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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/37315-8.txt b/37315-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fbac96d --- /dev/null +++ b/37315-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7149 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Boy's Book of Heroes, by Helena Peake + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Boy's Book of Heroes + + +Author: Helena Peake + + + +Release Date: September 4, 2011 [eBook #37315] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY'S BOOK OF HEROES*** + + +E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Josephine Paolucci, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 37315-h.htm or 37315-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37315/37315-h/37315-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37315/37315-h.zip) + + + + + +[Illustration: _"And thrusting his sword through its head, laid it +dead on the ground."--p. 4_] + + +THE BOY'S BOOK OF HEROES. + +by + +HELENA PEAKE. + +With Original Illustrations. + + + + + + + +London: +Frederick Warne and Co., +Bedford Street, Covent Garden. +New York: Scribner, Welford, and Co. + +London: +J. and W. Rider, Printers, +Bartholomew Close. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + HEREWARD--LAST OF THE SAXONS 1 + + THE CID 17 + + LOUIS IX., KING OF FRANCE 49 + + GUSTAVUS VASA, KING OF SWEDEN 82 + + BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN 110 + + CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 144 + + THE CHEVALIER DE BAYARD 192 + + SIR MARTIN FROBISHER 225 + + SIR WALTER RALEIGH 242 + + SIR PHILIP SIDNEY 257 + + + + +A LITTLE BOY'S BOOK OF HEROES. + + + + +HEREWARD.--LAST OF THE SAXONS. + + +In the days of Edward the Confessor there lived in Mercia a noble +Anglo-Saxon youth named Hereward. He was brave, stedfast, and spirited, but +so violent and overbearing, so ready to quarrel and to use his sword, if +everything he desired was not conceded to him at once that the youths he +played and wrestled with around his home at Bourne[1], resolved to make +complaint of him to his father, Leofric, the great Earl of Mercia. + +Leofric was a very valiant man, and he had done King Edward good service at +the time of Earl Godwin's rebellion. He had three sons; of these Hereward +was the second; the eldest was Algar, whom the Confessor made lord over +East Anglia. + +Leofric was very much grieved when he heard, day after day, of the unruly +deeds of his son, and found that he paid little heed to the reproofs he so +justly deserved. And if Leofric was grieved, far more so was his wife, the +saintly lady Godiva, who passed nearly the whole of her time in the +performance of good works, feeding and clothing the poor, nursing the sick, +and praying long hours for those she loved, and it may be most of all for +her wayward son, Hereward. Besides this, she gave large sums of money for +the support of religious houses, and founded the monastery at Coventry, +which is said to have contained greater treasure of gold, silver, and +jewels, than any other in England. + +But father and mother at last were wearied out, and Leofric persuaded King +Edward to outlaw his turbulent son, as the only means of preserving peace +in the neighbourhood of his castle of Bourne. + +The youth, not the least dismayed when sentence was passed upon him, set +out on his travels accompanied by one servant, named Martin, as brave and +as reckless as himself, and who followed him because he loved him. Perhaps +some of his relations were sorry after all to see him go, for they could +not help admiring his free, brave spirit, and amongst those who cared for +him was his uncle Brand, abbot of Peterborough, a very pious man, as the +chroniclers say, but haughty and unbending to the enemies of his land. + +Let us glance at Hereward as he bade farewell for many a year to the home +of his youth. He was of middle height, broad shouldered, and sturdy limbed, +but active and graceful in all his movements. His features were handsome, +his golden hair fell in long curls over his shoulders, according to the +Saxon fashion; one of his large eyes being blue and the other grey, gave a +strange expression to his countenance. + +It is supposed that he lived chiefly in the woods and forests during the +early days of his exile, but a few months after he quitted Bourne, we find +him "beyond Northumberland" with the Fleming, Gilbert of Ghent, who bore +him good-will, and had sent for him as soon as he heard that he was +outlawed. Hereward had not been long in his friend's house, which was in +some part of Scotland, when an event occurred which redounded very much to +his credit. + +It was the custom then for rich men to have various kinds of sports at +Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, and they used to keep a number of wild +beasts in enclosures, which were led forth at these seasons, that the noble +youths assembled might try their strength against them. + +It was Christmas time when Hereward arrived "beyond Northumberland." He had +passed some joyous days hunting in the wintry forests, and had become a +great favourite with the company, because he excelled in all manly sports, +and could charm the ladies besides by singing sweetly, and playing on the +harp, in the long winter evenings. But when he looked at the wild beasts in +their cages, he only saw one that he thought he should like to fight with, +and that was a huge white bear, which was known to be exceedingly fierce. +And beyond this it was said that its parent was the famed Norwegian bear, +which lived far away in the pine woods of the north, and, according to the +fable believed in at the time, was endowed with human sense, and could +understand human speech. + +Now it happened one day that the white bear broke the bars of its +enclosure, and rushed out, killing and tearing to pieces all the animals +that came in its path. This must have been very alarming, and worse still, +it was making its way towards a room, opening out of the court where the +women and children belonging to the house had taken refuge, and some +knights in their terror had followed them, instead of trying to drive back +the fierce creature with their lances. Hereward had just come in from +hunting, and saw at a glance what had happened; he went straight up to the +bear, and thrusting his sword through its head, he laid it dead on the +ground. + +His praises after this were sung far and wide; but amidst all the joy there +was a secret plot made to destroy him by some of the knights who had shown +themselves to be cowards, and were jealous of the bold deed he had +performed. So one day they concealed themselves in the wood and tried to +kill him as he came slowly along the mossy paths followed by his servant +Martin. The story tells how Hereward slew two of these knights in +self-defence, and another crept away, or was carried wounded to the house. +Soon after this he bade Gilbert of Ghent farewell; he said that he could +not live happily where there were traitors, but those who loved him were +grieved when he rode away, and the women shed many tears, remembering how +he had saved them with his strong right arm from a cruel death. + +From Scotland he went to Cornwall, and there we are told he performed some +brave deeds, and rescued a Cornish princess by slaying in combat a fierce +and cruel Pict, a giant in height, whom her father had commanded her to +marry against her own inclination. + +Some time after he was heard of in Ireland, where he took part in the +warlike exploits of King Ranald. Whenever there was fighting he was sure to +be found where the danger was thickest, and the name of "The Wake" was +given to him because he was always on the watch for his enemies, and could +never be taken unawares. + +But in Ireland he began to get homesick; he longed to see his brave father +once more, and his mother, the Lady of Bourne, sitting amongst her maidens, +or gliding amongst the sick like some comforting angel; he wanted to know +if his relations had any kindly feeling left towards him. This longing +became so strong that he asked the king to give him two ships, which Ranald +granted him readily in return for his services, and with these he set out +for England. But he had not sailors enough on board, and since he could get +no more to serve him in Ireland, he sailed up northwards towards the +Orkneys. When he reached these islands a storm arose and one of his ships +was wrecked on the shore of Hoy. + +With the other vessel he hoped to get safe to England, but he had not been +long at sea when the winds blew furiously, the waves dashed and foamed, and +storm-tossed for many days he was at last driven on the shore of Flanders. +In this country he found a welcome, and married a noble Flemish lady named +Torfrida. No part of his life, perhaps, was more peaceful than that which +he spent in his new home: nevertheless, it appears that wherever he was, he +always engaged in the wars that were carried on around him, and never +failed to distinguish himself by his valour. + +Whilst Hereward had been wandering about all this time an outlaw, great +changes had taken place in the affairs of England. On the death of Edward +the Confessor the English had welcomed Harold, son of Earl Godwin to the +throne, quietly setting aside Edgar Atheling, who was too weak-minded to +defend his right, or to have ruled had he been king. But Harold had +scarcely been crowned when William of Normandy began making his vast +preparations for the conquest of England. The terrible battle of Hastings +had been fought; Harold the Second was slain, and nearly all the bravest +warriors amongst the English had fallen on the battle-field. And with the +exception of a few valiant noblemen, it seemed as if the people of England +had lost all spirit and would bow quietly to the Norman yoke. Leofric of +Mercia was dead; Algar also had died, leaving two fair young sons, Edwin +and Morcar, who at the time of the conquest were accounted the most +powerful noblemen in the land, Edwin being Earl of Mercia, and Morcar, Earl +of Northumberland. It must be remembered that Mercia included all the +midland counties of England. + +The brothers proclaimed Edgar Atheling king, and tried to persuade the +Londoners to rise; but their efforts were of no avail, and they were soon +obliged to retire to their own lands. + +One day, some emigrants came to Flanders and told Hereward all that had +happened in England. Oh, how he wished he had been amongst the Saxons on +the day of battle! Surely, if there had been many as brave and stern as he, +the Normans would have been driven back. And when he learned that some +Frenchmen had taken possession of the estate of Bourne, which was now his +own, and that they were cruelly oppressing his widowed mother, he only +waited to bid Torfrida farewell, and then set out for England, followed by +Martin, with the intention of avenging his mother's wrongs. + +It was late in the evening when he drew near the old house of Bourne. Some +of the companions of his boyhood recognised him, and told him that William +of Normandy had given his estate to a low-born foreigner, and that a party +of Normans had just taken up their abode in the house. So Hereward hastened +on towards Bourne, and sought out a house at the end of the long street +which belonged to one Percy where he thought he could lodge for the night. +Here he found a number of fighting men bewailing the misfortunes of +England, and heard from them how the Frenchmen had robbed his mother of all +her treasures, and how his youngest brother, a youth of sixteen, had been +slain defending her, and his head had been fastened up over the door of the +house. And one amongst the company of warriors said, that if Hereward, the +outlawed son of Leofric had been at home, this trouble would never have +come upon Bourne. + +Now Hereward, having formed a plan in his mind, did not make himself known +yet: he only said that he had come from Flanders, but the men perceived by +the flash of his eye and his proud bearing that his spirit was kindled at +their wrongs, and their hearts leaned towards him because he looked so +brave and strong. + +After a while, the warriors dropped off one by one to sleep as the night +wore on. Hereward heard in the silence around, the sound of harps and +joyful singing, and the clinking of goblets. He asked a boy what it was +that he heard, and the boy said it was the merry-making of the guests in +the lord's house above, where the youngest son had been killed only the day +before. Then Hereward beckoned Martin and Percy to him, and by their means +he covered his helmet and his shining coat of mail with some woman's robe +of black stuff, and went out with Martin, who was disguised in like manner, +to the house of Bourne. The first grievous sight that awaited him was the +head of his young brother fixed up above the door. He could see through the +windows the Normans sitting at their feast in noisy merriment: they boasted +loudly of their deeds, and spoke slightingly of Hereward, whom they +believed to be far away in Flanders, although one Flemish woman amongst the +guests declared that if he had been there he could have overthrown them +all. + +Then Hereward, the Wake, the Terrible, waited to hear no more; he rushed +with Martin on those unprepared men; a fearful struggle began, and of all +the foreigners, it is said that not one was left there alive when the day +dawned. Such is the story told by the Monk of Ely, of the fierce and +relentless manner in which Bourne was rescued from the Normans. + +The Lady Godiva was very thankful to know that she had yet a son to protect +her. After this night of horror she removed to the Abbey of Croyland, where +she lived praying and fasting, and tending the poor and sick until she +died. + +In the year 1069 there was a rebellion throughout England. The English were +angry and indignant when they saw how the Conqueror bestowed all the high +offices in the land upon his Normans, whilst he trod their own liberties +under foot. + +Several bands of patriots assembled in the marshy lands of Cambridgeshire, +and there in the island of Ely they formed entrenchments of earth and wood, +and lived in security, often completely hidden by the mists that rose up +from the stagnant waters. There, too, they were amongst friends; the Abbey +of Croyland was in the marshes; Peterborough was not far off northward, and +as yet the monastery was held by the Abbot Brand, who prided himself on +never having sought favour from the Conqueror. + +Meanwhile, Hereward had returned to Flanders, but he did not remain there +long, and when he came back to England a second time, bringing with him his +wife Torfrida and his little daughter, his kinsmen welcomed him heartily, +and asked him to lead them in the battles they hoped to fight with the +Normans. + +But notwithstanding the numerous warlike deeds he had performed, he was not +what was called a legitimate "miles" or knight, and to be this it was +requisite that he should receive knighthood according to the Anglo-Saxon +custom. It was a law that every man desiring to be a lawful knight should +go to some abbey, and the evening before the ceremony of knighthood was to +take place, should confess his sins in deep penitence, and pass the whole +night inside the church in prayer and mortification. The next morning he +was to hear mass, and then offer up his sword upon the altar; this being +done the Gospel would be read, and the priest, having consecrated the +sword, would place it on the neck of the warrior with his blessing.[2] + +The Normans looked with much scorn on this manner of knighthood at the +hands of a priest, but it may have been, as a modern French historian +observes, that they did not like to see so many knights continually rising +up amongst a people they had conquered. + +Hereward went to Peterborough,[3] with two of his band, Winter and Gwenoch, +and persuaded his uncle to knight them all. And he told him that William +had given the abbey to Thorold, called "the fighting monk," but that Brand +would not believe for a long time. + +All the brave Anglo-Saxons rose up now to make a last effort to deliver +themselves from the Normans. The Danes came to help them under Objorn, +brother of Sweyn, King of Norway. Edgar Atheling appeared from Scotland +with a number of brave men. The people of York put their Norman governor to +death; the fiercest struggles were in the north of England. Hereward +established himself with his followers in the island of Ely, and had a +fortress of wood constructed which served them for shelter, and was a point +where other men of like mind could meet them from the forests and +fastnesses around. And here they remained for a long time to the great +annoyance of the Normans who could not reach them because their horses +constantly lost their footing in the marshes and bogs around. + +Thorold set out for Peterborough, but Brand did not live to be despoiled +of his abbey. Hereward hearing that the fighting monk was coming, hastened +to Peterborough with some of his men, and when they found that the monks +were not at all inclined to bar the entrance of Thorold, they took all the +crosses, and golden cups, the sacred robes and staffs belonging to the +abbey, and carried them to their quarters in Ely. And soon after this the +monks of Peterborough opened the gates to the Normans. + +The Danish warriors made their way to Ely, but William found means to +persuade Sweyn to recall them, and he bribed Objorn to retire by giving him +large presents and the liberty of plundering the sea coast. The departure +of the Danes caused great vexation to the people in Ely, because they +carried away with them all the sacred treasures of Peterborough. + +Now Taillebois, the Angevin,[4] had many followers, and being a great +boaster, he swore that he would quickly drive the outlaws out of their +hiding places. The fighting monk was out in the marshes, and he told him +that he meant to attack the English. Hereward let him enter a forest of +willows which served to protect the patriots from their enemies, but as +Taillebois went in on one side of the forest, he came out on the other side +himself, and falling upon Thorold and his men, who had remained behind, he +took them all prisoners and kept them in the marshes, not releasing the +abbot until he had paid him three thousand marks of silver. + +The young brothers, Edwin and Morcar, had not joined in this last +rebellion, but they were not at all happy at King William's court; their +hearts were with their brave kinsman and not with the conqueror of their +land. At last Edwin went to Northumberland to lay his plans for another +rising, and Morcar fled to the island of Ely, where Hereward was still +holding out bravely, although the Saxon nobles in other parts of England +had all given way. + +William was very uneasy so long as he could not gain possession of Ely. In +the hope of preventing the Saxons from coming out of the island, he +surrounded it with flat-bottomed boats and made a causeway to the extent of +two miles. The workmen who were employed in constructing the causeway were +much harassed by Hereward and his men, and the king was persuaded by some +of his nobles to place an old woman, believed to be a witch, in a wooden +tower at the head of the works that she might use her spells against the +enemy. Hereward, on this, came out with his troop and set fire to the +willows that grew closely around the tower, and thus the poor old woman +perished in the flames. This seems to have been a very cruel act on the +part of our hero, although, unhappily, in those days, the burning of +witches was not considered a crime. + +The island remained blockaded for several months. At last the inmates of a +monastery in the interior got very hungry because no provisions could be +brought in, and they sent word to the king that they would show him how his +troops might enter the island if he would promise not to deprive them of +their property. Two Norman knights, Gilbert de Clare, and Guillaume de +Larenne undertook to try the path; the king's troops poured in after them, +and it is said that they put a thousand Englishmen to the sword. All the +nobles now surrendered except Hereward, and William imprisoned Morcar, and +Egelwine, Bishop of Durham, who had taken refuge in Ely. Morcar died in his +prison,[5] and Egelwine went mad, and as for the others "they suffered so +much in their captivity that it had been better for them if they had been +put to death the day they were taken."[6] + +Hereward, with a few of his men, fought his way through the enemy and +escaped from their pursuit by difficult paths to the lowlands of +Lincolnshire. There some Saxon fishermen who were in the habit of carrying +fish every day to the Norman stations, along the marshes, concealed them in +their boats by covering them up with straw. When the boats reached one of +these strongholds, the Normans little imagining that their greatest enemy +was so near, purchased their fish as usual, and when it was cooked, sat +down to dinner. They had scarcely begun to eat when Hereward and his men +rose up out of the straw, and with hatchets in their hands rushed suddenly +upon them. There was a fierce conflict, and many of the Normans were slain; +those who survived fled in great terror and left their horses behind them +ready saddled. Then Hereward, and the followers that remained to him, each +chose a good steed for himself and galloped away into the forests. + +In the country around they found many friends, and before they came as far +as Huntingdon their company included a hundred well armed men, all of them +faithful subjects of Hereward and proud to share his exploits. Their +numbers increasing daily, they became so strong at last that Gaimar, the +French poet, says they might have assailed a city. And a very strong castle +they did take, and found in it quantities of gold, silver, and armour, +besides rich furs and stuffs. So for a while they went on fighting under +their brave leader with spirit unquenched; often one Englishman against +three of the enemy. + +But hope died out even in the heart of Hereward when the power of the +Conqueror became fully established in the land. His friends were either +dead or in prison, or they had been sent blinded and maimed to their homes. +The persuasions of a Saxon lady, named Alfrueda, helped to induce him to +make peace, or rather a truce, with William, and he set out accordingly, +followed by three of his comrades, for Winchester, where the king was then +living. But when he drew near the gates of the city, he thought that this +manner of presenting himself before his sovereign was unworthy of his own +high rank, and he turned back in order to provide a more dignified escort. +The second time he approached Winchester he was at the head of forty men, +all clad in armour from head to foot, and mounted on handsomely accoutred +horses. The king had a great admiration for the valour and constancy of +Hereward; he welcomed him gladly to his court, and suffered him to retain +his estate at Bourne. + +Notwithstanding this, the Normans were always trying to quarrel with the +brave Saxon, and one day Oger, the Breton, offended him so deeply that a +combat took place between them, in which Oger was wounded. Then the enemies +of Hereward told the king that he had spoken evil of him, and persuaded him +to arrest him for that and for having wounded Oger. William seems to have +been very ready to believe ill of his powerful subject, and ordered him to +be imprisoned in Bedford Castle, where he remained a whole year. + +When Hereward was released he went to live in his house at Bourne, and was +known by the name of "the Lord of the Fens." The monk who wrote his life in +Latin, asserts that he died peacefully in his home, but other documents +have been found which prove that he did not meet his death in quiet, but in +fierce conflict with his enemies. + +His house at Bourne was frequently attacked by the Normans. One day he was +sitting outside the door, the weather was sultry, and he had fallen asleep. +Suddenly, he was awakened by the clash of weapons and the tread of horses, +and found that he was surrounded by a party of Bretons. He was without his +coat of mail, and had only a sword and a short pike. Undaunted amongst so +many, he snatched up a shield that was lying near, and defended himself +"like a lion." Taillebois, his greatest enemy, was with the troop. When he +perceived him he cried out that they were all traitors because he had made +his peace with the king, and that if they sought his life or his goods they +should pay dearly for either. Terrible was the struggle that ensued; the +Normans fell around; Hereward himself received four sword thrusts at once; +it was Raoul de Dol, a Breton knight, who rushed forward to give him the +death blow; then, he made one last effort, and flinging his shield in the +face of his foe, he fell back dead. + +The life of Hereward was marked by many fierce deeds, and would that all +anger and strife had been hushed before he died! His memory must be +cherished because he loved his country so well, and it was great and noble +of him, when all his partizans had laid down their arms in submission, to +stand up alone in her righteous cause, and to be the last man to yield to +the thraldom of a conqueror. + +The daughter of Hereward was given in marriage by William to a valiant +knight named Hugh de Evermere, to whom she brought the lands of Bourne. +Torfrida ended her days in the Abbey of Croyland. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Bourne, then called Brun, in Lincolnshire. + +[2] See Sharon Turner. + +[3] Peterborough was formerly called Burgh. + +[4] Angevin, a native of Anjou. + +[5] See Gaimar. + +[6] Edwin, the brother of Morcar, was slain by some of his own followers. + + + + +THE CID. + + +According to the Spanish chronicles the famous Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, known +by the name of the Cid, was born about the year 1026, in the city of +Burgos, the capital of old Castille. His father, Diego Laynez, was +descended from Layn Calvo, one of two judges by whom the country was +governed after Ordono, its king, had behaved very treacherously. When we +first hear of Rodrigo as a youth of gentle manners, but of great courage +and bodily strength, Don Ferrando, a Christian king, who traced his descent +from the other judge, was ruling over Castille. + +Spain was then composed of many different kingdoms; the Moors had been +steadily gaining ground ever since they first set foot in the land, more +than three hundred years before, whilst the Christians had been trying as +steadily to keep them back. Now they held sway over by far the larger +portion of Spain; several of the great-cities, especially those in the +south, were under the dominion of Moorish kings, and were filled with +beautiful buildings, many of which remain, to show what wonderful skill the +Arabian architects must have possessed. The Moors lived in great splendour; +their palaces and courts were paved with marble, and the walls were covered +with arabesques in brilliant colours, or fretwork in gold[7]; the ceilings +were often of cedar wood, inlaid with silver, ivory, or mother of pearl, +and the chambers were filled with the fragrance of costly spices, which +were kept always burning. Then they had beautiful gardens blooming with +roses and myrtles, where orange trees grew, and silvery fountains played +into basins of white marble. The outside of their buildings was also richly +ornamented, and sometimes with the strangest devices. The Alhambra, the +finest of all the Moorish palaces, which still remains in its ancient +splendour, was not built in the city of Granada until nearly two hundred +years after the death of the Cid. + +The Spaniards themselves were very brave, and inherited their valour from +the Visigoths, who were in possession of Spain for a long time before the +Moors crossed over the sea from Africa. The middle ages were not as dark +for them as they were for the other nations of Europe, because their +Moorish invaders taught them many useful arts and sciences, and also +introduced into Spain various fruits and trees which had hitherto only +grown in the East, or in Africa. Amongst these was the pomegranate, with +its shining dark green leaves, its beautiful crimson blossom, and its red, +juicy fruit; then there was the palm-tree, which was cultivated in the +fertile soil of Valencia, until it reached the height of a hundred and +fifty feet; and the strange-looking carob-tree, with leaves gloomily dark, +and pods full of a sweet pulp, like manna in taste, which were given to the +horses and mules. + +Some of the Moorish kings were merciful rulers, and rendered their subjects +happy; still, as they were strangers and infidels, it was very natural for +the Spaniards to wish to drive them out of the land, and Rodrigo de Bivar +is renowned for having regained more ground from them than any of the other +great Spanish captains. + +Whilst Rodrigo was still a youth, a quarrel arose between his father and a +certain Count Gomez, during which the Count gave his adversary a blow. +Laynez was old and feeble, and could not lift his sword, and he grieved +over the insult with a Spaniard's sense of shame and thirst for revenge. +Rodrigo, indignant at seeing his father treated thus scornfully, went out +and defied the Count to a combat, and slew him in the struggle. And when he +came home and told his father how he had avenged the affront that had been +offered him, the old man decreed that he should be considered thenceforth +as the head of the house of Layn Calvo. Alas! those were terrible times +when men fired up at the slightest provocation, and thought their honour +was at stake if an offence were not wiped out with the shedding of blood, +and seldom or never gave the "soft answer that turneth away wrath." + +A little while after this, the Moors, led by five of their kings, entered +Castille; they plundered the cities and carried away captive men, women, +and children, besides seizing the cows and the sheep that were feeding in +the pastures. They were going home in triumph when Rodrigo, young as he +was, came up with them in the mountains of Oca, and put them all to the +rout. + + "He rode to the hills of Oca, where the Moormen lay, + He conquered all the Moors, and took from their prey." + +His father being now dead, he went home to his mother, a noble lady, the +daughter of the Count of Asturias, and told her how he had won back all +that the Moors had taken, and had made their five kings captive. His mother +was very proud of his success, and rejoiced still more when she heard him +say that it would not be fair to keep the kings in prison, and that he +would send them all back to their own territory. And the Moors were so +touched by his generous conduct towards them that they resolved to pay +tribute and to remain subject to the king of Castille. + +The next event recorded in his life is his marriage with Ximena, daughter +of Count Gomez, whom he had slain. It is said that Ximena, without any +regard for the memory of her father, went to the king, Don Ferrando, and +entreated him to allow her to be married to Rodrigo de Bivar, because she +thought that he would one day be the richest and most powerful man in the +realm. + +The marriage took place, and a short time after, Don Ferrando, of Castille, +and Don Ramiero, of Arragon, had a quarrel about a city called Calahorra, +each laying claim to it as his rightful possession. As it seemed impossible +to find out which king had the right on his side, it was agreed to decide +the question by single combat, so Don Martin Gonzalez, accounted the +bravest knight in all Spain, was chosen to fight for Ramiero, and Rodrigo +de Bivar was to fight for Ferrando. + +Before the day of the combat arrived, Rodrigo set out on a pilgrimage to +the holy shrine of St. James, at Compostella, accompanied by twenty +knights. The Spaniards have a curious legend in reference to this journey +which must not be passed over, although so many strange stories are told of +the Cid that it is difficult to discover how many of the events detailed in +his life are really true. + +On the road to Compostella the pilgrims found a leper struggling in a +quagmire, and crying in vain for help. Rodrigo hastened to his relief and +dragged him out of the muddy water. Then he set him before him on his own +horse and continued his journey. When they arrived at the inn where they +were to pass the night, Rodrigo seated the leper at supper next himself, +and eat with him of all the viands that were served before them off the +same plate. The knights to show their disgust at this, rose with one accord +and left the supper room. Nevertheless, Rodrigo, feeling sure that no one +else in the inn would have pity upon the poor leper or give him shelter, +made him share his bed, but when he awoke at midnight he found him gone. +After a while a figure appeared before him, clad in shining white garments, +and a voice asked him if he were asleep or awake. "I am awake," replied +Rodrigo, "but who art thou, and whence is this fragrance and brightness?" + +The strange visitant, answered, "I am Saint Lazarus, the leper whom thou +hast succoured and honoured for the love of God;" and he told him that when +he felt a breath near him, such as he had felt that night, before he +appeared, it would be a sign that he should succeed in whatever enterprise +he was engaged in at the time; and he told him also that he should be +feared both by Christians and Moors, and that his foes should never prevail +against him. Then the saint vanished, and Rodrigo, wondering at the +extraordinary vision, knelt down, and remained many hours in prayer, and at +daybreak he set out on his pilgrimage once more, doing all the good he +could along his journey. + +On the day fixed for the combat, Rodrigo had not appeared at the spot where +it was to take place, and his cousin Alvar Fanez, was preparing to fight in +his stead. But at the very moment when the contest was to begin, he stepped +forward and took his stand against the champion of Arragon. They fought so +fiercely that their lances were broken, and they were both severely +wounded, and although Gonzalez taunted his opponent by saying that he +should never go back alive to his bride, Doņa Ximena, Rodrigo was more +cruel to him than he need have been, and gave him his death wound as he +lay, faint from loss of blood, upon the ground. Then Don Ferrando came up +and embraced Rodrigo, and helped to unharm him himself; he was so glad that +he could take possession of Calahorra, but all the people of Arragon +sorrowed bitterly for the loss of Gonzalez, their bravest knight. + +The Counts of Castille now grew jealous of Rodrigo's renown, and plotted +with the Moors that a battle should take place, in which they hoped he +might be killed and so stand no longer in their way. The affair was made +known to the Moors who were his vassals; they refused to share in the +treason, and revealed the whole plot to their lord. The king was very angry +when he heard of the treachery of his nobles, and to punish them, he +ordered all the traitors to quit the kingdom at once. + +About this time Rodrigo was knighted in the great mosque of Coimbra, the +king giving him his sword, the queen his horse, and the infanta fastening +on his spurs. After this he was called Ruy Diaz, Ruy being short for +Rodrigo; and his Moorish vassals when they brought him tribute called him +"El Seid," the Arabic for "the lord," so that he was known thenceforth by +the name of the Cid. + +Not long after this Don Ferrando died, leaving his dominions divided +amongst his five children. Sancho had Castille, Alonzo Leon, Garcia +Gallicia, and their two sisters, the cities of Tora and Zamora. The +brothers kept at peace for only two years, and then they went to war with +one another. The Cid remained faithful to the fortunes of Don Sancho, and +one day during the war, when the king was being carried away prisoner by +thirteen knights who were on the side of Alonzo, Ruy Diaz chanced to come +up with them in time, and being unarmed, he asked them to give him a lance. +The knights refused at first, but afterwards gave him one, laughing at the +idea that one man could hold out against so many. They soon found that they +were mistaken, for the Cid overthrew them one after another until only two +were left, and thus freed Don Sancho from the power of his enemies. The war +between the brothers unhappily lasted some years, and at last Alonzo was +defeated by Sancho, and shut up in prison, whence he contrived to escape to +the court of the Moorish kings. Sancho himself received a death blow from +an unknown hand at the siege of Zamora. Before he died he prayed that his +brother Alonzo might come from the land of the Moors and show favour to the +Cid, and that the hidalgos would entreat him to forgive whatever wrongs, +he, Don Sancho, had done to him. + +Alonzo returned from the land of the Moors, and as soon as he arrived his +sister Urraca sent letters to all the nobles in the kingdom that they might +render him homage. Those of Leon and Gallicia were very glad to come and +receive him for their king; then the Castillians appeared, and they kissed +his hands, all except the Cid; but they were not all content, for Alonzo +had been suspected of having connived at the death of Don Sancho. + +When the king saw that the Cid would not kiss his hand, he was vexed, and +he asked him why he held back. And the Cid replied that he would never +render him homage until he had sworn with twelve of his hidalgos who were +likewise suspected, that he had not connived at the death of Don Sancho. + +The king consented to take the oath in the great church of Saint Gadea, in +Burgos, and went thither on the appointed day with his sisters and all his +court. The Cid made him stand with the hidalgos on a high stage so that +they might be seen by all the people in the church; then he took the book +of the holy gospels and laid it on the altar, and when Alonzo had placed +his hand upon it, he asked him in the most solemn manner if he had anything +to do with his brother's death. And he said that if it were so, and he +denied the crime, he should die a like death himself, at the hands of one +who was not a Castillian, but would come from a strange land. + +At the end of every sentence the Cid spoke, the king and his hidalgos +answered, Amen. + +It was an awful scene, and when Alonzo heard the doom pronounced upon him +if he did not speak the truth, he turned pale, and asked Ruy Diaz why he +pressed him so much, because he made him take the oath three times. When he +had sworn that he was innocent for the last time, the Cid kissed his hand +and acknowledged him for his king, and from thenceforth Alonzo reigned over +Castille, Leon, Gallicia, and Navarre, and was free from the attempts of +his brother Garcia since he had invited him to his court, and then shut him +up in a strong castle, where he remained to the end of his days. It was a +very long time, however, before he could look kindly on the Cid, for he +thought he had done him a great injury by making him take the oath so many +times before his people. + +The first expedition of Ruy Diaz after this was against the kings of +Seville and Cordova, in which he won great honour, and afterwards returned +to Castille laden with spoils. Then he lay sick for a long time, and could +not go with Alonzo to fight the Moors in another part of Spain. And it +happened that when the king was far away, a vast company of Moors, thinking +that all was quiet, entered Castille and did great damage to the country. +The Cid, hearing of this, roused himself and gathered his strength and +pursued them as far as the city of Toledo. The Castillians around Toledo +were very jealous of his power, and they complained to Alonzo that Ruy Diaz +had driven the Moors into their territory on purpose to annoy them. + +Alonzo flew into a great passion, and summoned the Cid to his presence, and +glad of an opportunity of vexing him, ordered him to leave the country of +Castille for ever, and all the fair domains he possessed. + +When the sentence was passed the Cid's cousin, Alvar Fanez, and all his +friends, kinsmen, and vassals, declared that if he must needs quit the land +they would follow him into his exile and remain faithful to him all the +days of their life. This comforted Ruy Diaz, although he did not desire +that so many of those he loved should condemn themselves to wander in the +land of the Moors for his sake. He sent his wife Ximena, and his two little +daughters, Elvira and Sol,[8] to the convent of Saint Peter, of Cardeņa, +where they would be safe; and one sad day he bade farewell to his home in +Castille and set out on his wanderings, the king having granted him nine +days for his journey out of the country. + +The costly furniture of his palace in Burgos had been all stored away; +there were no people coming and going; no voices of children gladdened the +empty halls; the birds were all gone from the perches, there would be no +more pleasant pastime of hawking, the whole place was silent and desolate. + +When the Cid saw this he knelt down and turned towards the east, and prayed +that he might be victorious over the Moors, and gain enough to requite his +friends for their devotion. Then he turned to the whole company and cheered +them with the hope that he might yet be able to return to Castille in +honour. And an old woman, who stood by the door, repeated the Spanish +proverb, "Go in a lucky moment, and you shall make spoil of whatever you +desire." + +The mausoleum of the Cid now occupies the spot where his palace stood, and +his statue ornaments the gate of Saint Maria, which is the principal +entrance into the city of Burgos, and opens on to one of the bridges +leading out into the suburb called Vega. + +As Ruy Diaz came with his people through the streets of Burgos, the +citizens wept aloud; they were so grieved to see him depart, and to know +that no house might afford him shelter even for one night. So when the dark +came he was obliged to have a tent raised on the sandy plain and rest for a +while there. + +At last he got to the convent of Cardeņa, and bade a long farewell to his +wife and daughters, giving them a hundred marks of gold for their +expenditure; and before he left he gave the Abbot fifty marks of silver, +and commended his family to his care, for he did not feel sure that he +should ever see them again. Then he pursued his journey, travelling all +night because he had a long and difficult way to go before he could get to +the land of the Moors. The next day but one they crossed the river Douro in +wooden boats, and rested at a place called Figueruela. And there in the +night he either dreamed or had a vision of an angel coming to him who said, +"Cid, be of good cheer, for it shall be well with thee all thy life long; +and thou shalt accomplish all that thou shalt undertake, and shalt become +rich and honoured." The Cid thought very much on what he had heard, and he +arose and gave thanks for the mercy that had befallen him. The following +day he reached the wild Sierra, of Miedes, and he said, "Friends, let us +mount our horses quickly, and cross the Sierra and go out of the kingdom of +Don Alonzo, for this is the ninth day, and it is time we were gone." So +they passed the Sierra in the dark night and then they were in the country +of the Moors. The whole company of the Cid amounted to 400 horsemen, and +3,000 foot. They travelled by night, and hid by day until they reached the +Castle of Castregon. Ruy Diaz concealed himself and his friends close by, +and in the morning the Moors, not knowing they were there, came out of the +Castle gates to go to their work; the Spaniards rushed suddenly upon them, +slaying some and dispersing the rest, and soon got possession of the castle +where they found a quantity of gold and silver. But they could not stay in +it because there was no water, and besides this, the Moors all around were +vassals of Don Alonzo. So the Cid left the Moors there whom he had taken +prisoner in the skirmish, and went further on his way to meet with fresh +adventures. During the whole time of his exile he remained loyal to the +king who had so unjustly treated him, and did him good service, for he took +many strong castles from the Moors, and either drove the invaders out of +the land or made them subject to Castille. He shared with his company all +the rich spoils he won, and after many brave exploits determined to send +his cousin Alvar to Alonzo with a present of thirty Arab horses, and a +message entreating him to restore him to his favour, and to give back to +his friends the estates they had lost by following him into his exile. + +When the king saw the beautiful Arab horses, each with a fine sword mounted +in silver hanging from its saddle, his face brightened, and he could not +bring himself to refuse the gift. Still he thought it was too soon yet to +pardon the mighty Cid, and only restored to his friends and relations their +lands. + +Ruy Diaz got as far as the district of Ternel in Arragon, and there he +settled himself in a fortress on a high rock which has been called ever +since "The Rock of the Cid." From this stronghold he sallied forth from +time to time against the Moors, and forced numbers of them to pay tribute. +And besides overcoming the Moors, he served the king by punishing some +great Spanish lords who had been guilty of treason, and Alonzo at last +desired him to return to the court. The Cid waited yet to take the strong +Castle of Rueda from the Moors, and then he came back to Castille in +honour, as he had hoped on the sorrowful day when he left Burgos. All the +king's displeasure passed away when Ruy Diaz came before him and delivered +into his hands the rich treasures he had captured, and Alonzo gave him many +castles, and the right of keeping in future all the places he should win +from the Moors for himself. + +Ruy Diaz was chosen to lead the Spanish army against Toledo in the year +1032. This city was possessed by the Moorish king Yahia, and was considered +so important a place, that all the Christian sovereigns in Spain made up +their quarrels, and joined together to besiege it. Yahia held out for three +years, and then only yielded up the city on condition that he should reign +over Valencia instead. The first Christian banner that entered Toledo was +the banner of the Cid. A story is told by the Spaniards how, when the army +had to cross a ford of the Tagus, that they might get nearer the city, and +the river was so swollen that the horsemen feared to plunge into it, a monk +of the order of St. Benedict rode over first on an ass, after which the +whole army passed over in safety. + +Later on, Castille was threatened by the Almoravides, a nation of African +Moors. The Moorish kings already settled in Spain had many bitter quarrels +amongst themselves; there was trouble and treason all over the land. Yahia, +who was protected by the Cid, and called himself his friend, was murdered +by a wicked alcayde named Abeniaf soon after he had joined with Ruy Diaz to +defend Spain against the Almoravides. Abeniaf buried the treasures of the +murdered king, and let some of the new invaders into Valencia, for which +service they made him Wali, or governor of the city. + +The Cid came with a great army of Christians and Moors, and lay siege to +Valencia, so incensed was he at the cruel death of Yahia, and began by +attacking the suburbs, because by gaining them he could close all round the +city, and prevent the Moors from going in or coming out. That siege of +Valencia was very terrible, the people died daily of hunger; they eat +horses, dogs, cats, and mice, and when all the flesh was gone they had only +a little wheat and garlic, and a few raisins and figs. + +In their sore need they implored some more of the Almoravides to come to +their aid, although a great quarrel had broken out between that people and +Abeniaf. The Almoravides set out for Valencia, but they were dismayed by a +violent tempest which arose and turned back. Then the besieged went almost +mad through hunger and misery, and the Cid came nearer its walls, thinking +that famine would force them to yield. The longer the siege lasted, the +more defiant did Abeniaf become; besides which he governed the people very +cruelly, and oppressed them in every way. The Cid was very cruel too +outside their walls, and showed them no mercy. He sent word to them that he +would burn all persons who should dare to come out of the city, and it is +said that several Moors who tried to escape were burned by his command. +Many men, women, and children, too, came out whenever the gates were +opened, and sold themselves to the Christians for food. The price of a Moor +was a loaf and a pitcher of wine. + +At last Abeniaf agreed to deliver up the place if no succour came within +fifteen days, provided he might still continue in his office of Wali. The +people thought they might yet be saved, because they had entreated the King +of Saragossa to assist them, but no help came, and the gates were opened, +and the Christians poured in to the city. + +The Cid entered with all the hidalgos and knights, and went up to the +highest tower in the wall, whence he could look down on the whole of +Valencia; and the Moors came to him, and they kissed his hands, and bade +him welcome. The Cid, in return, ordered that all the windows of the tower +which looked towards the streets should be closed, that the Spaniards might +not annoy the Moors by prying into their affairs, and commanded the +Christians to guard the people and to pay them the greatest honour. The +Moors were very grateful for his kindness, and rejoiced indeed that the +city had been given up, for now the provision merchants could come inside +the gates and they could buy food; and some of them were so famished that +they went and plucked the grass and herbs from the field, and tried thus to +satisfy their sharp hunger. It must have been a sad sight to have seen +those who had survived the famine standing about like ghosts, whilst there +was mourning in every house, and space had not been found to bury all the +dead. + +The Cid planted his banner on the Alcazar, which was the name given to all +royal houses and palaces in Spain. He caused Abeniaf to be seized by force, +and after he had made him say where he had concealed the treasures of Yahia +he condemned him to be burnt alive, but showed mercy to his son when the +Moors entreated him not to include him in the punishment of his father; and +had the Cid put the innocent child to death it would have been as dreadful +a crime as Abeniaf was guilty of in murdering Yahia. + +The city of Valencia lay in a great plain which was called the Garden, +because it was covered with the most luxuriant vegetation, and trees, such +as the mulberry, olive, orange, carob, and palm grew in its fertile soil. +There were fair gardens lying between the walls and the shore. + +When the Cid had taken up his abode in the vast and beautiful Alcazar, the +people began to cast off their sorrow and gloom, and to take part in the +rejoicings made by the Spaniards. Valencia was now all his own. He +suffered the Moors to remain in the city and to keep all their herds and +flocks; they were to give him a tenth part of their substance, and to +retain all their customs; and he made a good man Wali over them that they +might be governed by their own laws. Those who were not content with this +arrangement, he ordered to go and dwell in the suburb of Alcudia, outside +the walls. From this time he was called the Cid Campeador, the latter title +being given to one greatly renowned for his exploits. + +One day, Hieronymo, a holy and learned man, "all shaven and shorn," came +from the East to Valencia, and desired to see the Cid. He said that if he +might once meet the Moors on the battle-field, and have his fill of smiting +them, he would be content. These were warlike words for a priest, but they +pleased Ruy Diaz, and the very next day after the stranger arrived the +mosques were changed into churches, and Hieronymo was made Bishop of +Valencia. + +The King of Seville soon came with the Almoravides to besiege the Cid in +his new abode. Ruy Diaz defeated him, and won from them his famed horse +Bavieca, although the chronicles say that Bavieca was the horse he chose +when a boy, because it was so fiery, and the name was given to it from his +godfather exclaiming, "Bavieca (meaning simpleton) thou hast chosen ill." + +After this he sent his faithful cousin Alvar with a number of brave knights +to fetch his wife and daughters from the convent of Cardeņa, where they had +been all this time. The ladies were joyful indeed to hear that Valencia was +gained, and when they drew near, the Cid came out on his horse Bavieca, +with a stately company to meet them, and he took them up to the highest +tower of the Alcazar, whence they could see all the fair city lying in its +plain beside the sea, and its beautiful houses built by the Moorish +architects, its fountains and gateways, and its gardens filled with the +brilliant flowers and luscious fruits of the East. + +Doņa Ximena and her daughters had been in Valencia about three months, when +news was brought to the Cid that King Yusef was coming from Morocco with +50,000 horsemen, and myriads of men on foot, to invest the city by sea and +land. The Campeador was not alarmed; he had his fortresses well manned, and +the enormously thick walls of the city repaired, and he got in plenty of +provisions, whilst a number of his vassals, Christians and Moors, came to +his aid. + +The day before the battle he took his wife and Elvira and Sol to the tower, +and showed them the Moors as they gained their footing on shore. Soon they +began to enter the gardens, and Ruy Diaz told a very brave man to go down +thither with two hundred knights, and show them a little play. So he went +down, and soon drove them out of the gardens. The Cid, being so often at +war, had certain signals, by which the knights knew how many of them were +to arm themselves and assemble, the signal being usually the ringing of a +bell. + +Early the next morning Bishop Hieronymo sang the mass and absolved all the +Christians from their sins; praying afterwards, warlike man that he was, to +be the first to drive back the enemy. Whilst it was still dark, the Cid, +well armed and mounted on Bavieca, went out with his company at the gate +which was called the Gate of the Snake. They loitered about at first, and +then when the Cid rang his bell the Christians came out of their +hiding-places amongst the narrow ways and passes, and the Moors were shut +in between their enemies and the sea. There was hard fighting that day; the +Moors, arming themselves in haste, made a firm stand, but before night they +were overcome and fled to Denia, leaving great riches behind them in the +camp. Ruy Diaz, who had been wounded in the battle, rode joyfully back to +the city when they were gone, still mounted on Bavieca, and with his drawn +sword still in his hand; and he sent King Alonzo a present of three hundred +horses laden with the gold and silver he had found amongst the spoils. + +Yusef died soon after his defeat, and his brother Bucar swore upon the +Koran, the book of their law, that he would take revenge upon the mighty +Castillian chief. + +The Infantes of Carrion, Diego, and Fernan Gonzalez, vassals of King Alonzo +in Castille, having heard how the power of the Cid was increasing day by +day, demanded his daughters in marriage, thinking by so doing they would +become rich and powerful themselves. The Cid was pleased with the proposal, +but Doņa Ximena did not like the idea of such a marriage at all; however, +since the king had heartily approved of it, she dared say nothing against +it. + +The weddings were performed by Bishop Hieronymo, and there were great +rejoicings in Valencia for eight days. Each day had its festival, either in +bull-fighting, or tilting, or shooting stones from the cross-bow, or they +witnessed the performances of the Moorish jugglers and buffoons, who were +very clever in their art. Then there were magnificent banquets in the +Alcazar, the tables being covered with silver dishes filled with rare and +highly-seasoned meats. + +For two years the Infantes lived with their wives at Valencia in peace; but +at the end of that time a misfortune happened, which caused them to break +with their father-in-law, although it was no fault of his. The Cid had a +very large and lively lion, which afforded him great amusement, and was +kept in an iron house, which opened into a high court behind the Alcazar; +three men had the charge of it, and it was their custom about mid-day to +open the door of its house, and let it come into the court to eat its +dinner, taking care before they left to fasten the door of the court +securely. + +The Cid used to dine in company every day, and after dinner he sometimes +fell asleep, for he was getting old. One day a man came to him, and told +him that many vessels had arrived before Valencia, having on board a great +host of the Moors, and among them Bucar, the African king, who had sworn to +revenge the death of his brother. When the Cid heard this he was very much +pleased, for it was nearly three years since he had had a fight with the +Moors. He had his bell rung as a sign that all the honourable men in the +city should assemble, and when they came to Alcazar, and the Infantes were +there too, he told them the news, and agreed with them as to the manner in +which they should repel the advance of their foes. When this was done he +went quietly to sleep, and Diego and Fernan, and the rest of the company +sat playing at tables[9] and at chess. + +It happened that the men who guarded the lion heard that the Moors had +come, and rushed to the palace to see if the news were true, forgetting in +their anxiety to close the door of the court behind them. And lo and +behold! the lion, when it had dined right royally, and saw the door open, +walked out of the court and straight into the great hall where all the +company were assembled. It certainly was an alarming sight, and the people +did not know what to do, fearing that the lion might be roused to fury and +tear some of them to pieces. Diego and Fernan Gonzalez showed more terror +and cowardice than all the rest, and Diego ran and hid himself under the +Cid's chair, and very nearly died of fright in his undignified retreat, +whilst Fernan rushed out of a gallery which led into a court where there +was a winepress, and entering therein he tumbled among the lees, which +served him quite right. + +The others remained in the hall, and stood around the Cid to guard him +while he slept. The noise of their talking, however, at last awakened him, +and he saw how the lion came towards him and licked his hand, and he asked +what it meant. And when the lion heard his voice, it stood quite quiet, and +the Cid arose and took it by the neck as if it had been a hound, and made +it go back to its iron house, calmly giving orders that it should be more +strictly guarded in future. + +When the Infantes came out of their hiding-places they must have felt very +much ashamed, but they gave a very different version of the story to what +had really happened. In the famous poem of the Cid, which contains a great +deal of historic truth, Ruy Diaz forbears reproaching his sons-in-law for +their cowardice. Be that as it may, they made the event a pretence for +taking offence with him, as they were wicked and discontented men; they +were tired of their wives, and thought that they ought to have wedded +damsels of far higher rank than the daughters of the Cid. So they said that +he had arranged that the lion should come out of its den only to put them +to shame before all the hidalgos; and their uncle, Suero Gonzalez, wickedly +advised them to ask Ruy Diaz to let them take their wives to their home in +Carrion, that, once out of Valencia, they might do with them whatsoever +they pleased. + +In the meantime there was much noise in the city. Bucar had landed his +forces, and arrived in a plain about a league from Valencia, which was +called Quarto; and there the Cid gave him such a defeat that he was obliged +to flee with his diminished army across the sea. Ruy Diaz was still kindly +disposed towards his sons-in-law; and when the battle was over he thanked +them for the share they had had in it, when they had really done nothing at +all, and had only pretended to fight; such men were not worthy to have +married the daughters of the Cid! Now they said that they had heard no news +of their father and mother in Carrion since they left Castille; and they +wanted to take their wives home, and tell their parents what honour they +had attained to by marrying them. Doņa Ximena had no faith in them, and she +told her husband that they were not true-hearted; she was very loth to let +her daughters go with them; nevertheless the Cid trusted them still, and +one day Elvira and Sol set out from Valencia with the Infantes; their +parents, and a great and valiant company going with them two leagues on the +road to Castille. Before they started, Ruy Diaz gave them presents worthy +of a king. First of all, he gave them a quantity of cloth of gold, silk, +and wool, a hundred horses richly caparisoned, and a hundred mules with +gorgeous trappings; then he gave them ten goblets of pure gold, and a +hundred vases of silver besides quantities of silver in plate and shields. +A hundred well-appointed knights were to accompany them into Castille; +amongst whom were two very brave men, named Martin Pelaez and Pero Sanchez, +whom the Cid held in great esteem. Last of all he gave the Infantes each a +golden-hilted sword to defend their wives with; these two swords he prized +very much, because he had won them from the Moors, and he had named them +Colada and Tizona. + +When it was time to part, Elvira and Sol took a sorrowful leave of their +parents, and the Cid, as he turned away from them began to feel some +misgivings in his heart, and to wonder if Ximena had really been right in +her distrust. The Infantes, however, still promised to treat their wives +with honour, and the cavalcade went on towards Castille. On the way they +were entertained by a Moorish king, a vassal of the Cid's, who could not do +enough to show his pleasure in welcoming them, and so far all was well, and +they went through the valleys until they reached the oak forest of Torpes. +When they arrived there the Infantes told all the knights to go forward, +and said they would stay for a while in the forest. Elvira asked her +husband Diego why they remained there alone; he replied that she should +soon see. Then these wicked men took their wives by the hair and dragged +them along until they came to the fountain of Torpes, and there they beat +them with the leathern girths of their saddles until the blood flowed from +their wounds. And they took from them all the costly jewels, and robes of +silk and ermine Doņa Ximena had given them, and went on their way, leaving +the poor ladies half dead by themselves in the forest, where the wild +beasts might have come and devoured them. Elvira and Sol startled the birds +in the branches overhead by the piteous cries they uttered in their terror +and pain; then, finding that no one came to their aid, they said their +prayers very fervently, and sank fainting to the ground. + +The cruel Infantes mounted their horses, and took the mules which had +carried their wives, and said aloud as they went out of the forest, "Now we +have done with the daughters of the Cid! We demeaned ourselves by marrying +them, and we are avenged of the affront their father put upon us by letting +loose the lion." + +Felez Nuņoz, however, the nephew of the Cid, happened to pass that way, and +he heard what the Infantes said. He would have punished them on the spot, +but he feared they would return and perhaps kill their wives; so he went +into the deep oak glades, and kept calling his cousins by their names until +he found them. Then, in great sorrow to behold the terrible plight they +were in, he gave them water to drink, and carried them to a part of the +forest where they would be in greater safety, and made a soft couch for +them of tender green leaves and grass, whereon they might rest, for they +were utterly worn out. + +The knights had gone on their way, and when they saw the Infantes coming +towards them bringing with them the mules and the rich robes of their +wives, they began to fear that some evil deed had been done, and they all +crowded round them, taunting them with their cowardice, and threatening to +fight them. The Infantes wanted to be rid of them all, and declared that if +the knights would go back to the forest, they would find Elvira and Sol by +the fountain there unharmed. So Martin Pelaez and Pero Sanchez, and all the +bravest men in the company returned thither; but when Felez Nuņoz and his +cousins heard their voices they were alarmed, thinking the Infantes were +near; and they kept quite still, so that the knights could not find them, +and returned, very angry, to pursue the cowardly brothers, feeling sure +that some foul deed had been done. Diego and Fernan, however, were already +beyond their pursuit,--craven-hearted men can fly fast, and the knights set +out at once for the court of Don Alonzo, and told their king all that had +happened. + +Now the ladies in the forest at first had nothing to eat, and were very +near dying of hunger, when, by good fortune Felez Nuņoz found his way to a +village where he bought them food, and he kept them thus from starving for +seven days; but could not make their misfortunes known to the Cid because +he feared to leave them by themselves in the wild forest. At last he found +in his village a worthy man in whose house the Cid had once lodged, and he +brought two asses to the forest, and made the noble ladies mount them, and +led them in safety to his own house, where his wife tended them kindly, +rejoicing that she had them under her roof. Here they wrote a letter to +their father, which Felez Nuņoz undertook to convey to him at Valencia. On +the road thither he met Alvar Fanez and Pero Bermudez, who were going to +the king with a present from Ruy Diaz, of two hundred horses he had won in +his battle with Bucar, besides a number of swords and a hundred Moorish +captives. These knights were enabled to give Don Alonzo a faithful account +of all that had happened, and the king was very indignant at the wickedness +of his vassals, and appointed a day, three months from the time, when he +would hear the matter through, and give judgment in his Cortes at Toledo. +And Alvar and Pero set out in search of the Cid's daughters, taking with +them from Alonzo two mules, with saddles richly adorned with gold, and +jewelled robes for the sisters, so that they might return to Valencia in +the same attire they had worn when they started on their hapless journey. +When they had found them at the good man's house, Pero went on to Valencia, +and Alvar remained with the knights who had followed him to guard his +cousins. The indignation and anger of the mighty Cid may be imagined when +he heard how his children had been treated. Doņa Ximena was more dead than +alive, and she was thankful indeed when she had her dear daughters safe at +home with her once more. + +Great preparations were made for the day of trial. The walls of the palace, +where judgment was to be given, were hung with cloth of gold, rich carpets +were spread on the floor, and a great throne was placed in readiness for +the king. The Cid left Hieronymo and Martin Pelaez in charge of his city, +and set out betimes for Toledo with so great a host of followers that it +looked like an army. When he drew near Alonzo came out to meet him, but he +would not cross the Tagus that night, and had candles lighted in the church +of Saint Servans on the shore, and kept a vigil there a great part of the +night with his friends. And he ordered one of his hidalgos to set a +beautiful ivory chair he had won from the Moors close beside the king's +throne, and sent a hundred squires, each one an hidalgo, to stand around it +all night to guard it, with swords hanging from their necks. + +There were many people in Toledo who were friends of the Infantes of +Carrion, and therefore ill-disposed towards the Cid, and they thought he +was taking a great liberty in having his chair set beside the king's +throne: but Alonzo honoured him, and he suffered it to remain. + +It was a stately meeting; we are told that when the day came Ruy Diaz wore +a tunic of gold tissue, and over that a red skin with points of gold; this +he always wore, and on his head he had a coif of scarlet and gold: his long +beard, which was getting white, was tied up with a cord.[10] When he came +into the hall, the king and all the people stood up, except those who were +on the side of the Infantes of Carrion. + +Alonzo gave judgment against those wicked men, and made them give up the +golden-hilted swords Colada and Tizona, which they did not indeed deserve +to keep. But the Cid was not content when judgment was pronounced; he +thought the dishonour was not yet wiped away, and he stood up and required +that three knights should fight for his cause against three of Carrion. + +When he said this the three brave knights named Martin Antolinez, Pero +Bermudez, and Nuno Gustios, entreated him to let them fight on his side; +and a terrible quarrel arose; the Infantes said many rude things of the +Cid, and his haughty hidalgos would not suffer their insults to pass; they +quarrelled and fought until the king could scarcely hear himself speak, and +he rose from his seat and called the Alcaydes, and went to confer with them +in a chamber apart, while the Cid and all the others remained in the hall. +When he came back he sat down on his throne with great solemnity, and told +the people to listen to the sentence, which decreed that a combat should +take place three weeks from that day between the Infantes and their uncle +Suero Gonzalez on the side of Carrion, and the three brave knights who were +willing to fight for the Cid. + +Ruy Diaz was now content; he rose from his seat and kissed the king's hand, +and prayed that God might have him in His holy keeping for many good years, +so that he might administer justice worthily, as he had done that day. + +In the midst of all this, messengers arrived at the palace from the kings +of Arragon and Navarre, demanding the daughters of the Cid in marriage for +their sons, when the unhappy marriage they had made with the Infantes of +Carrion should be dissolved. Ruy Diaz went back to Valencia in joy, and +told the glad news to his wife; adding that they need have no fear now for +their daughters' happiness, because the princes of Arragon and Navarre +were known far and wide to be honourable men. The combat took place on the +appointed day. The Cid lent Colada and Tizona to his knights, and Diego and +Fernan Gonzalez, and their uncle Suero, were all three overcome and wounded +in the presence of King Alonzo; and, they crept away in disgrace and were +never seen more, and Carrion, after the death of Don Gonzalez, their +father, went back to the crown of Castille. + +When the three victorious knights returned safe and sound to Valencia, and +made known there the result of the combat, the joy of the Cid was beyond +all bounds, and as for Doņa Ximena, and Elvira, and Sol, they would fain +have kissed the feet of their valiant defenders. There was rejoicing in the +city for eight days, and banquets were held every day, the silver dishes +being filled with the flesh of many extraordinary animals, which were +cooked in Spain for the first time, having been sent to the Cid with a +number of rare and beautiful presents from the Soldan, or Sultan of Persia. +The Soldan paid great court to Ruy Diaz, and made known to him how a vast +army of Christians had come out to the East and lay before Jerusalem, +hoping to conquer that city from the Saracens; and that was the first +crusade which had been preached by Peter the Hermit, when William Rufus was +reigning in England. + +The Cid remained in peace at Valencia for five years, and kept the Moors so +quiet that they no longer molested the Christians, but lived with them on +friendly terms. At the end of this time news came suddenly that Bucar had +stirred up all the chiefs in Barbary to cross the sea in revenge for the +victory that Ruy Diaz had gained over him in the field of Quarto. + +The Cid sent the Moors who dwelt in the city to the suburb of Alcudia, +where he thought they had better remain until the affair was ended. His +strength was failing fast; and one night, as he lay wakeful on his bed, his +chamber was filled with a strange brightness and fragrance, and he had +another wonderful vision, in which Saint Peter appeared to him, aged and +white as snow, with a bunch of keys in his hand, and told him now to mind +other things besides the coming of Bucar, for that in thirty days he should +die, and yet by the help of Saint James he should conquer his foes after he +was dead. When the vision disappeared the Cid was lost in wonder, but he +felt greatly comforted; and early in the morning he called the hidalgos +around him and told them what he had seen, and how they should conquer the +Moors. The last day that he was able to rise from his bed he ordered the +city gates to be shut, and repaired to the church of Saint Peter, where he +spoke long and earnestly to the people assembled there, reminding them +that, however great and honourable their estate in life might be, not one +of them could escape death. Then he took leave of them all, and confessed +his sins at the feet of Bishop Hieronymo. From that time until his death, +seven days afterwards, he took no nourishment except a little myrrh and +balsam stirred in rose water, such as was used to embalm the dead bodies of +kings in the East, and had been sent among the gifts of the Soldan in a +casket of gold. He bequeathed great riches to his knights, leaving a +thousand marks of silver to those who had only served him one year, and he +ordered four thousand poor persons to be clothed at his expense. On Sunday, +the 25th of May, 1099, the Cid died, in the seventy-third year of his age. +These were his dying words: "Lord Jesus Christ, Thine is the kingdom; Thou +art above all kings and all nations, and all kings are at Thy command. I +beseech Thee to pardon my sins, and let my soul enter the light that hath +no end." + +Three days after his death King Bucar came, and with him thirty-six kings +or chiefs. It is said that fifteen thousand tents were pitched around +Valencia. As all was quiet inside the city, the Africans thought that their +enemy dared not come out against them. + +Meanwhile the body of the Cid had been embalmed and fixed in a wooden frame +upright upon Bavieca, and the frame being painted to represent armour, it +looked really as if he were alive. A mournful procession went out at +midnight from the gate towards Castille. First the banner of the Cid was +carried, guarded by five hundred knights; then came one hundred more, +around the body of their lord; and lastly, Ximena followed sorrowfully with +all her company, and three hundred knights in the rear. By the time they +had all passed out the summer night was spent, and it was broad daylight. + +Alvar Funez now fell upon the Moors with the forces that remained in +Valencia; and so great was the terror and uproar he caused that they fled +towards the sea, leaving their riches for the spoils of the Christians. The +Moors who had retired to the suburb saw the procession pass, and thought +that their lord had gone forth alive. But when they entered the city from +whence all the Spanish knights had gone, they marvelled at the strange +silence in the streets, until they saw written on the walls in Arabic that +the Cid Campeador was dead. From that day Valencia remained in the power of +the Moors until it was won by King Jayme of Arragon, in the year 1238; but +the city was always known by the name of "Valencia of the Cid." + +The body of Ruy Diaz was placed in his ivory chair at the right of the +altar of Saint Peter in the church of Cardeņa. It was clothed in purple +cloth which had been given to him by the Soldan, and remained thus more +than ten years. When that time had passed it was buried in a vault beside +the grave of Doņa Ximena, who only survived him three years. And Bavieca, +his favourite horse, was buried not far from his master, under some trees +in front of the convent of Saint Peter of Cardeņa. