accept, gratis, from you or me either. But he comes +with bold heart to work--and work you must find him." Harley then +rapidly told his friend of the two offers he had made to Leonard--and +Leonard's choice. + +"This promises very well; for letters a man must have a strong vocation +as he should have for law--I will do all that you wish." + +Harley rose with alertness--shook Norreys cordially by the hand--hurried +out of the room, and returned with Leonard. + +Mr. Norreys eyed the young man with attention. He was naturally rather +severe than cordial in his manner to strangers--contrasting in this, as +in most things, the poor vagabond Burley. But he was a good judge of the +human countenance, and he liked Leonard's. After a pause he held out his +hand. + +"Sir," said he, "Lord L'Estrange tells me that you wish to enter +literature as a calling, and no doubt to study it as an art. I may help +you in this, and you, meanwhile, can help me. I want an amanuensis--I +offer you that place. The salary will be proportioned to the services +you will render me. I have a room in my house at your disposal. When I +first came up to London, I made the same choice that I hear you have +done. I have no cause, even in a worldly point of view, to repent my +choice. It gave me an income larger than my wants. I trace my success to +these maxims, which are applicable to all professions: 1st. Never to +trust to genius--for what can be obtained by labor; 2dly. Never to +profess to teach what we have not studied to understand; 3dly. Never to +engage our word to what we do not do our best to execute. With these +rules, literature, provided a man does not mistake his vocation for it, +and will, under good advice, go through the preliminary discipline of +natural powers, which all vocations require, is as good a calling as any +other. Without them a shoeblack's is infinitely better." + +"Possible enough," muttered Harley; "but there have been great writers +who observed none of your maxims." + +"Great writers, probably, but very unenviable men. My Lord, my Lord, +don't corrupt the pupil you bring to me." Harley smiled and took his +departure, and left Genius at school with Common Sense and Experience. + + +CHAPTER XX. + +While Leonard Fairfield had been obscurely wrestling against poverty, +neglect, hunger, and dread temptations, bright had been the opening day, +and smooth the upward path, of Randal Leslie. Certainly no young man, +able and ambitious, could enter life under fairer auspices; the +connection and avowed favorite of a popular and energetic statesman, +the brilliant writer of a political work, that had lifted him at once +into a station of his own--received and courted in those highest +circles, to which neither rank nor fortune alone suffices for a familiar +passport--the circles above fashion itself--the circles of power--with +every facility of augmenting information, and learning the world betimes +through the talk of its acknowledged masters--Randal had but to move +straight onward, and success was sure. But his tortuous spirit delighted +in scheme and intrigue for their own sake. In scheme and intrigue he saw +shorter paths to fortune, if not to fame. His besetting sin was also his +besetting weakness. He did not aspire--he _coveted_. Though in a far +higher social position than Frank Hazeldean, despite the worldly +prospects of his old school-fellow, he coveted the very things that kept +Frank Hazeldean below him--coveted his idle gayeties, his careless +pleasures, his very waste of youth. Thus, also, Randal less aspired to +Audley Egerton's repute than he coveted Audley Egerton's wealth and +pomp, his princely expenditure, and his Castle Rackrent in +Grosvenor-square. It was the misfortune of his birth to be so near to +both these fortunes--near to that of Leslie, as the future head of that +fallen house--near even to that of Hazeldean, since as we have seen +before, if the Squire had had no son, Randal's descent from the +Hazeldeans suggested himself as the one on whom these broad lands should +devolve. Most young men, brought into intimate contact with Audley +Egerton, would have felt for that personage a certain loyal and +admiring, if not very affectionate, respect. For there was something +grand in Egerton--something that commands and fascinates the young. His +determined courage, his energetic will, his almost regal liberality, +contrasting a simplicity in personal tastes and habits that was almost +austere--his rare and seemingly unconscious power of charming even the +women most wearied of homage, and persuading even the men most obdurate +to counsel--all served to invest the practical man with those spells +which are usually confined to the ideal one. But indeed, Audley Egerton +was an Ideal--the ideal of the Practical. Not the mere vulgar, plodding, +red-tape machine of petty business, but the man of strong sense, +inspired by inflexible energy, and guided to definite earthly objects. +In a dissolute and corrupt form of government, under a decrepit +monarchy, or a vitiated republic, Audley Egerton might have been a most +dangerous citizen; for his ambition was so resolute, and his sight to +its ends was so clear. But there is something in public life in England +which compels the really ambitious man to honor, unless his eyes are +jaundiced and oblique like Randal Leslie's. It is so necessary in +England to be a gentleman. And thus Egerton was emphatically considered +a _gentleman_. Without the least pride in other matters, with little +apparent sensitiveness, touch him on the point of gentleman, and no one +so sensitive and so proud. As Randal saw more of him, and watched his +moods with the lynx eyes of the household spy, he could perceive that +this hard mechanical man was subject to fits of melancholy, even of +gloom, and though they did not last long, there was even in his habitual +coldness an evidence of something compressed, latent, painful, lying +deep within his memory. This would have interested the kindly feelings +of a grateful heart. But Randal detected and watched it only as a clew +to some secret it might profit him to gain. For Randal Leslie hated +Egerton; and hated him the more because with all his book-knowledge and +his conceit in his own talents, he could not despise his patron--because +he had not yet succeeded in making his patron the mere tool or +stepping-stone--because he thought that Egerton's keen eye saw through +his wily heart, even while, as if in profound disdain, the minister +helped the protégé. But this last suspicion was unsound. Egerton had not +detected Leslie's corrupt and treacherous nature. He might have other +reasons for keeping him at a certain distance, but he inquired too +little into Randal's feelings toward himself to question the attachment, +or doubt the sincerity of one who owed to him so much. But that which +more than all embittered Randal's feelings toward Egerton, was the +careful and deliberate frankness with which the latter had, more than +once, repeated and enforced the odious announcement, that Randal had +nothing to expect from the minister's--WILL, nothing to expect from that +wealth which glared in the hungry eyes of the pauper heir to the Leslies +of Rood. To whom, then, could Egerton mean to devise his fortune? To +whom but Frank Hazeldean. Yet Audley took so little notice of his +nephew--seemed so indifferent to him, that that supposition, however +natural, seemed exposed to doubt. The astuteness of Randal was +perplexed. Meanwhile, however, the less he himself could rely upon +Egerton for fortune, the more he revolved the possible chances of +ousting Frank from the inheritance of Hazeldean--in part, at least, if +not wholly. To one less scheming, crafty, and remorseless than Randal +Leslie with every day became more and more, such a project would have +seemed the wildest delusion. But there was something fearful in the +manner in which this young man sought to turn knowledge into power, and +make the study of all weakness in others subservient to his own ends. He +wormed himself thoroughly into Frank's confidence. He learned through +Frank all the Squire's peculiarities of thought and temper, and +thoroughly pondered over each word in the father's letters, which the +son gradually got into the habit of showing to the perfidious eyes of +his friend. Randal saw that the Squire had two characteristics which are +very common among proprietors, and which might be invoked as antagonists +to his warm fatherly love. First, the Squire was as fond of his estate +as if it were a living thing, and part of his own flesh and blood; and +in his lectures to Frank upon the sin of extravagance, the Squire +always let out this foible:--"What was to become of the estate if it +fell into the hands of a spendthrift? No man should make ducks and +drakes of Hazeldean; let Frank beware of _that_," &c. Secondly, the +Squire was not only fond of his lands, but he was jealous of them--that +jealousy which even the tenderest fathers sometimes entertain toward +their natural heirs. He could not bear the notion that Frank should +count on his death; and he seldom closed an admonitory letter without +repeating the information that Hazeldean was not entailed; that it was +his to do with as he pleased through life and in death. Indirect menace +of this nature rather wounded and galled than intimidated Frank; for the +young man was extremely generous and high-spirited by nature, and was +always more disposed to some indiscretion after such warnings to his +self-interest, as if to show that those were the last kinds of appeal +likely to influence him. By the help of such insights into the character +of father and son, Randal thought he saw gleams of daylight illumining +his own chance of the lands of Hazeldean. Meanwhile it appeared to him +obvious that, come what might of it, his own interests could not lose, +and might most probably gain, by whatever could alienate the Squire from +his natural heir. Accordingly, though with consummate tact, he +instigated Frank toward the very excesses most calculated to irritate +the Squire, all the while appearing rather to give the counter advice, +and never sharing in any of the follies to which he conducted his +thoughtless friend. In this he worked chiefly through others, +introducing Frank to every acquaintance most dangerous to youth, either +from the wit that laughs at prudence, or the spurious magnificence that +subsists so handsomely upon bills endorsed by friends of "great +expectations." + +The minister and his protégé were seated at breakfast, the first reading +the newspaper, the last glancing over his letters; for Randal had +arrived to the dignity of receiving many letters--ay, and notes too, +three-cornered, and fantastically embossed. Egerton uttered an +exclamation, and laid down the paper. Randal looked up from his +correspondence. The minister had sunk into one of his absent reveries. + +After a long silence, observing that Egerton did not return to the +newspaper, Randal said, "Ehem--sir, I have a note from Frank Hazeldean, +who wants much to see me; his father has arrived in town unexpectedly." + +"What brings him here?" asked Egerton, still abstractedly. + +"Why, it seems that he has heard some vague reports of poor Frank's +extravagance, and Frank is rather afraid or ashamed to meet him." + +"Ay--a very great fault extravagance in the young!--destroys +independence; ruins or enslaves the future. Great fault--very! And what +does youth want that it should be extravagant? Has it not every thing in +itself, merely because it _is_? Youth is youth--what needs it more?" + +Egerton rose as he said this, and retired to his writing-table, and in +his turn opened his correspondence. Randal took up the newspaper, and +endeavored, but in vain, to conjecture what had excited the minister's +exclamation, and the reverie that succeeded it. + +Egerton suddenly and sharply turned round in his chair--"If you have +done with the _Times_, have the goodness to place it here." + +Randal had just obeyed, when a knock at the street-door was heard, and +presently Lord L'Estrange came into the room, with somewhat a quicker +step, and somewhat a gayer mien than usual. + +Audley's hand, as if mechanically, fell upon the newspaper--fell upon +that part of the columns devoted to births, deaths, and marriages. +Randal stood by, and noted; then, bowing to L'Estrange, left the room. + +"Audley," said L'Estrange, "I have had an adventure since I saw you--an +adventure that reopened the Past, and may influence my future." + +"How?" + +"In the first place, I have met with a relation of--of--the Avenels." + +"Indeed! Whom--Richard Avenel?" + +"Richard--Richard--who is he? Oh, I remember; the wild lad who went off +to America; but that was when I was a mere child." + +"That Richard Avenel is now a rich thriving trader, and his marriage is +in this newspaper--married to an honorable Mrs. M'Catchley. Well--in +this country--who should plume himself on birth?" + +"You did not say so always, Egerton," replied Harley, with a tone of +mournful reproach. + +"And I say so now, pertinently to a Mrs. M'Catchley, not to the heir of +the L'Estranges But no more of these--these Avenels." + +"Yes, more of them. I tell you I have met a relation of theirs--a nephew +of--of--" + +"Of Richard Avenel's?" interrupted Egerton; and then added in the slow, +deliberate, argumentative tone in which he was wont to speak in public. +"Richard Avenel the trader! I saw him once--a presuming and intolerable +man!" + +"The nephew has not those sins. He is full of promise, of modesty, yet +of pride. And his countenance--oh, Egerton, he has _her_ eyes." + +Egerton made no answer. And Harley resumed-- + +"I had thought of placing him under your care. I knew you would provide +for him." + +"I will. Bring him hither," cried Egerton eagerly. "All that I can do to +prove my--regard for a wish of yours." + +Harley pressed his friend's hand warmly. + +"I thank you from my heart; the Audley of my boyhood speaks now. But the +young man has decided otherwise; and I do not blame him. Nay, I rejoice +that he chooses a career in which if he find hardship, he may escape +dependence." + +"And that career is--" + +"Letters?" + +"Letters--Literature!" exclaimed the statesman. "Beggary! No, no, +Harley, this is your absurd romance." + +"It will not be beggary, and it is not my romance: it is the boy's. +Leave him alone, he is my care and my charge henceforth. He is of _her_ +blood, and I said that he had _her_ eyes." + +"But you are going abroad; let me know where he is; I will watch over +him." + +"And unsettle a right ambition for a wrong one? No--you shall know +nothing of him till he can proclaim himself. I think that day will +come." + +Audley mused a moment, and then said, "Well, perhaps you are right. +After all, as you say, independence is a great blessing, and my ambition +has not rendered myself the better or the happier." + +"Yet, my poor Audley, you ask me to be ambitious." + +"I only wish you to be consoled," cried Egerton with passion. + +"I will try to be so; and by the help of a milder remedy than yours. I +said that my adventure might influence my future; it brought me +acquainted not only with the young man I speak of, but the most winning +affectionate child--a girl." + +"Is this child an Avenel too?" + +"No, she is of gentle blood--a soldier's daughter; the daughter of that +Captain Digby, on whose behalf I was a petitioner to your patronage. He +is dead, and in dying, my name was on his lips. He meant me, doubtless, +to be the guardian to his orphan. I shall be so. I have at last an +object in life." + +"But can you seriously mean to take this child with you abroad?" + +"Seriously, I do." + +"And lodge her in your own house?" + +"For a year or so while she is yet a child. Then, as she approaches +youth, I shall place her elsewhere." + +"You may grow to love her. Is it clear that she will love you? not +mistake gratitude for love? It is a very hazardous experiment." + +"So was William the Norman's--still he was William the Conqueror. Thou +biddest me move on from the past, and be consoled, yet thou wouldst make +me as inapt to progress as the mule in Slawkenbergius's tale, with thy +cursed interlocutions, 'Stumbling, by St. Nicholas, every step. Why, at +this rate, we shall be all night, getting into--' _Happiness!_ Listen," +continued Harley, setting off, full pelt, into one of his wild, +whimsical humors. "One of the sons of the prophets in Israel, felling +wood near the River Jordan, his hatchet forsook the helve, and fell to +the bottom of the river; so he prayed to have it again (it was but a +small request, mark you); and having a strong faith, he did not throw +the hatchet after the helve, but the helve after the hatchet. Presently +two great miracles were seen. Up springs the hatchet from the bottom of +the water, and fixes itself to its old acquaintance, the helve. Now, +had he wished to coach it to Heaven in a fiery chariot like Elias, be as +rich as Job, strong as Samson, and beautiful as Absalom, would he have +obtained it, do you think? In truth, my friend, I question it very +much." + +"I can not comprehend what you mean. Sad stuff you are talking." + +"I can't help that; Rabelais is to be blamed for it. I am quoting him, +and it is to be found in his prologue to the chapters on the Moderation +of Wishes. And apropos of 'moderate wishes in point of hatchet,' I want +you to understand that I ask but little from Heaven. I fling but the +helve after the hatchet that has sunk into the silent stream. I want the +other half of the weapon that is buried fathom deep, and for want of +which the thick woods darken round me by the Sacred River, and I can +catch not a glimpse of the stars." + +"In plain English," said Audley Egerton, "you want"--he stopped short, +puzzled. + +"I want my purpose and my will, and my old character, and the nature God +gave me. I want the half of my soul which has fallen from me. I want +such love as may replace to me the vanished affections. Reason not--I +throw the helve after the hatchet." + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +Randall Leslie, on leaving Audley, repaired to Frank's lodgings, and +after being closeted with the young guardsman an hour or so, took his +way to Limmer's hotel, and asked for Mr. Hazeldean. He was shown into +the coffee-room, while the waiter went upstairs with his card, to see if +the Squire was within, and disengaged. The _Times_ newspaper lay +sprawling on one of the tables, and Randal, leaning over it, looked with +attention into the column containing births, deaths, and marriages. But +in that long and miscellaneous list, he could not conjecture the name +which had so excited Mr. Egerton's interest. + +"Vexatious!" he muttered; "there is no knowledge which has power more +useful than that of the secrets of men." + +He turned as the waiter entered and said that Mr. Hazeldean would be +glad to see him. + +As Randal entered the drawing-room, the Squire shaking hands with him, +looked toward the door as if expecting some one else, and his honest +face assumed a blank expression of disappointment when the door closed, +and he found that Randal was unaccompanied. + +"Well," said he bluntly, "I thought your old school-fellow, Frank, might +have been with you." + +"Have not you seen him yet, sir?" + +"No, I came to town this morning; traveled outside the mail; sent to his +barracks, but the young gentleman does not sleep there--has an apartment +of his own; he never told me that. We are a plain family, the +Hazeldeans--young sir; and I hate being kept in the dark, by my own son +too." + +Randal made no answer, but looked sorrowful. The Squire, who had never +before seen his kinsman, had a vague idea that it was not polite to +entertain a stranger, though a connection to himself, with his family +troubles, and so resumed good-naturedly. + +"I am very glad to make your acquaintance at last, Mr. Leslie. You know, +I hope, that you have good Hazeldean blood in your veins?" + +RANDAL (smilingly).--"I am not likely to forget that; it is the boast of +our pedigree." + +SQUIRE (heartily).--"Shake hands again on it, my boy. You don't want a +friend, since my grandee of a half-brother has taken you up; but if ever +you should, Hazeldean is not very far from Rood. Can't get on with your +father at all, my lad--more's the pity, for I think I could have given +him a hint or two as to the improvement of his property. If he would +plant those ugly commons--larch and fir soon come into profit, sir; and +there are some low lands about Rood that would take mighty kindly to +draining." + +RANDAL.--"My poor father lives a life so retired, and you can not wonder +at it. Fallen trees lie still, and so do fallen families." + +SQUIRE.--"Fallen families can get up again, which fallen trees can't." + +RANDAL.--"Ah, sir, it often takes the energy of generations to repair +the thriftlessness and extravagance of a single owner." + +SQUIRE (his brow lowering).--"That's very true. Frank is d----d +extravagant; treats me very coolly, too--not coming, near three o'clock. +By-the-by, I suppose he told you where I was, otherwise how did you find +me out?" + +RANDAL (reluctantly).--"Sir, he did; and, to speak frankly, I am not +surprised that he has not yet appeared." + +SQUIRE.--"Eh?" + +RANDAL.--"We have grown very intimate." + +SQUIRE.--"So he writes me word--and I am glad of it. Our member, Sir +John, tells me you are a very clever fellow, and a very steady one. And +Frank says that he wishes he had your prudence, if he can't have your +talents. He has a good heart, Frank," added the father, relentingly. +"But, zounds, sir, you say you are not surprised he has not come to +welcome his own father!" + +"My dear sir," said Randal, "you wrote word to Frank that you had heard +from Sir John and others, of his goings-on, and that you were not +satisfied with his replies to your letters." + +"Well." + +"And then you suddenly come up to town." + +"Well." + +"Well. And Frank is ashamed to meet you. For, as you say, he has been +extravagant, and he has exceeded his allowance; and, knowing my respect +for you, and my great affection for himself, he has asked me to prepare +you to receive his confession and forgive him. I know I am taking a +great liberty. I have no right to interfere between father and son; but +pray--pray think I mean for the best." + +"Humph!" said the Squire, recovering himself very slowly, and showing +evident pain. "I knew already that Frank had spent more than he ought; +but I think he should not have employed a third person, to prepare me to +forgive him. (Excuse me--no offense.) And if he wanted a third person, +was not there his own mother? What the devil!--(firing up)--am I a +tyrant--a bashaw--that my own son is afraid to speak to me? Gad, I'll +give it him?" + +"Pardon me, sir," said Randal, assuming at once that air of authority +which superior intellect so well carries off and excuses. "But I +strongly advise you not to express any anger at Frank's confidence in +me. At present I have influence over him. Whatever you may think of his +extravagance, I have saved him from many an indiscretion, and many a +debt--a young man will listen to one of his own age so much more readily +than even to the kindest friend of graver years. Indeed, sir, I speak +for your sake as well as for Frank's. Let me keep this influence over +him; and don't reproach him for the confidence he placed in me. Nay, let +him rather think that I have softened any displeasure you might +otherwise have felt." + +There seemed so much good sense in what Randal said, and the kindness of +it seemed so disinterested, that the Squire's native shrewdness was +deceived. + +"You are a fine young fellow," said he, "and I am very much obliged to +you. Well, I suppose there is no putting old heads upon young shoulders; +and I promise you I'll not say an angry word to Frank. I dare say, poor +boy, he is very much afflicted, and I long to shake hands with him. So, +set his mind at ease." + +"Ah, sir," said Randal, with much apparent emotion, "your son may well +love you; and it seems to be a hard matter for so kind a heart as yours +to preserve the proper firmness with him." + +"Oh, I can be firm enough," quoth the Squire--"especially when I don't +see him--handsome dog that he is--very like his mother--don't you think +so?" + +"I never saw his mother, sir." + +"Gad! Not seen my Harry? No more you have; you must come and pay us a +visit. We have your grandmother's picture, when she was a girl, with a +crook in one hand and a bunch of lilies in the other. I suppose my +half-brother will let you come?" + +"To be sure, sir. Will you not call on him while you are in town?" + +"Not I. He would think I expected to get something from the Government. +Tell him the ministers must go on a little better, if they want my vote +for their member. But go. I see you are impatient to tell Frank that +all's forgot and forgiven. Come and dine with him here at six, and let +him bring his bills in his pocket. Oh, I shan't scold him." + +"Why, as to that," said Randal, smiling, "I think (forgive me still) +that you should not take it too easily; just as I think that you had +better not blame him for his very natural and praise-worthy shame in +approaching you, so I think, also, that you should do nothing that would +tend to diminish that shame--it is such a check on him. And therefore, +if you can contrive to affect to be angry with him for his extravagance, +it will do good." + +"You speak like a book, and I'll try my best." + +"If you threaten, for instance, to take him out of the army, and settle +him in the country, it would have a very good effect." + +"What! would he think it so great a punishment to come home and live +with his parents?" + +"I don't say that; but he is naturally so fond of London. At his age, +and with his large inheritance, _that_ is natural." + +"Inheritance!" said the Squire, moodily--"inheritance! he is not +thinking of that, I trust? Zounds, sir, I have as good a life as his +own. Inheritance!--to be sure the Casino property is entailed on him; +but, as for the rest, sir, I am no tenant for life. I could leave the +Hazeldean lands to my plowman, if I chose it. Inheritance, indeed!" + +"My dear sir, I did not mean to imply that Frank would entertain the +unnatural and monstrous idea of calculating on your death; and all we +have to do is to get him to sow his wild oats as soon as +possible--marry, and settle down into the country. For it would be a +thousand pities if his town habits and tastes grew permanent--a bad +thing for the Hazeldean property, that. And," added Randal, laughing, "I +feel an interest in the whole place, since my grandmother comes of the +stock. So, just force yourself to seem angry, and grumble a little when +you pay the bills." + +"Ah, ah, trust me," said the Squire, doggedly, and with a very altered +air. "I am much obliged to you for these hints, my young kinsman." And +his stout hand trembled a little as he extended it to Randal. + +Leaving Limmers, Randal hastened to Frank's rooms in St. James's-street. +"My dear fellow," said he, when he entered, "it is very fortunate that I +persuaded you to let me break matters to your father. You might well say +he was rather passionate; but I have contrived to soothe him. You need +not fear that he will not pay your debt." + +"I never feared that," said Frank, changing color; "I only feared his +anger. But, indeed, I fear his kindness still more. What a reckless +hound I have been! However, it shall be a lesson to me. And my debts +once paid, I will turn as economical as yourself." + +"Quite right, Frank. And, indeed, I am a little afraid that when your +father knows the total, he may execute a threat that would be very +unpleasant to you." + +"What's that?" + +"Make you sell out, and give up London." + +"The devil!" exclaimed Frank, with fervent emphasis: "that would be +treating me like a child." + +"Why, it _would_ make you seem rather ridiculous to your set, which is +not a very rural one. And you, who like London so much, and are so much +the fashion." + +"Don't talk of it," cried Frank, walking to and fro the room in great +disorder. + +"Perhaps, on the whole, it might be well not to say all you owe, at +once. If you named half the sum, your father would let you off with a +lecture; and really I tremble at the effect of the total." + +"But how shall I pay the other half?" + +"Oh, you must save from your allowance; it is a very liberal one; and +the tradesmen are not pressing." + +"No--but the cursed bill-brokers--" + +"Always renew to a young man of your expectations. And if I get into an +office, I can always help you, my dear Frank." + +"Ah, Randal, I am not so bad as to take advantage of your friendship," +said Frank, warmly. "But it seems to me mean, after all, and a sort of a +lie, indeed, disguising the real state of my affairs. I should not have +listened to the idea from any one else. But you are such a sensible, +kind, honorable fellow." + +"After epithets so flattering, I shrink from the responsibility of +advice. But apart from your own interests, I should be glad to save your +father the pain he would feel at knowing the whole extent of the scrape +you have got into. And if it entailed on you the necessity to lay +by--and give up hazard, and not be security for other men--why, it would +be the best thing that could happen. Really, too, it seems hard on Mr. +Hazeldean, that he should be the only sufferer, and quite just that you +should bear half your own burdens." + +"So it is, Randal; that did not strike me before. I will take your +counsel; and now I will go at once to Limmer's. My dear father? I hope +he is looking well?" + +"Oh, very. Such a contrast to the sallow Londoners! But I think you had +better not go till dinner. He has asked me to meet you at six. I will +call for you a little before, and we can go together. This will prevent +a great deal of gêne and constraint. Good-by till then. Ha!--by the way, +I think if I were you, I would not take the matter too seriously and +penitentially. You see the best of fathers like to keep their sons under +their thumb, as the saying is. And if you want at your age to preserve +your independence, and not be hurried off and buried in the country, +like a schoolboy in disgrace, a little manliness of bearing would not be +amiss. You can think over it." + +The dinner at Limmer's went off very differently from what it ought to +have done. Randal's words had sunk deep, and rankled sorely in the +Squire's mind; and that impression imparted a certain coldness to his +manner which belied the hearty, forgiving, generous impulse with which +he had come up to London, and which even Randal had not yet altogether +whispered away. On the other hand, Frank, embarrassed both by the sense +of disingenuousness, and a desire "not to take the thing too +seriously," seemed to the Squire ungracious and thankless. + +After dinner, the Squire began to hum and haw, and Frank to color up and +shrink. Both felt discomposed by the presence of a third person; till, +with an art and address worthy of a better cause, Randal himself broke +the ice, and so contrived to remove the restraint he had before imposed, +that at length each was heartily glad to have matters made clear and +brief by his dexterity and tact. + +Frank's debts were not, in reality, large; and when he named the half of +them--looking down in shame--the Squire, agreeably surprised, was about +to express himself with a liberal heartiness that would have opened his +son's excellent heart at once to him. But a warning look from Randal +checked the impulse; and the Squire thought it right, as he had +promised, to affect an anger he did not feel, and let fall the unlucky +threat, "that it was all very well once in a way to exceed his +allowance; but if Frank did not, in future, show more sense than to be +led away by a set of London sharks and coxcombs, he must cut the army, +come home, and take to farming." + +Frank imprudently exclaimed, "Oh, sir, I have no taste for farming. And +after London, at my age, the country would be so horribly dull." + +"Aha!" said the Squire, very grimly--and he thrust back into his +pocket-book some extra bank-notes which his fingers had itched to add to +those he had already counted out. "The country is terribly dull, is it? +Money goes there not upon follies and vices, but upon employing honest +laborers, and increasing the wealth of the nation. It does not please +you to spend money in that way: it is a pity you should ever be plagued +with such duties." + +"My dear father--" + +"Hold your tongue, you puppy. Oh, I dare say, if you were in my shoes, +you would cut down the oaks, and mortgage the property--sell it, for +what I know--all go on a cast of the dice! Aha, sir--very well, very +well--the country is horribly dull, is it? Pray, stay in town." + +"My dear Mr. Hazeldean," said Randal, blandly, and as if with the wish +to turn off into a joke what threatened to be serious, "you must not +interpret a hasty expression so literally. Why, you would make Frank as +bad as Lord A----, who wrote word to his steward to cut down more +timber; and when the steward replied, 'There are only three sign-posts +left on the whole estate,' wrote back, '_They've_ done growing, at all +events--down with them.' You ought to know Lord A----, sir; so witty; +and--Frank's particular friend." + +"Your particular friend, Master Frank? Pretty friends!"--and the squire +buttoned up the pocket, to which he had transferred his note book, with +a determined air. + +"But I'm his friend, too," said Randal, kindly; "and I preach to him +properly, I can tell you." Then, as if delicately anxious to change the +subject, he began to ask questions upon crops, and the experiment of +bone manure. He spoke earnestly, and with _gusto_, yet with the +deference of one listening to a great practical authority. Randal had +spent the afternoon in cramming the subject from agricultural journals +and Parliamentary reports; and, like all practiced readers, had really +learned in a few hours more than many a man, unaccustomed to study, +could gain from books in a year. The Squire was surprised and pleased at +the young scholar's information and taste for such subjects. + +"But, to be sure," quoth he, with an angry look at poor Frank, "you have +good Hazeldean blood in you, and know a bean from a turnip." + +"Why, sir," said Randal, ingenuously, "I am training myself for public +life; and what is a public man worth if he do not study the agriculture +of his country?" + +"Right--what is he worth? Put that question, with my compliments, to my +half-brother. What stuff he did talk, the other night, on the malt-tax, +to be sure!" + +"Mr. Egerton has had so many other things to think of, that we must +excuse his want of information upon one topic, however important. With +his strong sense, he must acquire that information, sooner or later; for +he is fond of power; and, sir, knowledge is power!" + +"Very true; very fine saying," quoth the poor Squire, unsuspiciously, as +Randal's eye rested upon Mr. Hazeldean's open face, and then glanced +toward Frank, who looked sad and bored. + +"Yes," repeated Randal, "knowledge is power;" and he shook his head +wisely, as he passed the bottle to his host. + +Still, when the Squire, who meant to return to the Hall next morning, +took leave of Frank, his heart warmed to his son: and still more for +Frank's dejected looks. It was not Randal's policy to push estrangement +too far at first, and in his own presence. + +"Speak to poor Frank--kindly now, sir--do," whispered he, observing the +Squire's watery eyes, as he moved to the window. + +The Squire rejoiced to obey--thrust out his hand to his son, "My dear +boy," said he, "there, don't fret--pshaw!--it was but a trifle, after +all. Think no more of it." + +Frank took the hand, and suddenly threw his arm round his father's broad +shoulder. + +"Oh, sir, you are too good--too good." His voice trembled so, that +Randal took alarm, passed by him, and touched him meaningly. + +The Squire pressed his son to his heart--heart so large, that it seemed +to fill the whole width under his broadcloth. + +"My dear Frank," said he, half blubbering, "it is not the money; but, +you see, it so vexes your poor mother; you must be careful in future; +and, zounds, boy, it will be all yours one day; only don't calculate on +it; I could not bear _that_--I could not indeed." + +"Calculate!" cried Frank. "Oh, sir, can you think it?" + +"I am so delighted that I had some slight hand in your complete +reconciliation with Mr. Hazeldean," said Randal, as the young men walked +from the hotel. "I saw that you were disheartened, and I told him to +speak to you kindly." + +"Did you? Ah, I am sorry he needed telling." + +"I know his character so well already," said Randal, "that I flatter +myself I can always keep things between you as they ought to be. What an +excellent man!" + +"The best man in the world!" cried Frank, heartily; and then as his +accent drooped, "yet I have deceived him. I have a great mind to go +back--" + +"And tell him to give you twice as much money as you had asked for. He +would think you had only seemed so affectionate in order to take him in. +No, no, Frank; save--lay by--economize; and then tell him that you have +paid half your own debts. Something high-minded in that." + +"So there is. Your heart is as good as your head. Good-night." + +"Are you going home so early? Have you no engagements?" + +"None that I shall keep." + +"Good-night, then." + +They parted, and Randal walked into one of the fashionable clubs. He +neared a table, where three or four young men (younger sons who lived in +the most splendid style, heaven knew how) were still over their wine. + +Leslie had little in common with these gentlemen; but he forced his +nature to be agreeable to them, in consequence of a very excellent piece +of worldly advice given to him by Audley Egerton. "Never let the dandies +call you a prig," said the statesman. "Many a clever fellow fails +through life, because the silly fellows, whom half a word well spoken +could make his _claqueurs_, turn him into ridicule. Whatever you are, +avoid the fault of most reading men: in a word, don't be a prig!" + +"I have just left Hazeldean," said Randal, "what a good fellow he is!" + +"Capital," said the Honorable George Borrowwell. "Where is he?" + +"Why, he is gone to his rooms. He has had a little scene with his +father, a thorough, rough country squire. It would be an act of charity +if you would go and keep him company, or take him with you to some place +a little more lively than his own lodgings." + +"What! the old gentleman has been teasing him?--a horrid shame! Why, +Frank is not expensive, and he will be very rich--eh?" + +"An immense property," said Randal, "and not a mortgage on it; an only +son," he added, turning away. + +Among these young gentlemen there was a kindly and most benevolent +whisper, and presently they all rose, and walked away toward Frank's +lodgings. + +"The wedge is in the tree," said Randal to himself, "and there is a gap +already between the bark and the wood." + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +Harley L'Estrange is seated beside Helen at the lattice-window in the +cottage at Norwood. The bloom of reviving health is on the child's face, +and she is listening with a smile, for Harley is speaking of Leonard +with praise, and of Leonard's future with hope. "And thus," he +continued, "secure from his former trials, happy in his occupation, and +pursuing the career he has chosen, we must be content, my dear child, to +leave him." + +"Leave him!" exclaimed Helen, and the rose on her cheek faded. + +Harley was not displeased to see her emotion. He would have been +disappointed in her heart if it had been less susceptible to affection. + +"It is hard on you, Helen," said he, "to separate you from one who has +been to you as a brother. Do not hate me for doing so. But I consider +myself your guardian, and your home as yet must be mine. We are going +from this land of cloud and mist, going as into the world of summer. +Well, that does not content you. You weep, my child; you mourn your own +friend, but do not forget your father's. I am alone, and often sad, +Helen; will you not comfort me! You press my hand, but you must learn to +smile on me also. You are born to be the Comforter. Comforters are not +egotists; they are always cheerful when they console." + +The voice of Harley was so sweet, and his words went so home to the +child's heart, that she looked up and smiled in his face as he kissed +her ingenuous brow. But then she thought of Leonard, and felt so +solitary--so bereft--that tears burst forth again. Before these were +dried, Leonard himself entered, and obeying an irresistible impulse, she +sprang to his arms, and, leaning her head on his shoulder, sobbed out, +"I am going from you, brother--do not grieve--do not miss me." + +Harley was much moved; he folded his arms, and contemplated them both +silently--and his own eyes were moist. "This heart," thought he, "will +be worth the winning!" + +He drew aside Leonard, and whispered--"Soothe, but encourage and support +her. I leave you together; come to me in the garden later." + +It was nearly an hour before Leonard joined Harley. + +"She was not weeping when you left her?" asked L'Estrange. + +"No; she has more fortitude than we might suppose. Heaven knows how that +fortitude has supported mine. I have promised to write to her often." + +Harley took two strides across the lawn, and then, coming back to +Leonard, said, "Keep your promise, and write often for the first year, I +would then ask you to let the correspondence drop gradually." + +"Drop!--Ah, my Lord!" + +"Look you, my young friend, I wish to lead this fair mind wholly from +the sorrows of the Past. I wish Helen to enter, not abruptly, but step +by step, into a new life. You love each other now, as do two +children--as brother and sister. But later, if encouraged, would the +love be the same? And is it not better for both of you, that youth +should open upon the world with youth's natural affections free and +unforestalled?" + +"True! And she is so above me," said Leonard mournfully. + +"No one is above him who succeeds in your ambition, Leonard. It is not +_that_, believe me!" + +Leonard shook his head. + +"Perhaps," said Harley, with a smile, "I rather feel that you are above +me. For what vantage-ground is so high as youth? Perhaps I may become +jealous of you. It is well that she should learn to like one who is to +be henceforth her guardian and protector. Yet, how can she like me as +she ought, if her heart is to be full of you?" + +The boy bowed his head; and Harley hastened to change the subject, and +speak of letters and of glory. His words were eloquent, and his voice +kindling; for he had been an enthusiast for fame in his boyhood; and in +Leonard's, his own seemed to him to revive. But the poet's heart gave +back no echo--suddenly it seemed void and desolate. Yet when Leonard +walked back by the moonlight, he muttered to himself, "Strange--strange--so +mere a child, this can not be love! Still what else to love is there +left to me?" + +And so he paused upon the bridge where he had so often stood with Helen, +and on which he had found the protector that had given to her a home--to +himself a career. And life seemed very long, and fame but a dreary +phantom. Courage, still, Leonard! These are the sorrows of the heart +that teach thee more than all the precepts of sage and critic. + +Another day and Helen had left the shores of England, with her fanciful +and dreaming guardian. Years will pass before our tale reopens. Life in +all the forms we have seen it travels on. And the Squire farms and +hunts; and the parson preaches and chides and soothes. And Riccabocca +reads his Machiavelli, and sighs and smiles as he moralizes on Men and +States. And Violante's dark eyes grow deeper and more spiritual in their +lustre; and her beauty takes thought from solitary dreams. And Mr. +Richard Avenel has his house in London, and the honorable Mrs. Avenel +her opera box; and hard and dire is their struggle into fashion, and +hotly does the new man, scorning the aristocracy, pant to become +aristocrat. And Audley Egerton goes from the office to the Parliament, +and drudges, and debates, and helps to govern the empire on which the +sun never sets. Poor Sun, how tired he must be--but none more tired than +the Government! And Randal Leslie has an excellent place in the bureau +of a minister, and is looking to the time when he shall resign it to +come into Parliament, and on that large arena turn knowledge into power. +And meanwhile, he is much where he was with Audley Egerton; but he has +established intimacy with the Squire, and visited Hazeldean twice, and +examined the house and the map of the property--and very nearly fallen a +second time into the Ha-ha; and the Squire believes that Randal Leslie +alone can keep Frank out of mischief, and has spoken rough words to his +Harry about Frank's continued extravagance. And Frank does continue to +pursue pleasure; and is very miserable, and horribly in debt. And Madame +di Negra has gone from London to Paris, and taken a tour into +Switzerland, and come back to London again, and has grown very intimate +with Randal Leslie; and Randal has introduced Frank to her; and Frank +thinks her the loveliest woman in the world, and grossly slandered by +certain evil tongues. And the brother of Madame di Negra is expected in +England at last; and what with his repute for beauty and for wealth, +people anticipate a sensation; and Leonard, and Harley, and Helen? +Patience--they will all re-appear. + + (TO BE CONTINUED.) + + + + +A SCENE FROM IRISH LIFE. + + +The moorland was wide, level, and black; black as night, if you could +suppose night condensed on the surface of the earth, and that you could +tread on solid darkness in the midst of day. The day itself was fast +dropping into night, although it was dreary and gloomy at the best; for +it was a November day. The moor, for miles around, was treeless and +houseless; devoid of vegetation, except heather, which clad with its +gloomy frieze coat the shivering landscape. At a distance you could +discern, through the misty atmosphere, the outline of mountains +apparently as bare and stony as this wilderness, which they bounded. +There were no fields, no hedgerows, no marks of the hand of man, except +the nakedness itself, which was the work of man in past ages; when, +period after period, he had tramped over the scene with fire and sword, +and left all that could not fly before him, either ashes to be scattered +by the savage winds, or stems of trees, and carcases of men trodden into +the swampy earth. As the Roman historian said of other destroyers, "They +created solitude and called it peace." That all this was the work of +man, and not of Nature, any one spot of this huge and howling wilderness +could testify, if you would only turn up its sable surface. In its bosom +lay thousands of ancient oaks and pines, black as ebony; which told, by +their gigantic bulk, that forests must have once existed on this spot, +as rich as the scene was now bleak. Nobler things than trees lay buried +there; but were, for the most part, resolved into the substance of the +inky earth. The dwellings of men had left few or no traces, for they had +been consumed in flames; and the hearts that had loved, and suffered, +and perished beneath the hand of violence and insult, were no longer +human hearts, but slime. If a man were carried blindfold to that place, +and asked when his eyes were unbandaged where he was, he would +say--"Ireland!" + +He would want no clew to the identity of the place, but the scene before +him. There is no heath like an Irish heath. There is no desolation like +an Irish desolation. Where Nature herself has spread the expanse of a +solitude, it is a cheerful solitude. The air flows over it lovingly; the +flowers nod and dance in gladness; the soil breathes up a spirit of wild +fragrance, which communicates a buoyant sensation to the heart. You feel +that you tread on ground where the peace of God, and not the "peace" of +man created in the merciless hurricane of war, has sojourned: where the +sun shone on creatures sporting on ground or on tree, as the Divine +Goodness of the Universe meant them to sport: where the hunter disturbed +alone the enjoyment of the lower animals by his own boisterous joy: +where the traveler sung as he went over it, because he felt a spring of +inexpressible music in his heart: where the weary wayfarer sat beneath a +bush, and blessed God, though his limbs ached with travel, and his goal +was far off. In God's deserts dwells gladness; in man's deserts, death. +A melancholy smites you as you enter them. There is a darkness from the +past that envelops your heart, and the moans and sighs of ten-times +perpetrated misery seem still to live in the very winds. + +One shallow, and widely-spread stream struggled through the moor; +sometimes between masses of gray stone. Sedges and the white-headed +cotton-rush whistled on its margin, and on island-like expanses that +here and there rose above the surface of its middle course. + +I have said that there was no sign of life; but on one of those gray +stones stood a heron watching for prey. He had remained straight, rigid, +and motionless for hours. Probably his appetite was appeased by his +day's success among the trout of that dark red-brown stream, which was +colored by the peat from which it oozed. When he did move, he sprung up +at once, stretched his broad wings, and silent as the scene around him, +made a circuit in the air; rising higher as he went, with slow and +solemn flight. He had been startled by a sound. There was life in the +desert now. Two horsemen came galloping along a highway not far distant, +and the heron, continuing his grave gyrations, surveyed them as he went. +Had they been travelers over a plain of India, an Australian waste, or +the Pampas of South America, they could not have been grimmer of aspect, +or more thoroughly children of the wild. They were Irish from head to +foot. + +They were mounted on two spare but by no means clumsy horses. The +creatures had marks of blood and breed that had been introduced by the +English to the country. The could claim, if they knew it, lineage of +Arabia. The one was a pure bay, the other and lesser, was black; but +both were lean as death, haggard as famine. They were wet with the speed +with which they had been hurried along. The soil of the damp moorland, +or of the field in which, during the day, they had probably been drawing +the peasant's cart, still smeared their bodies, and their manes flew as +wildly and untrimmed as the sedge or the cotton-rush on the wastes +through which they careered. Their riders, wielding each a heavy stick +instead of a riding-whip which they applied ever and anon to the +shoulders or flanks of their smoking animals, were mounted on their bare +backs, and guided them by halter, instead of bridle. They were a couple +of the short frieze-coated, knee-breeches and gray-stocking fellows who +are as plentiful on Irish soil as potatoes. From beneath their +narrow-brimmed, old, weather-beaten hats, streamed hair as unkemped as +their horses' manes. The Celtic physiognomy was distinctly marked--the +small and somewhat upturned nose; the black tint of skin; the eye now +looking gray, now black; the freckled cheek, and sandy hair. Beard and +whiskers covered half the face, and the short square-shouldered bodies +were bent forward with eager impatience, as they thumped and kicked +along their horses, muttering curses as they went. + +The heron, sailing on broad and seemingly slow vans, still kept them in +view. Anon, they reached a part of the moorland where traces of human +labor were visible. Black piles of peat stood on the solitary ground, +ready, after a summers cutting and drying. Presently patches of +cultivation presented themselves; plots of ground raised on beds, each a +few feet wide, with intervening trenches to carry off the boggy water, +where potatoes had grown, and small fields where grew more stalks of +ragwort than grass, inclosed by banks cast up and tipped here and there +with a briar or a stone. It was the husbandry of misery and indigence. +The ground had already been freshly manured by sea-weeds, but the +village--where was it? Blotches of burnt ground; scorched heaps of +rubbish, and fragments of blackened walls, alone were visible. +Garden-plots were trodden down, and their few bushes rent up, or hung +with tatters of rags. The two horsemen, as they hurried by with gloomy +visages, uttered no more than a single word: "Eviction!" + +Further on, the ground heaved itself into a chaotic confusion. Stony +heaps swelled up here and there, naked, black, and barren: the huge +bones of the earth protruded themselves through her skin. Shattered +rocks arose, sprinkled with bushes, and smoke curled up from what looked +like mere heaps of rubbish; but which were in reality human habitations. +Long dry grass hissed and rustled in the wind on their roofs (which were +sunk by-places, as if falling in); and pits of reeking filth seemed +placed exactly to prevent access to some of the low doors; while to +others, a few stepping-stones made that access only possible. Here the +two riders stopped, and hurriedly tying their steeds to an elder-bush, +disappeared in one of the cabins. + +The heron slowly sailed on to the place of its regular roost. Let us +follow it. + +Far different was this scene to those the bird had left. Lofty trees +darkened the steep slopes of a fine river. Rich meadows lay at the feet +of woods and stretched down to the stream. Herds of cattle lay on them, +chewing their cuds after the plentiful grazing of the day. The white +walls of a noble house peeped, in the dusk of night, through the fertile +timber which stood in proud guardianship of the mansion; and broad +winding walks gave evidence of a place where nature and art had combined +to form a paradise. There were ample pleasure-grounds. Alas! the grounds +around the cabins over which the heron had so lately flown, might be +truly styled pain-grounds. + +Within that home was assembled a happy family. There was the father, a +fine-looking man of forty. Proud you would have deemed him, as he sate +for a moment abstracted in his cushioned chair; but a moment afterward, +as a troop of children came bursting into the room, his manner was +instantly changed into one so pleasant, so playful, and so overflowing +with enjoyment, that you saw him only as an amiable, glad, domestic man. +The mother, a handsome woman, was seated already at the tea-table; and, +in another minute, sounds of merry voices and childish laughter were +mingled with the jocose tones of the father, and the playful accents of +the mother; addressed, now to one, and now to another, of the youthful +group. + +In due time the merriment was hushed, and the household assembled for +evening prayer. A numerous train of servants assumed their accustomed +places. The father read. He had paused once or twice, and glanced with a +stern and surprised expression toward the group of domestics, for he +heard sounds that astonished him from one corner of the room near the +door. He went on--"Remember the children of Edom, O Lord, in the day of +judgment, how they said, Down with it, down with it, even to the ground. +O daughter of Babylon, wasted with misery, yea, happy shall he be who +rewardeth thee, as thou hast served us!" + +There was a burst of smothered sobs from the same corner, and the +master's eye flashed with a strange fire as he again darted a glance +toward the offender. The lady looked equally surprised, in the same +direction; then turned a meaning look on her husband--a warm flush was +succeeded by a paleness in her countenance, and she cast down her eyes. +The children wondered, but were still. Once more the father's sonorous +voice continued--"Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our +trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us." Again the +stifled sound was repeated. The brow of the master darkened again--the +mother looked agitated; the children's wonder increased; the master +closed the book, and the servants, with a constrained silence, retired +from the room. + +"What _can_ be the matter with old Dennis?" exclaimed the lady, the +moment that the door had closed on the household.--"O! what is amiss +with poor old Dennis!" exclaimed the children. + +"Some stupid folly or other," said the father, morosely. "Come! away to +bed, children. You can learn Dennis's troubles another time." The +children would have lingered, but again the words, "Away with you!" in a +tone which never needed repetition, were decisive: they kissed their +parents and withdrew. In a few seconds the father rang the bell. "Send +Dennis Croggan here." + +The old man appeared. He was a little thin man, of not less than seventy +years of age, with white hair and a dark spare countenance. He was one +of those many nondescript servants in a large Irish house, whose duties +are curiously miscellaneous. He had, however, shown sufficient zeal and +fidelity through a long life, to secure a warm nook in the servants' +hall for the remainder of his days. + +Dennis entered with an humble and timid air, as conscious that he had +deeply offended; and had to dread at least a severe rebuke. He bowed +profoundly to both the master and mistress. + +"What is the meaning of your interruptions during the prayers, Dennis?" +demanded the master, abruptly. "Has any thing happened to you?" + +"No, sir." + +"Anything amiss in your son's family?" + +"No, your honor." + +The interrogator paused; a storm of passion seemed slowly gathering +within him. Presently he asked, in a loud tone, "What does this mean? +Was there no place to vent your nonsense in, but in this room, and at +prayers?" + +Dennis was silent. He cast an imploring look at the master, then at the +mistress. + +"What is the matter, good Dennis?" asked the lady, in a kind tone. +"Compose yourself, and tell us. Something strange must have happened to +you." + +Dennis trembled violently; but he advanced a couple of paces, seized the +back of a chair as if to support him, and, after a vain gasp or two, +declared, as intelligibly as fear would permit, that the prayer had +overcome him. + +"Nonsense, man!" exclaimed the master, with fury in the same face, which +was so lately beaming with joy on the children. "Nonsense! Speak out +without more ado, or you shall rue it." + +Dennis looked to the mistress as if he would have implored her +intercession; but as she gave no sign of it, he was compelled to speak; +but in a brogue that would have been unintelligible to English ears. We +therefore translate it: + +"I could not help thinking of the poor people at Rathbeg, when the +soldiers and police cried, 'Down with them! down with them, even to the +ground!' and then the poor bit cabins came down all in fire and smoke, +amid the howls and cries of the poor creatures. Oh! it was a fearful +sight, your honor--it was, indeed--to see the poor women hugging their +babies, and the houses where they were born burning in the wind. It was +dreadful to see the old bedridden man lie on the wet ground among the +few bits of furniture, and groan to his gracious God above. Oh, your +honor! you never saw such a sight, or--you--sure a--it would never have +been done!" + +Dennis seemed to let the last words out, as if they were jerked from him +by a sudden shock. + +The master, whose face had changed during this speech to a livid hue of +passion, his eyes blazing with rage, was in the act of rushing on old +Dennis, when he was held back by his wife, who exclaimed--"Oswald! be +calm; let us hear what Dennis has to say. Go on, Dennis--go on!" + +The master stood still, breathing hard to overcome his rage. Old Dennis, +as if seeing only his own thoughts, went on--"O, bless your honor! if +you had seen that poor frantic woman when the back of the cabin fell, +and buried her infant, where she thought she had laid it safe for a +moment, while she flew to part her husband and a soldier, who had struck +the other children with the flat of his sword, and bade them to troop +off! Oh, your honor, but it was a killing sight! It was that came over +me in the prayer, and I feared that we might be praying perdition on us +all, when we prayed about our trespasses. If the poor creatures of +Rathbeg should meet us, your honor, at Heaven's gate (I was thinking) +and say--'These are the heathens that would not let us have a poor +hearthstone in poor ould Ireland.' And that was all, your honor, that +made me misbehave so; I was just thinking of that, and I could not help +it." + +"Begone! you old fool!" exclaimed the master; and Dennis disappeared, +with a bow, and an alertness that would have done credit to his earlier +years. + +There was a moment's silence after his exit. The lady turned to her +husband, and clasping his arm with her hands, and looking into his +darkened countenance with a look of tenderest anxiety, said: + +"Dearest Oswald, let me, as I have so often done, once more entreat that +these dreadful evictions may cease. Surely there must be some way to +avert them, and to set your property right, without such violent +measures." + +The stern, proud man said, "Then, why, in the name of Heaven, do you not +reveal some other remedy? Why do you not enlighten all Ireland? Why +don't you instruct Government? The unhappy wretches who have been swept +away by force are no people, no tenants of mine. They squatted +themselves down, as a swarm of locusts fix themselves while a green +blade is left. They obstruct all improvement; they will not till the +ground themselves; nor will they quit it to allow me to provide more +industrious and provident husbandmen