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] Like the Alhambra court in the Crystal Palace. + +[8] _Sol_, Spanish for sun. + +[9] _Tablas_, in the Spanish tables, probably the game of draughts. + +[10] See Southey's "Chronicle." + + + + +LOUIS IX., KING OF FRANCE. + + +The good king Louis the Ninth, commonly called St. Louis, because he led so +holy a life, was born at Poissy, in the year 1215, whilst his grandfather, +Philip Augustus, was still on the throne of France. Poissy was a beautiful +place, just as Fontainebleau is now, where the kings of France used to go +and hunt, and enjoy the sweet fresh air; and the queens passed many happy +days with their little children, away from the cares and the splendour of +the court. + +Louis was always of a meek and gentle disposition, truthful and upright. +His mother, Blanche of Castille, watched over him tenderly herself, and +took care to place around him as early as possible the holiest and most +learned men in France, in the hope that through their influence he might +grow up to be a good king. Blanche was a woman of great piety, and she was +very clever and beautiful besides; she had many children, but although +Louis was always her favourite amongst them all, she did not indulge him +either in luxury or pleasure, and used often to say to him, "My son, I love +you more than I can tell; yet I would rather see you lying dead at my feet +than know you were guilty of a mortal sin." + +Louis did indeed try earnestly to be good, and to remember the words of +his mother; he was obedient to his instructors, and is said to have +understood Latin well, and to have been versed in the works of the fathers +of the Church, and in the history of the kings who reigned before him; and +that was knowing a great deal, for the times he lived in were called "the +dark ages," because so very little was learnt or known, especially in +Europe. His amusements were hunting and fishing, and playing at chess, but +he did not care for these as he cared for the services of the church, +attending them daily with his little brothers, and loving the holy chants +and hymns he heard there more than any songs of merriment. + +Louis was only eleven years old when his father, King Louis the Eighth, +died, after a reign of less than four years. He had then four brothers +younger than himself--Robert, John, Alphonse, and Charles; and one little +sister named Isabel. As he was so very young, his mother, Queen Blanche, +governed his kingdom for him, and she had many troubles to contend with, on +account of the quarrels and revolts of some of the most powerful nobles in +the land. Several of these refused to attend the coronation of Louis, which +took place at Rheims, after he had been knighted, according to the custom +of the time, at Soissons. The ceremony was very solemn; Queen Blanche would +not let it be made an occasion of rejoicing, because her heart was so full +of sorrow for the death of her husband; and the day after she took Louis to +Paris, and began at once to think what would be the best measures for +securing his safety and the welfare of the country. + +It was at the siege of Bellesme that Louis gained his first experience in +war, when he was only twelve years of age. The Count de Bretagne, foremost +of the rebellious nobles, had invaded the territory of the king, and was +causing great misery to the country people by laying waste their land and +destroying their villages. To chastise him, and bring him to obedience, +Queen Blanche set off in the depth of winter with her son Louis and only a +few followers, to lay siege to the Castle of Bellesme, where the count had +first set up his standard of rebellion. + +The snow lay deep on the ground, and icicles hung from the trees along the +road-side: the cold was intense, and the march was difficult in the short +winter days, but little Louis was as brave as he was gentle, and cared +nothing for the cold and discomfort, nor did he tremble the least at the +idea of the coming affray; his mother had taught him to endure manfully +hardships and pain and fatigue, and to trust in God, whatever danger was at +hand. + +The Castle of Bellesme exists no longer; its ruins have long crumbled away: +in those days it was a strong fortress, surrounded by thick walls flanked +with towers. The Count of Bretagne was inside the castle with all the +bravest of his men, and the queen's party made two assaults upon it in +vain. The cold had numbed the energies of the knights and the soldiers in +the camp, and they were very nearly frozen to death. Queen Blanche then +published a decree which promised large rewards to all persons who should +cut down the trees in the forests around, and bring the wood to the camp. +The peasants were soon seen joyfully bringing the wood on their shoulders +and in carts: enormous fires were kindled, and the warmth so quickly +restored the spirits of the besiegers, that before two days had passed, the +greater part of the fortification was thrown down, and the haughty Count de +Bretagne, seeing no hope of succour, was obliged to surrender. Queen +Blanche and her little son treated the garrison with great kindness when +they came out; and a treaty was soon after made, by which it was agreed +that Louis's brother John should marry, when he grew up, the daughter of +the Count de Bretagne. + +Whilst Louis was growing out of childhood, and striving day by day to +become more holy in the sight of God, the rebellions of the nobles were +continually breaking out afresh, and had to be put down by force of arms, +or the crown would have lost much of its power. This chapter, however, is +not to be a record of all the disturbances that occurred in France during +the early part of the good king's reign, but rather a description of the +events which brought to light most strikingly his piety, his courage, and +his patience. + +In the year 1233 Louis was persuaded by his mother to bestow his hand on +Marguerite, daughter of Raymond Berenger, Count of Provence. Raymond had +four daughters, and Marguerite was the most beautiful and talented of them +all. Her sister Eleanor was married soon after to Henry the Third of +England, and another sister, named Beatrice, to Louis's brother Charles, +Count of Anjou. + +The royal marriage was celebrated with great magnificence at Sens; and when +Louis was twenty years of age he took the reins of government into his own +hands: nevertheless Queen Blanche continued to influence him by her advice, +and was obeyed by him until her death, on all occasions save one, as will +be seen hereafter. + +The peace of the country was not really established until the year 1239, +when some of the quarrelsome nobles had gone on a crusade to the Holy Land. +The enterprise did not succeed; the Christian army was entrapped and +defeated by the Saracens, and Jerusalem became a possession of the Sultan +of Egypt. The king was deeply grieved at the failure; he was always +thinking of the miseries and oppressions the Christians were forced to +endure in the East, and resolved to go and help them as soon as he could +leave his country in prosperity. When the rumour of this was spread in +Palestine, the sheik, or old man of the mountain, singled out the King of +France for his victim, and despatched two of his assassins to Paris, +thinking thus to put an end to all idea of a fresh crusade. + +Having boasted, however, of his intended deed before some of the knights +templars, he was told by them that if he put Louis to death, his brothers +would certainly avenge the crime, and draw upon him the ill will of many +nations besides France. The sheik now became as anxious to preserve the +king's life as he had been to take it, and sent off in a great hurry two of +his emirs to the court of France to warn Louis of his danger. The king +received the intelligence calmly, and only instituted another company of +guards, who were armed with maces of brass. But when the assassins could +not be discovered, notwithstanding the marks by which the emirs declared +they would be known, these men hastened to Marseilles, and luckily arrived +there before the Arabs set foot on shore. When they had told them how the +sheik had determined not to take the king's life, they conducted them to +Paris, and all four were received with kindness by Louis, and went back to +the East much impressed with the magnificence of the French court; for +although the king loved neither luxury nor pleasure, his court was always +kept up with dignity and splendour. The Sire de Joinville, who was +twenty-two years in his company, tells us how, at a great festival held at +Saumur, which was called a plenary court, the king wore a coat of blue +samite, a species of satin, with overcoat and mantle of crimson samite, +bordered with ermine, and strangely enough, a cotton cap on his head, which +did not become him at all. His hair, which was fair, he wore short, +according to the custom of the time. At this feast there were at least +three thousand knights present, and so many robes of cloth of gold and of +silk had never been seen before. King Louis, his brothers, and the King of +Navarre sat at one table, Joinville himself carving for them; the queen +mother and her ladies sat at another, and the archbishops and bishops at a +third; and to guard the king's table stood three of the greatest barons in +the land; and to guard them stood thirty knights, in garments of rich +silken stuff; and these again had a retinue of the royal officers behind +them. + +During the whole time that the plenary courts were held, the king was +obliged to dine in public, and it was an old custom, that before the +dinner was ended, three heralds at arms, each with a rich cap in his hand, +cried out three times, "Bounty of the most powerful King!" and then threw +gold and silver to the people, so that the poor had their share of the +rejoicing as well as the rich. + +The king was seized with a dangerous illness at Pontoise in the year 1244. +This was a very great sorrow for his people, since it was feared that he +would die, and they joined in solemn processions all over the kingdom, and +went to the churches to pray to the Almighty to restore him to health. +Queen Blanche was the saddest of all, and passed her time between the sick +chamber of her son, and the foot of the altar, where she knelt for hours in +silent prayer. + +When Louis felt that he was getting weaker, he sent for all the members of +his household, and thanked them for their services; after which he +recommended them to serve God with earnest and faithful hearts. Then he +sank into a lethargy, which those who were watching by his bedside at first +mistook for death. The lethargy lasted several days, and then the king gave +signs of returning life. The first words he spoke after opening his eyes +were these:--"By the grace of God the light of the East has shone upon me +from the height of heaven, and recalled me from the dead." He summoned the +Bishop of Paris to his presence, and required him to affix the cross to his +shoulder, as a sign that he bound himself to go on the crusade. + +The sorrow which had been forgotten when the king gave signs of recovery, +now broke out afresh. The two queens, Blanche and Marguerite, threw +themselves on their knees, and implored him with many tears not to go on +the crusade; even the bishops, who stood by, tried to persuade him not to +engage in so difficult an enterprise, but all in vain. Louis would take no +nourishment until the cross was really fastened to his shoulder; and his +people heard of the vow he had taken in gloom and regret, for they thought +if he once set sail for the Holy Land, they would never see him again. + +The king did not really recover until several months had passed, and then +he wrote to the Christians in the East to tell them that he was coming to +their aid. But it was a long time yet before he was able to set out, +because he loved his people very dearly, and wanted to provide everything +for their comfort and happiness during his absence, when his mother, Queen +Blanche, was to rule over them in his stead. He persuaded the most +turbulent of the nobles to go with him on the crusade, and when the best +measures had been taken for securing the peace of the kingdom, he made +known that he was ready to redress every injury he had offered, it being +the custom then for all good crusaders to make their peace with God and man +before they embarked in their enterprise. + +Louis then went with his brothers, Robert of Artois and Charles of Anjou, +to the church of Saint Denis to receive his pilgrim's scrip and staff, and +the oriflamme, or sacred banner of Saint Denis. This was a banner of +flame-coloured silk, which was always carried before the French armies on +solemn occasions for the encouragement of the soldiers. The king, having +requested all holy persons to pray that his undertaking might prove +successful, came back to Paris, and heard mass at the great church of Notre +Dame, and then went out of the city he was not to behold again for so long, +followed by the clergy, the nobles, and multitudes of the common people. + +The crimson and the samite, the gold-embroidered garments with the ermines, +were now laid aside for a plain grey robe trimmed with grey and white fur. +The trappings of the king's horses were no longer adorned with gold, but +the steel of their harness was polished until it shone like silver. Louis +computed before he left France how much his former luxuries had cost him +yearly, and then caused the amount to be regularly distributed to the poor. + +At Cluny, Queen Blanche bade her son a long sad farewell: it was the first +time he had ever thwarted her wishes by refusing to give up the crusade, +when she urged that a vow made in a time of extreme weakness was not +binding. His young wife could not bring herself to part with him, and +declared she would follow him to the end of the world. + +When all was ready, the king, with his brothers Robert and Charles, Queen +Marguerite, and the young Countess of Anjou, and a vast number of crusaders +of all nations, embarked at Aigues-Mortes, a port on the Mediterranean, +which had been constructed for the occasion. They took the direction of +Cyprus, and the winds being favourable, all the vessels except one, which +was unhappily shipwrecked, reached the island in safety. Here the crusaders +remained during the winter. For two years before they arrived, the king's +people had been bringing wine and various provisions for the army from the +most fertile countries of Europe, and had laid up their store in the +island. The tubs of wine they had piled one upon the other, until they +looked like great barns; and the wheat and the barley lay in heaps in the +fields, green on the outside, where the warm rains falling softly upon them +had made them sprout. The crusaders found an abundant supply of food in +Cyprus, without having recourse to their stores, and when in the spring +they wanted to set out for Egypt, they took off the outer covering of the +heaps, and saw the wheat and the barley beneath, as fresh as if it had just +been cut. + +The departure from the island was fixed for Ascension Day in the year 1249. +The crusaders embarked towards evening at the port called Limesson, where +they had landed. The vessels large and small amounted to 1,650, and were +thronged with a vast assembly of people of all callings and nations, 2,800 +of them being knights. The next day the king sent a sealed packet into +every vessel, with orders for it to remain unopened until the fleet had set +sail; the purport of this was that they should proceed direct to Damietta. +The wind, however, blew against them, and forced them to return to the +port; and when they had got out to sea again a few days after, a violent +tempest arose from the side of Egypt, and scattered all the vessels. Louis +himself was obliged to go back to the port of Limesson, and found on +arriving there that his fleet was diminished by one hundred and twenty +vessels, and that the number of knights was reduced to seven hundred! But +he would not suffer the followers who remained to him to be cast down, and +on Trinity Sunday they set sail once more, and although in continual dread +of another storm, they went on their way safely, until a sailor who knew +the coasts of Egypt, and served as a guide, warned them that they were +before Damietta, the great stronghold of the Saracens in Egypt. All the +other vessels now crowded around the one which bore the king, who stood up +among his people calm and trustful, encouraging them to persevere for the +love of God, and not to flinch in the moment of danger. + +Saleh, the Sultan, was at some distance from Damietta; he was supposed to +be dying, and had confided the care of his army to the emir Facardin. The +Saracens had seen the sea covered with masts and sails by seven o'clock in +the morning, and had rung the bell of their great mosque to spread the +alarm in the city: the Christians heard the sound across the sea in the +clear summer air. Facardin ordered four Corsair vessels to approach the +fleet, but three of these ventured too near, and were overwhelmed by +showers of stones from the larger vessels. The fourth went back to convey +the tidings that the King of France had come with a number of foreign +princes. + +At mid-day the fleet of the Christians cast anchor in the roads of +Damietta. The port was full of men-of-war, and the flat country of Egypt +was covered with rich tents, whilst crowds of people on foot and on horse +stood along the shore, sounding their twisted horns, and their great +cymbals, two of which were a sufficient load for an elephant; and making, +as the Sire de Joinville affirms, "a sound horrible to be heard!" + +A council was held on board the king's vessel, at which it was resolved to +land the next day, although only a portion of the fleet had as yet arrived +in the roads; but Louis thought that delay would inspire fear, and perhaps +afford the Saracens the opportunity of destroying his army by degrees. So +when it got dark, the crusaders lighted a great number of torches, and kept +watch all night; and they confessed their sins one to another, and prayed +for those they loved, and had left behind in Europe; and as many as had +quarrelled made friends, that they might be ready for death, if it should +meet them in the struggle on the morrow. + +At daybreak they lifted anchor, and sailed for the island of Giza, which +was joined to Damietta by a bridge of boats across the river Nile. The king +commanded his people to get down into the flat boats they had brought with +them, because the large vessels could not approach the shore: the boat +Joinville was in soon distanced the one which bore the Oriflamme, and was +first to gain the land. + +Suddenly the air was darkened by a flight of arrows from the bows of the +Saracens. Louis, seeing this, gave orders for each man to disembark as he +could, and jumped from his boat into the water, covered as he was by his +armour, with his shield on his breast, and his sword in his hand. The water +was deeper there than elsewhere, and he was immersed up to his shoulders, +but the sight of the Oriflamme safely landed encouraged him in his efforts, +and he got to the shore before any of the others. Although countless swords +and pike points were aimed at him as he landed, the good king did not +forget to kneel down for a moment on the sand, to thank the Almighty for +having preserved him thus far; then, rising, he would have rushed on the +Saracens at once and alone, if his knights, who were now gaining their +footing on shore, had not prevented him. + +All the rest now followed; Louis put his people in battle array as they +landed, and ordered an attack to be made on some of the enemy's larger +vessels. Before the day was ended the Christian army had driven the +Saracens from the western shores of the Nile, and had got possession of the +bridge of boats; they would have pursued their foes, but night coming on, +the king sounded a retreat, and encamped on the ground he had conquered. +Meanwhile the poor queen and the Countess of Anjou had been in terrible +anxiety and distress when they watched from their vessel afar the +multitudes rushing into the water, and could not tell whether their +husbands were alive or drowned. And great must have been their joy when the +news was conveyed to him that those they loved so dearly were safe on +shore, and that their efforts, as yet, had been crowned with success. + +Early the next morning, which was Sunday, the king was giving orders for +the siege of Damietta, when two Christian captives came to the camp and +told him that the city was deserted. The king could scarcely credit their +words, and sent one of his knights to the spot to see if they were really +true. The knight returned with the same account; the Saracens had gone back +to Damietta in great distress the evening before, and on their arrival had +heard that the Sultan was dead. + +The rumour struck dismay into the heart of Facardin, and he only waited to +put the Christian slaves who were in the city to death, and to burn the +bazaars where the provisions were sold, and then he went out at the gates +the same night with his army and the garrison; old men and women, children +and sick persons following in the rear of the craven-hearted troops, until +by daylight the whole city was deserted. + +Damietta was now open to the Christians; they had only to cross the bridge +of boats and enter its gates. The king in his thankfulness thought that he +ought not to enter the city as a triumphant warrior, but humbly, and clad +as a pilgrim; and he walked thither barefoot, followed by the King of +Cyprus, who had joined the crusade, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the legate, +and all the bishops and priests who had accompanied the army. A mosque, +where the Saracens had worshipped, was hastily converted into a Christian +church, and a solemn chant of thanksgiving ascended from its altar. The +crusaders had indeed reason to be thankful because Damietta was so strong a +place, protected by a double wall on the side of the Nile, and by a triple +one on the side of the flat country. The king determined to remain there +until the autumn, and thus avoid marching in the great heat, and the danger +which his army would be exposed to from the rising of the Nile, for the +river begins to rise in the month of June, and mounts higher and higher +until September, overflowing the land along its course so that it looks +like a great marsh, and the villages and trees appear like islands above +the water. By November the fields are dry again and covered with a rich +brown slime, and the people then begin to sow their corn. The soil being +so fertile, in the winter months the valley of the Nile presents the +appearance of a beautiful garden; indeed, the natives are obliged sometimes +to mix sand with the loam, or the fruits and vegetables would grow and +ripen too quickly. + +When the water had risen to a certain height, the Saracens used to open +their dykes with great solemnity and let it flow over the land; and it was +remembered with sadness in the Christian camp how they had used it for the +destruction of the crusading army in the enterprise which had failed only a +few years before. + +The queen and her sister, with their ladies in attendance, were lodged in +one of the palaces in the city, and the pilgrims who had come in the hope +of reaching Jerusalem in another; but the king remained in his tent outside +with the army. + +The crusaders soon began to suffer from the intense heat of the climate, +and the flies and noxious insects which infested the camp. + +The report of the sultan's death had been false. Saleh was still living, +but almost at his last gasp; and finding he could not dictate to the King +of France the hour when a battle should take place between them, he devised +a sure method of annoyance by offering a reward of a besant of gold for +every head of a Christian which should be brought to him. The Arabs or +Bedouins undertook to perform this service. Clad only in the skins of wild +beasts, they would suddenly appear in the camp, and vanish on their +swift-footed horses as soon as they were seen. On dark nights they used to +put their ear to the ground, as the Arabs do to this day, and listen if +the night watch had gone its rounds before they began their dread work; and +as there were always people sleeping on the outskirts of the camp, who had +gone out in search of prey, scarcely a night passed but some heads were +missing at daybreak. The king, to mislead them, ordered the night watch to +be made by foot soldiers instead of horsemen, but it did not prevent the +maurauders from coming, and at last the crusaders had to dig a deep trench +all round the camp as a surer means of keeping them away. + +Louis was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his brother Alphonse, Count of +Poitou, Prince John being left in France to assist the queen-mother in the +cares of the government. The Count came at last, bringing with him the wife +of Robert of Artois. The time was wearing on, and a council was held to +determine which way they should next proceed. Robert, who was as zealous in +the crusade as Louis himself, but who had not his brother's patience and +calmness of mind, strongly advised that they should pursue the road to +Cairo, or Babylon, as it was then called, and so aim a blow at the whole +dominion of the Sultan in Egypt. The king yielded to his wishes, and +leaving the queen and the princesses in the city, with a sufficient number +of guards to protect them, he set out from Damietta, although he was in +weak health from the effects of the climate. The army crossed the bridge of +boats, but it could only go slowly along; there were so many things, such +as engines, arms, harness, and provisions, to be transported. The crusaders +imagined that they were going to Babylon, the great city of the East, on +the banks of the Euphrates; but the city they were approaching was only so +named by some settlers from the Eastern Babylon, and was what is now called +"Old Cairo," although in those days it was almost as great a place as +Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt. They were much astonished at the +abundant vegetation on the shores of the Nile, and the treasures to be +found even in its waters; for the Sire de Joinville tells us how the +country people used to throw their nets into the river at evening, and take +them up in the morning filled with cinnamon, aloes, ginger, rhubarb, and +things of a like nature; the common belief being that these riches dropped +from the trees in the garden of paradise, and were wafted up the river to +their feet! + +The Egyptian fleet was stationed at Massoura, a city nearly a third of the +way between Damietta and Cairo. The sultan was now dead, but his widow +would not let it be known until her son could arrive to take the government +into his hands, for fear that the people should get discouraged. + +The crusaders had not gone far from Damietta, when they found their passage +barred by the Thanis, a branch of the Nile, the opposite shore of which was +guarded by a body of five hundred Saracen horsemen. The Thanis was the +river they had to cross; it was deep near its steep shores; there was no +bridge, neither did they know of a ford, so they encamped on the ground +which formed the extremity of the angle between the two rivers, only +separated from the town of Massourah by the stream and a part of the plain. +Their situation soon became very dangerous, because the Saracens were +constantly attacking their side which was unprotected by the waters: the +machines of the enemy, too, were better than their own, and poured upon +them a continual volley of stones, darts, javelins, arrows, and heavy +pieces of wood. Then at night the Saracens would throw upon them their +terrible Greek fire, which appeared with a loud hissing noise, "like a +fiery dragon flying through the air," and rendered the camp as light as +day. The Saracens were more skilful in the art of making fireworks than the +Europeans, and always employed them in warfare. The basis of the Greek fire +was naphtha, a clear, thin mineral fluid, which is very inflammable, and +burns with much smoke. When it came, the Christians would throw themselves +down on the ground and hide their faces, and the king, whenever he heard it +explode in the night, would rise in his bed and say, "Blessed Lord God, +save my people!" and every night he would send round the camp to inquire +who had been injured by it. Sometimes it was put out with vinegar and sand, +but it usually occasioned great harm, not only to the people in the camp, +but also to the machines. + +The king, having tried in vain to construct a dyke, had now to think +seriously of returning to Damietta, or of remaining in this corner between +the rivers, surrounded by the enemy, and almost in total want of +provisions. He was about to retreat, notwithstanding the sorrow and +disappointment it cost him to give up the enterprise, when a Bedouin, who +had abandoned the Saracens, came to the camp and said that he knew of a +ford which the horsemen might pass, and would show it to them for the sum +of five hundred besants of gold, but not until he had the money safe in his +hand. + +The king joyfully accepted his offer, and arranged that the Duke of +Burgundy should be left with the infantry to guard the camp, whilst he, +with his brothers and all the rest, should attempt the passage. The Count +of Artois begged for the honour of passing first, and the king somewhat +reluctantly granted him his request, on condition that he should not +venture to fight until the whole army had assembled; he knew so well his +brother's ardent spirit and rashness. + +Before daybreak they all set out for the ford, with the Arab marching at +their head, and went out of the straight road to avoid being seen by their +foes. The Arab plunged into the water first of all, and as he knew the way +perfectly it was not difficult for him to cross, but Robert of Artois did +not find it so easy to effect a footing, the opposite shore being high and +slippery from the richness of its soil. Next to him went the Templars, and +then William, Earl of Salisbury, surnamed "Longue Epée," who had joined the +crusade with two hundred English knights. Ah! little those brave men knew +they were going to their death, and that of all who crossed in hope and +ardour that morning, only enough should survive to come back and tell the +tale! + +The sight of the Arabs fleeing who guarded the ford, made Robert forget the +oath he had sworn to his brother; he rushed after them in pursuit; the Emir +Facardin coming out to ascertain the cause of alarm, was quickly surrounded +and killed, and numbers of the Saracens, in dismay at the loss of their +leader, left their camp to their foes, and retired in disorder to Massoura. + +Meanwhile the king had passed the ford in his turn, with all the rest of +the horsemen, and was greatly surprised that he did not find his brother +and the advance guard waiting for him on the other side. Fearing some +misfortune had happened, he told ten of his knights to go in search of +Count Robert, and remind him that he was to attempt nothing until the whole +army had assembled. After this he set out quickly in the direction of the +Saracens; but what was his astonishment when he found that instead of being +able to stand against them, he was surrounded by them on all sides, whilst +the air was filled with their hideous cries, and the noise of their +barbarous instruments! The Saracens, terror-stricken at first by the +approach of the Christians, had now rallied in multitudes, and completely +closed in the army of the crusaders between the river and the town of +Massoura. The king, undismayed, prepared for immediate battle, although his +knights and nobles tried to persuade him that it would be hopeless to +combat so large a force. Just at that moment the constable Imbert de +Beaujeu rode up to tell him that the Count of Artois was besieged in a +house at Massoura, and would perish if succour did not arrive. The king +sent a body of troops to his aid, and promised that he would soon be with +him himself; and then he turned to his people and exhorted them to keep +their ranks firm; and told them that the soldiers of Christ ought not to +fear a set of miscreants like those who were crowding around them. The +whole aspect of the king that day inspired courage; his face was calm, his +eyes shone with a steadfast light; he had a helmet of gold on his head, +which from his great height towered above the ranks of his army; his +double-edged sword was so heavy, that to strike a blow with it, he had to +grasp it with both hands. + +The signal being given, the bravest of the crusaders rushed on the +Saracens; others, less courageous, tried to regain the camp of the Duke of +Burgundy, but were most of them drowned in the attempt. The king was sure +to be found where the fight was the thickest, or where the weak were in +want of succour; and once during the battle he was surrounded by six +Saracens, who seized the bridle of his horse, and yet he freed himself by +his own aid alone. + +The Duke of Burgundy and his men heard the conflict going on from the +opposite shore; they longed to fly to the king's assistance, but their very +eagerness hindered them, and it was a long time before any of them could +cross the river. When a body of the king's archers arrived on the plain, +they found that Louis had maintained his ground, and that the battle of +Massoura was won: yet, had it not been for the king's example, the day had +been lost, so great was the fury and strength of the enemy. + +Both Christians and Saracens were now utterly wearied out with fighting; +the heat had been intense, and Louis, having waited for all the wounded who +could be assembled, set out at sunset for the Saracen camp on the Thanis. +His golden helmet oppressed him, and he was glad to accept from Joinville a +casque of steel, which enabled him to breathe more freely. He had only gone +a little way on the road when a prior of the knights hospitallers met him +and asked if he knew where his brother was, the Count of Artois. + +"Yes," replied the king, "I know that he is in heaven." And then he said +that the Lord should be praised equally for what He gave and for what He +withheld; and in the dark of the evening his tears began to flow, not only +for his own sorrow, but for that of the young Countess of Artois, who had +only come out to the East to bid her husband a last farewell. + +For Robert indeed was slain; deaf to the remonstrances of the Grand Master +of the Templars, an old man, whose advice had been well heeded, and to +those of the Earl of Salisbury, he persisted in following the Saracens to +Massoura, and had met there the fate he had drawn upon him by his untimely +zeal and rashness. His brave companions perished with him, with the +exception of the Grand Master, who lost an eye in the conflict, and one or +two others; the Englishman who bore the standard wrapped it around him as +he fell. And as the king appeared to have known beforehand what had +happened, so it is said the mother of the Earl of Salisbury had a vision of +her son ascending to heaven, with a crown of glory on his head, before she +received the tidings of his death. + +The king encamped that night close by the machines of the Saracens, and on +the second day after the battle of Massoura, the struggle began afresh. The +Saracens had taken the victory to themselves, and had sent the news of +their supposed triumph to Cairo by their carrier pigeons. Bondocar, the +chief, who had rallied the troops in Massoura appeared on the field in the +coat of arms starred with lilies which Robert of Artois had worn. The Greek +fire was poured forth incessantly from the front line of the Saracens as +they came up in battle array; the king had the crupper of his horse covered +with it once during the conflict, when he had gone to the rescue of his +brother Charles, who was in danger. The Saracens were repulsed a second +time, but the victory was dearly bought, so many men and horses being +wounded, and the crusaders passed a dreary time before Massoura, whilst +their provisions grew less and less; and it being Lent, they lost their +strength by eating only roots, wheat, and fruit; fish they had in plenty at +first, but to their horror they found out that they had fed on the dead +bodies which the Saracens had thrown into the river. A pestilence broke +out, and the camp was like one vast hospital. The king, in mistaken zeal, +had caused the bodies to be taken out of the water, that those of the +Christians might receive Christian burial, and helped to bury them himself. +This only increased the unwholesomeness of the air, and at last Louis fell +ill too. The crusaders now began to despair; the king had been as brave in +misfortune as he had been on the battle-field, and had cheered the spirits +of his followers: he visited the sick day and night, and sat beside the +bedside of the dying, reminding them of their Saviour's love, and +comforting many a poor soul with the hope of heaven. It is recorded how one +of the lowliest of the army declared as he lay dying that he could not +depart until he had seen the kind face of his master bending over him once +more. + +The Saracens having prevented the approach of the vessels that were coming +to the camp with provisions, the king, as a last resource, offered to give +up the city of Damietta to the Sultan Malek al Moadhem, if he would agree +to restore Jerusalem to the Christians, the Counts of Poiton and Anjou +remaining in Egypt as hostages. + +The Sultan would have no other hostage but the king himself, and Louis +would willingly have sacrificed himself for his people if his nobles had +allowed him to do so. There was no alternative but to retreat to Damietta, +and the army decamped one spring night in the dark, the old people and the +sick and wounded being carried out first, and the king leaving the camp the +last of all with the barons Gautier de Chatillon and Geoffray de Sardines. +He was so weak and ill that he could hardly sit upright on his little Arab +horse; yet he was the bravest among the brave in that troop which went +slowly and sadly along in the dark, defending themselves as they could from +the attacks of the Arabs, who had been bribed for the purpose of molesting +them. + +Geoffray de Sardines had to deal many a blow to keep the Saracens from his +master, who soon became too feeble to lift his sword, and they were in the +greater danger because the whole of the Egyptian army was behind them. At +last they reached a little village, and the king, having fainted away, was +carried into the first house they met with, whilst Chatillon stood outside +in the street defending it until he fell mortally wounded. + +When Louis had recovered a little, Philip de Montfort came to him, and told +him that he had seen an emir, to whom he had been sent on a mission once +before, and if he liked he would make a treaty with him on the terms +desired by the Saracens. + +The king agreed to the plan; De Montfort went to the emir, and all would +have been well if a sergeant belonging to the French army, thinking to save +the king's life, had not cried out to the knights who were standing around, +"Surrender, Sir Knights! the king commands you to do so!" The Christian +warriors, believing that the king had really commanded them to give way, +lay down their swords, and the emir, seeing they were all prisoners, said +there was no further need of a treaty. Then cords and chains were thrown +around them, and they were all conducted to Massoura. + +The king was shut up in the house of a scribe; he was loaded with chains, +and strictly watched, while the barons and knights were huddled together in +a court which was open to the sky. King Louis was very unkindly treated by +the Sultan at first; he was only allowed to have one attendant with him; +this man, whose name was Isambert, nursed him tenderly, dressed him, and +made his bread; and said afterwards that he had never heard his master +utter one word of complaint or impatience during the whole time of his +captivity. It was a marvel how Louis ever lived through his illness; his +strength was almost spent; and at night, to add to his discomfort, he had +nothing to cover him as he lay on his wretched bed but an old cloak, which +a poor man had given him out of compassion in Massoura. + +After a time, Malek al Moadhem, fearing the reproaches of the European +nations, treated his captive more kindly; he had his chains removed and +sent him his own physicians, and delicate food from his royal table, and to +keep him warm he gave him two robes of black samite, trimmed and lined with +fur, which were plentifully adorned with gold buttons. And best of all he +allowed him to have his almoner and a priest with him, and something like +joy came back to the poor king when the Saracens brought him one day his +missal, or book of prayers, which he had lost and never thought to see +again. And so, comforted and strengthened by prayer, Louis was not unhappy +even within prison walls, away from all he loved, and waited patiently +until the Almighty should see fit to make a way for him to regain his +liberty. + +And a way came at last: the sultan agreed to release him on condition of +his giving up Damietta and paying a ransom of a million besants of gold. +Louis agreed to the terms, but he said that the liberty of the King of +France should not be bought with money, and that the gold should be paid +for his people, and the city should be his own ransom. The sultan, struck +with the spirit of his reply, reduced the sum he had asked by two hundred +thousand besants, and a truce was concluded between the Christians and the +Saracens of Egypt and Syria. It was arranged that half the ransom should be +paid at once, and the other half as soon as the king should reach the port +of Acre in Palestine, his brother Alphonse remaining in Egypt as hostage. +Louis was then set at liberty; he had recovered from his illness through +the skill of the Arabian physicians, and he repaired to Acre where the +queen and the princesses had already arrived, having quitted Damietta a +little while before. It was a joyful meeting, for Marguerite had been very +unhappy through all those long sad months at Damietta, not only on account +of the miseries of the crusaders, but also from the constant fear of +falling into the hands of the Saracens herself. And a little son who was +born to her there received the name of "Tristan," in memory of the sorrows +she had endured. + +Louis did not return to France at once, but remained some time at Acre, in +the hope of inducing the Christian powers to enter into a league for the +recovery of the Holy Land, and it was not until the news of his mother's +death reached him, and his presence was required in his country, that he +bade farewell to the East, where he had bravely striven for so much, and +yet had gained so little. + +The king was received with great joy by his people on his return to France, +but they were less happy when they saw the cross still on his shoulder, as +a sign that he meant to engage in another crusade when the truce should +have expired. As soon as he arrived he occupied himself in making good laws +for his country, and was so greatly famed for his justice that other +sovereigns were glad to benefit by his example. His laws against evil-doers +were very severe; no murderer or thief dared abide in Paris, and merchants +and tradesmen who gave false measures were punished with extreme rigour. +The king used often to sit beneath an oak in the Bois de Vincennes, or on a +carpet spread in a garden, to hear the complaints and grievances of the +common people, and to administer justice to them. He had always been +charitable from his earliest years: a hundred and twenty poor persons were +maintained in his house, and three poor old men, besides those who were +crippled and lame, dined with him every day at his own table; the king +would cut their bread and meat for them, and pour out their wine, and +would serve them before he ate anything himself. And beyond this, he gave +large sums to hospitals, religious houses, and colleges, and succoured +widows and poor ladies and gentlemen, and all those who by reason of age or +illness could no longer work for their living. + +The good king used to employ the morning with the affairs of the state; he +dined at mid-day, and after dinner his readers would come to him, and he +read the Bible with interpreters, or the works of the fathers of the +church: sometimes, instead of reading, he would converse with good and +learned men, who always found a welcome at his court. In the evening, +before he retired to rest, he used to assemble his children around him, and +hear them repeat their prayers and the tasks they had learned during the +day. Then he would tell them of the deeds of good emperors and kings, and +of the fate that generally befel those who were idle, or careless of the +happiness of their subjects. At midnight he would rise from his bed to +attend Matins, and so afraid was he of being asleep when any of the church +services began, that he had candles lighted which only burnt a certain +time, that his servants might not fail to awaken him as soon as they were +spent. His brothers used to share with him works of charity and holy +offices. When Baldwin II., Emperor of Constantinople, sent him as a gift +the Crown of Thorns supposed to be the one worn by our blessed Saviour, and +part of the word of the True Cross on which He died, in return for the aid +Louis had afforded him when he was in great need, we read how the king +received the sacred relics in the deepest humility, and bareheaded and +barefoot carried the Crown of Thorns with his brother Robert of Artois to +the church of Notre-Dame. It was to form a shrine for these relics that +Louis built the beautiful Sainte Chapelle in Paris. Again, we read how, +when a new hospital was completed, the king carried in the first bed +himself, with his son-in-law, the King of Navarre, whilst his brothers +conveyed the remainder of the sick people into the wards. The whole family +were united in deeds of love and compassion. There was no office too lowly +for Louis to perform; no person, however mean and wretched, who had not a +place in his heart. And if we except the harsh laws he made against the +Jews through his zeal for the Christian faith, no sovereign ever showed +more mercy and justice towards his people. + +One Good Friday, when the king was going his rounds to all the churches in +Paris, according to his custom, he saw on the other side of the way a leper +who was shunned by every person he met. The king immediately crossed over +the muddy road and gave the poor man some money, and kissed his hand to +show that he loved him, although he was despised and avoided by all others. +The king never resumed his costly robes after his return from the Holy +Land, but wore dark-coloured garments of cloth and silk, and instead of +handsome furs he only wore the skins of hares, rabbits, and squirrels, that +he might have the more money to spare for his charities. + +In the summer of the year 1270 the Christians set out once more from the +port of Aigues-Mortes on the seventh and last crusade. Bondocar had become +a very powerful sovereign, and the Saracens were making so great progress +in the East, that all Christian princes became alarmed, and were urged by +the Pope to hasten to the relief of Palestine. + +The Crusaders, with Louis and three of his sons at their head, directed +their course this time to Tunis, hoping by gaining possession of that city +to cut off all communication between the Saracens of the East, and those of +Morocco and Spain. + +As soon as they arrived before Tunis the enemy came in sight, as if they +were going to attack the camp, and then retired. Just as they were +vanishing in the distance two Spanish slaves came and told the king that +the Lord of Tunis had arrested all who were Christians amongst his troops, +and intended to cut off their heads directly the march should begin upon +Tunis. The next night three Saracens appeared before the advance guard of +the Christians, and touching their turbans in token of respect, made known +by signs that they demanded baptism. + +The king did not know what to think of the matter, and ordered them to be +guarded in a tent; and a little while after a hundred more appeared, making +the same signs. Whilst they were amusing the soldiers by their odd +gestures, other Saracens rushed unexpectedly upon the camp, and after +killing many of the Christians, ran away before they could be captured. The +army thought to revenge the affront on the three men, but they began to +shed tears, and one of them declared that a captain of more than two +thousand men like himself wanted to ruin him by treachery, and if the king +would send one of the two others to the camp of the Saracens, the whole +army would pass over to the Christians. The king did not dare to trust him, +and thought it wisest to send them all away, for fear he should be guilty +of shedding innocent blood. As the Crusaders were making a very deep ditch +the next day all around the camp, the entire body of the Saracens came in +sight, spreading from the sea on one side, to the country on the other. +They meant to surround the army, but Louis rushing out upon them, a +skirmish ensued, and when a few of their number were slain, all the rest +took flight. Thus they kept on harassing and dodging the army; the +Christian warriors had no peace with them; and if ever they took off their +armour they had to put it on again directly for some fresh alarm, although +the Saracens never ventured to give them battle. + +Louis was desirous of waiting before Tunis until the arrival of his brother +Charles, now king over Sicily; and he prepared meanwhile by sea and land +for the siege of the city, which was very strongly fortified. The delay +proved the source of misfortune; the Christians had worse evils to contend +with than those occasioned by the Saracens. The heat was intense, and the +reflection from the sunlit mountains caused a dazzling light which almost +blinded their eyes. When the wind blew it came loaded with burning sand, +and the plague broke out on the coast. Then the Crusaders drooped one by +one; the young Count de Nevers, the son whom Louis loved best of all, was +seized with the sickness and died, and on the day of his death the good +Saint Louis fell ill himself. When he felt that he should never rise from +his bed again, he set all his earthly affairs in order, and gave good +advice to his children, telling them always to love one another, and +maintain the peace of their country. For the rest of the time he lived he +prayed in patience, and praised God for all that had befallen him +throughout his life; and one night he uttered the word "Jerusalem," adding, +"Let us go to Jerusalem." It was to the heavenly Jerusalem the king was +going, the eternal city, where all weeping and sorrow and trouble should be +hushed for ever. Before he died he prayed long and earnestly for his +people, that they might be delivered from their enemies, and last of all, +with peace in his face, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Lord, I +will enter into Thy house; I will adore Thee in Thy holy temple, and I will +glorify Thy name." + +When Charles of Anjou arrived at Tunis a little while after the king had +ceased to breathe, he was surprised to find that the camp was all silent, +and that no one had come to meet him on the shore. And hastening to the +royal tent, the sight that greeted him was the dead body of his brother +clad in a hair shirt, and stretched on a bed of ashes; for thus had Louis, +in his humility, desired to die. Charles shed many tears, and kissed the +feet of his dead brother again and again, and the whole camp was filled +with sorrowful faces, so dearly had the good king been loved by his +followers. + +Louis, having reigned over France for nearly forty-four years, left the +kingdom to his eldest son Philip, who carried on the crusade for a while +with the other princes, and defeated the Saracens on several occasions. By +November, however, all the French Crusaders had quitted the East, and +Philip occupied himself in the affairs of his own country. His father +wrote him some instructions, which he was to read after his death, and +which have been carefully preserved. The following maxims were amongst +those they contained:-- + + "Dear son, the first thing I teach thee is to set thy + heart to love God, for without Him none can be saved. + + * * * * * + + "If God send thee adversity, receive it with patience, + and thank the Lord for it, and think that thou hast + deserved it, and that it will turn to thy profit. If He + give thee prosperity, thank Him for it humbly, so as + not to lose by pride or otherwise what ought to render + thee better; for one ought not to abuse the gifts of + God." + + "Be kind and charitable to the poor, the weak, and + those who are in trouble, and aid them according to thy + power." + + "Maintain the good customs of thy country, and destroy + the bad ones. Only have in thy company prudent and + unambitious men. Flee and avoid the company of the + wicked." + + "Listen willingly to the word of God, and keep it in + thy heart. Let no one be so bold as to speak a word + which might lead to sin in thy presence." + + + + +GUSTAVUS VASA, KING OF SWEDEN. + + +There was once a princess named Margaret, daughter of Waldemar, King of +Denmark, who on her father's death married Haquin, king of Norway. When her +husband died she reigned over Norway alone; and when her son Olaus died she +reigned over Denmark too. Margaret governed her people well, but she dearly +loved power, and was not content with the countries she already possessed; +so she went to war with her near neighbours, the Swedes, and defeated and +captured Albert, their king. Margaret kept him in prison seven years, and +then only released him when he had agreed to give up his crown as the price +of his liberty. In the year 1397 a great meeting of the States General of +the three countries was held at a place called Calmar, and there it was +settled that Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, should all be governed by one +sovereign. After Margaret's death the Swedes were very unhappy for many +years, because they were so sorely oppressed by the Danes: they did not +submit tamely, and a long series of troubles and wars ensued. + +When Gustavus Vasa, the great hero of the North, was born in the year 1490, +Sweden had in some measure freed itself from the Danish yoke, and was +governed by Sten Sture, a Swede, who had the title of Adminstrator. Sture +was a man of firm and upright character, who had never suffered the Danes +to triumph over him, although they were always trying to regain full power +over his country, and had made a solemn vow with the Russians to subdue it +entirely. + +Gustavus Erickson, commonly called Gustavus Vasa, was born at the Castle of +Lindholm, near Stockholm. His father, Erick Johannson, was descended from +the royal houses of Vasa and Sture, both of which came from the Old +Norwegian kings, and were connected with many of the royal families of +Europe. They had always been renowned for their love of freedom, their +steadfast spirit, and their valour. Sten Sture had given to Erick Johannson +a beautiful estate, called Castle-holm, and the Island of Aland, in the +Gulf of Bothnia. He loved to have him with him at his court, and took +charge of his little son Gustavus, because he wanted to see him grow up +worthy of his royal birth, and to teach him to love his unhappy country +with all his heart; hoping that he might one day restore to it the freedom +it had enjoyed before it was overcome by the ambitious Northern queen. + +The boy was brought up simply and without luxury; he ate coarse food, and +learned to hunt, and was allowed to climb about the mountains around +Lindholm as much as he liked, so that he grew very strong, and could endure +great fatigue without a murmur, whilst he thoroughly enjoyed his sports and +his liberty in the keen, fresh air. When John, the reigning king of Denmark +came in State to visit Sture at Stockholm, he was struck by the spirited +bearing, and free, open nature of Gustavus; and fearing that when he was +older he might prove the source of danger to himself, he asked Sture to let +him take care of him, and bring him up at the Danish court. Sture, however, +wisely declined his offer, and sent the child to Aland to be out of danger, +and watched over him until his death, when Svante Sture governed Sweden in +his place. Gustavus was treated with great kindness by the new +Administrator, who loved peace, and only suffered good men to be around +him, thus making his Court a school for all knightly virtues. Gustavus +remained with him until he was eighteen, and then went to Upsal to attend a +school which had been founded there by the elder Sture. A story is told of +him which shows how deeply the teaching of his friend had taken root in his +heart. In one of the divisions of the school he was accustomed to read the +classics with a Dane, who once happened to let fall some remarks against +Sweden. In a moment, the Swedish youth drew his sword, plunged it through +the book which was open before him, and rushed out of the place, never to +return to it again. For all this, he was very happy at Upsal, and they were +merry days when a flock of students, in their red gowns, rushed out of the +city gates to enjoy a holiday in the open country beyond. Gustavus studied +with great diligence, and was more learned than most of the other noble +youths of his time, for in general they were quite content if they knew how +to handle their weapons, and cared very little for learning out of books. +Gustavus made himself perfect in all knightly accomplishments, and could +play on several musical instruments, which were all kept long afterwards, +hung up in the Castle of Stockholm, in remembrance of the happy days of his +youth. He never touched them after he had once given his whole thought to +the rescue of his country, but I dare say, when his great work was done, +and Sweden was free and happy once more, and he looked at them as they hung +on the walls, he seemed to hear all the old tunes which had gladdened his +youth, and thought kindly of the companions of his early years, who had +many of them died, or passed out of his sight. + +Gustavus was tall, slender, and fairhaired; his countenance was open and +expressed kindness; his temper was cheerful, and his courage could never be +daunted: he had a wonderful memory to the very last hours of his life. When +he had been in Upsal six years he came back to the Court of Stockholm, +where he went on with his studies, and lived until he was twenty-five years +of age, beloved by his friends, and esteemed by all for his upright +conduct. + +In the meantime a change had taken place in the affairs of Denmark. King +John was dead, and his son Christiern the Second had come to the throne. +The new king suffered himself to be advised by his mother-in-law Sigbritt, +a spiteful and meddling Dutchwoman; and he began his reign with many unjust +actions towards the Swedes, which provoked them to fight once more for +their freedom. Sten Sture the younger had succeeded his father Svante; he +resolved to free his country from the bondage of Denmark, and he spoke +earnest words in the Council House. + +"We must be firm," he said. "We must offer up our blood, and show the +people who come after us, how dear to us was our freedom, rather than sit +still with a weight upon our shoulders, which crushes us to the ground." + +And very soon the war began. King Christiern came himself to the scene of +action, and lay siege to Stockholm. Sture and Gustavus Erickson, who bore +the banner of Sweden, gained two victories over the Danes; the king was in +danger, being nearly surrounded by his enemies, and was obliged to think of +returning to his own country. He made it appear as if he wished for peace, +and agreed to meet Sture in order to treat for terms, provided hostages +were sent to his quarters in the persons of Gustavus and five Swedish +statesmen of high rank. It was arranged that when these hostages reached +his vessel at a place called Krongshamm, he should present himself in the +quarters of Sture, and that when he returned to his vessel the Swedes +should be free to depart. + +Although it was well known that the promises of Christiern were not to be +trusted, the six hostages set out in a boat with a crew of twelve men, but +they had hardly got half-way when a Danish vessel, having a hundred men on +board, met them, and closed their path. The captain told them that the king +wished to meet them at a place called Elfsnabbe, where he had some +important matters to discuss with them. Gustavus replied with spirit that +they had simply come as hostages, and had no power to transact business; +they would therefore either await the king at Krongshamm or return at once +to their own quarters. + +The Swedes soon found, however, that it was of no use to resist, and they +were forced on board the Danish vessel, and thus conveyed to the king. The +tyrant rejoiced that he had Gustavus Vasa, the most dreaded of his enemies +in his power, and without taking any heed of his promise, sailed with his +booty to Denmark as quickly as he could. The people of Sweden were very +sorrowful, and angry too when they knew Gustavus had been thus captured, +for his brave conduct and his success had already made them hope that +better days were in store for them. Sture also was grieved at Christiern's +breach of faith--the more so that he had been too generous to suspect him +of such deceit--and only a short time before, when the king had been +brought very low by sickness and famine, had sent him succour, and cared +for him as if he had been his warmest friend instead of his most bitter +foe. + +When the Swedes arrived in Denmark they were shut up in the citadel of +Copenhagen, and it was decided that they should be put to death at once. +Only, as they had been guilty of no crime, it was not easy to find a +pretence for passing sentence upon them. Whilst their fate was pending, +Sigbritt urged the king to spare their lives, saying, that so long as he +had them in his power, he could impose upon the Swedes laws more and more +severe, with the threat of putting their countrymen to instant death if +they did not obey them. Christiern, as usual, followed the advice of his +mother-in-law, which for once proved the source of blessing to Sweden, and +Gustavus and his companions were only shut up in prison. + +Gustavus had a kinsman at Copenhagen of the name of Banner, who was much +attached to him, and feared that if he lived solely under the eye of the +tyrant he would be exposed to many insults. So he prevailed with Christiern +to let him keep him in his castle of Calloë, a strong fortress in Denmark, +and made himself a surety for him to the amount of six thousand dollars. + +In the early part of the year 1520 Christiern declared war. The Swedes were +prepared to resist him, for the peasants had come down from the mountains, +and had flocked to the standard of Sture until the army was increased to +the number of 10,000 men. The cause of the king of Denmark was strongly +favoured by the Pope and Trolle, Archbishop of Upsal, who were both very +angry because the Protestant faith was daily gaining ground in Sweden. +Trolle came of an ancient house, only second in rank and dignity to that of +Sture, and a long standing quarrel between these two houses served at the +present moment to widen the breach between them. + +The Swedes fought bravely, but they were soon overcome, and in a battle at +Bogisund, Sture received a wound in the head, of which he died a few days +after. The state of the country now seemed hopeless; its regular army only +numbered 500 men; those who had crowded its ranks when the war began were +brave-hearted men, eager to defend the right, but they were not trained and +skilful soldiers. Sture dead, and Gustavus Vasa in prison, there was +neither ruler in the land nor leader in strife. The Swedes began indeed to +be disheartened; a few of the bravest clung to the hope that a fresh +attempt might yet be made to resist the tyrant's power; some, less +hopeful, thought it best to lay down their swords and submit; others again, +said that they would rather die first. Sture's widow, Christina--herself of +royal birth--and a woman of great spirit, came forward to revenge her +husband's death, and to implore the Swedes not to desert the cause of +freedom. She sent her little son Nil Sture to Dantzig to be out of danger, +and went to Stockholm, where she made the people swear rather to bury +themselves beneath the ruins of the city, than become the slaves of the +Danish king. + +For a short time a little gleam of hope broke over the land, but Christiern +feeling assured that he could not really call himself King of Sweden until +he had Stockholm in his power, resolved to come in person with a great +fleet and besiege the capital. + +In the meantime Gustavus was sorrowing for the troubles of his fatherland, +and his face was clouded and sad when he followed his kinsman Banner to the +gay festivals of the Danish court, and heard people tell how the king had +triumphed over his countrymen, and was bending by degrees their proud +spirit. He was heartily tired, too, of his prison, although he was guarded +less strictly now than he had been at first, and was allowed to wander +about by himself within one mile of the castle. During his lonely walks he +revolved many plans in his mind, and at last one morning at sunrise he put +on the disguise of a peasant, and made his escape from Calloë. The first +day he wandered about a part of the country unknown to him, and the next +day at noon he reached the town of Flensburg, where he feared he should +have been betrayed. But outside the town, for his good fortune, he found a +number of Saxon merchants who had been buying oxen in Jutland, and were on +their way back to Germany; without much trouble he entered their service, +and thus got safely out of Denmark. + +In the September of the year 1519 he came to the free city of Lubeck, where +he made himself known at the Council House, and asked to be received as a +guest, secure from the tyranny of the Danish king. Soon after he arrived, +Banner came in search of him. He was very angry with Gustavus for having +escaped out of his hands, and exposed him to the king's wrath, and wanted +him to return with him to Denmark. Gustavus promised to refund the six +thousand dollars Banner would be obliged to forfeit, but it was not likely +that he would agree to go back to his gloomy prison. So he remained some +months at Lubeck, and heard there of the death of Sture and the defeat of +his countrymen. It was at this time, when Martin Luther, the great +Reformer, came to visit the city of Lubeck, that Gustavus Vasa declared +himself a convert to the Protestant faith. + +The Council at last promised to assist him with men and money, and granted +him a merchant's vessel in which he reached the coast of Sweden towards the +end of May in the year 1520. As he approached Stockholm, he found its haven +filled by the Danish fleet, and not caring to show himself yet, he landed +at a promontory a short distance from Calmar. Stockholm was now possessed +by the Danes, King Christiern had taken up his abode in one of the palaces, +and Christina had been forced to retire to the castle, which was strongly +guarded, and still held out against the Danes. Gustavus entered the city +secretly and found his way to the castle, where he was welcomed and +received with great honour by Sture's widow. He then went to the market +place, and made himself known to the people who had assembled there in +crowds, and he told them what a disgrace it was for them to be in bondage +to Christiern. The people listened in silence and hung their heads; it +seemed as if all spirit had been crushed within them. So Gustavus went back +to the castle to see if he could arouse a better feeling there, but the +German soldiers who were employed to guard it broke out into fury at the +very idea of fighting, they were so utterly tired of all the misery of war, +and they would have murdered Gustavus on the spot if Christina had not been +there to protect him. + +He now saw that his only safety would be at the head of an army: the Danes +were all ready to besiege the castle, and it was therefore no longer a +place to shelter him; but the moment for action was not yet come, and he +roamed about in the country around Stockholm in disguise, now in the +forests and now in the fields, hiding by day and travelling by night, and +mingling sometimes with the Danes for the purpose of gaining news. And on +Sundays, when the peasants were in the churches, he would stand amongst +them, and try to cheer them by telling them that happier days were in store +for them when they should be free once more. Still the people did not care +to listen: they said that so long as they obeyed the King of Denmark, they +had salt and herrings in plenty; what more did they want? And sometimes +when Gustavus had turned away from them they would shoot after him with +their arrows. Such was the abject state they had been brought to by +long-continued insult and oppression. Besides this Christiern had spies in +all parts, and had set a heavy price upon the head of Gustavus, and +threatened all persons who should attempt to conceal him with the +punishment of death. + +After escaping from many dangers, he came through Ludermannland to the +house of Joachim Brahe, a noble councillor of Sweden, who had married his +sister Margaret. The meeting between brother and sister was full of joy, +and Gustavus hoped that Brahe would have been prevailed upon to take up +arms in the defence of his country, but the prudent statesman was not to be +enticed. Christiern, whose presence had for a time been required in +Denmark, was now on his way to Stockholm, and Brahe was one of the guests +invited thither to behold the crown of Sweden placed upon his head. He +could see nothing but rashness and certain failure in the project of taking +up arms against so powerful a foe. Gustavus, therefore, bade his sister +farewell with a heavy heart, and went on his way once more, and after +wandering about some time longer in disguise, he retired to a country house +at Rafnäes, which belonged to his father, to think over in solitude what +was best to be done. + +King Christiern arrived in Stockholm with his wife, leaving Sigbritt to +manage the affairs of Denmark. With the help of the Pope, and the +Archbishop of Upsal, he had himself declared heir to the Swedish throne +before an immense concourse of people, and was crowned in their presence. +Before this he promised to release all captives, and conferred many marks +of royal favour upon the chief men of Stockholm. The first days after he +was crowned were given up to knightly sports, and feasting, and merriment. +But before three days had passed, the king's cruel temper got the better of +him, and he withdrew from the scene of rejoicing to a secret council +chamber, where he sat thinking over the best means of getting rid of the +bishops and senators, and all men of high estate in Sweden, that his own +position on the throne might be quite secure. + +Soon it appeared as if a shadow of gloom had fallen over the city, where +all had been noisy mirth: the castle was suddenly filled with prisoners; +bishops and statesmen were alike consigned to its dark dungeons; in all the +market places scaffolds were erected; and the unhappy captives were told +that they must die. + +The 8th of November in the year 1520 was the day on which the fearful deed +began, a deed never equalled in horror in the annals of Swedish history. +Early in the dark morning all the gates of the city were shut to prevent +anybody from taking flight, and making the affair known in the country +beyond. Every new comer was let in, but no one was allowed to go out. The +streets were guarded, and field-pieces were placed upon the great market +place, levelled towards the people. The way from the castle to the market +was lined with Danish soldiers; trumpeters rode about the streets and +proclaimed that all persons were to retire to their houses; and close their +doors on pain of death. But the common people were horror-struck at these +preparations they dared to disobey the king's orders, and crowded together +to see what would happen next. + +Towards noon the castle gates were opened, and bishops and nobles, +councillors and burgomasters, were led between executioners and common +soldiers to the appointed place on the market, just in front of the Council +House. The bishops were clad in their sacred robes, the councillors had not +had time to take off the dress they wore in council. Oh what a sad +procession it was, as they came slowly along, with erect heads and a proud +and calm demeanour worthy of their race! Sobs and murmurs were heard +amongst the crowd; the roughest of the soldiers and headsmen were touched +with pity and respect as these innocent men, most of them grey-headed, +walked to their death. As soon as they reached the market place, a speech +was made to the mob in which it was declared that the king was deeply +grieved to be obliged to have recourse to such severe measures, but that he +felt himself bound to punish the Swedes for the offence they had given to +the Pope by becoming Protestants. And thus he made the terrible crime he +was about to commit even worse, by his falsehood! + +One of the bishops, an aged man, then declared his innocence, and asked +that a clergyman might be allowed to attend himself and his companions in +their last moments; but his request was refused, and a noise was made to +prevent his words from being heard by the people. Then the headsmen began +their dread work; the fourth victim was Erick Johannson the father of +Gustavus. In a little time the market place was filled with dead bodies +and the streets streamed with blood. Some of the mob, roused to a state of +frenzy by the dreadful spectacle, made an attempt to rescue those of the +doomed ones who were yet living, but they were cut down by the soldiers who +had received orders to quell any outbreak on the part of the common people +with the punishment of death. Escape was not to be thought of, because the +gates of the city were always kept closed; the frightened people crept into +cellars and corners. And when the king heard that they had hidden +themselves, he caused a decree of pardon to be read, so that many of them +came out believing it to be true, and only fell into the trap he had thus +artfully laid for them. + +Ninety-four Swedes fell the first day. For two days and two nights the +corpses lay on the market place, and the cattle and the fowls strayed +amongst them. To add to the horror the king caused the dead bodies of Sture +the younger and his son Sten to be disinterred and thrown amongst the +murdered to be buried with them. + +Sture's widow, Christina, did not escape the king's wrath; she was summoned +to his presence and condemned to die, but some persons present asked the +tyrant to spare her life, and she was only sentenced to be imprisoned for +the rest of her days. + +In other parts of Sweden deeds equally cruel were enacted. Numbers of the +peasants were deprived each of a leg and a hand, and, thus maimed, they +were supposed to be able to till the land although they could not possibly +fight. For these acts of cruelty and oppression Christiern the Second +justly gained the title of the Wicked, and his own people soon began to +hate him as much as the Swedes hated him for all the evil he had done. + +In the meantime Gustavus was sought for in vain. He was still in his +hiding-place at Rafnäes, sending out his peasants now and then to collect +news. And one sad day a grey-haired man came to the neighbouring castle of +Gripsholm which belonged to Joachim Brahe. It was Brahe's steward; he had +followed his master to Stockholm, and had witnessed his unhappy fate. The +old man could not speak for crying, and could only make known by signs the +terrible events that had happened. Soon after, a peasant came by, and told +the same story. And Gustavus sat in the lonely house, sorrowing for his +father and his friends, and many of his kindred besides; yet although he +was forsaken by all, and surrounded as it were by enemies, he would not +give up hope, but only longed the more to succour his unhappy country. So +one day he packed up all the money and valuable things he possessed, and +taking them with him, left Rafnäes on horseback with the idea of persuading +the brave people of Dalecarlia to stand by him in the struggle for freedom. + +This province, which was the scene of his adventures for some time, is +bordered on its western side by Norway: the mountain ridge which divides +the sources of its two rivers Dalef from Lake Fämund in that country rises +to between three and four thousand feet above the level of the sea. +Dalecarlia abounds in rivers and lakes; the winters there are long and +severe; corn will not grow, and the tender bark of the pine trees is mixed +with the scanty supply of rye or barley of which the people make their +bread. Wolves and bears frequent the forests, and fish is plentiful in all +the lakes, except in those near Fahlun, now the capital of the province, +where the vapours for ever rising out of the great copper mine there, drive +away to a distance birds, beasts, and fishes, and destroy, all verdure in +the country around. Fahlun lies in a wide valley between two lakes; the +mine is a vast abyss, and is worked open to the sky, and besides copper +produces gold, silver, vitriol, ochre, and brimstone. The natives of +Darlecarlia are hardy from the nature of their climate; they have always +been very brave, trusting in their own strength, and having very little +intercourse with the other people of Sweden. At the time Gustavus was +amongst them they were so simple in their manners that the noblemen could +scarcely be distinguished from the peasants. There was not a town then in +the whole province, the people clustered together in villages, which were +divided into parishes. Some of these lay along the rivers and lakes, others +were hidden among the mountains, and were only to be approached by the +steepest and most difficult of paths. + +Gustavus took with him as he supposed the most faithful of all his +servants, but the cowardly man thought the fortunes of his master much too +insecure to be followed, and contrived to get away from him with the +valuable things it had been his duty to carry. Gustavus soon found out his +treachery, and pursued him until his horse could go no farther; then, being +in great danger himself, he was obliged to leave the horse and the few +things he had with him on the road and run for very life. Thus, without +friends or money, clad in a coarse peasant's frock, he wandered about the +dark pine forests and the mountains, only occasionally finding a roof to +shelter his head from the inclement winter nights, or food to satisfy his +sharp hunger. Still he never despaired, but trusted that God would let him +live until he should have given back to his country the happiness it had +lost for so long. + +On the last day of November he arrived at Fahlun, and there he cut his hair +short, and put on a round hat, such as the Dalecarlians wore, and a rough +woollen vest, and set out with an axe on his shoulder in search of work. In +a little time he found employment in the mines of Fahlun, by which he +earned barely enough for his support; and finding that the noxious vapours +and the closeness of the mines impaired his health, he left them, and +wandered farther until he came to the house of a rich man named Andres +Fehrson. Here he was hired as a farm-labourer, and set to work in the +barns. The other farm-servants soon began to watch the new comer with +interest. In their intercourse with him they soon found that he was not +quite like one of themselves; he had been observed, too, to wear a rich +silken handkerchief, beneath his woollen vest, and they suspected that he +was some nobleman in disguise. Reports of this reached the ears of Fehrson, +and he desired that the stranger should come to him. The very moment he saw +him he recognised him as a fellow student in the school at Upsal, but +although he was very glad to see his old comrade again, he dared not keep +so dangerous a person in his house, and he urged him to go higher up the +mountains and not to stay too long a time in one place. Gustavus was +therefore obliged to set out on his wearisome travels once more: the winter +had set in with all its rigour, the lakes and rivers were frozen, and as he +was crossing some ice between Wika and Torsanga, a part of it gave way, and +he fell up to his shoulders in the water, and was very nearly drowned. +However, he managed to clamber out, and he found his way to a cottage, +where some kind peasants gave him food and shelter, and afterwards brought +him to the country house of Arendt Fehrson, a relation of Andres, who had +served under Gustavus in the war with the Danes. + +This man appeared to receive him with respect and courtesy, but soon after +his arrival he rode swiftly to one of his friends to tell him of the prize +concealed in his house, and to ask him to join him in making the affair +known to the king;--for it will be remembered that a heavy price had been +set upon the head of Gustavus--and the man who would have been base enough +to betray him would have reaped great gain to himself. This friend was too +honourable to listen to such a proposal, and Fehrson, enraged at his +refusal, went to another of his friends, an officer in the Danish service, +who had fewer scruples. Fehrson passed the evening at his house in feasting +and drinking, and it was planned between them that he should return home +the next morning, accompanied by twenty men, and seize the fugitive by +force. + +But Barbro Stigsdotter, the wife of Fehrson, had guessed the treachery of +her husband, for she had seen him ride past his own house as he came from +Magno Wilson, and take the road which led to the officer's dwelling. +Touched with pity, she warned Gustavus of his danger, and kindly provided +him with a horse and sledge, so that he might fly at once. + +Gustavus was very thankful to avail himself of the means of escape, and was +soon flitting over the snow in his sledge beneath the starry sky in search +of another place of refuge. The next morning, when Arendt Fehrson arrived +with his twenty men, he was told that his guest had been missing since the +evening before, and that no one knew whither he was gone. + +Gustavus at last reached the house of a true friend, a Swedish pastor, who +helped him with good advice during the eight days he remained with him, and +strengthened him in his resolve to arouse the Dalecarlians. But he dared +not stay longer in this part of the country, because Arendt Fehrson had +already spread the report of his being alive; and the pastor drove him to +the village of Isale, where he was received into the cottage of an honest +peasant named Swen Nilson, who did him good and faithful service. + +One day when Gustavus was standing in the cottage, clad in his peasant's +garb, which was beginning to be the worse for wear, a body of Danish +soldiers employed to track the fugitive, rushed in, breathless and anxious, +and asked if a young nobleman, a well known traitor to the king, were not +concealed about the place. Nilson answered, No; and his wife, to remove +suspicion, gave Gustavus a sharp blow with a long wooden spoon, and scolded +him loudly for standing idle instead of going to work in the barn with the +others. Gustavus took the hint, and hastened out of the cottage, thus +escaping from his pursuers, who did not for one moment suppose that the +general of the Swedish army, and the descendant of kings, was concealed +beneath so humble a disguise. + +[Illustration: Front. _Gustavus Vasa in the Swedish peasant's hut.