to cultivate it. Land that teems +with fertility, and is shut out from bearing and bringing forth food for +man, is accursed. Those who have been evicted, not only rob me; but +their more industrious fellows." + +"They will murder us!" said the wife, "some day for these things. They +will--" + +Her words were cut short suddenly by her husband starting, and standing +in a listening attitude. "Wait a moment," he said, with a peculiar +calmness, as if he had just got a fresh thought; and his lady, who did +not comprehend what was the cause, but hoped that some better influence +was touching him, unloosed her hands from his arm. "Wait just a moment," +he repeated, and stepped from the room, opened the front door, and +without his hat, went out. + +"He is intending to cool down his anger," thought his wife: "he feels a +longing for the freshness of the air." But she had not caught the sound +which had startled his quicker, because more excited ear: she had been +too much engrossed by her own intercession with him: it was a peculiar +whine from the mastiff, which was chained near the lodge-gate, that had +arrested his attention. He stepped out. The black clouds which overhung +the moor had broken, and the moon's light struggled between them. + +The tall and haughty man stood erect in the breeze and listened. Another +moment--there was a shot, and he fell headlong upon the broad steps on +which he stood. His wife sprang with a piercing shriek from the door, +and fell on his corpse. A crowd of servants gathered about them, making +wild lamentations, and breathing vows of vengeance. The murdered master +and the wife were borne into the house. + +The heron soared from its lofty perch, and wheeled with terrified wings +through the night air. The servants armed themselves; and, rushing +furiously from the house, traversed the surrounding masses of trees. +Fierce dogs were let loose, and dashed frantically through the thickets. +All was, however, too late. The soaring heron saw gray figures, with +blackened faces, stealing away--often on their hands and knees--down the +hollows of the moorlands toward the village; where the two Irish +horsemen had, in the first dusk of that evening, tied their lean steeds +to the old elder bush. + +Near the mansion no lurking assassin was to be found. Meanwhile, two +servants, pistol in hand, on a couple of their master's horses, scoured +hill, and dale. The heron, sailing solemnly on the wind above, saw them +halt in a little town. They thundered with the butt-ends of their +pistols on a door in the principal street. Over it there was a +coffin-shaped board, displaying a painted crown, and the big-lettered +words, "POLICE STATION." The mounted servants shouted with might and +main. A night-capped head issued from a chamber casement with--"What is +the matter?" + +"Out with you, Police! out with all your strength, and lose not a +moment; Mr. FitzGibbon, of Sporeen, is shot at his own door." + +The casement was hastily clapped to, and the two horsemen galloped +forward up the long, broad street; now flooded with the moon's light. +Heads full of terror were thrust from upper windows to inquire the cause +of that rapid galloping; but ever too late. The two men held their +course up a steep hill outside of the town, where stood a vast building +overlooking the whole place. It was the barracks. Here the alarm was +also given. + +In less than an hour, a mounted troop of police in olive-green costume, +with pistols at holster, sword by side, and carbine on the arm, were +trotting briskly out of town, accompanied by the two messengers; whom +they plied with eager questions. These answered, and sundry imprecations +vented, the whole party increased their speed, and went on, mile after +mile, by hedgerow and open moorland, talking as they went. + +Before they reached the house of Sporeen, and near the village where the +two Irish horsemen had stopped the evening before, they halted, and +formed themselves into more orderly array. A narrow gully was before +them on the road, hemmed in on each side by rocky steeps, here and there +overhung with bushes. The commandant bade them be on their guard, for +there might be danger there. He was right; for the moment they began to +trot through the pass, the flash and rattle of fire-arms from the +thickets above saluted them, followed by a wild yell. In a second, +several of their number lay dead or dying in the road. The fire was +returned promptly by the police; but it was at random, for although +another discharge, and another howl, announced that the enemy were still +there, no one could be seen. The head of the police commanded his troop +to make a dash through the pass; for there was no scaling the heights +from this side; the assailants having warily posted themselves there, +because at the foot of an eminence were stretched on either hand +impassable bogs. The troop dashed forward, firing their pistols as they +went; but were met by such deadly discharges of fire-arms as threw them +into confusion, killed and wounded several of their horses, and made +them hastily retreat. + +There was nothing for it, but to await the arrival of the cavalry; and +it was not long before the clatter of horses' hoofs and the ringing of +sabres were heard on the road. On coming up, the troop of cavalry, +firing to the right and left on the hill-sides, dashed forward, and, in +the same instant, cleared the gully in safety; the police having kept +their side of the pass. In fact, not a single shot was returned; the +arrival of this strong force having warned the insurgents to decamp. The +cavalry in full charge ascended the hills, to their summits. Not a foe +was to be seen, except one or two dying men, who were discovered by +their groans. + +The moon had been for a time quenched in a dense mass of clouds, which +now were blown aside by a keen and cutting wind. The heron, soaring over +the desert, could now see gray-coated men flying in different directions +to the shelter of the neighboring hills. The next day he was startled +from his dreamy reveries near the moorland stream, by the shouts and +galloping of mingled police and soldiers, as they gave chase to a couple +of haggard, bare-headed, and panting peasants. + +These were soon captured, and at once recognized as belonging to the +evicted inhabitants of the recently deserted village. + +Since then years have rolled on. The heron, who had been startled from +his quiet haunts by these things, was still dwelling on the lofty tree +with his kindred, by the hall of Sporeen. He had reared family after +family in that airy lodgment, as spring after spring came round; but no +family, after that fatal time, had ever tenanted the mansion. The widow +and children had fled from it so soon as Mr. FitzGibbon had been laid in +the grave. The nettle and dock flourished over the scorched ruins of the +village of Rathbeg; dank moss and wild grass tangled the proud drives +and walks of Sporeen. All the woodland rides and pleasure-grounds lay +obstructed with briars; and young trees, in time, grew luxuriantly where +once the roller in its rounds could not crush a weed; the nimble frolics +of the squirrel were now the only merry things where formerly the feet +of lovely children had sprung with elastic joy. + +The curse of Ireland was on the place. Landlord and tenant, gentleman +and peasant, each with the roots and the shoots of many virtues in their +hearts, thrown into a false position by the mutual injuries of ages, had +wreaked on each other the miseries sown broadcast by their ancestors. +Beneath this foul spell men who would, in any other circumstances, have +been the happiest and the noblest of mankind, became tyrants; and +peasants, who would have glowed with grateful affection toward them, +exulted in being their assassins. As the traveler rode past the decaying +hall, the gloomy woods, and waste black moorlands of Sporeen, he read +the riddle of Ireland's fate, and asked himself when an OEdipus would +arise to solve it. + + + + +SCOTTISH REVENGE. + + +A long time ago, when the powerful clan of the Cumyns were lords of half +the country round, the chief of that clan slew a neighboring chieftain, +with whom he had a feud; for feuds in those days were as easily found as +blackberries, and quarrels might be had any day in the year for the +_picking_. He that was slain had, at the time of his death, an only +child, an infant, of the name of Hugh. The widow treasured deep within +her heart the hope of vengeance, which the daily sight of her son, +recalling, by his features, the memory of her slaughtered husband, kept +ever awake. With the first opening of his intellect, he was instructed +in the deed that made him fatherless, and taught to look forward to +avenging his parent as a holy obligation cast upon him; and so, with his +strength and his stature, grew his hatred of the Cumyns, and his +resolution to take the life of him who had slain his father. He spent +his days in the woods practicing archery, till at length he became a +most expert bowman. None could send a shaft with so strong an arm, or so +true an aim, as Hugh Shenigan; and the eagle or the red deer was sure to +fall beneath his arrow, when the one was soaring too high in the air, or +the other fleeing too swiftly on the hill, for ordinary woodcraft. But +it was not the eagle or the deer that kept Hugh in the forest, and upon +the mountains, from the dawn of the morning till the setting of the sun. +He was watching for other prey, and at length chance brought what he +sought within his reach. One day he climbed up the side of Benigloe, and +took his station upon a spot that commanded a view of the glen between +it and the opposite range of hills. He had ascertained that Cumyn would +return to Blair by the glen that evening; and so it happened, that an +hour or so before sun-fall he espied the chieftain, with two of his +clan, wending onwards toward the base of the hill. A few minutes more, +and they would reach a point within the range of his bow. His practiced +eye measured the distance, and his heart throbbed with a fierce, dark +emotion, as he put the shaft to the thong, and drew it, with a strong +arm, to his ear. With a whiz, the arrow sped from the bow, and cleft the +air with the speed of light, while a wild shout burst from the lips of +the young archer. His anxiety, it would seem, did not suffer him to wait +till his foe had come within range of his arrow, for it sank quivering +into the earth at the foot of him for whose heart it was aimed. The +shout and the shaft alike warned the Cumyns that danger was nigh, and +not knowing by what numbers they might be assailed, they plunged into +the heather on the hill side, and were quickly lost to the sight. But +the young man watched with the keenness of an eagle, and his sense +seemed intensified with the terrible desire of vengeance that consumed +him. At length, just where the little stream falls from the crown of the +hill, the form of a man became visible, standing out from the sky, now +bright with the last light of the setting sun. With a strong effort, the +young man mastered the emotion of his heart, as the gambler becomes +calm, ere he throws the cast upon which he has staked his all. The bow +is strained to its utmost, the eye ranges along the shaft from feather +to barb, it is shot forth as if winged by the very soul of him who +impelled it. One moment of breathless suspense, and in the next the +chief of the Cumyns falls headlong into the stream, pierced through the +bowels by the deadly weapon. + + + + +POSTAL REFORM--CHEAP POSTAGE. + + +It is now upward of eleven years since the writer of this commenced +advocating "postal reform and cheap postage." At first it found but +little favor either from the public or the Post-Office Department. Many +considered the schemes Utopian, and if carried into effect would break +down the post-office: but neither ridicule or threats prevented him from +prosecuting his object until Congress was compelled in 1845 to reduce +the rates of postage to five and ten cents the half-ounce. + +The success attending even this partial reduction equaled the +expectations of its friends, and silenced the opposition of its enemies. +The friends of cheap postage, in New York and other places, renewed +their efforts to obtain a further reduction, and petitioned for a +uniform rate of two cents prepaid. But such was either the indifference +or hostility of a majority of the members that no definite action was +taken on the subject for six years, nor was it until the last session +that any reduction was made from the rates adopted in 1845. +Notwithstanding this shameful delay in complying with the wishes of the +people, the new law adopted _four_ rates instead of one, leaving the +prepayment of postage optional. Besides this, the new law imposes on +newspapers and printed matter a most unreasonable, burdensome, and +complicated tax, which has created universal dissatisfaction. + +The obnoxious features of the present law imperiously demand the +immediate attention of Congress. Neither the rates of postage on +letters, nor the tax on newspapers and printed matter, meet the wishes +of the friends of cheap postage. They have uniformly insisted upon +simplicity, uniformity, and cheapness. But the present law possesses +none of these requisites. On letters the rates in the United States are +three and five, six and ten cents, according to distance. Ocean postage +is enormous and too burdensome to be borne any longer. The rates of +postage on newspapers are so complicated that few postmasters can tell +what they are, and those on transient newspapers and printed matter +generally, are so enormous as to amount to a prohibition. A revision of +this law is rendered indispensable. Other reforms are required, some of +which I shall here notice. + +1. Letter postage should be reduced to a uniform rate of _two cents +prepaid_. This rate has been successfully adopted in Great Britain. It +has increased the letters and the income of the post-office. It is the +revenue point, sufficiently low, to encourage the people to write, and +to send all their letters through the post-office; and yet high enough +to afford ample revenue to pay the expenses of the Department. If this +rate is adopted, it will defy all competition, for none will attempt to +carry letters cheaper than the post-office. + +2. _Ocean postage_ is enormous and burdensome, especially upon that +class of persons which is least able to bear it. It has been computed by +those who are competent to judge, that about three-quarters of the ship +letters are written by emigrants, and are letters of friendship and +affection. The greater portion of them are from persons in poor +circumstances, and to tax them with _twenty-four_ or _twenty-nine_ cents +for a single letter is cruel. To send a letter and receive an answer, +will cost a servant girl half a week's wages, and a poor man in the +country will have to work a day to earn the value of the postage of a +letter to and from his friends in Europe. Were the postage reduced to a +low rate, _ten_ letters would be written where one now is, and the +revenue, in a short period, would be equal if not greater than under the +present high rates. During the last twelve months, the amount received +for transatlantic postages was not less than _a million of dollars_, and +three-fourths of this sum has been paid by the laboring classes on +letters relating to their domestic relations and friendship. + +3. Next to the reduction of inland and ocean postage is the _free +delivery_ of mail letters in all the large towns and cities. An +improvement has been attempted by the Postmaster-general in respect of +letters to be sent by the mails. They are now conveyed to the +post-office free of any charge; and the next step necessary is to cause +them to be delivered without any addition to the postage. A letter is +carried by the mails _three thousand miles_ for three cents, but if it +is sent three hundred yards from the post-office, it is charged _two +cents_! This is not only an unreasonable tax, but is attended with much +inconvenience both to the carrier and receiver of the letter, in the +trouble of making the change, and the delay attending the delivery of +letters. If the prepayment of the postage covered the whole expense, a +carrier could deliver ten letters where he now delivers _one_, and fewer +persons would be able to deliver them. Two cents cover the whole expense +of postage and delivery of letters in London, and there is no reason why +they can not be delivered in New York and other cities as cheaply as +they are in the capital of Great Britain. The expense to the post-office +would be comparatively small, as the income from city letters would be +nearly equal to what would be paid if an efficient city delivery was +adopted. If the free delivery should be adopted, it would be a great +relief to the people, and this like every other facility afforded by the +post-office, would tend to increase the number of letters sent by the +mails. + +4. The _franking privilege_ should be wholly abolished. This has been so +much abused, that the people have loudly complained of it, and almost +every Postmaster-general for the last ten years has recommended its +abolition. Instead, however, of diminishing or repealing it, it has been +increased, so that two sets of members can now exercise it, and the +cart-loads of franked matter sent from Washington show that it is a dead +weight upon the Department. At the last session, one member had +twenty-eight large canvas bags of franked matter, weighing not less than +_five thousand pounds_! To say nothing of the vast expense of printing +and binding millions of documents and speeches which are never read, the +burden, and labor, and cost to the post-office are incalculable. When +newspapers were few in number, there might have been a necessity to send +out speeches and documents, but as newspapers are published in all parts +of the Union, every important report and speech is published and read +long before it can be printed and sent from Washington. Let the members +of Congress be furnished with a sufficient number of stamps to cover +their postage, and these be paid for as the other expenses of Congress. +The frank was wholly abolished in Great Britain, when the cheap system +was adopted, so that Queen Victoria herself can not now frank a letter! + +5. But the grievance, which is now felt and most complained of by the +people, is the complicated and burdensome tax on newspapers and other +printed matter. It has heretofore been the good policy of Congress to +favor the circulation of newspapers throughout the country, and +accordingly one and a half cents was the highest rate charged to regular +subscribers for any distance, and two cents, prepaid, for transient +papers. These rates were plain and easy to be understood, and few were +disposed to complain of them, although they were much higher than they +should be. The new bill has some _sixty_ or _seventy_ different rates, +and so complicated, depending upon _weight_ and _distance_, that not one +postmaster in twenty can tell what postage should be charged upon +newspapers. Again the rates are enormous. For example, a newspaper in +California, weighing one ounce or under, is charged _five cents_ +prepaid, and if not prepaid _ten cents_, and the same for every +additional ounce; hence the Courier and Enquirer or Journal of Commerce, +weighing two and one quarter ounces, is charged to San Francisco +_fifteen cents_ prepaid, and if not prepaid _thirty cents_! What is the +effect of this law? It prohibits the circulation of newspapers through +the post-office entirely, and all that are now sent go by private +expresses. If I understand the subject correctly, it was the object of +those who proposed the "substitute" to the Bill which passed the House +of Representatives, to _exclude_ from the mails _newspapers_ and +_printed_ matter. _Is this right?_ + +6. Another reform which should be made by Congress, is the payment of +postage entirely by _stamps_. If no money was received at the +post-office except for stamps, and the postage on every thing passing +through the office prepaid, the saving of labor would be immense, both +to the general post-office and local offices. But this is not the only +advantage. The amount lost, by the destruction of post bills, is +incalculable. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are unaccounted for and +lost every year by the Department, by the present loose, inefficient +system of accounting for the postages received on letters and +newspapers. While this system continues there is not, and can not be any +_check_ on the postmasters. Let the payment of postage be made by +stamps, and it would be an effectual check upon every post-office, and +the Department would receive the money for every stamp sold, whether it +was used by the purchaser or not. This is a subject worthy of the +serious consideration of Congress and the Post-Office Department. + +7. There is one more improvement which I would recommend before closing +this already long article, and that is the establishment of a +_money-order office_. This would not only be a great convenience to the +people, especially to the poorer class, but it would also prove a source +of revenue to the post-office. During the last year, there were sent +through the money-order office in Great Britain upward of _forty +millions_ of dollars! When it is recollected that each order is limited +to _twenty-five dollars_, the number of letters carrying these orders +must be very large, adding to the receipts of the post-office. The same +results would follow a similar establishment in the United States. There +being no guarantee for the safe delivery of money, transmitted by the +mails, such letters are now sent by private expresses, for which they +receive a remunerating compensation. + +I have briefly suggested some of the reforms which I deem necessary for +the improvement of the post-office. It was said last winter by some of +our Senators in Congress, in their places, that "OURS IS THE WORST +MANAGED POST-OFFICE IN THE WORLD." I can not agree with them in this +assertion. But I regret to say that it is not the _best_ managed, nor so +good as it should and _must_ be. The great drawback to its improvement, +and, I may add, the curse that rests upon it, is its being made a +_political_ machine. It was a great and fatal mistake to make the +Postmaster-general a member of the Cabinet. The great personal worth of +Mr. McLean induced President Monroe to take him into his Cabinet, and +the practice has been continued ever since. The consequence is, that the +Postmaster-general is changed under every new administration. In less +than two years we had _three_, and two assistants. How can it be +expected that men, whatever may be their talents, can make themselves +acquainted with the business of the office in the short space of three +or four years? Before they are warm in their seats they are removed. +Besides, after a new administration comes in, it takes six or twelve +months to turn out political opponents and appoint their friends. If, +instead of this, when intelligent and efficient men are in office (no +matter what their political affinities may be), they were continued, it +would be an inducement to make improvements, and an encouragement to +fidelity; but now there is no security to any man that he will be +continued one hour, nor any encouragement to excel in the faithful +discharge of his duty. These things ought not so to be. + +There is another practice which greatly retards the improvement of our +post-office, and that is the manner in which the post-office committees +are appointed in Congress. At every session of Congress new committees +are appointed by the Senate and House, a majority of which is composed +of the dominant political party, without much regard to their +qualifications. For a number of years there has been scarcely a single +member selected from any of our large cities, where the principal +portion of the revenue is collected, consequently, they are persons who +have little or no knowledge of post-office business, or the wants of the +people. Their principal business is to obtain new post-routes, but any +improvement of postal concerns is little thought of. Hence the +Post-Office Department may be considered a vast political machine, +wielded for the benefit of the party in power; and there is not an +appointment made, from the Postmaster-general down to the postmaster of +the smallest office, without a special regard to the politics of the +person appointed. + +The only correction of this evil, under the present system, is to give +the appointment of all the postmasters to the people. They are the best +qualified to judge of the character and qualifications of the person who +will serve them in the most acceptable manner; and the postmasters, +knowing that they are dependent upon the people for their offices, will +be more obliging and attentive in the discharge of their duties. This +will diminish the patronage of the President and the Postmaster-general, +which I have not a doubt they would gladly part with, as there is +nothing more troublesome and perplexing to a conscientious man, than the +exercise of this power. + +In the old world, where monarchy exists, the press is called the "fourth +estate;" but with us, where "_vox populi_, _vox Dei_," the press and the +ballot-box may be considered the sovereign. The press utters the wish of +the people, and the ballot-box confirms that wish. Hence, if the press +speaks out clearly and strongly in favor of postal reform, the people +will sanction it by their votes in selecting men to represent their +wishes in the councils of the nation. Our post-office, instead of being +denounced the "worst," should be made the _best_ managed in the world. +We have no old prejudices or established customs to abolish, no +pensioners or sinecures to support, no jealousy on the part of the +government against the diffusion of knowledge through the mails; but we +have an intelligent, active, liberal gentleman at the head of the +Post-Office Department, who desires to meet the wants and wishes of the +people. Therefore we have reason to hope that in due time our +post-office will be established on such a footing as to secure the +patronage and support of the people, defying all competition, and +superior to any similar establishment in the world. + +B.B. + + + + +SYRIAN SUPERSTITIONS. + + +There are some superstitious observances, which are strictly adhered to +by the peasants employed in rearing the silk-worm. Thus, when the eggs +are first hatched, the peasant's wife rises up very early in the +morning, and creeping stealthily to the master's house, flings a piece +of wet clay against the door. If the clay adheres, it is a sign that +there will be a good mousoum or silk harvest: if it do not stick, then +the contrary may be expected. During the whole time the worms are being +reared, no one but the peasants themselves are permitted to enter the +khook or hut; and, when the worms give notice that they are about to +mount and form their cocoons, then the door is locked, and the key +handed to the proprietor of the plantation. After a sufficient time has +elapsed, and the cocoons are supposed to be well and strongly formed, +the proprietor, followed by the peasants, marches in a kind of +procession up to the huts, and, first dispensing a few presents among +them, and hoping for good, to which they all reply, "Inshalla! +Inshalla!--please God! please God," the key is turned, the doors thrown +wide open, and the cocoons are detached from the battours of cane mats, +and prepared for reeling the next day. + + + + +Monthly Record of Current Events. + + +UNITED STATES + +The past month has not been one of special interest, either at home or +abroad. None of the great legislative bodies of the country have been in +session, and political action has been confined to one or two of the +Southern States. The annual Agricultural Fair of the State of New York +was held at Rochester on the three days following the 17th of September, +and was attended by a larger number of persons, and with greater +interest than usual. Hon. STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, United States Senator from +Illinois, delivered the address, which was a clear and interesting +sketch of the progress and condition of agriculture in the United +States. The number of persons in attendance at the Fair is estimated to +have exceeded one hundred and fifty thousand. The State Agricultural +Society of New York is gaining strength every year. A very interesting +Railroad Jubilee was held in Boston on the 17th of September, to +celebrate the completion of railroad communication between Boston and +Ogdensburg, thus connecting the New England capital with the Western +lakes by two distinct routes. President FILLMORE and several members of +his Cabinet were present, as were also Lord ELGIN and several other +distinguished gentlemen from Canada. An immense multitude of people was +in attendance to celebrate this triumph of business, energy, and +enterprise. Brief public congratulations were exchanged between the +municipal officers of Boston and their guests, and a grand aquatic +excursion down the bay took place on the 18th. The celebration lasted +three days, and was closed by a grand civic feast under a pavilion on +the Common. + +No event of the past month has excited more general interest, than the +return of the two vessels sent to the Arctic Ocean a year and a half +ago, by Mr. HENRY GRINNELL of New York, to aid in the search for Sir +JOHN FRANKLIN. The _Advance_ reached New York on the 1st of October; the +_Rescue_ was a few days later. Although unsuccessful in the main object +of their search, the gallant officers and men by whom these vessels were +manned, have enjoyed their cruise, and returned without the loss of a +single life and in excellent health. They entered Wellington Sound on +the 26th of August, 1850, and were at once joined by Capt PENNY, who +commanded the vessel sent out by Lady FRANKLIN. On the 27th, three +graves were discovered, known by inscriptions upon them to be those of +three of Sir JOHN FRANKLIN'S crew. The presence of Sir JOHN at that spot +was thus established at as late a date as in April, 1846. On the 8th of +September, the vessels forced their way through the ice, and on the +10th, reached Griffith's Island, which proved to be the ultimate limit +of their western progress. On the 13th, they started to return, but were +frozen in near the mouth of Wellington Channel, and for nine months they +continued thus, unable to move, threatened with destruction by the +crushing of the ice around them, and borne along by the southeast drift +until, on the 10th of June, they emerged into open sea, and found +themselves in latitude 65° 30', and one thousand and sixty miles from +the spot at which they became fixed in the ice. The history of Arctic +navigation records no drift at all to be compared with this, either for +extent or duration. The intervening season was full of peril. The ice +crushing the sides of the vessels, forced them several feet out of +water. The thermometer fell to 40 degrees below zero. The _Rescue_ was +abandoned, for the sake of saving fuel, and on two occasions, the crews +had left their vessels, expecting to see them crushed to atoms between +the gigantic masses of ice that threatened them on either side, and with +their knapsacks on their backs had prepared to strike off across the ice +for land, which was nearly a hundred miles off. The scurvy made its +appearance, and was very severe in its ravages, especially among the +officers. + +After refitting his vessels on the coast of Greenland, Captain DE HAVEN, +who had the command of the expedition, started again for the North. +After passing Baffin's Bay on the 8th of August, he became again +hopelessly entangled in the vast masses of ice that were floating +around, and was compelled to start for the United States. The expedition +is likely to contribute essentially to our knowledge of the natural +history of that remote region of the earth, as Dr. KANE, an intelligent +naturalist, who went in the vessels as surgeon, has very complete +memoranda of every thing of interest especially in this department. +Although unable to find any distinct traces of him later than 1846, the +officers of the expedition think it far from impossible that Sir JOHN +FRANKLIN may be still alive, hemmed in by ice at a point which they were +unable to reach. They agree in the opinion that a steamer of some kind +should accompany any other expedition that may be sent. + +A State election took place in GEORGIA, on the 7th of October, which has +a general interest on account of the issues which it involved. The old +political distinctions were entirely superseded, both candidates for +Governor having belonged to the Democratic party--one of them, however, +Hon. HOWELL COBB, late Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, +being in favor of abiding by the Compromise measures of 1850, and his +opponent Mr. MCDONALD being opposed to them, and in favor of secession +from the Union. Up to the time of closing this record, full returns have +not been received; but it is quite certain that Mr. COBB, the Union +candidate, has been elected by a very large majority. Full returns of +the Congressional canvass, which was held at the same time, have not yet +reached us; but it is believed that six Union, and two State Rights +members have been elected. + +The Legislature of VERMONT met at Montpelier on the 9th of October. The +House was organized by the election of Mr. Powers, speaker, and Mr. C. +T. Davey, clerk. The message of Gov. Williams treats of national topics +at considerable length. He insists that the laws must be obeyed, and +vindicates the _habeas corpus_ act passed by Vermont at the last session +of its Legislature from many of the censures that have been cast upon +it. + +The month has been distinguished by an unusual number of steamboat +explosions, railroad casualties, crimes and accidents of various sorts. +The steamer _Brilliant_, on her way up the Mississippi from New Orleans, +on the 28th of September, while near Bayou Sara, burst her boiler, +killing fifteen or twenty persons, wounding as many more, and making a +complete wreck of the vessel. A brig on Lake Erie, having left Buffalo +for Chicago, sprung a leak on the 30th of September, and sunk within an +hour. About twenty persons were drowned, only one of those on board +escaping. All but he got into the longboat, which capsized; he fastened +himself to the foremast of the brig, which left him, as the vessel +touched bottom, about four feet out of water. He remained there two days +when he was rescued by a passing steamer. + +A very severe storm swept over the northeast coast of British America on +the 5th of October, doing immense injury to the fishing vessels, nearly +a hundred of them being driven ashore. About three hundred persons are +supposed to have perished in the wrecks, and great numbers of dead +bodies had been drifted ashore. + +The steamer _James Jackson_, while near Shawneetown, in Illinois, on the +21st of September, burst her boiler, killing and wounding thirty-five +persons, and tearing the boat to pieces. The scene on board at the time +of the explosion is described as having been heart-rending. + +A duel was fought at Vienna, S.C. on the 27th of September, in which Mr. +Smyth, one of the editors of the Augusta Constitutionalist, was wounded +by a ball through the thigh from the pistol of his antagonist, Dr. +Thomas of Augusta. The meeting grew out of a newspaper controversy, +Smyth taking offense at an article in the Chronicle of which Thomas +avowed himself the author.--Another duel, with a still more serious +result took place in Brownsville, Texas, on the 8th. The parties were +Mr. W.H. Harrison and Mr. W.G. Clarke, who met in the street with +five-barreled pistols. Clarke fell at the second fire, receiving his +antagonist's ball near the heart.--Mr. W. Laughlin, an alderman in the +city of New Orleans, and a very respectable and influential citizen, was +killed by William Silk, another alderman, on the 29th of September: the +affray grew out of political differences. + +The great Railroad Conspiracy trials at Detroit terminated on the 25th +of September, by a verdict of guilty against twelve of the prisoners and +acquitting the rest. Two of them were sentenced to the State Prison for +ten years, six for eight years, and four for five years. + +Father MATHEW has returned from his visit to the Western States, and has +been spending a few weeks in New York. Some of the most influential +gentlemen of New York city have appealed to the public for contributions +to form a fund of twenty-five or thirty thousand dollars for his aid: it +is seconded by a very strong letter from Mr. CLAY. Father Mathew is soon +to leave the United States for Ireland. + +A number of the literary gentlemen of New York have taken steps to +render some fitting tribute to the memory of the late JAMES FENIMORE +COOPER. A preliminary meeting was held at the City Hall, at which +WASHINGTON IRVING presided, and a committee was appointed to consider +what measures will be most appropriate. The delivery of a eulogium and +the erection of a statue are suggested as likely to be fixed upon. At a +meeting of the New York Historical Society, held on the 7th of October, +resolutions upon the subject were adopted. + +The Episcopal Convention of the New York diocese was held on the 24th of +September, and the Rev. Dr. CREIGHTON, of Tarrytown, was elected, after +a protracted canvass, Provisional Bishop. He is a native of New York, +graduated at Columbia College in 1812, and has officiated at Grace +Church and St Mark's Church, in New York. + +From CALIFORNIA our intelligence is to the 6th of September. San +Francisco and Sacramento have been the scenes of great excitement. The +self-appointed Vigilance Committee, which was organized to supervise, +and, if it should be deemed necessary, to supersede the criminal courts, +has given terrible proofs of its energy. Two men named Whittaker and +McKenzie were in prison at San Francisco awaiting their trial. Fearing +that justice might not be done them, the Vigilance Committee broke in +the prison doors, took the men out during divine service on Sunday, and +hung them both in front of the building. An immense crowd of people was +present, approving and encouraging the proceedings. The regular +authorities made very slight resistance to the mob. At Sacramento three +men had been convicted of highway robbery and sentenced to be hung. One +of them, named Robinson, was respited by the Governor, for a month. The +day for executing the sentence of the law upon the other two arrived. A +large concourse of people was present. The sheriff ordered the two men, +Gibson and Thompson, to the place of execution, and directed Robinson to +be taken to a prison-ship in which he could be secured. The crowd, +however, refused to allow this, but retained him in custody. The two men +were then executed by the sheriff, who immediately left the ground. +Robinson was then brought forward and, after proper religious exercises, +was hung. These occurrences created a good deal of excitement in +California at the time, but it soon subsided. It seems to have been +universally conceded that the men deserved their fate, and that only +justice had been attained, although by irregular means. + +The news from the mines continues to be encouraging. The companies were +all doing well, and extensive operations were in progress to work the +gold-bearing quartz. The steamer _Lafayette_ was burned on the 9th, at +Chagres. Marysville, in California, was visited on the night of August +30th, by a very destructive fire. The steamer _Fawn_ burst her boiler +near Sacramento on the 28th of August; five or six persons were killed. + +From NEW MEXICO we have news to the end of September. Colonel Sumner's +expedition against the Navajo Indians had reached Cyrality, in the very +heart of the Indian country, and intended to erect a fort there. The +Indians were swarming on his rear, threatening hostilities. News had +reached Santa Fé that five of Colonel Sumner's men had perished for want +of water, before reaching Laguna. The troops were scattered along the +road for forty miles, and horses were daily giving out. Colonel Sumner +will establish a post at St. Juan, one in the Navajo country, and one at +Don Ana. + +Quite an excitement had been raised at Santa Fé by the demand of the +Catholic Bishop for the church edifice commonly known as the Military +Church. Under the Mexican Government it was used exclusively as the +chapel of the army. Since the conquest it had been used by the United +States army as an ordnance house. After the departure of the troops, +Chief Justice Baker obtained from Col. Brooks permission to occupy the +house as a court room. The Catholic clergy considered this as a +desecration of the house, and consequently objected to its being thus +appropriated. The commotion was quelled by the Governor's surrendering +the key to the Bishop, formally putting the possession of the building +into the hands of the Church.--Major Weightman is certain to be elected +delegate to Congress.--Much misunderstanding exists between the Judges +in construing the laws in regard to holding the courts, and some fear a +good deal of delay in administering justice in consequence, as the +lawyers are refusing to bring suits until there shall be unanimity among +the Judges.--The difficulty between Mr. Bartlett and Colonel Graham, of +the Boundary Commission, is still unsettled. The former was progressing +with the survey. + +Rain had fallen to some extent throughout New Mexico, and vegetation was +consequently beginning to revive. + + +MEXICO. + +Late advices from the City of Mexico state that the Cabinet resigned in +a body on the 2d of September, and much disaffection prevailed +throughout the country, which was in the most deplorable and abject +condition. + +The Convention of the Governors of the different States, called for the +purpose of devising some means for the relief of the difficulties under +which the people are now laboring, had met, and, without taking any +decisive action on the subject, adjourned, causing great +dissatisfaction. Don Fernando Ramnez has accepted the appointment of +Minister of Foreign Affairs, and is charged with the formation of a new +Cabinet. The Tehuantepec question engages public attention to a very +great degree. The press represent that if the Americans are allowed to +construct a railroad across the isthmus, the adjoining country will be +colonized, revolutionized, and annexed to the United States, and that +another large and valuable department will thus be lost to Mexico. It is +stated that the Government has sent 3000 men to defend the isthmus +against the Americans, but this we are inclined to doubt. + +A revolution has broken out in Northern Mexico which, thus far, has +proved entirely successful. It commenced at Camargo, where the Patriots +attacked the Mexicans. The Patriots came off victorious, having taken +the town by storm, with a loss on the side of the Mexicans of 60. The +Government troops were intrenched in a church, with artillery. The +people of the town had held a meeting, at which it was resolved to +accept the pronunciamiento issued by the Revolutionists. The Mexican +troops stationed there were allowed to march out of the town with the +honors of war. The Revolutionists were determined to defend the place. +The Revolutionists are commanded by Carabajal, who has also with him two +companies of Texans. At the last accounts they were marching on +Matamoras and Reynosa. Gen. Avalos, who is at Matamoras, has only 200 +troops. He had made a requisition on the city for 2000, but the city +refused to raise a single man. The plan of the Revolutionists was a +pronunciamiento which was widely circulated. The pronunciamiento +pronounces "death to tyrants." The reasons given for the revolt are: +1st. The utter failure of the Mexican Government to protect the northern +Mexican States from Indian depredations. 2d. The unjust, unequal, +prohibitory system of duties, which operates most destructively on the +interests of the people of the frontier. 3d. The despotic power exerted +by the Federal Government over the rights and representation of several +States. Beside Camargo, Mier, Tampico, and several other towns were in +the hands of the insurgents. A report having reached Matamoras that the +invaders were preparing to march upon them, a large number of the +inhabitants, including all the woman and children, fled, leaving only +two hundred and fifty men in the town. + + +CENTRAL AMERICA. + +This country continues to be in a very disturbed condition. The +revolution started by Munoz is still in progress, the leader being, at +the latest dates, about to march upon Granada with the intention of +taking that city by force if it would not yield. The government, +however, had impressed into its service all the seamen in port, and many +of those in the service of the canal company. + +A military disturbance had occurred at San Juan. A company of native +soldiers was sent by the local authorities with orders to take as their +prisoner a certain American, of the name of M'Lean, suspected of being +a political spy. The soldiers surrounded the shanty where M'Lean and a +dozen other Americans on their return from California, had halted, and +fired into it, killing a negro and severely wounding a white man. The +Americans returned the fire, killing one man and dispersing the whole +company. Next day the affair was compromised by an agreement that M'Lean +should leave the country, which he did. + +An insurrection has broken out in the States of San Salvador and +Guatemala. General Carrera with 1500 men had attacked the enemy in San +Salvador and defeated them, but he did not follow up his advantage. + +Mr. Chatfield, the English consul in Nicaragua, has become involved in +another difficulty with the authorities. His _exequatur_ has been +revoked, on account of his refusal to recognize the Central Government. + + +SOUTH AMERICA. + +We have news from Buenos Ayres to the 18th of August. The war raging in +that country is becoming more and more important, and a brief sketch of +its origin and character may be useful in aiding our readers to +understand the course of events. The contest is properly between Brazil +and Buenos Ayres, and the prize for which the two forces are contending +is the province of Uruguay. Until 1821 Uruguay was a province of Buenos +Ayres; but Pedro I. of Brazil, by the lavish use of bribes and other +agencies, equally potent and equally corrupt, succeeded in +revolutionizing the country and attaching it to Brazil. In 1825 Uruguay +declared itself free, and in 1828 it was recognized as a free government +by the Plata Confederation, in which recognition Brazil was obliged to +concur. Upon the abdication of Pedro, which occurred soon after, Brazil +was governed by a regency of which Louis Philippe obtained complete +control. France, Spain, and Portugal formed a design of re-annexing +Uruguay to Brazil, and they found facile allies in this purpose in the +Brazilian Court, which sought to extend the boundaries of the Empire to +the coasts of the River Plata and the Uruguay, and to occupy the vast +and fertile territory which they include. From that time to this, with +occasional intermissions, the war has been going on. Rosas, dictator of +Buenos Ayres, struggles with the strength of desperation for the +recovery of Uruguay, and he is aided by Oribe, the President of Uruguay, +who resists to the utmost the designs of Brazil, and prefers annexation +to Buenos Ayres. Against them are the Brazilian troops, aided by +Urquiza, formerly a general under Rosas, but subsequently a traitor to +him and his country. + +On the 20th of July Urquiza and Garzon crossed the Uruguay with a large +force, which was constantly increased by desertions from the army of +Oribe: they were to be joined by a Brazilian army of 12,000 men, and the +war was to be carried into the heart of Buenos Ayres. On the 26th, Oribe +issued a proclamation against Urquiza, and on the 30th marched with a +large force to meet him. At our latest advices the troops on both sides +were preparing for a grand battle, which must be, to a considerable +extent, decisive of the question at issue. It is very difficult to +acquire accurate and reliable information from the papers which reach +us, as they are without exception partisan prints, and far more +solicitous to magnify the deeds and strength of their respective +parties, than to tell the truth. By the time our next Number is issued +we shall probably receive decisive intelligence. + +From Valparaiso our dates are to the 1st of September. Of the loan of +three hundred thousand dollars asked for by the Chilian government, only +seventy thousand had been raised. Two or three shocks of an earthquake +had been felt at Conception, but very little injury was sustained. The +coinage at the National Mint during the first half of this year, up to +July 10th, had amounted to two million dollars and upward, in 127,101 +gold doubloons. The Custom House receipts for the year ending 30th June, +1851, exceed those of the previous year $118,389.70. Reciprocity has +been established with Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bremen, Sardinia, +Denmark, United States, France, Great Britain, Hamburg, Oldenburg, +Prussia, and the Sandwich Islands. It is reported that Peru has entered +into a close alliance with Brazil against Rosas. Reciprocity has been +established in Chilian ports for Swedish and Norwegian vessels. The +rails are laid on the Copiaco Railroad, a distance of 26 miles. On the +20th of July, the first locomotive engine ran through from Caldera to +the Valley, and has since been transporting timber and iron for the +extension of the track. + + +GREAT BRITAIN. + +We have intelligence from England to the 30th of September, but there is +very little worthy a place in our Record. The Queen and Court were still +in Scotland, at Balmoral, and of course the public eye was turned +thither for all news of interest. Parliament was not in session, but +several of the members had met their constituents at county gatherings. +Lord PALMERSTON delivered an elaborate speech at Tiverton, on the 24th, +which gave material for a good deal of comment. It was a general review +of the condition of the kingdom, with a vindicatory sketch of the policy +pursued by the government. He dwelt eloquently on the admirable manner +in which the great Exhibition had been conducted, and the excellent +effect it would have upon the various nations whose representatives it +had brought together. The Catholic question, the corn-laws, and the +slave-trade were treated briefly and cogently. The speech was very able, +and very well received. Sir EDWARD BULWER LYTTON, after holding himself +aloof from politics for several years, has again come forward and avowed +his willingness to represent the County of Hertford in Parliament. He +professes a firm belief in protection principles, and expresses the +belief that the present free-trade system is ruining the country. Mr. +DISRAELI addressed the citizens of Buckinghamshire on the 17th, the +occasion being an agricultural dinner. He represented the effect of +free-trade upon the leading interests of England as having been +exceedingly disastrous, but avowed his conviction that the protective +system could not be restored, and urged the importance of reforms in the +financial administration of the country. He referred frequently to the +history of his own course in Parliament, and indicated a suspicion that +the new reform bill of the Ministry would prove to aim rather at +curtailing the influence of the agricultural class, than to effect any +desirable change. Mr. HUME met an assembly of his constituents on the +13th, at Montrose, and addressed them on the necessity of a more +economical administration of public affairs, if England desired to +compete with the United States. The people ought to insist, he said, +upon such a new reform bill as should give every householder a vote in +the national representation. This would increase the number of voters +from nine hundred thousand to between three and four millions. + +The vessels sent out by the English government in search of Sir JOHN +FRANKLIN, have returned, without any further discoveries than those +already recorded. The officers assert their belief that Sir JOHN is +still alive and shut up by ice, at a point beyond any which the +expedition was able to reach. They have applied to the government for a +steam propeller, with which, they are confident, they can reach the +region where he is supposed to be confined. No answer to this +application has yet been made. + +The Crystal Palace continued to be crowded with visitors. The +approaching close of the Exhibition had caused an increase in the number +in attendance. The close is fixed for the middle of October, and +notwithstanding the strenuous efforts made for its preservation, the +building will probably be taken down soon after. + +Hon. ABBOTT LAWRENCE, the American Minister, has been making a tour +through Ireland. He was received every where with great enthusiasm. +Public receptions awaited him at Galway and Limerick, and at both these +cities he made brief addresses, expressing the interest taken by himself +and his countrymen in the affairs of Ireland. The project of a line of +steamers between Galway and the Atlantic coast was pressed upon his +attention. + +Emigration from Ireland continues rapidly to increase, and many towns +have been almost depopulated. Every body who can get away seems inclined +to leave. The census returns show that the population of Ireland has +diminished very considerably within the last ten years. The potato crop +promises to be generally good, though the disease has made its +appearance in several localities. In all other crops the returns will be +above the average. + +An experiment has been made in England with a steam plow, which proved +highly successful. + +Another attempt has been made, with a good degree of success, to +establish telegraphic communication across the Straits of Dover. A large +cable has been prepared and sunk in the Channel from one shore to the +other, and so far as could be perceived, it promised to answer the +purpose. This will bring London into immediate connection with every +part of the Continent. + + +FRANCE. + +The government is pushing to the extreme its measures of severity +against the press. Upon the merest rumor about two hundred foreigners +were suddenly arrested by the authorities, on charge of conspiracy, +though investigation proved the charge to be utterly groundless, and led +to the immediate discharge of most of them. The _Constitutionnel_ +lavished the most extravagant eulogiums upon the government for its +action in this case. One of the sons of Victor Hugo in a newspaper +article ventured to protest against these eulogiums, for which he was +condemned to an imprisonment of nine months, and a fine of 2200 francs; +and M. Meurice, the proprietor of the _Evenement_, the paper in which +the article appeared, to imprisonment for nine months, and a fine of +3000 francs. The _Presse_ was condemned in a similar penalty for a like +offense, and several papers in the country districts have been visited +with the utmost severity for reflecting upon the government. Meantime +the official journals are allowed to indulge in the most direct and +emphatic denunciations of the Republic. + +The whole tendency of the government is toward an unbridled despotism. +Arrests are made on the slightest suspicion. Police agents are quartered +in cafés. Houses are entered and papers searched, in a style befitting +the worst despotism in the world rather than a nominal Republic. There +have been various rumors of conspiracies and intended insurrection, but +they seem to have been groundless. + +The President laid the foundation stone of the great central market +hall, which the city is erecting at a cost of over five million dollars, +near St. Eustache. The ceremony was witnessed by an immense concourse. +The President in his speech took occasion to express the hope that he +might be able to "lay upon the soil of France some foundations whereupon +will be erected a social edifice, sufficiently solid to afford a shelter +against the violence and mobility of human passions." + + +EASTERN AND SOUTHERN EUROPE. + +An important commercial treaty has been concluded in Germany. Hanover +has joined the Prussian Zollverein, having heretofore been the head of a +separate association, called the Steuerverein, which has been by this +movement dissolved. The custom-duties of the Zollverein have been levied +on a protective scale; by this new arrangement, the rates will be +lowered. The conclusion of this treaty has created a marked sensation in +Vienna, as the journals there were loudly predicting the dissolution of +the Zollverein. + +The Emperor of Austria has written to Prince Schwartzenberg, urging the +necessity of increased economy in public affairs. The King of Prussia is +about to abolish the Landwehr, and have none but regular troops in his +service. + +The Austrian government has exercised its severity upon the humorist, +Saphir, who edited a small paper in Vienna. He has been sentenced to +three months' imprisonment and the suppression of his journal for a +similar period, for having printed a humorous article on the recent +ordinances, which the court-martial declared to be an attempt to excite +popular ill-feeling toward the government. He is over sixty years old, +and quite infirm from disease. The authorities, as if to make their acts +as ridiculous as possible, lately punished a printer and a hatter, the +former for wearing, and the latter for making a Klapka hat. The whole +system of government is oppressive and tyrannical in the extreme. A +writer from Vienna to the London _Daily News_, says that it hampers, +impedes, nay, crushes, every kind of superior talent not of a military +cast. Lawyers of all kinds are suspected of treason, even those whom the +government itself employs; they are watched; their practice is taken +away from them; they are not permitted to plead before the +courts-martial sitting every where; the universities are all placed +under martial law, that of Vienna is entirely suppressed; the professors +and teachers of all kinds are left to their own resources; literature is +closed to them; no one writes books, for a publisher will not publish +any thing but of the lightest character; newspapers can not employ men +of talent; in fine, nothing but soldiering or police spying seems left +to the majority of the educated classes. + +The Austrian government have found it necessary to resort to a loan, of +some ten or twelve millions of dollars, of which, at the latest advices, +over half had been taken, mainly on the Continent. + +The Neapolitan government has published an official reply to the charges +against it contained in the letters of Mr. Gladstone. These charges were +of the most serious character, implicating the government in acts of +cruelty, which would have disgraced the barbarous tribes of Africa. Mr. +Gladstone solemnly arraigned the government, before the public opinion +of the civilized world, as being an "incessant, systematic, deliberate +violation of law," with the direct object of destroying whole classes of +citizens, and those the very classes upon which the health, solidity, +and progress of the nation depend. A series of special instances was +given to sustain these charges. The reply consists in a denial of the +charges, and in specific refutation of many of the facts alleged. It is +a carefully prepared paper, and has done something to moderate the very +harsh judgment which Mr. Gladstone's letters induced almost every one to +form. + +A letter from Rome, published in the Paris _Debats_ states that another +attempt to murder by means of an explosive contrivance, had occurred +there within the last few days. A tube, filled with gunpowder and bits +of iron, had been placed in a passage leading to the laboratory of a +chemist, at whose shop several persons, well-known for their attachment +to the Pontifical Government, usually meet in the early part of the +evening. Fortunately the match fell out of the tube, after having been +lighted, and the explosion did not take place. The police had not +discovered the culprit. + +The same letter mentions a new difficulty that has lately arisen between +the French and Papal authorities at Civita Vecchia. The new French +packets of the Messageries having superseded the old _bateaux-postes_, +it appears that the captain of one of the former, claimed for his ship +the privileges of a vessel of war, a claim which the sanitary +authorities of Civita Vecchia would not admit; whereupon Colonel de la +Mare, commandant of the garrison of Civita Vecchia, had two or three of +the _employés_ of the Board of Health arrested. It was believed, +however, that the question will be amicably settled. + +In SPAIN public attention has been almost entirely absorbed in the Cuban +question. The Spanish papers were very violent against the United +States, and clamored loudly for war, though the necessity of European +aid in such a contest is very sensibly felt. It is announced with every +appearance of truth, that England and France have entered into +engagements with Spain for the purpose of preventing future attempts +upon Cuba from the United States. To what extent this guarantee goes we +have no precise information; but it is stated in the Paris journals that +a French steamer has been dispatched to the United States