--p. +100_] + +After this Swen Nilson had the courage to drive his guest in a cart loaded +with straw to Rättwik. It was a dangerous journey: the Danish soldiers +guarded all the passes and bridges, and some of them plunged their weapons +into the straw, and wounded Gustavus severely in the leg as he lay covered +up at the bottom of the cart. He bore the pain in silence, but +unfortunately the blood dripped from the wound through the cart, and would +have betrayed the fact that he lay hidden there, had not Nilson thought of +cutting open the heel of his horse, so that the blood appeared to be +trickling from that. Happily the hurt was not dangerous, and the moment +after it was bound up on his arrival at Rättwik, Gustavus went to the +church, where a great crowd of people had assembled, and without making +himself known, he told them of the horrible cruelty of the King of Denmark, +and how Sweden would never be free unless they roused themselves, as their +brave ancestors would have done, to shake off the shameful bondage. + +The peasants listened in horror, they were moved by his words, and said +they would take up arms as soon as they could find out how their neighbours +were disposed in the matter. Gustavus thought he had gained something, and +went on joyfully to Mora, the largest and most populous parish in the +valley. The news of his coming got spread abroad, and the Danish governor, +who dwelt in the strong castle of Westeras, began to tremble; he knew that +the inhabitants of the valleys, if once aroused, could make themselves +very terrible. So he doubled the heavy price already set upon the head of +Gustavus, and told the people around that none of the deeds reported to be +done at Stockholm had really been carried out, and that Christiern was a +most kind and merciful sovereign! + +It was Christmas-time when Gustavus arrived in Mora: the peasants had come +down from their distant mountain homes to make merry with their friends in +the valley, and one day he went up to the top of a hill, and spoke to a +vast concourse of people, who had followed him out of curiosity. Here again +some of the peasants were touched by his words; their eyes filled with +tears, and they signified by their shouts and cheers that they were willing +to aid him. But others were of a different mind; they did not want to go to +war; the nobles had hitherto been chiefly the objects of the king's +cruelty, and they thought that they should be left in peace themselves. +They were very near fetching their weapons, and chasing the speaker by +force from the spot. A turn of good fortune, however, came to Gustavus +whilst he was still at Mora. + +A party of a hundred Danes, having heard that he was there in the hope of +rousing the peasants, rushed suddenly upon the place, making the air +resound with their wild cries, and threatening to put every one they met to +the sword if he were not given up. The peaceful people of Mora were unused +to be thus disturbed, and they hastened to ring the church-bells, which +were only rung when some great danger was at hand. The wind carried the +sound of the bells to the neighbouring villages, and in a little while +some thousand armed peasants were seen pouring into Mora. They stormed the +great walled-in court around the pastor's house, where the Danes (alarmed +in their turn) had taken refuge, broke down its gates with heavy wooden +stakes, and only spared the lives of the soldiers on condition that they +should not attempt to lay hands on Gustavus. This was the first time that +arms had been taken up in his cause: it was a feeling of honour that +prompted the Dalecarlian peasants to defend him, because they said that +they should have been ashamed if any one demanding their help had been +taken by force from amongst them. + +Gustavus, thankful to his preservers, now quitted Mora, and took his way +towards the western valleys, so that he might conceal himself in the wilder +parts of the country, if the fury of his pursuers increased. Many Swedish +nobles had already fled thither, and they came out of their hiding-places, +and met together in the valley. And there came to Mora an old man named +Lars Olosson, who had always been faithful to his country, and another +brave man came from the forest, and entreated the people to take up arms. +The peasants now saw that they were in earnest, and they hastened to seek +for Gustavus, fearing that he might already have passed the boundary and +entered Norway. But Swedish messengers can go on their errands very +quickly, because all through their nine months of dreary winter the +peasants wear long sliding-shoes, which enable them to flit over the snow +with almost the speed of an arrow. These shoes are very strange looking +things; they are long, narrow pieces of fir-wood, the one worn on the +right foot being three feet in length, and that on the left foot seven. The +messengers found Gustavus in a parish called Lima, and he was joyful indeed +when he came back to Mora, and saw that two hundred peasants were ready to +follow him at once. Their numbers soon increased, and he divided them into +little companies, which had their headquarters, so that they could all +fight in unity: they were hardy, long-lived men, and could be quite content +to live upon coarse meal stirred in water, or a little bread made of the +bark of the trees if they could get no better food. And Gustavus still went +up the steep mountain paths from cottage to cottage, and from one country +house to another to try and persuade the people to help him, and before the +ice had melted on the rivers and lakes the number of his followers had +increased to several thousand. He chose sixteen of the youngest and bravest +for his bodyguard, and maintained strict discipline amongst his men, +although he was greatly beloved by them for his kindness of heart. + +The first attempt they made was on the strong castle of the Governor of the +Koppar Mountain, which they captured, together with the stores of +provisions it contained. Amongst these was a large chest full of money, +which Gustavus divided amongst his followers, and another day they captured +some pieces of silk, which they made into banners, but they had neither +powder nor balls as yet. + +Now that Gustavus had so large an army he wanted to begin the war by a bold +stroke, and he drew off towards Westeras, the governor of the strong +fortress there, being at the time absent in Stockholm. Here he gained a +great victory over the Danes, which prepared the way to future success, but +the manner in which a great part of his army rejoiced over the triumph they +had won, was not at all to his taste. It happened thus: some of his troops +had gone on in advance, and after a desperate struggle got possession of +the place, whilst Gustavus was still in the forest with the rear of his +army. After the affray they found some huge casks of wine and brandy, which +they carried off to the Council House, and foolishly regaled themselves +with until they all fell to quarrelling, or were heavy with sleep. The +greatest disorder prevailed; the Danes took advantage of the tumult to +renew the attack; and would have recovered the fortress had not Gustavus +appeared with the rest of the army. He was very angry indeed with his men, +and had to fight hard to drive back the Danes, so that a great number of +soldiers were killed on either side; and when the battle was over he caused +the hoops to be removed from the casks of wine that remained, and let it +all flow away on the ground in sight of his whole army. This was in the +month of May in the year 1521, when the short Swedish spring was changing +to summer, and the land, having cast off its mantle of snow, looked fresh, +and green, and full of hope. In the northern climes the flowers bloom, and +the leaves come back to the trees very quickly, and a few weeks sunshine is +sufficient to ripen the barley and the rye, or the corn, in the places +where it will grow. + +After the battle of Westeras the peasants armed themselves in the plains of +Sweden; the nobles headed them, and many officers deserted from the +Viceroy whom King Christiern had left in Stockholm to manage the affairs of +the State. The Viceroy and Trolle were friends; they soon began to be +greatly alarmed; but they could get no succour from Denmark because the +people there disliked them so much, and were getting so tired of the evil +doings of their king. Many battles were fought, and the Swedes were not +always successful, but at last Gustavus got possession of Stockholm after +having besieged it three times; and a happy day came, when he entered the +capital surrounded by senators, officers, and the first nobles in the land, +and repaired to the great church, where--kneeling at the foot of the +altar,--he thanked the Almighty aloud, for having preserved him through so +many dangers, and granted him success. And then he went to the palace, +where he wept for those whom he had loved very dearly, and now missed on +this day of his triumph. Not only had his father and his brother-in-law +perished in the massacre at Stockholm, but his mother Cecilia, and two of +his sisters, had been cruelly put to death during the siege. It is said +that if the siege had been raised their lives would have been spared, but +these brave women knew in that case their country would have been lost, and +they were content to die for its sake. + +In the year 1523 the Danes would not have Christiern to reign over them any +longer, and made his uncle Frederic, Duke of Holstein, king in his stead. +Christiern was forced to leave the country, and retired into Flanders, with +his wife and children. When Sigbritt had to leave the royal palace, she did +not dare venture out of it, even in disguise, and was carried to the +vessel destined to receive her concealed in a large chest. + +The Swedes, full of gratitude and love for their preserver, wanted him to +be crowned King of Sweden. Gustavus, however, refused this honour, and +governed the country for some time as administrator. But as the years went +on and it was in danger from the plots made by the Roman Catholics and the +friends of Christiern, he yielded to the wishes of the people, and in June, +1527, was solemnly crowned King of Sweden under the title of Gustavus the +First. He had long forgiven all the offences that had been offered him, +whilst he remembered every little act of kindness that had been shown him +when he was wandering about, a wretched fugitive, in hourly danger of his +life. During the thirty-three years he reigned his great care was to make +his subjects happy, and he was fully employed in setting his country in +order, after the misery it had suffered for so many years. It was Gustavus +who settled the Protestant faith throughout the land, and Luther, and +Melancthon, and other great Protestant divines, used frequently to visit +his court. He wished to inspire his people with a taste for arts and +sciences, and encouraged learning by inviting studious and clever men to +Stockholm: printing had been already introduced into Sweden about the year +1483, when Sten Sture the Elder founded the famous School or University at +Stockholm. The king employed his peasants in working fresh mines and salt +springs; he caused hops to be grown in Sweden, so that the iron sent out +yearly in exchange for that produce might be kept in the country, and prove +the source of comfort and wealth. Any merchant or tradesman convicted of +dishonesty was punished with extreme rigour, and the bad laws were done +away with, and good ones ordained in their place. The palace was open to +all who demanded audience, when the king was ever ready to hear complaints, +or to give advice. He thought the Bible the best of all books, and grounded +his actions on its holy precepts; and the Swedes were so happy under his +just and merciful rule that they always cried when he went abroad, "Long +live Gustavus, the best loved of kings!" Soon after he came to the throne +he married Catherine, daughter of the Duke of Magnus, whose sister had just +espoused the Crown Prince of Denmark. Catherine died young, and Gustavus +next married Margaret, daughter of an ancient senator, the Governor of East +Gothnia: this lady was amiable and beautiful, and made her husband and her +children very happy. The king used to tell his children not to be proud of +their high estate, saying, "One man is as good as another, and when the +play is over we are all equal;" meaning, when the life of trial upon earth +was ended. The only approach to vanity in his character was to be seen in +his love for magnificent apparel; but this was quite an excusable fault, +when it is remembered how content he was to wear the coarse peasant's dress +in the days of his misfortunes. + +At the last assembly he convoked at Stockholm in the year 1560, he was led +into the Senate House, where his four sons, Erick, John, Magnus, and +Charles, and all the orders in the kingdom were assembled. He then caused +his will to be read, and made his children swear to obey it. Erick was +declared successor to the throne; John, possessor of Finland; Magnus of +Eastern Gothnia; and Charles of Sudermania. In a few earnest words he urged +his people to obey his successor and to preserve the greatest unity among +themselves; since on that would depend their strength and their freedom: he +said also, that if he had ever done any good, thanks for it were to be +ascribed to God alone, and implored pardon for all the faults he had +committed. + +Very soon after this he died, leaving a name which is still cherished in +the heart of every Swede; for he was called not only the king, but the +father and the instructor of his people. It must not be thought that his +long reign was free from care, since he had constantly to preserve himself +from the attempts that were made by the friends of Christiern to take his +power from him. + +When he came to the throne he found the country laid waste by the ravages +of war, and its people almost without hope. He left Sweden free and happy, +an army ready to march at a moment's notice, and a treasury full of money; +indeed, it is said, that after his death a great vaulted chamber was found +so full of silver that the door of it could scarcely be opened. + +Gustavus never forgot that he owed his success to the brave Dalecarlians; +and his watch word, when about to engage on any expedition attended with +danger, was always, "God and the Swedish peasants!" + + + + +BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN, + +THE HERO OF CHIVALRY. + + +About the year 1320 Bertrand du Guesclin was born in the castle of La Motte +Bron, which stood in a picturesque part of Bretagne, about six leagues from +the city of Rennes. His father, Reynauld du Guesclin, was a brave and loyal +knight, who served God truly, and was very kind to the poor, giving them a +great part of his substance, although he was not at all rich himself. + +Bertrand was the eldest of ten children. Unhappily his excessive ugliness +made him an object of dislike to his mother, and she was not nearly so kind +to him as she was to her other children. Besides this, he was self-willed +and savage, and his temper would break out into fits of violence which +terrified his little brothers and sisters, and exposed him to the contempt +of the whole household. This rough and repelling exterior, however, only +hid for a time a generous nature and a feeling heart, and many were the +tears poor Bertrand shed in solitude, for he was too proud to let them be +seen, when he rebelled against the harsh treatment he received on account +of his ill-behaviour. + +One day the lady of La Motte was seated at table in the dining-hall of the +castle with her younger sons, Guillaume and Olivier, whilst Bertrand was +eating his dinner in a corner apart. It was very sad to know that the +eldest son of the family behaved so rudely that his parents would not allow +him to take his place at the table. But this day it happened that some +chance word of ridicule reached him in his corner, and he arose in fury, +and, rushing towards the table, commanded his brothers to make room for him +at the upper end, where his place as the eldest child should have been by +right. His brothers, surprised at the tone of his voice, obeyed, and his +mother suffered him to sit in the highest place; but he had not been there +long before his awkward and uncouth manners obliged her to order him to +return to his corner. Bertrand arose, and in his rage clenched his hand, +and hit the oaken table so hard a blow that it overturned, and emptied the +contents of the dishes into the laps of the persons seated around it. This +passionate act of course called down a fresh torrent of reproaches on his +head. In the midst of all the disorder a lady, who was a frequent visitor +at the castle, entered the hall. She asked Bertrand's mother why she was so +angry. The lady of La Motte answered her by pointing to her little son, who +was now sobbing bitterly in his corner. The lady went up to him, and +although he was sullen at first, she soon persuaded him to tell her his +sorrows. She invited him to return to the table, and Bertrand, to the +astonishment of all who were present, took the dish of peacock which the +steward was just bringing into the hall, and a goblet of wine, and served +her with them himself, awkwardly it must be confessed, but in a spirit of +gratitude for the few kind words she had spoken. + +The lady who had thus befriended him was the daughter of a Jewish +physician, but with her father had been converted to Christianity. She was +reputed to be very clever, and was skilled in an art which was much +practised in those days, namely, that of foretelling future events by +observing the lines in people's hands, very much in the same manner as +gipsies pretend to tell fortunes, even in our own time. After dinner she +called Bertrand to her, and attentively examined his face and his hand, and +presently told his mother that she ought to be proud of having such a son, +instead of despising him, because she was convinced that when he grew up to +be a man he would do great things for the glory of his country. From this +day his mother looked more kindly upon him; she had him dressed for the +first time in a manner suitable to his rank, and commanded the servants to +treat him with the respect due to the eldest son of their master. + +Bertrand's fiery temper, however, and his love of fighting, were a +continual source of trouble and anxiety to his parents. Before he was nine +years of age he would often leave the castle without their knowledge, and +collect all the children he met with on his way, and then fight them one by +one, or try his strength against a number of them together. When he +returned home, bleeding, and with torn and soiled garments, his mother +would justly reprove him for behaving so little like a gentleman. + +At last his fighting propensities increased to such a pitch that the +country people complained of him to his father, and the Sire de la Motte +was obliged to order a forfeit to be paid by the parents of all children +who were found in his company. Nevertheless Bertrand still contrived to get +out of the castle secretly, and to lead the little villagers to their mimic +battles. His father, as a last resource, shut him up in the dungeon of the +castle, and in this dreary place he remained four months. But one evening a +maid-servant, whose office it was to bring him his food twice a day, left +the door open behind her, and Bertrand managed to slip out, not forgetting +in his haste to turn the key upon her, in case she should betray him to his +parents. Then he ran as fast as ever he could to a field, unfastened a mare +from one of his father's ploughs, mounted it, laughing heartily the while +at the ploughman, who was rushing after him, and galloped as far as Rennes, +without saddle or bridle, to the house of his aunt, a sister of the Sire de +la Motte, who was married to a knight of great honour. + +His aunt had often heard of his misconduct at home, and was not at all +pleased to see him arrive in such plight. She began scolding him in harsh +words, when luckily for him his uncle intervened in his favour, reminding +his wife that Bertrand was only a child, and had done nothing yet to +forfeit his honour. "He is brave and spirited," said the good knight; "let +us keep him in our house, and see if we cannot transform him into a great +captain for the glory of Bretagne." + +Bertrand remained with his uncle at Rennes until he was sixteen, and +learned from him all the accomplishments necessary for a knight. Moreover, +he learned to be gentle and courteous to those around him, and in these +happier circumstances the good points of his character shone forth, and +his violent temper was curbed, whilst his spirit remained free. It is +related of him that he was so generous, that when he met with any poor +persons, and had no money with him, he would give them some of the very +clothes he wore, and if he had only a penny would share it with those who +were in need. He found his greatest delight in listening to his uncle's +stories of battles and sieges, and when some noble exploit was related, +would clap his hands for joy, whilst his eyes shone like fire. + +A very great fault, however, still remained to him, and that was his love +of fighting. One Sunday it was announced in the city of Rennes that a prize +would be given to the youth who should acquit himself best in single +combat. Bertrand burned with impatience to enter the lists, and his aunt, +fearing the temptation might prove too strong for him, carried him off with +her to church, thinking he would certainly be safe there under her vigilant +eye. As soon as Bertrand saw that her attention was fully absorbed in +listening to the sermon, he took the opportunity of slipping out of church, +and ran at full speed to the market-place. Here he was recognised by some +of his opponents of former years, but he made them promise not to betray +him to his aunt, and was just going to enter the lists, when a young +Breton, who had thrown twelve of his competitors to the ground, advanced +proudly to claim the prize, which was a hat with feather and silver band. + +Bertrand defied him to the combat, and after a long struggle succeeded in +overthrowing him; but during the time he had happened to fall on his +opponent, and in so doing had cut his knee severely with a stone. This +accident caused him so much pain that he could hardly stand, and he begged +his comrades to take him to a surgeon's, where his wound could be dressed. +The prize was brought to him there, but he dared not accept it, for fear +his aunt, of whom he always seems to have had a wholesome dread, should +hear of what he had done. She had indeed missed him, and had sought for him +everywhere, and she did not spare her reproaches when she discovered the +state he was in. Nevertheless she showed him greater kindness than he +deserved, and nursed him until he had recovered from his wound. + +The knight at last persuaded his father to recall him to the castle of La +Motte Bron. Now Bertrand tasted the real joy of home for the first time, +for his father was so delighted at the improvement in his character that he +no longer withheld his love from him, and every member of the household had +a kind word for him; while in former times, when he was so very naughty and +unruly, there had only been complaints and reproofs. + +The Sire Du Guesclin took care that the martial studies of his son should +be completed, and gave him a little horse, on which Bertrand rode about to +visit the great lords in the neighbourhood, and was present at the jousts +and tournaments which were so often held at that time. Du Guesclin's +poverty and youth prevented him, however, from entering the lists, and +making known his courage and martial skill to the world. He grieved, too, +because he was so ugly, and so humbly equipped, his famed steed being +"little better than a miller's horse." + +The time came at last when he was enabled to distinguish himself. A great +tournament was announced at Rennes on the marriage of Jeanne de Penthičvre, +heiress to the duchy of Bretagne, with Charles de Blois, who was nephew to +the King of France. The Sire de la Motte Bron judged it to be a fit +occasion for the display of his dignity, and went with the nobles of +Bretagne to Rennes, followed by a great number of his vassals; whilst poor +Bertrand, mounted on his insignificant horse, and easily recognised by the +roundness and largeness of his head, his short nose, his strongly-marked +eyebrows, and his square-set figure, was an object of ridicule to the +peasants as they flocked along the road to Rennes. The tournament used to +be held in an open space inside the city, and the ladies, richly attired, +looked on from the windows and balconies around. + +Bertrand's eyes flashed when he reached the arena where the knights were +already engaged, and heard the sound of the trumpets and the clashing of +the weapons. "I shall never please the ladies," he said, as he had said +many a time before, "but I will make my name to be feared by the enemies of +my country." + +Seeing one of his relations retire from the combat, he followed him to his +house, and, throwing himself on his knees before him, implored him to lend +him some armour and a horse. His cousin good-naturedly lent him a fresh +horse, and armed him himself, and Bertrand rushed back to the tournament, +and, having entered the lists without naming himself, challenged a knight, +and quickly overthrew him. Another knight now came forward to avenge the +vanquished one, and Bertrand was just going to attack him, when he saw his +father's arms upon his shield, and bowing low, withdrew, to the +astonishment of the spectators. After this he challenged no fewer than +fifteen knights without coming to grief himself. All the people present +were now very anxious to know his name, and one of the ladies who sat in +the great balcony entreated a Norman knight to descend into the arena, and, +if possible, remove the visor from the victor's face. The knight went down, +and had just succeeded in removing the helmet from Bertrand's head, when a +strong arm suddenly lifted him off his horse and laid him in the dust. Then +Reynauld du Guesclin recognised his son, and hastened to embrace him in his +pride and joy, and Bertrand was proclaimed victor over all to the sound of +the trumpets, and received the prize, which was a beautiful silver swan, +life size. The prize, however, he did not keep for himself, but gave it to +his cousin, whose kindness had enabled him to win so great renown. + +When Bertrand was twenty years of age he was no longer contented with +displaying his prowess in tournaments, but began to fight in good earnest, +taking the part of Charles de Blois in a quarrel that lasted for a very +long time between that prince and his rival, Jean de Montfort. + +Jean de Bretagne, known by the name of the Good Duke, had died without +leaving any childhood, and was succeeded by his brother, Guy, Count of +Penthičvre, whose daughter's marriage with Charles de Blois had occasioned +the festivity at Rennes. Charles thus claimed the duchy in right of his +wife; but Guy was no sooner dead than his half-brother, Jean de Montfort, +came forward, and maintained that his title to Bretagne was a better one +than that of his niece. + +This was not true, because the right of female succession had been fully +established in the duchy, and the King of France and many of the Breton +nobles sided with Charles, while the King of England sent assistance to De +Montfort. + +The wives of both princes were women of extraordinary spirit. Jeanne, +Countess de Montfort, defended her husband's rights whilst he lived, and +after his death those of his son, who was likewise named Jean; and once +during the war, when she was shut up in the town of Hennebon, she held out, +like a brave and skilful general, against all the attacks of the enemy +until Sir Walter Manny arrived with succour from King Edward the Third of +England. Jeanne de Penthičvre was a woman of equal courage, but her pride +and ambition caused her husband to risk the battle which cost him his life, +and proved, as will be seen hereafter, the ruin of her own cause. + +Du Guesclin chose the side of Charles de Blois because he believed it to be +the right one. "Never," said he, "while I live, will I maintain an +unrighteous cause." He was soon at the head of sixty men, in readiness to +serve, and sold his mother's jewels that he might be able to buy horses, +harness, and arms. His chroniclers tell us, however, how he very soon +captured from an English knight, whom he met in a forest, a treasure +consisting of jewels, which he gave to his mother in compensation for those +she had lost. Although gunpowder was known in those days, it was very +little used; the chief weapons were swords, lances, battle-axes, +cross-bows, and clubs; and every warrior defended himself with the shield. +Bertrand's name came to be feared by his enemies, as he had predicted in +the days gone by: his first attempts in warfare were chiefly against the +English, who held many of the fortresses in Bretagne for Jean de Montfort. +A story is told of the manner in which he gained possession of one of +these, the Castle of Fougeray, which was a very important place. + +Bertrand knew all the ins and outs of the castle, because in the chances of +war he had once been a prisoner for a short time within its walls, and he +disguised himself, and about twenty of his companions in arms, as +wood-cutters, in white gowns reaching down to the knee, and with bundles of +faggots on their shoulders, as he had often seen the poor peasants bringing +wood to the castle. He divided his men, to make it appear that they were +coming from different parts of the country to sell their wood, and waited +for the time when the governor should have gone out of his stronghold with +a part of the garrison. When all was ready they passed the night securely +in the forest, and came out of it in the grey dawn of the morning with +their bundles on their shoulders. + +The watchman of Fougeray saw them dimly in the distance, and rang the bell, +to give the alarm, but all fear vanished when it was seen that only +wood-cutters were coming towards the castle. Bertrand advanced to the +drawbridge, and asked the porter if he did not want wood. The porter said +that he did, and not suspecting any harm, let down the drawbridge at once. +Du Guesclin laid down his heavy load of wood so as to prevent the bridge +from being drawn up, and rushed on to the castle, shouting "Guesclin," the +war cry which afterwards became so terrible to his enemies. His comrades +followed quickly at his summons; the unhappy porter fell wounded in the +struggle, and as there were a hundred men in the place and Bertrand had +only sixty when all had come to his aid, the conflict was very sharp; women +and children even throwing showers of stones on the heads of the Bretons. +Du Guesclin himself was severely wounded, and was found defending himself +to the last, without his hatchet, when a party of cavalry belonging to +Charles de Blois came up in time to secure possession of the castle. The +whole affair may have been considered an ingenious trick, but I think it +would have been more noble for Bertrand to have ridden up openly to his +enemies, clad in his armour, and with his sword in his hand, than to have +deceived them by the woodcutter's guise. + +The war went on, and at last the King of England sent Henry, the good Duke +of Lancaster, to Bretagne at the head of a large force, with orders to lay +siege to Rennes, the city where Bertrand had passed the happiest days of +his boyhood, and which had twice been the scene of his triumphs. Besides +all the great English nobles who had accompanied the duke, the army was +increased by many Breton gentlemen who had enlisted themselves on the side +of Jean de Montfort, and Lancaster made a solemn vow not to depart from +Rennes until he had planted his standard upon its walls. + +Bertrand concealed himself in a forest near the city, and constantly +harassed his enemies by rushing suddenly upon them, by day and by night, +and always to the cry of "Guesclin," until at last the Duke of Lancaster +swore that if ever the brave Breton captain fell into his hands, he would +never let him free, however large a ransom might be offered for him. + +Lancaster made several attempts upon Rennes, but with little success. One +day an English officer who had been captured by Du Guesclin, told him that +his countrymen intended to undermine the city and open a breach. Upon this +news Bertrand contrived one very dark night to glide with his Bretons into +the midst of the English camp, where all was silent, and set fire to some +of the tents. The enemy, awakened by the usual cry of "Guesclin," thought +that Charles de Blois had fallen upon them with his army, and were very +angry as they put out their fires to find it was only Bertrand with his +handful of men. + +The governor of Rennes now gave orders that in all the houses near the +ramparts little copper basins should be hung with one or two balls of brass +in each, so that by the jingling of the metal, which the movement of the +miners would cause, it might be known in what direction they were at work. +By this means the garrison were enabled to work against them until the mine +was pierced, and the besiegers found a body of troops ready to beat them +back. + +The Duke of Lancaster now thought of another plan for subduing the people +of Rennes. Knowing that they were almost without provisions, he caused two +thousand pigs to be assembled in a field near the walls of the city, hoping +that the hungry inhabitants would come out for the purpose of capturing +them. The governor, however, was not to be outwitted, and had a sow +attached by a rope to the gate of Rennes, with its head downwards. The sow +struggled so hard to free itself and grunted and squeaked so loud that the +other pigs were naturally attracted to the spot. When the besieged saw that +the pigs were coming in that direction they lowered the drawbridge, and cut +the rope. The sow, thus released, ran joyfully back into the city, followed +by all the other pigs, and it was certain that the famished people of +Rennes had a good meal that day and for many days after. + +Du Guesclin performed numerous acts of daring during the siege, and one +day, when the Bretons had eaten up the two thousand pigs and were very near +dying of hunger again, he intercepted and captured a hundred waggons, +loaded with wine, flour, and salt meat, which were on their way to the +English camp; but when he found that the waggoners were supplying these +provisions to the enemy at their own cost, he paid them liberally for all +that he had seized. + +The Duke of Lancaster now prepared a huge machine which was often used in +those times of warfare. This was a wooden tower on wheels, as high as the +walls of the city, which contained a number of men inside, who shot surely +from it with their arrows. The tower would have caused great havoc, had not +Bertrand one night crawled out with his Bretons, and completely destroyed +it by fire. + +Winter was now coming on: the lengthened siege had lost the lives of many +brave men, and Henry of Lancaster at last sent a herald to Du Guesclin to +tell him that he desired to speak with him. The herald brought a written +passport which, alas! Bertrand was obliged to have read to him by one of +his comrades. He had always been so heedless and disobedient in the old +days at La Motte, that no one had been able to teach him to read or write, +and he had never succeeded in learning in after years, although some +authors assert that he could really sign his name. + +Bertrand dismissed the herald with a handsome present of clothes and money, +and then repaired to the camp of the brave English duke. When there he was +asked by Lancaster, whom he owned for his master. "Charles de Blois," he +replied promptly, "to whom Bretagne belongs in right of his wife." + +The Duke was much pleased with his boldness and resolution, and offered him +a high rank in his army if he would consent to enter his service; but +Bertrand replied that nothing should ever shake him in his fidelity to +Charles de Blois. + +Lancaster now received orders from his father to raise the siege: yet he +could not depart, in remembrance of the oath he had taken, and Du Guesclin +proposed that he should enter the city with ten of his knights, and plant +his standard on its walls. When this was done, Du Guesclin politely asked +him where the war was to be carried on in future. "Bertrand, my fair +friend," replied the duke, "you shall soon know." He had scarcely gone past +the barrier when he saw his standard thrown down into the moat; +nevertheless he had kept his oath, and having raised the siege, he decamped +with all his host, and went to pass the winter at Auray. + +Du Guesclin was quick to resent an affront offered to any member of his +family. The Duke of Lancaster with the brave Sir John Chandos was before +Dinan, which town Bertrand, his brother Olivier, and the governor who had +defended Rennes, had hastened to enter before the enemy could invest it. +One day when all was quiet, Olivier Du Guesclin had gone out of the town +unarmed for the purpose of amusing himself in the open country, when he met +with an English knight, who asked him his name, and behaved in a very +haughty manner towards him, and made him walk on first, vowing that he +should not escape until he had given him a thousand good florins. A Breton +knight, however, who had seen Olivier made prisoner, hastened to tell Du +Guesclin what had happened. Bertrand instantly mounted his horse and rode +off to the English camp, where he found the Duke of Lancaster in his tent +playing at chess with Sir John Chandos, whilst several of the chief nobles +were standing around looking on. They were all glad to see Bertrand because +they had a great respect for his valour, and it is true that he had many +qualities which endeared him to his fellow-men, and gained for him +friendships which lasted as long as life. + +Du Guesclin would not drink the wine they poured out for him until justice +had been done to his brother. Henry of Lancaster was an upright man, and +promised to settle the matter fairly. He summoned the offending knight to +his presence, and ordered him to release Olivier at once. But the knight, +who was called Thomas of Canterbury, would not allow that the complaint +made against him by Bertrand was just, and threw down his iron glove in +defiance. It was soon known in Dinan that a terrible combat would take +place between the two knights, and the people feared that Du Guesclin would +fall, because the Englishman was possessed of such extraordinary strength +and skill. But a very beautiful young lady of noble family in Dinan, named +Tiphaine de Raguenel, whom Bertrand married soon after the siege was +raised, predicted that he would triumph over his foe. Tiphaine was called +an astrologer, because she professed to foretell by observing the stars in +the heavens, whether people were to be prosperous in their lives or +unfortunate; happy or miserable. This was very foolish, and we know better +in our own times than to put faith in such a science; and even in Dinan, +when by chance Tiphaine's predictions came true, the people looked upon her +with distrust and called her a witch. The Duke of Lancaster with all his +nobles came into the town to witness the combat, which ended to the great +joy of the inhabitants of Dinan in the triumph of Bertrand, and the +offending knight was ordered by Lancaster to retire from his service. + +The siege of Dinan was raised by our King Edward, who had King John of +France at this time a prisoner in the palace of the Savoy. Du Guesclin went +on fighting for Charles de Blois, until at last the younger Jean de +Montfort got weary of the war, and proposed to his rival that the Duchy of +Bretagne should be halved between them; and that Rennes should be the +capital of Charles's dominions, and Nantes the capital of his own. Charles +de Blois was a man who loved peace; he agreed solemnly to divide the duchy +as Jean had proposed, and would have kept faith with him, had not his wife +broken out into a violent passion as soon as she heard what he had done, +and overruled him by saying that she would never consent to so shameful a +settlement, and that she had married him to defend the whole of her duchy, +and not the half of it. The war must have broken out again at once if the +good offices of Lancaster had not effected a truce for a time. + +When King John came back to France he invited Du Guesclin to enter his +service, and gave him the command of a hundred lances. Each lance, or +man-at-arms, was attended by three archers, a man armed with a cutlass, and +a page, so that a company of a hundred lances really included six hundred +men. Du Guesclin had the permission to form his troop of the gentlemen of +Bretagne, of whom many were his relations and friends; and with these he +set out hopefully to take part in a war which King John was carrying on in +Normandy against the wicked King of Navarre. + +Bertrand did the king good service in Normandy, and captured the towns of +Mantes and Meulan. At the latter place he lost all patience with the +tardiness of the besiegers, and seizing a ladder, began to mount it with +his sword in his hand, and his shield on his breast. He was just mounting +the last steps and boasting to the Baron of Mereuil who was on the other +side of the wall, that he would soon make him feel the strength of his arm, +when the baron threw some heavy stones on the ladder, which dashed it to +pieces, and Bertrand fell with his head downwards into the ditch around the +city wall. The ditch was full of water, and Bertrand was taken out by his +comrades half dead, but he scarcely waited for his injuries to be healed, +before he began to fight with greater vigour than before, and a little +while later gained the battle of Cocherel over the Captal de Buche, who was +fighting for the King of Navarre, and took the Captal prisoner. + +King John was now dead, and Charles the Wise was on the throne of France. +The victory at Cocherel had served to raise the spirits of the French, who +had been much cast down by their defeats during the two last sieges, and +the fame of Du Guesclin was spoken all over the country. + +But the war unhappily broke out in Bretagne once more. Jean de Montfort, +angry with his rival for his breach of faith, came with his army to invest +the town of Auray. The people there were in great need and misery, and +lighted fires every night on the summits of their towers in token of their +distress. Charles de Blois set off at once to assist them in their danger, +but his wife at parting, charged him on no account whatever to agree to any +division of the duchy. Du Guesclin and many brave nobles and knights +hastened to join his army; and when they arrived in sight of Auray, De +Montfort sent a herald to them to propose peace on the terms that had +already been made, or to demand an immediate battle. + +Charles de Blois, weakly dreading the anger of his wife if he gave way, +sent the herald back without an answer, although in his heart he was +longing more than ever to be at peace. + +In the disastrous battle of Auray which began soon after, and lasted for +seven hours, Charles de Blois lost his life, the celebrated Oliver Du +Clisson an eye, and Du Guesclin his liberty. It was late in the day, and +Bertrand was left almost alone upon the battle field with the dead lying +around him; he had been thrown from his horse, and surrounded by his +enemies, but he had risen from the ground and defended himself +single-handed to the last. Now the blood was flowing from his wounds; his +sword was broken; the handle had been wrenched off his battle-axe, and Sir +John Chandos found him armed only with an iron hammer. It was useless for +him to resist longer, and when he had given up the broken piece of his +sword into the hands of the English knight, the battle was at an end. + +Charles de Blois had fought that day like one in despair. With his last +breath he had said that he had long waged war against his conscience. And +thus the feud was ended which had lasted for nearly twenty years; Jean de +Montfort could have the whole duchy of Bretagne for himself, and the +unhappy widow of his rival had the sorrow of remembering that it was her +own pride and unbending spirit which had cost her the life of her husband. +The people of Bretagne were so tired of war that when, a little while +after, the treaty, which Jean de Montfort was making with Jeanne, could not +be settled, they assembled in a vast concourse and throwing themselves on +the ground, implored the Count to give them peace. + +The King of France did not suffer Bertrand to remain a captive long. The +country was at that time infested by bands of lawless men of various +nations, who called themselves "Free Companies," and used to go about +laying waste the orchards and fields, sacking and burning the castles of +the nobility; and making war just as they pleased. The greater number of +these men were disbanded soldiers, whose services were no longer needed now +that the war was at an end. + +Their power became very formidable when such men as Sir Hugh de Caverlay, +the Green Knight, Sir Matthew Gournay, and many others who were renowned +for their valour, joined them, and elected themselves their leaders. + +The thought occurred to King Charles that Du Guesclin was the one man +capable of ridding his country of so terrible a scourge, and he hastened to +pay the hundred thousand francs which his enemies had required for his +ransom, and told him that if he would consent to drive the Free Companies +out of France, he might choose his own method of carrying out his purpose. + +Du Guesclin went to the camp where the Free Lances were assembled, and, as +many of the leaders had already served under his banner, he found little +difficulty in persuading them to go with him into Spain on a crusade +against the Saracens, who still retained possession of a part of that +country. But a war had already broken out between Pedro the Second of Spain +and his half brother, Henry of Trastamare. Pedro had made himself hateful +to his subjects by repeated acts of tyranny, and worst of all had suffered +his wife, Blanche de Bourbon, to be cruelly murdered. This princess was +very amiable and lovely; she was sister to the Queen of France, and +granddaughter to the good Saint Louis, and Charles, indignant and sorrowful +at her unhappy fate, thought the services of Du Guesclin would be better +employed in driving Pedro from the throne than in making war on the +Saracens. + +Bertrand was therefore ordered to hasten to the assistance of Henry of +Trastamare, and one day he collected all the Free Companies at a place +called Chalons sur Saone, and marched from thence southwards, to the great +delight of the French nation, taking Avignon on his way, where the Pope +then resided, instead of at Rome. + +The companies went to Avignon to ask for absolution, because they had been +excommunicated, that is to say, cut off from all fellowship with the +church, on account of their lawless deeds. The Pope readily granted them +absolution, but he was not nearly so ready to give them a large sum of +money--which they asked for in addition to the 200,000 gold florins which +they had already received from Du Guesclin--and it was only after a long +delay, that he could be persuaded to give them any money at all. + +The troops Du Guesclin led himself were called "The White Company," because +they all wore a white cross on their shoulder, as a sign that they meant to +abolish the religion of the Jews, which Pedro was supposed to favour. Pedro +was very much alarmed at the approach of so vast an army; he happened to be +engaged at the time in laying waste with fire and sword the lands belonging +to his brother, whilst Henry himself was hiding in a castle with his wife +and children, and for a long while could not be made to believe that the +French hero was really coming to his aid. + +Du Guesclin soon enabled him, however, to gain possession of several +cities, and at a frontier town, called Maguelon Home, he took the title of +King. And when the people of Burgos (which was the Christian capital of +Spain at that time) heard of the approach of the White Company, they +brought the keys of the city, and laid them at the feet of Henry, and +joyfully acknowledged that he was King over Castille. Henry made a +triumphant entry into Burgos, with Bertrand, his deliverer, clad in +complete armour by his side; they went to the palace, where a great banquet +was served before them, with the richest viands, while the whole city was +one scene of rejoicing and merriment, and wine flowed in the streets like +water; the people were so glad to be freed from the tyranny of Pedro the +Second. + +Bertrand having thus placed Henry of Trastamare on the throne, urged him to +send for his wife Jeanne, that they might both be crowned the same day. And +when the Queen was seen approaching the capital, Bertrand went out to meet +her, accompanied by the bravest of his knights. As soon as the Queen +perceived that it was Du Guesclin who was advancing towards her, she +alighted from her mule that she might render him the greater honour, and +turning to his whole company, she exclaimed, "Friends, and gentlemen, it +may truly be said that we hold the crown of Castille through you alone." +Henry and Jeanne were crowned at Burgos on Easter-day of the year 1366, and +the King, in gratitude for the services of Du Guesclin, gave him the Duchy +of Molina, and made him constable of Castille. + +Pedro meanwhile was in great terror at the approach of his brother, and +kept himself concealed with his treasures in a forest a hundred leagues +long. One of his treasures was a table of pure gold, inlaid with jewels, +and engraven with the portraits of Charlemagne's twelve peerless knights. +Amongst the gems was a carbuncle, which is said to have had the peculiar +property of shining by night as brightly as the sun shines by day; and one +very dark night, when Pedro was outside the walls of a city, and beset with +dangers on every side, he was obliged to have his table fetched out from +among his treasures, that he might discover by its light the means of +escape. The stone may have possessed a singular brilliancy, but for the +fact of its shining as brightly as the sunlight, I cannot vouch. It was +said to have another strange property, that of changing colour and turning +black directly poison approached it. + +The forest was near the town of Cardonna, where Pedro had taken refuge, +immediately after the great city of Toledo had surrendered to his brother. +Henry supposed him to be still in the town, and went in pursuit of him with +Du Guesclin, Hugh de Caverlay, Olivier de Mauny, and many other valiant +men. Their way between Toledo and Cardonna lay through the long forest, +which was full of wild beasts and snakes, and had neither villages nor +houses of any kind in its depths. They were in this wild tract seven days, +and lost many of their men there; some of them being devoured by the wild +beasts, and others dying from the bites of the snakes. When they got to +Cardonna they found, of course, that Pedro had fled, but they took +possession of the town. + +Now that Henry had really been placed on the throne, Bertrand thought he +might carry out his original plan, and proceed to Granada, which was the +stronghold and capital of the Moors in Spain. The Queen, however, with +many tears implored him not to forsake her husband; she dreaded so much the +anger and cruelty of Pedro, when he should come out of his hiding-place. +And Pedro soon made himself dreaded once more, for he had found his way to +Guienne and entreated the Black Prince, who held his court in that +province, to protect him, and assist him with troops; and had offered him +his golden table, and part of his treasures as an equivalent for his aid; +promising him, besides, a large sum of money to defray the cost of an army. +The Black Prince, either out of compassion for the fallen King, or because +he did not like to see his rival in league with France, agreed to assist +him; and in the spring of the year 1367 crossed the province of Navarre +with Pedro, and a large army of Gascons, Normans, and English, and entered +Castille. + +The fortunes of Henry already began to decline: several of the Companies +withdrew from his service, and enlisted themselves in preference under the +banner of the Black Prince. Du Guesclin urged the King not to risk a +decisive battle too soon, but he would not listen to him, and the two +armies met at Najara, on the right bank of the river Ebro. The watchword of +the Black Prince's army was "Guienne and St. George!" and that of King +Henry's, "Castille and St. James!" + +The battle proved disastrous for the King of Castille, his cavalry were +forced to give way, and the rout becoming general he escaped from the field +with very few of his followers. When Bertrand saw the King's discomfiture, +he stationed himself against a wall, and with a battle-axe defended +himself so vigorously that several Englishmen were overthrown by him; and +at last his enemies dared not approach him, but only hurled at him their +daggers and swords. The Black Prince, hearing of this, desired to see him, +and went with his standard unfurled to the place where he stood. Bertrand +recognised the Prince, and kneeling on one knee before him said, "To you, +Sire, the Prince of Wales, I surrender myself and to no other; for I will +never be the captive of Pedro, e'en though I die in my defence!" + +The Prince received the submission of Du Guesclin graciously, and confided +him to the keeping of the Captal de Buche, who in remembrance of his own +capture by Bertrand in the battle of Cocherel, told him kindly that he +might live with him at large, if he would give him his word not to escape. +Du Guesclin, much pleased with the confidence reposed in him, swore, like a +true knight, that he would rather die than break his word. + +For six months he remained with the English army, and during that time had +no cause to complain of his treatment. But as soon as he arrived at +Bordeaux, where the Black Prince held his splendid Court, he was shut up in +the prison of Hâ. One morning whilst he was there, three pilgrims, who had +arrived in Bordeaux the evening before, had gone to hear mass in the Church +of Notre Dame. One of these pilgrims was Henry of Trastamare, who had +disguised himself thus in the hope of journeying safely to the Duke of +Anjou, to entreat him to support his cause. + +Several knights happened to be in the church, who had fought with Du +Guesclin in the battle of Najara; they began talking of their common +misfortunes, and Henry, taking one of them apart, asked news of Bertrand, +and learned with sorrow that the Black Prince had made a vow never to +ransom him or set him free. Henry went home with the knight to whom he had +spoken, and told him who he was, and persuaded him to procure him the means +of seeing Du Guesclin. So the knight concealed the King in his house, and +went to the prison of Hâ, and told the gaoler that he was going to Bretagne +to seek for money to pay his ransom, and that he greatly desired to see Du +Guesclin before he started. + +The gaoler did not admit him at once, but only hinted that such things were +not done without a bribe. The knight assured him that Du Guesclin was most +liberal, and would amply reward him if he would procure the interview. The +gaoler owned that he was so proud of his prisoner, that he hoped such a man +might never go out of his hands, and after a little more delay he conducted +the knight to Bertrand, who thought that his visitor had come to borrow +money, and was much surprised to hear that Henry of Trastamare was in +Bordeaux in the disguise of a pilgrim of St. James. He called the gaoler, +and told him that there was a poor pilgrim in the city, a native of +Bretagne, and one of his own vassals, whom he wished to assist with money +to enable him to complete his journey; and he begged him to take his seal +and go to a certain Italian jew in the city, and ask him for the sum of 400 +florins. The gaoler fetched the money; Du Guesclin gave him a hundred +florins for himself, and by noon the King was admitted into the prison. A +more sumptuous dinner than was usually seen within its walls was served in +his honour, and they lingered over it, talking of their misfortunes and of +the King's project for seeking aid from the Duke of Anjou; Du Guesclin +would not, however, on any account suffer him to ask the duke to pay his +ransom. Whilst they were at dinner the gaoler began to feel the pricks of +his conscience, and he took his wife apart, and told her that he suspected +some treason was going on between the pilgrim and Du Guesclin against his +master the Black Prince, and that he must acquaint him with the whole +affair. The gaoler's wife whispered her husband's intentions to Bertrand, +and the brave knight, with a dexterity similar to that he had employed, +when as a boy he freed himself from the dungeon of La Motte, did not suffer +his keeper to pass through the prison wicket, but dealt him so heavy a blow +with a stick that the poor man fell on his knees: then taking the keys from +his pocket, he opened the door to Henry, who quickly disappeared with his +two companions and the knight who had accompanied him thus far. Bertrand +closed the door upon them, and keeping the keys, came back to the gaoler +and, after giving him a good beating, shut him up in a room by himself, as +a warning that the transaction was not to be breathed beyond the prison +walls. + +The Duke of Anjou assisted Henry, and enabled him to enter Burgos a second +time, whilst Pedro was obliged to fly from the throne he had re-ascended +after the battle of Najara. Many of the knights who had been taken +prisoners in that contest were now ransomed, but Du Guesclin, "the scourge +of the English," as he was called, was deemed too formidable an enemy to +be set at large; and he might have remained in prison until his dying day, +had not some of the English nobles, who held his qualities in high esteem, +remonstrated with their prince in his favour, and taunted him by saying +that he only retained his prisoner through fear. + +The Black Prince at last resolved to have an interview with his captive, +and Du Guesclin, overjoyed at the prospect of obtaining his release, rose +hastily at the prince's summons, and appeared before him in the soiled and +coarse grey robe he wore in his prison, but which could not detract from +the dignity of his bearing. He told the prince that he was indeed weary of +his long confinement; "I have listened to the rats and mice long enough," +he said, "and I would fain go where I can hear the birds sing once more." + +The prince told him that he would set him free that very day without a +ransom, if he would swear never again to bear arms against him for France; +or against Pedro for Henry. These conditions Bertrand of course could not +accept, and before the interview was ended he had spoken with so much +honesty and candour, that the Black Prince could not but own the +righteousness of his cause, and requested him to name his own ransom. +Bertrand fixed it at 100,000 gold florins, and when the prince asked him +why he named so large a sum, he declared his ransom should not be less than +70,000 florins, adding that although he was a poor knight, the Kings of +France and Castille would assuredly pay that sum for him; and that if they +did not that the Breton women would spin till they had gained the money for +him. + +He was now set at liberty on condition of obtaining his ransom. The people +of Bordeaux flocked to see him when he came out of his prison, and the +Princess of Wales, Joanna the Fair, journeyed expressly from Angoulęme to +Bordeaux that she might have the honour of entertaining him at a banquet, +and presented him besides with 10,000 francs towards his ransom. Sir John +Chandos and Hugh de Caverlay helped also to raise the sum required. Chandos +was always his friend, although he fought on the opposite side; and it may +be that these brave men esteemed one another the more for clinging to what +each one believed to be the right. + +Du Guesclin had hardly gone a league on his way homewards when he met a +poor knight who was returning to his prison in Bordeaux on foot, in a very +forlorn condition, because he was unable to pay his ransom. Bertrand not +only gave him the money to pay it, but also enough to set him up in arms. + +The knight told him that the Duke of Anjou was then besieging the town of +Tarascon. Bertrand was bound in honour not to fight; but he could not +resist going to Tarascon, to aid the duke with his advice, and made the +besieged tremble at the very sound of his name. And there he was in the +midst of all the danger, and the clashing of weapons, mounted on his horse, +but with a peeled rod in his hand, instead of a sword, for his oath's sake! + +When he reached his own estate in Bretagne, he begged his wife to give him +her jewels, and all the valuable things she possessed; but she told him +that a number of poor knights and squires, all taken at Najara, had come +to her in great distress, and that she had given them all she could find in +the castle. Bertrand was very glad that his wife had been so kind to the +poor men, and had not sent them away empty handed. The sum for his ransom +was raised amongst his relations and friends, and he had set out for +Bordeaux, when he met ten poor knights, whose ransoms he could not resist +paying; preferring to remain a captive himself rather than to know that so +many others were languishing in prison, away from their homes, and all whom +they loved. + +When the Black Prince heard of Bertrand's generosity, he did not shut him +up in a dungeon again, but let him go about the city as he pleased on his +word of honour that he would not escape. A day came when mules were seen +approaching Bordeaux loaded with 70,000 good gold florins which the kings +of France and Castille and the Duke of Anjou had sent to purchase his +liberty. + +Du Guesclin, a free man once more, devoted himself entirely to the cause of +Henry, and defeated Pedro in a great battle near Toledo, notwithstanding +the help afforded the Spanish King by the Moors. The fortunes of Pedro now +rapidly declined, the Black Prince not caring to aid him again, because he +had not kept the promises he made before the battle of Najara. + +After a battle fought near Montiel,[11] in the south of Spain, Pedro took +refuge in the Castle of Montiel, in which there was only one way of going +in or coming out, and before this entrance Le Bčgue de Vilaines, who was +fighting for Henry, stationed himself with his pennon. In this extremity it +was arranged that Pedro should make his escape from the castle at midnight +with twelve of his companions. It was a dark misty night, and when Pedro +crept out of the castle, Le Bčgue, who stood waiting for him with three +hundred men, could not see him, but fancied he heard the sound of +footsteps. + +"Who art thou?" he cried, "Speak, or thou art a dead man." The first one +addressed escaped in the darkness. The next who came, Le Bčgue believed to +be the king, and asked him who he was with the dagger held close to his +breast. Then Pedro, seeing he had no chance of escape, cried "Bčgue, Bčgue, +I am the King, Don Pedro, of Castille;" and surrendering himself to him he +implored him to take him to some place where he should be beyond the reach +of his half-brother. + +Le Bčgue took him to his own quarters, but he had not been there long +before Henry of Trastamare and some of his followers entered the chamber +where he was concealed; and in the furious struggle which ensued Pedro was +slain by the hands of his brother. Thus died this unhappy king, whose many +evil deeds gained for him the surname of "The Cruel;" but Henry was very +wicked and cruel also to take his brother's life, and could not have been +happy when he remembered Montiel, although he had now undisputed possession +of the throne. + +Du Guesclin was now at liberty to return to his own country. The King of +Castille parted from him with great regret, and gave him some handsome +presents in token of gratitude for the services he had rendered him. Du +Guesclin on his return, was constantly employed in the war which broke out +again between England and France, and regained many of the places which +the English had taken from the French. The time came when King Charles +thought that the wisest measure he could pursue would be to make Bertrand, +Constable of France, which was the highest office in all the realm. +Bertrand was unwilling to accept so great an honour, saying that there were +many men more worthy of it than himself. Charles declared, however, that +there was neither prince nor noble in the land who would not cheerfully +obey the brave knight, and Du Guesclin was made Constable. From that time +he was surrounded by all the dignity and splendour of the court, and always +sat at the table with the king. + +But certain it is when men have reached their highest estate, they are very +often near a fall. Bertrand was again employed in Bretagne, when meeting +with some reverses, he incurred the king's displeasure. Charles, having +listened to some evil reports which were spread against him, did not +scruple to express his discontent, and Bertrand took the matter so much to +heart that he resigned his Constable's sword, and was only induced to +resume his office when the king found out that the reports were untrue, and +tried to atone to him for the mistake he had made. In the year 1380, +Bertrand was sent to drive the English out of the south of France. He was +very glad to go thither, because it always grieved him to make war on the +people of his own province of Bretagne. After reducing some places of +little importance, he went to help his friend Sancerre in the siege of the +Castle of Randan, which was possessed by the English, and some Gascons, who +were unfriendly to France. The Constable pressed the siege with vigour and +vowed that he would never depart from the spot till the castle was taken. +And he never did depart from thence alive, for he was seized with a violent +fever, which in a short time proved fatal. The knowledge of his danger made +the besiegers more anxious than ever to gain the fortress, and the garrison +were obliged at last to agree to surrender on a certain day. + +The Sire de Roos, the governor of the castle, having been informed of the +dangerous condition of Du Guesclin, desired to render up the keys into his +own hands; and when the appointed day had arrived, he came out of the +gates, followed by all the garrison. It was summer time, and the rays of +the setting sun shone on their unfurled banners, as they went to the tent, +where the dying Constable lay. His knights were standing sorrowfully around +him; they could not bear to think that he would never rise from his bed +again, that his voice would never more cheer them on to victory. The +English themselves shed tears at the mournful spectacle. + +When Du Guesclin had prayed that his sins might be forgiven him, he +entreated the nobles and knights to be faithful to their king, and not make +war, which would cause the blood of peasants, and defenceless old men, and +women and children to be shed; remembering with sorrow how heedlessly he +had himself waged war in the days of his youth. Then dismissing them all +except his friend Du Clisson, he asked for his constable's sword, and +prayed him to deliver it into the hands of the king, and when they had +bidden each other a last farewell, Du Clisson stood by him in tears and in +silence until his spirit passed away. + +So died Du Guesclin, the Hero of Chivalry, a man with many failings, but +brave and generous beyond comparison, and ever faithful to his friends. +Although the violence of his temper broke out at intervals all his life +long, he could be kind and gentle. Queens and princesses esteemed him for +his respectful courtesy, and we like to read, how, when the Black Prince +summoned him to his presence, the stern warrior was found playing merrily +with his gaoler's children, inside the dreary walls of his prison. + +Some authors assert that the governor of the Castle of Randan only laid the +keys on the coffin of Du Guesclin; but the most probable account is that he +really gave them into his hands before he died. + +Charles the Wise grieved sincerely for the loss the country had sustained, +and ordered the remains of the Constable to be interred in the Church of +Saint Denis with almost regal pomp. + +Jeanne de Laval, the second wife of Du Guesclin, founded several religious +houses, and instituted services in memory of her illustrious husband. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[11] The green knight fell in this battle. + + + + +CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. + + +Christopher Columbo, or Columbus, was born in the city of Genoa, about the +year 1436. His father, Domenico Columbo, earned the bread of his family by +combing wool, which, however lowly it may be thought at the present time, +was once a very honourable occupation, and was invented three hundred years +after the birth of our Lord by Blaise, the good martyr-bishop of Armenia, +who to this day is regarded as the patron of woolcombers. + +Christopher had two brothers, Bartholomew, and Diego, and one sister; of +the latter there is nothing particular recorded. The three brothers loved +one another dearly. Bartholomew had a brave and ardent spirit, and was fond +of an active life; in the troubles and dangers they shared in after years +Christopher would call him "another self;" and he said not long before he +died that his brothers had always been his best friends. Christopher as a +child was quiet and thoughtful. He loved to stand on the shore of the +beautiful bay spreading out at the feet of Genoa, "the city of marble +palaces," and to watch the waves under their different aspects; now dancing +joyously in the sunshine; then great sea-horses, foaming and dashing with +terrible noise on the sands; now again, loveliest of all, lying at rest as +if tired, in the solemn quiet of night, and giving back myriads of golden +gleams for every star that twinkled in the clear Italian sky. And whilst +Christopher thus watched the sea, he had very strange ideas for a young +child, for he thought that the whole of the world had not been discovered, +and that beyond the great Atlantic Ocean, which he had only heard of, there +were lands that had never yet been trodden by Europeans. At the time he +lived the Portuguese had discovered the Cape Verde Isles in the Atlantic, +much of the western coast of Africa, and the Cape of Good Hope. They wanted +some of the gold, amber, and ivory, the rich silks, and the fragrant woods +and spices of India, and to trade in these things they had to find out a +way to the East by sea, because the Venetians took care to keep the +overland route to India clear for themselves. Venice, on the eastern side +of Italy, and Genoa, on the western side, shared all the commerce of that +country, but they were not on friendly terms; and for years and years the +Genoese were trying to drive the Turks, Venetians, and Spaniards out of the +Mediterranean Sea, that they might carry on their own commerce without +being molested. + +When Domenico Colombo found that his son Christopher had a very strong +desire to be a sailor, he did not force him to pass his life in combing +wool, but sent him to a famed school at Pavia, where he might learn such +things as would be useful to him in the career he had chosen. So Columbus +learned diligently about the earth, the sea, and the stars, and something +of drawing and mathematics beside. When he was fourteen he returned to +Genoa, and went to sea for the first time with one of his relations, who +was likewise named Colombo. This man was a corsair, and had many a bold +skirmish with the Turks and Venetians. During several years Christopher +sailed with him from one place to another, and got used to a seafaring +life. It happened in one of the skirmishes which took place between Lisbon +and Cape St. Vincent, that fire broke out in a huge Venetian galley to +which the vessel Christopher commanded for his kinsman had been chained +during the fight; the flames quickly spread to the spot where he stood, and +to save his life he was obliged to jump from the deck into the waves. +Fortunately he had grasped an oar, and with this he was enabled to reach +the shore of Portugal, at the distance of two leagues from the burning +vessels. From thence he went to Lisbon, where he was kindly received by +some Genoese, and he determined to remain in that city, because there were +better means there of studying and of carrying out the plans he was making +for a voyage in search of unknown lands. The Portuguese themselves were +eager to make fresh discoveries: their mariners, sailing westward from the +Azores, had seen floating on the waters corpses belonging to a race of men +unknown in Europe, Africa, or Asia; besides these there were trunks and +branches of strange trees, and huge sugar-canes which had been wafted +through the Atlantic by the Gulf Stream. All these objects made them think +that only a portion of the inhabited world had yet been revealed to them. + +Two centuries had passed since Marco Polo, the bold Venetian explorer, had +set out from Constantinople for the land of the Tartars. There he had found +a friend in the great Kublai Khan, who ruled over Tartary and China, and +was sent by him on a mission to China and India, being thus the first +European who visited China Proper. On his return he told such extraordinary +tales of the people he had seen, and their customs, that most men were +afraid to believe in them, and thought they were pure inventions. Years +after, when the countries he had described became known to the Europeans, +it was found that he had spoken a great deal of truth, and his example +caused fresh enterprises to be projected. Men must not despair because they +do not at once see the fruit of their labour: if they only undertake it in +a true and steadfast spirit, it is sure to turn sooner or later to the +benefit of their fellow-creatures. Truly great men do not toil for +themselves but for the good they may do to others; they sow the seed, and +in God's time, not theirs, it will bear fruit. + +In Lisbon Columbus married Doņa Felippa, the daughter of a poor but noble +Italian named Perestrello, the governor of the island of Porto Santo, one +of the Madeiras, which had only lately been found. Perestrello was a very +famous navigator, and lost his life in the service of Portugal. After his +marriage Columbus went to live in the house of his wife's mother, and she +gave him all the charts her husband had drawn, and the accounts he had +written of his voyages, which proved very useful to him because they made +him familiar with all the parts of the world the Portuguese had hitherto +explored. So he lived on in Lisbon, supporting his wife and his mother by +making and selling maps and globes, besides which he used to send a part of +the money he earned to his aged father at Genoa, and helped his brothers +also by enabling them to go to school. Sometimes he would leave home for a +while, and take part in the expeditions that were directed towards the +coast of Guinea, or he would visit Porto Santo, where he had a friend in +Pietro Correo, who had once been governor of the island, and was married to +his wife's sister. Yet although he was made very happy by the birth of his +son Diego, it was sad to wait year after year without any chance of +starting on his voyage; for, poor as he was, it was quite impossible for +him to buy vessels and man them at his own expense. + +Some of the ancient philosophers who flourished centuries before the birth +of our Lord had convinced themselves that the earth was round. That such is +the case is shown by the appearance of a vessel after it has left the +shore. At a certain distance the whole of it is seen; farther off only its +hulk or body; at a greater distance still, the topmast alone is visible. +This proves that something hides the lower part of the ship from the +spectator, and that something, is the roundness of the earth. Again--when +an eclipse of the moon takes place the moon enters the shadow of the earth, +and cannot get the light of the sun, which, reflected on her surface, gives +her the bright silvery glow which makes her so lovely by night, and so we +appear to lose the whole, or part of her face. Now the shadow that is seen +being round, the earth must be round from which it is cast. And when men +found, in the days when very long voyages were undertaken, that by sailing +and journeying in one direction they came back to the point whence they had +started, they wanted indeed no further proof that such was the correct +figure of the earth. Thus it was natural for Columbus to expect to reach +the eastern shore of India, or of Cathay (as China was then called) by +sailing westward across the Atlantic, never dreaming that the earth was so +large as it is, and that the pathway he went would make known to the people +of the Old World the whole vast continent of America, and the Pacific, the +greatest of all Oceans! + +Having been refused assistance in his native city, he resolved at last to +lay his plans before John the Second of Portugal. The king referred the +matter to a Council, where it was soon decided that the voyage could not be +carried out, but Columbus was not easily disheartened, as his patience +during one-and-twenty years proved, and he begged the Portuguese monarch so +earnestly to assist him that he had almost been supplied with the vessels +he required, had there not been in Lisbon some persons who were very +jealous of him, and wanted the glory of making the attempt themselves. +These persons gained information of the proposed route, and then set out in +secret to try it, not unknown, as it is said, to the king. But when they +had been out at sea some time, and saw the waves spread out around them as +far as sight could reach, they lost all courage, and put back to Lisbon as +quickly as they could, saying on their return that the voyage could never +be tried. + +Columbus was indignant at being treated thus: he had passed fourteen years +of his life in waiting, and had thought and studied so much for the +enterprise on which he had set his heart that he had made no fortune for +himself. His gentle wife Felippa was dead; and one day he bid farewell to +his home in Lisbon and quitted Portugal with the idea of laying his cause +before Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. First of all, however, he went to +Genoa, where he saw his father, and provided out of his own scanty means +for the old man's comfort. + +When he arrived in Spain he sought the favour and assistance of two +powerful Spanish nobles, the duke of Medina Sidonia and the Duke of Medina +Coeli. The latter was the kinder of the two; he was just going to give +Columbus three or four caravels, which lay opposite the port of Cadiz, when +he suddenly thought that the enterprise was so vast, that none but a king +should direct it. He spoke so kindly, however, of Columbus to Queen +Isabella, that she desired him to repair to her court at Cordova. + +When he arrived he found the city like a camp, and the king and queen +entirely occupied in preparing for a grand campaign against the Moors. One +Moorish city after another had indeed yielded to the Spanish arms, but the +invaders who had held ground in Spain for nearly eight hundred years, were +still in possession of much of the southern part of the country. At such a +moment Isabella had no time to listen to the demands of a needy adventurer +like Columbus, and his humble dress and his poverty made him an object of +contempt in the eyes of the haughty Spanish grandees. At last, through the +efforts of the Grand Cardinal of Spain, he was allowed to enter the +presence of Ferdinand. The king ordered him to plead his cause before a +great council of learned monks at Salamanca. During the time it was held, +Columbus was a guest in the convent of St. Stephen, which was the +foundation of the famous university of Salamanca. The monks of the convent +were kind to him; they entered into his plans, and believed that the voyage +he proposed would lead to great discoveries; and prove the source of +infinite benefit to mankind; but those who came to confer with them were +not of the same opinion, and they tried, by quoting the Holy Scriptures, to +convince Columbus that he was in error. Now Columbus was a very devout man, +and one strong inducement for him to undertake the voyage was, the hope of +spreading the gospel in distant parts of the world, and he must have been +greatly pained when sentence was passed against him, and his views except +by a few, were misunderstood and treated as idle dreams. Nevertheless he +lingered on in Spain, in the hope that his appeal for aid might be heard +one day by Isabella herself, who was of a more noble and generous character +than her husband. So he followed the court from place to place as the seat +of war changed, and in one campaign he bore an honourable part in the +struggle with the Moors; while part of the time he remained in Spain he +lived quietly at Cordova, earning his bread by making charts, and maps, as +he had done before at Lisbon. When he heard that the city of Granada, the +stronghold of the Moors, was to be invested by the Spanish army, he +determined to make one more appeal, for he was sure that the king and queen +would be too busy to listen to him, when the siege had once begun. All they +would do was to promise to hear him when they should be released from the +cares of war, and Columbus, grieving to think that he had wasted so many +years of his life in useless waiting, made up his mind to leave Spain for +ever, and apply for aid at the court of France. + +From the time he left Cordova little is known of him until he appeared at +the gate of the Convent of St. Maria de Rabida, which stood in the midst of +a forest of pine trees, near the port of Palos, in Andalusia. His son Diego +was with him; the boy was both tired and hungry, for they had come a long +way without resting. Just as Columbus was asking for some bread and water +for him at the gate, Friar Juan Perez, the guardian of the convent happened +to pass by. The good friar welcomed the strangers kindly; he bade them +enter, and in the course of conversation Columbus opened his heart to him +and told him about his plans, and his firm trust that by the grace of God +he should be able to carry them out. Friar Juan had already thought on the +subject himself, and he was so delighted with the ideas of Columbus that he +sent for two friends to confer with him: one was Fernandez Garcia, a +physician of Palos, who had a great longing to go in search of unknown +lands; the other was Martin Alonzo Pinzon, a merchant who had vessels of +his own, and traded with many foreign ports. These were presently joined by +some mariners of Palos, who had had much experience at sea. + +Friar Juan persuaded Columbus to stay a little longer in Spain, and wrote a +letter to Queen Isabella, hoping that his influence might induce her to +sanction the enterprise, since he had once been her confessor, and had +always been held by her in great esteem. The court had removed to Santa Fé, +and an honest pilot, named Sebastian Rodriguez, undertook to convey the +letter thither. At the end of a fortnight he brought back an answer from +the queen which gave hope and joy to Columbus and his friends, and caused +Friar Juan to saddle his mule in haste, and set out at midnight for the +Spanish court. Isabella was indeed beginning to think the voyage worthy of +consideration, and wished to talk on the subject with Juan himself. And +very soon she summoned Columbus to Santa Fé, and sent him some money to +enable him to buy a mule for his journey, and a dress suitable to appear in +at court, so that he might no longer be despised for his needy attire. + +Columbus arrived in time to see Boabdil, the last of the Moorish kings in +Spain, deliver the keys of the Alhambra into the hands of the Spanish +sovereigns: the hundred thousand Moors, who had shut themselves up within +the massive walls of Granada, had been forced to yield; the Crescent was +thrown down, and the Royal standard of Spain was planted on the red towers +of the most beautiful of Moorish palaces. There were rejoicings and +festivities without end among the Spaniards, but Columbus was sad and +forlorn in the midst of all the gaiety; the courtiers were jealous of the +favour Isabella had shown him on his arrival, and although the king and +queen kept their promise and listened to him once more, they were +persuaded, by a haughty and powerful priest named Talavera, now Bishop of +Granada, to offer him terms which he could not accept. He began to feel +utterly disheartened, and resolving again to leave Spain and ask help from +France, he mounted his mule and quitted Santa Fé. He had reached the pass +of Pinos, two leagues from Granada, when to his surprise a courier overtook +him and recalled him to the Court. Some of his friends had at last +persuaded Isabella to grant him real assistance, and she became all at once +so eager for the voyage to be carried out, that she declared her kingdom of +Castille should defray the cost of it, and offered to pledge her own jewels +to furnish money besides. + +The king and queen then signed a decree by which Columbus was to be +supplied with vessels and men; to be named Admiral of the Fleet, and +Viceroy of all the lands he should discover; and to have a right to a tenth +part of all the gold, silver, pearls, precious stones, and spices he might +find within the limits of the land he was to rule over for the Spanish +sovereigns. Besides this the title of Don was to be prefixed to his name +and to the name of his heirs. + +All the doubts, the long weary days of waiting, were at an end. In deep +thankfulness and joy Columbus went back to Palos, from which port it was +arranged that the fleet should set sail. And one May morning a Royal decree +was read in the porch of the largest church there which ordered the +authorities of Palos to have two caravels[12] ready for the sea within ten +days, Columbus himself having the right to fit out a third vessel. + +But now his troubles broke out afresh, no one would furnish barks, not a +mariner could be pressed into the service; it was believed that all who +engaged in such a voyage must surely perish. After tumults and disputes +which lasted many weeks, Martin Pinzon and his brother came forward with a +vessel of their own, and two other caravels were with the greatest +difficulty procured. + +Thus the days which still elapsed before the fleet could sail, so full of +joy and hope for the Admiral, were passed by the sailors and the friends +they were to leave on shore in terror and deep gloom. At last, on Friday, +August the 3rd, in the year 1492, the caravels sailed at daybreak from the +bar of Saltes, near Palos, having on board one hundred and twenty persons, +who before starting had all joined in fervent prayer that God would protect +them from danger, and grant them success. A favourable wind bore them in +the direction of the Canary Islands. The vessel Columbus sailed in was +called the _Santa Maria_; the second, the _Pinta_, was commanded by Martin +Alonzo Pinzon, and the third, the _Niņa_, by his brother Vincent Yaņez +Pinzon. When they had been out at sea three days the _Pinta_ made a sign of +distress; either by accident or through malice to Columbus her rudder had +been broken. Martin Pinzon repaired it as well as he could with cords, but +the next day the wind broke them, and all the vessels put in towards the +Canary Islands, and waited thereabouts three weeks whilst a new rudder was +made for the damaged bark. This occasioned much loss of time, and news +being brought that some Portuguese ships were sailing towards the Island of +Ferro, Columbus set sail again in a great hurry, fearing that the jealousy +of the King of Portugal might even now prevent him from finishing his +voyage. For three days the caravels were held in a deep calm, and all the +men on board felt very anxious until the winds arose, and carried them on +their way. The last land they saw was the Island of Ferro, and when they +lost sight of that, the spirits of most of the mariners began to droop, and +a wreck which they came upon a hundred and fifty leagues from Ferro, did +not tend to make them more hopeful. + +On the 14th of September they saw a heron and a water wagtail, which very +much surprised them, as they were the first birds they had seen. The next +night there fell from the sky, only four or five leagues from the vessels, +a wonderful stream of fire, although the sea was calm, and the winds were +asleep, and the currents steady to the northward. This was probably one of +the meteors which are often seen in warm climates. After that, from day to +day, they perceived an abundance of grasses and herbs on the surface of the +water--which appeared to have been plucked only a short time before from +some island or rock--the green patches looked almost like floating islands +themselves. Then they saw many tunny and gold fish, and a white bird of the +tropics that never passes a night on the sea. They thought, too, that the +waves were less salt than those they had crossed at first. All these signs +made the mariners very desirous of going in search of islands, but Columbus +would not yield to their wishes, and pursued the steady course he had +planned towards the west. On the 18th of September the captain of the +swift-sailing caravel _Pinta_ told the Admiral that he had seen a number of +large birds flying towards the north, and that he thought there was land in +that direction. This time, however, Columbus felt sure that the supposed +land was nothing but a bank of clouds. The next morning a bird of the +tropics alighted on the Admiral's ship, and the day after two more came +with a black bird which had on its head a tuft of white feathers; besides +which, at dawn, three little singing birds had perched themselves on one of +the masts, and only flew away at dark. Their sweet song must have made some +of the forlorn mariners think of their homes and the pine forest of Palos +and the gardens of southern Spain, with their orange and pomegranate trees, +whilst to others it may have said, "God, in His infinite love, has sent the +little birds to cheer your hearts, and to tell you that land is near, and +that you need not fear to tread the shore of strange men, since He is the +father of all." + +There came a time, indeed, when these things vanished, and as the wind +always blew from the east, the men despaired of ever being able to return +to their homes. They began to reproach Columbus bitterly for having led +them, as they supposed, on a lost track, and distrusted the signs of land +even when they were renewed by fresh patches of verdure appearing, and +whole flights of singing birds coming to the caravels early in the morning, +and flying away to their unseen nests at dusk. Some of the seamen in their +frenzy were so wicked as to make a plot to throw the Admiral overboard, and +they meant after that, to turn the vessel homeward, and to say, if they +ever got back to Spain, that he had fallen from the ship's side whilst +gazing at the stars. Columbus had enough to do to pacify the crews. To the +gentle he spoke kind words; those who were eager for riches he flattered +with hopes of gain, and the most violent of all he threatened with the +severest punishment if they should attempt to prevent the voyage from being +completed. At this time he was exposed to extreme danger, but he had a +brave heart, and trusted in God, and did not feel afraid even when he knew +that the plot had been made to take away his life. And although he was more +anxious than any man on board, and passed many a sleepless night, looking +vainly across the starlit sea for land, he never despaired of finding it at +last. + +So the days passed in alternate hope and fear. Once Martin Pinzon felt so +sure that he saw land, that the crews of each vessel knelt down and chanted +a solemn thanksgiving, "Glory to God in the highest," such were the words +that rose up in the calm evening air, but, alas! the land turned out to be +only a cloud. + +When the mutiny was at its greatest height the heavenly Father let the men +who had murmured look on the blessed signs of land until their wicked +thoughts passed away, and hope and trust came back to their hearts instead. +For, on the 10th of October, there could be no doubt that they were near +some shore. Beside fresh herbs and grasses, they saw a green fish, which is +only found near rocks, a reed and a carved stick, a little plank, and a +branch of thorn covered with red berries, which looked as if it had only +just been plucked. + +[Illustration: _Columbus pointing to the Land.--p. 159_] + +After evening prayer on that day Columbus ordered a careful watch to be +made, and remained himself on the high stern of the _Santa Maria_ during +the night. Now and then he observed a glimmer of light, which he supposed +came from the shore, and at two o'clock in the morning the firing of a gun +from the _Pinta_ was the signal that land had really been seen. Not an eye +closed that night; the sails were taken in, and the whole company on board +the caravels waited in breathless suspense for the dawn. As the day broke, +Columbus perceived a level island stretching out before them covered with +trees; the natives were already coming out of the woods and rushing towards +the shore, evidently astonished at the sight of the strange vessels. The +boats were manned and armed, and Columbus, Martin Pinzon, and Vincente, his +brother, each got into a boat, Columbus bearing the royal standard of +Spain, and the others banners with green crosses upon them. The natives +stood around as they landed, and looked on, half fearful, in silence. +Columbus kissed the earth on which he first set foot, and planting the +cross upon it, called it by the name of St. Salvador.[13] Then the +Spaniards hailed him as Admiral, and swore obedience to him: those who had +rebelled were now thoroughly ashamed of their wicked conduct, and entreated +his pardon--a pardon he readily granted--for it was not in his noble nature +to resent an injury done to himself. + +The Spanish government had decreed a reward of 10,000 maravedis[14] to him +who should first discover land; to this Columbus added a promise of a +doublet of silk or velvet. But although Rodrigo de Triana was the mariner +who first saw land from the _Pinta_, it was agreed by all that the Admiral +should have the prize, because it was he who had perceived the light, +probably of some torch the natives had carried, at intervals, during the +night. + +The island Columbus first landed upon was one of the Lucayos or Bahamas; in +his delight he fancied he had really reached the eastern shores of India, +and hence it was that the natives of the New World were called Indians. He +stayed a day or two at the island, making friends with the +dark-complexioned men, who soon lost all fear of the strangers, and +regarded with great curiosity the cups, glass beads, and hawks' bells they +gave them in exchange for the parrots, the balls of spun-cotton, and the +cassava bread, made from a great root called "yuca," which they brought +down to the shore. They were simple in their manners, and evidently thought +the shining armour and weapons of the white man very strange. They did not +know the use of iron, and taking the swords by the blades they cut +themselves with them. Some of them wore little ornaments of gold in their +noses, and when the Spaniards asked them by signs whence they got the gold, +they answered by pointing to the south. + +Columbus now resolved to go in search of the precious metal, and left the +island, taking with him seven Indians as interpreters. When he returned to +his ship the natives crowded around him in their canoes, each of which, +small or large, was made in one piece out of the trunk of a tree. After +finding some little islands, he came upon the lovely island of Cuba. Here +the caravels glided down a great shining river, with waters deep and clear, +and anchored not far from the sea. It seemed to the mariners a fairy +region, in which they forgot all the care and the terror of their voyage. +Trees, higher than any they had seen in Europe, were covered with the most +tempting fruits and brilliant flowers, birds of gay-coloured plumage sang +on their branches or flitted about. The sunshine falling on the scales of +the fish made them look like precious stones, and at night, fireflies +flashed through the air, and moon and stars shone with a strange lustre +unknown in Europe. The cabins of the natives of Cuba were more elegant in +their construction than those of the other islands, and were all well +covered with branches of palm trees. That the people were accustomed to +fish was shown by the nets, made of the fibres of palm leaves, which were +found in some of the empty dwellings. Here was seen for the first time the +"batata," or potatoe plant, which has since proved such a blessing to +Europe, and some Spaniards, whom Columbus, believing that he had indeed +reached Cathay, sent on a mission to the Grand Khan, tell how, when they +came back from their fruitless journey, they met on the road numbers of +people, men and women, who held in one hand a lighted brand, and in the +other some leaves of a plant called "tabacas," rolled up in the form of a +little cylinder, one end of which they lighted and the other they put into +their mouths. It is needless to say that this was the origin of smoking +amongst the Europeans, and hence the city of Havannah in Cuba has always +been famous for the manufacture of cigars. + +One night when the caravels were out at sea, not far from Cuba, on a voyage +of fresh discovery, the _Pinta_ suddenly disappeared. The merchant Martin +Alonzo Pinzon was greedy of gain, and wanted to go to some island in search +of gold by himself. One reason of his desertion is said also to have been +his dislike of serving under another, after having been his own master for +so many years. Columbus had now only the two caravels, but he was not +deterred from making fresh attempts, and he soon found the large island of +Haiti, or Saint Domingo, to which he gave the name of Hispaniola, because +it was like the fairest parts of Spain. The land here was mountainous and +rocky, but the rocks rose up out of forests. The harbour the caravels +entered was surrounded by great trees, most of them being covered with +fruit, which gleamed red, green, and golden in the bright sunshine of the +tropics. The natives were very timid at first, as those of Cuba had been, +and fled from the coast on the approach of the strange vessels; but an +Indian woman who was captured and carried on board the _Santa Maria_ was +treated so kindly that, when she went back to the shore, her own people +began to lose all fear, and brought the Spaniards many gifts of fish, +fruit, and roots, and their famed cassava bread. Another day, when Columbus +was cruising about the island, and a gale was blowing, he saved an Indian +from perishing as his fragile canoe, and the man thus rescued told the time +tale of the kindness of the Spaniards. Columbus became very friendly with a +chief, or cacique, named Guacanagari, which is a terribly long name, and +since he always remained true to the Spaniards I will only call him in +future the faithful chief, to distinguish him from others in the same +island. The Admiral had set out by sea to visit him in his own village, +when a great disaster happened. It was Christmas Eve; the ocean was calm +and smooth, and about an hour before midnight the caravel _Santa Maria_ was +only a league from the cacique's dwelling. Columbus, having passed many +sleepless nights, had gone to rest; soon after the steersman, giving the +helm in charge to one of the ship's boys, followed his example, and it was +not long before the whole of the crew were sound asleep also. The vessel, +thus left to a careless boy, was carried by currents on to a sandbank with +such force that great seams opened in her sides. Some of the mariners, +roused to a sense of their danger, got down into their boat, and in the +confusion rowed off to the caravel _Niņa_, which took them all on board. +Soon the Admiral and the remainder of the crew had to take refuge there +also; the _Santa Maria_ was firmly fixed in the sands, and was of no +farther use as a ship. When the cacique heard of the misfortune he shed +tears, and kindly sent a number of men in canoes to the Admiral's +assistance, and he helped himself to keep guard round the wrecked vessel, +that none of the valuable stores it contained might be stolen. + +Little boys who are safe at home at the merry Christmas-time with all whom +they love, may think of this first Christmas of the brave and patient +Admiral, passed amidst all the horrors of shipwreck, and remember that if a +simple and ignorant heathen could thus afford kindly help and sympathy to +the distressed, how much more love and charity ought not those to show who +call themselves the followers of Christ! + +The cacique came on board the _Niņa_ to visit Columbus, and a little while +after, the Admiral went to his village in return. When he was there he had +a cannon and a harquebuss fired to show the might of the European arms. The +Indians were so terrified at the sound that they fell flat to the ground, +but their spirits revived when they were told that such weapons would +deliver them from the Caribs, who were constantly threatening and +tormenting their chief. + +The cacique gave Columbus many extraordinary presents; one was a mask of +wood, with eyes, ears, and mouth gilded: the Indians were very fond of +carving such masks. They were delighted with the gifts they received from +the Spaniards, and most of all with the hawks' bells, dancing merrily to +the tinkling they made. They had so little idea of the real value of things +that a string of the commonest glass beads had far greater worth in their +eyes than a coronet of solid gold. + +Columbus now began to think of returning to Europe, but first of all he +constructed a fort with the remains of the stranded vessel, to which he +gave the name of Navidad,[15] in memory of the Christmas morning when his +own life and the lives of his men had been so mercifully spared. Some of +the Spaniards were to be left to guard the fort, and they were very glad to +remain in the island; they had food in plenty, the natives were kindly +disposed towards them, and to live at ease in a beautiful climate was far +preferable to being tossed about on the stormy sea. When the moment of +parting came, however, all were sorrowful, and they took a kindly leave of +one another, wondering whether they would ever meet again. + +Some time after Columbus had set out on his journey home, he came in sight +of the _Pinta_. The merchant made many excuses for his desertion, but +Columbus passed them over with few words, and the vessels kept company +until the _Pinta_ again disappeared one dark night during a terrific storm, +which surprised the caravels far out in the open sea. When it was at its +greatest height Columbus retired to his cabin, and wrote two copies of a +description of the lands he had seen, then he wrapped them in wax, and put +them into two casks, one of which he threw into the sea, and the other he +placed on the poop of his vessel, that it might float if she sank. + +The storm abated, but Columbus was not yet destined to return to Europe in +peace. He had touched at the Island of St. Mary, one of the Azores, and +half the crew had landed to return thanks to God for their escape from the +tempest. As they were praying in a chapel they were seized by order of John +of Portugal, to whom the islands belonged. The King had watched the +movements of Columbus, and could not get over his jealousy of the Spaniards +for having succeeded in their attempt. + +After some trouble the seamen were set free, but even then another storm +drove Columbus to seek shelter in the river Tagus, near the Rock of Cintra. +Whilst he was there, King John invited him to his court, which he was +holding in a lovely spot, called the Vale of Paradise, a few leagues from +Lisbon. Certain it is, that however unkind he had been hitherto, he +received Columbus as a friend, and treated him with honour, and would not +listen to some wicked men around him, who advised him to put him to death. + +When Columbus did arrive at Palos on the 15th of March, 1493, the people +flocked in crowds to welcome him, and he journeyed like a prince to +Barcelona, where the Spanish court had taken up its residence for a time. +But his greatest triumph was when he had entered the gates of the city, and +went slowly along the crowded streets, surrounded by the noblest knights of +Spain, to the palace where Ferdinand and Isabella were seated under a +golden canopy in readiness to receive him. And surely the people of +Barcelona had never looked upon so strange a procession before. Six Indians +in their wild costume marched on in front; the animals belonging to the +islands, live parrots, and other gaily plumed birds, till then unknown in +Europe, the golden ornaments and the weapons of the natives, strange +plants, valuable resins and gums, all had their part in the show. When +Columbus arrived at the palace the King and Queen would not suffer him to +stand or kneel in their presence, but they knelt down themselves in the +sight of all the people, and thanked God fervently for the wondrous +spectacle before them, and the new world that the courage and constancy of +a good man had given to Leon and Castille. Whilst Columbus remained in +Spain he was treated with the highest esteem and honour, and his sons, +Diego and Fernando were appointed pages to Prince Juan, the heir to the +Spanish throne. + +Martin Alonzo Pinzon arrived at the port of Palos on the evening of the day +Columbus had landed amid crowds of welcoming faces. He was so jealous of +his rival's glory, and so deeply mortified besides when he remembered his +own mean conduct towards one who had always been kind to him, that he went +on shore privately, and instead of taking part in the public rejoicings, +repaired to his home, where he fell ill, and died soon after, as it is +said, of grief. + +In the autumn of the same year Columbus set out on his second voyage with a +fleet of seventeen ships, and fifteen hundred men, amongst whom were +_hidalgos_, merchants and adventurers, and several priests, intended to +convert the Indians to the Christian faith. + +On his way to Hispaniola he found some islands belonging to the group of +the Antilles. The first one he saw he called Domenica, because he +discovered it on a Sunday. After that he came to a large and fertile +island, to which he gave the name of Guadaloupe, and there the Spaniards +saw for the first time the pine-apple. But although they found plenty of +luscious fruits and sweet water, which refreshed them after their voyage, +they were not at all happy there because they perceived from the remains of +human bodies hanging about the dwellings that the natives of the island +were cannibals, or Caribs, who feasted on the flesh of their fellow +creatures. Columbus was in great alarm for fear some of his crew who had +strayed into the forests should fall victims to this horrible practice; but +happily, most of the men were absent on some warlike expedition, and had +left their women to guard the island, and the missing mariners found their +way back to the sea-shore. Another of the larger islands discovered at this +time now bears the name of Porto Rico. + +When the fleet arrived about a league from the settlement of Navidad, all +objects around were hidden in the darkness of night. Columbus felt very +anxious to know if the men whom he had left to guard the fort were alive +and in safety, and he had two guns fired off to announce his arrival. The +echo died away in silence, no answer came, and a terrible fear filled his +heart. About midnight some Indians came in a boat to the principal caravel, +and asked to see the Admiral. They had brought him a present of gilded +masks from the faithful chief, and told how he lay sick in a little village +near, having been wounded in an affray with another chief named Caonabo, +who dwelt on the mountains of Cibao, and was called "The Lord of the House +of Gold," because of the abundance of gold in that region. These Indians +gave very confused accounts of the Spaniards who had been left in the fort. +Some of them were dead, they said, having been killed in a skirmish; others +were dispersed. Columbus did not know what to think. Even when the day +broke, the place seemed strangely silent and deserted, and at last he sent +some of his people in a boat to the shore to gain tidings. Alas! the +fortress was a heap of ruins, the comrades of other days had all +disappeared without leaving a trace behind. Columbus soon learned that +several of the Spaniards had been faithless to the trust reposed in them, +and after quarrelling amongst themselves had gone off to the mountains of +Cibao, tempted by the prospect of finding gold. The few who remained in +the fort had been surprised by Caonabo. He had rushed down upon them with +his warriors, and had burnt all the dwellings of the white men, although +the faithful chief had done his best to help to defend them: Columbus heard +from him that the reports of the fate of the Spaniards were true. + +When the cacique visited Columbus on board his ship he was greatly +astonished at the sight of the animals which had been brought out to the +west, such as cattle, pigs and calves, but most of all the Indians wondered +at the power and size of the horse, which was to tread their shores for the +first time. Besides these, Columbus had brought to the island many domestic +fowls, also vegetables and fruits which he hoped would flourish in the new +soil; among the latter were oranges, lemons, and citrons, supposed to have +grown originally in India and Persia, and to have been introduced into +Europe by the Arabs and Moors. + +Immediately on his arrival Columbus founded the city of Isabella on the +north of the island. For a little time the work went on bravely, and then +troubles arose. The provisions conveyed in the vessels were nearly all +gone; the climate was found to be sultry and damp, and unhealthy for those +who had lived in the drier air of Spain. The young _hidalgos_, who had come +out in the hope of gaining riches and fame, were angry and disappointed +that they did not find gold at once in abundance. To appease their murmurs, +Columbus sent a very bold cavalier named Alonso de Ojeda to explore the +famed mountains of Cibao, with a band of men, of whom most were of noble +birth. When they came back from their dangerous expedition, they told the +Admiral that they had seen gold in plenty glittering in particles amongst +the sands of the mountain streams, and in the beds of the torrents. Several +ships returned about this time to Spain, bearing samples of the gold thus +discovered, besides various fruits and plants unknown in Europe. + +The complaints of the settlers were again breaking out, when Columbus, +leaving the growing city of Isabella in charge of his brother Diego, who +had accompanied him on the voyage, set out himself for the mountains of +Cibao with four hundred men, well armed, and a great multitude of Indians. +When they arrived at the foot of the mountain land, it was found that so +large a force could not ascend the wild and difficult path which was used +by the Indians, and some brave young Spanish gentlemen who had been used to +all kinds of manoeuvres in the wars with the Moors, and were very eager +to win fresh renown, undertook to make a road by which the whole company +could pass. Thus in a few hours, by dint of hard labour, the first road in +the New World was constructed, and it was called in honour of those who had +made it, "El Puerto de los hidalgos," "The Gentleman's Pass." + +When they came to the gorge of the mountain an immense plain spread out +before them covered with lovely flowers, and with trees rising out of it, +such as the graceful palm with its slender stem and feathery plume at the +top, and the wide-spreading mahogany-tree with its dense foliage. The air +was so balmy, and the whole scene was so beautiful, that Columbus gave it +the name of "Vega Real," which means Royal Plain. + +As they went higher up the mountains the way became rougher, and they lost +the sweet flowers and fruits which had afforded them so much delight. Some +of them saw what it must be confessed gave them still greater pleasure, and +that was the gold which sparkled in the sands of the streams. At the top of +a steep hill they built a fort, which they called Fort St. Thomas, that +there might be a place of refuge for those who should work the mines. +Caonabo did not at all like his "golden house" to be thus invaded, and took +his revenge, as will be seen hereafter. The Indians as yet were very +willing to exchange gold for the glass beads and toys the Spaniards gave +them, and would search for it on purpose to bring it to them. One old man +parted with two pieces of gold which weighed an ounce, and thought he was +magnificently paid for it with a hawk's bell. + +When Columbus returned to Isabella, he found that the building of the city +had been neglected: the workmen were either ill or weary of the task, and +he gave orders that all who had come out to the island should assist in the +labour. The proud Spanish _hidalgos_ worked with very unwilling hearts, and +never forgave Columbus for submitting them to what they considered a great +degradation. Some of them were so disappointed with the New World and the +difficulty of making themselves rich without any trouble that they fell ill +and died, bitterly reproaching Columbus until their last hour as being the +cause of all their misfortunes. These troubles made the Admiral very +unhappy; still, amidst them all he had some joys, and one very great one, +when after he had gone to coast along a part of Cuba unknown to him, he +came upon the large island of Jamaica, with its high blue mountains and its +groves of majestic trees. Jamaica thus ranks third of the great islands +made known to the Europeans. Here the natives made each of their boats out +of the single trunk of a tree, and when they used for this purpose the +enormous stem of a mahogany tree they had a very large boat indeed. + +Columbus did not stay long at Jamaica, but cruised about another part of +Cuba, and found some smaller islands near its coast, which were so lovely +that he called them "The Queen's Gardens." On his way back to Hispaniola he +became very ill, and was senseless when his vessel reached the port of +Isabella. Great was his joy, when he opened his eyes once more to find his +brother Bartholomew by his bedside; he had been sent to the island by the +Spanish sovereigns, and as he was very brave and clever he was well fitted +to take the command of affairs whilst his brother was ill. + +The troubles in the island rapidly increased. The chiefs, with the +exception of the faithful one, were ready to make war on the Spaniards and +drive them away. Caonabo was the fiercest of all; he lay siege to the Fort +of St. Thomas, but Alonso de Ojeda was inside with a few brave men, and +harassed his army so much by his firearms that the Indians at last withdrew +in despair. Ojeda afterwards captured Caonabo in a very daring manner, and +brought him bound to himself on his horse to the city of Isabella, where he +was imprisoned in the Admiral's house. After this the Indians were ordered +to pay tribute in gold dust, which at first only made them resist the more; +it seemed so hard to them to have to work from morning to night in search +of gold, after the free and happy life, happy for them because it was idle, +they had lived in their island before the strangers came. It was not until +a battle had been fought on the lovely plain of the Vega, and some of them +had been killed by the firearms of the Spaniards, which were far more +destructive than their own weapons, that they consented with heavy hearts +to bring their tribute. + +For everything that went wrong, Columbus alone was unjustly blamed, and at +last some unkind persons went to Spain and told the King and Queen that he +had brought all the misery on the colony by his bad government. And a day +came when he set out for Spain himself to plead his cause with Ferdinand +and Isabella; because, whatever his enemies had said, his conduct had +always been loyal and upright, and the cause of all the unhappiness lay in +the violent temper and the avarice of many of the men who had embarked with +him for the sake of making themselves rich, instead of serving the king and +queen, and promoting the glory of Spain. + +The vessel he sailed in was crowded with criminals, discontented persons +and Indian captives; amongst the latter was the proud chief Caonabo, but he +died during the voyage. + +When Columbus arrived this time in Spain, there were neither triumphs nor +rejoicings, and he wore as he landed the dress of a Franciscan friar, a +long robe, with a cord for a girdle, in sign of humility. He was soon +cheered, however, by a kind invitation to court. Ferdinand and Isabella did +not yet forget how much they owed to him, and they gave no heed to the +complaints that had been made against him, while the massive gold ornaments +he had brought with him, and the rich products of the islands induced them +to hope that his discoveries would bring them great wealth in the time to +come. + +He therefore lived in Spain in some degree of comfort until the May of the +year 1498, when after many tiresome delays he started on a third voyage +with only six ships and took a different route to that he had gone before. +From the Cape Verde Isles he went south-west towards the region spreading +out eight or ten degrees north and south of the Equator, where the sea is +smooth as glass, and the sun shines straight down, and there is not a +breath of air to fill a sail. The heat on this occasion was intense, and +the mariners very nearly died of thirst when their supply of water was +exhausted and they could get no more. Columbus therefore sailed westward, +instead of going farther south as he had at first proposed, and one day, +just three months after he had left Spain, three mountains seemed to rise +up out of the ocean afar, and as he came nearer he found to his joy that +all the mountains rose from one island, to which in his thankfulness he +gave the name of Trinidad.[16] + +On this voyage he also discovered the mouths of the river Orinoco, which it +will be seen, by the map of South America, are not very far from the island +of Trinidad. Still, Columbus did not think when he landed, that he was +treading the shores of a vast new continent, but imagined that it was a +part of Asia. After this he found the land the Indians called Paria. The +natives here welcomed him kindly, and brought him bread and maize: they +were tall and graceful, and their manners were gentle; they wore garments +of cotton wrought so beautifully with colours that they looked like rich +silks, and they carried targets besides bows and arrows. They had several +kinds of liquors which they offered to the Spaniards to drink. One was +"white as milk," made from maize; others were nearly black, and tasted as +if they were made from unripe fruit. + +The country was covered with flowers and fruit-trees; vines were twined +from tree to tree and bright plumaged birds, chiefly parrots, flitted +about. Some of the natives wore collars of gold around their necks, and +some had bracelets of pearls, the sight of which gave great satisfaction to +the Spaniards, for they thought they had discovered a new source of riches. +Columbus would have liked to have spent much time in exploring the coasts +of Paria, but his stores were nearly all consumed, and he was ill and +almost blind from having strained his eye-sight during the dark nights of +his voyages, and was therefore obliged to think of returning to Hispaniola +or San Domingo, as it was called besides. Along the north coast of Paria he +saw many islands, some of which afterwards became famous for their pearl +fisheries, and in one little barren isle he got many beautiful pearls in +exchange for hawks' bells, and pieces of broken china, which the Indians +thought very precious. + +At last, wearied out in mind and body he arrived at Hispaniola, hoping to +rest for a while in peace, but he found the colony in a state of +rebellion; a wicked man named Roldan, who had been raised to high estate by +Columbus, persuaded the people to rise up against the Admiral of the Indies +and his brothers: the mines were no longer worked, the building of the city +was left unfinished, and there was scarcely any food. And now we come to +the saddest part in the whole story of Columbus. Some wretched convicts who +had been sent out of Spain to the island, and who were in league with +Roldan, contrived to make their escape and return to Europe, where the +false reports they spread reached the ears of Ferdinand and Isabella, and +induced them to believe at last that he was not really worthy of the trust +they had reposed in him. Francesco Bovadilla, a man who cared very little +what he did, was therefore sent to Hispaniola with orders to govern the +island in his stead, whilst Columbus himself was to be sent back to Spain. + +It had happened that at the very moment the Admiral was going to embark on +his third voyage he was deeply affronted by a follower of one of his worst +enemies in Spain; and although he had endured many wrongs and injuries in a +patient and forgiving spirit, he gave way this time to a violent fit of +passion, and struck the time-serving creature repeatedly in his wrath. The +news of this was of course conveyed to the King and Queen, and this one act +of passion on the part of Columbus made them more inclined to believe in +the reports of his ill conduct than all the complaints that had been spoken +against him: they thought that if he were capable of such an action, there +were more cruel and angry deeds to come; just as one little storm cloud +hastening across the clear blue sky makes us dread that others, heavier +and darker, are near. + +As soon as Bovadilla arrived he settled himself in the Admiral's house, +Columbus being absent at one of the forts, and laid hands on all the money, +plate, jewels, and valuable things he could find. Columbus disdained to +question the acts of an unruly man like Bovadilla, and journeying in haste +and alone to St. Domingo, he calmly resigned his command. He was then put +in fetters, although for a long time no one could be found who would fasten +them. At last this shameful office was performed by one of his cooks, a +Spaniard. His brother Diego was already in chains on board a caravel: +Bartholomew would have resisted, but was advised by the Admiral to submit +calmly, and the three brothers, who were so loving and could have comforted +one another in their misfortunes, were all kept apart. + +One day Columbus saw an officer named Villejo coming towards him in his +prison followed by his guards. + +"Where are you going to take me, oh, Villejo?" he asked. + +"To the vessel, your Excellency, to embark," he replied. + +"To embark!" exclaimed Columbus, radiant with joy. "Do you speak truth?" + +"By the life of your Excellency I speak truth;" said he; and they went +indeed on board the caravel which was to convey them to Spain. + +During the voyage Villejo and the captain of the vessel were very kind to +him, and were grieved to see him in chains; they would have removed them, +but Columbus would not let them do so, saying that they had been placed +upon him by order of the King, and his younger son Fernando tells us that +his father, stung at last by a sense of his wrongs, kept them ever after +hung up in his room as a sign of the manner in which he had been rewarded +for his services. Yet let us hope that when he looked at them he forgave +his enemies, since there are no injuries too deep to be forgiven, if we +ourselves would receive pardon of our heavenly Father for our many +misdeeds. + +When Columbus landed at Cadiz thus shackled, a murmur of shame and +indignation was breathed throughout Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella ordered +his fetters to be removed at once, and sent him a large sum of money to pay +the expenses of a visit to court. And when he appeared in their presence, +bowed down by illness and age, and worn out with the dangers and +misfortunes he had gone through, and he saw tears in the eyes of Isabella, +who had once been his kindest friend, he knelt down and burst into a flood +of tears himself. The Queen consoled him with gentle words, and tried to +atone by her kindness for the many affronts he had suffered. Ferdinand +always maintained that he had never given orders for Columbus to be +fettered, and that Bovadilla had acted rashly on his own authority. Be that +as it may, the King was a stern and narrow-minded man; he did not like to +see a foreigner filling the important office of Viceroy of the Indies, and +he took care never to reinstate Columbus in his former dignity, whilst he +sent out a man named Ovando to govern Hispaniola instead of Bovadilla. + +Columbus now formed the project of finding a strait somewhere about the +Isthmus of Darien, which should prove a shorter route to India than the +voyage by the Cape of Good Hope. Although he was getting feeble and aged he +had the same steadfast spirit which had enabled him to wait patiently all +the best years of his life, and had helped him bravely through all his +troubles, and he wanted yet to be of farther service to his fellow-men +before he died. The Portuguese under Vasco de Gama had already anchored +opposite Calcutta, and the trade with India was thus all their own, while +the discovery of the West Indian islands seemed to be less important. If +anything more were to be done by Columbus it must be begun at once, and the +King and Queen granted him four caravels with which to set out on his +fourth and last voyage. The crews of all amounted to four hundred and fifty +men. His brother Bartholomew was with him and his younger son Fernando; the +elder one, Diego, being left to manage his affairs in Spain. + +The little fleet was to have gone straight to Jamaica, but the principal +vessel sailed so badly that it hindered the others, and Columbus steered +instead for Hispaniola, hoping to exchange it for one of the fleet that had +carried out Ovando. He also asked to be allowed shelter in the harbour of +San Domingo, as he believed from certain signs in the atmosphere which he +knew only too well, that a very great storm was near; but Ovando would +neither let him have a vessel nor take shelter. Just at that time, the +fleet which had brought out Ovando was ready to sail, and was to convey to +Spain, the rebel and conspirator Roldan, Bovadilla, who had treated +Columbus so ill, and many persons who had led idle and wicked lives in the +island. They had with them a great quantity of gold, some of which had been +gained by the labour and miseries of the Indians. Amongst the gold that +Roldan was going to take to the King and Queen was one enormous solid lump, +which was said to have been found by an Indian woman in a brook. + +Although Columbus was denied shelter himself he sent a message to the port, +warning the men who were about to sail of the approaching storm, and +entreating them to remain in the harbour until it was over. Well had it +been for them if they had listened to his advice, but they only laughed at +it and boldly put out to sea. Before two days had passed a terrible +hurricane arose, the tempest burst over the ships, and all those men who +had been the greatest enemies of Columbus were swallowed up with their gold +by the foaming waves. The few vessels which were not entirely destroyed +returned to Hispaniola in a shattered condition; only one was able to reach +Spain, and that strangely enough had on board a large sum of money which +belonged by right to Columbus, and had been despatched to Spain by his +agent. + +Columbus kept close to the shore that night, but the tempest was terrible +for him too; the caravels were dispersed and every one on board expected +death, or thought that the others were lost. At last all the vessels, more +or less damaged, arrived safely at Port Hermoso on the west of the island, +and Columbus stayed there some days to repair them. During an interval of +calm he reached the Gardens of Cuba, but soon after this his troubles +began afresh. For forty days he coasted along Honduras, while the most +fearful storms prevailed, and the whole time he could enter no port. The +sea was tremendously high, heavy rains fell continually, and the thunder +and lightning were so terrific that the mariners thought that the end of +the world was coming; added to this the sails and rigging of the caravels +were torn, and the provisions were spoiled by the damp. Columbus grieved +that his son Fernando should be exposed to all these misfortunes. He says +of him in a letter, "God gave him so great courage that he sustained the +others, and if he put his hand to work, he did it as if he had been at sea +for eighty years. It was he who consoled me; I had fallen ill and many a +time was near the gate of the tomb. From a little cabin which I had caused +to be constructed on the stern I directed the voyage. My brother was on the +most wretched and dangerous of the vessels; great was my sorrow because I +had brought him against his will." Then he goes on to tell all his +troubles; and laments that although he had served Castille for so many +years, he had not really a roof in the land he could call his own. He +thought tenderly, too, of his son Diego, in Spain, and pictured the sorrow +he would feel if he heard that all the vessels had perished. In the forty +days the fleet only made seventy leagues; but at least they reached a cape +where the coast made an angle and turned southwards, and the admiral in his +joy and gratitude gave it the name of "Gracias a Dios."[17] + +Now he sailed along the Mosquito shore, the rivers of which abounded with +tortoises and alligators, and in one of these rivers they lost some of +their men who had gone in a boat to seek for provisions. This cast a great +gloom over the rest, which had not passed away when they came to a +beautiful island full of groves of cocoa nuts, bananas, and palms, and +rested awhile between it and the main land. The Indians on shore were very +proud, for when the admiral refused the gifts they brought to the ship, +they tied all the toys and bells the Spaniards had given them together, and +laid them on the sands. When Columbus quitted the spot, he took seven of +these Indians with him as interpreters, and coasted along Costa Rica for +several leagues, until he entered a great bay full of lovely islands. The +natives here wore large plates of gold hanging from chains of cotton cord +around their necks, and strange crowns made of the claws of beasts, and the +quills of birds. They told the strangers that about seventy leagues off +they would find Veragua, a country which abounded in gold. And it seemed, +indeed, as if they spoke the truth, for the nearer they came to that +country the more gold they saw. The natives wore crowns of it on their +heads, and rings of it round their wrists and ancles; their garments were +embroidered with it; their tables and seats were ornamented with it. But +Columbus had not come out this time in search of gold, but to find the +strait which should enable Spain to trade with India at ease, and he left +the land of promised riches and went on the way he thought would lead to +his discovery. Alas! it was soon found that the caravels were too leaky to +sail with safety; they had been pierced through by a worm which infests +the tropical seas, and can bore through the hardest wood;[18] and Columbus +was obliged to give up sailing, for the present, in search of the strait, +and returned to seek for the gold mines of Veragua.[19] It was now +December, and again the caravels were overtaken by one of the terrible +storms of the tropics. The poor mariners gave themselves up for lost; day +and night they confessed their sins one to another, and made vows of what +they would do if their lives were spared. The lightnings were so incessant +that the sky glowed like "one vast furnace;" and they saw, too, for the +first time a water-spout, which, advancing towards the caravels, threatened +them with destruction; but the Lord heard the prayers the terrified seamen +sent up at the strange sight, and the column of water passed by without +doing them any injury. + +In the midst of the storm there was an interval of calm, during which they +saw many sharks; these fishes are supposed to scent dead bodies at a +distance, and often draw near ships when danger is at hand. The sailors +caught some of them, and took out of one a live tortoise, which lived some +time on board one of the vessels; from another they took the head of a +shark, which shows that these monsters sometimes eat one another. In the +history which Fernando wrote of his father, he says that the sufferings of +all on board were very great for want of food; the provisions being spoiled +by the damp, and they had to eat their biscuit in the dark, because it was +so full of worms that it was too dreadful to behold by clear daylight. + +At last they entered a port which the Indians called Hueva, and went from +thence along a canal for three days. When they landed they found the +natives living in the trees like birds, their cabins being fastened to +poles which were suspended from one tree to another. Perhaps they did this +on account of the wild beasts, the forest being full of lions, bears, +racoons, tiger-cats, and sajinos, a species of wild boar which attack men. +After a while the caravels anchored in the mouth of a river which was +really in the country of the gold mines. The admiral sent his brother on +shore to explore the land; and as he soon satisfied himself that there was +gold to be found there in plenty, Columbus at once began to form a +settlement on the river, which he called Belen, or Bethlehem, after the +star the wise men had seen in the east, because the caravels had arrived +there on the Feast of the Epiphany. It was agreed that Bartholomew should +remain here while the admiral returned to Spain to procure fresh vessels +and supplies. So they built houses of wood, thatched with the leaves of +palm trees, on a little hill not far from the mouth of the river, and eked +out their scanty store of provisions with the pine-apples, bananas, and +cocoanuts, which grew around them in plenty; and drank the wine the Indians +made from the pine-apple, and a sort of beer prepared from maize, or Indian +corn. When the rains ceased, however, Columbus found that the river was so +shallow, his crazy and worm-eaten ships could not get out and cross the +bar, so that he was obliged to wait patiently until the rains should swell +the river again and set him free. + +Now it happened that Quibain, the chief of the district, was very angry +when he saw the Spaniards had taken up their abode in his country, and +ordered all his fighting men to be ready to drive them away. A brave man +named Diego Mendez offered to reconnoitre the Indian camp, and soon +returned to tell Columbus that he had seen a thousand Indians who seemed to +be arrayed for battle. After this, with only one companion, he contrived to +get to the chief's village, pretending that he was a surgeon, and could +cure a wound Quibain had received in some skirmish. As he approached the +house a horrible sight awaited him; for on a level plain in front of it the +heads of three hundred men were fixed on poles. This was enough to give a +terrible idea of the fury of Quibain, if it were once roused. Mendez was +not allowed, however, to enter the cacique's dwelling; and went back to the +settlement to tell Columbus what he had seen, and the news he had heard +that the Indians were coming to burn their houses and ships. + +Now, as we have said before, Bartholomew Columbus was a very brave man, and +he set out from Belen with Diego Mendez, and about seventy armed men in +boats, and soon landed at the foot of the hill on which the chief dwelt. +Then he ascended the hill with only Diego and four men besides, ordering +the others to rush forward at the firing of a gun. Bartholomew went alone +to the spot where Quibain was sitting in the open air, and pretending to +look at his arm, held it tight until his comrade fired the gun which should +summon the rest. He had much ado to hold the chief in his grasp, but he +kept firm until he was bound hand and foot. The house was soon surrounded, +and all the family of Quibain were taken prisoners without the shedding of +a drop of blood; and Bartholomew returned to the settlement laden with +spoils, amongst which were many massive gold ornaments, and two coronets of +gold. + +Quibain was committed to the care of the pilot of the fleet, and was tied +by a strong cord to a bench in the pilot's boat. In the darkness of night +the chief complained of the tightness of the cord, and the pilot, touched +with pity, loosened it, holding the end of it in his hand. When he was +looking another way for a moment, the wily Indian plunged into the water +and disappeared; the pilot of course was obliged to let go his hold or he +would have been pulled in after him. + +Columbus now thought that since the greatest enemy of the Spaniards had +thus perished, and the river was again filled by the heavy rains, he might +safely return to Spain, and he sailed out of the harbour. But Quibain had +not been drowned; he swam cleverly to the shore, and when he found his +house deserted, he assembled all his warriors, intending to take his +revenge. Some of the Spaniards who were to remain were straying carelessly +about, when these wild men rushed out of their hiding places in the deep +woods, and killed and wounded several of them. Bartholomew and Mendez soon +drove them back with their fire arms; but Diego Tristan, the captain of one +of the vessels, who had gone on shore with eleven men to get wood and +water, was cruelly killed by the Indians, and only one Spaniard of the +whole party survived to tell the tale. So the remainder shut themselves up +in a fortress they made of a boat and some chests and casks, and defended +themselves as well as they could by their fire arms. + +Columbus, meanwhile, was pursuing his voyage, and meant to touch at +Hispaniola on his way to Spain. Some of the Indian captives who were on +board his ship, escaped; the others killed themselves in their despair. +Diego Tristan not having returned to the admiral's vessel with his boat, a +brave pilot swam to the shore and gained tidings of all that had happened. +Columbus now resolved to break up his settlement, and take all his people +back to Spain, but even this he could not do for a very long time. First of +all a storm arose, as terrific as the previous ones had been: he was in the +deepest anxiety, when one night he had fallen asleep, he heard, in a dream, +a voice that consoled him for all that he had suffered, and reminded him of +the never-failing mercy of God, so that when he awoke he had fresh hope and +courage in his heart. + +And before long there was a calm, which enabled him to reach the fortress +where his brother and his brave comrades were in such great distress. The +caravel that was with them was too much damaged to be of farther use, and +they were obliged to leave it behind. Thankful indeed were the Spaniards to +leave the country of Veragua, where they had gone through so many troubles +and left many of their countrymen lying dead. They embarked in the three +vessels that were left, but one of these was soon found to be in a very +dangerous condition, and the whole company crowded on two wretched +caravels. They could not reach Hispaniola on account of the storms, and +were glad to put into the harbour of St. Gloria, at Jamaica, where they +gave up the struggle. The two vessels were now run aground and tied +together, and cabins were constructed at the prow and stern, which were the +only parts of the caravels above water. They were thatched with straw, to +keep out the rain, and here for one long year Columbus remained with his +crew, forsaken and in much misery. The Indians indeed brought them cassava +bread, and fish and flesh, for which they gave them the usual toys and +beads; but how were they to make known their distress to Ovando, that he +might send vessels to their relief? At last the brave and faithful Mendez, +the only one who would undertake such a perilous journey, ventured in a +canoe with six Indians and one Spaniard to reach the island of Hispaniola. +The first time he tried he was surrounded by the savages and carried off by +them, but he contrived to make his escape and returned alone to the +harbour: it is not known what became of his companions. The second time he +tried he succeeded in reaching the island. During his absence a number of +the crew rebelled; Columbus, rising from his sick bed, endeavoured vainly +to pacify them, but they forsook him and went on shore, where they behaved +very ill to the Indians. + +Eight months passed before Columbus received any tidings of Mendez, and he +began to fear that he had been killed by the savages or had perished in his +frail canoe. At last a messenger came from Hispaniola, and said that Ovando +would send a vessel for the forlorn band as soon as he had one large enough +to hold them all. When Columbus knew that they would be rescued, in the +greatness of his soul he offered a free pardon to the men who had +rebelled, and offered to take them safely to Spain if they would return to +the path of duty; all that he required was that their ringleader should be +kept a prisoner. But this bad man would not let them accept the pardon, and +persuaded some of the Indians to join them and take up their weapons +against Columbus. Bartholomew, of the martial spirit, had to go on shore +and quell the disturbance by force; after this their spirit was broken, and +they confessed their misdeeds and asked Columbus to forgive them. Ovando +sent two vessels, and Columbus then took them all on board and gave them +money to buy food and clothing, of which they were in sore need: he +succoured alike those who had been faithful throughout and those who had +rebelled, remembering how the merciful Lord maketh the sun to shine on all. + +On his way to Spain he touched at St. Domingo, and embarked afresh. +Scarcely had he left the shore when the mast of his ship was carried away +by a squall. Storms went with him all the way home, and he was wearied out +with pain and anxiety when he anchored in the harbour of St. Lucar, never +more to sail on the sea he loved so well. + +He only lived eighteen months after his arrival. The remainder of his life +may be told in a few sad words. Queen Isabella, his friend and patron, died +only a few days after his return to Spain. The King refused to listen to +his claim for the just reward of his services and those of his brave +companions, and it reflects no honor on the Spanish monarch that he allowed +him to pass the last days of his useful life in poverty and neglect. + +On Ascension day, the 6th of May of the year 1506, Columbus died at +Valladolid. Friends were around him as he sank to rest, saying, with his +last breath, "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit." And it may be that +the hardships he had endured, and the insults and reproaches of his +fellow-men, made him long more earnestly for that better land, fairer than +the loveliest island that had risen up from the ocean before his astonished +gaze, the land of the redeemed, where "the Lamb which is in the midst of +the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them into living waters; and God +shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." + +As if to make amends for the neglect he had experienced whilst on earth his +remains were interred with great pomp in the convent of St. Francis at +Seville. They were removed three times after that, and now rest in the +cathedral of the Havannah at Cuba. He made by his will his son Diego his +heir, and ordered that one of his family should always reside at Genoa, +which shows that he preserved an affectionate remembrance of his native +city until the last days of his life. + +His son Fernando tells us that he had a long face, a bright complexion, an +aquiline nose, and lively eyes of clear grey, which seemed to enforce +obedience. His hair was fair in his youth, but began to turn white when he +was only thirty years of age, which made him look much older than he really +was. He was very frugal, and dressed with great simplicity. Although +naturally hasty in temper he treated all persons around him with extreme +gentleness and kindness, and was always ready to succour those who were in +trouble or need. He was sincerely religious, and never omitted to praise +and to pray to God during his voyages either morning or night. In calm +weather and in stormy the voices of the mariners chanting their matins and +vespers rose from the lonely sea. Sunday to him was always a day of rest, +and he would never set sail on that day if he could avoid doing so. + +This chapter ought not to end without the relation of the well-known story +of Columbus and the egg. One day, after his triumphal return from his first +voyage, he was dining at the table of the Grand Cardinal of Spain, and one +of the grandees present asked him if he did not think others could have +found out the way to the new shore as well as himself. Upon this Columbus +took an egg, and asked each person present to make it stand on the table. +Not one being able to do so, Columbus took the egg, and, breaking one end +of it, made it stand upright. Then he said that if one showed the way it +was easy enough for others to follow in his steps, just as the company +assembled could each make the egg stand on the table now that he had shown +them how to do it. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] A caravel was a small light bark, more fitted to sail on a river than +to cross the stormy seas. + +[13] Salvador, Spanish for Saviour. + +[14] A copper coin of Spain, thirty-four of which are worth one real. + +[15] _Navidad_, Spanish for Nativity. + +[16] Trinidad, Spanish for Trinity. + +[17] Gracias a Dios, Spanish for "Thanks be to God." + +[18] See Washington Irving. + +[19] Now called Panama. + + + + +THE CHEVALIER DU BAYARD. + + +Pierre de Terrail Bayard was born in the year 1475, at the castle of +Bayard, in Dauphiné. His ancestors had long been feudal lords of the part +of the province whence they took their name, and were always renowned for +their valour and loyalty. The great-great-grandfather of Pierre died in the +Battle of Poictiers at the feet of his king, John of France: his +great-grandfather fell at Cressy; his grandfather at Monthéri; and his +father received so many wounds in an action with the Germans that he could +never after leave his Castle of Bayard. And when he was getting feeble, and +felt that his days were numbered, he called his four sons around him, and +asked each one of them what state of life he would choose for himself. + +The eldest replied that he would like always to live at the old Castle of +Bayard, amongst his own people; so his father said to him, "Very well, +George, since you are so fond of home, you shall stay here and fight the +bears." Pierre, the second son, then thirteen years old, said that he +desired to follow the profession of arms, as his father had done; and that +he trusted through the grace of God to acquit himself with honour therein. +The third son said he would like to have an abbey, like his uncle, the +Monseigneur of Esnay, and the youngest wished to be a bishop, like his +uncle of Grenoble. + +The Sire du Bayard rejoiced very much at the choice little Pierre had made, +but as he could not decide at once where he should be trained for the +service of his country, he sent in haste for his brother-in-law, the Bishop +of Grenoble, that he might tell him the glad news and ask his advice in the +matter. + +The bishop came, and made good cheer at the Castle, several gentlemen of +Dauphiné having been invited thither to render him honour. He was as much +delighted as the Sire du Bayard at the thought that Pierre would maintain +the glory of his ancestors, and the day after his arrival advised that he +should enter the service of Charles, Duke of Savoy. The Duke was then at +Chambéry, a place not far from the Castle, and the Bishop of Grenoble +proposed taking his nephew to him the next morning. + +Thus it was settled that little Pierre should leave his home for ever, and +part with his brothers, his merry playmates in the woods and fields around +Bayard, and his gentle mother, who loved him perhaps above all her other +sons; but his father felt that he was getting weaker every hour, and since +he was not rich, he was very anxious to provide for the welfare of his +children as far as he could before he died. + +First of all, however, it was agreed that Pierre must be equipped as a +page, and the Bishop sent for his own tailor, bidding him bring with him +satin and velvet, and all that was necessary for a page's dress in those +days. The tailor had to work hard all night, and the next morning, Pierre +in his new habit went down into the courtyard and mounted a war-horse, +which stood there ready saddled, while his father and all his guests looked +on from the lower windows of the Castle. The horse feeling so light a +burden upon him grew restive, and it seemed each moment as if Pierre must +have been thrown, but to the delight and astonishment of all who beheld +him, the boy, who had left school only a fortnight before, managed his +horse, as an old French writer tells us, with as much skill as if he had +been thirty years of age. + +The Sire du Bayard now bid him not to dismount, and gave him his blessing, +after which all the rest of the people took leave of him. Pierre's eyes +filled with tears when his father looked so proudly and lovingly at him. +"Monseigneur, my father," he said, "I pray to our Lord to give you a long +and happy life, and to me grace, so that before you quit this world, you +may hear good news of me." + +In the meantime his mother was weeping alone in a turret chamber of the +Castle; for although she was glad that he had chosen to follow a soldier's +life for the honour of his name, she grieved bitterly at the thought of +parting with him, and feared that she should never see him again. She came +down into the courtyard by a back staircase, and there took leave of him +with many tears, and gave him words of advice which he remembered so well +all his life long that he gained both from his friends and from his foes +the title of "The good knight, without fear and without reproach." + +These were some of the words she said: That he was to love and serve God, +without giving Him offence, as far as in him lay; and that he could do no +good work in this world without His help and blessing. That he was to be +gentle and courteous to all, casting away pride; humble, ready to serve his +fellow creatures, and sober in eating and drinking. That he was never to +tell a lie, or flatter, or be a tale-bearer, or be idle; that he was to be +loyal in deed and speech, to keep his word; to succour the widows and +orphans, for which the Lord would repay him, and that he was to share with +the needy such gifts as God might bestow upon him, since giving in honour +of Him made no man poor. + +When the noble lady had spoken thus, she gave her son a little purse, which +contained a few pieces of gold, and then having implored a trusty servant +of the Bishop's to be careful of him, because he was so very young to leave +home, she bade him a last farewell. + +The day after Pierre's arrival at Chambéry was Sunday. After mass, a great +banquet was served in honour of the Bishop of Grenoble, who was a very holy +man, and much beloved by the Duke of Savoy. During the repast Pierre stood +beside his uncle and poured out his wine for him, and when it was ended he +did not linger over the remains of the feast with the pages and youths +belonging to Duke Charles's household, but hastened back to his lodgings +and saddled his horse, and having mounted it, went down to the courtyard of +the palace. + +The Duke had remarked his graceful bearing during dinner, and now seated in +a gallery was watching him in the court below. Then the Bishop told him how +the Sire du Bayard, being too much enfeebled by his wounds to lift his +sword again, had sent his little son Pierre to him as a gift, and hoped +that he would allow him to enter his service. The Duke of Savoy said that +the present was both good and fair, and agreed to take young Bayard into +his service without delay. So the Bishop returned home, and Pierre was left +alone amongst strangers. He must have sorrowed at first for the old life at +Castle Bayard, and the watchful love of his mother, but whatever he felt, +he began to fulfil his duties with an earnest heart, and was kind and +gentle to all around him, and never forgot to pray morning and night that +the Almighty would give him grace to remain loyal and brave. Pierre lived +with the Duke at Chambéry for six months, and during that time he made +himself beloved by every inmate of the house: he was a great favourite with +the Duchess of Savoy, and had one little playmate, amongst the young +maidens who were in attendance upon her, to whom he was much attached. + +When the six months had expired the whole party set off on their mules, +according to the custom of travelling at that time, to visit King Charles +the Eighth in the city of Lyons. The king, struck with the reports he had +heard of Bayard's conduct, and the knightly grace he displayed in his +presence, made him his own page, and had him lodged in the house of the +Seigneur de Ligny, a prince of the house of Luxembourg, to be trained with +about thirty other noble youths in the use of arms. + +There was a squire belonging to the household of the Duke of Savoy who +loved little Pierre very much, and they had scarcely arrived at Lyons +before he told him that he knew he should never be able to keep him after +the king had once seen him exercise in the meadow of Esnay. King Charles +witnessed the wonderful evolutions he performed on his war-horse with the +greatest delight; he was never weary of seeing him spur on the animal to +fresh gambols; "Pique,[20] pique, encore une fois!" he cried, and all the +little pages echoing the words of the king, cried in their shrill voices, +"Piquez, piquez!" so that Pierre was called long after by the familiar name +of "Piquet" in memory of the day. + +Before the Duke of Savoy left Lyons he gave a supper to the Seigneur de +Ligny and some of the chief nobles in the city. The repast was enlivened by +the music of the royal minstrels and singers: it was served early, and when +it was ended the company played at various games all the remainder of the +evening, and drank spiced wines before they separated. This was the usual +manner of entertainment at that time, and if ladies were included in the +invitations, there would be dancing until midnight, which was considered a +very late hour. + +The years passed on, and Pierre was very happy with his companions in the +house of the Seigneur de Ligny. There was then living in Burgundy a brave +knight named Claude de Vauldré, whom the king summoned to Lyons, in order +that the young nobles of the city might contend with him, and thus give +proof of the progress they had made in their martial studies. + +As soon as Claude arrived he hung up his shield, and it was a custom that +if any person touched a shield thus suspended, he gave a sign that he was +ready to engage in combat with its owner. + +One day, as Pierre was passing by, he sighed deeply, and said to himself, +"Ah, if I only knew how to equip myself for the combat, how gladly would I +touch yonder shield, and so gain some real knowledge of the use of arms!" +One of his comrades, Bellabre, seeing him so full of care, asked him what +he was thinking about; and when he told him of his desire, and his distress +at having no money to buy horses and weapons, Bellabre advised him to ask +help from his uncle, the rich Abbé of Esnay. + +Bayard, with hope revived by this counsel, touched the shield, and after a +sleepless night set off for Esnay very early in the morning, in a little +boat, with Bellabre. They found the abbé saying his matins. He grumbled +terribly at first at his nephew's request, saying that the money given by +the founders of the abbey was to serve God with, and not to be spent in +jousts and tilting. Bayard, however, prevailed upon him to provide him with +a hundred crowns and two horses; and the abbé, in a more softened mood, +ordered a merchant of Lyons to furnish him with all other things that he +required. + +The greatest wonder was expressed in Lyons that a youth not yet eighteen +years of age should venture to contend with an experienced knight like +Claude Vauldré; but when the day of trial came, Bayard repelled the thrusts +of his opponent in the most daring and fearless manner; and the ladies who +sat in the balconies, watching the combatants in the arena below, exclaimed +with one voice that he had done better than all the rest. + +One morning, soon after the tournament, the Seigneur de Ligny called +Pierre to him, and told him that as the war the French had long been +carrying on in Italy was to be continued, he should now enter his company, +which was stationed at the little town of Ayre, in Picardy. The Seigneur +told him also that he would give him three hundred francs a year for his +service, and three horses, richly caparisoned. Bayard then went to take +leave of the king, who bestowed on him, at parting, the finest horse in his +stable; and last of all, he bade farewell with many tears to the good +seigneur himself, whose house had been for him a second happy home. It is +worthy of remark, throughout the life of the good knight, that in whatever +circumstances he was placed, he always spoke of his happiness. And what +_was_ the secret of that happiness, which neither the agony he endured when +he lay disabled by wounds could take from him, nor the hardships and toil +he had to go through during his numerous campaigns? Surely it was his +loving kindness to all around him, which sprang from his own love to +Almighty God and his Son Jesus Christ. To do good is truly to be happy, and +love begets love. Bayard was dreaded by the enemies of his country because +he was so steadfast and brave; but we never find that he had one personal +enemy, or that he harboured a quarrelsome thought. + +As he drew near the little town of Ayre, his future comrades rushed out on +the road to meet him, they were so glad to have him amongst them, and the +ladies flocked to the windows to welcome him as he passed along the +streets. Bayard had sent his servant on before to prepare a great supper at +his lodgings, and there he entertained his new companions the night of his +arrival. And very soon after he had a tournament cried in Ayre, which +lasted two days and attracted a vast concourse of people to the spot. + +It was the beautiful summer time, and the little town looked very gay with +the banners streaming from its windows, and the bright armour of the +knights and the jewels and silken robes of the ladies flashing in the +sunlight. The trumpets were sounded, and Bayard was the first to enter the +lists against one of his neighbours of Dauphiné, who was a very rough man +of arms. The good knight, before he vanquished him, broke his lance in five +or six pieces. The trumpets sounded again in full clang, and in the next +trial Bayard very nearly had his arm broken, but he won from his opponent a +little casque adorned with plumes. Then came Bellabre and a formidable +Scottish captain, named David Fergus, who was greatly renowned for his +strength and skill. + +When the first day's contest was over, there was joyous feasting and +dancing in Ayre until midnight, and the next morning all the knights went +to mass, after which they dined together in good fellowship, and at two +o'clock in the afternoon they repaired to the arena to complete the trial. +And at evening, when they had all done their part in the sport, and the air +was filled with shouting and merry talking, the trumpets were sounded to +command silence, and to Bayard was awarded the honour of decreeing the +prizes. The young knight protested that he was not worthy of so great an +honour, and was about to withdraw, but the people present insisted that he +should adjudge them, and no other, because he had fought the best of all. +So he gave the first prize, which was a bracelet of pure gold, to his +friend Bellabre; and the second one, a fine diamond, to the gallant +Scottish captain. It was usual for the knights to present the prizes they +had thus won to the young maidens whom they had chosen for their brides. +During the time Pierre remained in Ayre he made himself very much beloved +by his liberality, and his readiness to help those who were in distress. +Many of his companions were poor, although they were of noble family, and +if any one of them wanted setting up in arms, or was in need of money, +Bayard was sure to let him share the last crown piece he had in his purse. +Besides this, he never forgot the poor, and every morning he used to attend +the service of the church, which made him happy for the day, and strong to +overcome evil. + +When King Charles the Eighth undertook his expedition to Naples, the good +knight accompanied him with the Seigneur de Ligny, and in the battle of +Fornova, which the French gained over the Italians on their way back to +France, he displayed great valour, and had two horses killed under him at +the first charge. Whilst the French companies remained in Italy they were +allowed to amuse themselves in tilting and jousts, provided no particular +warfare was going on at the time; and Bayard had leisure to visit the +Duchess of Savoy, at Carignan, and held a great tournament there in honour +of the favourite playmate of his childhood, who was now married to Monsieur +de Fluxas, an officer belonging to the household of Charles of Savoy. And +here he saw many who recalled the happy days at Chambéry: it was a joyous +meeting on both sides, and Bayard remembered all those who had been kind to +him when he first left the old castle of Bayard, and to the master +palfrenier,[21] who was very fond of him, he gave a horse worth fifty +pieces of silver; and to the squire, who had been so loth to part with him +in Lyons, and had now retired from the service of the Duke of Savoy, he +sent a mule, because the old man was ill with the gout, and could not walk. + +After the death of Charles VIII., the Italian war was continued by his +successor, Louis XII., and Bayard was constantly engaged in supporting the +honour of the French arms. In the year 1503 Louis declared war against +Ferdinand, of Arragon, because he had behaved very badly to him by +pretending to be his ally, whilst in reality he was planning to take from +the French all the places they had conquered in Italy. Three great armies +were prepared to invade the dominions of Ferdinand on every side. The good +knight served in the first: it was composed of 18,000 infantry, and 2,000 +men-at-arms, and was destined for the recovery of the kingdom of Naples, +which had been wrenched out of the hands of the French by Gonsalvo, the +Great Captain. + +By the time the army arrived in the south of Italy, the season was far +advanced, and the French and the Spaniards remained for a long time on the +opposite shores of the river Garigliano, near Naples. Pedro de Paz, the +leader of the Spanish troops, was a man of the most daring courage, +although in person he was so small, that it is said when he was on +horseback his head was all that could be seen of him above the saddle. One +day he formed a plan which, had it been carried out, would have caused very +great loss to the French. This was to cross the Garigliano with a hundred +men-at-arms, at a place where he knew there was a ford, in the hope that +the French would hasten thither to resist him, and leave his other troops +to gain possession of a bridge of boats which had been thrown across the +river. His plan was successful in the beginning; there was a sudden alarm +in the French camp. The good knight who always liked to be where the danger +was greatest, had a lodging close by the bridge; he happened to be there at +the time with only one of his squires. Having heard the noise, they were +just going to arm themselves, and hasten to join in the affray, when Bayard +perceived 200 of the enemy's horse advancing towards the bridge. He told +his companion to fly to the rest of the army and give the alarm, whilst he +amused the Spaniards until succour could arrive. The good knight then went +alone to the bridge with his lance in his hand, and found the Spaniards +just ready to cross at the other end. But he did not let them advance, and +kept the bridge single handed until his squire came back with 100 +men-at-arms; the enemy thought at last his efforts could not be human! The +men-at-arms, with Bayard at their head, soon forced all the Spaniards to +quit their post, and chased them a good mile beyond it; they would have +pursued them farther, but they saw several hundred men coming to the +rescue, and they turned their horses in the direction of the camp. Bayard +was always the last to retreat; on this occasion he was far behind the +others, his horse being so tired that it could only go very slowly on its +way; and soon a body of Spaniards bore down suddenly upon him, his horse +was thrown into a ditch, and he was surrounded by twenty or thirty Spanish +knights, who kept crying "Surrender, Seņor, surrender!" The good knight +defended himself to the utmost, but he thought he should not be able to +hold out long against so many, and fortunately his comrades, who had missed +him just as they had reached the bridge, were seen hastening to the spot +where he was so hardly pressed. + +Directly the Spaniards heard the quick tread of their horses they carried +him off, and kept asking his name; but he only replied that he was a +gentleman; because if they had known whom it was they had captured he might +never have come out of their hands alive. A cry, however, rose on the air, +"Turn, Spaniards, you shall not carry away thus the flower of chivalry!" +The French came up, and a fierce struggle ensued. Bayard mounted another +horse, and soon extricated himself from his enemies, exclaiming the while, +"France! Bayard, whom you let go!" The Spaniards were greatly vexed and +discouraged when they found out how important a prize they had lost, and +began at once to retreat, while the French rode home in the winter dusk +joyful and triumphant to their camp. + +The good knight held out bravely against the foes of his country, but the +enterprise did not succeed, and a treaty was made which obliged the French +to withdraw all their forces from the kingdom of Naples, and return by sea +or land to their own country. Bayard and another valiant knight named Louis +d' Ars, were very indignant that such a treaty should have been made; they +refused to sign it, and said they would rather stay in Italy and perish by +the sword than allow the Italians to believe that all Frenchmen were +cowards; and they undertook to defend several small towns which remained to +the French in Naples, with a few followers who would not forsake them, and +sold all their jewels and silver plate that they might be able to buy +provisions and ammunition. Thus, to the astonishment of Europe, these two +knights maintained the honour of their countrymen in Italy, and did not +give up the towns they had engaged to defend until the following year, when +the king recalled them to France, and rewarded them in proportion to their +services. + +The good knight was dangerously wounded some years later at the taking of +Brescia. This city had opened its gates to the victorious French three +years before, but had been delivered into the hands of the Venetians +through the treachery of an Italian count, who resided within its walls. As +soon as the king's nephew, Gaston, Duke de Nemours[22] heard of this, he +marched forty leagues in the depth of winter, in the hope of recovering the +town, having already sent Bayard on in advance. The day after his arrival, +they took possession of the citadel, which still held out for the French, +and the next day they agreed to take the town by assault. The road leading +down from the citadel to the rampart was very slippery on account of the +heavy rains, and the duke was obliged to take off his shoes to prevent +himself from falling; still he went bravely on, followed by the good +knight and his men-at-arms. When the Venetians saw Bayard at the first +rampart, they tried all they could to kill him; because, they said, if he +were once overcome the others would never dare approach. Bayard steadily +gained his way, however, and cheered his men on to victory until he passed +the rampart, and a thousand of the French were enabled to make their +entrance into the town. But in doing this he received a pike-wound in his +thigh; the pike going in so hard that the end of it broke, and the iron was +left in the flesh. Bayard told the captain beside him that he might lead +off his men now that the town was won, but that he should never pass from +the place again, and reckoned himself a dead man. + +The knowledge that the Chevalier was severely wounded only served to make +the French captains press on the assault with greater fury, and they fought +their way into the public place, or square, where they killed many of the +Venetians, and obliged the others to lay down their arms. The good knight +was left with two of his archers, who tried to staunch the blood that +flowed from his wounds. When they saw that all the strongholds in the town +were gained, they sought around until they found a wooden plank, or door, +and on this they carried him into the best looking house they could see. +This house belonged to an Italian gentleman, who not very courageously had +fled for safety to a monastery, and had left his wife and daughters in the +town. The archers knocked at the door, and were allowed to carry in their +burden, and they afterwards stationed themselves outside to prevent the +enemy from entering. The Italian lady received Bayard very kindly; she was +grieved to see him suffering so much, and went herself with one of the +archers to fetch a good surgeon to dress his wound. + +It was nearly five weeks before he could rise from his bed, and during that +time he had sent his _maître d'hôtel_ to seek for the lady's husband, so +that the whole family might live happily together under his protection, +their house being the only one in Brescia that was neither sacked nor +pillaged. And he said afterwards that although he had endured the greatest +pain from his wound, he had never once been unhappy, because he had been +with friends; it only vexed him to think that the French were getting +nearer the Spaniards every day, and that a battle would soon take place, in +which he would not be able to assist; and he used to tell the Duke de +Nemours, who came daily to see him whilst he remained in the town, because +he loved him so much, that he would rather be borne to the battle-field in +a litter than not be present at all. For it was the great object of the +king of France to drive the Spaniards out of Lombardy, since he knew that +as long as they were roving about in Italy, his duchy of Milan would never +be secure. + +One day Bayard found, to his joyful surprise, that he could walk once more, +and his surgeon gave him leave to start at the expiration of two days for +the French camp. According to the custom of the victorious French, the +whole family were in reality the prisoners of Bayard, and the Italian lady +was in great trouble of mind, thinking that he would demand at least ten +or twelve thousand crowns for their ransom, which was more than they were +able to pay. So on the morning of the day when the good knight was to +depart after dinner, she came to him, and knelt down before him. Bayard +would not suffer her to kneel, so rising, she presented him with a purse +which contained 1,500 ducats. When she had opened it, he laughed: "How many +are there, madam?" he asked. The lady thought that he was laughing because +there were so few, and began to make excuses; but when the Chevalier found +out that she wanted to pay her ransom, he declared that he would take +nothing from her at all; that the welcome she had given him was worth more +than a hundred thousand crowns, and that he should feel himself bound in +gratitude to serve her until the end of his days. It was so unusual for the +French to release their prisoners without a ransom that the Italian lady +was deeply moved; she went down on her knees, and kissing the hand of the +good knight, she said, "Flower of chivalry, may the Lord reward you for +what you have done!" She pressed him so hard however to accept the purse +that Bayard consented to take it out of esteem and respect for her, and her +two daughters then came to bid him farewell. The damsels were very +beautiful; they were skilled in embroidery, and could sing and play the +lute and spinet, and many a time the Chevalier, as he lay writhing in pain, +had been cheered by their music. When they came in, they too would have +knelt to thank him for his kindness and protection, but he made them rise, +and dividing the ducats into three parts, he gave each of them a thousand +for a marriage portion, and the five hundred that remained he gave to +their mother for the relief of the religious houses in Brescia, which had +been plundered by the French. The maidens now produced the parting gifts +they had prepared; the Chevalier received them very graciously, and said +that he should wear them as long as he lived; one was a bracelet made of +gold and silver thread, and the other a purse of crimson worked in gold. +Then they all touched hands after the fashion of Italy, and the good knight +bade them farewell kneeling, and they all wept bitterly when he rode away +from the door, they were so grieved to think they should never see him +again. + +When Bayard reached the camp of the Duke de Nemours, he found that his +countrymen had arrived only that day before Ravenna, and that the enemy +were six miles off, but the next day they came nearer by two miles. The +night but one before the famous battle of Ravenna, several captains were at +supper with the Duke de Nemours, talking the while of the contest which was +so soon to take place. Bayard was amongst the guests, and the Duke told him +that as the Spaniards had a great respect for his talents, and were very +anxious to know if he were in the camp, he thought it would be advisable +for him to attempt some skirmish with them the next day, just to see how +well they could fight. The good knight was delighted with the idea; +"Monseigneur," he replied, "I promise you on my word of honour that, God +helping, I shall see them so close before noon, that I shall be able to +bring you news." + +Now the Baron of Bearne, the Duke's lieutenant, coveted the glory of being +the first to attack the enemy, and although the Chevalier was known to +rise very early in the morning, he thought that he would rise earlier +still, and thus steal a march upon him. So as soon as soon as the supper +was ended, he went to tell all his followers to be ready armed before break +of day, charging them also to keep the matter a profound secret. + +When the good knight returned to his tent, he also arranged with some of +the chief captains how the attack should be made, and then, they all went +to rest until the trumpet should sound to awaken them at dawn. + +It was very early the next morning when they set out, carrying with them +the banners of the Duke of Lorraine unfurled, in the hope that they would +bring them good luck. They did not, of course, know that the Baron of +Bearne had already gone the same path; but the sound of weapons clashing, +and of horses' hoofs, soon fell upon their ears; the baron had indeed +crossed the canal which lay between the two armies, and had advanced to the +enemy's camp; but he had been discomfited, and was forced to retire. + +When Bayard saw that Neapolitans and Spaniards were boldly crossing the +canal in pursuit of the fugitives, he called to his comrades to fly to the +aid of their countrymen, and rushed before any into the midst of a troop of +one hundred and twenty men. His comrades loved him too well not to follow +him, and he chased the enemy back right into the camp, and overthrew there +numbers of their tents, although the Spaniards were all astir and ready for +battle. When he thought he had aroused them sufficiently, he sounded the +trumpet for a retreat, and arrived in the camp of the Duke de Nemours with +the news he had promised to bring him, but without having lost a single +man. + +The Duke now assembled all the captains and knights, and told them, that +his uncle the king desired that a battle should take place at once, because +he had heard that the Venetians and Swiss were about to descend into the +Duchy of Milan; and it was agreed that the French army should pass the +bridge of boats across the canal, and attack the enemy on the morrow. + +The next morning the Duke came out of his tent at sunrise. "Look, +gentlemen!" he said to his companions, "how red the sun is!" And one of +them, who was much beloved by him, replied, "Do you know, Monseigneur, what +that signifies? That a great captain will fall to-day: it will be either +you or Cardonna, the viceroy." The duke only laughed at his remark, and +went to watch the army passing the bridge with Bayard and some other +knights, while the Spaniards, in great alarm, hastened to put the whole of +their troops in battle array. + +Just as the duke was telling the good knight, that they might fall an easy +prey to their enemies, if any harquebussiers were concealed thereabouts, a +body of from twenty to thirty Spaniards appeared, amongst whom was Pedro de +Pas. Bayard was the first to speak. "Gentlemen," said he, "you will linger +about here like ourselves until the play begins. I entreat that not a +harquebuss be fired on your part, and we will not fire upon you." Pedro de +Pas then asked the name of the knight who had spoken, and was overjoyed to +find that he was really in the company of the Chevalier du Bayard, who had +gained so much renown in Naples. + +The Duke de Nemours was a merciful man, and he offered to settle the +quarrel by single combat with the viceroy, to spare the effusion of blood. +His followers, however, thought that the risk was too great; and the army +having crossed the canal by eight o'clock in the morning, the battle began. +It lasted many hours, and was very terrible on both sides; and although the +Spaniards were defeated, the French bought their victory very dearly, with +the life of their brave and good young prince, Gaston of Nemours. For the +prediction of his friend had indeed been fulfilled, and he lay among the +slain! The good knight fought all through that long battle like a hero; he +had gone in pursuit of the enemy, and came back to the field late in the +afternoon, to find that the duke was dead. + +A short time after this, the Venetians, the Swiss, and the army sent by the +Pope pressed forward, and the French were soon obliged to retire out of +Lombardy, only leaving garrisons in some of the strong castles. At Pavia, +Bayard made himself very famous by defending a bridge of boats, during two +hours against the Swiss; he had two horses killed under him, and received a +severe wound in the shoulder before he would give way. His companions +thought that his wound was mortal, though he declared it was nothing, and +they staunched it with moss, which they tore off the stems of trees, and +with linen which they tore from their shirts. The good knight did not +recover for a very long time after the French army had recrossed the +mountains, and he went to his uncle the Bishop of Grenoble, in whose +palace he was lodged and watched over, "like the precious stone set in pure +gold." And he was so ill that he thought to his sorrow that he should die +in his bed, instead of closing his eyes for ever on the battle-field; but +all the people of Grenoble prayed for him--his good uncle, nobles, +merchants, monks, and nuns; there was not a voice that did not rise up in +prayer to the Almighty for his recovery. And after a long while his +strength and spirit returned to him, and he remained some months at +Grenoble, greatly honoured for all the brave deeds he had achieved. + +In the battle of Guinegatte, commonly called the battle of the Spurs, from +the speed with which the French soldiers took flight, the Chevalier was +made prisoner, but not until he had saved his countrymen from entire +disgrace by his valour. Henry the Eighth was then at war with France, and +Maximilian, Emperor of Germany, was serving in the army of the English +monarch for the pay of a hundred crowns a day. + +Before Henry and Maximilian had arrived in the English camp, the Earl of +Shrewsbury had begun the siege of Perouane, a town on the borders of +Picardy, close by Guinegatte. The besieged had defended themselves bravely, +and the governor of the province had succeeded in forcing his way through +the English camp, to bring them a large supply of bacon and gunpowder. He +had got safely back again, when the French horsemen, who had advanced to +protect him, were attacked suddenly by a body of English, whilst they were +straying carelessly about without their helmets and cuirasses, because +they were overpowered by the intense heat of the day. Thus it was that they +took flight, and that several noblemen amongst them of high rank were made +prisoners. Bayard retreated