for the +express purpose of making representations to our government upon the +subject. Spain has sent reinforcements to her army in Cuba and is taking +active steps to increase her naval strength for an anticipated collision +with the United States. + +The usual party struggles agitate the Spanish Capital. It is said that +the Government contemplate decided reforms in the Tariff regulations of +the country, maintaining the protective duties wherever Spanish +manufactures can be aided thereby, and encouraging competition in all +those branches which have been stationary hitherto. + + +TURKEY. + +Intelligence has been received of the departure of KOSSUTH and his +Hungarian companions from Constantinople, in the steamer Mississippi, +for the United States. They arrived at Smyrna on the 12th of September, +and are daily expected at New York as we close this Record of the month. +It is understood that Austria employed her utmost resources of diplomacy +to prevent the release of KOSSUTH, but they were ineffectual. She will +probably now seek to punish Turkey for disregarding her wishes, by +sending the chiefs of the Bosnian rebellion again into Bosnia, to +rekindle the flame. She concentrates her troops on the frontiers of +Bosnia, Servia, and Wallachia. She attempts to gain the leading men in +Servia, and she encourages and patronizes the former princes of Servia, +who are still pretenders. Thus it is tried to kindle a new revolution in +that country. Russia apparently keeps aloof on the question of the +liberation of Kossuth, ready to profit by the opportunity to present +herself either as protecting the Porte, should the revolution succeed, +or as mediator, should the difficulties with Austria lead to the brink +of a rupture. + +Omer Pasha, the Sultan's great general, remains in Bosnia, as long as +the difficulties with Austria are not settled. In consequence of the +Austrian movements he had concentrated 30,000 men in this province. The +Servian Government has given orders for the armament of the militia, at +the same time an explanation has been required from Austria as to the +concentration of her troops on the frontier. + +The political condition and prospects of Turkey, notwithstanding the +representations of her papers, are represented as very far from +promising. A correspondent of the London Morning Chronicle depicts her +position in gloomy colors. She is tormented, he says, on every side. On +the one hand, France imperiously demands the Holy Sepulchre; on the +other, Russia as imperiously forbids her giving it up. If she gives in +to France, the whole Christian population will rise to a man against +her. The Pasha of Egypt and the Bey of Tunis both refuse to obey her, +and of all the troops with their fine uniforms and arms which parade at +Constantinople, not one dare go against these audacious subjects. The +provinces of the empire are a prey to brigandage on a scale which makes +even all that is said of Greek brigandage appear as nothing. In the mean +time the treasury is empty, nor can all the expedients resorted to +succeed in filling it. The national feeling, always against the system +of reform, which was quite superficial, has broken out openly, and the +people, supported by the clergy, are ready to rise on all sides. Even in +the capital this state of feeling is very prevalent, and shows itself by +the usual barbarous expedient of incendiary fires. There have been +several very severe ones, even within the last few days. One time three +hundred of the largest houses in Constantinople were reduced to ashes; +next fifteen hundred houses in Scutari fell, including all the markets, +magazines, mills, and probably the whole town would have followed, had +it not been for a violent fall of rain, which quelled the fire. + +It is, above all, the position of the Christians, which is deplorable +and precarious. The scenes of Aleppo last year are now acting in +Magnesia, and threaten to break out again at Aleppo, where the +Government wants to force the inhabitants to pay an indemnity to the +Christians, which they insolently refuse. The Government, in trying to +maintain her system of progress, is but showing her weakness. She is +obliged to keep an army of observation constantly on foot in Bosnia, +where the revolt is not by any means entirely quelled, and which is +covered with bands of brigands ready to unite and become an insurgent +army. Bagdad is in a state of siege by the Arabs, who fly as soon as +pursued, but quickly return, devastating the country wherever they +appear. + + +PERSIA. + +Important news has been received from Teheran, announcing a serious +coolness between Russia and Persia, and the possibility of a rupture +between these governments. Several months ago some Turcomans are alleged +to have set fire to Russian vessels in the Caspian, near Astrabad, and +massacred the crews. Orders were consequently sent from St. Petersburg +to the Russian embassador at Teheran to demand the immediate dismissal +of the governor of Mazanderan, or to haul down his flag. The dismissal +has been finally granted, but only after difficulties which have brought +about the coolness above mentioned. The same mail from Persia brings +intelligence that the governor of Herat, Yar-Mehemed Khan, having died, +the Shah immediately sent troops to occupy that city, notwithstanding +the opposition of the English minister. + + +INDIA AND THE EAST. + +News from Calcutta has been received to the 1st of September. We +mentioned last month the probable seizure by the English government, of +part of the provinces of the Nizam as security for a debt. We now learn +that he has rescued his territory from seizure by paying part of the +money due, and giving, security for the remainder. He had pledged part +of the Hyderabad jewels. A conspiracy to effect the escape of Moolraj +had been discovered in Calcutta. It was reported that the Arsenal had +been set on fire and the prisoners liberated in the confusion. Twenty +villages round about Goolburgah had been plundered and burned by the +Rohillas. It was mentioned, in the way of a report, that the troops of +Goolab Singh had been beaten in a conflict with the people some four +days' journey from Cashmere. A great many men and a quantity of baggage +were said to have been lost. The Calcutta railroad progresses, +notwithstanding the rainy season; the terminus had been chosen, and the +necessary ground for its erection, and that of the requisite office has +been purchased at Howrah. + +In CHINA the rebellion continued to extend. The Imperial troops had not +been able to make any impression upon the rebels. A good deal of alarm +was felt at Canton in regard to the probable result. + +In AUSTRALIA the discoveries of gold absorb attention. The reported +existence of the mines is not only confirmed, but it is proved that even +rumor has under-estimated the extent and value of the gold region. The +government itself, satisfied from the official report, has moved in the +matter, and has put forth a claim to the precious metal, prohibiting any +one from taking gold or metal from any property within the territory of +New South Wales, and threatening with punishment any person finding gold +in the uninhabited parts of the said territory which has not yet been +disposed of, or ceded by the Crown, or who shall search or dig for gold +in and upon such territory. The proclamation adds that "upon receipt of +further information upon this matter, such regulations shall be made as +may be considered just and decisive, and shall be published as soon as +possible, whereby the conditions will be made known on which, by the +payment of a reasonable sum, licenses shall be granted." Although this +proclamation was issued on the publication of the discovery, the +government had taken no steps to carry out the licensing system, +apparently sensible that the means at their command were insufficient to +compel parties to abandon their rich and selected spots. The accounts +received from Sydney to June 5th are full of the gold discoveries. There +were about 16,000 to 20,000 persons employed at the diggings, comprising +all classes, from the polite professions to handicraftsmen, runaway +policemen, and seamen from the shipping. Indeed, desertions from the +latter were so numerous and frequent, that vessels were quitting for +fear of similar desertions and the destruction of shipping as occurred +at California, in consequence of whole crews flitting to the mines. At +Sydney labor had advanced fifty per cent., but up to the above date +accounts of the gold-finding had not reached the sister settlements. The +gold range of the Blue Mountains extended nearly 400 miles in length, +and about forty miles wide. + + + + +Editor's Table. + + +Westward--EVER WESTWARD has been the marching symbol of mankind from the +earliest periods to the present. The striking fact is suggested in the +well known line of Bishop Berkeley-- + + WESTWARD the course of empire takes its way. + +"The progress of the race," says the German psychologist Rauch, "has +ever been against the rotation of the earth, and toward the setting +sun;" as though it were in obedience to some natural law common to all +planets that revolve upon their axes. We may reject this as fanciful; +and yet there are some reasons why the primitive roaming tendency, or +spirit of discovery, should have taken one direction rather than +another--reasons grounded, not on any direct physiological magnetism, +but upon the effect of certain outward phenomena on the course of human +thought. Especially may we believe in some such influence as existing in +that young and impressible period, when an unchanging direction may be +rationally supposed to have been derived from the first faintest +impressions, either upon the sense or the intelligence. To the early +musing, meditative mind, the setting, rather than the ascending or +meridian sun, would most naturally connect itself with the ideas of the +vast and the undiscovered--the remote, legendary land, where the light +goes down so strangely behind the mountains, or on the other side of the +seemingly boundless plain, or beyond the deserts' solitary waste, or +away on the ocean wave, as it grows dim in the misty horizon, or +presents in its vanishing outline the far-off, shadowy isle. The +darkness, too, that follows, would nourish the same feeling of +mysterious interest, and thus aid in giving rise to that impulse, which, +when once originated, maintains itself afterward by its own onward +self-determining energy. + +But whatever we may think, either of the poetry or the philosophy, there +can be no denying the historical fact. _Westward_, _ever westward_, has +been the course of emigration, of civilization, of learning, and of +religion. It was so in the days of the Patriarchs, and the process is +still going on in the middle of the nineteenth century. The first +express mention of such a tendency we find in one of the earliest +notices of Holy Writ. "_And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the +east, they came to the land of Shinar, and they settled there_"--Gen. +xi. 2. The language would imply that the process had been going on for +some time before. The east there mentioned was the country beyond the +great river Euphrates, whence, as those learned in the sacred language +would inform us, came the name _Hebrews_, the _Trans-Euphratean_ +colonists, or those who had come over the great bounding stream that +separated the "old countries," or the "cradle of the race," from the +then new and unexplored western world. The next migration of which we +have a particular account is that of Abraham who journeyed from Ur of +the Chaldees to the promised land. Previous to this, however, the most +extensive movements had taken place. Egypt was already settled by the +stream, which, taking a southwest deflection, was destined to fill the +vast continent of Africa. It was after the dispersion at Babel that the +main current of humanity moved rapidly and steadily onward in the +direction of the original impulse. There was indeed a tendency toward +the east, but it never had the same impetus from the start; and its +movement resembled more the flow of a sluggish backwater, than the +natural progress. It sooner came to a stand, such as we find it +represented in the civilization of India, Thibet, and China, dead and +stagnant as it has been for centuries. But the western flood was ever +onward, onward--a stream of living water, carrying with it the best life +of humanity, and the ultimate destinies of the race. A bare glance at +the map of the world will show what were the original courses of +emigration. Asia must have poured into Europe through three principal +channels--through Asia Minor and the isles of Greece, across the +Hellespont by the way of Thrace and the lower part of Central Europe, or +between the Black and Caspian seas, through the regions afterward +occupied by Gog and Magog, and Meshek, or the Scythian, the Gothic, and +the Muscovite hordes. But light and civilization ever went mainly by the +way of the sea. The intercourse from coast to coast, and from isle to +isle, was more favorable to cultivation of manners, and elevation of +thought, than the laborious passages through the dark forests of the +north, or the torrid deserts of the south; and hence the early +superiority of the sons of Javan, and Kittim, and Tarshish, or in short, +of all whose advance was ever along that great high way of civilization, +the Mediterranean Sea. "By these," to use the language of Scripture, +"were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands." The most +crowded march, however, must have been that taken up by the sons of +Tiras, and Gomer, and Ashkenaz, by way of Thrace, and the mid regions of +Europe. We have one proof of this in the name given to the famous +crossing-place between Europe and Asia. It was called by an oriental +word denoting the _passage of flocks and herds_, and hence, to the +thousands and tens of thousands who constantly gathered on its banks, it +was the _Bosphorus_ (bo-os, poros), the _Ox-ford_ or ox-ferry--a most +notable spot in the world's early emigration, the name of which the +Greeks afterward translated into their own tongue, and then, according +to their usual custom, invented, or accommodated, for its explanation, +the mythus of the wandering Io. + +But still, through all these channels, it was _ever westward_, ever from +the rising and toward the setting sun. It may be a matter of curious +interest to note how the word itself seems to have moved onward with the +march of mankind. The far-off, unknown land, for the time being, was +ever _the West_--departing farther and farther from the terminus which +each succeeding age had placed, and continually receding from the +emigrant, like Hesperia (the _West_ of the Æneid) ever flying before the +wearied Trojans-- + + Oras Hesperiæ semper fugientis. + +In the very earliest notices of sacred history, Canaan was the _West_. +When Abraham arrived there from Ur of the Chaldees, he found the +pioneers had gone before him. "The Canaanites," it is said, "were +already in the land," although soon to give way to a more heaven-favored +race. Next the coast of the Philistines becomes the _West_. Then the +Great Sea, or the Mediterranean, with its stronghold of Tyre, as it is +called, Joshua xix. 29. Tyre, the ancient Gibraltar, "the entry of the +waters" (Ezek. xxvii. 1), and which was to be "the merchant of the +people for many isles." In this way the language derived its fixed name +for this quarter of the horizon. As the north is called by a word +meaning the _dark or hidden_ place, so the sea ever denotes the west. +Hence the Psalmist's method of expressing the immensity of the Divine +presence; "Should I take the wings of the morning (or the east) and +dwell in the parts beyond the sea," or the uttermost _west_, "even then +shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand still shall hold me." In the +next period, the _west_ is removed to the land of Chittim (Gen. x. 4), +or the modern isle of Cyprus, of which there is a city yet remaining +with the radicals of the ancient name. Among other places it is +mentioned, Isaiah xxiii. 1. "News from the land of Chittim," or, "From +the land of Chittim is it revealed unto them," says the prophet in his +account of the wide-spread commerce of Tyre. It would almost seem like a +modern bulletin from San Francisco and California. Soon, however, the +ever retiring terminus is to be found in the country of Caphtor +(Jeremiah xlvii. 4), or the island of Crete, first settled by the roving +Cretites, or Cherethites, from a more ancient city of the same name on +the coast of Philistia (Deut. ii. 23), and not in a reverse direction, +as some would suppose. Again it recedes rapidly among the "Isles of the +Sea," so often mentioned in the Scriptures, and which becomes a general +name for the remote--the countries beyond the waters, and, in fact, for +all Europe. Proceeding from what was imperfectly known as Cyprus and the +Ægean Archipelago, the early Orientals would seem to have regarded all +this quarter of the world as one vast collection of islands, in +distinction from the main earth, main land, or Continent of Asia. Hence +the contrast, Ps. xcvii. 1: + + The Lord is King--Let the _earth_ rejoice + Let the many _isles_ be glad. + +Leaving behind us the Jews, and taking Homer for our guide, we next find +the _west_ in Greece as opposed to the Eoïan realm of Troy, or the land +toward the morning dawn. In the interval between the Iliad and the +Odyssey, another transition has taken place. The latter poem is separate +from the former in space as well as in time. The Odyssey is west of the +Iliad. It is the "setting sun" in a sense different from that intended +by the critic Longinus, but no less true and significant. Epirus, +Phaëcia, and the Ionian isles (as they have been called), are now the +_West_. Sicily is just heard of as the _ultima regio_ of the known +world. It is the mythical land of the cannibal Cyclops, and beyond it +dwells the King of the Winds. To the Trojan followers of Æneas, Italy is +_the West_--the land of promise to the exiles fleeing from the wars of +the older eastern world. The imagination pictured it as lying under the +far distant Hesper, or evening star, and hence it was called _Hesperia_: + + Graïo cognomine dicta. + +But we must travel more rapidly onward. In the noon of the Roman empire, +Spain and Gaul were the West, the _terra occidentalis_. Soon Britain and +Ireland take the place and name. It was to the same quarters, too, on +the breaking up of this immense Roman mass, that the main element of its +strength moved onward, although the mere shadow of empire remained in +the slow decaying East. And now for centuries the march seemed impeded +by the great ocean barrier, until the same original impulse, gathering +strength by long delay, at length achieved the discovery of what, more +emphatically than all other lands, has been called _The Western World_. +Every one knows how rapid has been the same movement since. Scarcely had +the eastern shores been visited, when hardy adventurers brought news of +a _western_ coast, and of a _Western Ocean_, still beyond. This remoter +sea becomes the mythical terminus in the grants and charters of the +first English settlements, as though in anticipation of the future +greatness of the empire of which they were to form the constituent +parts. Since then how swift has been the same march across the new +discovered continent! Rapid as must be our sketch, it is hardly more so +than the reality it represents. Even within the memory of persons not +yet past the meridian of life, a portion of our own State was called the +_West_. The name was given to the land of the Mohawks and the Six +Nations; but like Hesperia of old, it was always flying in the van of +advancing cultivation. Soon Ohio becomes the _West_, along with Indiana, +Illinois, and Kentucky. Then Michigan is the _West_. In a few years +Wisconsin assumes the appellation; then Iowa; then Minnesota; while, in +another quarter, Missouri and Arkansas successively carry on the steady +march toward the setting sun. It is true, there seemed to be a pause in +sight of the obstacles presented by the barren plains of Texas and New +Mexico, but it was only to burst over them with a more powerful impetus. +And California is now the _West_--the land of gold and golden hope. It +is now, to the present age, what Canaan was to the Hebrews (we mean, of +course, geographically), or as the isles of the sea to the sons of Javan +and Tarshish, or as Italy to the Trojan exiles. But is the movement +there to find its termination? The next step mingles it with the remains +of the old Eastern civilization. China and India must yet feel its +revivifying power, and then the rotation will have been complete. Ophir +has been already reached, and soon the long journeying of restless +humanity will come round again to the plain of Shinar, or the region in +which commenced the original dispersion of the race. + +Some most serious reflections crowd upon the mind in connection with +such a thought. What, during all this period, has been the real progress +of humanity? In certain aspects of the question the answer is most +prompt and easy. In the supply of physical wants, and in facilities for +physical communication, the advance gained has been immense. But are +men--the mass of men--really wiser in respect to their truest good? Or +are they yet infatuated with that old folly of building a tower, whose +top should reach unto heaven? In other words, are they still seeking to +get above the earth by earthly means, and fancying that through science, +or philosophy, or "liberal institutions," or any other magic name, they +may obtain a self-elevating power, which shall lift them above +_physical_ and moral evil. Will the long and toilsome march be followed +by that true _gnothi seauton_, that real self-knowledge, which is +cheaply obtained even at such a price, or will it be only succeeded by +another varied exhibition of the selfish principle, the more malignant +in proportion as it is more refined, another Babel of opinions, another +confusion of speech, another proof of the feebleness and everlasting +unrest of humanity while vainly seeking to be independent of Heaven? + + * * * * * + +Marriage has ever been closely allied to religion. It has had its altar, +its offering, its rites, its invocation, its shrine, its mysteries, its +mystical significance. "It is _honorable_," says the Apostle. +"_Precious_," some commentators tell us, the epithet should be +rendered--of _great value_, of _highest price_. In either sense, it +would well denote what may be called, by way of eminence, the +conservative institution of human society, the channel for the +transmission of its purest life, and for this very reason, the object +ever of the first and fiercest attacks of every scheme of disorganizing +radical philosophy. In harmony with this idea there was a deep +significance in some of the Greek marriage ceremonies; and among these +none possessed a profounder import than the custom of carrying a torch, +or torches, in the bridal procession. Especially was this the mother's +delightful office. It was hers, in a peculiar manner, to bear aloft the +blazing symbol before the daughter, or the daughter-in-law, and there +was no act of her life to which the heart of a Grecian mother looked +forward with a more lively interest. It was, on the other hand, a ground +of the most passionate grief, when an early death, or some still sadder +calamity, cut off the fond anticipation. Thus Medea-- + + I go an exile to a foreign land, + Ere blest in you, or having seen you blessed. + That rapturous office never shall be mine, + To adorn the bride, and with a mother's hand, + Lift high the nuptial torch. + +Like many other classical expressions, it has passed into common use, +and become a mere conventional phraseology. This is the case with much +of our poetical and rhetorical dialect. Metaphors, which, in their early +usage, presented the most vivid conceptions, and were connected with the +profoundest significance, have passed away into dead formulas. They keep +the flow of the rhythm, they produce a graceful effect in rounding a +period, they have about them a faint odor of classicality, but the life +has long since departed. As far as any impressive meaning is concerned, +a blank space would have answered almost as well. The "altar of Hymen," +the "nuptial torch," suggest either nothing at all, or a cold civil +engagement, with no higher sanctions than a justice's register, or the +business-like dispatch of what, in many cases, is a most unpoetical, as +well as a most secular transaction. + +The nuptial torch was significant of marriage, as the divinely appointed +means through which the lamp of life is sent down from generation to +generation. It was the symbol of the true vitality of the race, as +preserved in the single streams of the "isolated household," instead of +being utterly lost in the universal conflagration of unregulated +passion. It was the kindling of a new fire from the ever-burning hearth +of Vesta. It was the institution of a new domestic altar. The torch was +carried by the mother in procession before the daughter, or the +daughter-in-law, and then given to the latter to perform the same +office, with the same charge, to children, and children's children, down +through all succeeding generations. Such a custom, and such a symbol, +never could have originated where polygamy prevailed, nor have been ever +preserved in sympathy with such a perversion of the primitive idea. +Neither could it maintain itself where marriage is mainly regarded as a +civil contract, having no other sanction for its commencement, and, of +course, no other for its dissolution, than the consent of the parties. +Have we not reason to suppose that some such conception is already +gaining ground among us. It would seem to come from that wretched +individualism, the source of so many social errors, which would regard +marriage as a transaction for the convenience of the parties, and +subject to their spontaneity, rather than in reference to society or the +race. The feeling which lends its aid to such a sophism, is promoted by +the prevailing philosophy in respect to what are called "woman's +rights." We allude not now to its more extravagant forms, but to that +less offensive, and more plausible influence, which, in the name of +humanity and of protection to the defenseless, is in danger of sapping +the foundation of a most vital institution. We can not be too zealous in +guarding the person or property of the wife against the intemperate or +improvident husband; but it should be done, and it can be done, without +marring that sacred oneness which is the vitality of the domestic +commonwealth. In applying the sharp knife of reform in this direction, +it should be seen to, that we do not cut into the very life of the +_idea_--to use a favorite phrase of the modern reformer. No evil against +which legislation attempts to guard, can be compared with the damage +which might come from such a wound. No hurt might be more incurable than +one that would result from families of children growing up every where +with the familiar thought of divided legal interests in the joint source +whence they derived their birth. There must be something holy in that +which the apostle selected as the most fitting comparison of the +relation between Christ and his Church; and there have been far worse +superstitions (if it be a superstition) than the belief which would +regard marriage as a sacrament. Be this, however, as it may, it is the +other error of which we have now the most reason to be afraid. There is +a process going forward on the pages of the statute book, in judicial +proceedings respecting divorce, and in the general tendency of certain +opinions, which is insensibly undermining an idea, the most soundly +conservative in the best sense of the term, the most sacred in its +religious associations, as well as the most important in its bearings +upon the highest earthly good of the human race. + +The opposing philosophy sometimes comes in the most plausible and +insidious shape. It, too, has its religionism. It talks loftily of the +"holy marriage of hearts," and of the sacredness of the _affection_; but +in all this would only depreciate the sacredness of the outward +relation. It affects to be conservative, moreover. It would preserve and +exalt the essence in distinction from the form. It has much to say of +"legalized adulteries." The affection, it affirms, is holier than any +outward bond. But let it be remembered that the first is human and +changeable, the second is divine and permanent. It is the high +consideration, too, of the one that, more than any earthly means, would +tend to preserve the purity of the other. The relation is the regulator +of the affection, the mould through which it endures, the constraining +form in which alone it acquires the unity, and steadiness, and +consistency of the idea, in distinction from the capricious spontaneity +of the individual passion. Let no proud claim, then, of inward freedom, +assuming to be holier than the outward bond, pretend to sever what God +has joined together. At no time, perhaps, in the history of the world, +and of the church, has there been more need of caution against such a +sophism than in this age so boastful of its lawless subjectivity, or in +other words, its higher rule of action, transcending the outward and +positive ordinance. + + * * * * * + +Charity is love--Liberality is often only another name for indifference. +The bare presentation of the terms in their true relation, is enough to +show the immense opposition between them. _Charity_ is _tenderness_. "It +suffereth long and is kind." But the same authority tells us, likewise, +that "it rejoiceth in the truth." Except as connected with a fervent +interest in principles we hold most dear, the word loses all +significance, and the idea all vitality. Even when it assumes the phase +of intolerance, it is a nobler and more precious thing than the +liberality which often usurps its name. In this aspect, however, it is +ever the sign of an unsettled and a doubting faith. He who is well +established in his own religious convictions can best afford to be +charitable. He has no fear and no hatred of the heretic lest he should +take from him his own insecure foundation. His feet upon a rock, he can +have no other than feelings of tenderness for the perishing ones whom he +regards as struggling in the wild waters below him. How can he be +uncharitable, or unkind, to those of his companions in the perilous +voyage, who, in their blindness, or their weakness, or it may be in the +perverse madness of their depravity, can not, or will not lay hold of +the plank which he offers for their escape because it is the one on +which he fondly