with great regret; he had only fourteen +men-at-arms with him, and yet he often turned back and faced his enemies. +At last they came to a little bridge, where only two horsemen could pass at +a time, and below it there was a deep ditch full of water. The good knight +then sent word to the camp, by an archer that he had arrested the enemy for +at least half an hour, and that delay, would give the army time to get into +order. The archer went straight to the camp, and Bayard was left with his +few men to guard the bridge. He was soon surrounded on all sides, and +advised his people to surrender; and when they were all secured, he rode +towards an English gentleman, who, either wearied with the fight or +oppressed by the heat, was resting beneath a tree. Bayard put his sword to +his throat, and exclaimed, "Surrender, man-at-arms, or you are a dead man!" +The gentleman, naturally wishing to save his life, surrendered, and asked +the stranger who he was. "I am the Captain Bayard," replied the knight, +"and now I surrender to you, and give you my sword to hold, and entreat you +to conduct me to some place of safety, and to have the kindness to let me +have my sword, if we meet with any Englishmen on our way, who may desire to +kill me." The gentleman promised this, and they set off for the camp of +King Henry, and had really to defend themselves more than once, upon the +road thither. + +Bayard remained in the tent of his prisoner, who treated him well, but on +the fifth day of his captivity, he said to him, "My gentleman, I wish you +would lead me in safety to the camp of the king, my master, for I am +utterly tired of being here." + +"How?" cried the other. "We have not yet agreed as to your ransom." + +"To my ransom, indeed!" said the knight; "but it is rather for me to think +of yours, since you are my prisoner; and if I surrendered to you it was +only to save my life. My gentleman," continued he, "whether faith is kept +with me, or not, I feel assured that in some way I shall fight with you by +and by." + +The gentleman did not quite relish the idea of a combat with the +redoubtable Bayard, so he replied in courteous terms, that he only wished +to do what was right in the affair, and would consult with his captains. + +When the enemy knew that Bayard was safe in the camp, they were as much +pleased as if they had won another victory. The Emperor of Germany sent for +him to his tent. + +"Captain Bayard, my friend," said he, "I have great pleasure in seeing you. +Would that I had many men like you! I think in a little while I should be +able to avenge myself of all the tricks, your master has played me in times +gone by." Presently, he said to him, "Methinks we have been at war together +before, and I remember to have heard that Bayard was one who never fled." + +"Sire," replied the Good Knight promptly, "if I had fled I should not have +been here." + +Then bluff King Harry came up and said, "Truly, Monsieur de Bayard, if all +men were like you, the siege which I have begun before this town, would +soon be raised; but any way you are my prisoner." + +"Sire," answered the Chevalier, "I do not own it, and yet I would fain +believe yourself and the emperor." + +The gentleman whose tent Bayard had shared now appeared, and related the +whole affair; and there was a discussion, as to which was really the +prisoner. The Emperor, whose advice governed the movements of the English +army, at last decided in favour of Bayard, but acquitted both on account of +their mutual courtesy; and King Henry said that the Good Knight might leave +the camp, if he would promise on his word of honour to remain unarmed for +six weeks. Bayard was very grateful, both to the emperor and to the king, +and went to divert himself in the country, in the best manner he could +until the six weeks were passed. During this time the King of England tried +by various means, to attach him to his service, but his trouble was thrown +away; it would have been impossible for the Chevalier to have entertained a +disloyal thought. + +Not long after this Louis the Twelfth died, and his cousin, Francis, Count +of Angoulęme, was declared King of France. Immediately after his +coronation, the young king began to prepare secretly for the conquest of +Milan, that duchy having lately returned to the allegiance of the Italian +duke Sforza. Bayard was ordered to repair with three or four thousand men, +to the borders of his native province of Dauphiné, and after performing +several brave actions, he got down quietly into the plain of Piedmont. +Prosper Colonna, the Pope's lieutenant, was there in the Castle of +Carmaignolle. When he heard of the arrival of the Chevalier, he exclaimed, +in a tone of extreme scorn, "That Bayard has crossed the mountains; I will +take him as I would a pigeon in a cage!" + +The other French captains arrived in the plain, and the Good Knight advised +that they should rest their horses that night, and attack Colonna the next +day at dawn in his castle. + +They had a large piece of water to cross before they could get to the +place; but they knew of a ford, and two or three hours after midnight they +mounted their horses in silence, and set out on the road. Prosper was not +alarmed, because he still thought that only Bayard was there with his +company, and he would have remained at Carmaignolle, had he not received +orders to change his quarters. He did not hurry himself in the least, and +stopped on his journey to dine at a little town called Villefranche. When +the French arrived at the castle, they found to their disappointment that +Colonna was gone, and they all agreed to pursue him. The Seigneur +d'Imbercourt was foremost in the troop; he soon reached the town; Colonna +was already there, and his people shut the gates. The Good Knight came up +in time however to gain them, and although the enemy gave the alarm to a +body of three or four thousand Swiss, he made his way into the town, +followed by his men-at-arms, and found the Italian commander seated at his +dinner. Colonna was enraged at being thus captured, like "a pigeon in a +cage" himself, instead of in battle; the Good Knight tried to cheer him up, +and make the best of it, but the whole affair cost the signor, besides his +liberty, 50,000 crowns worth of gold and silver plate, furniture, and +money, and that was quite enough to make a man look sad. The French found a +very large sum of money in the town, and nearly 700 beautiful coursers and +Spanish horses. + +Francis had already crossed the mountains which separate France from Italy. +He was delighted to hear of the capture of Colonna, and soon waged the +tremendous battle of Marignano with the Swiss, who were the partizans of +Sforza and Colonna, and were indignant that Francis had succeeded in +crossing the Alps. Marignano was situate about a league from the city of +Milan. The Swiss were determined to defend the duchy to the last extremity, +and had assembled a very large army. The battle began at four o'clock on a +September afternoon in the year 1415, and was only discontinued when it was +too dark to see to fight. The king passed the night in his armour on the +carriage of a cannon, and was surprised at daybreak to find the enemy +within a few paces of him in readiness to renew the attack. The young king +and the chevalier fought at Marignano side by side, and both displayed +extraordinary valour; and when the victory was decided for the French, +Francis, to reward Bayard for the great share he had had in it, received +the honour of knighthood from his hands. + +The day of Marignano, "the combat of giants," as an old Italian hero called +it, who had been in eighteen pitched battles, was disastrous indeed for the +Swiss, for it is said that when they began to retreat they left 10,000 of +their comrades lying dead upon the battle-field. + +In the last charge that was made, Bayard was mounted on a fiery courser, +the first he had ridden having been killed under him. He was so closely +beset that the bridle was torn from his horse, and the animal, thus freed +from restraint, galloped off and made its way through the enemy's ranks; it +would have carried its rider right into the midst of a troop of Swiss, if +its course had not been intercepted by a field full of vines entwined from +tree to tree; the good knight but for this timely wall of defence, must +assuredly have fallen into the hands of his enemies. He had not quite lost +his senses in the rapid flight, and he glided down gently from his horse, +threw away his arms and a part of his armour, and crawled along a ditch, in +the direction as he supposed of the French camp. Fortunately he was not +mistaken; he soon had the delight of hearing the cry of "France! France!" +in the distance, and was enabled to reach his companions, and rejoice with +them over the great victory they had gained; although a victory bought with +the lives of so many fellow creatures, cannot but bring a sharp pang of +sorrow to the heart of every man. + +The fame of Bayard had now risen to such a height, that nearly all the +young nobles of France, begged to be allowed the honour of serving under +him, in the defence of the town of Mezieres. Maximilian and Ferdinand were +both dead, and Charles V. was Emperor of Germany and King of Spain. +Charles, who was quite as ambitious as the young king of France, had +ordered the Count of Nassau to advance towards the frontiers, and lay +siege to the town of Mousson. The men who defended it were cowards, and +lay down their arms almost without fighting. The Count, finding this +success so easy, next besieged Mezieres, and through this town the Emperor +intended his troops to have passed into France. But Francis knew that if he +suffered Mezieres to be taken, it would be the most foolish thing he could +do; it was like giving the enemy the key of the gate that kept them out of +France. So he wisely ordered Bayard to hasten to its defence; and although +the Good Knight had only 1,000 men in the place, he obliged the Count of +Nassau, and his 35,000 Germans, to retire with shame and loss after a +lengthened siege. The service he thus performed for his country was very +great, and the king rewarded him for it with a hundred lances, and the +collar of St. Michael. + +In the year 1524 he was sent into Italy to oppose the army of the Constable +de Bourbon, who had left his own king to serve the Emperor. Bourbon was led +to do this, on account of the many affronts he had received from the +beautiful and haughty Louisa, of Savoy, the mother of Francis I.; still, +however great the cause of offence may be, it is quite inexcusable for a +man to bear arms against his country. + +The chief command of the army was given to Bonnivet: he was very brave, but +so rash that his zeal often did more harm than good, and he was totally +wanting in the judgment, and presence of mind a great captain ought to +possess. Lannoy, the viceroy of Naples, had collected a large number of +troops; to these were added the forces of the Marquis of Pescara, the +general of the Spaniards, and those of the traitor Bourbon. Bonnivet failed +in his plan of attack, and was obliged to try and get back into France by +crossing the valley of Aosta; but on his way he received a bad wound in the +arm, and could no longer lead on his men. In his distress he sent word to +Bayard that he alone could save the French army if he would. The good +knight had thought the whole enterprise ill-judged, and when he set out at +the head of his men-at-arms, he had not been cheerful and hopeful as he had +been accustomed to be whenever he entered on a fresh campaign. Nevertheless +he swore in reply to Bonnivet that he would either save the army or perish +in the attempt; and as he had always courted the post of danger, he took +the command of the rear, and made his men try bravely like himself to +sustain the whole shock of the enemy's troops, whilst the rest of the army +gained time to effect a retreat. This was at a place near Romagnano. As +Bayard was thus striving he was wounded by a musket-ball, and the shock was +so great that he uttered the word "Jesus," and then said that it was all +over with him on earth. Faint from pain and loss of blood, he held on as +long as he could to the bow of his saddle, but sank at last to the ground, +and desired to be placed under a tree with his face turned towards the foe. +And there the good knight lifted up the hilt of his sword, and kissed it as +though it had been the cross, and saying, softly, "Miserere mei, Deus!" lay +back pale and calm to wait for the approach of death. His faithful _maître +d'hôtel_, who had followed him through many dangers, was with him now, and +was almost beside himself with grief. + +"Jacques, my friend," said the dying knight, "do not mourn for me. It is +the will of God that I should quit this world where I have ever received a +full measure of His grace, and far more honour than I deserved. The only +regret I have in dying is, that I have not done all that I ought to have +done, and if I had lived longer, I would have hoped to have made amends for +my past faults. But as it is, I implore my Maker to have mercy upon my poor +soul, and trust through his great and boundless love that he will not judge +me with rigour; feeling assured that Thou, oh my Saviour, hast promised +pardon to all those who turn to Thee with humble and contrite hearts." + +In this condition he was found by the Constable de Bourbon, who spoke to +him thus; "Monsieur de Bayard, truly I pity you." + +"Ah, Monsieur," replied the chevalier, "do not pity me, but rather have +compassion on yourself for having fought against your king, your country, +and your oath." + +The Marquis of Pescara came by soon after, and was deeply grieved to see +him in such a state; he ordered a tent to be pitched over him, and had him +tended with the utmost care, but it was of no avail; a mortal blow had been +struck, and the good knight rendered up his soul to God, as so many of his +ancestors had done, upon the battle-field. + +Pescara had his body embalmed and conveyed to his kinsmen in Dauphiné, and +the Duke of Savoy decreed that royal honours should be paid to it on its +mournful journey. When it reached Dauphiné, people of all ranks came out to +meet it, and then returned to their houses and shut themselves up in sorrow +and gloom. The body was interred at Minimes, in a church founded by the +Bishop of Grenoble. + +There was mourning throughout many lands when it was known that the Good +Knight was dead. King Francis was very much attached to him, and could not +get over the loss he had sustained for a very long time. And the following +year, when he had been obliged to surrender to Lannoy after the battle of +Pavia, he exclaimed sadly within his prison walls, "Ah, Bayard, if thou +hadst been alive, I should not have been here!" + +Thus had the Chevalier lived, faithful to the promise of his childhood; +ever ready to risk his life in the service of his country, helpful and +loving to all, joyous and light-hearted. When he was in the enemy's +territory he strictly defrayed every expense he incurred, and very often +left some kind remembrance for those who had served him: in success he +showed mercy, and made himself as much beloved by the vanquished as by his +own soldiers. He never wished for the highest place or envied the good +fortune of other men. Amid the spoils of war he seemed to desire nothing +for himself, and one instance alone will suffice to show how far he was +removed from any selfish feelings. During the war with the Spaniards, he +received notice one day that a large sum of money was on its way to the +Spanish commander. His own troops being in great want of necessaries he +resolved to obtain this money, which was fair to do in warfare; so he sent +some of his men to waylay the bearers of it in one part of the country, +while his companion Tardien watched for it in another. Bayard had the good +luck to seize the treasure, and found it to consist of 15,000 ducats. The +Spaniard who carried it was in great terror at having fallen into the hands +of the enemy, and gave it up without a murmur. Tardien was brave and +merry-hearted, but he had the misfortune of being very poor, and he was +terribly grieved on his return to the camp to find that he had not been the +happy man to secure the money, and declared that the half of the sum would +have redeemed his fortunes for ever. + +Bayard was in a cheerful mood, and he asked his soldiers how much of the +treasure they thought Tardien ought to receive. They replied, "None at +all." Then Bayard, after enjoying for a time the dismay of his companion in +arms, called him to him, and gave him 7,500 ducats, the exact half of the +sum they had captured. The Good Knight then divided the remainder amongst +his soldiers, not keeping one farthing for himself, and sent the Spaniard +with an escort to a place of safety whence he could return to his own +home. + +[Illustration: _Queen Elizabeth's farewell to Captain Martin Frobisher.--p. +225_] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[20] "Piquer," an old French word, signifying "to spur on, to animate, or +encourage." + +[21] _Palfrenier_, "groom of the stables." + +[22] Gaston was Governor of Milan. + + + + +SIR MARTIN FROBISHER. + + +One summer's day, in the year 1576, Queen Elizabeth stood at the window of +her palace at Greenwich, waving her hand in sign of farewell as two small +barks and a pinnace glided gently down the river Thames. The barks were the +_Gabriel_ and the _Michael_. On board the first one was the gallant Martin +Frobisher, who, after having waited fifteen years for funds to enable him +to carry out his voyage, was now on his way in search of a north-west +passage to China. Little is known of the early days of Frobisher, except +that he was at Doncaster, in Yorkshire, and that he was well skilled in +maritime knowledge, and one of the most experienced seamen of his time. The +passage he proposed to find, he thought would enable his countrymen to +reach the shores of China in far less time than by sailing as the +Portuguese always sailed, all round by the Cape of Good Hope; and thus for +years before he had started, he had been going from friend to friend, +nobleman and merchant, in the hope of finding some one to help him to get +together a fleet. At last he found a patron in Ambrose Dudley, the good +Earl of Warwick, and with his help, and his own untiring efforts besides, +he raised sufficient money to fit out the two vessels and the one small +pinnace, which had provisions on board to last twelve months. + +After the little fleet had gone past the palace, Queen Elizabeth sent one +of the gentlemen of her court on board the _Gabriel_ to tell Frobisher how +much pleasure the enterprise afforded her, and to bid him come and take +leave of her the following day. She was proud, too, to think that one of +her subjects was brave enough to venture up into the icy seas and cold +regions, the very idea of which had struck terror into the hearts of many a +mariner, when he had met on the ocean great icebergs floating southwards, +as though they were messengers sent to warn him of approaching the frozen +seas. + +When Frobisher had got as far as the Shetland Isles, he turned his course +towards the west, and on the 11th of July, nearly four weeks after he had +started, he came in sight of land, which he supposed to be the Freeseland +seen by a Venetian, named Zeno, two hundred years before. He could not land +there because of the great blocks of ice which filled the sea near the +shore, and they had much ado to keep clear of them, because there was a +thick fog. Here a great misfortune happened; the pinnace disappeared in the +mist, and the services of the four men it had on board were thus lost. The +company of the _Michael_ also began to distrust the voyage, and to repent +that they had engaged in it. Under cover of the fog, they went off towards +England, and were so wicked as to say on their arrival that the bark +_Gabriel_ had been cast away. + +Thus forsaken, the brave captain went on alone; the mast of his vessel was +broken, and the topmast was blown over; nevertheless he continued to sail +towards the north-west, thinking that he must surely come to some shore. +And nine days after he had seen Freeseland, he came to a high piece of +land, which he called Queen Elizabeth's; it was part of what is now called +Labrador. Still more to the north he reached another foreland, with a great +bay or passage of sea dividing two lands, but this was so blocked up with +ice that he had to wait until it melted, or was carried away by currents. +He called the passage "Frobisher's Straits," after himself, by which name +it has been known ever since. If any little readers will unfold a map of +North America and look just north of Hudson's Straits, they will see +Frobisher's Straits, and how the land on either side is broken up into +islands, some of which are named "Hall's Islands," after Christopher Hall, +the master of the bark _Gabriel_. Frobisher thought as yet that the shores +were all firm land; and when the ice broke up, he sailed sixty leagues +along the strait, and there he landed. First of all he had to defend +himself from some great deer, which ran at him in such a manner that he had +a very narrow escape of his life. Another time when he landed he went to +the top of a hill, and saw from thence several objects in the distance +which he thought were porpoises or seals, but when they came nearer he +found that they were boats filled with men. The boats were made of +sealskins, with a keel of wood inside. The men were of dark complexion, +with long black hair, broad faces, and flat noses; the women's faces were +painted in blue streaks. Some of these people hid behind a rock, and were +evidently watching for an opportunity of stealing his boat, but he hastened +down the hill just in time to secure it, and went back to the vessel. It +was terribly cold already; in one night the snow lay a foot thick upon the +hatches: the brief summer of the northern regions was past. The natives +soon began to come on board the bark, and to talk with the sailors in an +unknown tongue; they brought the captain salmon and flesh which they eat +raw themselves; also bearskins and sealskins, for which Frobisher gave them +toys, bells, and looking-glasses. They got very friendly with his men, +although he warned them not to trust them too quickly; and one day five of +the sailors were enticed by the savages to go in a boat to the shore, and +neither men nor boat ever appeared again. What was to be done? Frobisher +was on board his bark, and now the only boat was gone, and he could not get +to the shore. He thought that he must try and capture one of the sealskin +boats of the natives, and he rang a low, sweet-toned bell, which was sure +to be a great temptation to the wild men, and made signs that he would give +it to him who should fetch it. The first bell he purposely threw into the +sea, and then he rang another. The savages, getting more eager to secure +the prize, crowded around him, and one came so very near that he had just +put out his hand to grasp the bell, when the captain pulled him, boat and +all, on board the bark. The poor savage was said to have been so angry at +being captured, that he bit his tongue in two in his rage; he was brought +to England as a specimen of the newly found race, but he fell ill soon +after his arrival and died. + +As the cold was rapidly increasing, Frobisher began to think of returning +home to report what he had seen, and after many useless attempts to land, +on account of the ice along the coasts, he told his men when next they +could set foot on shore, that they were to bring him whatever they could +find in memory of the region he had taken possession of in the queen's +name. Some of them brought him a few flowers, some only grasses, and one +brought him a piece of black stone very like sea-coal, which from its +weight seemed to be a mineral. Frobisher did not think much of it at first +sight, but he brought it with him to England. He arrived in his native +country on the 2nd day of October, and all people praised him for his +courage and perseverance; and it was thought that if another expedition +were made, there would be every chance of finding the desired north-west +passage to China. + +One day when he was with some friends in London, it happened that he had +nothing to show for his voyage except the lump of coal. The wife of one of +the adventurers who was present, threw by chance a piece of it into the +fire, and it burned so long that at last it was taken out and quenched in a +little vinegar, when lo! as if by magic, it appeared "like a bright +marquisset" of gold. It was then shown to some gold finers in London, who +tried it and found that it contained pure gold, and gave great hope that +more might be found in the region whence it was brought. The gold finers +even offered themselves to share in a fresh enterprise, so that a second +voyage was proposed for the following year, Queen Elizabeth herself +entering heartily into the scheme. + +The second expedition was fitted out in a more important manner than the +first one had been. Frobisher sailed in a tall ship of the queen's, which +was called the _Aid_, accompanied by the two barks _Michael_ and +_Gabriel_. The vessels were provisioned for six months, and had on board in +all 140 men, although many more would have liked to go on the voyage. + +They sailed northwards until they anchored in the bay of St. Magnus, one of +the Orkney Isles. The inhabitants fled in terror as soon as the ship's +company landed, and only took heart when they heard for what purpose they +had come. For few indeed were the visitors who came to those barren +islands, except perhaps the pirates who roamed the northern seas. There is +scarcely a tree amongst the whole group, and the people, having no wood, +make their fires of turf and heather to cheer them during the long stormy +winter. But the nights in these cold northern latitudes are made bright and +beautiful by the aurora borealis, which flashes across the sky, and is of +the same nature as lightning, only that it travels through a higher region +of the air. Sometimes it is purple and sometimes green, and where the air +is driest it is red. When the auroræ, or northern lights, flicker in the +sky, the inhabitants of the Shetland Isles call them, "the merry dancers." + +The gold finers were very glad that they stopped on their way at the +Orkneys, for in one of the islands they found a mine of silver. The vessels +only stayed there one day, however, and then put out to sea, now drifting +to the north and now to the west, as the wind shifted. They were +seventy-six days without sight of land, but they met on their way trunks of +trees, and monstrous fishes and fowls. At length the wind was prosperous, +and they came to Greenland, where the sea near the coast was again full of +drift ice. One day whilst they were cruising about here they dropped a hook +into the sea, and caught an enormous fish called a halibut, which is said +to have furnished a whole day's food for the ship's company. It must have +been a very large fish to have dined and supped 140 persons. All along the +dreary shores the only living creatures they saw were some little birds. +The weather, being very cold and stormy they made for Frobisher's Straits, +and came again to the smaller of Hall's Islands, where the ore had been +taken up the year before, but they only found this time one little piece. +On the large island, however, they found plenty of what they supposed to be +gold, and Frobisher, with forty gentlemen and soldiers, ascended a steep +hill, and planting a column or cross upon it, he sounded a trumpet, and +called the place Mount Warwick, after the good earl. Then they knelt down +in a ring, and said their prayers and thanksgivings. As they were going +back to their boats, they saw a number of savages making signs to them from +the top of the hill, as if they wished to be friendly, but Frobisher, +remembering the fate of the five mariners, did not feel inclined to trust +them, and he only held up two of his fingers to signify that two of their +men should advance towards two of his own. This was done, and then they +began to be more confident of each other's designs. The people here had a +very odd way of bartering their wares: they would bring sealskins and raw +flesh and lay them on the ground, and make signs that the strangers should +do the same with the things they meant to exchange. Then they went away, +and if they liked the toys and the beads they saw on the ground, they came +back in a little while and took them up, leaving their own wares behind +them; and if they did not like them, they gathered up their property and +departed. + +After passing through many dangers and tempests Frobisher found a bay which +he thought would be a good harbour for his ships, and he landed with his +gold finers on a little island, where all the sands and cliffs glittered so +brightly, that they thought they had indeed come to a land of gold. But +when they tried it, to their great disappointment it turned out to be only +black-lead. In the same sound they came to a small island, to which they +gave the name of Smith's Island, because the smith belonging to the ship's +company first set up his forge there. Here they found a mine of silver, but +they had a great deal of trouble to get it out of the rocks. + +Soon after this Frobisher marched upon the southern shore of the strait in +search of ore with all his best men, and when he had appointed leaders, and +told all those who were to follow them that they must be orderly and +persevering, he made every man kneel down and thank God that He had +preserved them hitherto from all dangers. Then, with a banner flying, they +marched towards the tops of the mountains, which were steep and very +difficult to ascend. The whole land was silent; not a human being was to be +seen, so they went back to their ships, and landed next on the northern +shore. Here they saw people, and found hidden under a stone such things as +kettles made of fish-skins, knives of bone, and bridles. One of the +savages took a bridle and caught with it a dog belonging to the strangers, +to show how dogs were used to draw the sledges. + +Five leagues from Bear's Sound, Frobisher found a bay in which he could +anchor, near a small island, which he named after the Countess of Warwick, +and this was the farthest place he visited that year. There was plenty of +ore in it, and Frobisher set the miners to work, and worked hard himself +also, that he might encourage the others by his example. And he sent the +bark _Michael_, in which he had come to the island, for the _Aid_ and the +rest of his people. They were very much astonished to see on the mainland +the dwellings of the Esquimaux; these were holes in the ground, shaped like +an oven, and were usually made at the foot of a hill for shelter, and +opened towards the south. Above ground they built with whalebone, because +they had no timber, and covered in the roof of it with sealskins, and +strewed moss on the floor for a carpet. Travellers of more recent date +describe the huts of the Esquimaux, as the people in these northern regions +were called, as being made in the same manner. A winter hut is a hole +hollowed out in the earth or snow, like a cellar; a large piece of ice +serves for a door, and a lamp burns inside, where the family sleep on the +skins of seals and sea-dogs. Close by is a similar hole, where they eat the +flesh of whales, seals, and sea-dogs--and all of it raw. The mariners who +went with Frobisher tell how the savages ate ice when they were thirsty, +and could get no water. Their dogs were not unlike wolves, and were yoked +together to draw the sledges; the smaller ones they fattened and kept for +eating. Their weapons were made of bone, and their bow-strings of sinews; +they clothed themselves in the skins of seals and sea-dogs, and sometimes +even in garments made of feathers; for God, in His loving mercy, has given +the fowls thicker feathers than those of more southern latitudes, and the +animals warmer furs for the comfort of man, just as He has given luscious +fruits to refresh his parched lips in tropical countries, and gigantic +trees to shelter him from the intense heat of the sun. + +A captive, who had been taken by some of the mariners, was shown a portrait +of the savage who had been enticed on board the _Gabriel_ the year before. +When he saw it, he began talking to it, and asking it questions, just as if +it had been really alive. He told the strangers by signs that he had +knowledge of the five men who were missing, and declared that they had not +been eaten up by the savages. It is supposed that they lived the rest of +their lives amongst the savages; and Frobisher determined, as he could find +no trace of them, that he would load his ships with the ore he had found, +and return to England. He was very proud when all the labour was brought to +an end, for with "five poor miners," and a few gentlemen and soldiers, they +had carried on board almost two hundred tons of ore in twenty days. On the +night of the 21st of August the whole company were ready to embark, and +glad they were to return, for they were very weary, and the water began to +freeze around their ships at night. The next day they took down their +tents, lighted bonfires on the highest hill, and having marched round the +island with their banner unfurled, they fired a volley of cannon in sign +of farewell, and after having encountered several storms on their voyage, +they reached Milford Haven about the end of September. + +When Frobisher arrived in England he hastened to Windsor, where he was very +graciously received by Queen Elizabeth. A third expedition was planned for +the next spring, both to search for gold and to try and discover the +north-west passage. A strong fort was devised, the pieces of which were to +be carried in one of the ships, and put together when they arrived in the +new region, to which Queen Elizabeth gave the name of "Meta Incognita," or +"Unknown Land." The fort was intended for the people to dwell in, who were +to remain there during the winter, whilst twelve of the vessels out of the +fifteen that composed the fleet were to come home laden with ore--that is +to say, if it were to be found. All the captains bade the queen farewell at +Greenwich, and kissed her hand, and she gave to Frobisher "a chain of fair +gold," to show the delight she took in his enterprise. They left Harwich +for the third time on the 31st of May--Frobisher sailed in the _Aid_: the +strictest order was to be observed during the voyage; the whole company on +board were to serve God twice a day with the prayers of the Church of +England: the sailors were not allowed to swear, or to play at cards and +dice. Every evening all the fleet had to come up and speak with the +admiral, and the watchword, if any came up in the night, was this, "Before +the world was God." And the answer from the other vessel was, "After God, +came Jesus Christ His Son." + +On the 20th of June, after having sailed fourteen days without sight of +land, they came, at two o'clock in the morning, to the west of Freeseland. +Frobisher took possession of it in the queen's name, calling it West +England, and gave the name of Charing Cross to one of its high cliffs. The +nights in the northern regions are never dark during the summer months. As +far north as the vessels sailed the sun does not set until after ten +o'clock, and it rises again before two, so that a great part of the night, +the sky is filled with the rosy flush of sunrise and sunset. Then, in the +winter, when the days are as short as the nights are in summer, because the +north part of the world is turned away from the sun, the moon and stars are +wondrously bright, and with the northern lights enliven the long dark +hours. + +The savages in West Freeseland were like those in Meta Incognita; they were +very timid, and fled at the approach of the strangers, leaving all their +household goods behind them. Amongst these the mariners found some dried +herrings and a box of small nails, also some pieces of carved fir wood; but +for whatever they took they left pins, knives, or looking-glasses in +exchange. + +From Freeseland they went towards Frobisher's Straits, and on the way one +of the ships, called the _Salamander_, struck a great whale such a blow +with her stern that she stood quite still. A horrible noise rose up from +the sea, and the next day the dead body of a whale was seen floating about. + +One night the vessels entered somewhere inside the straits, and found the +whole place frozen into "walls, bulwarks, and mountains," which they could +not pass: they had to stem and strike the rocks of ice to make their way +at all. Some of the fleet, where they found the sea open, entered in, and +were in great danger. + +The bark _Dennis_ struck against one of the rocks and sank within sight of +the fleet. In her distress she fired a gun, and happily the whole of her +crew were rescued in the boats that were sent to her aid. It was a great +misfortune, nevertheless, because part of the fort was on board, and was +thus lost. A violent wind from the south-east drove the ice on the backs of +the vessels. The mariners and miners had never witnessed such peril before, +and they were indeed in terrible plight, because they were shut in by +blocks of ice on all sides, and had to fix cables, beds, and planks around +their ships to protect them from them, or they would have been all cut to +pieces. Besides this they had to stand the whole night and the next day +beating it off with poles, pikes, and oars--Frobisher working hardest of +all, and cheering his men by his kind words, and his brave, steadfast +spirit. And those who were not strong enough to work prayed for the rest; +which the weak can always do, whilst stronger men are doing God's will by +helping their fellow-creatures; and prayer and work, blended in one, rise +up an acceptable offering to the Father in heaven. + +Four of the vessels were out in the open sea, and during the storm the +mariners were in great alarm for the safety of those shut up in the ice, +and they too knelt praying for them around their mainmast. The wind at last +blew from the north-west, and dispersed the ice, and the second night the +ships in distress were seen of the four others. Then the whole fleet +veered off seaward, meaning to wait until the sun should melt the icebergs, +or the winds drive them quite away, and when they had got out far into the +sea, they took in their sails and lay adrift. On the 7th of July they +thought they saw the North Foreland of the straits, but there was a dense +fog at the time; and the snow often fell in flakes so that they could not +clearly see, although now and then the sun would shine on the vessels with +intense heat. Thus they were carried far out of the way, and the lands in +that region were so much alike that Frobisher took counsel with the +captains of the fleet, to determine what part they had reached. + +The fogs lasted twenty days, and during that time they had indeed drifted +sixty leagues out of their way into unknown straits. Frobisher was very +anxious to recover the position he had lost, and as soon as he saw the ice +a little open he bravely led the way and anchored at last in the Countess +of Warwick's Sound. Just as he thought all peril was past, he met a great +iceberg, which forced the anchor through the ship's bows and made a breach. +Here they found, to their joy, two barks, which had been missing since the +night of their greatest danger: it was a joyful meeting, and a good man, +named Master Wolfall, who had left his living in his own country, and his +wife and children, in the hope of converting the heathens in the new land, +preached a sermon to the whole company, in which he told them to thank God +for their deliverance, and reminded them that they should ever watch and +pray, since none could tell how soon he might die. + +Now that they were all assembled once more Frobisher lost no time, but set +at work at once to look for the ore. Gentlemen and soldiers, all helped the +miners in their labour, whilst the captains of the vessels sought out new +mines, and the gold finers made trial of the ore. But when they wanted to +raise the fort, so many parts of it had been destroyed in the storm that it +was no longer fitted for its object, and although one of the brave captains +wanted to remain there with only fifty men, it was found that a building +large enough to hold them all could not be raised before the winter set in. +The cold was now rapidly increasing; every night the ships' ropes were +frozen so that no man might handle them without cutting his hands; besides +this the vessels were leaky, and the ice at any moment might have blocked +them in altogether, when all on board must have perished. + +Thus Frobisher was compelled to return to England without having found the +passage he had hoped all his life to discover. It is said that if he had +not had charge of the fleet, he would have sailed straight to the South +Sea, and thus pointed out a nearer route to China. + +Before they left, they caused a house of lime and stone to be built, on the +Countess of Warwick's Island, which they hoped would remain standing until +the following year, and they left in it bells, pictures, looking-glasses, +whistles, and pipes for the delight of the savages, and an oven, with bread +baked in it, that they might taste it and see how it was made. Then they +sowed peas and corn, and various sorts of grain, to see if they would grow; +and they buried all the timber left of the fort, that it might be ready for +them to use if they came to the place again. + +Whilst the ships were being laden with the ore, the admiral wanted to find +something else, and he went higher up the straits in a pinnace. It was then +that he discovered that the land on either side was not all firm as he had +imagined, but broken up into many islands. + +On the voyage home some of the vessels got scattered during the violent +storms that arose, and they were kept long apart, but they all reached +England by October of the year 1578. + +After this there is no account of Frobisher until he went in his ship the +_Aid_ on an expedition to the West Indies with Sir Francis Drake, and was +present at the taking and sacking of St. Domingo. When Philip II. of Spain +sent the Invincible Armada to invade England, the English fleet prepared to +resist it was divided into four squadrons, and Frobisher commanded one of +them in the ship called the _Triumph_. Lord Howard of Effingham, the Lord +High Admiral of the fleet, was a witness of his gallant conduct on that +occasion, and knighted him on board the _Triumph_ whilst the action was +going on. A little later he served under Sir Walter Raleigh in an +expedition directed towards the coasts of Spain. And in 1594 Queen +Elizabeth, having engaged to help King Henry the Fourth of France against +the Spaniards, he was sent with four vessels to protect the coasts of +Normandy and Bretagne from their attacks. + +On being told that they had seized the Fort of Croysson, near Brest in +Bretagne, and that Sir John Norris was trying to regain it, he hastened to +land his troops and join the English and French. With the help he afforded +the fort was taken; and although he was wounded severely during the +assault, he brought back the fleet in safety to Plymouth. + +Soon after he arrived, however, his wound proved mortal, through the +carelessness, as it is said, of his surgeon, and England lost the services +of one of her bravest and most faithful officers. His chroniclers say of +him that he was courageous, clever, upright, hasty, and severe. He was not +the less a hero because he did not succeed in his undertakings; his +attempts were made in an earnest and faithful spirit, and his example +served to encourage other men to embark in fresh voyages of discovery, +which proved more fortunate than his own. + +It is said that some of the ore he brought home the third time did not +prove to be gold, and Queen Elizabeth therefore renounced the idea of a +fourth expedition. + +In her wardrobe of jewels she preserved the bone of a strange fish, "like a +sea-unicorn," the mariners had found on their second voyage, embedded in +the ice. "The fish was twelve yards long," round like a porpoise, with a +bone of two yards growing out of the snout or nostrils. + + + + +SIR WALTER RALEIGH. + + +Sir Walter Raleigh, famed as a soldier, a sailor, an author, and a +courtier, was born in Devonshire, in the year 1552. His father, Walter +Raleigh, whose ancestors were known before the Conquest, had an estate near +Plymouth; his mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Philip Camperdown. He +received the earlier part of his education at a school in the parish of +Budely; at the age of sixteen we find that he was a commoner at Oxford, and +already distinguished as an orator and a philosopher. A year later he went +as a volunteer with one of his relations to help the Protestants in France, +and afterwards served in the Netherlands under the Prince of Orange. + +Raleigh had naturally a very active mind, and when he was not engaged in +war, he would be busily employed in planning expeditions to the New World, +some of which were carried out partly at his own expense. He had read the +voyages of Columbus and of Vasco de Gama with the deepest interest, and, +like many other ardent men of his time, desired earnestly to follow in the +path of those brave pioneers. + +In the year 1580 he commanded the royal troops in Ireland at the time of +Desmond's rebellion. Philip II., to punish Elizabeth for having helped his +Flemish subjects, sent a number of Spaniards and Italians to join the +rebels. The Spanish general was besieged in a fort he had built at Kerry; +he was forced to surrender, and the enemies of Raleigh cast great blame on +him for the cruelties exercised towards the unhappy prisoners, whilst in +reality he was only carrying out the orders of Lord Grey, the deputy of +Ireland. + +In a dispute he had with Lord Grey on his return to England, Raleigh +defended himself so cleverly, that he drew upon him the attention of the +queen; and an incident which occurred about this time served to bring him +into great favour at court. + +The queen was out walking with some of her courtiers, and having come to a +muddy place, she paused, as if in doubt whether to cross it or not. Raleigh +was present, and he immediately threw off a beautiful new cloak he wore, +and spread it on the ground. The queen tripped lightly over it, much +pleased with the gallant action, which she never forgot. + +Raleigh was of middle height; he had dark hair, and was said to have been +very handsome, although he had an exceedingly high forehead, and was +"long-faced and sour-lidded." His dress as he stood amongst the courtiers +would have consisted of a doublet of silk or satin fitting closely to the +body, with enormous silken or velvet hose, richly ornamented; a peaked hat, +and the cloak of gay hue, "fronted with gold and silver lace," would have +completed the costume. Raleigh was always richly attired; at one time of +his life he had a suit of armour composed of solid plates of silver, with +which he wore a belt adorned with precious stones; and Sir Walter Scott +describes a portrait he had seen of him which represented him clad in white +satin, with a chain of very large pearls hanging around his neck. + +The queen in the course of time bestowed on him lands in Ireland, both in +the counties of Cork and Waterford. She also gave him an estate at +Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, where he laid out some beautiful gardens. He +asked so many favours for his friends, as well as for himself, that +Elizabeth once said to him soon after she had knighted him, "When shall you +cease to be a beggar, Sir Walter?" + +"When your Majesty ceases to be benevolent," he replied. + +The court life, however gay and pleasant, did not satisfy his eager spirit, +and he rejoiced very much when the queen granted him a patent for the +discovery and planting of new lands in America. For this purpose he fitted +out two small vessels, which reached the coast of Florida in the year 1585. +They sailed northward as far as an island called Roanoke, and found a tract +of land on the continent, to which Elizabeth gave the name of Virginia, but +it did not really become a flourishing colony until the reign of her +successor. + +Raleigh, like many other noble-minded men of his time, bore a great hatred +to Spain on account of her tyrannies; and when the invincible Armada came +to invade England, he was amongst the bravest of those who fought for their +queen and their country. And the next year he held an important command +under Drake and Norris in an expedition to place Don Antonio on the throne +of Portugal. + +When he returned to England, after having won great fame by his valour, he +found that the young Earl of Essex was rising rapidly in the queen's +favour. Much jealousy existed between these two courtiers; they were +constantly quarrelling, and the following incident will show how petty were +the means used by Essex to annoy his rival. + +The nobles used to make a very splendid appearance at the jousts and +tournaments which were held on the queen's birthday, and on one of these +occasions Raleigh took it into his head to accoutre all his followers in +orange-coloured plumes. Essex hearing of this, got together a much more +numerous cavalcade, decked all in the colour chosen by Raleigh, and +appeared at the head of his followers dressed in a complete suit of +orange-colour, so that when he entered the tilt-yard in sight of Elizabeth, +the followers of his rival only looked "like so many appendages to his own +train."[23] Raleigh once set out at the head of a fleet with two of the +queen's ships, and had the good fortune to capture a Portuguese vessel +which had a very rich cargo. It was in the year 1595 that he sailed with +five vessels for the discovery and conquest of Guiana,[24] a country of +South America, which was called "El Dorado," on account of the gold mines +it was supposed to contain. This was an enterprise he had planned during +some months that he had been living in retirement at Sherborne, having +incurred the displeasure of the queen. First of all he had sent out a +captain to the spot, who made a favourable report of his voyage when he +returned home. So Raleigh put out to sea and landed in the island of +Trinidad, where he burnt the fort of Saint Joseph, which had been lately +constructed by the Spaniards, and took Don Antonio, the Spanish governor, +prisoner. He treated Antonio very kindly, and gained from him some valuable +information in reference to the country he desired to explore. He was now +very eager to set out on his enterprise, and liked the idea of it all the +better because it would undoubtedly be attended with danger. He left his +ships at Cariapan, in Trinidad, and sailed with a hundred men in several +small barks to find "the golden land." And before he returned to England he +had sailed 400 miles up the river Orinoco, which flows through Guiana, thus +being the first Englishman who had ventured in that direction. + +Sir Walter Raleigh wrote some strange accounts of the people he found in +the new country. Those that inhabited the mouth of the Orinoco upon the +northern branches of the river were called "Tissitinas;" they were very +brave, and talked slowly and sensibly. In dry weather they had their +dwellings on the ground like most other people, but between May and +September the Orinoco rising thirty feet and overflowing the broken land, +they lived up in the trees, as Columbus had already found men living in +other parts a century before. They never eat anything that was planted or +sown, and for bread they used the tops of the palmitos.[25] The people +dwelling on the branches of the Orinoco called Capuri, and Macureo, were +skilful makers of canoes, and sold them for gold and tobacco. When their +chief, or king, died, they had the strange custom of keeping his body until +all the flesh fell off its bones, and then they adorned the skull with +gay-coloured feathers, and the limbs with gold plates, and hung up the +skeleton in the house the chief had dwelt in when alive. The more gentle +natives used to make war on the cannibals, but all tribes were at peace +with one another, and held the Spaniards for their common enemy when the +English appeared amongst them. + +Sometimes the adventurers suffered greatly from thirst and from the +excessive heat of the climate, since Guiana lies all in the torrid zone, +the hottest part of the earth. In one district they passed through, which +was low and marshy, the water that issued out of the boggy ground was +almost red, and they could only fill their waterpots with it about noon, +for if they filled them at morning or evening, it was as bad to drink as +poison, and at night it was worst of all. The wine that was used in some +parts was very strong; it was made of the juice of different fruits and +herbs, and highly seasoned with pepper. The natives kept it in great +earthen pots, which held ten or twelve gallons each. + +At one time during their travels the weather became fearfully hot. The +rivers were bordered with high trees, which met overhead and shut out the +air, so that they panted for breath; the currents were against them; the +water was very unwholesome to drink, and their bread was all gone. They +lived on fish, and the fruits they plucked along the banks of the rivers. +The beautiful flowers of the tropics twined around the great trees in the +shade, and there were birds flitting about, as Sir Walter writes, "crimson, +carnation, orange, tawny, and purple!" Still, they were in great want of +bread, and an old native pilot whom they had taken, promised them that if +they would enter a branch of the river on their right hand, with only their +barge and wherries, and leave the galley they had come in to anchor in the +great river, he would take them to a town, where they would find bread and +poultry. So they set off in their wherries, and, because they thought the +place was so near, they took no food with them at all. The day wore on, and +still the pilot said "a little farther," until the sun was low in the sky, +and they had glided down the stream forty miles. Then all at once it became +dark, because there is no twilight in the tropics; dark as pitch, they +said; the river narrowed and the trees bent over it so closely, that they +had to cut their passage through the branches with their swords. They +distrusted the pilot, although the poor old man, who must have been +somewhat out of his reckoning, still kept assuring them that they had only +a little further to go; and an hour after midnight, to their great joy they +saw a light, and heard the barking of dogs, and came to a village or town +which was almost empty, because nearly all its inhabitants had gone to the +head of the Orinoco to trade for gold. Here they found plenty of fish, and +fowls, and Indian wine, and bread, for which they gave the people things in +exchange. Raleigh says that the Spaniards used to get a hundred pounds of +cassava bread for a knife. + +There is frequent mention in his narrative of an old king named Topiawari, +whose son he brought with him to England. He was a hundred and ten years +old, and had been taken prisoner by the Spaniards under Berreo, and led +about by them in a chain for seventeen days, that he might guide them from +place to place, for he was "a man of great understanding and policy." He +purchased his freedom with a hundred plates of gold. This old king came +fourteen miles on foot to see the English commander, and returned to his +home the same day; which must have been a long journey for one who, as he +touchingly observed himself, was "old, weak, and every day called for by +death." A number of people came with him from the villages laden with +provisions, and amongst these were delicious pine-apples in plenty. One of +the people gave Raleigh an armadillo, which he calls "a very wonderful +creature, barred all over with small scales, with a horn growing out of +it," the powder of which he was told cured deafness. + +Raleigh found out, as he thought, where the mines were, and brought some +spar with him to England, which was considered to afford satisfactory +promise of gold. The old king told him of a mountain of pure gold which Sir +Walter believed himself to have seen in the distance; it seemed to him like +a white tower, and had a great stream of water flowing over the top of it. +But since the rivers had begun to rise, and he had no tools to work the +supposed mines with, he resolved to return to England, well pleased that he +had found "El Dorado;" and prepared to give a glowing account of the +fertility of its soil, its valuable woods and rich gums, its different +berries, which dyed the most vivid crimson and carnation hues, its cotton +and silk, its pepper, sugar, and ginger, which flourished there as +luxuriantly as in the West Indian islands. + +Just as the adventurers were about to return to Trinidad, they encountered +a terrific storm in the broad mouth of the river Capuri, and were obliged +to lie in the dark, close to the shore. At midnight, when the wind began to +abate, Raleigh says, "We put ourselves to God's keeping and thrust out into +the sea, and left the galley to anchor until daylight. And so, being all +very sober and melancholy, one faintly cheering another to show courage, it +pleased God that the next day we descried the island of Trinidad." + +When Sir Walter arrived in England he published an account of the discovery +of the large and beautiful country of Guiana. Either he must have been +carried away by the excitement of the adventure, or he must have wilfully +exaggerated when he described the gold mines so confidently, since no one +who followed him ever found so great a treasure of the precious metal as he +declared was in existence. Queen Elizabeth could not be prevailed upon to +give orders for the planting of a colony in the new land, much as she +desired to increase her dominions, and so it was that the English did not +really make a settlement in Guiana until the year 1634. + +Raleigh went after his return on a great expedition, which ended in the +conquest of Cadiz. In this Essex had the chief command, but it was +Raleigh's courage and daring that assured the taking of the city. + +The favour he was held in at court now began to decline, and the great +fame he had earned as a soldier and a navigator had made him many enemies. +It is said that he connived with Cecil for the downfall of Essex, and he +was charged by those who bore him ill-will with having taken pleasure in +witnessing the execution of that nobleman. His own words, spoken just +before his death on the scaffold many years later, will best vindicate him +from such an accusation. He said that he was all the time in the armory of +the Tower, at the end where he could only just see Essex. He shed tears at +his death, and grieved that he was not with him, for he had heard that he +had desired to be reconciled with him before he died. And it is natural to +suppose that these two men, each one indeed at fault, would have been +happier, one in dying and the other while he lived, if they had exchanged a +few kind words, at which the old bitterness and hatred would have melted +away. + +The remaining part of the life of Sir Walter Raleigh was a succession of +misfortunes and sorrows: at the death of the queen his good fortune may be +said to have deserted him. The same year that James the Sixth of Scotland +succeeded his cousin Elizabeth, a plot was formed to place on the throne of +England in his stead the Lady Arabella Stuart, who was equally descended +from Henry the Seventh with himself. The Lords Grey and Cobham, Sir Walter +Raleigh, two Catholic priests, and several others were accused of conniving +at it, and arrested for high treason. How far Raleigh was implicated it is +difficult now to decide: it is probable that he knew of the plot, because +he was the intimate friend of Lord Cobham. He was carried to Winchester, +where sentence of death was passed upon him, and he remained there a whole +month, daily expecting to be led to the scaffold. At the urgent entreaty of +Lady Raleigh the king commuted the sentence of death to imprisonment in the +Tower; and there, on the 15th of December, 1603, Raleigh took up his abode, +followed by his affectionate wife and his son Walter, who had obtained +permission to share his captivity. Most English boys have looked on the +rooms in the Tower where this brave man passed more than twelve years, a +large portion out of the life on earth, especially on the narrow +sleeping-room, to enter which, he had to creep under a low stone archway. + +Those years must have contrasted strangely with his past life, full of +brave deeds and adventures in a land where all things seemed new. His +friends and his enemies alike pitied him now that he was shut up within his +gloomy walls. The young Prince Henry had a great regard for him, and +admired his brilliant qualities. "Surely," he used to say, "no man but my +father would keep such a bird in a cage!" + +After his first despair was over he employed himself in making chemical +experiments, in educating his children--for his second son Carew was born +in the Tower,--and in writing several works, one of which, entitled "The +History of the World," has been much admired. + +And when, after so many years had passed, and the doors of his prison were +opened, he came out into the free air, "a worn, weak, and aged man," almost +without fortune, haughty, and prone to take offence no more, but still +brave and hopeful. He obtained his liberty chiefly through the interest of +the Duke of Buckingham, whose services he paid with the sum of fifteen +hundred pounds. He was released on condition of finding the gold mines of +Guiana, and having embarked in the enterprise all that remained of his own +and his wife's fortunes he set sail for South America, taking with him his +son Walter, all the while the sentence of death once passed upon him was +still hanging over his head. + +But failure and sorrow were in store for him: two of his ships abandoned +him; sickness broke out amongst the crews of those that remained, Sir +Walter Raleigh was attacked by it himself, and was not able to land when +they drew near the shore of Guiana. He deputed Captain Keymis to land with +the adventurers, and to repel any Spaniards he might find near the mine. An +affray took place in which young Raleigh was killed; and Keymis, attempting +to keep a footing on shore, a second time was surprised by some Spaniards +who had been lying in wait for him. The failure of the enterprise and the +disappointment of Raleigh weighed so heavily upon him, that he killed +himself in despair. + +Raleigh thus went back to England in sorrow for the loss of his son, and +with little hope left that his own life would be spared. When he landed in +England he found that the king was very angry with him for having attacked +the Spaniards, because he was at peace with their sovereign; and that he +intended to renew all his former accusations against him. This King James +was led to do by Gondemar, the Spanish ambassador, who bore an extreme +hatred to Raleigh; it is even supposed that the Spaniards in Guiana had +been secretly told to prepare to resist. James made a proclamation to the +effect that he had forbidden all acts of hostility on land belonging to the +Spaniards. Directly Raleigh heard this he wrote a letter to the king in +defence of his conduct. He was repairing to London, and was met on the road +by Sir Lewis Stukely, one of his relations, who told him that he was to +arrest him. Then it was that Raleigh yielded to weakness which he repented +of in after hours. He pretended that he was ill, that he had lost his +reason, anything to delay the moment of his arrest. + +Once he planned an escape to France, but when he had got in disguise from +the Tower Docks as far as Woolwich he was overtaken by some people in the +pay of the Government; and at Greenwich was formally arrested by his +kinsman, who had accompanied him in his flight. The next morning, August +7th, he was conducted to the Tower, where he took a kind farewell of the +king, and remained imprisoned there until the 28th of October. And on that +day, as he was lying ill, the king's officers came at eight o'clock in the +morning to convey him to Westminster. Thence he was taken to Gate House, +and the next morning to the Old Palace Yard, where the scaffold was erected +on which he was to die, that the king might preserve peace with Spain! The +people of England thought James was very unkind to condemn a man whose +guilt had never been proved, and who was the most valiant and spirited in +the whole land. And indeed the execution of Raleigh has ever been +considered unjust. + +He appeared upon the scaffold with a smiling countenance, and saluted all +of his friends and acquaintances who were present. Then he spoke in his +own defence, but notwithstanding the deep silence around, his words were +not heard by the Lords Arundel and Doncaster, and some other lords and +knights who sat at a window looking into the yard, and he begged them to +come upon the scaffold. When he had saluted them all he thanked God for +having brought him into the light to die, instead of suffering him to die +in the dark prison of the Tower. Then he defended himself eloquently +against the numerous charges that had been made against him, and ended by +entreating all his friends to pray for him, because he said that since he +had been a soldier, a captain, a sea-captain, and a courtier, he must needs +have fallen into many sins. + +The lords and knights departed sorrowfully from the scaffold, and Raleigh +prepared for death; he gave away his hat, his wrought night-cap, and some +money to some of those who remained near him. "I have a long journey to +go," he said, "and therefore I will take my leave." And when he had taken +off his black velvet gown and his satin doublet, he called to the headsman, +and examined the axe, saying, as he felt along its edge, "This is a sharp +medicine, but it is a physician for all disorders." Being asked which way +he would lay his head on the block, he said, "So the heart be right, it is +no matter which way the head lieth." A minute later his head was severed +with two blows from his body; the story of his life was ended, and the +unjust king could keep the peace he had purchased with the sacrifice of a +man who, although faulty, had many of the attributes of true greatness. + +The body of Sir Walter Raleigh was buried in St. Margaret's Church. His +sorrowing widow kept his head in a case during her lifetime; it was +afterwards buried with her son Carew at West Horsley, in Surrey. Raleigh +was tenderly attached to his wife, and wrote her an affectionate and solemn +letter during the early part of his imprisonment, in which he gave her some +good advice. "If you can live free from want," he said, "care for no more, +for the rest is but vanity. Love God, and begin betimes; in Him you shall +have everlasting felicity. When you have travelled and wearied yourself +with all sorts of worldly cogitations, you shall sit down in sorrow at the +end.... Teach your son also to serve and fear God whilst he is young, that +the fear of God may grow up in him." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[23] This story is mentioned in the "British Biography." + +[24] Guiana was originally discovered to the Europeans by Vincent Pinzon +before the end of the fifteenth century. It was Juan Martinez, a Spaniard, +who first gave the name of El Dorado to the city of Manoa, in Guiana. + +[25] A species of palm. + + + + +SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. + + +Sir Philip Sidney was born at Penshurst in Kent, in the year 1554. His +father, Sir Henry Sidney, was one of the best men that ever lived, and +governed Ireland for some time with extreme justice and prudence. His +mother was Mary, daughter of the Duke of Northumberland, who was beheaded +for maintaining the cause of Lady Jane Grey. She had the sorrow of seeing +her brother Lord Guildford Dudley also led to the scaffold; and after these +terrible events lived much in retirement, devoting herself to the care and +education of her sons Philip and Robert, and her daughter Mary, afterwards +Countess of Pembroke. + +Under the guidance of such parents, the children at Penshurst grew up in +the closest bonds of family love. The grand old house they lived in was an +abode worthy of a noble race. It had been given by Edward the Sixth to Sir +William Sidney, the grandfather of Sir Philip. The park was famed for its +beeches, chestnut trees, and oaks of stately growth; one of the latter, +known by the name of "Sidney's Oak," remains standing to this day. Rich +pasture lands lay around, the streams abounded with fish, the gardens and +orchards with flowers and fruit. Here wandered Sir Philip with his beloved +sister, his young brother Robert, who succeeded to his uncle's earldom of +Leicester,[26] with the chivalrous Raleigh, the poet Spenser, the +play-writer Ben Jonson, and all the good, brave, and clever men of that +age. + +From his earliest childhood he was so sweet-tempered and intelligent that +his father lovingly called him "the light of this family." He was very fond +of study, and went first to school at Shrewsbury, where we find he +delighted his father greatly, when he was twelve years old, by writing him +a letter in Latin, and another in French. At the age of fifteen he went to +Christchurch, Oxford, where he appears to have studied with much diligence +during the short period of his college life. + +In the year 1571 an embassy was sent to the Court of Charles the Ninth of +France, in order to treat for a marriage between the king's youngest +brother, Henry Duke of Alenįon, and Queen Elizabeth. The queen had already +shown signs of regard for young Sidney, whom in after years she called "the +brightest jewel in her crown," and she allowed him to go abroad with the +mission, for the purpose of acquiring a perfect knowledge of foreign +languages. + +Sir Philip was in Paris on the fatal day of Saint Bartholomew, but was safe +in the house of his friend Walsingham, then English minister at the French +Court, whilst the unhappy Protestants were being cruelly massacred +everywhere around him. + +He afterwards travelled through Germany to Vienna, where he made himself +perfect in every martial exercise, going thence to study science at Venice, +to visit the poet Tasso at Padua, and lastly to Rome. + +And whilst he was storing his mind with knowledge, and learning all +accomplishments worthy of a true knight, he tried to lead a holy life, and, +as far as it was in his power, to keep himself blameless in the sight of +God and man; so that when he returned to England at the age of twenty, +other men far older than himself looked up to him with respect, and he was +considered the brightest ornament of the English Court. + +During his travels in Flanders, which at that time belonged to Spain, he +had grieved to see how unhappy the people were made by the Duke of Alva, +the State minister of Philip the Second of Spain. Philip did not love his +Flemish subjects at all; they were mostly Protestants, and he wanted to +take their liberty from them and force them to become Roman Catholics. And +when they began to rebel against his unjust treatment, he sent the cruel +Duke of Alva to them, having first told him that he might do whatever he +liked with them. + +Alva arrived in Brussels, and began by arresting and imprisoning the Counts +Egmont and Horn, two noble-minded men, who, after trying in vain to make +peace between the king and the Belgians, had taken the part of the +Protestants from a love of justice and mercy. Count Egmont had helped +Philip to win the great battle of St. Quentin over the French, but he was +compassionate as well as brave, and Philip was so afraid that he would be +too kind to the people of Belgium that he advised Alva secretly to get rid +of him. + +Alva kept the Counts in prison in Ghent for nine months, and then had them +carried to Brussels and beheaded, on the 4th of June, 1568, on a scaffold +raised on one of the principal squares in the city. They died with courage, +martyrs for the liberty of Flanders, but their execution was a cruel +injustice, and the people were nearly frantic with grief when the bloody +deed was done. Alva remained in Flanders more than four years, and is said +to have caused eighteen thousand Protestants to be beheaded during that +time. Then Holland rose in revolt; the Prince of Orange was made +stadtholder, and Alva, seeing that his day was over, went back to Spain, +where he must have been very unhappy when he thought over all his +wickedness. The Protestants in Germany fared very little better than those +in Flanders, for when the Emperor Rudolf the Second began to reign, he +forbade them to worship according to their faith. Sidney was sent on an +embassy to Rudolf, and did all he could whilst he was in Germany to humble +Spain. + +The Flemings asked Elizabeth to be their queen; this she would not agree +to, but she sent them some troops and some money, and Sidney implored her +to let him take the command in the enterprise, he wanted so much to be of +service to his fellow-men, and to deliver those who were unjustly treated +from their oppressors. The queen declared, however, that she could not +spare him from her Court, and he was obliged to wait patiently a little +longer. Meanwhile he took part in the amusements of the Court, the jousts +and the royal progresses from place to place, which were always attended +with great show. To these must be added the masques, and the first time +Sir Philip distinguished himself as an author was by writing a masque, +entitled "The Lady of May," which was performed before the queen at +Wanstead in Essex. Sidney was the patron of artists, musicians, and +authors; he was a kind and sincere friend of the poet Spenser, who had +originally been brought from his home in Ireland to the English Court by +Sir Walter Raleigh. + +Weary at last of remaining inactive, Sidney planned, without the queen's +knowledge, an expedition to America, in which he was to be joined by the +bold navigator, Sir Francis Drake. He had arrived at Plymouth, whence the +ships were to start, when Elizabeth, having gained information of the +projected voyage, sent messengers with letters to Sidney, in which she +desired him not to sail, and threatened to stay the whole fleet if he did +not obey her. + +Sir Philip, already on the alert, contrived to intercept the messengers; +their letters were taken from them by two soldiers disguised as sailors. +The queen, finding threats useless, then sent a positive royal command to +her favourite, which he was bound out of duty to his sovereign to obey, and +thus he was fated never to see the beautiful new land in the west, with its +growth of gorgeous flowers and rich fruits, its giant trees, and its +bright-coloured birds, its wonderful landscapes, the beauty of which far +exceeded the ideal formed of them. + +Elizabeth's displeasure did not last long. It was the high esteem she held +him in that made her so loth to let him quit England, and she was not +offended with him when he had the courage to write her a letter in which he +entreated her not to marry the Duke of Alenįon, now Duke of Anjou, and +pointed out the trouble such a union might bring upon England. The queen +wisely followed his advice, and gave up all idea of a marriage which her +subjects had very much disliked. + +Sir Philip, one day in the tilt-yard, had a dispute with Lord Oxford, in +which both were to blame, but Lord Oxford the more so of the two. This +caused Sidney to withdraw for a time from Court, and retire to a house he +had at Wilton, where he wrote "The Arcadia," a pastoral romance, and some +other works, which gained him the fame of a poet. He did not mean "The +Arcadia" to be published, nor did it appear in print until after his death. +He wrote it to afford pleasure to his sister Mary, and sent to her each +part of it as he completed it. + +A time came when the Flemings were again reduced to a state of extreme +wretchedness. The great and good stadtholder was basely murdered, and the +Spanish troops were making rapid progress through the country. So they +asked Elizabeth again to be their queen and to send them succour. She +refused the crown a second time, but agreed to help the Flemings with +troops on condition that the towns of Flushing and Brille should be placed +in her hands. And Sidney, to his great joy, was appointed governor of +Flushing, whither he went in November, 1585. The good Count Maurice of +Nassau received him as a brother, and he was made general of all the +forces, English and Dutch, in the town. Soon he had to welcome there his +uncle, the Earl of Leicester, who, by the favour of Elizabeth, was +entrusted with the command of the army. + +For some time Sidney was obliged to remain inactive, but in the year 1586 +he and Count Maurice surprised Axel, a town on the way to Antwerp, and the +strongest place held by the Spaniards in the Netherlands. Here he kept his +soldiers in the strictest order. When they were marching they were enjoined +to be silent, and a band of the choicest among them was stationed in the +market-place for the security of the town. + +So many brave gentlemen were covetous of the honour of surprising +Gravelines, that Sir Philip Sidney, not liking to risk the lives of all, +persuaded his inferior officers to try their fortune by dice on the top of +a drum. The lot fell upon Sir William Browne, and by this game of +hazard[27] the lives of many Englishmen were saved. + +On the 30th of August Sidney went with his uncle to invest Doesburg, a +fortress on the river Issel. This place was important because it opened the +way to Zutphen, and if Zutphen were once taken, the English and Dutch would +command the river. Doesburg was gained, and Zutphen soon after surrounded; +Leicester guarding it by water, and Sir Philip Sidney, Count Louis of +Nassau, and Sir John Norris, guarding it by land. + +News was brought to the English camp that a large supply of food was at a +place called Deventer, not far off, and Leicester was resolved that it +should not be brought into the town, whilst the garrison were equally +resolved to receive it. On the morning of the 22nd of September, Sidney +advanced to the walls of Zutphen with only 200 men. Before he set out he +was clad in complete armour, but meeting the marshal of the camp only +lightly armed, he took off some of the armour that covered his legs. There +was a mist at the time he set out, but when he had galloped quite close to +the town, it dispersed, and he found a thousand of the enemy in readiness +to receive him. The fight soon began, his horse was killed under him, and +he mounted another. The battle was furious, and the Spaniards, although +they were five times as many as the English, were totally routed. In the +last charge, Sir Philip was wounded severely in the thigh; his horse, being +very mettlesome, rushed furiously from the battle-field, and carried him a +mile and a half, wounded and bleeding, to the spot where Leicester stood. +When he lay in his anguish on the field, a bottle of water was brought to +him that he might quench his thirst; but seeing a soldier near him, wounded +like himself, look wistfully at it, he ordered it to be carried to him, +saying, "This man's necessity is greater than mine." + +His friends and his soldiers were overcome with grief when his state became +known; at the sight of his sufferings they almost forgot the glory of his +triumph; Yet amidst all his pain, he never ceased declaring that as long as +he lived his life was the queen's, and not his own, and that his friends +ought not to be discouraged. They laid him gently in his uncle's barge; +slowly it glided down the river to Arnheim, in Gelderland, and whilst he +lay patiently in it, he was heard to express the hope that his wound was +not mortal, and that he might yet have time to become holier before he +died. + +Day after day he lay in great pain, but talking kindly the while to the +friends who grouped lovingly around him, and tended by his wife, +Walsingham's daughter, who had hastened to Arnheim as soon as she heard +tidings of his disaster. When he felt he could only live a little time +longer, he made his confession of Christian faith, and settled his earthly +affairs, remembering in his will all those whom he had loved. He took a +tender farewell of his brother Robert, telling him "to love his memory and +cherish his friends, and to govern his own will by the word of his +Creator." And then having called for music, while sweet strains filled the +chamber, silent with coming death, the spirit passed from this world. + +His remains were brought to England, and interred in the great church of +St. Paul, which eighty years later was destroyed by the fire of London. + +"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord:" such were the words inscribed +on his coffin; and the perfectness of his character, and the regard in +which men held him, cannot be better expressed than in the language of the +old chronicle which says, "As his life was most worthie, so his end was +most godlie. The love men bore him, left fame behind him; his friendlie +courtesie to many procured him good-will of all."[28] + +The Poles after the death of their king, Stephen Balori, would have +conferred the crown on Sir Philip Sidney, because he was so justly renowned +for his humane and upright spirit, but he thought that his first duty was +to his sovereign, and the idea was renounced. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[26] The Earl of Leicester, the Court favourite of Queen Elizabeth, was +brother to Lady Mary Sidney. + +[27] See "British Biography." + +[28] Holinshed. + +_J. AND W. RIDER, PRINTERS, LONDON._ + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY'S BOOK OF HEROES*** + + +******* This file should be named 37315-8.txt or 37315-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/7/3/1/37315 + + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Boy's Book of Heroes</p> +<p>Author: Helena Peake</p> +<p>Release Date: September 4, 2011 [eBook #37315]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY'S BOOK OF HEROES***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Josephine Paolucci,<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 421px;"> +<img src="images/i_002.jpg" width="421" height="650" alt=""And thrusting his sword through its head, laid it dead on +the ground."—p. 4" title="" /> +<span class="caption"><i>"And thrusting his sword through its head, laid it dead on +the ground."—p. <a href="#Page_4">4</a></i></span> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1>THE BOY'S BOOK OF HEROES.</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>HELENA PEAKE.</h2> + +<h4>With Original Illustrations.</h4> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/titlemark.jpg" width="150" height="154" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center"> +LONDON:<br /> +FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.,<br /> +BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN.<br /> +NEW YORK: SCRIBNER, WELFORD, AND CO.<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +LONDON:<br /> +J. AND W. RIDER, PRINTERS,<br /> +BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.<br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<p> +<span class="tocnum">PAGE</span><br /> +<br /> +HEREWARD—LAST OF THE SAXONS <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></span><br /> +<br /> +THE CID <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_17'>17</a></span><br /> +<br /> +LOUIS IX., KING OF FRANCE <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_49'>49</a></span><br /> +<br /> +GUSTAVUS VASA, KING OF SWEDEN <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_82'>82</a></span><br /> +<br /> +BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_110'>110</a></span><br /> +<br /> +CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_144'>144</a></span><br /> +<br /> +THE CHEVALIER DE BAYARD <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_192'>192</a></span><br /> +<br /> +SIR MARTIN FROBISHER <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_225'>225</a></span><br /> +<br /> +SIR WALTER RALEIGH <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_242'>242</a></span><br /> +<br /> +SIR PHILIP SIDNEY <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_257'>257</a></span><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2>A LITTLE BOY'S BOOK OF HEROES.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>HEREWARD.—LAST OF THE SAXONS.</h2> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/i.jpg" width="125" height="127" alt="I" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_3">In the days of Edward the Confessor there lived in Mercia a noble +Anglo-Saxon youth named Hereward. He was brave, stedfast, and spirited, but +so violent and overbearing, so ready to quarrel and to use his sword, if +everything he desired was not conceded to him at once that the youths he +played and wrestled with around his home at Bourne<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>, resolved to make +complaint of him to his father, Leofric, the great Earl of Mercia.</p></div> + +<p>Leofric was a very valiant man, and he had done King Edward good service at +the time of Earl Godwin's rebellion. He had three sons; of these Hereward +was the second; the eldest was Algar, whom the Confessor made lord over +East Anglia.</p> + +<p>Leofric was very much grieved when he heard, day after day, of the unruly +deeds of his son, and found that he paid little heed to the reproofs he so +justly deserved. And if Leofric was grieved, far more so was his wife, the +saintly lady Godiva, who passed nearly the whole of her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> time in the +performance of good works, feeding and clothing the poor, nursing the sick, +and praying long hours for those she loved, and it may be most of all for +her wayward son, Hereward. Besides this, she gave large sums of money for +the support of religious houses, and founded the monastery at Coventry, +which is said to have contained greater treasure of gold, silver, and +jewels, than any other in England.</p> + +<p>But father and mother at last were wearied out, and Leofric persuaded King +Edward to outlaw his turbulent son, as the only means of preserving peace +in the neighbourhood of his castle of Bourne.</p> + +<p>The youth, not the least dismayed when sentence was passed upon him, set +out on his travels accompanied by one servant, named Martin, as brave and +as reckless as himself, and who followed him because he loved him. Perhaps +some of his relations were sorry after all to see him go, for they could +not help admiring his free, brave spirit, and amongst those who cared for +him was his uncle Brand, abbot of Peterborough, a very pious man, as the +chroniclers say, but haughty and unbending to the enemies of his land.</p> + +<p>Let us glance at Hereward as he bade farewell for many a year to the home +of his youth. He was of middle height, broad shouldered, and sturdy limbed, +but active and graceful in all his movements. His features were handsome, +his golden hair fell in long curls over his shoulders, according to the +Saxon fashion; one of his large eyes being blue and the other grey, gave a +strange expression to his countenance.</p> + +<p>It is supposed that he lived chiefly in the woods and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> forests during the +early days of his exile, but a few months after he quitted Bourne, we find +him "beyond Northumberland" with the Fleming, Gilbert of Ghent, who bore +him good-will, and had sent for him as soon as he heard that he was +outlawed. Hereward had not been long in his friend's house, which was in +some part of Scotland, when an event occurred which redounded very much to +his credit.</p> + +<p>It was the custom then for rich men to have various kinds of sports at +Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, and they used to keep a number of wild +beasts in enclosures, which were led forth at these seasons, that the noble +youths assembled might try their strength against them.</p> + +<p>It was Christmas time when Hereward arrived "beyond Northumberland." He had +passed some joyous days hunting in the wintry forests, and had become a +great favourite with the company, because he excelled in all manly sports, +and could charm the ladies besides by singing sweetly, and playing on the +harp, in the long winter evenings. But when he looked at the wild beasts in +their cages, he only saw one that he thought he should like to fight with, +and that was a huge white bear, which was known to be exceedingly fierce. +And beyond this it was said that its parent was the famed Norwegian bear, +which lived far away in the pine woods of the north, and, according to the +fable believed in at the time, was endowed with human sense, and could +understand human speech.</p> + +<p>Now it happened one day that the white bear broke the bars of its +enclosure, and rushed out, killing and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> tearing to pieces all the animals +that came in its path. This must have been very alarming, and worse still, +it was making its way towards a room, opening out of the court where the +women and children belonging to the house had taken refuge, and some +knights in their terror had followed them, instead of trying to drive back +the fierce creature with their lances. Hereward had just come in from +hunting, and saw at a glance what had happened; he went straight up to the +bear, and thrusting his sword through its head, he laid it dead on the +ground.</p> + +<p>His praises after this were sung far and wide; but amidst all the joy there +was a secret plot made to destroy him by some of the knights who had shown +themselves to be cowards, and were jealous of the bold deed he had +performed. So one day they concealed themselves in the wood and tried to +kill him as he came slowly along the mossy paths followed by his servant +Martin. The story tells how Hereward slew two of these knights in +self-defence, and another crept away, or was carried wounded to the house. +Soon after this he bade Gilbert of Ghent farewell; he said that he could +not live happily where there were traitors, but those who loved him were +grieved when he rode away, and the women shed many tears, remembering how +he had saved them with his strong right arm from a cruel death.</p> + +<p>From Scotland he went to Cornwall, and there we are told he performed some +brave deeds, and rescued a Cornish princess by slaying in combat a fierce +and cruel Pict, a giant in height, whom her father had commanded her to +marry against her own inclination.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<p>Some time after he was heard of in Ireland, where he took part in the +warlike exploits of King Ranald. Whenever there was fighting he was sure to +be found where the danger was thickest, and the name of "The Wake" was +given to him because he was always on the watch for his enemies, and could +never be taken unawares.</p> + +<p>But in Ireland he began to get homesick; he longed to see his brave father +once more, and his mother, the Lady of Bourne, sitting amongst her maidens, +or gliding amongst the sick like some comforting angel; he wanted to know +if his relations had any kindly feeling left towards him. This longing +became so strong that he asked the king to give him two ships, which Ranald +granted him readily in return for his services, and with these he set out +for England. But he had not sailors enough on board, and since he could get +no more to serve him in Ireland, he sailed up northwards towards the +Orkneys. When he reached these islands a storm arose and one of his ships +was wrecked on the shore of Hoy.</p> + +<p>With the other vessel he hoped to get safe to England, but he had not been +long at sea when the winds blew furiously, the waves dashed and foamed, and +storm-tossed for many days he was at last driven on the shore of Flanders. +In this country he found a welcome, and married a noble Flemish lady named +Torfrida. No part of his life, perhaps, was more peaceful than that which +he spent in his new home: nevertheless, it appears that wherever he was, he +always engaged in the wars that were carried on around him, and never +failed to distinguish himself by his valour.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> + +<p>Whilst Hereward had been wandering about all this time an outlaw, great +changes had taken place in the affairs of England. On the death of Edward +the Confessor the English had welcomed Harold, son of Earl Godwin to the +throne, quietly setting aside Edgar Atheling, who was too weak-minded to +defend his right, or to have ruled had he been king. But Harold had +scarcely been crowned when William of Normandy began making his vast +preparations for the conquest of England. The terrible battle of Hastings +had been fought; Harold the Second was slain, and nearly all the bravest +warriors amongst the English had fallen on the battle-field. And with the +exception of a few valiant noblemen, it seemed as if the people of England +had lost all spirit and would bow quietly to the Norman yoke. Leofric of +Mercia was dead; Algar also had died, leaving two fair young sons, Edwin +and Morcar, who at the time of the conquest were accounted the most +powerful noblemen in the land, Edwin being Earl of Mercia, and Morcar, Earl +of Northumberland. It must be remembered that Mercia included all the +midland counties of England.</p> + +<p>The brothers proclaimed Edgar Atheling king, and tried to persuade the +Londoners to rise; but their efforts were of no avail, and they were soon +obliged to retire to their own lands.</p> + +<p>One day, some emigrants came to Flanders and told Hereward all that had +happened in England. Oh, how he wished he had been amongst the Saxons on +the day of battle! Surely, if there had been many as brave and stern as he, +the Normans would have been driven back. And when he learned that some +Frenchmen had taken<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> possession of the estate of Bourne, which was now his +own, and that they were cruelly oppressing his widowed mother, he only +waited to bid Torfrida farewell, and then set out for England, followed by +Martin, with the intention of avenging his mother's wrongs.</p> + +<p>It was late in the evening when he drew near the old house of Bourne. Some +of the companions of his boyhood recognised him, and told him that William +of Normandy had given his estate to a low-born foreigner, and that a party +of Normans had just taken up their abode in the house. So Hereward hastened +on towards Bourne, and sought out a house at the end of the long street +which belonged to one Percy where he thought he could lodge for the night. +Here he found a number of fighting men bewailing the misfortunes of +England, and heard from them how the Frenchmen had robbed his mother of all +her treasures, and how his youngest brother, a youth of sixteen, had been +slain defending her, and his head had been fastened up over the door of the +house. And one amongst the company of warriors said, that if Hereward, the +outlawed son of Leofric had been at home, this trouble would never have +come upon Bourne.</p> + +<p>Now Hereward, having formed a plan in his mind, did not make himself known +yet: he only said that he had come from Flanders, but the men perceived by +the flash of his eye and his proud bearing that his spirit was kindled at +their wrongs, and their hearts leaned towards him because he looked so +brave and strong.</p> + +<p>After a while, the warriors dropped off one by one to sleep as the night +wore on. Hereward heard in the silence around, the sound of harps and +joyful singing, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> clinking of goblets. He asked a boy what it was +that he heard, and the boy said it was the merry-making of the guests in +the lord's house above, where the youngest son had been killed only the day +before. Then Hereward beckoned Martin and Percy to him, and by their means +he covered his helmet and his shining coat of mail with some woman's robe +of black stuff, and went out with Martin, who was disguised in like manner, +to the house of Bourne. The first grievous sight that awaited him was the +head of his young brother fixed up above the door. He could see through the +windows the Normans sitting at their feast in noisy merriment: they boasted +loudly of their deeds, and spoke slightingly of Hereward, whom they +believed to be far away in Flanders, although one Flemish woman amongst the +guests declared that if he had been there he could have overthrown them +all.</p> + +<p>Then Hereward, the Wake, the Terrible, waited to hear no more; he rushed +with Martin on those unprepared men; a fearful struggle began, and of all +the foreigners, it is said that not one was left there alive when the day +dawned. Such is the story told by the Monk of Ely, of the fierce and +relentless manner in which Bourne was rescued from the Normans.</p> + +<p>The Lady Godiva was very thankful to know that she had yet a son to protect +her. After this night of horror she removed to the Abbey of Croyland, where +she lived praying and fasting, and tending the poor and sick until she +died.</p> + +<p>In the year 1069 there was a rebellion throughout England. The English were +angry and indignant when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> they saw how the Conqueror bestowed all the high +offices in the land upon his Normans, whilst he trod their own liberties +under foot.</p> + +<p>Several bands of patriots assembled in the marshy lands of Cambridgeshire, +and there in the island of Ely they formed entrenchments of earth and wood, +and lived in security, often completely hidden by the mists that rose up +from the stagnant waters. There, too, they were amongst friends; the Abbey +of Croyland was in the marshes; Peterborough was not far off northward, and +as yet the monastery was held by the Abbot Brand, who prided himself on +never having sought favour from the Conqueror.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Hereward had returned to Flanders, but he did not remain there +long, and when he came back to England a second time, bringing with him his +wife Torfrida and his little daughter, his kinsmen welcomed him heartily, +and asked him to lead them in the battles they hoped to fight with the +Normans.</p> + +<p>But notwithstanding the numerous warlike deeds he had performed, he was not +what was called a legitimate "miles" or knight, and to be this it was +requisite that he should receive knighthood according to the Anglo-Saxon +custom. It was a law that every man desiring to be a lawful knight should +go to some abbey, and the evening before the ceremony of knighthood was to +take place, should confess his sins in deep penitence, and pass the whole +night inside the church in prayer and mortification. The next morning he +was to hear mass, and then offer up his sword upon the altar; this being +done the Gospel would be read, and the priest, having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> consecrated the +sword, would place it on the neck of the warrior with his blessing.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>The Normans looked with much scorn on this manner of knighthood at the +hands of a priest, but it may have been, as a modern French historian +observes, that they did not like to see so many knights continually rising +up amongst a people they had conquered.</p> + +<p>Hereward went to Peterborough,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> with two of his band, Winter and Gwenoch, +and persuaded his uncle to knight them all. And he told him that William +had given the abbey to Thorold, called "the fighting monk," but that Brand +would not believe for a long time.</p> + +<p>All the brave Anglo-Saxons rose up now to make a last effort to deliver +themselves from the Normans. The Danes came to help them under Objorn, +brother of Sweyn, King of Norway. Edgar Atheling appeared from Scotland +with a number of brave men. The people of York put their Norman governor to +death; the fiercest struggles were in the north of England. Hereward +established himself with his followers in the island of Ely, and had a +fortress of wood constructed which served them for shelter, and was a point +where other men of like mind could meet them from the forests and +fastnesses around. And here they remained for a long time to the great +annoyance of the Normans who could not reach them because their horses +constantly lost their footing in the marshes and bogs around.</p> + +<p>Thorold set out for Peterborough, but Brand did not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> live to be despoiled +of his abbey. Hereward hearing that the fighting monk was coming, hastened +to Peterborough with some of his men, and when they found that the monks +were not at all inclined to bar the entrance of Thorold, they took all the +crosses, and golden cups, the sacred robes and staffs belonging to the +abbey, and carried them to their quarters in Ely. And soon after this the +monks of Peterborough opened the gates to the Normans.</p> + +<p>The Danish warriors made their way to Ely, but William found means to +persuade Sweyn to recall them, and he bribed Objorn to retire by giving him +large presents and the liberty of plundering the sea coast. The departure +of the Danes caused great vexation to the people in Ely, because they +carried away with them all the sacred treasures of Peterborough.</p> + +<p>Now Taillebois, the Angevin,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> had many followers, and being a great +boaster, he swore that he would quickly drive the outlaws out of their +hiding places. The fighting monk was out in the marshes, and he told him +that he meant to attack the English. Hereward let him enter a forest of +willows which served to protect the patriots from their enemies, but as +Taillebois went in on one side of the forest, he came out on the other side +himself, and falling upon Thorold and his men, who had remained behind, he +took them all prisoners and kept them in the marshes, not releasing the +abbot until he had paid him three thousand marks of silver.</p> + +<p>The young brothers, Edwin and Morcar, had not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> joined in this last +rebellion, but they were not at all happy at King William's court; their +hearts were with their brave kinsman and not with the conqueror of their +land. At last Edwin went to Northumberland to lay his plans for another +rising, and Morcar fled to the island of Ely, where Hereward was still +holding out bravely, although the Saxon nobles in other parts of England +had all given way.</p> + +<p>William was very uneasy so long as he could not gain possession of Ely. In +the hope of preventing the Saxons from coming out of the island, he +surrounded it with flat-bottomed boats and made a causeway to the extent of +two miles. The workmen who were employed in constructing the causeway were +much harassed by Hereward and his men, and the king was persuaded by some +of his nobles to place an old woman, believed to be a witch, in a wooden +tower at the head of the works that she might use her spells against the +enemy. Hereward, on this, came out with his troop and set fire to the +willows that grew closely around the tower, and thus the poor old woman +perished in the flames. This seems to have been a very cruel act on the +part of our hero, although, unhappily, in those days, the burning of +witches was not considered a crime.</p> + +<p>The island remained blockaded for several months. At last the inmates of a +monastery in the interior got very hungry because no provisions could be +brought in, and they sent word to the king that they would show him how his +troops might enter the island if he would promise not to deprive them of +their property. Two Norman knights, Gilbert de Clare, and Guillaume de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +Larenne undertook to try the path; the king's troops poured in after them, +and it is said that they put a thousand Englishmen to the sword. All the +nobles now surrendered except Hereward, and William imprisoned Morcar, and +Egelwine, Bishop of Durham, who had taken refuge in Ely. Morcar died in his +prison,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> and Egelwine went mad, and as for the others "they suffered so +much in their captivity that it had been better for them if they had been +put to death the day they were taken."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>Hereward, with a few of his men, fought his way through the enemy and +escaped from their pursuit by difficult paths to the lowlands of +Lincolnshire. There some Saxon fishermen who were in the habit of carrying +fish every day to the Norman stations, along the marshes, concealed them in +their boats by covering them up with straw. When the boats reached one of +these strongholds, the Normans little imagining that their greatest enemy +was so near, purchased their fish as usual, and when it was cooked, sat +down to dinner. They had scarcely begun to eat when Hereward and his men +rose up out of the straw, and with hatchets in their hands rushed suddenly +upon them. There was a fierce conflict, and many of the Normans were slain; +those who survived fled in great terror and left their horses behind them +ready saddled. Then Hereward, and the followers that remained to him, each +chose a good steed for himself and galloped away into the forests.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p><p>In the country around they found many friends, and before they came as far +as Huntingdon their company included a hundred well armed men, all of them +faithful subjects of Hereward and proud to share his exploits. Their +numbers increasing daily, they became so strong at last that Gaimar, the +French poet, says they might have assailed a city. And a very strong castle +they did take, and found in it quantities of gold, silver, and armour, +besides rich furs and stuffs. So for a while they went on fighting under +their brave leader with spirit unquenched; often one Englishman against +three of the enemy.</p> + +<p>But hope died out even in the heart of Hereward when the power of the +Conqueror became fully established in the land. His friends were either +dead or in prison, or they had been sent blinded and maimed to their homes. +The persuasions of a Saxon lady, named Alfrueda, helped to induce him to +make peace, or rather a truce, with William, and he set out accordingly, +followed by three of his comrades, for Winchester, where the king was then +living. But when he drew near the gates of the city, he thought that this +manner of presenting himself before his sovereign was unworthy of his own +high rank, and he turned back in order to provide a more dignified escort. +The second time he approached Winchester he was at the head of forty men, +all clad in armour from head to foot, and mounted on handsomely accoutred +horses. The king had a great admiration for the valour and constancy of +Hereward; he welcomed him gladly to his court, and suffered him to retain +his estate at Bourne.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this, the Normans were always trying to quarrel with the +brave Saxon, and one day Oger, the Breton, offended him so deeply that a +combat took place between them, in which Oger was wounded. Then the enemies +of Hereward told the king that he had spoken evil of him, and persuaded him +to arrest him for that and for having wounded Oger. William seems to have +been very ready to believe ill of his powerful subject, and ordered him to +be imprisoned in Bedford Castle, where he remained a whole year.</p> + +<p>When Hereward was released he went to live in his house at Bourne, and was +known by the name of "the Lord of the Fens." The monk who wrote his life in +Latin, asserts that he died peacefully in his home, but other documents +have been found which prove that he did not meet his death in quiet, but in +fierce conflict with his enemies.</p> + +<p>His house at Bourne was frequently attacked by the Normans. One day he was +sitting outside the door, the weather was sultry, and he had fallen asleep. +Suddenly, he was awakened by the clash of weapons and the tread of horses, +and found that he was surrounded by a party of Bretons. He was without his +coat of mail, and had only a sword and a short pike. Undaunted amongst so +many, he snatched up a shield that was lying near, and defended himself +"like a lion." Taillebois, his greatest enemy, was with the troop. When he +perceived him he cried out that they were all traitors because he had made +his peace with the king, and that if they sought his life or his goods they +should pay dearly for either. Terrible was the struggle that ensued; the +Normans<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> fell around; Hereward himself received four sword thrusts at once; +it was Raoul de Dol, a Breton knight, who rushed forward to give him the +death blow; then, he made one last effort, and flinging his shield in the +face of his foe, he fell back dead.</p> + +<p>The life of Hereward was marked by many fierce deeds, and would that all +anger and strife had been hushed before he died! His memory must be +cherished because he loved his country so well, and it was great and noble +of him, when all his partizans had laid down their arms in submission, to +stand up alone in her righteous cause, and to be the last man to yield to +the thraldom of a conqueror.</p> + +<p>The daughter of Hereward was given in marriage by William to a valiant +knight named Hugh de Evermere, to whom she brought the lands of Bourne. +Torfrida ended her days in the Abbey of Croyland.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Bourne, then called Brun, in Lincolnshire.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> See Sharon Turner.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Peterborough was formerly called Burgh.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Angevin, a native of Anjou.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> See Gaimar.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Edwin, the brother of Morcar, was slain by some of his own +followers.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE CID.</h2> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/a.jpg" width="125" height="129" alt="A" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_2">According to the Spanish chronicles the famous Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, known +by the name of the Cid, was born about the year 1026, in the city of +Burgos, the capital of old Castille. His father, Diego Laynez, was +descended from Layn Calvo, one of two judges by whom the country was +governed after Ordono, its king, had behaved very treacherously. When we +first hear of Rodrigo as a youth of gentle manners, but of great courage +and bodily strength, Don Ferrando, a Christian king, who traced his descent +from the other judge, was ruling over Castille.</p></div> + +<p>Spain was then composed of many different kingdoms; the Moors had been +steadily gaining ground ever since they first set foot in the land, more +than three hundred years before, whilst the Christians had been trying as +steadily to keep them back. Now they held sway over by far the larger +portion of Spain; several of the great-cities, especially those in the +south, were under the dominion of Moorish kings, and were filled with +beautiful buildings, many of which remain, to show what wonderful skill the +Arabian architects must have possessed. The Moors lived in great splendour; +their palaces and courts were paved with marble, and the walls were covered +with arabesques in brilliant colours, or fretwork<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> in gold<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>; the ceilings +were often of cedar wood, inlaid with silver, ivory, or mother of pearl, +and the chambers were filled with the fragrance of costly spices, which +were kept always burning. Then they had beautiful gardens blooming with +roses and myrtles, where orange trees grew, and silvery fountains played +into basins of white marble. The outside of their buildings was also richly +ornamented, and sometimes with the strangest devices. The Alhambra, the +finest of all the Moorish palaces, which still remains in its ancient +splendour, was not built in the city of Granada until nearly two hundred +years after the death of the Cid.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards themselves were very brave, and inherited their valour from +the Visigoths, who were in possession of Spain for a long time before the +Moors crossed over the sea from Africa. The middle ages were not as dark +for them as they were for the other nations of Europe, because their +Moorish invaders taught them many useful arts and sciences, and also +introduced into Spain various fruits and trees which had hitherto only +grown in the East, or in Africa. Amongst these was the pomegranate, with +its shining dark green leaves, its beautiful crimson blossom, and its red, +juicy fruit; then there was the palm-tree, which was cultivated in the +fertile soil of Valencia, until it reached the height of a hundred and +fifty feet; and the strange-looking carob-tree, with leaves gloomily dark, +and pods full of a sweet pulp, like manna in taste, which were given to the +horses and mules.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> +<p>Some of the Moorish kings were merciful rulers, and rendered their subjects +happy; still, as they were strangers and infidels, it was very natural for +the Spaniards to wish to drive them out of the land, and Rodrigo de Bivar +is renowned for having regained more ground from them than any of the other +great Spanish captains.</p> + +<p>Whilst Rodrigo was still a youth, a quarrel arose between his father and a +certain Count Gomez, during which the Count gave his adversary a blow. +Laynez was old and feeble, and could not lift his sword, and he grieved +over the insult with a Spaniard's sense of shame and thirst for revenge. +Rodrigo, indignant at seeing his father treated thus scornfully, went out +and defied the Count to a combat, and slew him in the struggle. And when he +came home and told his father how he had avenged the affront that had been +offered him, the old man decreed that he should be considered thenceforth +as the head of the house of Layn Calvo. Alas! those were terrible times +when men fired up at the slightest provocation, and thought their honour +was at stake if an offence were not wiped out with the shedding of blood, +and seldom or never gave the "soft answer that turneth away wrath."</p> + +<p>A little while after this, the Moors, led by five of their kings, entered +Castille; they plundered the cities and carried away captive men, women, +and children, besides seizing the cows and the sheep that were feeding in +the pastures. They were going home in triumph when Rodrigo, young as he +was, came up with them in the mountains of Oca, and put them all to the +rout.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"He rode to the hills of Oca, where the Moormen lay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He conquered all the Moors, and took from their prey."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>His father being now dead, he went home to his mother, a noble lady, the +daughter of the Count of Asturias, and told her how he had won back all +that the Moors had taken, and had made their five kings captive. His mother +was very proud of his success, and rejoiced still more when she heard him +say that it would not be fair to keep the kings in prison, and that he +would send them all back to their own territory. And the Moors were so +touched by his generous conduct towards them that they resolved to pay +tribute and to remain subject to the king of Castille.</p> + +<p>The next event recorded in his life is his marriage with Ximena, daughter +of Count Gomez, whom he had slain. It is said that Ximena, without any +regard for the memory of her father, went to the king, Don Ferrando, and +entreated him to allow her to be married to Rodrigo de Bivar, because she +thought that he would one day be the richest and most powerful man in the +realm.</p> + +<p>The marriage took place, and a short time after, Don Ferrando, of Castille, +and Don Ramiero, of Arragon, had a quarrel about a city called Calahorra, +each laying claim to it as his rightful possession. As it seemed impossible +to find out which king had the right on his side, it was agreed to decide +the question by single combat, so Don Martin Gonzalez, accounted the +bravest knight in all Spain, was chosen to fight for Ramiero, and Rodrigo +de Bivar was to fight for Ferrando.</p> + +<p>Before the day of the combat arrived, Rodrigo set out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> on a pilgrimage to +the holy shrine of St. James, at Compostella, accompanied by twenty +knights. The Spaniards have a curious legend in reference to this journey +which must not be passed over, although so many strange stories are told of +the Cid that it is difficult to discover how many of the events detailed in +his life are really true.</p> + +<p>On the road to Compostella the pilgrims found a leper struggling in a +quagmire, and crying in vain for help. Rodrigo hastened to his relief and +dragged him out of the muddy water. Then he set him before him on his own +horse and continued his journey. When they arrived at the inn where they +were to pass the night, Rodrigo seated the leper at supper next himself, +and eat with him of all the viands that were served before them off the +same plate. The knights to show their disgust at this, rose with one accord +and left the supper room. Nevertheless, Rodrigo, feeling sure that no one +else in the inn would have pity upon the poor leper or give him shelter, +made him share his bed, but when he awoke at midnight he found him gone. +After a while a figure appeared before him, clad in shining white garments, +and a voice asked him if he were asleep or awake. "I am awake," replied +Rodrigo, "but who art thou, and whence is this fragrance and brightness?"</p> + +<p>The strange visitant, answered, "I am Saint Lazarus, the leper whom thou +hast succoured and honoured for the love of God;" and he told him that when +he felt a breath near him, such as he had felt that night, before he +appeared, it would be a sign that he should succeed in whatever enterprise +he was engaged in at the time; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> he told him also that he should be +feared both by Christians and Moors, and that his foes should never prevail +against him. Then the saint vanished, and Rodrigo, wondering at the +extraordinary vision, knelt down, and remained many hours in prayer, and at +daybreak he set out on his pilgrimage once more, doing all the good he +could along his journey.</p> + +<p>On the day fixed for the combat, Rodrigo had not appeared at the spot where +it was to take place, and his cousin Alvar Fanez, was preparing to fight in +his stead. But at the very moment when the contest was to begin, he stepped +forward and took his stand against the champion of Arragon. They fought so +fiercely that their lances were broken, and they were both severely +wounded, and although Gonzalez taunted his opponent by saying that he +should never go back alive to his bride, Doña Ximena, Rodrigo was more +cruel to him than he need have been, and gave him his death wound as he +lay, faint from loss of blood, upon the ground. Then Don Ferrando came up +and embraced Rodrigo, and helped to unharm him himself; he was so glad that +he could take possession of Calahorra, but all the people of Arragon +sorrowed bitterly for the loss of Gonzalez, their bravest knight.</p> + +<p>The Counts of Castille now grew jealous of Rodrigo's renown, and plotted +with the Moors that a battle should take place, in which they hoped he +might be killed and so stand no longer in their way. The affair was made +known to the Moors who were his vassals; they refused to share in the +treason, and revealed the whole plot to their lord. The king was very angry +when he heard of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> the treachery of his nobles, and to punish them, he +ordered all the traitors to quit the kingdom at once.</p> + +<p>About this time Rodrigo was knighted in the great mosque of Coimbra, the +king giving him his sword, the queen his horse, and the infanta fastening +on his spurs. After this he was called Ruy Diaz, Ruy being short for +Rodrigo; and his Moorish vassals when they brought him tribute called him +"El Seid," the Arabic for "the lord," so that he was known thenceforth by +the name of the Cid.</p> + +<p>Not long after this Don Ferrando died, leaving his dominions divided +amongst his five children. Sancho had Castille, Alonzo Leon, Garcia +Gallicia, and their two sisters, the cities of Tora and Zamora. The +brothers kept at peace for only two years, and then they went to war with +one another. The Cid remained faithful to the fortunes of Don Sancho, and +one day during the war, when the king was being carried away prisoner by +thirteen knights who were on the side of Alonzo, Ruy Diaz chanced to come +up with them in time, and being unarmed, he asked them to give him a lance. +The knights refused at first, but afterwards gave him one, laughing at the +idea that one man could hold out against so many. They soon found that they +were mistaken, for the Cid overthrew them one after another until only two +were left, and thus freed Don Sancho from the power of his enemies. The war +between the brothers unhappily lasted some years, and at last Alonzo was +defeated by Sancho, and shut up in prison, whence he contrived to escape to +the court of the Moorish kings. Sancho himself received a death blow from +an unknown hand at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> the siege of Zamora. Before he died he prayed that his +brother Alonzo might come from the land of the Moors and show favour to the +Cid, and that the hidalgos would entreat him to forgive whatever wrongs, +he, Don Sancho, had done to him.</p> + +<p>Alonzo returned from the land of the Moors, and as soon as he arrived his +sister Urraca sent letters to all the nobles in the kingdom that they might +render him homage. Those of Leon and Gallicia were very glad to come and +receive him for their king; then the Castillians appeared, and they kissed +his hands, all except the Cid; but they were not all content, for Alonzo +had been suspected of having connived at the death of Don Sancho.</p> + +<p>When the king saw that the Cid would not kiss his hand, he was vexed, and +he asked him why he held back. And the Cid replied that he would never +render him homage until he had sworn with twelve of his hidalgos who were +likewise suspected, that he had not connived at the death of Don Sancho.</p> + +<p>The king consented to take the oath in the great church of Saint Gadea, in +Burgos, and went thither on the appointed day with his sisters and all his +court. The Cid made him stand with the hidalgos on a high stage so that +they might be seen by all the people in the church; then he took the book +of the holy gospels and laid it on the altar, and when Alonzo had placed +his hand upon it, he asked him in the most solemn manner if he had anything +to do with his brother's death. And he said that if it were so, and he +denied the crime, he should die a like death himself, at the hands of one +who was not a Castillian, but would come from a strange land.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>At the end of every sentence the Cid spoke, the king and his hidalgos +answered, Amen.</p> + +<p>It was an awful scene, and when Alonzo heard the doom pronounced upon him +if he did not speak the truth, he turned pale, and asked Ruy Diaz why he +pressed him so much, because he made him take the oath three times. When he +had sworn that he was innocent for the last time, the Cid kissed his hand +and acknowledged him for his king, and from thenceforth Alonzo reigned over +Castille, Leon, Gallicia, and Navarre, and was free from the attempts of +his brother Garcia since he had invited him to his court, and then shut him +up in a strong castle, where he remained to the end of his days. It was a +very long time, however, before he could look kindly on the Cid, for he +thought he had done him a great injury by making him take the oath so many +times before his people.</p> + +<p>The first expedition of Ruy Diaz after this was against the kings of +Seville and Cordova, in which he won great honour, and afterwards returned +to Castille laden with spoils. Then he lay sick for a long time, and could +not go with Alonzo to fight the Moors in another part of Spain. And it +happened that when the king was far away, a vast company of Moors, thinking +that all was quiet, entered Castille and did great damage to the country. +The Cid, hearing of this, roused himself and gathered his strength and +pursued them as far as the city of Toledo. The Castillians around Toledo +were very jealous of his power, and they complained to Alonzo that Ruy Diaz +had driven the Moors into their territory on purpose to annoy them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + +<p>Alonzo flew into a great passion, and summoned the Cid to his presence, and +glad of an opportunity of vexing him, ordered him to leave the country of +Castille for ever, and all the fair domains he possessed.</p> + +<p>When the sentence was passed the Cid's cousin, Alvar Fanez, and all his +friends, kinsmen, and vassals, declared that if he must needs quit the land +they would follow him into his exile and remain faithful to him all the +days of their life. This comforted Ruy Diaz, although he did not desire +that so many of those he loved should condemn themselves to wander in the +land of the Moors for his sake. He sent his wife Ximena, and his two little +daughters, Elvira and Sol,<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> to the convent of Saint Peter, of Cardeña, +where they would be safe; and one sad day he bade farewell to his home in +Castille and set out on his wanderings, the king having granted him nine +days for his journey out of the country.</p> + +<p>The costly furniture of his palace in Burgos had been all stored away; +there were no people coming and going; no voices of children gladdened the +empty halls; the birds were all gone from the perches, there would be no +more pleasant pastime of hawking, the whole place was silent and desolate.</p> + +<p>When the Cid saw this he knelt down and turned towards the east, and prayed +that he might be victorious over the Moors, and gain enough to requite his +friends for their devotion. Then he turned to the whole company and cheered +them with the hope that he might yet be able to return to Castille in +honour. And an old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> woman, who stood by the door, repeated the Spanish +proverb, "Go in a lucky moment, and you shall make spoil of whatever you +desire."</p> + +<p>The mausoleum of the Cid now occupies the spot where his palace stood, and +his statue ornaments the gate of Saint Maria, which is the principal +entrance into the city of Burgos, and opens on to one of the bridges +leading out into the suburb called Vega.</p> + +<p>As Ruy Diaz came with his people through the streets of Burgos, the +citizens wept aloud; they were so grieved to see him depart, and to know +that no house might afford him shelter even for one night. So when the dark +came he was obliged to have a tent raised on the sandy plain and rest for a +while there.</p> + +<p>At last he got to the convent of Cardeña, and bade a long farewell to his +wife and daughters, giving them a hundred marks of gold for their +expenditure; and before he left he gave the Abbot fifty marks of silver, +and commended his family to his care, for he did not feel sure that he +should ever see them again. Then he pursued his journey, travelling all +night because he had a long and difficult way to go before he could get to +the land of the Moors. The next day but one they crossed the river Douro in +wooden boats, and rested at a place called Figueruela. And there in the +night he either dreamed or had a vision of an angel coming to him who said, +"Cid, be of good cheer, for it shall be well with thee all thy life long; +and thou shalt accomplish all that thou shalt undertake, and shalt become +rich and honoured." The Cid thought very much on what he had heard, and he +arose and gave thanks for the mercy that had befallen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> him. The following +day he reached the wild Sierra, of Miedes, and he said, "Friends, let us +mount our horses quickly, and cross the Sierra and go out of the kingdom of +Don Alonzo, for this is the ninth day, and it is time we were gone." So +they passed the Sierra in the dark night and then they were in the country +of the Moors. The whole company of the Cid amounted to 400 horsemen, and +3,000 foot. They travelled by night, and hid by day until they reached the +Castle of Castregon. Ruy Diaz concealed himself and his friends close by, +and in the morning the Moors, not knowing they were there, came out of the +Castle gates to go to their work; the Spaniards rushed suddenly upon them, +slaying some and dispersing the rest, and soon got possession of the castle +where they found a quantity of gold and silver. But they could not stay in +it because there was no water, and besides this, the Moors all around were +vassals of Don Alonzo. So the Cid left the Moors there whom he had taken +prisoner in the skirmish, and went further on his way to meet with fresh +adventures. During the whole time of his exile he remained loyal to the +king who had so unjustly treated him, and did him good service, for he took +many strong castles from the Moors, and either drove the invaders out of +the land or made them subject to Castille. He shared with his company all +the rich spoils he won, and after many brave exploits determined to send +his cousin Alvar to Alonzo with a present of thirty Arab horses, and a +message entreating him to restore him to his favour, and to give back to +his friends the estates they had lost by following him into his exile.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<p>When the king saw the beautiful Arab horses, each with a fine sword mounted +in silver hanging from its saddle, his face brightened, and he could not +bring himself to refuse the gift. Still he thought it was too soon yet to +pardon the mighty Cid, and only restored to his friends and relations their +lands.</p> + +<p>Ruy Diaz got as far as the district of Ternel in Arragon, and there he +settled himself in a fortress on a high rock which has been called ever +since "The Rock of the Cid." From this stronghold he sallied forth from +time to time against the Moors, and forced numbers of them to pay tribute. +And besides overcoming the Moors, he served the king by punishing some +great Spanish lords who had been guilty of treason, and Alonzo at last +desired him to return to the court. The Cid waited yet to take the strong +Castle of Rueda from the Moors, and then he came back to Castille in +honour, as he had hoped on the sorrowful day when he left Burgos. All the +king's displeasure passed away when Ruy Diaz came before him and delivered +into his hands the rich treasures he had captured, and Alonzo gave him many +castles, and the right of keeping in future all the places he should win +from the Moors for himself.</p> + +<p>Ruy Diaz was chosen to lead the Spanish army against Toledo in the year +1032. This city was possessed by the Moorish king Yahia, and was considered +so important a place, that all the Christian sovereigns in Spain made up +their quarrels, and joined together to besiege it. Yahia held out for three +years, and then only yielded up the city on condition that he should reign +over Valencia instead. The first Christian banner that entered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> Toledo was +the banner of the Cid. A story is told by the Spaniards how, when the army +had to cross a ford of the Tagus, that they might get nearer the city, and +the river was so swollen that the horsemen feared to plunge into it, a monk +of the order of St. Benedict rode over first on an ass, after which the +whole army passed over in safety.</p> + +<p>Later on, Castille was threatened by the Almoravides, a nation of African +Moors. The Moorish kings already settled in Spain had many bitter quarrels +amongst themselves; there was trouble and treason all over the land. Yahia, +who was protected by the Cid, and called himself his friend, was murdered +by a wicked alcayde named Abeniaf soon after he had joined with Ruy Diaz to +defend Spain against the Almoravides. Abeniaf buried the treasures of the +murdered king, and let some of the new invaders into Valencia, for which +service they made him Wali, or governor of the city.</p> + +<p>The Cid came with a great army of Christians and Moors, and lay siege to +Valencia, so incensed was he at the cruel death of Yahia, and began by +attacking the suburbs, because by gaining them he could close all round the +city, and prevent the Moors from going in or coming out. That siege of +Valencia was very terrible, the people died daily of hunger; they eat +horses, dogs, cats, and mice, and when all the flesh was gone they had only +a little wheat and garlic, and a few raisins and figs.</p> + +<p>In their sore need they implored some more of the Almoravides to come to +their aid, although a great quarrel had broken out between that people and +Abeniaf. The Almoravides set out for Valencia, but they were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> dismayed by a +violent tempest which arose and turned back. Then the besieged went almost +mad through hunger and misery, and the Cid came nearer its walls, thinking +that famine would force them to yield. The longer the siege lasted, the +more defiant did Abeniaf become; besides which he governed the people very +cruelly, and oppressed them in every way. The Cid was very cruel too +outside their walls, and showed them no mercy. He sent word to them that he +would burn all persons who should dare to come out of the city, and it is +said that several Moors who tried to escape were burned by his command. +Many men, women, and children, too, came out whenever the gates were +opened, and sold themselves to the Christians for food. The price of a Moor +was a loaf and a pitcher of wine.</p> + +<p>At last Abeniaf agreed to deliver up the place if no succour came within +fifteen days, provided he might still continue in his office of Wali. The +people thought they might yet be saved, because they had entreated the King +of Saragossa to assist them, but no help came, and the gates were opened, +and the Christians poured in to the city.</p> + +<p>The Cid entered with all the hidalgos and knights, and went up to the +highest tower in the wall, whence he could look down on the whole of +Valencia; and the Moors came to him, and they kissed his hands, and bade +him welcome. The Cid, in return, ordered that all the windows of the tower +which looked towards the streets should be closed, that the Spaniards might +not annoy the Moors by prying into their affairs, and commanded the +Christians to guard the people and to pay them the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> greatest honour. The +Moors were very grateful for his kindness, and rejoiced indeed that the +city had been given up, for now the provision merchants could come inside +the gates and they could buy food; and some of them were so famished that +they went and plucked the grass and herbs from the field, and tried thus to +satisfy their sharp hunger. It must have been a sad sight to have seen +those who had survived the famine standing about like ghosts, whilst there +was mourning in every house, and space had not been found to bury all the +dead.</p> + +<p>The Cid planted his banner on the Alcazar, which was the name given to all +royal houses and palaces in Spain. He caused Abeniaf to be seized by force, +and after he had made him say where he had concealed the treasures of Yahia +he condemned him to be burnt alive, but showed mercy to his son when the +Moors entreated him not to include him in the punishment of his father; and +had the Cid put the innocent child to death it would have been as dreadful +a crime as Abeniaf was guilty of in murdering Yahia.</p> + +<p>The city of Valencia lay in a great plain which was called the Garden, +because it was covered with the most luxuriant vegetation, and trees, such +as the mulberry, olive, orange, carob, and palm grew in its fertile soil. +There were fair gardens lying between the walls and the shore.</p> + +<p>When the Cid had taken up his abode in the vast and beautiful Alcazar, the +people began to cast off their sorrow and gloom, and to take part in the +rejoicings made by the Spaniards. Valencia was now all his own.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> He +suffered the Moors to remain in the city and to keep all their herds and +flocks; they were to give him a tenth part of their substance, and to +retain all their customs; and he made a good man Wali over them that they +might be governed by their own laws. Those who were not content with this +arrangement, he ordered to go and dwell in the suburb of Alcudia, outside +the walls. From this time he was called the Cid Campeador, the latter title +being given to one greatly renowned for his exploits.</p> + +<p>One day, Hieronymo, a holy and learned man, "all shaven and shorn," came +from the East to Valencia, and desired to see the Cid. He said that if he +might once meet the Moors on the battle-field, and have his fill of smiting +them, he would be content. These were warlike words for a priest, but they +pleased Ruy Diaz, and the very next day after the stranger arrived the +mosques were changed into churches, and Hieronymo was made Bishop of +Valencia.</p> + +<p>The King of Seville soon came with the Almoravides to besiege the Cid in +his new abode. Ruy Diaz defeated him, and won from them his famed horse +Bavieca, although the chronicles say that Bavieca was the horse he chose +when a boy, because it was so fiery, and the name was given to it from his +godfather exclaiming, "Bavieca (meaning simpleton) thou hast chosen ill."</p> + +<p>After this he sent his faithful cousin Alvar with a number of brave knights +to fetch his wife and daughters from the convent of Cardeña, where they had +been all this time. The ladies were joyful indeed to hear that Valencia was +gained, and when they drew near, the Cid came out on his horse Bavieca, +with a stately company<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> to meet them, and he took them up to the highest +tower of the Alcazar, whence they could see all the fair city lying in its +plain beside the sea, and its beautiful houses built by the Moorish +architects, its fountains and gateways, and its gardens filled with the +brilliant flowers and luscious fruits of the East.</p> + +<p>Doña Ximena and her daughters had been in Valencia about three months, when +news was brought to the Cid that King Yusef was coming from Morocco with +50,000 horsemen, and myriads of men on foot, to invest the city by sea and +land. The Campeador was not alarmed; he had his fortresses well manned, and +the enormously thick walls of the city repaired, and he got in plenty of +provisions, whilst a number of his vassals, Christians and Moors, came to +his aid.</p> + +<p>The day before the battle he took his wife and Elvira and Sol to the tower, +and showed them the Moors as they gained their footing on shore. Soon they +began to enter the gardens, and Ruy Diaz told a very brave man to go down +thither with two hundred knights, and show them a little play. So he went +down, and soon drove them out of the gardens. The Cid, being so often at +war, had certain signals, by which the knights knew how many of them were +to arm themselves and assemble, the signal being usually the ringing of a +bell.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning Bishop Hieronymo sang the mass and absolved all the +Christians from their sins; praying afterwards, warlike man that he was, to +be the first to drive back the enemy. Whilst it was still dark, the Cid, +well armed and mounted on Bavieca, went out with his company at the gate +which was called the Gate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> of the Snake. They loitered about at first, and +then when the Cid rang his bell the Christians came out of their +hiding-places amongst the narrow ways and passes, and the Moors were shut +in between their enemies and the sea. There was hard fighting that day; the +Moors, arming themselves in haste, made a firm stand, but before night they +were overcome and fled to Denia, leaving great riches behind them in the +camp. Ruy Diaz, who had been wounded in the battle, rode joyfully back to +the city when they were gone, still mounted on Bavieca, and with his drawn +sword still in his hand; and he sent King Alonzo a present of three hundred +horses laden with the gold and silver he had found amongst the spoils.</p> + +<p>Yusef died soon after his defeat, and his brother Bucar swore upon the +Koran, the book of their law, that he would take revenge upon the mighty +Castillian chief.</p> + +<p>The Infantes of Carrion, Diego, and Fernan Gonzalez, vassals of King Alonzo +in Castille, having heard how the power of the Cid was increasing day by +day, demanded his daughters in marriage, thinking by so doing they would +become rich and powerful themselves. The Cid was pleased with the proposal, +but Doña Ximena did not like the idea of such a marriage at all; however, +since the king had heartily approved of it, she dared say nothing against +it.</p> + +<p>The weddings were performed by Bishop Hieronymo, and there were great +rejoicings in Valencia for eight days. Each day had its festival, either in +bull-fighting, or tilting, or shooting stones from the cross-bow, or they +witnessed the performances of the Moorish jugglers and buffoons, who were +very clever in their art. Then there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> were magnificent banquets in the +Alcazar, the tables being covered with silver dishes filled with rare and +highly-seasoned meats.</p> + +<p>For two years the Infantes lived with their wives at Valencia in peace; but +at the end of that time a misfortune happened, which caused them to break +with their father-in-law, although it was no fault of his. The Cid had a +very large and lively lion, which afforded him great amusement, and was +kept in an iron house, which opened into a high court behind the Alcazar; +three men had the charge of it, and it was their custom about mid-day to +open the door of its house, and let it come into the court to eat its +dinner, taking care before they left to fasten the door of the court +securely.</p> + +<p>The Cid used to dine in company every day, and after dinner he sometimes +fell asleep, for he was getting old. One day a man came to him, and told +him that many vessels had arrived before Valencia, having on board a great +host of the Moors, and among them Bucar, the African king, who had sworn to +revenge the death of his brother. When the Cid heard this he was very much +pleased, for it was nearly three years since he had had a fight with the +Moors. He had his bell rung as a sign that all the honourable men in the +city should assemble, and when they came to Alcazar, and the Infantes were +there too, he told them the news, and agreed with them as to the manner in +which they should repel the advance of their foes. When this was done he +went quietly to sleep, and Diego and Fernan, and the rest of the company +sat playing at tables<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> and at chess.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> +<p>It happened that the men who guarded the lion heard that the Moors had +come, and rushed to the palace to see if the news were true, forgetting in +their anxiety to close the door of the court behind them. And lo and +behold! the lion, when it had dined right royally, and saw the door open, +walked out of the court and straight into the great hall where all the +company were assembled. It certainly was an alarming sight, and the people +did not know what to do, fearing that the lion might be roused to fury and +tear some of them to pieces. Diego and Fernan Gonzalez showed more terror +and cowardice than all the rest, and Diego ran and hid himself under the +Cid's chair, and very nearly died of fright in his undignified retreat, +whilst Fernan rushed out of a gallery which led into a court where there +was a winepress, and entering therein he tumbled among the lees, which +served him quite right.</p> + +<p>The others remained in the hall, and stood around the Cid to guard him +while he slept. The noise of their talking, however, at last awakened him, +and he saw how the lion came towards him and licked his hand, and he asked +what it meant. And when the lion heard his voice, it stood quite quiet, and +the Cid arose and took it by the neck as if it had been a hound, and made +it go back to its iron house, calmly giving orders that it should be more +strictly guarded in future.</p> + +<p>When the Infantes came out of their hiding-places they must have felt very +much ashamed, but they gave a very different version of the story to what +had really happened. In the famous poem of the Cid, which contains a great +deal of historic truth, Ruy Diaz forbears<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> reproaching his sons-in-law for +their cowardice. Be that as it may, they made the event a pretence for +taking offence with him, as they were wicked and discontented men; they +were tired of their wives, and thought that they ought to have wedded +damsels of far higher rank than the daughters of the Cid. So they said that +he had arranged that the lion should come out of its den only to put them +to shame before all the hidalgos; and their uncle, Suero Gonzalez, wickedly +advised them to ask Ruy Diaz to let them take their wives to their home in +Carrion, that, once out of Valencia, they might do with them whatsoever +they pleased.</p> + +<p>In the meantime there was much noise in the city. Bucar had landed his +forces, and arrived in a plain about a league from Valencia, which was +called Quarto; and there the Cid gave him such a defeat that he was obliged +to flee with his diminished army across the sea. Ruy Diaz was still kindly +disposed towards his sons-in-law; and when the battle was over he thanked +them for the share they had had in it, when they had really done nothing at +all, and had only pretended to fight; such men were not worthy to have +married the daughters of the Cid! Now they said that they had heard no news +of their father and mother in Carrion since they left Castille; and they +wanted to take their wives home, and tell their parents what honour they +had attained to by marrying them. Doña Ximena had no faith in them, and she +told her husband that they were not true-hearted; she was very loth to let +her daughters go with them; nevertheless the Cid trusted them still, and +one day Elvira and Sol set out from Valencia with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> Infantes; their +parents, and a great and valiant company going with them two leagues on the +road to Castille. Before they started, Ruy Diaz gave them presents worthy +of a king. First of all, he gave them a quantity of cloth of gold, silk, +and wool, a hundred horses richly caparisoned, and a hundred mules with +gorgeous trappings; then he gave them ten goblets of pure gold, and a +hundred vases of silver besides quantities of silver in plate and shields. +A hundred well-appointed knights were to accompany them into Castille; +amongst whom were two very brave men, named Martin Pelaez and Pero Sanchez, +whom the Cid held in great esteem. Last of all he gave the Infantes each a +golden-hilted sword to defend their wives with; these two swords he prized +very much, because he had won them from the Moors, and he had named them +Colada and Tizona.</p> + +<p>When it was time to part, Elvira and Sol took a sorrowful leave of their +parents, and the Cid, as he turned away from them began to feel some +misgivings in his heart, and to wonder if Ximena had really been right in +her distrust. The Infantes, however, still promised to treat their wives +with honour, and the cavalcade went on towards Castille. On the way they +were entertained by a Moorish king, a vassal of the Cid's, who could not do +enough to show his pleasure in welcoming them, and so far all was well, and +they went through the valleys until they reached the oak forest of Torpes. +When they arrived there the Infantes told all the knights to go forward, +and said they would stay for a while in the forest. Elvira asked her +husband Diego why they remained there alone; he replied that she should +soon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> see. Then these wicked men took their wives by the hair and dragged +them along until they came to the fountain of Torpes, and there they beat +them with the leathern girths of their saddles until the blood flowed from +their wounds. And they took from them all the costly jewels, and robes of +silk and ermine Doña Ximena had given them, and went on their way, leaving +the poor ladies half dead by themselves in the forest, where the wild +beasts might have come and devoured them. Elvira and Sol startled the birds +in the branches overhead by the piteous cries they uttered in their terror +and pain; then, finding that no one came to their aid, they said their +prayers very fervently, and sank fainting to the ground.</p> + +<p>The cruel Infantes mounted their horses, and took the mules which had +carried their wives, and said aloud as they went out of the forest, "Now we +have done with the daughters of the Cid! We demeaned ourselves by marrying +them, and we are avenged of the affront their father put upon us by letting +loose the lion."</p> + +<p>Felez Nuñoz, however, the nephew of the Cid, happened to pass that way, and +he heard what the Infantes said. He would have punished them on the spot, +but he feared they would return and perhaps kill their wives; so he went +into the deep oak glades, and kept calling his cousins by their names until +he found them. Then, in great sorrow to behold the terrible plight they +were in, he gave them water to drink, and carried them to a part of the +forest where they would be in greater safety, and made a soft couch for +them of tender green leaves and grass, whereon they might rest, for they +were utterly worn out.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<p>The knights had gone on their way, and when they saw the Infantes coming +towards them bringing with them the mules and the rich robes of their +wives, they began to fear that some evil deed had been done, and they all +crowded round them, taunting them with their cowardice, and threatening to +fight them. The Infantes wanted to be rid of them all, and declared that if +the knights would go back to the forest, they would find Elvira and Sol by +the fountain there unharmed. So Martin Pelaez and Pero Sanchez, and all the +bravest men in the company returned thither; but when Felez Nuñoz and his +cousins heard their voices they were alarmed, thinking the Infantes were +near; and they kept quite still, so that the knights could not find them, +and returned, very angry, to pursue the cowardly brothers, feeling sure +that some foul deed had been done. Diego and Fernan, however, were already +beyond their pursuit,—craven-hearted men can fly fast, and the knights set +out at once for the court of Don Alonzo, and told their king all that had +happened.</p> + +<p>Now the ladies in the forest at first had nothing to eat, and were very +near dying of hunger, when, by good fortune Felez Nuñoz found his way to a +village where he bought them food, and he kept them thus from starving for +seven days; but could not make their misfortunes known to the Cid because +he feared to leave them by themselves in the wild forest. At last he found +in his village a worthy man in whose house the Cid had once lodged, and he +brought two asses to the forest, and made the noble ladies mount them, and +led them in safety to his own house, where his wife tended them kindly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +rejoicing that she had them under her roof. Here they wrote a letter to +their father, which Felez Nuñoz undertook to convey to him at Valencia. On +the road thither he met Alvar Fanez and Pero Bermudez, who were going to +the king with a present from Ruy Diaz, of two hundred horses he had won in +his battle with Bucar, besides a number of swords and a hundred Moorish +captives. These knights were enabled to give Don Alonzo a faithful account +of all that had happened, and the king was very indignant at the wickedness +of his vassals, and appointed a day, three months from the time, when he +would hear the matter through, and give judgment in his Cortes at Toledo. +And Alvar and Pero set out in search of the Cid's daughters, taking with +them from Alonzo two mules, with saddles richly adorned with gold, and +jewelled robes for the sisters, so that they might return to Valencia in +the same attire they had worn when they started on their hapless journey. +When they had found them at the good man's house, Pero went on to Valencia, +and Alvar remained with the knights who had followed him to guard his +cousins. The indignation and anger of the mighty Cid may be imagined when +he heard how his children had been treated. Doña Ximena was more dead than +alive, and she was thankful indeed when she had her dear daughters safe at +home with her once more.</p> + +<p>Great preparations were made for the day of trial. The walls of the palace, +where judgment was to be given, were hung with cloth of gold, rich carpets +were spread on the floor, and a great throne was placed in readiness for +the king. The Cid left Hieronymo and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> Martin Pelaez in charge of his city, +and set out betimes for Toledo with so great a host of followers that it +looked like an army. When he drew near Alonzo came out to meet him, but he +would not cross the Tagus that night, and had candles lighted in the church +of Saint Servans on the shore, and kept a vigil there a great part of the +night with his friends. And he ordered one of his hidalgos to set a +beautiful ivory chair he had won from the Moors close beside the king's +throne, and sent a hundred squires, each one an hidalgo, to stand around it +all night to guard it, with swords hanging from their necks.</p> + +<p>There were many people in Toledo who were friends of the Infantes of +Carrion, and therefore ill-disposed towards the Cid, and they thought he +was taking a great liberty in having his chair set beside the king's +throne: but Alonzo honoured him, and he suffered it to remain.</p> + +<p>It was a stately meeting; we are told that when the day came Ruy Diaz wore +a tunic of gold tissue, and over that a red skin with points of gold; this +he always wore, and on his head he had a coif of scarlet and gold: his long +beard, which was getting white, was tied up with a cord.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> When he came +into the hall, the king and all the people stood up, except those who were +on the side of the Infantes of Carrion.</p> + +<p>Alonzo gave judgment against those wicked men, and made them give up the +golden-hilted swords Colada and Tizona, which they did not indeed deserve +to keep. But the Cid was not content when judgment was pronounced; he +thought the dishonour was not yet wiped away, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> he stood up and required +that three knights should fight for his cause against three of Carrion.</p> + +<p>When he said this the three brave knights named Martin Antolinez, Pero +Bermudez, and Nuno Gustios, entreated him to let them fight on his side; +and a terrible quarrel arose; the Infantes said many rude things of the +Cid, and his haughty hidalgos would not suffer their insults to pass; they +quarrelled and fought until the king could scarcely hear himself speak, and +he rose from his seat and called the Alcaydes, and went to confer with them +in a chamber apart, while the Cid and all the others remained in the hall. +When he came back he sat down on his throne with great solemnity, and told +the people to listen to the sentence, which decreed that a combat should +take place three weeks from that day between the Infantes and their uncle +Suero Gonzalez on the side of Carrion, and the three brave knights who were +willing to fight for the Cid.</p> + +<p>Ruy Diaz was now content; he rose from his seat and kissed the king's hand, +and prayed that God might have him in His holy keeping for many good years, +so that he might administer justice worthily, as he had done that day.</p> + +<p>In the midst of all this, messengers arrived at the palace from the kings +of Arragon and Navarre, demanding the daughters of the Cid in marriage for +their sons, when the unhappy marriage they had made with the Infantes of +Carrion should be dissolved. Ruy Diaz went back to Valencia in joy, and +told the glad news to his wife; adding that they need have no fear now for +their daughters' happiness, because the princes of Arragon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> and Navarre +were known far and wide to be honourable men. The combat took place on the +appointed day. The Cid lent Colada and Tizona to his knights, and Diego and +Fernan Gonzalez, and their uncle Suero, were all three overcome and wounded +in the presence of King Alonzo; and, they crept away in disgrace and were +never seen more, and Carrion, after the death of Don Gonzalez, their +father, went back to the crown of Castille.</p> + +<p>When the three victorious knights returned safe and sound to Valencia, and +made known there the result of the combat, the joy of the Cid was beyond +all bounds, and as for Doña Ximena, and Elvira, and Sol, they would fain +have kissed the feet of their valiant defenders. There was rejoicing in the +city for eight days, and banquets were held every day, the silver dishes +being filled with the flesh of many extraordinary animals, which were +cooked in Spain for the first time, having been sent to the Cid with a +number of rare and beautiful presents from the Soldan, or Sultan of Persia. +The Soldan paid great court to Ruy Diaz, and made known to him how a vast +army of Christians had come out to the East and lay before Jerusalem, +hoping to conquer that city from the Saracens; and that was the first +crusade which had been preached by Peter the Hermit, when William Rufus was +reigning in England.</p> + +<p>The Cid remained in peace at Valencia for five years, and kept the Moors so +quiet that they no longer molested the Christians, but lived with them on +friendly terms. At the end of this time news came suddenly that Bucar had +stirred up all the chiefs in Barbary to cross the sea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> in revenge for the +victory that Ruy Diaz had gained over him in the field of Quarto.</p> + +<p>The Cid sent the Moors who dwelt in the city to the suburb of Alcudia, +where he thought they had better remain until the affair was ended. His +strength was failing fast; and one night, as he lay wakeful on his bed, his +chamber was filled with a strange brightness and fragrance, and he had +another wonderful vision, in which Saint Peter appeared to him, aged and +white as snow, with a bunch of keys in his hand, and told him now to mind +other things besides the coming of Bucar, for that in thirty days he should +die, and yet by the help of Saint James he should conquer his foes after he +was dead. When the vision disappeared the Cid was lost in wonder, but he +felt greatly comforted; and early in the morning he called the hidalgos +around him and told them what he had seen, and how they should conquer the +Moors. The last day that he was able to rise from his bed he ordered the +city gates to be shut, and repaired to the church of Saint Peter, where he +spoke long and earnestly to the people assembled there, reminding them +that, however great and honourable their estate in life might be, not one +of them could escape death. Then he took leave of them all, and confessed +his sins at the feet of Bishop Hieronymo. From that time until his death, +seven days afterwards, he took no nourishment except a little myrrh and +balsam stirred in rose water, such as was used to embalm the dead bodies of +kings in the East, and had been sent among the gifts of the Soldan in a +casket of gold. He bequeathed great riches to his knights, leaving a +thousand marks of silver to those who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> had only served him one year, and he +ordered four thousand poor persons to be clothed at his expense. On Sunday, +the 25th of May, 1099, the Cid died, in the seventy-third year of his age. +These were his dying words: "Lord Jesus Christ, Thine is the kingdom; Thou +art above all kings and all nations, and all kings are at Thy command. I +beseech Thee to pardon my sins, and let my soul enter the light that hath +no end."</p> + +<p>Three days after his death King Bucar came, and with him thirty-six kings +or chiefs. It is said that fifteen thousand tents were pitched around +Valencia. As all was quiet inside the city, the Africans thought that their +enemy dared not come out against them.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the body of the Cid had been embalmed and fixed in a wooden frame +upright upon Bavieca, and the frame being painted to represent armour, it +looked really as if he were alive. A mournful procession went out at +midnight from the gate towards Castille. First the banner of the Cid was +carried, guarded by five hundred knights; then came one hundred more, +around the body of their lord; and lastly, Ximena followed sorrowfully with +all her company, and three hundred knights in the rear. By the time they +had all passed out the summer night was spent, and it was broad daylight.</p> + +<p>Alvar Funez now fell upon the Moors with the forces that remained in +Valencia; and so great was the terror and uproar he caused that they fled +towards the sea, leaving their riches for the spoils of the Christians. The +Moors who had retired to the suburb saw the procession pass, and thought +that their lord had gone forth alive. But when they entered the city from +whence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> all the Spanish knights had gone, they marvelled at the strange +silence in the streets, until they saw written on the walls in Arabic that +the Cid Campeador was dead. From that day Valencia remained in the power of +the Moors until it was won by King Jayme of Arragon, in the year 1238; but +the city was always known by the name of "Valencia of the Cid."</p> + +<p>The body of Ruy Diaz was placed in his ivory chair at the right of the +altar of Saint Peter in the church of Cardeña. It was clothed in purple +cloth which had been given to him by the Soldan, and remained thus more +than ten years. When that time had passed it was buried in a vault beside +the grave of Doña Ximena, who only survived him three years. And Bavieca, +his favourite horse, was buried not far from his master, under some trees +in front of the convent of Saint Peter of Cardeña.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Like the Alhambra court in the Crystal Palace.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <i>Sol</i>, Spanish for sun.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <i>Tablas</i>, in the Spanish tables, probably the game of +draughts.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> See Southey's "Chronicle."</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> +<h2>LOUIS IX., KING OF FRANCE.</h2> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/t.jpg" width="125" height="123" alt="T" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_2">The good king Louis the Ninth, commonly called St. Louis, because he led so +holy a life, was born at Poissy, in the year 1215, whilst his grandfather, +Philip Augustus, was still on the throne of France. Poissy was a beautiful +place, just as Fontainebleau is now, where the kings of France used to go +and hunt, and enjoy the sweet fresh air; and the queens passed many happy +days with their little children, away from the cares and the splendour of +the court.</p></div> + +<p>Louis was always of a meek and gentle disposition, truthful and upright. +His mother, Blanche of Castille, watched over him tenderly herself, and +took care to place around him as early as possible the holiest and most +learned men in France, in the hope that through their influence he might +grow up to be a good king. Blanche was a woman of great piety, and she was +very clever and beautiful besides; she had many children, but although +Louis was always her favourite amongst them all, she did not indulge him +either in luxury or pleasure, and used often to say to him, "My son, I love +you more than I can tell; yet I would rather see you lying dead at my feet +than know you were guilty of a mortal sin."</p> + +<p>Louis did indeed try earnestly to be good, and to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> remember the words of +his mother; he was obedient to his instructors, and is said to have +understood Latin well, and to have been versed in the works of the fathers +of the Church, and in the history of the kings who reigned before him; and +that was knowing a great deal, for the times he lived in were called "the +dark ages," because so very little was learnt or known, especially in +Europe. His amusements were hunting and fishing, and playing at chess, but +he did not care for these as he cared for the services of the church, +attending them daily with his little brothers, and loving the holy chants +and hymns he heard there more than any songs of merriment.</p> + +<p>Louis was only eleven years old when his father, King Louis the Eighth, +died, after a reign of less than four years. He had then four brothers +younger than himself—Robert, John, Alphonse, and Charles; and one little +sister named Isabel. As he was so very young, his mother, Queen Blanche, +governed his kingdom for him, and she had many troubles to contend with, on +account of the quarrels and revolts of some of the most powerful nobles in +the land. Several of these refused to attend the coronation of Louis, which +took place at Rheims, after he had been knighted, according to the custom +of the time, at Soissons. The ceremony was very solemn; Queen Blanche would +not let it be made an occasion of rejoicing, because her heart was so full +of sorrow for the death of her husband; and the day after she took Louis to +Paris, and began at once to think what would be the best measures for +securing his safety and the welfare of the country.</p> + +<p>It was at the siege of Bellesme that Louis gained his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> first experience in +war, when he was only twelve years of age. The Count de Bretagne, foremost +of the rebellious nobles, had invaded the territory of the king, and was +causing great misery to the country people by laying waste their land and +destroying their villages. To chastise him, and bring him to obedience, +Queen Blanche set off in the depth of winter with her son Louis and only a +few followers, to lay siege to the Castle of Bellesme, where the count had +first set up his standard of rebellion.</p> + +<p>The snow lay deep on the ground, and icicles hung from the trees along the +road-side: the cold was intense, and the march was difficult in the short +winter days, but little Louis was as brave as he was gentle, and cared +nothing for the cold and discomfort, nor did he tremble the least at the +idea of the coming affray; his mother had taught him to endure manfully +hardships and pain and fatigue, and to trust in God, whatever danger was at +hand.</p> + +<p>The Castle of Bellesme exists no longer; its ruins have long crumbled away: +in those days it was a strong fortress, surrounded by thick walls flanked +with towers. The Count of Bretagne was inside the castle with all the +bravest of his men, and the queen's party made two assaults upon it in +vain. The cold had numbed the energies of the knights and the soldiers in +the camp, and they were very nearly frozen to death. Queen Blanche then +published a decree which promised large rewards to all persons who should +cut down the trees in the forests around, and bring the wood to the camp. +The peasants were soon seen joyfully bringing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> the wood on their shoulders +and in carts: enormous fires were kindled, and the warmth so quickly +restored the spirits of the besiegers, that before two days had passed, the +greater part of the fortification was thrown down, and the haughty Count de +Bretagne, seeing no hope of succour, was obliged to surrender. Queen +Blanche and her little son treated the garrison with great kindness when +they came out; and a treaty was soon after made, by which it was agreed +that Louis's brother John should marry, when he grew up, the daughter of +the Count de Bretagne.</p> + +<p>Whilst Louis was growing out of childhood, and striving day by day to +become more holy in the sight of God, the rebellions of the nobles were +continually breaking out afresh, and had to be put down by force of arms, +or the crown would have lost much of its power. This chapter, however, is +not to be a record of all the disturbances that occurred in France during +the early part of the good king's reign, but rather a description of the +events which brought to light most strikingly his piety, his courage, and +his patience.</p> + +<p>In the year 1233 Louis was persuaded by his mother to bestow his hand on +Marguerite, daughter of Raymond Berenger, Count of Provence. Raymond had +four daughters, and Marguerite was the most beautiful and talented of them +all. Her sister Eleanor was married soon after to Henry the Third of +England, and another sister, named Beatrice, to Louis's brother Charles, +Count of Anjou.</p> + +<p>The royal marriage was celebrated with great magnificence at Sens; and when +Louis was twenty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> years of age he took the reins of government into his own +hands: nevertheless Queen Blanche continued to influence him by her advice, +and was obeyed by him until her death, on all occasions save one, as will +be seen hereafter.