hopes he himself has rode out the storm. They may call +his warm zeal bigotry and uncharitableness; but then, what name shall be +given to that greater madness, that fiercer intolerance, which would not +only reject the offered aid, but exercise vindictive feelings toward the +hand that would draw them out of the overwhelming billows? + +One of the richest illustrations of the view here presented is to be +found in the writings of that _durus pater_, Saint Augustine. We find +nothing upon our editorial table more precious--nothing that we would +send forth on the wings of our widely circulated Magazine, with a more +fervent desire that it might, not only meet the eye, but penetrate the +heart of every reader "How can I be angry with you," says this noble +father, in his controversy with the Manichæans, "how can I be angry with +you when I remember my own experience? Let him be angry with you who +knows not with what difficulty error is shunned and truth is gained. Let +him be angry with you, who knows not with what pain the spiritual light +finds admission into the dark and diseased eye. Let him be angry with +you, who knows not with what tears and groans the true knowledge of God +and divine things is received into the bewildered human soul." + + + + +Editor's Easy Chair. + + +Since we last chatted with our readers, a month ago, old Autumn has +fairly taken the year upon his shoulders, and is bearing him in his +parti-colored jacket, toward the ice-pits of Winter. The soft advance of +Indian Summer, with its harvest moons round and red, and its sunsets +deep-dyed with blood and gold, is stealing smokily across the horizon, +and witching us to a last smile of warmth, and to a farewell summer +joyousness. + +The town has changed, too, like the season: and the streets are all of +them in the hey-day of the Autumn flush. The country merchants are gone +home, and the Southern loiterers are creeping lazily southward--preaching +the best of Union discourses--with their geniality and their frankness. +The old Broadway hours of promenade are coming again; and you can see +blithe new-married couples, and wishful lovers, at morning and evening, +lighting up the _trottoir_ with their sunshine. The wishful single ones +too, are wearing new fronts of hope, as the town-men settle again into +their winter beat, and feel, in their bachelor chambers, the lack of +that stir of sociality, which enlivens the summer of the springs. + +Old married people too--not so joyous as once--forget all the disputes +of the old winter, in the pleasant approaches of a new one; and try hard +to counterfeit a content which they esteem and desire. + +But with all its gayety, theatre-running, concert-going, and shopping, +the town wears underneath a look of sad sourness. Merchants that were as +chatty as the most loquacious magpies only a five-month gone, are +suddenly grown as gruff and dumb as the Norwegian bears. The tightness +of Wall-street has an uncommon "effect upon facial muscles;" and men +that would have been set down by the "Medical Examiners" as good for a +ten years' lease of life, are now wearing a visage that augurs any thing +but healthy action of the liver. + +Even our old friends that we parted from in May, as round and dimpled as +country wenches, have met us the week past with a rueful look, and have +said us as short a welcome as if we were their creditors. We pity sadly +the poor fellow, who, with a firm reliance on the steady friendship of +his old companion, goes to him in these times for a loan of a "few +thousands." Friendship has a hard chance for a livelihood nowadays in +Wall-street; and the man that would give us an easy shake of the hand +when we met him on 'Change in the spring, will avoid us now as if he +feared contagion from our very look. + +The fat old gentlemen who used to loll into our office in May-time, to +read the journals, and crack stale jokes, and quietly puff out one or +two of our choice Regalias, have utterly vanished. We find no +invitations to dine upon our table--no supper cards for a "sit-down" to +fried oysters and Burgundy "punctually at nine." + +Wall-street is the bugbear that frights New York men out of all their +valor; and, as is natural enough, Wall-street, and specie, and heavy +imports; and a new tariff, and the coming crop of cotton are just now at +the top of the talk of the town. + +Let our good readers then, allow for this incubus, in tracing the +jottings down, this month, of our usually gossiping pen. Let them +remember in all charity that two per cent. a month, for paper good as +the bank, makes a very poor stimulant for such pastime as literary +gossip. When our men of business replace their Burgundy and Lafitte of +1841, with merely merchantable Medoc, readers surely will be content +with a plain boiled dish, trimmed off with a few carrots, in place of +the rich _ragouts_, with which, at some future time, we shall surely +tickle their appetite. + + * * * * * + +The Northern Expedition under the lead of Lieutenant De Haven, has given +no little current to the chit-chat of the autumn hours; and people have +naturally been curious to see some of the brave fellows who wintered it +among the crevices of the Polar ice, and who braved a night of some +three months' darkness. It is just one of those experiences which must +be passed through to be realized; nor can we form any very adequate +conceptions (and Heaven forbid that experience should ever improve our +conceptions!) of a night which lasts over weeks of sleeping, and waking, +and watching--of a night which knows neither warmth, nor daybreak--a +night which counts by cheerless months, and has no sounds to relieve its +darkness, but the fearful crashing of ice bergs, and the low growl of +stalking bears. + +What a waste of resolution and of energy has been suffered in those +northern seas! And yet it is no waste; energy is never wasted when its +action is in the sight of the world. It tells on new development, and +quickens impulse for action, wherever the story of it goes. + +It is, to be sure, sad enough that the poor Lady Franklin must go on +mourning; but she has the satisfaction of knowing that sympathy with her +woes has enlisted thousands of brave beating hearts, and has led them +fearlessly into the very bosom of those icy perils, which now, and we +fear must forever, shroud the fate of her noble husband. Nor is that +grief and devotion of the Lady Franklin without its teaching of +beneficence. Its story adds to the dignity of humanity, and quickens the +ardor of a thousand hearts, who watch it as a beacon of that earnest +and undying affection, which belongs to a true heart-life, but which +rarely shows such brilliant tokens of its strength. + + * * * * * + +Perhaps it is fortunate that at a time when commerce is shaking with an +ague, that makes pallid cheeks about town, there should be such a flush +as now in the histrionic life of the city. Scarce a theatre or +concert-room but has its stars; and if music and comedy have any great +work of goodness to do in this world, it may surely be in relieving +despondency and lightening the burdens of misfortune. + +Miss Catharine Hays is a very good chit-chat topic for any +breakfast-room of the town; and although she has not excited that excess +of furor which was kindled by the Swedish singer, she has still gained a +reputation whose merits are spoken with enthusiasm, and will be +remembered with affection. Poor, suffering Ireland can not send to such +a sympathetic nation as this, a pretty, graceful, pure-minded +songstress--whatever might be her qualities--without enlisting a fervor +that would shower her path with gold, and testify its strength with +flowers and huzzas. + +Madame THILLON is pointing much of the after-dinner talk with story of +her beauty; and connoiseurs in cheeks and color are having amiable +quarrels about her age and eyes. Mrs. WARNER is drawing somewhat of the +worn-out Shakspearean taste to a new rendering of Elizabethan comedy. In +short the town is bent on driving away the stupor of dull trade with the +cheer of art and song. + + * * * * * + +Speaking of art, reminds us of the new picture which is just now gracing +the halls of the Academy of Design. It is precisely one of those +Art-wonders which, with its great stock of portraits to be discussed, +makes the easiest imaginable hinge of talk. It is Healy's great picture +of Daniel Webster in his place in the Senate Chamber, replying to +General Hayne of South Carolina. The work has been a long time under Mr. +Healy's thought and hand, and is perfected, if not with elaborateness, +at least with an artistic finish and arrangement that will make the +picture one of the great Western pictures. We could wish +indeed--although we hazard the opinion with our _easy_ diffidence--that +Mr. Healy had thrown a little more of the Demosthenic _action_ into the +figure, and bearing of the orator; yet, with all its quietude, it shows +the port of a strong man. Indeed, in contrast with the boy-like +presentment of General Hayne, it almost appears that the fire of the +speaker is wasting on trifles; yet, if we may believe contemporaneous +history, Hayne was by no means a weak man, and if the fates had not +thrust him upon such Titan conflict too early, there might well have +been renowned deeds to record of the polished Southron. The initiate +lookers-on will see good distance-views of Mrs. Webster, of Mrs. George +P. Marsh, and of sundry other ladies, who were by no means so matronly +at the date of the "Union" Speech as Mr. Healy's complimentary +anachronism would imply. + + * * * * * + +The Art Union is coming in for its share of the autumn love of warm +tints and glowing colors; and if we might trust a hasty look-in on our +way to office duties, we should say there was a scalding brightness +about some of the coloring which needs an autumn haze to subdue it to a +healthy tone. For all this there are gems scattered up and down, which +will woo the eye to a repeated study, and, if we may judge from the +flocking crowds, educate the public taste to an increasing love of +whatever is lovable in Art. + +Leutze's great picture of Washington, will, before this shall have +reached the eye of our readers, have won new honors to the name of the +painter of the Puritan iconoclasts; and we count it a most healthful +augury for American art, that the great painting should have created in +advance such glowing expectations. + + * * * * * + +We wish to touch with our pen nib--as the observant reader has before +this seen--whatever is hanging upon the lip of the town; and with this +wish lighting us, we can not of a surety pass by that new burst of +exultation, which is just now fanning our clipper vessels, of all rig +and build, into an ocean triumph. + +Nine hundred and ninety odd miles of ocean way within three days' time, +is not a speed to be passed over with mere newspaper mention; and it +promises--if our steam-men do not look to their oars--a return to the +old and wholesome service of wind and sail. We are chronicling here no +imaginary run of a "Flying Dutchman," but the actual performance of the +A Number One, clipper-built, and copper-fastened ship, FLYING +CLOUD--Cressy, commander! And if the clipper-men can give us a line, +Atlantic-wise, which will bowl us over the ocean toward the Lizard, at a +fourteen-knot pace, and not too much spray to the quarter deck--they +will give even the Collins' monsters a scramble for a triumph. There is +a quiet exultation after all, in bounding over the heaving blue +wave-backs, with no impelling power, but the swift breath of the god of +winds, which steam-driven decks can never give. It is taking nature in +the fulness of her bounty, and not cramping her gifts into boiling +water-pots; it is a trust to the god of storms, that makes the breezes +our helpers, and every gale to touch the cheek with the wanton and the +welcome of an aiding brother! + + * * * * * + +Leaving now the matters of gossip around us, we propose to luxuriate in +that atmosphere of gossip, which pervades the Paris world, and which +comes wafted to us on the gauze _feuilletons_ of such as Jules Janin, +and of Eugene Guinot. They tell us that the city world of France has +withdrawn lazily and longingly from the baths of Aix-la-Chapelle and the +beaches of Dieppe and Boulogne; and that the freshened beauties of the +metropolis, are taking their first autumn-ing upon the shaded asphalte +of the Champs Elysées. A little fraction of the _beau monde_ has just +now taken its usual turn to the sporting ground of Dauphiny and +Bretagne; but it is only for carrying out in retired quarters the series +of flirtations, which the watering places have set on foot. The French +have none of that relish for covers and moor shooting, which enters so +largely into the English habit; and a French lady in a land-locked +chateau--without a lover in the case--would be the sorriest Nekayah +imaginable. + +But, says Guinot, the country recluses are just now acquiring a taste +for the races and for horsemanship; and he signalizes, in his way, a +fairly-run match of ladies, well-known in the salons of Paris, which +came off not long since in the grounds of some old country chateau. +Among the other whim-whams, which this veteran wonder-teller sets down, +is the story of an old Hollander, who every year makes his appearance at +the springs of Ems, and devotes himself to _rouge et noir_ with the +greatest assiduity, until he has won from the bank the sum of +twenty-five thousand francs, when he gathers up his gold and disappears +for another season. No run of good luck will induce him to increase his +earnings, and no bad fortune in the early part of his visit will break +down his purpose, until he has won his usual quota. The managers have +even proposed to buy him off for half his usual earnings in advance, but +he accepts of no compromise; and stolidly taking his seat at the table, +with a bag of _rouleaux_ at his side, he stakes his money, and records +upon a card the run of the colors--nor quits his place, until his bag is +exhausted, or the rooms closed for the night. + +As is usual with these tit-bits of French talk, no name is given to the +Hollander, and he may live, for aught we know, only in the pestilent +brain of the easy paragraphist. + + * * * * * + +Again, we render grace to French fertility of invention for this _petit +histoire_, to which we ourselves venture to add a point or two, for the +humor of this-side appetite. + +Borrel, a great man in the kitchen, kept the famous Rocher de Cancale. +Who has not heard of the Rocher de Cancale? Who has not dreamed of it +when--six hours after a slim breakfast of rolls and coffee--he has +tugged at his weary brain--as we do now--for the handle of a dainty +period? + +Borrel had a wife, prettier than she was wise--(which can be said of +many wives--not Borrel's). Borrel was undersold by neighbor +restaurateurs, and found all the world flocking to the Palais Royal +caterers. Borrel's wife spent more than Borrel earned (which again is +true of other wives). So that, finally, the Rocher de Cancale was ended: +Borrel retired to private life with a bare subsistence; and, Borrel's +wife, playing him false in his disgrace, ran away with a vagrant +Russian. + +Borrel languished in retirement: but his friends found him; and having +fairly put him on his feet, thronged for a season his new Salon of +Frascati. But directly came the upturn of February, and poor Borrel was +again broken in business, and thrice broken in spirit. He took a +miserable house without the Boulevard, in the quarter of the +Batignolles, and only crept back to the neighborhood of his old princely +quarters, like the vagrant starveling that he was, at dusk. Years hung +heavily on him, and his domestic sorrows only aggravated his losses and +his weakness. + +But, in process of time, a Russian came to Paris, who had known the city +in the days of the Rocher de Cancale. He came with his appetite +sharpened for the luxurious dinners of the Rue Montorgueil. But, alas, +for him--the famous Restaurant had disappeared, and in its place, was +only a paltry show-window of _caleçons_ and of _chemisettes_. + +He inquired anxiously after the famous Borrel: some shook their heads, +and had never heard the name: others, who had known the man, believed +him dead. In despair he visited all the Restaurants of Paris, but, for a +long time, in vain. At length, an old white-haired garçon of the Café de +Paris, to whom he told his wishes, informed him of the miserable fate of +the old Prince of suppers. + +The Russian traced him to his humble quarters, supplied him with money +and clothes--engaged him as his cook, took him away from his ungrateful +city, and installed him, finally, as first Restaurateur of St. +Petersburg. + +His patron was passably old, but still a wealthy and prosperous merchant +of the northern empire; and his influence won a reputation and a fortune +for the reviving head of the house of Borrel. The strangest part +(omitted by Lecomte), is yet to come. + +Borrel had often visited his patron, but knew nothing of his history, or +family: nor was it until after a year or two of the new life, that the +poor Restaurateur discovered in the deft-handed housekeeper of his +patron, his former wife of the Rue Montorgueil! + +The discovery seemed a sad one for all concerned. Borrel could not but +make a show for his wounded honor. His patron had no wish to lose an old +servant; and the lady herself, now that the hey-day of her youth was +gone, had learned a wholesome dread of notoriety. Wisely enough, each +determined to sacrifice a little: Borrel was re-married to his wife; his +patron found a new mistress of his household; and madame promised to +live discreetly, and guard carefully the profits of the Russian Rocher +de Cancale. + +If this is not a good French story, we should like to know what it is? + + * * * * * + +Again we shift our vision to a _belle maison_ (pretty house) in a back +quarter of London--newly furnished--a little cockneyish in taste, and +with all the new books of the day, piled helter-skelter upon the +library-table. The owner is a tall, laughing-faced, good natured, not +over-bred man, who has traveled to Constantinople and Egypt--to say +nothing of an adventurous trip to the top of Mont Blanc. + +His history is written by the letter-writers in this way: Poor, and +clever, he wrote verses, and essays, and sold them for what he could +get; and some say filled and extracted teeth, to "make the ends meet." +It is certain that he once walked the Hospitals of Paris, and that he +knows the habits of the grisettes of the Quarter by the Pantheon. + +A certain Lord happening upon him, and fancying his laughter-loving +look, and waggish eye, cultivated his acquaintance, and proposed to him +a trip to the East as his friend, courier, and what-not. Our hero +assented--went with him as far as Trieste--quarreled with My +Lord--parted from him--pushed his way by "hook and by crook" as far as +Cheops--and returned to London with not a penny in his pocket. + +Writing brought dull pay (as it always does), and the traveler thought +of _talking_ instead. He advertised to tell his story in a lecture-room, +with songs, and mimicry thrown in to enliven it. The people went slowly +at first: finally, they talked of the talking traveler, and all the +world went; and the adventurer found his purse filling, and his fortune +made. + +He bought the _belle maison_ we spoke of; and this summer past set off +for Mont Blanc, and ascended it--not for the fun of the thing, but for +the fun of telling it. + +We suppose our readers will have recognized the man we have in our eye: +to wit--ALBERT SMITH. + +And that--says Lecomte--is the way they do things in England! + + + + +Editor's Drawer. + + +It was THOMAS HOOD, if we remember rightly ("poor Tom's a-cold" now)! +whose "Bridge of Sighs," and "Song of the Shirt," both of them the very +perfection of pathos, will be remembered when his lighter productions +are forgotten, or have ceased to charm--it was TOM HOOD, we repeat, who +described, in a characteristic poetical sketch, the miseries of an +Englishman in the French capital, who was ignorant of the language of +that self-styled "metropolis of the world." He drew a very amusing +picture of the _desagrémens_ such as one would be sure to encounter; and +among others, the following + + "Never go to France, + Unless you know the lingo, + If you _do_, like me, + You'll repent, by Jingo! + + "Signs I had to make, + For every little notion; + Arms all the while a-going, + Like a telegraph in motion. + + "If I wanted a horse, + How d'you think I got it? + I got astride my cane, + And made-believe to trot it!" + +There was something very ridiculous, he went on to say, we remember, +about the half-English meaning of some of the words, and the utter +contradiction of the ordinary meaning in others. "They call," said he, + + "They call their mothers _mares_, + And all their daughters _fillies_!" + +and he cited several other words not less ludicrous. The celebrated Mrs. +RAMSBOTTOM, and her accomplished daughter LAVINIA, the cockney +continental travelers, those clever burlesques of "JOHN BULL," were the +first, some thirty years ago, to take notice of this discrepancy, and to +illustrate it in their correspondence. The old lady, writing from Paris +to friends in her peculiar circle in London, tells them that she has +been to see all the curious things about the French capital; and she +especially extols the bridges, with their architectural and other +adornments. "I went yesterday afternoon," she wrote, "to see the statute +of Lewis Quinzy, standing close to the end of one of the _ponts_, as +they call their bridges here. I was told by a man there, that Lewis +Quinzy was buried there. Quinzy wasn't his real name, but he died of a +quinzy sore-throat, and just as they do things here, they called him +after the complaint he died of! The statute is a more superior one than +the one of Henry Carter (Henri Quatre), which I also see, with my +daughter Lavinia. I wonder if he was a relation of the Carters of +Portsmouth, because if he is, his posteriors have greatly degenerated in +size and figure. He is a noble-looking man, in stone." The same old +ignoramus wrote letters from Italy, which were equally satirical upon +the class of would-be "traveled" persons, to which she was assumed to +belong. + +Speaking of Rome, and certain of its wonderful and ancient structures, +she says: "I have been all through the _Vacuum_, where the Pope keeps +his bulls. Every once in a while they say he lets one out, and they +occasion the greatest excitement, being more obstinater, if any thing, +than an Irish one. I have been, too, to see the great church that was +built by Saint PETER, and is called after him. Folks was a-looking and +talking about a _knave_ that had got into it, but I didn't see no +suspicionary person. I heard a _tedium_ sung while I was there, but it +wasn't any great things, to _my_ taste. I'd rather hear Lavinia play the +'Battle of Prag.' It was very long and tiresome." Not a little unlike +"Mrs. RAMSBOTTOM," is a foreign correspondent of the late Major NOAH'S +paper, the "Times and Messenger," who writes under the _nom de plume_ of +"A Disbanded Volunteer," from Paris. He complains that the French +language is very "onhandy to articklate;" that the words wont "fit his +mouth at all" and that he has to "bite off the ends of 'em," and even +then they are cripples. "The grammer," he says, "is orful, specially the +genders, and oncommon inconsistent. A pie is a _he_, and yet they call +it PATTY, and a loaf is a _he_, too, but if you cut a slice off it, +_that's_ a _she_! The pen I'm a-driving is a _she_, but the paper I'm +a-writing on is a _he_! A thief," he goes on to say, "is masculine, but +the halter that hangs him is feminine;" but he rather likes that, he +adds, there being something consoling in being drawn up by a female +noose! _F-e-m-m-e_, he contends, "_ought_ to spell _femmy_--but I'm +blowed if they don't pronounce it _fam_!" + +Like the English cockney travelers, he was pleased with the public +monuments, particularly one in the "Plaster La Concord," built by LOUIS +QUARTZ, so called, in consequence of the kind of stone used in its +erection. The "Basalisk of Looksir," and the "Jargon da Plant," also +greatly excited his admiration. No one who has ever studied French, but +will be reminded by the "Disbanded Volunteer's" experience of the +difficulty encountered in mastering the classification of French +genders. + + * * * * * + +We find, on a scrap in our "Drawer," this passage from a learned lecture +by a German adventurer in London, one "Baron VONDULLBRAINZ." He is +illustrating the great glory of _Mechanics_, as a science: "De t'ing dat +is _made_ is more superior dan de _maker_. I shall show you how in some +t'ings. Suppose I make de round wheel of de coach? Ver' well; dat wheel +roll five hundred mile!--and I can not roll one, myself! Suppose I am de +cooper, what you call, and I make de big tub to hold de wine? He hold +t'ons and gallons; and _I can not hold more as fives bottel_!! So you +see dat de t'ing dat is made is more superior dan de maker!" + + * * * * * + +The following domestic medicines and recipes may be relied upon. They +are handed down from a very ancient period; and, "no cure, no pay:" + +"A stick of brimstone wore in the pocket is good for them as has cramps. + +"A loadstone put on the place where the pain is, is beautiful in the +rheumatiz. + +"A basin of water-gruel, with half a quart of old rum in it, or a quart, +if partic'lar bad, with lots o' brown sugar, going to bed, is good for a +cold in the 'ead. + +"If you've got the hiccups, pinch one o' your wrists, and hold your +breath while you count sixty, or--_get somebody to scare you, and make +you jump_! + +"_The Ear-Ache_: Put an inyun in your ear, after it is well roasted!" + + * * * * * + +How old Dr. Johnson did hate Scotland! His severity of sarcasm upon that +country is unexampled by his comments upon any thing else, however +annoying. On his return from the Hebrides, he was asked by a Scottish +gentleman, at an evening party in London, how he liked Scotland. +"Scotland, sir?" replied Johnson, with a lowering brow, and savage +expression generally, "Scotland? Scotland, sir, is a miserable +country--a _contemptible_ country, sir!" "You can not do the ALMIGHTY +the great wrong to say _that_, Dr. Johnson," answered the other, deeply +nettled at so harsh a judgment: "GOD made Scotland, sir." "Yes, sir," +was the cutting rejoinder: "GOD _did_ make Scotland, but He _made it for +Scotchmen_! GOD made _hell_ also, sir!" On another occasion, when asked +how he liked certain views of scenery in that country, he replied: "The +finest and most satisfactory view in Scotland, sir, is the view looking +_from_ it, on the high-road to London!" The same spirit was manifested +in his reply to a friend, who was consoling him for the loss of a +favorite cane with which he had traveled in the north of Scotland. "You +can easily replace it, Dr. JOHNSON," said his friend. "_Replace_ it, +sir! Consider, where I'm to find the _timber_ for such a purpose in this +barren country!" It strikes us that a lack of trees or shrubbery could +not be more forcibly exemplified than by this sarcastic reply. + + * * * * * + +Somebody, in one of the newspapers, has been telling a story of a +schoolmistress, who had a hopeful boy-pupil, whose intelligence was +scarcely "fair to middling," if one may judge from one of his +"exercises" in spelling. "I got him," said the schoolmarm, "clean +through the alphabet, and he would point out any letter, and call it by +its right name. One bright Monday morning I put him, when he was +sufficiently advanced, into words of two syllables; but I was obliged to +tell him some fifty times what was the _nature_ of a syllable; and after +all, his brain was opaque as a rock. In order to interest him, however, +I said to him: + +"Do you love pies?" + +"Yes, marm, I guess I _do_!" + +"Well, then, 'apple' and 'pie,' when put together, spell 'apple-pie,' +don't they?" + +"Yes, marm." + +"By the same rule, 'la' and 'dy,' spell 'lady?' You understand _that_, +don't you?" + +"Very well. Now, what do 'mince' and 'pie' spell?" + +"_I_ know!--_Mince_-Pie!" + +"That's right: well, now what do 'pumpkin' and 'pie' spell? Speak up." + +"I know _that_: that's _pumpkin_-pie!" + +"That's correct. Now, what does 'la' and 'dy' spell?" + +"CUSTARD-PIE!" exclaimed the urchin, with great exultation at his +success. + +Now, this is very good, and very possibly it may have occurred, +precisely as narrated; but we have a suspicion--perhaps not a "_shrewd_ +suspicion"--that the whole thing was borrowed from the following +dialogue, which is indubitably an actual occurrence: + +"James," said a schoolmaster to a dull pupil, after the morning chapter +had been read in the school, "James, we have read this morning that Noah +had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; now, James, will you tell us who +was the _father_ of Shem, Ham, and Japheth?" + +"_Sir?_" said James, inquiringly. + +"Why, James," answered his colloquist, "you have seen that Noah had +three sons, and that their names were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. These were +Noah's _sons_, James. Now, who was the FATHER of Shem, Ham, and +Japheth?" + +"SIR?" said James, dubiously pondering the full extent of the query. + +"Why, James," said the preceptor, "don't you _know_ who the father of +Shem, Ham, and Japheth was, after I've told you so much?" + +"No, sir--I d' know!" + +"You are very dull, James--_very_! You know Mr. Smith, don't you, that +lives next to your house?" + +"Sartain!--Bill and Jo Smith and I play together. Bill took my +cross-gun, and owes me--" + +"Very well: Mr. Smith has three boys, William, Joseph, and Henry. Who is +the father of William, Joseph, and Henry Smith?" + +"Mr. Smith!" exclaimed James, instantly; "Mr. _Smith_: guess I know +_that_!" + +"Certainly, James. Very _well_, then. Now, this is exactly the same +thing. You see, as we have been reading, that _Noah_ had three sons, +like Mr. Smith; but _their_ names were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now, who +was the father of _Noah's_ three sons?" + +James hesitated a minute, with his finger in his mouth; and then, as if +the difficult question had been suddenly solved in his mind, he +exclaimed: + +"_I_ know now: MR. SMITH!" + + * * * * * + +Perhaps some of our readers have heard of that rare compound of all that +was quaint, curious, and ridiculous, Lord Timothy Dexter, of +Newburyport, Massachusetts. He was an ignorant, eccentric old fellow, +who, having made himself a rich man, conceived the original idea of +setting up for a lord. Accordingly he proclaimed himself "_Lord Timothy +Dexter_," bought a magnificent mansion, and set up an equipage in +splendid style. Every thing that he did and every thing he had about him +was original. He sent a ship-load of warming-pans to the East Indies; he +filled his gardens with sprawling wooden statues; his dress was a +mixture of the Roman senator and a Yankee militia-captain; the ornaments +of his mansion were of the most unique stamp; and his literary +compositions were more original than all the rest put together. He wrote +in the most heroic disregard and defiance of the common laws of +etymology and syntax. Here is a specimen of his style, and an +illustration of his powers as a philosopher: "How great the SOUL is! +Don't you all wonder and admire to see and behold and hear? Can you all +believe half the truth, and admire to hear the wonders how great the +soul is?