</p> + +<p>The peace of the country was not really established until the year 1239, +when some of the quarrelsome nobles had gone on a crusade to the Holy Land. +The enterprise did not succeed; the Christian army was entrapped and +defeated by the Saracens, and Jerusalem became a possession of the Sultan +of Egypt. The king was deeply grieved at the failure; he was always +thinking of the miseries and oppressions the Christians were forced to +endure in the East, and resolved to go and help them as soon as he could +leave his country in prosperity. When the rumour of this was spread in +Palestine, the sheik, or old man of the mountain, singled out the King of +France for his victim, and despatched two of his assassins to Paris, +thinking thus to put an end to all idea of a fresh crusade.</p> + +<p>Having boasted, however, of his intended deed before some of the knights +templars, he was told by them that if he put Louis to death, his brothers +would certainly avenge the crime, and draw upon him the ill will of many +nations besides France. The sheik now became as anxious to preserve the +king's life as he had been to take it, and sent off in a great hurry two of +his emirs to the court of France to warn Louis of his danger. The king +received the intelligence calmly, and only instituted another company of +guards, who were armed with maces of brass. But when the assassins could +not be discovered,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> notwithstanding the marks by which the emirs declared +they would be known, these men hastened to Marseilles, and luckily arrived +there before the Arabs set foot on shore. When they had told them how the +sheik had determined not to take the king's life, they conducted them to +Paris, and all four were received with kindness by Louis, and went back to +the East much impressed with the magnificence of the French court; for +although the king loved neither luxury nor pleasure, his court was always +kept up with dignity and splendour. The Sire de Joinville, who was +twenty-two years in his company, tells us how, at a great festival held at +Saumur, which was called a plenary court, the king wore a coat of blue +samite, a species of satin, with overcoat and mantle of crimson samite, +bordered with ermine, and strangely enough, a cotton cap on his head, which +did not become him at all. His hair, which was fair, he wore short, +according to the custom of the time. At this feast there were at least +three thousand knights present, and so many robes of cloth of gold and of +silk had never been seen before. King Louis, his brothers, and the King of +Navarre sat at one table, Joinville himself carving for them; the queen +mother and her ladies sat at another, and the archbishops and bishops at a +third; and to guard the king's table stood three of the greatest barons in +the land; and to guard them stood thirty knights, in garments of rich +silken stuff; and these again had a retinue of the royal officers behind +them.</p> + +<p>During the whole time that the plenary courts were held, the king was +obliged to dine in public, and it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> an old custom, that before the +dinner was ended, three heralds at arms, each with a rich cap in his hand, +cried out three times, "Bounty of the most powerful King!" and then threw +gold and silver to the people, so that the poor had their share of the +rejoicing as well as the rich.</p> + +<p>The king was seized with a dangerous illness at Pontoise in the year 1244. +This was a very great sorrow for his people, since it was feared that he +would die, and they joined in solemn processions all over the kingdom, and +went to the churches to pray to the Almighty to restore him to health. +Queen Blanche was the saddest of all, and passed her time between the sick +chamber of her son, and the foot of the altar, where she knelt for hours in +silent prayer.</p> + +<p>When Louis felt that he was getting weaker, he sent for all the members of +his household, and thanked them for their services; after which he +recommended them to serve God with earnest and faithful hearts. Then he +sank into a lethargy, which those who were watching by his bedside at first +mistook for death. The lethargy lasted several days, and then the king gave +signs of returning life. The first words he spoke after opening his eyes +were these:—"By the grace of God the light of the East has shone upon me +from the height of heaven, and recalled me from the dead." He summoned the +Bishop of Paris to his presence, and required him to affix the cross to his +shoulder, as a sign that he bound himself to go on the crusade.</p> + +<p>The sorrow which had been forgotten when the king gave signs of recovery, +now broke out afresh. The two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> queens, Blanche and Marguerite, threw +themselves on their knees, and implored him with many tears not to go on +the crusade; even the bishops, who stood by, tried to persuade him not to +engage in so difficult an enterprise, but all in vain. Louis would take no +nourishment until the cross was really fastened to his shoulder; and his +people heard of the vow he had taken in gloom and regret, for they thought +if he once set sail for the Holy Land, they would never see him again.</p> + +<p>The king did not really recover until several months had passed, and then +he wrote to the Christians in the East to tell them that he was coming to +their aid. But it was a long time yet before he was able to set out, +because he loved his people very dearly, and wanted to provide everything +for their comfort and happiness during his absence, when his mother, Queen +Blanche, was to rule over them in his stead. He persuaded the most +turbulent of the nobles to go with him on the crusade, and when the best +measures had been taken for securing the peace of the kingdom, he made +known that he was ready to redress every injury he had offered, it being +the custom then for all good crusaders to make their peace with God and man +before they embarked in their enterprise.</p> + +<p>Louis then went with his brothers, Robert of Artois and Charles of Anjou, +to the church of Saint Denis to receive his pilgrim's scrip and staff, and +the oriflamme, or sacred banner of Saint Denis. This was a banner of +flame-coloured silk, which was always carried before the French armies on +solemn occasions for the encouragement of the soldiers. The king, having +requested all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> holy persons to pray that his undertaking might prove +successful, came back to Paris, and heard mass at the great church of Notre +Dame, and then went out of the city he was not to behold again for so long, +followed by the clergy, the nobles, and multitudes of the common people.</p> + +<p>The crimson and the samite, the gold-embroidered garments with the ermines, +were now laid aside for a plain grey robe trimmed with grey and white fur. +The trappings of the king's horses were no longer adorned with gold, but +the steel of their harness was polished until it shone like silver. Louis +computed before he left France how much his former luxuries had cost him +yearly, and then caused the amount to be regularly distributed to the poor.</p> + +<p>At Cluny, Queen Blanche bade her son a long sad farewell: it was the first +time he had ever thwarted her wishes by refusing to give up the crusade, +when she urged that a vow made in a time of extreme weakness was not +binding. His young wife could not bring herself to part with him, and +declared she would follow him to the end of the world.</p> + +<p>When all was ready, the king, with his brothers Robert and Charles, Queen +Marguerite, and the young Countess of Anjou, and a vast number of crusaders +of all nations, embarked at Aigues-Mortes, a port on the Mediterranean, +which had been constructed for the occasion. They took the direction of +Cyprus, and the winds being favourable, all the vessels except one, which +was unhappily shipwrecked, reached the island in safety. Here the crusaders +remained during the winter. For<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> two years before they arrived, the king's +people had been bringing wine and various provisions for the army from the +most fertile countries of Europe, and had laid up their store in the +island. The tubs of wine they had piled one upon the other, until they +looked like great barns; and the wheat and the barley lay in heaps in the +fields, green on the outside, where the warm rains falling softly upon them +had made them sprout. The crusaders found an abundant supply of food in +Cyprus, without having recourse to their stores, and when in the spring +they wanted to set out for Egypt, they took off the outer covering of the +heaps, and saw the wheat and the barley beneath, as fresh as if it had just +been cut.</p> + +<p>The departure from the island was fixed for Ascension Day in the year 1249. +The crusaders embarked towards evening at the port called Limesson, where +they had landed. The vessels large and small amounted to 1,650, and were +thronged with a vast assembly of people of all callings and nations, 2,800 +of them being knights. The next day the king sent a sealed packet into +every vessel, with orders for it to remain unopened until the fleet had set +sail; the purport of this was that they should proceed direct to Damietta. +The wind, however, blew against them, and forced them to return to the +port; and when they had got out to sea again a few days after, a violent +tempest arose from the side of Egypt, and scattered all the vessels. Louis +himself was obliged to go back to the port of Limesson, and found on +arriving there that his fleet was diminished by one hundred and twenty +vessels, and that the number of knights was reduced to seven hundred! But +he would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> not suffer the followers who remained to him to be cast down, and +on Trinity Sunday they set sail once more, and although in continual dread +of another storm, they went on their way safely, until a sailor who knew +the coasts of Egypt, and served as a guide, warned them that they were +before Damietta, the great stronghold of the Saracens in Egypt. All the +other vessels now crowded around the one which bore the king, who stood up +among his people calm and trustful, encouraging them to persevere for the +love of God, and not to flinch in the moment of danger.</p> + +<p>Saleh, the Sultan, was at some distance from Damietta; he was supposed to +be dying, and had confided the care of his army to the emir Facardin. The +Saracens had seen the sea covered with masts and sails by seven o'clock in +the morning, and had rung the bell of their great mosque to spread the +alarm in the city: the Christians heard the sound across the sea in the +clear summer air. Facardin ordered four Corsair vessels to approach the +fleet, but three of these ventured too near, and were overwhelmed by +showers of stones from the larger vessels. The fourth went back to convey +the tidings that the King of France had come with a number of foreign +princes.</p> + +<p>At mid-day the fleet of the Christians cast anchor in the roads of +Damietta. The port was full of men-of-war, and the flat country of Egypt +was covered with rich tents, whilst crowds of people on foot and on horse +stood along the shore, sounding their twisted horns, and their great +cymbals, two of which were a sufficient load for an elephant; and making, +as the Sire de Joinville affirms, "a sound horrible to be heard!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + +<p>A council was held on board the king's vessel, at which it was resolved to +land the next day, although only a portion of the fleet had as yet arrived +in the roads; but Louis thought that delay would inspire fear, and perhaps +afford the Saracens the opportunity of destroying his army by degrees. So +when it got dark, the crusaders lighted a great number of torches, and kept +watch all night; and they confessed their sins one to another, and prayed +for those they loved, and had left behind in Europe; and as many as had +quarrelled made friends, that they might be ready for death, if it should +meet them in the struggle on the morrow.</p> + +<p>At daybreak they lifted anchor, and sailed for the island of Giza, which +was joined to Damietta by a bridge of boats across the river Nile. The king +commanded his people to get down into the flat boats they had brought with +them, because the large vessels could not approach the shore: the boat +Joinville was in soon distanced the one which bore the Oriflamme, and was +first to gain the land.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the air was darkened by a flight of arrows from the bows of the +Saracens. Louis, seeing this, gave orders for each man to disembark as he +could, and jumped from his boat into the water, covered as he was by his +armour, with his shield on his breast, and his sword in his hand. The water +was deeper there than elsewhere, and he was immersed up to his shoulders, +but the sight of the Oriflamme safely landed encouraged him in his efforts, +and he got to the shore before any of the others. Although countless swords +and pike points were aimed at him as he landed, the good king did not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +forget to kneel down for a moment on the sand, to thank the Almighty for +having preserved him thus far; then, rising, he would have rushed on the +Saracens at once and alone, if his knights, who were now gaining their +footing on shore, had not prevented him.</p> + +<p>All the rest now followed; Louis put his people in battle array as they +landed, and ordered an attack to be made on some of the enemy's larger +vessels. Before the day was ended the Christian army had driven the +Saracens from the western shores of the Nile, and had got possession of the +bridge of boats; they would have pursued their foes, but night coming on, +the king sounded a retreat, and encamped on the ground he had conquered. +Meanwhile the poor queen and the Countess of Anjou had been in terrible +anxiety and distress when they watched from their vessel afar the +multitudes rushing into the water, and could not tell whether their +husbands were alive or drowned. And great must have been their joy when the +news was conveyed to him that those they loved so dearly were safe on +shore, and that their efforts, as yet, had been crowned with success.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning, which was Sunday, the king was giving orders for +the siege of Damietta, when two Christian captives came to the camp and +told him that the city was deserted. The king could scarcely credit their +words, and sent one of his knights to the spot to see if they were really +true. The knight returned with the same account; the Saracens had gone back +to Damietta in great distress the evening before, and on their arrival had +heard that the Sultan was dead.</p> + +<p>The rumour struck dismay into the heart of Facardin,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> and he only waited to +put the Christian slaves who were in the city to death, and to burn the +bazaars where the provisions were sold, and then he went out at the gates +the same night with his army and the garrison; old men and women, children +and sick persons following in the rear of the craven-hearted troops, until +by daylight the whole city was deserted.</p> + +<p>Damietta was now open to the Christians; they had only to cross the bridge +of boats and enter its gates. The king in his thankfulness thought that he +ought not to enter the city as a triumphant warrior, but humbly, and clad +as a pilgrim; and he walked thither barefoot, followed by the King of +Cyprus, who had joined the crusade, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the legate, +and all the bishops and priests who had accompanied the army. A mosque, +where the Saracens had worshipped, was hastily converted into a Christian +church, and a solemn chant of thanksgiving ascended from its altar. The +crusaders had indeed reason to be thankful because Damietta was so strong a +place, protected by a double wall on the side of the Nile, and by a triple +one on the side of the flat country. The king determined to remain there +until the autumn, and thus avoid marching in the great heat, and the danger +which his army would be exposed to from the rising of the Nile, for the +river begins to rise in the month of June, and mounts higher and higher +until September, overflowing the land along its course so that it looks +like a great marsh, and the villages and trees appear like islands above +the water. By November the fields are dry again and covered with a rich +brown slime, and the people<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> then begin to sow their corn. The soil being +so fertile, in the winter months the valley of the Nile presents the +appearance of a beautiful garden; indeed, the natives are obliged sometimes +to mix sand with the loam, or the fruits and vegetables would grow and +ripen too quickly.</p> + +<p>When the water had risen to a certain height, the Saracens used to open +their dykes with great solemnity and let it flow over the land; and it was +remembered with sadness in the Christian camp how they had used it for the +destruction of the crusading army in the enterprise which had failed only a +few years before.</p> + +<p>The queen and her sister, with their ladies in attendance, were lodged in +one of the palaces in the city, and the pilgrims who had come in the hope +of reaching Jerusalem in another; but the king remained in his tent outside +with the army.</p> + +<p>The crusaders soon began to suffer from the intense heat of the climate, +and the flies and noxious insects which infested the camp.</p> + +<p>The report of the sultan's death had been false. Saleh was still living, +but almost at his last gasp; and finding he could not dictate to the King +of France the hour when a battle should take place between them, he devised +a sure method of annoyance by offering a reward of a besant of gold for +every head of a Christian which should be brought to him. The Arabs or +Bedouins undertook to perform this service. Clad only in the skins of wild +beasts, they would suddenly appear in the camp, and vanish on their +swift-footed horses as soon as they were seen. On dark nights they used to +put their ear to the ground, as the Arabs do to this day, and listen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> if +the night watch had gone its rounds before they began their dread work; and +as there were always people sleeping on the outskirts of the camp, who had +gone out in search of prey, scarcely a night passed but some heads were +missing at daybreak. The king, to mislead them, ordered the night watch to +be made by foot soldiers instead of horsemen, but it did not prevent the +maurauders from coming, and at last the crusaders had to dig a deep trench +all round the camp as a surer means of keeping them away.</p> + +<p>Louis was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his brother Alphonse, Count of +Poitou, Prince John being left in France to assist the queen-mother in the +cares of the government. The Count came at last, bringing with him the wife +of Robert of Artois. The time was wearing on, and a council was held to +determine which way they should next proceed. Robert, who was as zealous in +the crusade as Louis himself, but who had not his brother's patience and +calmness of mind, strongly advised that they should pursue the road to +Cairo, or Babylon, as it was then called, and so aim a blow at the whole +dominion of the Sultan in Egypt. The king yielded to his wishes, and +leaving the queen and the princesses in the city, with a sufficient number +of guards to protect them, he set out from Damietta, although he was in +weak health from the effects of the climate. The army crossed the bridge of +boats, but it could only go slowly along; there were so many things, such +as engines, arms, harness, and provisions, to be transported. The crusaders +imagined that they were going to Babylon, the great city of the East, on +the banks of the Euphrates; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> the city they were approaching was only so +named by some settlers from the Eastern Babylon, and was what is now called +"Old Cairo," although in those days it was almost as great a place as +Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt. They were much astonished at the +abundant vegetation on the shores of the Nile, and the treasures to be +found even in its waters; for the Sire de Joinville tells us how the +country people used to throw their nets into the river at evening, and take +them up in the morning filled with cinnamon, aloes, ginger, rhubarb, and +things of a like nature; the common belief being that these riches dropped +from the trees in the garden of paradise, and were wafted up the river to +their feet!</p> + +<p>The Egyptian fleet was stationed at Massoura, a city nearly a third of the +way between Damietta and Cairo. The sultan was now dead, but his widow +would not let it be known until her son could arrive to take the government +into his hands, for fear that the people should get discouraged.</p> + +<p>The crusaders had not gone far from Damietta, when they found their passage +barred by the Thanis, a branch of the Nile, the opposite shore of which was +guarded by a body of five hundred Saracen horsemen. The Thanis was the +river they had to cross; it was deep near its steep shores; there was no +bridge, neither did they know of a ford, so they encamped on the ground +which formed the extremity of the angle between the two rivers, only +separated from the town of Massourah by the stream and a part of the plain. +Their situation soon became very dangerous, because the Saracens were +constantly attacking their side which was unprotected by the waters:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> the +machines of the enemy, too, were better than their own, and poured upon +them a continual volley of stones, darts, javelins, arrows, and heavy +pieces of wood. Then at night the Saracens would throw upon them their +terrible Greek fire, which appeared with a loud hissing noise, "like a +fiery dragon flying through the air," and rendered the camp as light as +day. The Saracens were more skilful in the art of making fireworks than the +Europeans, and always employed them in warfare. The basis of the Greek fire +was naphtha, a clear, thin mineral fluid, which is very inflammable, and +burns with much smoke. When it came, the Christians would throw themselves +down on the ground and hide their faces, and the king, whenever he heard it +explode in the night, would rise in his bed and say, "Blessed Lord God, +save my people!" and every night he would send round the camp to inquire +who had been injured by it. Sometimes it was put out with vinegar and sand, +but it usually occasioned great harm, not only to the people in the camp, +but also to the machines.</p> + +<p>The king, having tried in vain to construct a dyke, had now to think +seriously of returning to Damietta, or of remaining in this corner between +the rivers, surrounded by the enemy, and almost in total want of +provisions. He was about to retreat, notwithstanding the sorrow and +disappointment it cost him to give up the enterprise, when a Bedouin, who +had abandoned the Saracens, came to the camp and said that he knew of a +ford which the horsemen might pass, and would show it to them for the sum +of five hundred besants of gold, but not until he had the money safe in his +hand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + +<p>The king joyfully accepted his offer, and arranged that the Duke of +Burgundy should be left with the infantry to guard the camp, whilst he, +with his brothers and all the rest, should attempt the passage. The Count +of Artois begged for the honour of passing first, and the king somewhat +reluctantly granted him his request, on condition that he should not +venture to fight until the whole army had assembled; he knew so well his +brother's ardent spirit and rashness.</p> + +<p>Before daybreak they all set out for the ford, with the Arab marching at +their head, and went out of the straight road to avoid being seen by their +foes. The Arab plunged into the water first of all, and as he knew the way +perfectly it was not difficult for him to cross, but Robert of Artois did +not find it so easy to effect a footing, the opposite shore being high and +slippery from the richness of its soil. Next to him went the Templars, and +then William, Earl of Salisbury, surnamed "Longue Epée," who had joined the +crusade with two hundred English knights. Ah! little those brave men knew +they were going to their death, and that of all who crossed in hope and +ardour that morning, only enough should survive to come back and tell the +tale!</p> + +<p>The sight of the Arabs fleeing who guarded the ford, made Robert forget the +oath he had sworn to his brother; he rushed after them in pursuit; the Emir +Facardin coming out to ascertain the cause of alarm, was quickly surrounded +and killed, and numbers of the Saracens, in dismay at the loss of their +leader, left their camp to their foes, and retired in disorder to Massoura.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the king had passed the ford in his turn,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> with all the rest of +the horsemen, and was greatly surprised that he did not find his brother +and the advance guard waiting for him on the other side. Fearing some +misfortune had happened, he told ten of his knights to go in search of +Count Robert, and remind him that he was to attempt nothing until the whole +army had assembled. After this he set out quickly in the direction of the +Saracens; but what was his astonishment when he found that instead of being +able to stand against them, he was surrounded by them on all sides, whilst +the air was filled with their hideous cries, and the noise of their +barbarous instruments! The Saracens, terror-stricken at first by the +approach of the Christians, had now rallied in multitudes, and completely +closed in the army of the crusaders between the river and the town of +Massoura. The king, undismayed, prepared for immediate battle, although his +knights and nobles tried to persuade him that it would be hopeless to +combat so large a force. Just at that moment the constable Imbert de +Beaujeu rode up to tell him that the Count of Artois was besieged in a +house at Massoura, and would perish if succour did not arrive. The king +sent a body of troops to his aid, and promised that he would soon be with +him himself; and then he turned to his people and exhorted them to keep +their ranks firm; and told them that the soldiers of Christ ought not to +fear a set of miscreants like those who were crowding around them. The +whole aspect of the king that day inspired courage; his face was calm, his +eyes shone with a steadfast light; he had a helmet of gold on his head, +which from his great height towered above the ranks of his army; his +double-edged sword<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> was so heavy, that to strike a blow with it, he had to +grasp it with both hands.</p> + +<p>The signal being given, the bravest of the crusaders rushed on the +Saracens; others, less courageous, tried to regain the camp of the Duke of +Burgundy, but were most of them drowned in the attempt. The king was sure +to be found where the fight was the thickest, or where the weak were in +want of succour; and once during the battle he was surrounded by six +Saracens, who seized the bridle of his horse, and yet he freed himself by +his own aid alone.</p> + +<p>The Duke of Burgundy and his men heard the conflict going on from the +opposite shore; they longed to fly to the king's assistance, but their very +eagerness hindered them, and it was a long time before any of them could +cross the river. When a body of the king's archers arrived on the plain, +they found that Louis had maintained his ground, and that the battle of +Massoura was won: yet, had it not been for the king's example, the day had +been lost, so great was the fury and strength of the enemy.</p> + +<p>Both Christians and Saracens were now utterly wearied out with fighting; +the heat had been intense, and Louis, having waited for all the wounded who +could be assembled, set out at sunset for the Saracen camp on the Thanis. +His golden helmet oppressed him, and he was glad to accept from Joinville a +casque of steel, which enabled him to breathe more freely. He had only gone +a little way on the road when a prior of the knights hospitallers met him +and asked if he knew where his brother was, the Count of Artois.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," replied the king, "I know that he is in heaven." And then he said +that the Lord should be praised equally for what He gave and for what He +withheld; and in the dark of the evening his tears began to flow, not only +for his own sorrow, but for that of the young Countess of Artois, who had +only come out to the East to bid her husband a last farewell.</p> + +<p>For Robert indeed was slain; deaf to the remonstrances of the Grand Master +of the Templars, an old man, whose advice had been well heeded, and to +those of the Earl of Salisbury, he persisted in following the Saracens to +Massoura, and had met there the fate he had drawn upon him by his untimely +zeal and rashness. His brave companions perished with him, with the +exception of the Grand Master, who lost an eye in the conflict, and one or +two others; the Englishman who bore the standard wrapped it around him as +he fell. And as the king appeared to have known beforehand what had +happened, so it is said the mother of the Earl of Salisbury had a vision of +her son ascending to heaven, with a crown of glory on his head, before she +received the tidings of his death.</p> + +<p>The king encamped that night close by the machines of the Saracens, and on +the second day after the battle of Massoura, the struggle began afresh. The +Saracens had taken the victory to themselves, and had sent the news of +their supposed triumph to Cairo by their carrier pigeons. Bondocar, the +chief, who had rallied the troops in Massoura appeared on the field in the +coat of arms starred with lilies which Robert of Artois had worn. The Greek +fire was poured forth incessantly from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> the front line of the Saracens as +they came up in battle array; the king had the crupper of his horse covered +with it once during the conflict, when he had gone to the rescue of his +brother Charles, who was in danger. The Saracens were repulsed a second +time, but the victory was dearly bought, so many men and horses being +wounded, and the crusaders passed a dreary time before Massoura, whilst +their provisions grew less and less; and it being Lent, they lost their +strength by eating only roots, wheat, and fruit; fish they had in plenty at +first, but to their horror they found out that they had fed on the dead +bodies which the Saracens had thrown into the river. A pestilence broke +out, and the camp was like one vast hospital. The king, in mistaken zeal, +had caused the bodies to be taken out of the water, that those of the +Christians might receive Christian burial, and helped to bury them himself. +This only increased the unwholesomeness of the air, and at last Louis fell +ill too. The crusaders now began to despair; the king had been as brave in +misfortune as he had been on the battle-field, and had cheered the spirits +of his followers: he visited the sick day and night, and sat beside the +bedside of the dying, reminding them of their Saviour's love, and +comforting many a poor soul with the hope of heaven. It is recorded how one +of the lowliest of the army declared as he lay dying that he could not +depart until he had seen the kind face of his master bending over him once +more.</p> + +<p>The Saracens having prevented the approach of the vessels that were coming +to the camp with provisions, the king, as a last resource, offered to give +up the city of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> Damietta to the Sultan Malek al Moadhem, if he would agree +to restore Jerusalem to the Christians, the Counts of Poiton and Anjou +remaining in Egypt as hostages.</p> + +<p>The Sultan would have no other hostage but the king himself, and Louis +would willingly have sacrificed himself for his people if his nobles had +allowed him to do so. There was no alternative but to retreat to Damietta, +and the army decamped one spring night in the dark, the old people and the +sick and wounded being carried out first, and the king leaving the camp the +last of all with the barons Gautier de Chatillon and Geoffray de Sardines. +He was so weak and ill that he could hardly sit upright on his little Arab +horse; yet he was the bravest among the brave in that troop which went +slowly and sadly along in the dark, defending themselves as they could from +the attacks of the Arabs, who had been bribed for the purpose of molesting +them.</p> + +<p>Geoffray de Sardines had to deal many a blow to keep the Saracens from his +master, who soon became too feeble to lift his sword, and they were in the +greater danger because the whole of the Egyptian army was behind them. At +last they reached a little village, and the king, having fainted away, was +carried into the first house they met with, whilst Chatillon stood outside +in the street defending it until he fell mortally wounded.</p> + +<p>When Louis had recovered a little, Philip de Montfort came to him, and told +him that he had seen an emir, to whom he had been sent on a mission once +before, and if he liked he would make a treaty with him on the terms +desired by the Saracens.</p> + +<p>The king agreed to the plan; De Montfort went to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> the emir, and all would +have been well if a sergeant belonging to the French army, thinking to save +the king's life, had not cried out to the knights who were standing around, +"Surrender, Sir Knights! the king commands you to do so!" The Christian +warriors, believing that the king had really commanded them to give way, +lay down their swords, and the emir, seeing they were all prisoners, said +there was no further need of a treaty. Then cords and chains were thrown +around them, and they were all conducted to Massoura.</p> + +<p>The king was shut up in the house of a scribe; he was loaded with chains, +and strictly watched, while the barons and knights were huddled together in +a court which was open to the sky. King Louis was very unkindly treated by +the Sultan at first; he was only allowed to have one attendant with him; +this man, whose name was Isambert, nursed him tenderly, dressed him, and +made his bread; and said afterwards that he had never heard his master +utter one word of complaint or impatience during the whole time of his +captivity. It was a marvel how Louis ever lived through his illness; his +strength was almost spent; and at night, to add to his discomfort, he had +nothing to cover him as he lay on his wretched bed but an old cloak, which +a poor man had given him out of compassion in Massoura.</p> + +<p>After a time, Malek al Moadhem, fearing the reproaches of the European +nations, treated his captive more kindly; he had his chains removed and +sent him his own physicians, and delicate food from his royal table, and to +keep him warm he gave him two robes of black samite, trimmed and lined with +fur, which were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> plentifully adorned with gold buttons. And best of all he +allowed him to have his almoner and a priest with him, and something like +joy came back to the poor king when the Saracens brought him one day his +missal, or book of prayers, which he had lost and never thought to see +again. And so, comforted and strengthened by prayer, Louis was not unhappy +even within prison walls, away from all he loved, and waited patiently +until the Almighty should see fit to make a way for him to regain his +liberty.</p> + +<p>And a way came at last: the sultan agreed to release him on condition of +his giving up Damietta and paying a ransom of a million besants of gold. +Louis agreed to the terms, but he said that the liberty of the King of +France should not be bought with money, and that the gold should be paid +for his people, and the city should be his own ransom. The sultan, struck +with the spirit of his reply, reduced the sum he had asked by two hundred +thousand besants, and a truce was concluded between the Christians and the +Saracens of Egypt and Syria. It was arranged that half the ransom should be +paid at once, and the other half as soon as the king should reach the port +of Acre in Palestine, his brother Alphonse remaining in Egypt as hostage. +Louis was then set at liberty; he had recovered from his illness through +the skill of the Arabian physicians, and he repaired to Acre where the +queen and the princesses had already arrived, having quitted Damietta a +little while before. It was a joyful meeting, for Marguerite had been very +unhappy through all those long sad months at Damietta, not only on account +of the miseries of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> crusaders, but also from the constant fear of +falling into the hands of the Saracens herself. And a little son who was +born to her there received the name of "Tristan," in memory of the sorrows +she had endured.</p> + +<p>Louis did not return to France at once, but remained some time at Acre, in +the hope of inducing the Christian powers to enter into a league for the +recovery of the Holy Land, and it was not until the news of his mother's +death reached him, and his presence was required in his country, that he +bade farewell to the East, where he had bravely striven for so much, and +yet had gained so little.</p> + +<p>The king was received with great joy by his people on his return to France, +but they were less happy when they saw the cross still on his shoulder, as +a sign that he meant to engage in another crusade when the truce should +have expired. As soon as he arrived he occupied himself in making good laws +for his country, and was so greatly famed for his justice that other +sovereigns were glad to benefit by his example. His laws against evil-doers +were very severe; no murderer or thief dared abide in Paris, and merchants +and tradesmen who gave false measures were punished with extreme rigour. +The king used often to sit beneath an oak in the Bois de Vincennes, or on a +carpet spread in a garden, to hear the complaints and grievances of the +common people, and to administer justice to them. He had always been +charitable from his earliest years: a hundred and twenty poor persons were +maintained in his house, and three poor old men, besides those who were +crippled and lame, dined with him every day at his own table; the king +would cut their bread and meat for them, and pour out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> their wine, and +would serve them before he ate anything himself. And beyond this, he gave +large sums to hospitals, religious houses, and colleges, and succoured +widows and poor ladies and gentlemen, and all those who by reason of age or +illness could no longer work for their living.</p> + +<p>The good king used to employ the morning with the affairs of the state; he +dined at mid-day, and after dinner his readers would come to him, and he +read the Bible with interpreters, or the works of the fathers of the +church: sometimes, instead of reading, he would converse with good and +learned men, who always found a welcome at his court. In the evening, +before he retired to rest, he used to assemble his children around him, and +hear them repeat their prayers and the tasks they had learned during the +day. Then he would tell them of the deeds of good emperors and kings, and +of the fate that generally befel those who were idle, or careless of the +happiness of their subjects. At midnight he would rise from his bed to +attend Matins, and so afraid was he of being asleep when any of the church +services began, that he had candles lighted which only burnt a certain +time, that his servants might not fail to awaken him as soon as they were +spent. His brothers used to share with him works of charity and holy +offices. When Baldwin II., Emperor of Constantinople, sent him as a gift +the Crown of Thorns supposed to be the one worn by our blessed Saviour, and +part of the word of the True Cross on which He died, in return for the aid +Louis had afforded him when he was in great need, we read how the king +received the sacred relics in the deepest humility,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> and bareheaded and +barefoot carried the Crown of Thorns with his brother Robert of Artois to +the church of Notre-Dame. It was to form a shrine for these relics that +Louis built the beautiful Sainte Chapelle in Paris. Again, we read how, +when a new hospital was completed, the king carried in the first bed +himself, with his son-in-law, the King of Navarre, whilst his brothers +conveyed the remainder of the sick people into the wards. The whole family +were united in deeds of love and compassion. There was no office too lowly +for Louis to perform; no person, however mean and wretched, who had not a +place in his heart. And if we except the harsh laws he made against the +Jews through his zeal for the Christian faith, no sovereign ever showed +more mercy and justice towards his people.</p> + +<p>One Good Friday, when the king was going his rounds to all the churches in +Paris, according to his custom, he saw on the other side of the way a leper +who was shunned by every person he met. The king immediately crossed over +the muddy road and gave the poor man some money, and kissed his hand to +show that he loved him, although he was despised and avoided by all others. +The king never resumed his costly robes after his return from the Holy +Land, but wore dark-coloured garments of cloth and silk, and instead of +handsome furs he only wore the skins of hares, rabbits, and squirrels, that +he might have the more money to spare for his charities.</p> + +<p>In the summer of the year 1270 the Christians set out once more from the +port of Aigues-Mortes on the seventh and last crusade. Bondocar had become +a very powerful sovereign, and the Saracens were making so great progress<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +in the East, that all Christian princes became alarmed, and were urged by +the Pope to hasten to the relief of Palestine.</p> + +<p>The Crusaders, with Louis and three of his sons at their head, directed +their course this time to Tunis, hoping by gaining possession of that city +to cut off all communication between the Saracens of the East, and those of +Morocco and Spain.</p> + +<p>As soon as they arrived before Tunis the enemy came in sight, as if they +were going to attack the camp, and then retired. Just as they were +vanishing in the distance two Spanish slaves came and told the king that +the Lord of Tunis had arrested all who were Christians amongst his troops, +and intended to cut off their heads directly the march should begin upon +Tunis. The next night three Saracens appeared before the advance guard of +the Christians, and touching their turbans in token of respect, made known +by signs that they demanded baptism.</p> + +<p>The king did not know what to think of the matter, and ordered them to be +guarded in a tent; and a little while after a hundred more appeared, making +the same signs. Whilst they were amusing the soldiers by their odd +gestures, other Saracens rushed unexpectedly upon the camp, and after +killing many of the Christians, ran away before they could be captured. The +army thought to revenge the affront on the three men, but they began to +shed tears, and one of them declared that a captain of more than two +thousand men like himself wanted to ruin him by treachery, and if the king +would send one of the two others to the camp of the Saracens, the whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +army would pass over to the Christians. The king did not dare to trust him, +and thought it wisest to send them all away, for fear he should be guilty +of shedding innocent blood. As the Crusaders were making a very deep ditch +the next day all around the camp, the entire body of the Saracens came in +sight, spreading from the sea on one side, to the country on the other. +They meant to surround the army, but Louis rushing out upon them, a +skirmish ensued, and when a few of their number were slain, all the rest +took flight. Thus they kept on harassing and dodging the army; the +Christian warriors had no peace with them; and if ever they took off their +armour they had to put it on again directly for some fresh alarm, although +the Saracens never ventured to give them battle.</p> + +<p>Louis was desirous of waiting before Tunis until the arrival of his brother +Charles, now king over Sicily; and he prepared meanwhile by sea and land +for the siege of the city, which was very strongly fortified. The delay +proved the source of misfortune; the Christians had worse evils to contend +with than those occasioned by the Saracens. The heat was intense, and the +reflection from the sunlit mountains caused a dazzling light which almost +blinded their eyes. When the wind blew it came loaded with burning sand, +and the plague broke out on the coast. Then the Crusaders drooped one by +one; the young Count de Nevers, the son whom Louis loved best of all, was +seized with the sickness and died, and on the day of his death the good +Saint Louis fell ill himself. When he felt that he should never rise from +his bed again, he set all his earthly affairs in order, and gave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> good +advice to his children, telling them always to love one another, and +maintain the peace of their country. For the rest of the time he lived he +prayed in patience, and praised God for all that had befallen him +throughout his life; and one night he uttered the word "Jerusalem," adding, +"Let us go to Jerusalem." It was to the heavenly Jerusalem the king was +going, the eternal city, where all weeping and sorrow and trouble should be +hushed for ever. Before he died he prayed long and earnestly for his +people, that they might be delivered from their enemies, and last of all, +with peace in his face, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Lord, I +will enter into Thy house; I will adore Thee in Thy holy temple, and I will +glorify Thy name."</p> + +<p>When Charles of Anjou arrived at Tunis a little while after the king had +ceased to breathe, he was surprised to find that the camp was all silent, +and that no one had come to meet him on the shore. And hastening to the +royal tent, the sight that greeted him was the dead body of his brother +clad in a hair shirt, and stretched on a bed of ashes; for thus had Louis, +in his humility, desired to die. Charles shed many tears, and kissed the +feet of his dead brother again and again, and the whole camp was filled +with sorrowful faces, so dearly had the good king been loved by his +followers.</p> + +<p>Louis, having reigned over France for nearly forty-four years, left the +kingdom to his eldest son Philip, who carried on the crusade for a while +with the other princes, and defeated the Saracens on several occasions. By +November, however, all the French Crusaders had quitted the East, and +Philip occupied himself in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> affairs of his own country. His father +wrote him some instructions, which he was to read after his death, and +which have been carefully preserved. The following maxims were amongst +those they contained:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Dear son, the first thing I teach thee is to set thy +heart to love God, for without Him none can be saved.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"If God send thee adversity, receive it with patience, +and thank the Lord for it, and think that thou hast +deserved it, and that it will turn to thy profit. If He +give thee prosperity, thank Him for it humbly, so as +not to lose by pride or otherwise what ought to render +thee better; for one ought not to abuse the gifts of +God."</p> + +<p>"Be kind and charitable to the poor, the weak, and +those who are in trouble, and aid them according to thy +power."</p> + +<p>"Maintain the good customs of thy country, and destroy +the bad ones. Only have in thy company prudent and +unambitious men. Flee and avoid the company of the +wicked."</p> + +<p>"Listen willingly to the word of God, and keep it in +thy heart. Let no one be so bold as to speak a word +which might lead to sin in thy presence."</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> +<h2>GUSTAVUS VASA, KING OF SWEDEN.</h2> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/t.jpg" width="125" height="123" alt="T" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_2">There was once a princess named Margaret, daughter of Waldemar, King of +Denmark, who on her father's death married Haquin, king of Norway. When her +husband died she reigned over Norway alone; and when her son Olaus died she +reigned over Denmark too. Margaret governed her people well, but she dearly +loved power, and was not content with the countries she already possessed; +so she went to war with her near neighbours, the Swedes, and defeated and +captured Albert, their king. Margaret kept him in prison seven years, and +then only released him when he had agreed to give up his crown as the price +of his liberty. In the year 1397 a great meeting of the States General of +the three countries was held at a place called Calmar, and there it was +settled that Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, should all be governed by one +sovereign. After Margaret's death the Swedes were very unhappy for many +years, because they were so sorely oppressed by the Danes: they did not +submit tamely, and a long series of troubles and wars ensued.</p></div> + +<p>When Gustavus Vasa, the great hero of the North, was born in the year 1490, +Sweden had in some measure freed itself from the Danish yoke, and was +governed by Sten Sture, a Swede, who had the title of Adminstrator.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> Sture +was a man of firm and upright character, who had never suffered the Danes +to triumph over him, although they were always trying to regain full power +over his country, and had made a solemn vow with the Russians to subdue it +entirely.</p> + +<p>Gustavus Erickson, commonly called Gustavus Vasa, was born at the Castle of +Lindholm, near Stockholm. His father, Erick Johannson, was descended from +the royal houses of Vasa and Sture, both of which came from the Old +Norwegian kings, and were connected with many of the royal families of +Europe. They had always been renowned for their love of freedom, their +steadfast spirit, and their valour. Sten Sture had given to Erick Johannson +a beautiful estate, called Castle-holm, and the Island of Aland, in the +Gulf of Bothnia. He loved to have him with him at his court, and took +charge of his little son Gustavus, because he wanted to see him grow up +worthy of his royal birth, and to teach him to love his unhappy country +with all his heart; hoping that he might one day restore to it the freedom +it had enjoyed before it was overcome by the ambitious Northern queen.</p> + +<p>The boy was brought up simply and without luxury; he ate coarse food, and +learned to hunt, and was allowed to climb about the mountains around +Lindholm as much as he liked, so that he grew very strong, and could endure +great fatigue without a murmur, whilst he thoroughly enjoyed his sports and +his liberty in the keen, fresh air. When John, the reigning king of Denmark +came in State to visit Sture at Stockholm, he was struck by the spirited +bearing, and free, open nature of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> Gustavus; and fearing that when he was +older he might prove the source of danger to himself, he asked Sture to let +him take care of him, and bring him up at the Danish court. Sture, however, +wisely declined his offer, and sent the child to Aland to be out of danger, +and watched over him until his death, when Svante Sture governed Sweden in +his place. Gustavus was treated with great kindness by the new +Administrator, who loved peace, and only suffered good men to be around +him, thus making his Court a school for all knightly virtues. Gustavus +remained with him until he was eighteen, and then went to Upsal to attend a +school which had been founded there by the elder Sture. A story is told of +him which shows how deeply the teaching of his friend had taken root in his +heart. In one of the divisions of the school he was accustomed to read the +classics with a Dane, who once happened to let fall some remarks against +Sweden. In a moment, the Swedish youth drew his sword, plunged it through +the book which was open before him, and rushed out of the place, never to +return to it again. For all this, he was very happy at Upsal, and they were +merry days when a flock of students, in their red gowns, rushed out of the +city gates to enjoy a holiday in the open country beyond. Gustavus studied +with great diligence, and was more learned than most of the other noble +youths of his time, for in general they were quite content if they knew how +to handle their weapons, and cared very little for learning out of books. +Gustavus made himself perfect in all knightly accomplishments, and could +play on several musical instruments, which were all kept long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> afterwards, +hung up in the Castle of Stockholm, in remembrance of the happy days of his +youth. He never touched them after he had once given his whole thought to +the rescue of his country, but I dare say, when his great work was done, +and Sweden was free and happy once more, and he looked at them as they hung +on the walls, he seemed to hear all the old tunes which had gladdened his +youth, and thought kindly of the companions of his early years, who had +many of them died, or passed out of his sight.</p> + +<p>Gustavus was tall, slender, and fairhaired; his countenance was open and +expressed kindness; his temper was cheerful, and his courage could never be +daunted: he had a wonderful memory to the very last hours of his life. When +he had been in Upsal six years he came back to the Court of Stockholm, +where he went on with his studies, and lived until he was twenty-five years +of age, beloved by his friends, and esteemed by all for his upright +conduct.</p> + +<p>In the meantime a change had taken place in the affairs of Denmark. King +John was dead, and his son Christiern the Second had come to the throne. +The new king suffered himself to be advised by his mother-in-law Sigbritt, +a spiteful and meddling Dutchwoman; and he began his reign with many unjust +actions towards the Swedes, which provoked them to fight once more for +their freedom. Sten Sture the younger had succeeded his father Svante; he +resolved to free his country from the bondage of Denmark, and he spoke +earnest words in the Council House.</p> + +<p>"We must be firm," he said. "We must offer up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> our blood, and show the +people who come after us, how dear to us was our freedom, rather than sit +still with a weight upon our shoulders, which crushes us to the ground."</p> + +<p>And very soon the war began. King Christiern came himself to the scene of +action, and lay siege to Stockholm. Sture and Gustavus Erickson, who bore +the banner of Sweden, gained two victories over the Danes; the king was in +danger, being nearly surrounded by his enemies, and was obliged to think of +returning to his own country. He made it appear as if he wished for peace, +and agreed to meet Sture in order to treat for terms, provided hostages +were sent to his quarters in the persons of Gustavus and five Swedish +statesmen of high rank. It was arranged that when these hostages reached +his vessel at a place called Krongshamm, he should present himself in the +quarters of Sture, and that when he returned to his vessel the Swedes +should be free to depart.</p> + +<p>Although it was well known that the promises of Christiern were not to be +trusted, the six hostages set out in a boat with a crew of twelve men, but +they had hardly got half-way when a Danish vessel, having a hundred men on +board, met them, and closed their path. The captain told them that the king +wished to meet them at a place called Elfsnabbe, where he had some +important matters to discuss with them. Gustavus replied with spirit that +they had simply come as hostages, and had no power to transact business; +they would therefore either await the king at Krongshamm or return at once +to their own quarters.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Swedes soon found, however, that it was of no use to resist, and they +were forced on board the Danish vessel, and thus conveyed to the king. The +tyrant rejoiced that he had Gustavus Vasa, the most dreaded of his enemies +in his power, and without taking any heed of his promise, sailed with his +booty to Denmark as quickly as he could. The people of Sweden were very +sorrowful, and angry too when they knew Gustavus had been thus captured, +for his brave conduct and his success had already made them hope that +better days were in store for them. Sture also was grieved at Christiern's +breach of faith—the more so that he had been too generous to suspect him +of such deceit—and only a short time before, when the king had been +brought very low by sickness and famine, had sent him succour, and cared +for him as if he had been his warmest friend instead of his most bitter +foe.</p> + +<p>When the Swedes arrived in Denmark they were shut up in the citadel of +Copenhagen, and it was decided that they should be put to death at once. +Only, as they had been guilty of no crime, it was not easy to find a +pretence for passing sentence upon them. Whilst their fate was pending, +Sigbritt urged the king to spare their lives, saying, that so long as he +had them in his power, he could impose upon the Swedes laws more and more +severe, with the threat of putting their countrymen to instant death if +they did not obey them. Christiern, as usual, followed the advice of his +mother-in-law, which for once proved the source of blessing to Sweden, and +Gustavus and his companions were only shut up in prison.</p> + +<p>Gustavus had a kinsman at Copenhagen of the name<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> of Banner, who was much +attached to him, and feared that if he lived solely under the eye of the +tyrant he would be exposed to many insults. So he prevailed with Christiern +to let him keep him in his castle of Calloë, a strong fortress in Denmark, +and made himself a surety for him to the amount of six thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>In the early part of the year 1520 Christiern declared war. The Swedes were +prepared to resist him, for the peasants had come down from the mountains, +and had flocked to the standard of Sture until the army was increased to +the number of 10,000 men. The cause of the king of Denmark was strongly +favoured by the Pope and Trolle, Archbishop of Upsal, who were both very +angry because the Protestant faith was daily gaining ground in Sweden. +Trolle came of an ancient house, only second in rank and dignity to that of +Sture, and a long standing quarrel between these two houses served at the +present moment to widen the breach between them.</p> + +<p>The Swedes fought bravely, but they were soon overcome, and in a battle at +Bogisund, Sture received a wound in the head, of which he died a few days +after. The state of the country now seemed hopeless; its regular army only +numbered 500 men; those who had crowded its ranks when the war began were +brave-hearted men, eager to defend the right, but they were not trained and +skilful soldiers. Sture dead, and Gustavus Vasa in prison, there was +neither ruler in the land nor leader in strife. The Swedes began indeed to +be disheartened; a few of the bravest clung to the hope that a fresh +attempt might yet be made to resist the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> tyrant's power; some, less +hopeful, thought it best to lay down their swords and submit; others again, +said that they would rather die first. Sture's widow, Christina—herself of +royal birth—and a woman of great spirit, came forward to revenge her +husband's death, and to implore the Swedes not to desert the cause of +freedom. She sent her little son Nil Sture to Dantzig to be out of danger, +and went to Stockholm, where she made the people swear rather to bury +themselves beneath the ruins of the city, than become the slaves of the +Danish king.</p> + +<p>For a short time a little gleam of hope broke over the land, but Christiern +feeling assured that he could not really call himself King of Sweden until +he had Stockholm in his power, resolved to come in person with a great +fleet and besiege the capital.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Gustavus was sorrowing for the troubles of his fatherland, +and his face was clouded and sad when he followed his kinsman Banner to the +gay festivals of the Danish court, and heard people tell how the king had +triumphed over his countrymen, and was bending by degrees their proud +spirit. He was heartily tired, too, of his prison, although he was guarded +less strictly now than he had been at first, and was allowed to wander +about by himself within one mile of the castle. During his lonely walks he +revolved many plans in his mind, and at last one morning at sunrise he put +on the disguise of a peasant, and made his escape from Calloë. The first +day he wandered about a part of the country unknown to him, and the next +day at noon he reached the town of Flensburg, where he feared he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> should +have been betrayed. But outside the town, for his good fortune, he found a +number of Saxon merchants who had been buying oxen in Jutland, and were on +their way back to Germany; without much trouble he entered their service, +and thus got safely out of Denmark.</p> + +<p>In the September of the year 1519 he came to the free city of Lubeck, where +he made himself known at the Council House, and asked to be received as a +guest, secure from the tyranny of the Danish king. Soon after he arrived, +Banner came in search of him. He was very angry with Gustavus for having +escaped out of his hands, and exposed him to the king's wrath, and wanted +him to return with him to Denmark. Gustavus promised to refund the six +thousand dollars Banner would be obliged to forfeit, but it was not likely +that he would agree to go back to his gloomy prison. So he remained some +months at Lubeck, and heard there of the death of Sture and the defeat of +his countrymen. It was at this time, when Martin Luther, the great +Reformer, came to visit the city of Lubeck, that Gustavus Vasa declared +himself a convert to the Protestant faith.</p> + +<p>The Council at last promised to assist him with men and money, and granted +him a merchant's vessel in which he reached the coast of Sweden towards the +end of May in the year 1520. As he approached Stockholm, he found its haven +filled by the Danish fleet, and not caring to show himself yet, he landed +at a promontory a short distance from Calmar. Stockholm was now possessed +by the Danes, King Christiern had taken up his abode in one of the palaces, +and Christina had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> been forced to retire to the castle, which was strongly +guarded, and still held out against the Danes. Gustavus entered the city +secretly and found his way to the castle, where he was welcomed and +received with great honour by Sture's widow. He then went to the market +place, and made himself known to the people who had assembled there in +crowds, and he told them what a disgrace it was for them to be in bondage +to Christiern. The people listened in silence and hung their heads; it +seemed as if all spirit had been crushed within them. So Gustavus went back +to the castle to see if he could arouse a better feeling there, but the +German soldiers who were employed to guard it broke out into fury at the +very idea of fighting, they were so utterly tired of all the misery of war, +and they would have murdered Gustavus on the spot if Christina had not been +there to protect him.</p> + +<p>He now saw that his only safety would be at the head of an army: the Danes +were all ready to besiege the castle, and it was therefore no longer a +place to shelter him; but the moment for action was not yet come, and he +roamed about in the country around Stockholm in disguise, now in the +forests and now in the fields, hiding by day and travelling by night, and +mingling sometimes with the Danes for the purpose of gaining news. And on +Sundays, when the peasants were in the churches, he would stand amongst +them, and try to cheer them by telling them that happier days were in store +for them when they should be free once more. Still the people did not care +to listen: they said that so long as they obeyed the King of Denmark, they +had salt and herrings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> in plenty; what more did they want? And sometimes +when Gustavus had turned away from them they would shoot after him with +their arrows. Such was the abject state they had been brought to by +long-continued insult and oppression. Besides this Christiern had spies in +all parts, and had set a heavy price upon the head of Gustavus, and +threatened all persons who should attempt to conceal him with the +punishment of death.</p> + +<p>After escaping from many dangers, he came through Ludermannland to the +house of Joachim Brahe, a noble councillor of Sweden, who had married his +sister Margaret. The meeting between brother and sister was full of joy, +and Gustavus hoped that Brahe would have been prevailed upon to take up +arms in the defence of his country, but the prudent statesman was not to be +enticed. Christiern, whose presence had for a time been required in +Denmark, was now on his way to Stockholm, and Brahe was one of the guests +invited thither to behold the crown of Sweden placed upon his head. He +could see nothing but rashness and certain failure in the project of taking +up arms against so powerful a foe. Gustavus, therefore, bade his sister +farewell with a heavy heart, and went on his way once more, and after +wandering about some time longer in disguise, he retired to a country house +at Rafnäes, which belonged to his father, to think over in solitude what +was best to be done.</p> + +<p>King Christiern arrived in Stockholm with his wife, leaving Sigbritt to +manage the affairs of Denmark. With the help of the Pope, and the +Archbishop of Upsal, he had himself declared heir to the Swedish throne +before an immense concourse of people, and was crowned in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> their presence. +Before this he promised to release all captives, and conferred many marks +of royal favour upon the chief men of Stockholm. The first days after he +was crowned were given up to knightly sports, and feasting, and merriment. +But before three days had passed, the king's cruel temper got the better of +him, and he withdrew from the scene of rejoicing to a secret council +chamber, where he sat thinking over the best means of getting rid of the +bishops and senators, and all men of high estate in Sweden, that his own +position on the throne might be quite secure.</p> + +<p>Soon it appeared as if a shadow of gloom had fallen over the city, where +all had been noisy mirth: the castle was suddenly filled with prisoners; +bishops and statesmen were alike consigned to its dark dungeons; in all the +market places scaffolds were erected; and the unhappy captives were told +that they must die.</p> + +<p>The 8th of November in the year 1520 was the day on which the fearful deed +began, a deed never equalled in horror in the annals of Swedish history. +Early in the dark morning all the gates of the city were shut to prevent +anybody from taking flight, and making the affair known in the country +beyond. Every new comer was let in, but no one was allowed to go out. The +streets were guarded, and field-pieces were placed upon the great market +place, levelled towards the people. The way from the castle to the market +was lined with Danish soldiers; trumpeters rode about the streets and +proclaimed that all persons were to retire to their houses; and close their +doors on pain of death. But the common people were horror-struck at these +preparations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> they dared to disobey the king's orders, and crowded together +to see what would happen next.</p> + +<p>Towards noon the castle gates were opened, and bishops and nobles, +councillors and burgomasters, were led between executioners and common +soldiers to the appointed place on the market, just in front of the Council +House. The bishops were clad in their sacred robes, the councillors had not +had time to take off the dress they wore in council. Oh what a sad +procession it was, as they came slowly along, with erect heads and a proud +and calm demeanour worthy of their race! Sobs and murmurs were heard +amongst the crowd; the roughest of the soldiers and headsmen were touched +with pity and respect as these innocent men, most of them grey-headed, +walked to their death. As soon as they reached the market place, a speech +was made to the mob in which it was declared that the king was deeply +grieved to be obliged to have recourse to such severe measures, but that he +felt himself bound to punish the Swedes for the offence they had given to +the Pope by becoming Protestants. And thus he made the terrible crime he +was about to commit even worse, by his falsehood!</p> + +<p>One of the bishops, an aged man, then declared his innocence, and asked +that a clergyman might be allowed to attend himself and his companions in +their last moments; but his request was refused, and a noise was made to +prevent his words from being heard by the people. Then the headsmen began +their dread work; the fourth victim was Erick Johannson the father of +Gustavus. In a little time the market place was filled with dead bodies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +and the streets streamed with blood. Some of the mob, roused to a state of +frenzy by the dreadful spectacle, made an attempt to rescue those of the +doomed ones who were yet living, but they were cut down by the soldiers who +had received orders to quell any outbreak on the part of the common people +with the punishment of death. Escape was not to be thought of, because the +gates of the city were always kept closed; the frightened people crept into +cellars and corners. And when the king heard that they had hidden +themselves, he caused a decree of pardon to be read, so that many of them +came out believing it to be true, and only fell into the trap he had thus +artfully laid for them.</p> + +<p>Ninety-four Swedes fell the first day. For two days and two nights the +corpses lay on the market place, and the cattle and the fowls strayed +amongst them. To add to the horror the king caused the dead bodies of Sture +the younger and his son Sten to be disinterred and thrown amongst the +murdered to be buried with them.</p> + +<p>Sture's widow, Christina, did not escape the king's wrath; she was summoned +to his presence and condemned to die, but some persons present asked the +tyrant to spare her life, and she was only sentenced to be imprisoned for +the rest of her days.</p> + +<p>In other parts of Sweden deeds equally cruel were enacted. Numbers of the +peasants were deprived each of a leg and a hand, and, thus maimed, they +were supposed to be able to till the land although they could not possibly +fight. For these acts of cruelty and oppression Christiern the Second +justly gained the title of the Wicked, and his own people soon began to +hate him as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> much as the Swedes hated him for all the evil he had done.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Gustavus was sought for in vain. He was still in his +hiding-place at Rafnäes, sending out his peasants now and then to collect +news. And one sad day a grey-haired man came to the neighbouring castle of +Gripsholm which belonged to Joachim Brahe. It was Brahe's steward; he had +followed his master to Stockholm, and had witnessed his unhappy fate. The +old man could not speak for crying, and could only make known by signs the +terrible events that had happened. Soon after, a peasant came by, and told +the same story. And Gustavus sat in the lonely house, sorrowing for his +father and his friends, and many of his kindred besides; yet although he +was forsaken by all, and surrounded as it were by enemies, he would not +give up hope, but only longed the more to succour his unhappy country. So +one day he packed up all the money and valuable things he possessed, and +taking them with him, left Rafnäes on horseback with the idea of persuading +the brave people of Dalecarlia to stand by him in the struggle for freedom.</p> + +<p>This province, which was the scene of his adventures for some time, is +bordered on its western side by Norway: the mountain ridge which divides +the sources of its two rivers Dalef from Lake Fämund in that country rises +to between three and four thousand feet above the level of the sea. +Dalecarlia abounds in rivers and lakes; the winters there are long and +severe; corn will not grow, and the tender bark of the pine trees is mixed +with the scanty supply of rye or barley of which the people<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> make their +bread. Wolves and bears frequent the forests, and fish is plentiful in all +the lakes, except in those near Fahlun, now the capital of the province, +where the vapours for ever rising out of the great copper mine there, drive +away to a distance birds, beasts, and fishes, and destroy, all verdure in +the country around. Fahlun lies in a wide valley between two lakes; the +mine is a vast abyss, and is worked open to the sky, and besides copper +produces gold, silver, vitriol, ochre, and brimstone. The natives of +Darlecarlia are hardy from the nature of their climate; they have always +been very brave, trusting in their own strength, and having very little +intercourse with the other people of Sweden. At the time Gustavus was +amongst them they were so simple in their manners that the noblemen could +scarcely be distinguished from the peasants. There was not a town then in +the whole province, the people clustered together in villages, which were +divided into parishes. Some of these lay along the rivers and lakes, others +were hidden among the mountains, and were only to be approached by the +steepest and most difficult of paths.</p> + +<p>Gustavus took with him as he supposed the most faithful of all his +servants, but the cowardly man thought the fortunes of his master much too +insecure to be followed, and contrived to get away from him with the +valuable things it had been his duty to carry. Gustavus soon found out his +treachery, and pursued him until his horse could go no farther; then, being +in great danger himself, he was obliged to leave the horse and the few +things he had with him on the road and run for very life. Thus, without +friends or money, clad in a coarse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> peasant's frock, he wandered about the +dark pine forests and the mountains, only occasionally finding a roof to +shelter his head from the inclement winter nights, or food to satisfy his +sharp hunger. Still he never despaired, but trusted that God would let him +live until he should have given back to his country the happiness it had +lost for so long.</p> + +<p>On the last day of November he arrived at Fahlun, and there he cut his hair +short, and put on a round hat, such as the Dalecarlians wore, and a rough +woollen vest, and set out with an axe on his shoulder in search of work. In +a little time he found employment in the mines of Fahlun, by which he +earned barely enough for his support; and finding that the noxious vapours +and the closeness of the mines impaired his health, he left them, and +wandered farther until he came to the house of a rich man named Andres +Fehrson. Here he was hired as a farm-labourer, and set to work in the +barns. The other farm-servants soon began to watch the new comer with +interest. In their intercourse with him they soon found that he was not +quite like one of themselves; he had been observed, too, to wear a rich +silken handkerchief, beneath his woollen vest, and they suspected that he +was some nobleman in disguise. Reports of this reached the ears of Fehrson, +and he desired that the stranger should come to him. The very moment he saw +him he recognised him as a fellow student in the school at Upsal, but +although he was very glad to see his old comrade again, he dared not keep +so dangerous a person in his house, and he urged him to go higher up the +mountains and not to stay too long a time in one place. Gustavus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> was +therefore obliged to set out on his wearisome travels once more: the winter +had set in with all its rigour, the lakes and rivers were frozen, and as he +was crossing some ice between Wika and Torsanga, a part of it gave way, and +he fell up to his shoulders in the water, and was very nearly drowned. +However, he managed to clamber out, and he found his way to a cottage, +where some kind peasants gave him food and shelter, and afterwards brought +him to the country house of Arendt Fehrson, a relation of Andres, who had +served under Gustavus in the war with the Danes.</p> + +<p>This man appeared to receive him with respect and courtesy, but soon after +his arrival he rode swiftly to one of his friends to tell him of the prize +concealed in his house, and to ask him to join him in making the affair +known to the king;—for it will be remembered that a heavy price had been +set upon the head of Gustavus—and the man who would have been base enough +to betray him would have reaped great gain to himself. This friend was too +honourable to listen to such a proposal, and Fehrson, enraged at his +refusal, went to another of his friends, an officer in the Danish service, +who had fewer scruples. Fehrson passed the evening at his house in feasting +and drinking, and it was planned between them that he should return home +the next morning, accompanied by twenty men, and seize the fugitive by +force.</p> + +<p>But Barbro Stigsdotter, the wife of Fehrson, had guessed the treachery of +her husband, for she had seen him ride past his own house as he came from +Magno Wilson, and take the road which led to the officer's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> dwelling. +Touched with pity, she warned Gustavus of his danger, and kindly provided +him with a horse and sledge, so that he might fly at once.</p> + +<p>Gustavus was very thankful to avail himself of the means of escape, and was +soon flitting over the snow in his sledge beneath the starry sky in search +of another place of refuge. The next morning, when Arendt Fehrson arrived +with his twenty men, he was told that his guest had been missing since the +evening before, and that no one knew whither he was gone.</p> + +<p>Gustavus at last reached the house of a true friend, a Swedish pastor, who +helped him with good advice during the eight days he remained with him, and +strengthened him in his resolve to arouse the Dalecarlians. But he dared +not stay longer in this part of the country, because Arendt Fehrson had +already spread the report of his being alive; and the pastor drove him to +the village of Isale, where he was received into the cottage of an honest +peasant named Swen Nilson, who did him good and faithful service.</p> + +<p>One day when Gustavus was standing in the cottage, clad in his peasant's +garb, which was beginning to be the worse for wear, a body of Danish +soldiers employed to track the fugitive, rushed in, breathless and anxious, +and asked if a young nobleman, a well known traitor to the king, were not +concealed about the place. Nilson answered, No; and his wife, to remove +suspicion, gave Gustavus a sharp blow with a long wooden spoon, and scolded +him loudly for standing idle instead of going to work in the barn with the +others. Gustavus took the hint, and hastened out of the cottage, thus +escaping from his pursuers, who did not for one moment suppose that the +general of the Swedish army, and the descendant of kings, was concealed +beneath so humble a disguise.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 414px;"> +<img src="images/i_107.jpg" width="414" height="650" alt="Front. Gustavus Vasa in the Swedish peasant's hut.—p. +100" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Front. <i>Gustavus Vasa in the Swedish peasant's hut.—p. +<a href="#Page_100">100</a></i></span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>After this Swen Nilson had the courage to drive his guest in a cart loaded +with straw to Rättwik. It was a dangerous journey: the Danish soldiers +guarded all the passes and bridges, and some of them plunged their weapons +into the straw, and wounded Gustavus severely in the leg as he lay covered +up at the bottom of the cart. He bore the pain in silence, but +unfortunately the blood dripped from the wound through the cart, and would +have betrayed the fact that he lay hidden there, had not Nilson thought of +cutting open the heel of his horse, so that the blood appeared to be +trickling from that. Happily the hurt was not dangerous, and the moment +after it was bound up on his arrival at Rättwik, Gustavus went to the +church, where a great crowd of people had assembled, and without making +himself known, he told them of the horrible cruelty of the King of Denmark, +and how Sweden would never be free unless they roused themselves, as their +brave ancestors would have done, to shake off the shameful bondage.</p> + +<p>The peasants listened in horror, they were moved by his words, and said +they would take up arms as soon as they could find out how their neighbours +were disposed in the matter. Gustavus thought he had gained something, and +went on joyfully to Mora, the largest and most populous parish in the +valley. The news of his coming got spread abroad, and the Danish governor, +who dwelt in the strong castle of Westeras, began to tremble; he knew that +the inhabitants of the valleys, if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> once aroused, could make themselves +very terrible. So he doubled the heavy price already set upon the head of +Gustavus, and told the people around that none of the deeds reported to be +done at Stockholm had really been carried out, and that Christiern was a +most kind and merciful sovereign!</p> + +<p>It was Christmas-time when Gustavus arrived in Mora: the peasants had come +down from their distant mountain homes to make merry with their friends in +the valley, and one day he went up to the top of a hill, and spoke to a +vast concourse of people, who had followed him out of curiosity. Here again +some of the peasants were touched by his words; their eyes filled with +tears, and they signified by their shouts and cheers that they were willing +to aid him. But others were of a different mind; they did not want to go to +war; the nobles had hitherto been chiefly the objects of the king's +cruelty, and they thought that they should be left in peace themselves. +They were very near fetching their weapons, and chasing the speaker by +force from the spot. A turn of good fortune, however, came to Gustavus +whilst he was still at Mora.</p> + +<p>A party of a hundred Danes, having heard that he was there in the hope of +rousing the peasants, rushed suddenly upon the place, making the air +resound with their wild cries, and threatening to put every one they met to +the sword if he were not given up. The peaceful people of Mora were unused +to be thus disturbed, and they hastened to ring the church-bells, which +were only rung when some great danger was at hand. The wind carried the +sound of the bells to the neighbouring villages,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> and in a little while +some thousand armed peasants were seen pouring into Mora. They stormed the +great walled-in court around the pastor's house, where the Danes (alarmed +in their turn) had taken refuge, broke down its gates with heavy wooden +stakes, and only spared the lives of the soldiers on condition that they +should not attempt to lay hands on Gustavus. This was the first time that +arms had been taken up in his cause: it was a feeling of honour that +prompted the Dalecarlian peasants to defend him, because they said that +they should have been ashamed if any one demanding their help had been +taken by force from amongst them.