--that if a man is drowned in the water, a great bubble comes up +out of the top of the water--the last of the man dying in the water; +this is _mind_--the SOUL, that is the last to ascend out of the deep to +glory. Only behold!--past finding out! The bubble is the soul! When a +man dies in his bed in a house, you can't see his soul go up, but when +he is drowned, _then_ you can see his soul go up like a kite or a +rocket!" + + * * * * * + +There is a very amusing story told of a curious fowl called "_The +Adjutant_," in the East Indies. They are as solemn-faced a creature as +the owl, the "Bird of Minerva." Sometimes they become great favorites +with the soldiers and officers of the army stationed there, and +numerous, and not unfrequently ridiculous, were the tricks which the +wicked wags played upon them. Sometimes the soldiers would take a couple +of half-picked beef-bones, tie them strongly together, at each end of a +stout cord, and then throw both where some two or three "Adjutants" +would be sure to try to rival each other in the first possession of the +desiderated luxury; the consequence of which competition would be, that +two of the ravenous birds would attack the treasure at one and the same +time: the one would swallow one (for they have most capacious maws) and +the other the other. Then there was trouble! Each saw before him a +divided "duty," the "line" of which, while it was sufficiently defined +(and _con_-fined) was very far from being convenient to follow, so far +as the _practice_ was concerned. But each, in the consequent struggle, +rose into the air; a pair of aërial Siamese-twins, with no power of +severing their common ligament; so that very soon down they came, an +easy prey to their ingenious tormentors. But the funniest trick was +this: A soldier would take a similar unconsumed beef-bone; carefully +scoop out a long cavity in it, establish therein a cartridge and fusee, +with a long leader, lighted, and then throw it out for the especial +benefit of the feathered victim. It was of course swallowed at once, and +then, like a snake with a big frog in its belly, the uncouth bird would +mount upon some post, or other similar eminence, and with one leg +crossed like a figure-four, over the other, it would stand, in digestive +mood, and with solemn visage, until suddenly the secret mine would +explode, and the unsuspicious "Adjutant" would be "reduced to the ranks" +of birds "lost upon earth." + + * * * * * + +He was a right sensible man who wrote as follows; and his theory and +advice will apply as well in Gotham as elsewhere: "As to extensive +dinner-giving, we can be but hungry, eat, and be happy. I would have a +great deal more hospitality practiced among us than is at all common; +more _hospitality_, I mean, and less _show_. Properly considered, 'the +quality of dinner,' like that of mercy, 'is twice blessed--it blesses +him that gives, and him that takes.' A dinner with friendliness is the +best of all friendly meetings; a pompous entertainment, where 'no love +is,' is the least satisfactory. + +"I own myself to being no worse nor better than my neighbors, in giving +foolish and expensive dinners. I rush off to the confectioner's for +sweets, et cetera; hire sham butlers and attendants; have a fellow going +round the table with 'still' and 'dry' champagne, just as if I _knew his +name_, and it was my custom to drink those wines every day of my life. +Now if we receive great men or ladies at our house, I will lay a wager +that they will select mutton and gooseberry-tart for their dinner; +forsaking altogether the '_entrées_' which the men in white gloves are +handing round in the plated dishes. Asking those who have great +establishments of their own to French dinners and delicacies, is like +inviting a grocer to a meal of figs, or a pastry-cook to a banquet of +raspberry tarts. They have had enough of them. Great folks, if they like +you, take no account of your feasts, and grand preparations. No; they +eat mutton, like men." + +As to giving _large_ dinners, morever, Mr. BROWN reasons like a +philosopher. In the right way of giving a dinner, he contends, "every +man who now gives _one_ dinner might give two, and take in a host of +friends and relations," who are now excluded from his forced +hospitality. "Our custom," he says "is not hospitality nor pleasure, but +to be able to cut off a certain number of our really best acquaintances +from our dining-list." Again, these large, ostentatious dinners are +scarcely ever pleasant, so far as regards society: "You may chance to +get near a pleasant neighbor and neighboress, when your corner of the +table is possibly comfortable. But there can be no general conversation. +Twenty people around one board can not engage together in talk. You want +even a speaking-trumpet to communicate from your place with the lady of +the house." The sensible conclusion of the whole matter is: "I would +recommend, with all my power, that if we give dinners they should be +more simple, more frequent, and contain fewer persons. A man and woman +may look as if they were really glad to see _ten_ people; but in a +'great dinner,' an ostentatious dinner, they abdicate their position as +host and hostess, and are mere creatures in the hands of the sham +butlers, sham footmen, and tall confectioner's emissaries who crowd the +room, and are guests at their own table, where they are helped last, and +of which they occupy the top and bottom. I have marked many a lady +watching with timid glances the large artificial major-domo who +officiates 'for that night only,' and thought to myself, 'Ah, my dear +madam, how much happier might we all be, if there were but half the +splendor, half the made-dishes, and half the company assembled!'" + + * * * * * + +To our conception there is something rather tickling to the fancy in the +following sage advice as to how to conduct one's self in case of fire: +"Whatever may be the heat of the moment, keep cool. Let nothing put you +out, but find something to put out the fire. Keep yourself collected, +and then collect your family. After putting on your shoes and stockings, +call out for pumps and hose to the fireman. Don't think about saving +your watch and rings, for while you stand wringing your hands, you may +be neglecting the turn-cock, who is a jewel of the first water at such +a moment. Bid him with all your might turn on the main!" + + * * * * * + +Punch once drew an admirable picture of a London "Peter Funk," a sort of +character not altogether unknown in the metropolis of the western world: + +"The amount that prodigal man must spend every year would drive +ROTHSCHILD into the work-house. Nothing is too good or too common, too +expensive or too cheap, for him. One moment he will buy a silver +candelabra, the next a silver thimble. In the morning he will add a +hundred-guinea dressing-case to his enormous property, and in the +afternoon amuse himself by bidding a shilling for a little trumpery +pen-knife. Why he must have somewhere about fifty thousand pen-knives +already. + +"The article he has the greatest hankering for, are razors: and yet, to +look at his unshorn beard, you would fancy that he never shaved from one +month's end to another. The hairs stick out on his chin like the wires +on the drum of a musical-box. It is most amusing to watch him when the +razors are handed round. He will snatch one off the tray, draw the edge +across his nail, breathe upon it, then hold it up to the light, and +after wiping it in the gentlest manner upon the cuff of his coat, bid +for it as ravenously as if he would not lose the scarce article for all +the wealth of the Indies. What he does with all the articles he buys we +can not tell. Saint Paul's would not be large enough to contain all the +rubbish he has been accumulating these last ten years. His collection of +side-boards alone would fill Hyde-Park, and he must possess by this time +more dumb waiters than there are real waiters in England." + + * * * * * + +A capital burlesque upon the prevalent affectation of popular +song-writers, in making their first line tell as a title, is given in +the following: such, for example, as "_When my Eye_," "_I dare not use +thy cherished Name_," and so forth: + + "Oh! don't I love you rather still? + Are all my pledges set at naught? + Dishonored is Affection's bill? + Or passed is Love's Insolvent Court? + Is Memory's schedule coldly filed, + On one of Cupid's broken darts? + Is Hymen's balance-sheet compiled, + A bankrupt's stock of damaged hearts? + + "SECOND VERSE. + + "I dare not use thy cherished name, + Would'st thou accept, were I to draw? + The god of Love may take his aim, + But with an arrow made of straw + Each fonder feeling that I knew + A lifeless heap of ruin lies: + Yes, false one! ticketed by you: + Look here!--'Alarming Sacrifice!'" + + * * * * * + +We must say one thing in favor of JOHN BULL. He confesses to a _beat_ +with great unanimity and frankness. It is in evidence, on the authority +of the three gentlemen interested in the race of the yacht _America_, +that the triumph of American skill in ship-architecture was most +candidly admitted on all hands, as it was in all the public journals +most handsomely. This is as it should be; and we were glad to see, that +at the recent dinner given to Mr. STEVENS at the Astor-House cordial and +ample acknowledgments, for courtesies and attentions from the QUEEN +herself, down to the most eminent members of the Royal Yacht Squadron, +were feelingly and appropriate rendered. + + + + +Literary Notices. + + +_A Book of Romances_, _Lyrics_, _and Songs_, by BAYARD TAYLOR. This +volume consists chiefly of pieces which have not before been given to +the public, and are evidently selected with great severity of taste from +the miscellaneous productions of the writer. This was a highly judicious +course, and will be friendly, in all respects, to the fame of Bayard +Taylor, whose principal danger as a poet is his too great facility of +execution. The pieces in this volume exhibit the marks of careful +elaboration; of conscientious artistic finish; of a lofty standard of +composition; and of the intellectual self-respect which is not content +with a performance inferior to the highest. They are profuse in bold, +poetic imagery; often expressing conceptions of exquisite delicacy and +pathos; and, pervaded by a spirit of classic refinement. Mr. Taylor's +merits as a descriptive poet of a high order have long been recognized; +the present volume will confirm his beautiful reputation in that +respect; while it shows a freer and nobler sweep of the imagination and +reflective faculties than he has hitherto exercised. (Boston: Ticknor, +Reed, and Fields.) + +Phillips, Sampson, and Co., Boston, have published a revised edition of +_Margaret, a Tale of the Real and the Ideal_, in two volumes. The +edition is introduced with a characteristic preface by the author, +explaining his own conception of the drift of the work, and justifying +certain features which have been severely commented on by critics. In +spite of its numerous displays of eccentricity and waywardness, we +believe that "Margaret" possesses the elements of an enduring vitality. +Its quaint and expressive delineations of New-England life, its vivid +reproduction of natural scenery, and the freedom and boldness with which +its principal characters are sustained, will always command a certain +degree of sympathy, even from those who are the most impatient with the +reckless mannerisms of the writer. His genius is sufficient to atone for +a multitude of faults, and there is need enough for its exercise in this +respect, in the present volumes. + +A new edition, greatly improved and enlarged, of ABBOTT'S _Young +Christian_, has been published by Harper and Brothers, and will speedily +be followed by the other volumes of the series, _The Corner Stone_ and +_The Way to Do Good_. It is superfluous to speak of the rare merits of +Mr. Abbott's writings on the subject of practical religion. Their +extensive circulation, not only in our own country, but in England, +Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Holland, India, and at various +missionary stations throughout the globe, evinces the excellence of +their plan, and the felicity with which it has been executed. Divesting +religion of its repulsive, scholastic garb, they address the common mind +in simple and impressive language. Every where breathing an elevated +tone of sentiment, they exhibit the practical aspects of religious +truth, in a manner adapted to win the heart, and to exercise a permanent +influence upon the character. In unfolding the different topics which he +takes in hand, Mr. Abbott reasons clearly, concisely, and to the point; +but the severity of argument is always relieved by a singular variety +and beauty of illustration. It is this admirable combination of +discussion with incident, that invests his writings with an almost equal +charm for readers of every diversity of age and of culture. While the +young acknowledge the fascination of his attractive pages, the most +mature minds find them full of suggestion, and often presenting an +original view of familiar truth.--The present edition is issued in a +style of uncommon neatness, and is illustrated with numerous engravings, +most of which are spirited and beautiful. + +_Episodes of Insect Life_, Third Series, published by J.S. Redfield, is +brought to a close in the volume before us, which treats of the insects +of autumn and the early winter. We take leave of these beautiful studies +in nature with regret, though rejoicing in the eminent success which has +attended their publication, both in England and in our own country. They +have entered largely into the rural delights of many a family circle, +during the past season, and will long continue to perform the same +congenial ministry. + +George P. Putnam has issued the first number of _A Biographical and +Critical Dictionary of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors, and Architects_, +by S. SPOONER, M.D., compiled from a variety of authentic sources, and +containing more than fifteen hundred names of eminent artists, which are +not to be found in the existing English dictionaries of Art. Free use +has been made of the best European authorities, and a mass of +information concentrated which we should look for in vain in any other +single work. The editor appears to have engaged in his task, not only +with conscientious diligence, but with an enthusiastic interest in Art, +and with such qualifications, his success in its performance is almost a +matter of course. + +The third volume of _The Memoirs of Dr. Chalmers_ (published by Harper +and Brothers), embraces the period of his life during his residence at +Aberdeen, and a portion of his career as Professor at Edinburgh. The +interest of the previous volumes is well sustained in the present. It +contains many original anecdotes, illustrating the private and social +life of Dr. Chalmers, as well as a succinct narrative of the events in +which he bore a conspicuous part before the public. Every incident in +the biography of this admirable man is a new proof of his indomitable +energy of character, his comprehensive breadth of intellect, and the +mingled gentleness and fervor of his disposition. Whoever wishes to see +a strong, compact, massive specimen of human nature, softened and +harmonized by congenial religious and domestic influences, should not +fail to become acquainted with these rich and instructive volumes. + +_The Bible in the Family_, by H.A. BOARDMAN (published by Lippincott, +Grambo, and Co.), is a series of discourses treating of the domestic +relations, as the chief sources of personal and social welfare, and +illustrating the importance of the principles of the Bible to the +happiness of the family. They were delivered to the congregation of the +author, in the regular course of his pastoral ministrations, and without +aiming at a high degree of exactness of thought, or literary finish, are +plain, forcible, and impressive addresses on topics of vital moment. +Their illustrations are drawn from every-day life, and are often +striking as well as pertinent. An occasional vein of satire in their +descriptions of society, is introduced with good effect, tempering the +prevailing honeyed suavity of discussion, which, without a corrective, +would be apt to cloy. + +Lippincott, Grambo, and Co. have republished _The Scalp Hunters_, by +Capt. MAYNE REID, a record of wild and incredible adventures among the +trappers and savages of New Mexico. It is written in an incoherent, +slap-dash style, in which the want of real descriptive strength is +supplied by the frequent use of interjectional phrases. The scenes, for +the most part, consist of pictures of city brawls and forest fights, +with an excess of blood and thunder sufficient to satiate the most +sanguinary appetite. + +_The Human Body and its Connection with Man_, by JAMES JOHN GARTH +WILKINSON, is the transcendental title of a treatise by an original and +vigorous English writer, in which the theories of Swedenborg are applied +to the illustration of human physiology. Profoundly mystical in its +general character, and thoroughly repellent to those who make the length +of their own fingers the measure of the universe, it abounds in passages +of admirable eloquence, presenting a piquant stimulus to the +imagination, even when it fails to satisfy the intellect. Its rhetoric +will be attractive to many readers who take no interest in its anatomy. + +_Ladies of the Covenant_, by Rev. JAMES ANDERSON, under an odd +apposition of terms in the title, conceals a work of more than common +merit. Why could not the author use the good Saxon word "women" in +designating those heroic spirits who shed their blood for their religion +in the era of the Scottish Covenant? We shall next hear of the noble +army of "lady martyrs," of the "holy ladies of old," and other fantastic +phrases engendered by a squeamish taste. With this exception, the volume +is worthy of the highest commendation. It shows the horrors of political +persecution, and the beauty of religious faith, in a succession of +forcible and touching narratives. (Published by J.S. Redfield). + +_Alban, a Tale of the New World_, is a novel combining an unctuous +melange of sensual description and religious discussion, by an +enthusiastic neophyte of the Roman Catholic Church. It has some lively +pictures of modern Puritanic character in New-England villages, which +are a grateful relief to its pervading tone of speculative +voluptuousness. (Published by George P. Putnam.) + +_The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World_, by E.S. CREASY (published +by Harper and Brothers). The key to this volume is contained in the +following passage of the author's preface: "There are some battles which +claim our attention, independently of the moral worth of the combatants, +on account of their enduring importance, and by reason of the practical +influence on our own social and political condition, which we can trace +up to the results of those engagements. They have for us an abiding and +actual interest, both while we investigate the chain of causes and +effects by which they have helped to make us what we are, and also while +we speculate on what we probably should have been, if any one of those +battles had come to a different termination." The hint of his work, was +first suggested to the author, by the remark of Mr. Hallam on the +victory gained by Charles Martel, between Tours and Poictiers, over the +invading Saracens, that "it may justly be reckoned among those few +battles of which a contrary event would have essentially varied the +drama of the world in all its subsequent scenes; with Marathon, Arbela, +the Metaurus, Chalons, and Leipsic." The idea, presented in this form, +is developed with great ingenuity by the author, in its application to +the most significant battles in history, from Marathon to Waterloo. +Abstaining from merely theoretical speculations, he exhibits a profound +insight into the operation of political causes, which he unfolds with +great sagacity, and in a manner suited to enchain the attention of the +reader. Among the decisive battles embraced in his work, those of +Marathon, of Arbela, of Hastings, of the Spanish Armada, of Blenheim, of +Saratoga, and of Waterloo, are described with picturesque felicity, and +their consequences to the fortunes of the civilized world are traced out +in the genuine spirit of a sound philosophical historian. His +observations, connected with the battle of Saratoga, in regard to the +position of America in modern history, are just and impartial. "The +fourth great power of the world is the mighty commonwealth of the +Western Continent, which now commands the admiration of mankind. That +homage is sometimes reluctantly given, and is sometimes accompanied with +suspicion and ill-will But none can refuse it. All the physical +essentials for national strength are undeniably to be found in the +geographical position and amplitude of territory which the United States +possess; in their almost inexhaustible tracts of fertile but hitherto +untouched soil, in their stately forests, in their mountain chains and +their rivers, their beds of coal, and stores of metallic wealth, in +their extensive sea-board along the waters of two oceans, and in their +already numerous and rapidly-increasing population. And when we examine +the character of this population, no one can look on the fearless +energy, the sturdy determination, the aptitude for local +self-government, the versatile alacrity, and the unresisting spirit of +enterprise which characterize the Anglo-Americans, without feeling that +here he beholds the true elements of progressive might." + +The Second Volume of Miss STRICKLAND'S _Queens of Scotland_ (published +by Harper and Brothers), completes the Life of Mary of Lorraine, and +contains that of Lady Margaret Douglas. It is marked by the careful +research and animated style which have given the author such an enviable +reputation as an authentic and pleasing historical guide. + +_The Lily and the Bee_, by SAMUEL WARREN (published by Harper and +Brothers), is a reprint of a rhapsodical prose-poem, suggested by the +strange and beautiful spectacle of the Crystal Palace. The author has +selected a wild and incoherent form for the embodiment of his +impressions, but it is pervaded by a vein of rich, imaginative thought, +which no one can follow without being touched with its spirit of +suggestive musing. Whoever peruses this volume, as the writer intimates, +should suspend his judgment until the completion, and then both the Lily +and the Bee may be found speaking with some significance. + +MAYHEW'S _London Labor_ (published by Harper and Brothers) has reached +its Fourteenth Number, and fully sustains the interest of the earlier +portions of the work. It is a faithful sketch of one aspect of London +life, drawn from nature, and in graphic effect is hardly inferior to the +high-wrought creations of fiction. + +The Eighteenth Part of LOSSING's _Pictorial Field-Book of the +Revolution_ (published by Harper and Brothers), is now completed, and +the successive parts will be issued rapidly until the work is closed. +This noble tribute to the memory of our revolutionary fathers has been +kindly and cordially received by the American people. We rejoice in its +success, for the spirit of patriotism which it breathes is as wholesome, +as the execution of its charming pictures is admirable. + +_Malmiztic the Toltec_, by W.W. FOSDICK (Cincinnati, Wm. H. Moore and +Co.), is a romance of Mexico, reproducing the times of Montezuma and +Cortez. In spite of the desperate cacophony of the title, and the +high-flown magnificence of the preface, it is a work of considerable +originality and power. The style of the author would be improved by an +unrelenting application of the pruning-knife, but he shows a talent of +description and narrative, which, after abating the luxuriance of a +first effort, might be turned to excellent account. We hope to hear from +him again. + +_The Mind and the Heart_, by FRANKLIN W. FISH, is the title of a little +volume in verse by a very youthful poet, written before the completion +of his eighteenth year. We utterly disapprove the publication of such +precocious efforts, as they have no interest for the reader but that of +a literary curiosity, and none but a perilous reflex influence on the +unfledged author. These effusions, however, are highly creditable +specimens of the kind, and show a facility of versification and a +command of poetic thought and imagery, which give a fair promise of +future excellence. We will not subject them to a harsh criticism, which +they certainly do not deserve, but we advise the young aspirant to cling +to the pen in private, and for the present to cherish a profound horror +of printing ink. (Adriance, Sherman, and Co.) + + * * * * * + +A new translation of DANTE'S _Divina Commedia_ has recently been made in +England by C.B. Cayley. The volume published, containing the "Inferno," +is to be followed by the "Purgatorio" and "Paradiso." The metre of the +original is preserved. A London journal says that "it is by far the most +effectual transcript of the original that has yet appeared in English +verse: in other words, the nearest approximation hitherto made to what +the poet, such as we know him, might have written had he been of our +time and country, instead of being a Tuscan in the thirteenth century. +To have done this office with tolerable success for any great poet is a +claim to praise: in a translator of Dante it is something more. Mr. +Cayley's one main ground of superiority to previous translators lies in +the true perception that nothing but plain and bold language in the copy +can represent the bold plainness of the original. He has accordingly +handled our whole vocabulary with unusual frankness; and we admire his +skill in pressing apt though uncouth forms into the service, as much as +we approve of the right feeling that taught him how Dante may be most +nearly approached." + + * * * * * + +_The Hymn for All Nations_, 1851, by M.F. TUPPER, D.C.L., says _The +Athenæum_ "is at least a philological and typographical curiosity. The +hymn--'would it were worthier!'--is translated into thirty different +languages, and printed in the characters of each country." + + * * * * * + +THOMAS COOPER, a well-known English Chartist, distinguished by the +inviting _prestige_, "Author of the 'Purgatory of Suicides,'" advertises +to deliver his orations on the genius of all men, from Shakspeare to +George Fox the Quaker, Milton to Mohammed, and on many subjects from +astronomy to civil war, at the low charge of (to working men) two pounds +per speech, or at thirty shillings each for a quantity. + + * * * * * + +THACKERAY is writing a novel in three volumes, to be published in the +winter. The scene is in England early in the eighteenth century, and the +stage will be crossed by many of the illustrious actors of that +time--such as Bolingbroke, Swift, and Pope; and Dick Steele will play a +prominent part. + +"There is more than a bit of gossip," says _The Leader_ "in the +foregoing paragraph. It intimates that THACKERAY has 'risen above the +mist;' he will no more be hampered and seduced by the obstacles and +temptations coextensive with the fragmentary composition of monthly +parts. It intimates that he has the noble ambition of producing a work +of art. It also intimates that he has bidden adieu, for the present, to +Gaunt-house, the Clubs, Pall-mall, and May-fair--to forms of life which +are so vividly, so wondrously reproduced in his pages, that detractors +have asserted he could paint nothing else--forgetting that creative +power to _that_ degree can not be restricted to one form. His _Lectures_ +have prepared us for a very vivid and a very charming picture of the +Eighteenth Century." + + * * * * * + +The MASTER of the ROLLS has given a favorable answer to the memorial +presented to him by Lord Mahon and various literary men, praying for the +admission of historical writers to the free use of the records. On this, +the _London Examiner_ remarks, "There is a point of view in which this +matter is most important. The concession throws a vast amount of new +responsibility upon literary men. Henceforth the guess-work, the mere +romance-writing, which we have been too long accustomed to suppose to be +history, will be without excuse. Writers who neglect to take advantage +of record-evidence on all subjects to which it is applicable, will lay +themselves open to the sharpest and justest critical censure. Our +history may now be put upon the strong foundation, not of borrowed +evidence, but of the records themselves. If literary men neglect this +opportunity, the Government will be no longer to blame. The Master of +the Rolls has cleared his conscience, and that of the State. But we have +no fear that such will be the result. Wise and liberal concession, like +that of the Master of the Rolls, must tell with honorable effect both +upon our literary men and upon our national character." + + * * * * * + +The following ludicrous remarks, are from an article in the _London +Spectator_ on Parkman's _History of Pontiac_. They are a specimen of +what a certain class of English writers call criticism. The obtuseness +of John Bull can no farther go. + +"It is remarked by travelers, that however individual Americans may +differ--as the observing shepherd can detect physiognomical differences +in his flock--there is a general resemblance throughout the Union in +lathy lankiness, in haste, in tobacco-chewing, in dress, in manners or +(as Scott expressed it) 'no manners.' The remark may be truly applied to +American books. Poetry and travels with hardly an exception, historical +novels and tales without any exception, and works on or about history, +have a certain family likeness. As one star differs from another in +brightness, and yet they are all stars, so one American writer on +history differs from another in point of merit, yet their kind of merit +is alike. Washington Irving's mode of composition is the type of them +all, and consists in making the most of things. The landscape is +described, not to possess the reader with the features of the country so +far as they are essential to the due apprehension of the historical +event, but as a thing important in itself, and sometimes as a thing +adapted to show off the writing or the writer. The costumes are not only +indicated, to remind the reader of the various people engaged, but dwelt +upon with the unction of a virtuoso. The march is narrated in detail; +the accessories are described in their minutiæ; and the probable or +possible feelings of the actors are laid before the reader. Sometimes +this mode of composition is used sparingly and chastely, as by Bancroft; +sometimes more fully, as by Theodore Irving in his _Conquest of +Florida_; other styles (in the sense of _expressing_ ideas) than the +model may also preponderate, so as to suggest no idea of the author of +the _Sketch Book_ and the _Conquest of Granada_; but, more or less, the +literary sketcher or tale-writer has encroached upon the province of the +historian." + +The London journals announce that _Carlyle's Memoirs_ of JOHN STIRLING +will be issued immediately. + + * * * * * + +The _Leader_ announces the certainty of an abridged translation of +AUGUSTE COMTE'S six volumes of _Positive Philosophy_ appearing as soon +as is compatible with the exigencies of so important an undertaking. A +very competent mind has long been engaged upon the task; and the growing +desire in the public to hear more about this BACON of the nineteenth +century, remarks the _Leader_, renders such a publication necessary. + + * * * * * + +At a recent meeting of the Royal Society of Literature in London, a +communication was made from the celebrated antiquarian explorer, Mr. +LAYARD, of the progress and results of his recent investigations at +Nimroud; from which it was evident that the public is justified in +forming high expectations of the advance which it will be enabled to +make in the knowledge of Assyrian history and antiquities, in +consequence of his further indefatigable labors. The new objects of +antiquity exhumed will throw light on the state of the arts, the +chronology, the origin of the Egyptian influence, and other facts +relating to this the most ancient empire of the world. + + * * * * * + +A tablet in memory of the late WILLIAM WORDSWORTH has just been fixed in +Grasmere church, executed by Mr. Thomas Woolner. The inscription is from +the pen of Professor Keble. + + * * * * * + +Dr. ACHILLI has intimated at one of the meetings of the Evangelical +Alliance, that he intends to prosecute Dr. Newman for libel at the +commencement of next term. + + * * * * * + +MAZZINI'S little work, _The Pope in the Nineteenth Century_, which made +considerable sensation, when it appeared in French, has been translated +into English, and is now published as a pamphlet. + + * * * * * + +French literature is beginning to show some activity. THIERS issues the +eleventh volume of his _History of the Consulate and the Empire_; +instead of the ten volumes originally proposed, the work is to extend to +fourteen--an extension for which few will be grateful! + + * * * * * + +ADOLPHE GRANIER DE CASSAGNAC, the lively, impertinent, paradoxical +journalist, is writing a _Histoire du Directoire_ in his own paper, and +the Brussels edition of volume I. is already published. It is full of +sarcasms and declamations against the Republican party and their great +leaders; but it is sprightly, amusing, and has something of novelty in +its tone: after so much wearisome laudation of every body in the +Revolution, a spirited, reckless, and dashing onslaught makes the old +subject piquant. + + * * * * * + +This is verily the age of cheapness. GEORGE SAND has consented to allow +all her novels to be reprinted in Paris, for the small charge of four +_sous_, a shade less than twopence, per part, which will make, it +appears, about 1_l._ for the whole collection. This popular edition is +to be profusely illustrated by eminent artists, and is to be printed and +got up in good style. + + * * * * * + +During the last year or two an immense deal of business has been done by +three or four publishing houses, in the production of esteemed works at +four sous the sheet, of close yet legible type, excellent paper, and +spirited illustrations. By this plan, the humblest working-man and the +poorest _grisette_ have been able to form a very respectable library. +Naturally the works so brought out have been chiefly of the class of +light literature, but not a few are of a graver character. Among the +authors whose complete works have been published, are Lesage, +Chateaubriand, Anquetil (the historian), Balzac, Sue, Paul de Kock; +among those partially published, Rousseau, Lamennais, Voltaire, Diderot, +Fénélon, Bernardin de Saint Pierre. Translations of foreign works have +also been produced; in the batch are, complete or partial, Goldsmith, +Sterne, Anne Radcliffe, Mrs. Inchbald, Walter Scott, Fenimore Cooper, +Bulwer, Dickens, Marryatt, Goethe, Schiller, Silvio Pellico; and +Boccacio. + + * * * * * + +An eminent critic has just revealed a fact which very few people +knew--viz. that ST. JUST, one of the most terrible of the terrible +heroes of the first French Revolution, wrote and published, before he +gained his sanguinary celebrity, a long poem, entitled, "Orgaut." The +opinion which M. Thiers and other historians have caused the public to +form of this man was, that he was a fanatic--implacable, but sincere--a +ruthless minister of the guillotine; but deeming wholesale slaughter +indispensable for securing, what he conscientiously considered, the +welfare of the people. He was, we may imagine, something like the gloomy +inquisitors of old, who thought it was doing God service to burn +heretics at the stake. To justify this opinion, one would have expected +to have found in a poem written by him when the warm and generous +sentiments of youth were in all their freshness, burning aspirations for +what it was the fashion of his time to call _vertu_, and lavish +protestations of devotedness to his country and the people. But instead +of that, the work is, it appears, from beginning to end, full of the +grossest obscenity--it is the delirium of a brain maddened with +voluptuousness--it is coarser and more abominable than the "Pucelle" of +Voltaire, and is not relieved, as that is, by sparkling wit and graces +of style. In a moral point of view, it is atrocious--in a literary point +of view, wretched. + + * * * * * + +Of a political writer, who, for the last year or two, has made some +noise in the world, the all-destructive PROUDHON, a sharp English critic +keenly enough observes: "After Comte there is no one in France to +compare with Proudhon for power, originality, daring, and coherence. His +name is a name of terror. He is of no party, no sect. Like Ishmael, his +hand is raised against every one, and his blows are crushing. In some +respects he reminds us of Carlyle there is the same relentless scorn for +his adversaries, the same vehement indignation against error, the same +domineering personality, the same preference for crude energy of +statement, the same power of sarcasm; but there is none of the abounding +_poetry_ which is in Carlyle, none of the true genius; and there is an +excess of dialectics such as Carlyle would turn aside from. If Carlyle +is the Prophet of Democracy, Proudhon is its Logician and Economist. +Proudhon loves to startle. It suits his own vehement, combative nature. +We do not think he does it from calculation so much as from instinct; he +does not fire a musket in the air that its noise may call attention to +him, but from sheer sympathy with musket shots. Whatever may be the +motive, the result is unquestionable: attention _is_ attracted and +fixed." + + * * * * * + +A French writer, M. LEON DE MONTBEILLARD, has just published a work on +SPINOZA, calling in question the logical powers of that "thorny" +reasoner on inscrutable problems. The _London Leader_ disposes of it in +a summary manner: "If Spinoza has one characteristic more eminent than +another, it is commonly supposed to be the geometric precision and +exactitude of his logical demonstrations. To say that Spinoza was a +rigorous logician is like saying that Shakspeare was dramatic, and +Milton imaginative--a platitude unworthy of an original mind, a truism +beneath notice. M. Montbeillard declines to walk in such a beaten path. +He denies Spinoza's logical merit. Spinoza a logician; _fi donc_! Read +this treatise and learn better. What all the world has hitherto supposed +to be severe deductive logic, only to be escaped by a refusal to accept +the premises, is here shown to be nothing but a pedantic array of +pretended axioms and theorems, which are attacked and overturned by this +adventurous author _avec une assez grande facilité_. We have not seen +the work, but we have not a doubt of the _facility_!" + + * * * * * + +In a letter to the newspapers, ALEXANDRE DUMAS complains that a +publisher, who has got possession of a manuscript history of Louis +Philippe, written by him, intends to bring it out under a title +insulting to the exiled royal family--"Mysteries of the Orleans Family," +or something of that kind. The proceeding would certainly be +scandalously unjust to the author; but doubts are raised whether he can +obtain any legal redress. The manuscript is the publisher's, paid for +with his money, purchased by him, not from Dumas himself, but from +another _editeur_ to whom Dumas ceded it. It is, therefore, to all +intents and purposes, merchandise in the eyes of the owner; and, as in +the case of any other merchandise, it is contended that he may sell it +under any title he pleases that does not absolutely misrepresent its +character. + + * * * * * + +EUGENE SUE has commenced the publication of another of his lengthy +romances in one of the daily papers, and has also begun the printing of +a comedy, in six acts, in another journal. The quantity of matter which +popular romancers in France manage to produce is really extraordinarily +great. They think nothing of writing three or four columns of newspaper +type in a day, and that day after day, for months at a time. The most +active journalists certainly, on an average, do not knock off any thing +like that quantity; and yet what _they_ produce requires (or at least +obtains) little or no thought--no previous study--is not part of a +regular plan--and is not expected to display much originality of +conception, or much grace of style. + + * * * * * + +The success of BALZAC'S comedy has caused the playwrights to turn their +attention to his novels, and it is probable that in the course of the +next few months we shall see one and all dramatized. Full as Balzac's +novels are of forcibly drawn personages and striking incidents, +competent critics doubt whether they will suit the stage; for their +great charm and their great merit consists in minute analyzation, which +is impracticable in the theatre. He was an admirable miniaturist, a +laborious anatomist, and a complete master of detail--qualities with +which the acted drama has naught to do. + + * * * * * + +EUGENE SUE offers us a new novel, _L' Avarice_, the last of his series +on the seven cardinal sins, in one volume. + + * * * * * + +The two volumes of DE MAISTRE'S letters and inedited trifles, _Lettres +et Opuscules inédits_, with a biographical notice written by his son, +will be very acceptable, not only to Catholics, but to all who can rise +above differences of creed, and recognize the amazing power of this +great writer. These volumes present him, _en déshabille_, and he is +worthy knowing so. + + * * * * * + +JULES JANIN'S Letters on the Exhibition, reprinted in a neat volume in +Paris as well as at London, have procured him the honor of a very +complimentary autograph letter from Prince Albert. The popularity which +Janin has contrived to gain, not only in his own country, but in +Europe--and not only among the middle classes, those great patrons of +literary men nowadays, but among royal and aristocratic personages +also--this popularity is envied by scores of writers of far greater +pretensions. + + * * * * * + +The French have a very common and most unjust practice--that of +appropriating the authorship of works which they only translate. A +complete edition of Fielding has appeared under the title "OEuvres de +l'Abbé St. Romme," or some such name. Ducis has passed himself off as +the _author_ of _Hamlet_ and _Macbeth_, and the other great plays of +Shakspeare which he has dared to mutilate. There are half a dozen +translations of "Paradise Lost," in which the name of some obscure +varlet figures on the title-page, while that of Milton is not once +mentioned. There are editions of the "Decline and Fall," by Monsieur +So-and-so, without the slightest indication that the work is that of +Gibbon; and Bulwer and Scott, and indeed all English authors of note, +dead and living, have been pillaged in the same way. The German and +Italian authors have suffered the same treatment from these literary +wreckers. + + * * * * * + +An edition of BRENTANO'S works has been published in six volumes. As one +of the most famous of the "Romantic School," Brentano is interesting to +all students of German literature, and the present publication receives +additional stimulus from the knowledge that Brentano, late in life, +looked upon his works as "dangerous," if not "devilish," and destroyed +all the copies he could lay hands on. + + * * * * * + +METTERNICH is writing a book, and that book is a _History of Austria_ +during his own time! Unhappily this bit of gossip can only interest our +grandchildren, as the prince inserts a clause in his will, which forbids +the publication till sixty years after his death. + + * * * * * + +The inhabitants of Schaffhausen have been inaugurating a monument to the +memory of the historian JOHN VON MULLER in that, his native town. The +monument--which is the work of the Swiss sculptor Oechslein--is composed +of a colossal marble bust of the historian--on a lofty granite pedestal, +ornamented with a bas-relief, in marble, representing the Muse of +History engaging Muller to write the great events of his country's +story. Below, inscribed in characters of gold, is the following passage +from one of Muller's own letters: "I have never been on the side of +party--but always on that of truth and justice wherever I could +recognize them." + + * * * * * + +John Bartlett, Cambridge, has in press the _Miscellaneous Writings_ of +ANDREWS NORTON, in one volume, 8vo, including reviews, critiques, and +essays on various subjects of literature and theology. It will be a work +of considerable interest. The same publisher announces also Stockhardt's +_Agricultural Chemistry_, to be published simultaneously with the +German edition. A seventh edition of this author's _Principles of +Chemistry_ has been published by Mr. Bartlett. In a letter to him, Dr. +Stockhardt thus writes of the American reprint: "The style in which you +have got up my 'Principles of Chemistry,' is worthy of the great land of +freedom, whose adopted son you have made my work, and places the +original quite in the shade. The translation, by Dr. Peirce, is likewise +so faithful and correct, that any author would be highly gratified to +find his thoughts and opinions rendered so perfectly in another +language." + + * * * * * + +From the recent report of the Methodist Book Concern in New York, it +appears that the sales for the last twelve months were more than +$200,000, being an increase of $65,000 over the previous year, and +exceeding all former years. The profits on the new Hymn Book were +$47,561. The Christian Advocate and Journal has a circulation of from +25,000 to 29,000. The Missionary Advocate 20,000. The Sunday School +Advocate 65,000, with a yearly sale of Sunday School books amounting to +$5000. The Quarterly Review has 3000 subscribers. + + * * * * * + +The name of the popular author, W. GILMORE SIMMS, having been publicly +mentioned in connection with the Presidency of the South Carolina +College, the Charleston _Literary Gazette_ remarks, "We should rejoice +greatly to see Mr. Simms in a position which, we think, would be so +congenial to his tastes, and for which his whole career has eminently +fitted him. The watchword of his life has been, 'Strive.' He has +striven, manfully, daringly, nobly, _successfully_! He has raised +himself to a position in the world of letters, scarcely a whit inferior +to the noblest of our writers. The death of Cooper leaves him without a +living American compeer in the realm of fiction, and we confidently +predict that the next generation will pronounce him to have been the +greatest American poet of this!" + + * * * * * + +From America, says the London "Household Narrative," we receive a +well-written and animated history of the campaigns of the celebrated +Indian chief, _Pontiac_, during his gallant "conspiracy" to expel the +English colonists after the conquest of Canada. It is principally +interesting for the picture it gives of the chief himself; and for a +more favorable view of the plans, and of the sagacity which informed and +shaped them, than Englishmen have been prepared for in the case of any +chief of those tribes. + + * * * * * + +Mr. JAMES RICHARDSON, the enterprising African traveler, died on the 4th +of March last, at a small village called Ungurutua, six days distant +from Kouka, the capital of Bornou. Early in January, he and the +companions of his mission, Drs. Barth and Overweg, arrived at the +immense plain of Damergou, when, after remaining a few days, they +separated, Dr. Barth proceeding to Kanu, Dr. Overweg to Guber, and Mr. +Richardson taking the direct route to Kouka, by Zinder. There, it would +seem, his strength began to give way, and before he had arrived twelve +days distant from Kouka he became seriously ill, suffering much from the +oppressive heat of the sun. Having reached a large town called +Kangarrua, he halted for three days, and feeling himself rather +refreshed he renewed his journey. After two days' more traveling, during +which his weakness greatly increased, they arrived at the Waddy Mellaha. +Leaving this place on the 3d of March, they reached in two hours the +village of Ungurutua, when Mr. Richardson became so weak that he was +unable to proceed. In the evening he took a little food and tried to +sleep, but became very restless, and left his tent, supported by his +servant. He then took some tea, and threw himself again on his bed, but +did not sleep. His attendants having made some coffee, he asked for a +cup, but had no strength to hold it. He repeated several times "I have +no strength," and after having pronounced the name of his wife, sighed +deeply, and expired without a struggle, about two hours after midnight. + + * * * * * + +Mr. WILLIAM NICOL, F.R.S.E., died in Edinburgh on the 2d inst., in his +eighty-third year. Mr. Nicol commenced his career as assistant to the +late Dr. Moyes, the eminent blind lecturer on natural philosophy. Dr. +Moyes, at his death, bequeathed his apparatus to Mr. Nicol, who then +lectured on the same subject as his predecessor. Mr. Nicol's +contributions to the "Edinburgh Philosophical Journal" were various and +valuable; the more important being his description of his successful +repetition of Döbereiner's celebrated experiment of igniting spongy +platina by a stream of cold hydrogen gas; also his method of preparing +fossil woods for microscopic investigation, which led to his discovery +of the structural difference between the arucarian and coniferous woods, +by far the most important in fossil botany. But the most valuable +contribution to physical science, and with which his name will ever be +associated, was his invention of the single image prism of calcareous +spar, known to the scientific world as Nicol's prism. + + * * * * * + +The London papers announce the death of Mr. B. P. GIBBON, the line +engraver, deservedly celebrated for his many excellent engravings after +the works of Sir Edwin Landseer. His death was occasioned by a sudden +attack of English cholera. "He was well versed in the history of his +art, and of a mild and gentlemanlike disposition of mind. One of his +first works was a small engraving after Landseer's 'Traveled Monkey;' +and the work on which he was last engaged--and which he has left +scarcely half done--was an engraving after one of Mr. Webster's +pictures. His inclinations in early life turned to the stage; but his +true path was line engraving. In this he was distinguished rather for +the delicacy of his touch and the close character of his work, than for +breadth of effect and boldness in the laying in of lines." + + * * * * * + +The London papers record the death of JOHN KIDD, D.M. of Christchurch, +Regius Professor of Medicine, Tomline's Prælector of Anatomy, Aldrichian +Professor of Anatomy, and Radcliffe's Librarian. Dr. Kidd was highly +esteemed and respected both in the University and city of Oxford, In +1822 Dr. Kidd succeeded Sir Christopher Pegge, Bart., in the office of +Regius Professor of Medicine, to which is annexed Tomline's +Prælectorship of Anatomy, and the Aldrichian Professorship of Anatomy, +and in 1834 he succeeded Dr. Williams as Radcliffe's Librarian. The +_Leader_ says, "Oxford has lost an ornament in losing Dr. Kidd, the +Regius Professor of Medicine in the University, whose death we see +recorded in the papers; and the public will remember him as the author +of one of the most popular _Bridgewater Treatises_, a series of works +intended to give orthodoxy the support of science, and which, by the +very juxtaposition of religion and science, have greatly helped to bring +their discordances into relief. Dr. Kidd was not a writer of such +attainments in philosophy as to give any weight to his views; but his +knowledge of facts was extensive, and his exposition popular in style. +It may be worth remarking that the title of his book, _On the Adaptation +of External Nature to the Physical Condition of Man_, is radically +opposed to the most advanced views of physiology." + + + + +A Leaf from Punch. + +[Illustration: _Brother Jonathan._--"I GUESS, MASTER JOHNNY, IF YOU +DON'T LOOK SHARP, I'LL SHOW YOU HOW TO MAKE A SEVENTY-FOUR NEXT."] + + +[Illustration: NOT A DIFFICULT THING TO FORETELL. "LET THE POOR GIPSY +TELL YOUR FORTUNE, MY PRETTY GENTLEMAN."] + +[Illustration: CURIOSITIES OF MEDICAL EXPERIENCE. + + +_Medical Student._ "WELL, OLD FELLER, SO YOU'VE 'PASSED' AT LAST." +_Consulting Surgeon._ "YES; BUT I DON'T GET MUCH PRACTICE +SOMEHOW--ALTHOUGH I AM NEARLY ALWAYS AT HOME, IN CASE ANY ONE SHOULD +CALL."] + + +[Illustration: RETIREMENT.] + + + + +Fashions for November. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--BALL AND DINNER COSTUMES.] + + +This is the commencement season for social parties and public +amusements. We present seasonable illustrations of fashionable costumes +for dinner parties, balls, and the opera. The first figure in the above +engraving represents an elegant + +BALL DRESS.--Hair in short bandeaux, tied behind à la Grecque, with a +wreath of bluebells; the flowers are small and arranged on a cord along +the forehead; they increase in size and form tufts at the sides. The +cord is continued behind and a second cord of flowers passes over the +head, and blends with the flowers at the sides. The dress of white +watered silk with a body and upper skirt of white silk net, festooned +and embroidered in spots with silk. The spots are small. The opening of +the body is heart-shape. The waist is pointed behind and before. The +sleeves are silk net, puffed, and held up by a few bluebells. The body +is trimmed with a double berthe, of silk net; a bouquet of bluebells is +placed on the left, goes down from the waist _en cordon_, and forms +another bouquet to hold up the left side of the skirt. On the right side +it is held up by an isolated bouquet. This upper skirt is very full, and +much longer behind than before. In the opening of the body and that +formed by turning up the sleeves, a chemisette plaited very small, and +edged with lace, is visible. + +DINNER TOILET.--The second, or right hand figure, represents a graceful +dinner toilet. _Fanchonnette_ cap made of English lace, which is +disposed in two rows. The upper one is about four inches wide sewed on +silk net, which forms the middle, the joining being covered by a narrow +band of terry velvet, No. 1. The bottom is composed of the same +elements, exactly in the shape of a _fanchon_, straight in front, +pointed behind, with small barbes at the side. Under the row that covers +the top of the head are loops of silk ribbon. The sides are trimmed with +more of the same kind, that hang down the cheeks. Plain silk dress. The +body is low and opens down to the point. The skirt, in front, is open +the whole length. The edges of the body, sleeves, and front of the skirt +are undulated, and the undulations are trimmed with a silk _ruché_, the +sides of which are the same stuff as the dress, while the middle is of a +different-colored silk. The sleeves, turned up at the bend of the arm, +show under-sleeves composed of three waves of lace; the body and +under-skirt are muslin, embroidered so as to show the embroidery at the +openings. The skirt has five graduated openings. The bottom edge of the +body is composed of a deep lace, arranged square. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--OPERA DRESS.] + +OPERA DRESS.--Costumes for the opera are diversified and quite fanciful. +Our illustration exhibits one of the most elegant and admired. Hair in +short puffed bandeaux. The knot behind is composed of two plaits, and a +third is brought round on the top of the head in front. Waistcoat of +watered silk, opening heart-shape in front, sitting well to the shape of +the breast and waist, ending in an open point at bottom, and hollowed +over the hip about an inch and a half. The back of the waistcoat is +tight. It buttons straight down in front, the left side lapping over a +little on the right, like a gentleman's waistcoat; it has one row of +small buttons. The edge of the waistcoat has a narrow silk binding +lapped over the edge, and all round run five rows of braid, one-tenth of +an inch wide, at intervals of about one-fifth of an inch. Jaconet skirt, +ornamented in front with six English bands one above the other; the +first 3 inches long, the second 5, the third 6-1/2, the fourth 8, the +fifth 9-1/2, and the sixth 12 inches. Each of these bands falls over the +gathering of the other, the last covering the top of the flounce which +runs round the skirt. The flounce is 16 inches deep, and the width of +the bands, beginning with the top one is 2, 2-3/4, 3-1/2, 4-1/4, 5, and +5-3/4 inches. The white sleeves which come below those of the +_soutanelle_ (cassock) have two rows of embroidery. The _soutanelle_ is +made of silk, and lined with a different color; it has a hood, the +inside of which is like the lining; it forms a pelerine, and ends square +in front. The _soutanelle_ is cut without arm-holes; that is, the sleeve +is taken out of the stuff and the seams of the body are taken in the cut +under the arm. Sitting close on the shoulders and the upper part of the +body, it forms round plaits from the waist. This fullness is owing to +its being cut in a style like the paletot. The back is not tight. The +edges of the hood, the _soutanelle_, and the sleeves are trimmed with +three _ruchés_, very full, and indented like a saw. The one in the +middle is the same color as the lining, the two others like the outside. + +[Illustration: FIGS. 3 AND 4.--HEAD-DRESSES AND CAPS.] + +HEAD TOILET.--Much attention continues to be bestowed upon caps and +other arrangements for the head. Figure 3 represents one of the newest +styles, called the _chambord head-dress_. The hair forms a point over +the forehead: a very small cap _à la Marie Stuart_, formed of several +small quillings of white silk net, set close together, with a bouquet of +flowers upon one side and a small bow of ribbon upon the other. Figure 4 +represents a simple cap of black lace, with broad appendages of the +same, instead of ribbons, on each side, and covering the ears. This is a +neat head toilet for the morning costume of matrons. Head-dresses for +the young are principally composed of the same flowers as those which +decorate the dress, and are formed so as to suit the countenance of the +wearer, either as a cordon around the head, from which droop long sprays +of twining herbs, or bouquets of flowers, placed very far back, and tied +with bows of black ribbon or velvet, with long ends. + +The rage for lace is undiminished. It is adapted to so many +purposes--vails, falls, flounces, shawl-berthes, collars, ruffles, +habit-shirts, &c., that every variety of costume has lace as an +important material in trimming. It forms a part of the head-dress, +accompanies the gown, surrounds the waist, falls from the shoulders; +light as feathers, rich as velvet, it is at once an article of luxury +and ornament--a garment and a jewel. + +Embroidery, following the example of lace, is coming more and more into +favor; sleeves, collars, petticoats, and handkerchiefs are literally +loaded with it, abroad; even stockings are beginning to participate in +this kind of luxury. + +There is no essential change in the make of dresses. Sleeves _à la +Duchesse_ are beginning to be more fashionable than the pagoda sleeves. +The waistcoat is still greatly admired, and is more seasonable now than +in midsummer. + +A new style of mantelet has appeared, called the _Valdivia_. It is a +light gray cloth, lined with blue sarcenet. It is made without seams, +very full, falling very low behind, where it is rounded in the form of +the half circle. The two lappets before are also very long and wide, +rounded like the back. No sleeves; the place for the hand is indicated +by the sloped part. Another, called the _Espera_ mantelet, is of black +watered silk, trimmed with a wide velvet, and bordered by a chenille +fringe. It fits to the waist and falls as low as the calf behind. The +fronts fall straight and square, a little lower than behind. + +The Bloomer costume has appeared in England and Ireland, and attracted +attention and approbation. Although comparatively few in this country +have yet adopted it to its full extent (or, rather, curtailment), the +agitation of the question has been of essential benefit in modifying the +long and untidy skirts. They are now made some inches shorter than they +were six months ago. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's New Monthly Magazine, v. 3, +number 18, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY *** + +***** This file should be named 36516-8.txt or 36516-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/5/1/36516/ + +Produced by Graeme Mackreth and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +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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