</p> + +<p>Gustavus, thankful to his preservers, now quitted Mora, and took his way +towards the western valleys, so that he might conceal himself in the wilder +parts of the country, if the fury of his pursuers increased. Many Swedish +nobles had already fled thither, and they came out of their hiding-places, +and met together in the valley. And there came to Mora an old man named +Lars Olosson, who had always been faithful to his country, and another +brave man came from the forest, and entreated the people to take up arms. +The peasants now saw that they were in earnest, and they hastened to seek +for Gustavus, fearing that he might already have passed the boundary and +entered Norway. But Swedish messengers can go on their errands very +quickly, because all through their nine months of dreary winter the +peasants wear long sliding-shoes, which enable them to flit over the snow +with almost the speed of an arrow. These shoes are very strange looking +things; they are long, narrow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> pieces of fir-wood, the one worn on the +right foot being three feet in length, and that on the left foot seven. The +messengers found Gustavus in a parish called Lima, and he was joyful indeed +when he came back to Mora, and saw that two hundred peasants were ready to +follow him at once. Their numbers soon increased, and he divided them into +little companies, which had their headquarters, so that they could all +fight in unity: they were hardy, long-lived men, and could be quite content +to live upon coarse meal stirred in water, or a little bread made of the +bark of the trees if they could get no better food. And Gustavus still went +up the steep mountain paths from cottage to cottage, and from one country +house to another to try and persuade the people to help him, and before the +ice had melted on the rivers and lakes the number of his followers had +increased to several thousand. He chose sixteen of the youngest and bravest +for his bodyguard, and maintained strict discipline amongst his men, +although he was greatly beloved by them for his kindness of heart.</p> + +<p>The first attempt they made was on the strong castle of the Governor of the +Koppar Mountain, which they captured, together with the stores of +provisions it contained. Amongst these was a large chest full of money, +which Gustavus divided amongst his followers, and another day they captured +some pieces of silk, which they made into banners, but they had neither +powder nor balls as yet.</p> + +<p>Now that Gustavus had so large an army he wanted to begin the war by a bold +stroke, and he drew off towards Westeras, the governor of the strong +fortress<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> there, being at the time absent in Stockholm. Here he gained a +great victory over the Danes, which prepared the way to future success, but +the manner in which a great part of his army rejoiced over the triumph they +had won, was not at all to his taste. It happened thus: some of his troops +had gone on in advance, and after a desperate struggle got possession of +the place, whilst Gustavus was still in the forest with the rear of his +army. After the affray they found some huge casks of wine and brandy, which +they carried off to the Council House, and foolishly regaled themselves +with until they all fell to quarrelling, or were heavy with sleep. The +greatest disorder prevailed; the Danes took advantage of the tumult to +renew the attack; and would have recovered the fortress had not Gustavus +appeared with the rest of the army. He was very angry indeed with his men, +and had to fight hard to drive back the Danes, so that a great number of +soldiers were killed on either side; and when the battle was over he caused +the hoops to be removed from the casks of wine that remained, and let it +all flow away on the ground in sight of his whole army. This was in the +month of May in the year 1521, when the short Swedish spring was changing +to summer, and the land, having cast off its mantle of snow, looked fresh, +and green, and full of hope. In the northern climes the flowers bloom, and +the leaves come back to the trees very quickly, and a few weeks sunshine is +sufficient to ripen the barley and the rye, or the corn, in the places +where it will grow.</p> + +<p>After the battle of Westeras the peasants armed themselves in the plains of +Sweden; the nobles headed them,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> and many officers deserted from the +Viceroy whom King Christiern had left in Stockholm to manage the affairs of +the State. The Viceroy and Trolle were friends; they soon began to be +greatly alarmed; but they could get no succour from Denmark because the +people there disliked them so much, and were getting so tired of the evil +doings of their king. Many battles were fought, and the Swedes were not +always successful, but at last Gustavus got possession of Stockholm after +having besieged it three times; and a happy day came, when he entered the +capital surrounded by senators, officers, and the first nobles in the land, +and repaired to the great church, where—kneeling at the foot of the +altar,—he thanked the Almighty aloud, for having preserved him through so +many dangers, and granted him success. And then he went to the palace, +where he wept for those whom he had loved very dearly, and now missed on +this day of his triumph. Not only had his father and his brother-in-law +perished in the massacre at Stockholm, but his mother Cecilia, and two of +his sisters, had been cruelly put to death during the siege. It is said +that if the siege had been raised their lives would have been spared, but +these brave women knew in that case their country would have been lost, and +they were content to die for its sake.</p> + +<p>In the year 1523 the Danes would not have Christiern to reign over them any +longer, and made his uncle Frederic, Duke of Holstein, king in his stead. +Christiern was forced to leave the country, and retired into Flanders, with +his wife and children. When Sigbritt had to leave the royal palace, she did +not dare venture out of it, even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> in disguise, and was carried to the +vessel destined to receive her concealed in a large chest.</p> + +<p>The Swedes, full of gratitude and love for their preserver, wanted him to +be crowned King of Sweden. Gustavus, however, refused this honour, and +governed the country for some time as administrator. But as the years went +on and it was in danger from the plots made by the Roman Catholics and the +friends of Christiern, he yielded to the wishes of the people, and in June, +1527, was solemnly crowned King of Sweden under the title of Gustavus the +First. He had long forgiven all the offences that had been offered him, +whilst he remembered every little act of kindness that had been shown him +when he was wandering about, a wretched fugitive, in hourly danger of his +life. During the thirty-three years he reigned his great care was to make +his subjects happy, and he was fully employed in setting his country in +order, after the misery it had suffered for so many years. It was Gustavus +who settled the Protestant faith throughout the land, and Luther, and +Melancthon, and other great Protestant divines, used frequently to visit +his court. He wished to inspire his people with a taste for arts and +sciences, and encouraged learning by inviting studious and clever men to +Stockholm: printing had been already introduced into Sweden about the year +1483, when Sten Sture the Elder founded the famous School or University at +Stockholm. The king employed his peasants in working fresh mines and salt +springs; he caused hops to be grown in Sweden, so that the iron sent out +yearly in exchange for that produce might be kept in the country, and prove +the source of comfort<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> and wealth. Any merchant or tradesman convicted of +dishonesty was punished with extreme rigour, and the bad laws were done +away with, and good ones ordained in their place. The palace was open to +all who demanded audience, when the king was ever ready to hear complaints, +or to give advice. He thought the Bible the best of all books, and grounded +his actions on its holy precepts; and the Swedes were so happy under his +just and merciful rule that they always cried when he went abroad, "Long +live Gustavus, the best loved of kings!" Soon after he came to the throne +he married Catherine, daughter of the Duke of Magnus, whose sister had just +espoused the Crown Prince of Denmark. Catherine died young, and Gustavus +next married Margaret, daughter of an ancient senator, the Governor of East +Gothnia: this lady was amiable and beautiful, and made her husband and her +children very happy. The king used to tell his children not to be proud of +their high estate, saying, "One man is as good as another, and when the +play is over we are all equal;" meaning, when the life of trial upon earth +was ended. The only approach to vanity in his character was to be seen in +his love for magnificent apparel; but this was quite an excusable fault, +when it is remembered how content he was to wear the coarse peasant's dress +in the days of his misfortunes.</p> + +<p>At the last assembly he convoked at Stockholm in the year 1560, he was led +into the Senate House, where his four sons, Erick, John, Magnus, and +Charles, and all the orders in the kingdom were assembled. He then caused +his will to be read, and made his children swear<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> to obey it. Erick was +declared successor to the throne; John, possessor of Finland; Magnus of +Eastern Gothnia; and Charles of Sudermania. In a few earnest words he urged +his people to obey his successor and to preserve the greatest unity among +themselves; since on that would depend their strength and their freedom: he +said also, that if he had ever done any good, thanks for it were to be +ascribed to God alone, and implored pardon for all the faults he had +committed.</p> + +<p>Very soon after this he died, leaving a name which is still cherished in +the heart of every Swede; for he was called not only the king, but the +father and the instructor of his people. It must not be thought that his +long reign was free from care, since he had constantly to preserve himself +from the attempts that were made by the friends of Christiern to take his +power from him.</p> + +<p>When he came to the throne he found the country laid waste by the ravages +of war, and its people almost without hope. He left Sweden free and happy, +an army ready to march at a moment's notice, and a treasury full of money; +indeed, it is said, that after his death a great vaulted chamber was found +so full of silver that the door of it could scarcely be opened.</p> + +<p>Gustavus never forgot that he owed his success to the brave Dalecarlians; +and his watch word, when about to engage on any expedition attended with +danger, was always, "God and the Swedish peasants!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> +<h2>BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN,</h2> + +<h3>THE HERO OF CHIVALRY.</h3> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/a.jpg" width="125" height="129" alt="A" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_2">About the year 1320 Bertrand du Guesclin was born in the castle of La Motte +Bron, which stood in a picturesque part of Bretagne, about six leagues from +the city of Rennes. His father, Reynauld du Guesclin, was a brave and loyal +knight, who served God truly, and was very kind to the poor, giving them a +great part of his substance, although he was not at all rich himself.</p></div> + +<p>Bertrand was the eldest of ten children. Unhappily his excessive ugliness +made him an object of dislike to his mother, and she was not nearly so kind +to him as she was to her other children. Besides this, he was self-willed +and savage, and his temper would break out into fits of violence which +terrified his little brothers and sisters, and exposed him to the contempt +of the whole household. This rough and repelling exterior, however, only +hid for a time a generous nature and a feeling heart, and many were the +tears poor Bertrand shed in solitude, for he was too proud to let them be +seen, when he rebelled against the harsh treatment he received on account +of his ill-behaviour.</p> + +<p>One day the lady of La Motte was seated at table in the dining-hall of the +castle with her younger sons,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> Guillaume and Olivier, whilst Bertrand was +eating his dinner in a corner apart. It was very sad to know that the +eldest son of the family behaved so rudely that his parents would not allow +him to take his place at the table. But this day it happened that some +chance word of ridicule reached him in his corner, and he arose in fury, +and, rushing towards the table, commanded his brothers to make room for him +at the upper end, where his place as the eldest child should have been by +right. His brothers, surprised at the tone of his voice, obeyed, and his +mother suffered him to sit in the highest place; but he had not been there +long before his awkward and uncouth manners obliged her to order him to +return to his corner. Bertrand arose, and in his rage clenched his hand, +and hit the oaken table so hard a blow that it overturned, and emptied the +contents of the dishes into the laps of the persons seated around it. This +passionate act of course called down a fresh torrent of reproaches on his +head. In the midst of all the disorder a lady, who was a frequent visitor +at the castle, entered the hall. She asked Bertrand's mother why she was so +angry. The lady of La Motte answered her by pointing to her little son, who +was now sobbing bitterly in his corner. The lady went up to him, and +although he was sullen at first, she soon persuaded him to tell her his +sorrows. She invited him to return to the table, and Bertrand, to the +astonishment of all who were present, took the dish of peacock which the +steward was just bringing into the hall, and a goblet of wine, and served +her with them himself, awkwardly it must be confessed, but in a spirit of +gratitude for the few kind words she had spoken.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> + +<p>The lady who had thus befriended him was the daughter of a Jewish +physician, but with her father had been converted to Christianity. She was +reputed to be very clever, and was skilled in an art which was much +practised in those days, namely, that of foretelling future events by +observing the lines in people's hands, very much in the same manner as +gipsies pretend to tell fortunes, even in our own time. After dinner she +called Bertrand to her, and attentively examined his face and his hand, and +presently told his mother that she ought to be proud of having such a son, +instead of despising him, because she was convinced that when he grew up to +be a man he would do great things for the glory of his country. From this +day his mother looked more kindly upon him; she had him dressed for the +first time in a manner suitable to his rank, and commanded the servants to +treat him with the respect due to the eldest son of their master.</p> + +<p>Bertrand's fiery temper, however, and his love of fighting, were a +continual source of trouble and anxiety to his parents. Before he was nine +years of age he would often leave the castle without their knowledge, and +collect all the children he met with on his way, and then fight them one by +one, or try his strength against a number of them together. When he +returned home, bleeding, and with torn and soiled garments, his mother +would justly reprove him for behaving so little like a gentleman.</p> + +<p>At last his fighting propensities increased to such a pitch that the +country people complained of him to his father, and the Sire de la Motte +was obliged to order a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> forfeit to be paid by the parents of all children +who were found in his company. Nevertheless Bertrand still contrived to get +out of the castle secretly, and to lead the little villagers to their mimic +battles. His father, as a last resource, shut him up in the dungeon of the +castle, and in this dreary place he remained four months. But one evening a +maid-servant, whose office it was to bring him his food twice a day, left +the door open behind her, and Bertrand managed to slip out, not forgetting +in his haste to turn the key upon her, in case she should betray him to his +parents. Then he ran as fast as ever he could to a field, unfastened a mare +from one of his father's ploughs, mounted it, laughing heartily the while +at the ploughman, who was rushing after him, and galloped as far as Rennes, +without saddle or bridle, to the house of his aunt, a sister of the Sire de +la Motte, who was married to a knight of great honour.</p> + +<p>His aunt had often heard of his misconduct at home, and was not at all +pleased to see him arrive in such plight. She began scolding him in harsh +words, when luckily for him his uncle intervened in his favour, reminding +his wife that Bertrand was only a child, and had done nothing yet to +forfeit his honour. "He is brave and spirited," said the good knight; "let +us keep him in our house, and see if we cannot transform him into a great +captain for the glory of Bretagne."</p> + +<p>Bertrand remained with his uncle at Rennes until he was sixteen, and +learned from him all the accomplishments necessary for a knight. Moreover, +he learned to be gentle and courteous to those around him, and in these +happier circumstances the good points of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> character shone forth, and +his violent temper was curbed, whilst his spirit remained free. It is +related of him that he was so generous, that when he met with any poor +persons, and had no money with him, he would give them some of the very +clothes he wore, and if he had only a penny would share it with those who +were in need. He found his greatest delight in listening to his uncle's +stories of battles and sieges, and when some noble exploit was related, +would clap his hands for joy, whilst his eyes shone like fire.</p> + +<p>A very great fault, however, still remained to him, and that was his love +of fighting. One Sunday it was announced in the city of Rennes that a prize +would be given to the youth who should acquit himself best in single +combat. Bertrand burned with impatience to enter the lists, and his aunt, +fearing the temptation might prove too strong for him, carried him off with +her to church, thinking he would certainly be safe there under her vigilant +eye. As soon as Bertrand saw that her attention was fully absorbed in +listening to the sermon, he took the opportunity of slipping out of church, +and ran at full speed to the market-place. Here he was recognised by some +of his opponents of former years, but he made them promise not to betray +him to his aunt, and was just going to enter the lists, when a young +Breton, who had thrown twelve of his competitors to the ground, advanced +proudly to claim the prize, which was a hat with feather and silver band.</p> + +<p>Bertrand defied him to the combat, and after a long struggle succeeded in +overthrowing him; but during the time he had happened to fall on his +opponent, and in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> so doing had cut his knee severely with a stone. This +accident caused him so much pain that he could hardly stand, and he begged +his comrades to take him to a surgeon's, where his wound could be dressed. +The prize was brought to him there, but he dared not accept it, for fear +his aunt, of whom he always seems to have had a wholesome dread, should +hear of what he had done. She had indeed missed him, and had sought for him +everywhere, and she did not spare her reproaches when she discovered the +state he was in. Nevertheless she showed him greater kindness than he +deserved, and nursed him until he had recovered from his wound.</p> + +<p>The knight at last persuaded his father to recall him to the castle of La +Motte Bron. Now Bertrand tasted the real joy of home for the first time, +for his father was so delighted at the improvement in his character that he +no longer withheld his love from him, and every member of the household had +a kind word for him; while in former times, when he was so very naughty and +unruly, there had only been complaints and reproofs.</p> + +<p>The Sire Du Guesclin took care that the martial studies of his son should +be completed, and gave him a little horse, on which Bertrand rode about to +visit the great lords in the neighbourhood, and was present at the jousts +and tournaments which were so often held at that time. Du Guesclin's +poverty and youth prevented him, however, from entering the lists, and +making known his courage and martial skill to the world. He grieved, too, +because he was so ugly, and so humbly equipped, his famed steed being +"little better than a miller's horse."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<p>The time came at last when he was enabled to distinguish himself. A great +tournament was announced at Rennes on the marriage of Jeanne de Penthièvre, +heiress to the duchy of Bretagne, with Charles de Blois, who was nephew to +the King of France. The Sire de la Motte Bron judged it to be a fit +occasion for the display of his dignity, and went with the nobles of +Bretagne to Rennes, followed by a great number of his vassals; whilst poor +Bertrand, mounted on his insignificant horse, and easily recognised by the +roundness and largeness of his head, his short nose, his strongly-marked +eyebrows, and his square-set figure, was an object of ridicule to the +peasants as they flocked along the road to Rennes. The tournament used to +be held in an open space inside the city, and the ladies, richly attired, +looked on from the windows and balconies around.</p> + +<p>Bertrand's eyes flashed when he reached the arena where the knights were +already engaged, and heard the sound of the trumpets and the clashing of +the weapons. "I shall never please the ladies," he said, as he had said +many a time before, "but I will make my name to be feared by the enemies of +my country."</p> + +<p>Seeing one of his relations retire from the combat, he followed him to his +house, and, throwing himself on his knees before him, implored him to lend +him some armour and a horse. His cousin good-naturedly lent him a fresh +horse, and armed him himself, and Bertrand rushed back to the tournament, +and, having entered the lists without naming himself, challenged a knight, +and quickly overthrew him. Another knight now came forward to avenge the +vanquished one, and Bertrand was just going<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> to attack him, when he saw his +father's arms upon his shield, and bowing low, withdrew, to the +astonishment of the spectators. After this he challenged no fewer than +fifteen knights without coming to grief himself. All the people present +were now very anxious to know his name, and one of the ladies who sat in +the great balcony entreated a Norman knight to descend into the arena, and, +if possible, remove the visor from the victor's face. The knight went down, +and had just succeeded in removing the helmet from Bertrand's head, when a +strong arm suddenly lifted him off his horse and laid him in the dust. Then +Reynauld du Guesclin recognised his son, and hastened to embrace him in his +pride and joy, and Bertrand was proclaimed victor over all to the sound of +the trumpets, and received the prize, which was a beautiful silver swan, +life size. The prize, however, he did not keep for himself, but gave it to +his cousin, whose kindness had enabled him to win so great renown.</p> + +<p>When Bertrand was twenty years of age he was no longer contented with +displaying his prowess in tournaments, but began to fight in good earnest, +taking the part of Charles de Blois in a quarrel that lasted for a very +long time between that prince and his rival, Jean de Montfort.</p> + +<p>Jean de Bretagne, known by the name of the Good Duke, had died without +leaving any childhood, and was succeeded by his brother, Guy, Count of +Penthièvre, whose daughter's marriage with Charles de Blois had occasioned +the festivity at Rennes. Charles thus claimed the duchy in right of his +wife; but Guy was no sooner dead than his half-brother, Jean de Montfort, +came forward,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> and maintained that his title to Bretagne was a better one +than that of his niece.</p> + +<p>This was not true, because the right of female succession had been fully +established in the duchy, and the King of France and many of the Breton +nobles sided with Charles, while the King of England sent assistance to De +Montfort.</p> + +<p>The wives of both princes were women of extraordinary spirit. Jeanne, +Countess de Montfort, defended her husband's rights whilst he lived, and +after his death those of his son, who was likewise named Jean; and once +during the war, when she was shut up in the town of Hennebon, she held out, +like a brave and skilful general, against all the attacks of the enemy +until Sir Walter Manny arrived with succour from King Edward the Third of +England. Jeanne de Penthièvre was a woman of equal courage, but her pride +and ambition caused her husband to risk the battle which cost him his life, +and proved, as will be seen hereafter, the ruin of her own cause.</p> + +<p>Du Guesclin chose the side of Charles de Blois because he believed it to be +the right one. "Never," said he, "while I live, will I maintain an +unrighteous cause." He was soon at the head of sixty men, in readiness to +serve, and sold his mother's jewels that he might be able to buy horses, +harness, and arms. His chroniclers tell us, however, how he very soon +captured from an English knight, whom he met in a forest, a treasure +consisting of jewels, which he gave to his mother in compensation for those +she had lost. Although gunpowder was known in those days, it was very +little used; the chief weapons were swords, lances, battle-axes, +cross-bows,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> and clubs; and every warrior defended himself with the shield. +Bertrand's name came to be feared by his enemies, as he had predicted in +the days gone by: his first attempts in warfare were chiefly against the +English, who held many of the fortresses in Bretagne for Jean de Montfort. +A story is told of the manner in which he gained possession of one of +these, the Castle of Fougeray, which was a very important place.</p> + +<p>Bertrand knew all the ins and outs of the castle, because in the chances of +war he had once been a prisoner for a short time within its walls, and he +disguised himself, and about twenty of his companions in arms, as +wood-cutters, in white gowns reaching down to the knee, and with bundles of +faggots on their shoulders, as he had often seen the poor peasants bringing +wood to the castle. He divided his men, to make it appear that they were +coming from different parts of the country to sell their wood, and waited +for the time when the governor should have gone out of his stronghold with +a part of the garrison. When all was ready they passed the night securely +in the forest, and came out of it in the grey dawn of the morning with +their bundles on their shoulders.</p> + +<p>The watchman of Fougeray saw them dimly in the distance, and rang the bell, +to give the alarm, but all fear vanished when it was seen that only +wood-cutters were coming towards the castle. Bertrand advanced to the +drawbridge, and asked the porter if he did not want wood. The porter said +that he did, and not suspecting any harm, let down the drawbridge at once. +Du Guesclin laid down his heavy load of wood so as to prevent the bridge +from being drawn up, and rushed on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> to the castle, shouting "Guesclin," the +war cry which afterwards became so terrible to his enemies. His comrades +followed quickly at his summons; the unhappy porter fell wounded in the +struggle, and as there were a hundred men in the place and Bertrand had +only sixty when all had come to his aid, the conflict was very sharp; women +and children even throwing showers of stones on the heads of the Bretons. +Du Guesclin himself was severely wounded, and was found defending himself +to the last, without his hatchet, when a party of cavalry belonging to +Charles de Blois came up in time to secure possession of the castle. The +whole affair may have been considered an ingenious trick, but I think it +would have been more noble for Bertrand to have ridden up openly to his +enemies, clad in his armour, and with his sword in his hand, than to have +deceived them by the woodcutter's guise.</p> + +<p>The war went on, and at last the King of England sent Henry, the good Duke +of Lancaster, to Bretagne at the head of a large force, with orders to lay +siege to Rennes, the city where Bertrand had passed the happiest days of +his boyhood, and which had twice been the scene of his triumphs. Besides +all the great English nobles who had accompanied the duke, the army was +increased by many Breton gentlemen who had enlisted themselves on the side +of Jean de Montfort, and Lancaster made a solemn vow not to depart from +Rennes until he had planted his standard upon its walls.</p> + +<p>Bertrand concealed himself in a forest near the city, and constantly +harassed his enemies by rushing suddenly upon them, by day and by night, +and always to the cry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> of "Guesclin," until at last the Duke of Lancaster +swore that if ever the brave Breton captain fell into his hands, he would +never let him free, however large a ransom might be offered for him.</p> + +<p>Lancaster made several attempts upon Rennes, but with little success. One +day an English officer who had been captured by Du Guesclin, told him that +his countrymen intended to undermine the city and open a breach. Upon this +news Bertrand contrived one very dark night to glide with his Bretons into +the midst of the English camp, where all was silent, and set fire to some +of the tents. The enemy, awakened by the usual cry of "Guesclin," thought +that Charles de Blois had fallen upon them with his army, and were very +angry as they put out their fires to find it was only Bertrand with his +handful of men.</p> + +<p>The governor of Rennes now gave orders that in all the houses near the +ramparts little copper basins should be hung with one or two balls of brass +in each, so that by the jingling of the metal, which the movement of the +miners would cause, it might be known in what direction they were at work. +By this means the garrison were enabled to work against them until the mine +was pierced, and the besiegers found a body of troops ready to beat them +back.</p> + +<p>The Duke of Lancaster now thought of another plan for subduing the people +of Rennes. Knowing that they were almost without provisions, he caused two +thousand pigs to be assembled in a field near the walls of the city, hoping +that the hungry inhabitants would come out for the purpose of capturing +them. The governor, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> was not to be outwitted, and had a sow +attached by a rope to the gate of Rennes, with its head downwards. The sow +struggled so hard to free itself and grunted and squeaked so loud that the +other pigs were naturally attracted to the spot. When the besieged saw that +the pigs were coming in that direction they lowered the drawbridge, and cut +the rope. The sow, thus released, ran joyfully back into the city, followed +by all the other pigs, and it was certain that the famished people of +Rennes had a good meal that day and for many days after.</p> + +<p>Du Guesclin performed numerous acts of daring during the siege, and one +day, when the Bretons had eaten up the two thousand pigs and were very near +dying of hunger again, he intercepted and captured a hundred waggons, +loaded with wine, flour, and salt meat, which were on their way to the +English camp; but when he found that the waggoners were supplying these +provisions to the enemy at their own cost, he paid them liberally for all +that he had seized.</p> + +<p>The Duke of Lancaster now prepared a huge machine which was often used in +those times of warfare. This was a wooden tower on wheels, as high as the +walls of the city, which contained a number of men inside, who shot surely +from it with their arrows. The tower would have caused great havoc, had not +Bertrand one night crawled out with his Bretons, and completely destroyed +it by fire.</p> + +<p>Winter was now coming on: the lengthened siege had lost the lives of many +brave men, and Henry of Lancaster at last sent a herald to Du Guesclin to +tell him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> that he desired to speak with him. The herald brought a written +passport which, alas! Bertrand was obliged to have read to him by one of +his comrades. He had always been so heedless and disobedient in the old +days at La Motte, that no one had been able to teach him to read or write, +and he had never succeeded in learning in after years, although some +authors assert that he could really sign his name.</p> + +<p>Bertrand dismissed the herald with a handsome present of clothes and money, +and then repaired to the camp of the brave English duke. When there he was +asked by Lancaster, whom he owned for his master. "Charles de Blois," he +replied promptly, "to whom Bretagne belongs in right of his wife."</p> + +<p>The Duke was much pleased with his boldness and resolution, and offered him +a high rank in his army if he would consent to enter his service; but +Bertrand replied that nothing should ever shake him in his fidelity to +Charles de Blois.</p> + +<p>Lancaster now received orders from his father to raise the siege: yet he +could not depart, in remembrance of the oath he had taken, and Du Guesclin +proposed that he should enter the city with ten of his knights, and plant +his standard on its walls. When this was done, Du Guesclin politely asked +him where the war was to be carried on in future. "Bertrand, my fair +friend," replied the duke, "you shall soon know." He had scarcely gone past +the barrier when he saw his standard thrown down into the moat; +nevertheless he had kept his oath, and having raised the siege, he decamped +with all his host, and went to pass the winter at Auray.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> + +<p>Du Guesclin was quick to resent an affront offered to any member of his +family. The Duke of Lancaster with the brave Sir John Chandos was before +Dinan, which town Bertrand, his brother Olivier, and the governor who had +defended Rennes, had hastened to enter before the enemy could invest it. +One day when all was quiet, Olivier Du Guesclin had gone out of the town +unarmed for the purpose of amusing himself in the open country, when he met +with an English knight, who asked him his name, and behaved in a very +haughty manner towards him, and made him walk on first, vowing that he +should not escape until he had given him a thousand good florins. A Breton +knight, however, who had seen Olivier made prisoner, hastened to tell Du +Guesclin what had happened. Bertrand instantly mounted his horse and rode +off to the English camp, where he found the Duke of Lancaster in his tent +playing at chess with Sir John Chandos, whilst several of the chief nobles +were standing around looking on. They were all glad to see Bertrand because +they had a great respect for his valour, and it is true that he had many +qualities which endeared him to his fellow-men, and gained for him +friendships which lasted as long as life.</p> + +<p>Du Guesclin would not drink the wine they poured out for him until justice +had been done to his brother. Henry of Lancaster was an upright man, and +promised to settle the matter fairly. He summoned the offending knight to +his presence, and ordered him to release Olivier at once. But the knight, +who was called Thomas of Canterbury, would not allow that the complaint +made against him by Bertrand was just, and threw down his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> iron glove in +defiance. It was soon known in Dinan that a terrible combat would take +place between the two knights, and the people feared that Du Guesclin would +fall, because the Englishman was possessed of such extraordinary strength +and skill. But a very beautiful young lady of noble family in Dinan, named +Tiphaine de Raguenel, whom Bertrand married soon after the siege was +raised, predicted that he would triumph over his foe. Tiphaine was called +an astrologer, because she professed to foretell by observing the stars in +the heavens, whether people were to be prosperous in their lives or +unfortunate; happy or miserable. This was very foolish, and we know better +in our own times than to put faith in such a science; and even in Dinan, +when by chance Tiphaine's predictions came true, the people looked upon her +with distrust and called her a witch. The Duke of Lancaster with all his +nobles came into the town to witness the combat, which ended to the great +joy of the inhabitants of Dinan in the triumph of Bertrand, and the +offending knight was ordered by Lancaster to retire from his service.</p> + +<p>The siege of Dinan was raised by our King Edward, who had King John of +France at this time a prisoner in the palace of the Savoy. Du Guesclin went +on fighting for Charles de Blois, until at last the younger Jean de +Montfort got weary of the war, and proposed to his rival that the Duchy of +Bretagne should be halved between them; and that Rennes should be the +capital of Charles's dominions, and Nantes the capital of his own. Charles +de Blois was a man who loved peace; he agreed solemnly to divide the duchy +as Jean had proposed, and would have kept faith with him, had not his wife +broken out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> into a violent passion as soon as she heard what he had done, +and overruled him by saying that she would never consent to so shameful a +settlement, and that she had married him to defend the whole of her duchy, +and not the half of it. The war must have broken out again at once if the +good offices of Lancaster had not effected a truce for a time.</p> + +<p>When King John came back to France he invited Du Guesclin to enter his +service, and gave him the command of a hundred lances. Each lance, or +man-at-arms, was attended by three archers, a man armed with a cutlass, and +a page, so that a company of a hundred lances really included six hundred +men. Du Guesclin had the permission to form his troop of the gentlemen of +Bretagne, of whom many were his relations and friends; and with these he +set out hopefully to take part in a war which King John was carrying on in +Normandy against the wicked King of Navarre.</p> + +<p>Bertrand did the king good service in Normandy, and captured the towns of +Mantes and Meulan. At the latter place he lost all patience with the +tardiness of the besiegers, and seizing a ladder, began to mount it with +his sword in his hand, and his shield on his breast. He was just mounting +the last steps and boasting to the Baron of Mereuil who was on the other +side of the wall, that he would soon make him feel the strength of his arm, +when the baron threw some heavy stones on the ladder, which dashed it to +pieces, and Bertrand fell with his head downwards into the ditch around the +city wall. The ditch was full of water, and Bertrand was taken out by his +comrades half dead, but he scarcely waited for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> his injuries to be healed, +before he began to fight with greater vigour than before, and a little +while later gained the battle of Cocherel over the Captal de Buche, who was +fighting for the King of Navarre, and took the Captal prisoner.</p> + +<p>King John was now dead, and Charles the Wise was on the throne of France. +The victory at Cocherel had served to raise the spirits of the French, who +had been much cast down by their defeats during the two last sieges, and +the fame of Du Guesclin was spoken all over the country.</p> + +<p>But the war unhappily broke out in Bretagne once more. Jean de Montfort, +angry with his rival for his breach of faith, came with his army to invest +the town of Auray. The people there were in great need and misery, and +lighted fires every night on the summits of their towers in token of their +distress. Charles de Blois set off at once to assist them in their danger, +but his wife at parting, charged him on no account whatever to agree to any +division of the duchy. Du Guesclin and many brave nobles and knights +hastened to join his army; and when they arrived in sight of Auray, De +Montfort sent a herald to them to propose peace on the terms that had +already been made, or to demand an immediate battle.</p> + +<p>Charles de Blois, weakly dreading the anger of his wife if he gave way, +sent the herald back without an answer, although in his heart he was +longing more than ever to be at peace.</p> + +<p>In the disastrous battle of Auray which began soon after, and lasted for +seven hours, Charles de Blois lost his life, the celebrated Oliver Du +Clisson an eye, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> Du Guesclin his liberty. It was late in the day, and +Bertrand was left almost alone upon the battle field with the dead lying +around him; he had been thrown from his horse, and surrounded by his +enemies, but he had risen from the ground and defended himself +single-handed to the last. Now the blood was flowing from his wounds; his +sword was broken; the handle had been wrenched off his battle-axe, and Sir +John Chandos found him armed only with an iron hammer. It was useless for +him to resist longer, and when he had given up the broken piece of his +sword into the hands of the English knight, the battle was at an end.</p> + +<p>Charles de Blois had fought that day like one in despair. With his last +breath he had said that he had long waged war against his conscience. And +thus the feud was ended which had lasted for nearly twenty years; Jean de +Montfort could have the whole duchy of Bretagne for himself, and the +unhappy widow of his rival had the sorrow of remembering that it was her +own pride and unbending spirit which had cost her the life of her husband. +The people of Bretagne were so tired of war that when, a little while +after, the treaty, which Jean de Montfort was making with Jeanne, could not +be settled, they assembled in a vast concourse and throwing themselves on +the ground, implored the Count to give them peace.</p> + +<p>The King of France did not suffer Bertrand to remain a captive long. The +country was at that time infested by bands of lawless men of various +nations, who called themselves "Free Companies," and used to go about +laying waste the orchards and fields, sacking and burning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> the castles of +the nobility; and making war just as they pleased. The greater number of +these men were disbanded soldiers, whose services were no longer needed now +that the war was at an end.</p> + +<p>Their power became very formidable when such men as Sir Hugh de Caverlay, +the Green Knight, Sir Matthew Gournay, and many others who were renowned +for their valour, joined them, and elected themselves their leaders.</p> + +<p>The thought occurred to King Charles that Du Guesclin was the one man +capable of ridding his country of so terrible a scourge, and he hastened to +pay the hundred thousand francs which his enemies had required for his +ransom, and told him that if he would consent to drive the Free Companies +out of France, he might choose his own method of carrying out his purpose.</p> + +<p>Du Guesclin went to the camp where the Free Lances were assembled, and, as +many of the leaders had already served under his banner, he found little +difficulty in persuading them to go with him into Spain on a crusade +against the Saracens, who still retained possession of a part of that +country. But a war had already broken out between Pedro the Second of Spain +and his half brother, Henry of Trastamare. Pedro had made himself hateful +to his subjects by repeated acts of tyranny, and worst of all had suffered +his wife, Blanche de Bourbon, to be cruelly murdered. This princess was +very amiable and lovely; she was sister to the Queen of France, and +granddaughter to the good Saint Louis, and Charles, indignant and sorrowful +at her unhappy fate, thought the services of Du Guesclin would be better<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +employed in driving Pedro from the throne than in making war on the +Saracens.</p> + +<p>Bertrand was therefore ordered to hasten to the assistance of Henry of +Trastamare, and one day he collected all the Free Companies at a place +called Chalons sur Saone, and marched from thence southwards, to the great +delight of the French nation, taking Avignon on his way, where the Pope +then resided, instead of at Rome.</p> + +<p>The companies went to Avignon to ask for absolution, because they had been +excommunicated, that is to say, cut off from all fellowship with the +church, on account of their lawless deeds. The Pope readily granted them +absolution, but he was not nearly so ready to give them a large sum of +money—which they asked for in addition to the 200,000 gold florins which +they had already received from Du Guesclin—and it was only after a long +delay, that he could be persuaded to give them any money at all.</p> + +<p>The troops Du Guesclin led himself were called "The White Company," because +they all wore a white cross on their shoulder, as a sign that they meant to +abolish the religion of the Jews, which Pedro was supposed to favour. Pedro +was very much alarmed at the approach of so vast an army; he happened to be +engaged at the time in laying waste with fire and sword the lands belonging +to his brother, whilst Henry himself was hiding in a castle with his wife +and children, and for a long while could not be made to believe that the +French hero was really coming to his aid.</p> + +<p>Du Guesclin soon enabled him, however, to gain possession of several +cities, and at a frontier town, called<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> Maguelon Home, he took the title of +King. And when the people of Burgos (which was the Christian capital of +Spain at that time) heard of the approach of the White Company, they +brought the keys of the city, and laid them at the feet of Henry, and +joyfully acknowledged that he was King over Castille. Henry made a +triumphant entry into Burgos, with Bertrand, his deliverer, clad in +complete armour by his side; they went to the palace, where a great banquet +was served before them, with the richest viands, while the whole city was +one scene of rejoicing and merriment, and wine flowed in the streets like +water; the people were so glad to be freed from the tyranny of Pedro the +Second.</p> + +<p>Bertrand having thus placed Henry of Trastamare on the throne, urged him to +send for his wife Jeanne, that they might both be crowned the same day. And +when the Queen was seen approaching the capital, Bertrand went out to meet +her, accompanied by the bravest of his knights. As soon as the Queen +perceived that it was Du Guesclin who was advancing towards her, she +alighted from her mule that she might render him the greater honour, and +turning to his whole company, she exclaimed, "Friends, and gentlemen, it +may truly be said that we hold the crown of Castille through you alone." +Henry and Jeanne were crowned at Burgos on Easter-day of the year 1366, and +the King, in gratitude for the services of Du Guesclin, gave him the Duchy +of Molina, and made him constable of Castille.</p> + +<p>Pedro meanwhile was in great terror at the approach of his brother, and +kept himself concealed with his treasures in a forest a hundred leagues +long. One of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> his treasures was a table of pure gold, inlaid with jewels, +and engraven with the portraits of Charlemagne's twelve peerless knights. +Amongst the gems was a carbuncle, which is said to have had the peculiar +property of shining by night as brightly as the sun shines by day; and one +very dark night, when Pedro was outside the walls of a city, and beset with +dangers on every side, he was obliged to have his table fetched out from +among his treasures, that he might discover by its light the means of +escape. The stone may have possessed a singular brilliancy, but for the +fact of its shining as brightly as the sunlight, I cannot vouch. It was +said to have another strange property, that of changing colour and turning +black directly poison approached it.</p> + +<p>The forest was near the town of Cardonna, where Pedro had taken refuge, +immediately after the great city of Toledo had surrendered to his brother. +Henry supposed him to be still in the town, and went in pursuit of him with +Du Guesclin, Hugh de Caverlay, Olivier de Mauny, and many other valiant +men. Their way between Toledo and Cardonna lay through the long forest, +which was full of wild beasts and snakes, and had neither villages nor +houses of any kind in its depths. They were in this wild tract seven days, +and lost many of their men there; some of them being devoured by the wild +beasts, and others dying from the bites of the snakes. When they got to +Cardonna they found, of course, that Pedro had fled, but they took +possession of the town.</p> + +<p>Now that Henry had really been placed on the throne, Bertrand thought he +might carry out his original plan, and proceed to Granada, which was the +stronghold and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> capital of the Moors in Spain. The Queen, however, with +many tears implored him not to forsake her husband; she dreaded so much the +anger and cruelty of Pedro, when he should come out of his hiding-place. +And Pedro soon made himself dreaded once more, for he had found his way to +Guienne and entreated the Black Prince, who held his court in that +province, to protect him, and assist him with troops; and had offered him +his golden table, and part of his treasures as an equivalent for his aid; +promising him, besides, a large sum of money to defray the cost of an army. +The Black Prince, either out of compassion for the fallen King, or because +he did not like to see his rival in league with France, agreed to assist +him; and in the spring of the year 1367 crossed the province of Navarre +with Pedro, and a large army of Gascons, Normans, and English, and entered +Castille.</p> + +<p>The fortunes of Henry already began to decline: several of the Companies +withdrew from his service, and enlisted themselves in preference under the +banner of the Black Prince. Du Guesclin urged the King not to risk a +decisive battle too soon, but he would not listen to him, and the two +armies met at Najara, on the right bank of the river Ebro. The watchword of +the Black Prince's army was "Guienne and St. George!" and that of King +Henry's, "Castille and St. James!"</p> + +<p>The battle proved disastrous for the King of Castille, his cavalry were +forced to give way, and the rout becoming general he escaped from the field +with very few of his followers. When Bertrand saw the King's discomfiture, +he stationed himself against a wall, and with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> a battle-axe defended +himself so vigorously that several Englishmen were overthrown by him; and +at last his enemies dared not approach him, but only hurled at him their +daggers and swords. The Black Prince, hearing of this, desired to see him, +and went with his standard unfurled to the place where he stood. Bertrand +recognised the Prince, and kneeling on one knee before him said, "To you, +Sire, the Prince of Wales, I surrender myself and to no other; for I will +never be the captive of Pedro, e'en though I die in my defence!"</p> + +<p>The Prince received the submission of Du Guesclin graciously, and confided +him to the keeping of the Captal de Buche, who in remembrance of his own +capture by Bertrand in the battle of Cocherel, told him kindly that he +might live with him at large, if he would give him his word not to escape. +Du Guesclin, much pleased with the confidence reposed in him, swore, like a +true knight, that he would rather die than break his word.</p> + +<p>For six months he remained with the English army, and during that time had +no cause to complain of his treatment. But as soon as he arrived at +Bordeaux, where the Black Prince held his splendid Court, he was shut up in +the prison of Hâ. One morning whilst he was there, three pilgrims, who had +arrived in Bordeaux the evening before, had gone to hear mass in the Church +of Notre Dame. One of these pilgrims was Henry of Trastamare, who had +disguised himself thus in the hope of journeying safely to the Duke of +Anjou, to entreat him to support his cause.</p> + +<p>Several knights happened to be in the church, who had fought with Du +Guesclin in the battle of Najara;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> they began talking of their common +misfortunes, and Henry, taking one of them apart, asked news of Bertrand, +and learned with sorrow that the Black Prince had made a vow never to +ransom him or set him free. Henry went home with the knight to whom he had +spoken, and told him who he was, and persuaded him to procure him the means +of seeing Du Guesclin. So the knight concealed the King in his house, and +went to the prison of Hâ, and told the gaoler that he was going to Bretagne +to seek for money to pay his ransom, and that he greatly desired to see Du +Guesclin before he started.</p> + +<p>The gaoler did not admit him at once, but only hinted that such things were +not done without a bribe. The knight assured him that Du Guesclin was most +liberal, and would amply reward him if he would procure the interview. The +gaoler owned that he was so proud of his prisoner, that he hoped such a man +might never go out of his hands, and after a little more delay he conducted +the knight to Bertrand, who thought that his visitor had come to borrow +money, and was much surprised to hear that Henry of Trastamare was in +Bordeaux in the disguise of a pilgrim of St. James. He called the gaoler, +and told him that there was a poor pilgrim in the city, a native of +Bretagne, and one of his own vassals, whom he wished to assist with money +to enable him to complete his journey; and he begged him to take his seal +and go to a certain Italian jew in the city, and ask him for the sum of 400 +florins. The gaoler fetched the money; Du Guesclin gave him a hundred +florins for himself, and by noon the King was admitted into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> prison. A +more sumptuous dinner than was usually seen within its walls was served in +his honour, and they lingered over it, talking of their misfortunes and of +the King's project for seeking aid from the Duke of Anjou; Du Guesclin +would not, however, on any account suffer him to ask the duke to pay his +ransom. Whilst they were at dinner the gaoler began to feel the pricks of +his conscience, and he took his wife apart, and told her that he suspected +some treason was going on between the pilgrim and Du Guesclin against his +master the Black Prince, and that he must acquaint him with the whole +affair. The gaoler's wife whispered her husband's intentions to Bertrand, +and the brave knight, with a dexterity similar to that he had employed, +when as a boy he freed himself from the dungeon of La Motte, did not suffer +his keeper to pass through the prison wicket, but dealt him so heavy a blow +with a stick that the poor man fell on his knees: then taking the keys from +his pocket, he opened the door to Henry, who quickly disappeared with his +two companions and the knight who had accompanied him thus far. Bertrand +closed the door upon them, and keeping the keys, came back to the gaoler +and, after giving him a good beating, shut him up in a room by himself, as +a warning that the transaction was not to be breathed beyond the prison +walls.</p> + +<p>The Duke of Anjou assisted Henry, and enabled him to enter Burgos a second +time, whilst Pedro was obliged to fly from the throne he had re-ascended +after the battle of Najara. Many of the knights who had been taken +prisoners in that contest were now ransomed, but Du Guesclin, "the scourge +of the English," as he was called,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> was deemed too formidable an enemy to +be set at large; and he might have remained in prison until his dying day, +had not some of the English nobles, who held his qualities in high esteem, +remonstrated with their prince in his favour, and taunted him by saying +that he only retained his prisoner through fear.</p> + +<p>The Black Prince at last resolved to have an interview with his captive, +and Du Guesclin, overjoyed at the prospect of obtaining his release, rose +hastily at the prince's summons, and appeared before him in the soiled and +coarse grey robe he wore in his prison, but which could not detract from +the dignity of his bearing. He told the prince that he was indeed weary of +his long confinement; "I have listened to the rats and mice long enough," +he said, "and I would fain go where I can hear the birds sing once more."</p> + +<p>The prince told him that he would set him free that very day without a +ransom, if he would swear never again to bear arms against him for France; +or against Pedro for Henry. These conditions Bertrand of course could not +accept, and before the interview was ended he had spoken with so much +honesty and candour, that the Black Prince could not but own the +righteousness of his cause, and requested him to name his own ransom. +Bertrand fixed it at 100,000 gold florins, and when the prince asked him +why he named so large a sum, he declared his ransom should not be less than +70,000 florins, adding that although he was a poor knight, the Kings of +France and Castille would assuredly pay that sum for him; and that if they +did not that the Breton women would spin till they had gained the money for +him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<p>He was now set at liberty on condition of obtaining his ransom. The people +of Bordeaux flocked to see him when he came out of his prison, and the +Princess of Wales, Joanna the Fair, journeyed expressly from Angoulême to +Bordeaux that she might have the honour of entertaining him at a banquet, +and presented him besides with 10,000 francs towards his ransom. Sir John +Chandos and Hugh de Caverlay helped also to raise the sum required. Chandos +was always his friend, although he fought on the opposite side; and it may +be that these brave men esteemed one another the more for clinging to what +each one believed to be the right.</p> + +<p>Du Guesclin had hardly gone a league on his way homewards when he met a +poor knight who was returning to his prison in Bordeaux on foot, in a very +forlorn condition, because he was unable to pay his ransom. Bertrand not +only gave him the money to pay it, but also enough to set him up in arms.</p> + +<p>The knight told him that the Duke of Anjou was then besieging the town of +Tarascon. Bertrand was bound in honour not to fight; but he could not +resist going to Tarascon, to aid the duke with his advice, and made the +besieged tremble at the very sound of his name. And there he was in the +midst of all the danger, and the clashing of weapons, mounted on his horse, +but with a peeled rod in his hand, instead of a sword, for his oath's sake!</p> + +<p>When he reached his own estate in Bretagne, he begged his wife to give him +her jewels, and all the valuable things she possessed; but she told him +that a number of poor knights and squires, all taken at Najara,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> had come +to her in great distress, and that she had given them all she could find in +the castle. Bertrand was very glad that his wife had been so kind to the +poor men, and had not sent them away empty handed. The sum for his ransom +was raised amongst his relations and friends, and he had set out for +Bordeaux, when he met ten poor knights, whose ransoms he could not resist +paying; preferring to remain a captive himself rather than to know that so +many others were languishing in prison, away from their homes, and all whom +they loved.</p> + +<p>When the Black Prince heard of Bertrand's generosity, he did not shut him +up in a dungeon again, but let him go about the city as he pleased on his +word of honour that he would not escape. A day came when mules were seen +approaching Bordeaux loaded with 70,000 good gold florins which the kings +of France and Castille and the Duke of Anjou had sent to purchase his +liberty.</p> + +<p>Du Guesclin, a free man once more, devoted himself entirely to the cause of +Henry, and defeated Pedro in a great battle near Toledo, notwithstanding +the help afforded the Spanish King by the Moors. The fortunes of Pedro now +rapidly declined, the Black Prince not caring to aid him again, because he +had not kept the promises he made before the battle of Najara.</p> + +<p>After a battle fought near Montiel,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> in the south of Spain, Pedro took +refuge in the Castle of Montiel, in which there was only one way of going +in or coming out, and before this entrance Le Bègue de Vilaines, who was +fighting for Henry, stationed himself with his pennon. In this extremity it +was arranged that Pedro should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> make his escape from the castle at midnight +with twelve of his companions. It was a dark misty night, and when Pedro +crept out of the castle, Le Bègue, who stood waiting for him with three +hundred men, could not see him, but fancied he heard the sound of +footsteps.</p> + +<p>"Who art thou?" he cried, "Speak, or thou art a dead man." The first one +addressed escaped in the darkness. The next who came, Le Bègue believed to +be the king, and asked him who he was with the dagger held close to his +breast. Then Pedro, seeing he had no chance of escape, cried "Bègue, Bègue, +I am the King, Don Pedro, of Castille;" and surrendering himself to him he +implored him to take him to some place where he should be beyond the reach +of his half-brother.</p> + +<p>Le Bègue took him to his own quarters, but he had not been there long +before Henry of Trastamare and some of his followers entered the chamber +where he was concealed; and in the furious struggle which ensued Pedro was +slain by the hands of his brother. Thus died this unhappy king, whose many +evil deeds gained for him the surname of "The Cruel;" but Henry was very +wicked and cruel also to take his brother's life, and could not have been +happy when he remembered Montiel, although he had now undisputed possession +of the throne.</p> + +<p>Du Guesclin was now at liberty to return to his own country. The King of +Castille parted from him with great regret, and gave him some handsome +presents in token of gratitude for the services he had rendered him. Du +Guesclin on his return, was constantly employed in the war which broke out +again between England and France, and regained many of the places which +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> English had taken from the French. The time came when King Charles +thought that the wisest measure he could pursue would be to make Bertrand, +Constable of France, which was the highest office in all the realm. +Bertrand was unwilling to accept so great an honour, saying that there were +many men more worthy of it than himself. Charles declared, however, that +there was neither prince nor noble in the land who would not cheerfully +obey the brave knight, and Du Guesclin was made Constable. From that time +he was surrounded by all the dignity and splendour of the court, and always +sat at the table with the king.</p> + +<p>But certain it is when men have reached their highest estate, they are very +often near a fall. Bertrand was again employed in Bretagne, when meeting +with some reverses, he incurred the king's displeasure. Charles, having +listened to some evil reports which were spread against him, did not +scruple to express his discontent, and Bertrand took the matter so much to +heart that he resigned his Constable's sword, and was only induced to +resume his office when the king found out that the reports were untrue, and +tried to atone to him for the mistake he had made. In the year 1380, +Bertrand was sent to drive the English out of the south of France. He was +very glad to go thither, because it always grieved him to make war on the +people of his own province of Bretagne. After reducing some places of +little importance, he went to help his friend Sancerre in the siege of the +Castle of Randan, which was possessed by the English, and some Gascons, who +were unfriendly to France. The Constable pressed the siege with vigour<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> and +vowed that he would never depart from the spot till the castle was taken. +And he never did depart from thence alive, for he was seized with a violent +fever, which in a short time proved fatal. The knowledge of his danger made +the besiegers more anxious than ever to gain the fortress, and the garrison +were obliged at last to agree to surrender on a certain day.</p> + +<p>The Sire de Roos, the governor of the castle, having been informed of the +dangerous condition of Du Guesclin, desired to render up the keys into his +own hands; and when the appointed day had arrived, he came out of the +gates, followed by all the garrison. It was summer time, and the rays of +the setting sun shone on their unfurled banners, as they went to the tent, +where the dying Constable lay. His knights were standing sorrowfully around +him; they could not bear to think that he would never rise from his bed +again, that his voice would never more cheer them on to victory. The +English themselves shed tears at the mournful spectacle.</p> + +<p>When Du Guesclin had prayed that his sins might be forgiven him, he +entreated the nobles and knights to be faithful to their king, and not make +war, which would cause the blood of peasants, and defenceless old men, and +women and children to be shed; remembering with sorrow how heedlessly he +had himself waged war in the days of his youth. Then dismissing them all +except his friend Du Clisson, he asked for his constable's sword, and +prayed him to deliver it into the hands of the king, and when they had +bidden each other a last farewell, Du Clisson stood by him in tears and in +silence until his spirit passed away.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + +<p>So died Du Guesclin, the Hero of Chivalry, a man with many failings, but +brave and generous beyond comparison, and ever faithful to his friends. +Although the violence of his temper broke out at intervals all his life +long, he could be kind and gentle. Queens and princesses esteemed him for +his respectful courtesy, and we like to read, how, when the Black Prince +summoned him to his presence, the stern warrior was found playing merrily +with his gaoler's children, inside the dreary walls of his prison.</p> + +<p>Some authors assert that the governor of the Castle of Randan only laid the +keys on the coffin of Du Guesclin; but the most probable account is that he +really gave them into his hands before he died.</p> + +<p>Charles the Wise grieved sincerely for the loss the country had sustained, +and ordered the remains of the Constable to be interred in the Church of +Saint Denis with almost regal pomp.</p> + +<p>Jeanne de Laval, the second wife of Du Guesclin, founded several religious +houses, and instituted services in memory of her illustrious husband.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/end.jpg" width="450" height="132" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> The green knight fell in this battle.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.</h2> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/c.jpg" width="125" height="128" alt="C" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1">Christopher Columbo, or Columbus, was born in the city of Genoa, about the +year 1436. His father, Domenico Columbo, earned the bread of his family by +combing wool, which, however lowly it may be thought at the present time, +was once a very honourable occupation, and was invented three hundred years +after the birth of our Lord by Blaise, the good martyr-bishop of Armenia, +who to this day is regarded as the patron of woolcombers.</p></div> + +<p>Christopher had two brothers, Bartholomew, and Diego, and one sister; of +the latter there is nothing particular recorded. The three brothers loved +one another dearly. Bartholomew had a brave and ardent spirit, and was fond +of an active life; in the troubles and dangers they shared in after years +Christopher would call him "another self;" and he said not long before he +died that his brothers had always been his best friends. Christopher as a +child was quiet and thoughtful. He loved to stand on the shore of the +beautiful bay spreading out at the feet of Genoa, "the city of marble +palaces," and to watch the waves under their different aspects; now dancing +joyously in the sunshine; then great sea-horses, foaming and dashing with +terrible noise on the sands; now again, loveliest of all, lying at rest as +if tired, in the solemn quiet of night,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> and giving back myriads of golden +gleams for every star that twinkled in the clear Italian sky. And whilst +Christopher thus watched the sea, he had very strange ideas for a young +child, for he thought that the whole of the world had not been discovered, +and that beyond the great Atlantic Ocean, which he had only heard of, there +were lands that had never yet been trodden by Europeans. At the time he +lived the Portuguese had discovered the Cape Verde Isles in the Atlantic, +much of the western coast of Africa, and the Cape of Good Hope. They wanted +some of the gold, amber, and ivory, the rich silks, and the fragrant woods +and spices of India, and to trade in these things they had to find out a +way to the East by sea, because the Venetians took care to keep the +overland route to India clear for themselves. Venice, on the eastern side +of Italy, and Genoa, on the western side, shared all the commerce of that +country, but they were not on friendly terms; and for years and years the +Genoese were trying to drive the Turks, Venetians, and Spaniards out of the +Mediterranean Sea, that they might carry on their own commerce without +being molested.</p> + +<p>When Domenico Colombo found that his son Christopher had a very strong +desire to be a sailor, he did not force him to pass his life in combing +wool, but sent him to a famed school at Pavia, where he might learn such +things as would be useful to him in the career he had chosen. So Columbus +learned diligently about the earth, the sea, and the stars, and something +of drawing and mathematics beside. When he was fourteen he returned to +Genoa, and went to sea for the first time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> with one of his relations, who +was likewise named Colombo. This man was a corsair, and had many a bold +skirmish with the Turks and Venetians. During several years Christopher +sailed with him from one place to another, and got used to a seafaring +life. It happened in one of the skirmishes which took place between Lisbon +and Cape St. Vincent, that fire broke out in a huge Venetian galley to +which the vessel Christopher commanded for his kinsman had been chained +during the fight; the flames quickly spread to the spot where he stood, and +to save his life he was obliged to jump from the deck into the waves. +Fortunately he had grasped an oar, and with this he was enabled to reach +the shore of Portugal, at the distance of two leagues from the burning +vessels. From thence he went to Lisbon, where he was kindly received by +some Genoese, and he determined to remain in that city, because there were +better means there of studying and of carrying out the plans he was making +for a voyage in search of unknown lands. The Portuguese themselves were +eager to make fresh discoveries: their mariners, sailing westward from the +Azores, had seen floating on the waters corpses belonging to a race of men +unknown in Europe, Africa, or Asia; besides these there were trunks and +branches of strange trees, and huge sugar-canes which had been wafted +through the Atlantic by the Gulf Stream. All these objects made them think +that only a portion of the inhabited world had yet been revealed to them.</p> + +<p>Two centuries had passed since Marco Polo, the bold Venetian explorer, had +set out from Constantinople for the land of the Tartars. There he had found +a friend in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> the great Kublai Khan, who ruled over Tartary and China, and +was sent by him on a mission to China and India, being thus the first +European who visited China Proper. On his return he told such extraordinary +tales of the people he had seen, and their customs, that most men were +afraid to believe in them, and thought they were pure inventions. Years +after, when the countries he had described became known to the Europeans, +it was found that he had spoken a great deal of truth, and his example +caused fresh enterprises to be projected. Men must not despair because they +do not at once see the fruit of their labour: if they only undertake it in +a true and steadfast spirit, it is sure to turn sooner or later to the +benefit of their fellow-creatures. Truly great men do not toil for +themselves but for the good they may do to others; they sow the seed, and +in God's time, not theirs, it will bear fruit.</p> + +<p>In Lisbon Columbus married Doña Felippa, the daughter of a poor but noble +Italian named Perestrello, the governor of the island of Porto Santo, one +of the Madeiras, which had only lately been found. Perestrello was a very +famous navigator, and lost his life in the service of Portugal. After his +marriage Columbus went to live in the house of his wife's mother, and she +gave him all the charts her husband had drawn, and the accounts he had +written of his voyages, which proved very useful to him because they made +him familiar with all the parts of the world the Portuguese had hitherto +explored. So he lived on in Lisbon, supporting his wife and his mother by +making and selling maps and globes, besides which he used to send a part of +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> money he earned to his aged father at Genoa, and helped his brothers +also by enabling them to go to school. Sometimes he would leave home for a +while, and take part in the expeditions that were directed towards the +coast of Guinea, or he would visit Porto Santo, where he had a friend in +Pietro Correo, who had once been governor of the island, and was married to +his wife's sister. Yet although he was made very happy by the birth of his +son Diego, it was sad to wait year after year without any chance of +starting on his voyage; for, poor as he was, it was quite impossible for +him to buy vessels and man them at his own expense.</p> + +<p>Some of the ancient philosophers who flourished centuries before the birth +of our Lord had convinced themselves that the earth was round. That such is +the case is shown by the appearance of a vessel after it has left the +shore. At a certain distance the whole of it is seen; farther off only its +hulk or body; at a greater distance still, the topmast alone is visible. +This proves that something hides the lower part of the ship from the +spectator, and that something, is the roundness of the earth. Again—when +an eclipse of the moon takes place the moon enters the shadow of the earth, +and cannot get the light of the sun, which, reflected on her surface, gives +her the bright silvery glow which makes her so lovely by night, and so we +appear to lose the whole, or part of her face. Now the shadow that is seen +being round, the earth must be round from which it is cast. And when men +found, in the days when very long voyages were undertaken, that by sailing +and journeying in one direction they came back to the point whence they had +started,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> they wanted indeed no further proof that such was the correct +figure of the earth. Thus it was natural for Columbus to expect to reach +the eastern shore of India, or of Cathay (as China was then called) by +sailing westward across the Atlantic, never dreaming that the earth was so +large as it is, and that the pathway he went would make known to the people +of the Old World the whole vast continent of America, and the Pacific, the +greatest of all Oceans!</p> + +<p>Having been refused assistance in his native city, he resolved at last to +lay his plans before John the Second of Portugal. The king referred the +matter to a Council, where it was soon decided that the voyage could not be +carried out, but Columbus was not easily disheartened, as his patience +during one-and-twenty years proved, and he begged the Portuguese monarch so +earnestly to assist him that he had almost been supplied with the vessels +he required, had there not been in Lisbon some persons who were very +jealous of him, and wanted the glory of making the attempt themselves. +These persons gained information of the proposed route, and then set out in +secret to try it, not unknown, as it is said, to the king. But when they +had been out at sea some time, and saw the waves spread out around them as +far as sight could reach, they lost all courage, and put back to Lisbon as +quickly as they could, saying on their return that the voyage could never +be tried.</p> + +<p>Columbus was indignant at being treated thus: he had passed fourteen years +of his life in waiting, and had thought and studied so much for the +enterprise on which he had set his heart that he had made no fortune for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +himself. His gentle wife Felippa was dead; and one day he bid farewell to +his home in Lisbon and quitted Portugal with the idea of laying his cause +before Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. First of all, however, he went to +Genoa, where he saw his father, and provided out of his own scanty means +for the old man's comfort.</p> + +<p>When he arrived in Spain he sought the favour and assistance of two +powerful Spanish nobles, the duke of Medina Sidonia and the Duke of Medina +Cœli. The latter was the kinder of the two; he was just going to give +Columbus three or four caravels, which lay opposite the port of Cadiz, when +he suddenly thought that the enterprise was so vast, that none but a king +should direct it. He spoke so kindly, however, of Columbus to Queen +Isabella, that she desired him to repair to her court at Cordova.</p> + +<p>When he arrived he found the city like a camp, and the king and queen +entirely occupied in preparing for a grand campaign against the Moors. One +Moorish city after another had indeed yielded to the Spanish arms, but the +invaders who had held ground in Spain for nearly eight hundred years, were +still in possession of much of the southern part of the country. At such a +moment Isabella had no time to listen to the demands of a needy adventurer +like Columbus, and his humble dress and his poverty made him an object of +contempt in the eyes of the haughty Spanish grandees. At last, through the +efforts of the Grand Cardinal of Spain, he was allowed to enter the +presence of Ferdinand. The king ordered him to plead his cause before a +great council of learned monks at Salamanca. During the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> time it was held, +Columbus was a guest in the convent of St. Stephen, which was the +foundation of the famous university of Salamanca. The monks of the convent +were kind to him; they entered into his plans, and believed that the voyage +he proposed would lead to great discoveries; and prove the source of +infinite benefit to mankind; but those who came to confer with them were +not of the same opinion, and they tried, by quoting the Holy Scriptures, to +convince Columbus that he was in error. Now Columbus was a very devout man, +and one strong inducement for him to undertake the voyage was, the hope of +spreading the gospel in distant parts of the world, and he must have been +greatly pained when sentence was passed against him, and his views except +by a few, were misunderstood and treated as idle dreams. Nevertheless he +lingered on in Spain, in the hope that his appeal for aid might be heard +one day by Isabella herself, who was of a more noble and generous character +than her husband. So he followed the court from place to place as the seat +of war changed, and in one campaign he bore an honourable part in the +struggle with the Moors; while part of the time he remained in Spain he +lived quietly at Cordova, earning his bread by making charts, and maps, as +he had done before at Lisbon. When he heard that the city of Granada, the +stronghold of the Moors, was to be invested by the Spanish army, he +determined to make one more appeal, for he was sure that the king and queen +would be too busy to listen to him, when the siege had once begun. All they +would do was to promise to hear him when they should be released from the +cares of war, and Columbus,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> grieving to think that he had wasted so many +years of his life in useless waiting, made up his mind to leave Spain for +ever, and apply for aid at the court of France.</p> + +<p>From the time he left Cordova little is known of him until he appeared at +the gate of the Convent of St. Maria de Rabida, which stood in the midst of +a forest of pine trees, near the port of Palos, in Andalusia. His son Diego +was with him; the boy was both tired and hungry, for they had come a long +way without resting. Just as Columbus was asking for some bread and water +for him at the gate, Friar Juan Perez, the guardian of the convent happened +to pass by. The good friar welcomed the strangers kindly; he bade them +enter, and in the course of conversation Columbus opened his heart to him +and told him about his plans, and his firm trust that by the grace of God +he should be able to carry them out. Friar Juan had already thought on the +subject himself, and he was so delighted with the ideas of Columbus that he +sent for two friends to confer with him: one was Fernandez Garcia, a +physician of Palos, who had a great longing to go in search of unknown +lands; the other was Martin Alonzo Pinzon, a merchant who had vessels of +his own, and traded with many foreign ports. These were presently joined by +some mariners of Palos, who had had much experience at sea.</p> + +<p>Friar Juan persuaded Columbus to stay a little longer in Spain, and wrote a +letter to Queen Isabella, hoping that his influence might induce her to +sanction the enterprise, since he had once been her confessor, and had +always been held by her in great esteem. The court had removed to Santa Fé, +and an honest pilot, named<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> Sebastian Rodriguez, undertook to convey the +letter thither. At the end of a fortnight he brought back an answer from +the queen which gave hope and joy to Columbus and his friends, and caused +Friar Juan to saddle his mule in haste, and set out at midnight for the +Spanish court. Isabella was indeed beginning to think the voyage worthy of +consideration, and wished to talk on the subject with Juan himself. And +very soon she summoned Columbus to Santa Fé, and sent him some money to +enable him to buy a mule for his journey, and a dress suitable to appear in +at court, so that he might no longer be despised for his needy attire.</p> + +<p>Columbus arrived in time to see Boabdil, the last of the Moorish kings in +Spain, deliver the keys of the Alhambra into the hands of the Spanish +sovereigns: the hundred thousand Moors, who had shut themselves up within +the massive walls of Granada, had been forced to yield; the Crescent was +thrown down, and the Royal standard of Spain was planted on the red towers +of the most beautiful of Moorish palaces. There were rejoicings and +festivities without end among the Spaniards, but Columbus was sad and +forlorn in the midst of all the gaiety; the courtiers were jealous of the +favour Isabella had shown him on his arrival, and although the king and +queen kept their promise and listened to him once more, they were +persuaded, by a haughty and powerful priest named Talavera, now Bishop of +Granada, to offer him terms which he could not accept. He began to feel +utterly disheartened, and resolving again to leave Spain and ask help from +France, he mounted his mule and quitted Santa Fé. He had reached the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> pass +of Pinos, two leagues from Granada, when to his surprise a courier overtook +him and recalled him to the Court. Some of his friends had at last +persuaded Isabella to grant him real assistance, and she became all at once +so eager for the voyage to be carried out, that she declared her kingdom of +Castille should defray the cost of it, and offered to pledge her own jewels +to furnish money besides.</p> + +<p>The king and queen then signed a decree by which Columbus was to be +supplied with vessels and men; to be named Admiral of the Fleet, and +Viceroy of all the lands he should discover; and to have a right to a tenth +part of all the gold, silver, pearls, precious stones, and spices he might +find within the limits of the land he was to rule over for the Spanish +sovereigns. Besides this the title of Don was to be prefixed to his name +and to the name of his heirs.</p> + +<p>All the doubts, the long weary days of waiting, were at an end. In deep +thankfulness and joy Columbus went back to Palos, from which port it was +arranged that the fleet should set sail. And one May morning a Royal decree +was read in the porch of the largest church there which ordered the +authorities of Palos to have two caravels<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> ready for the sea within ten +days, Columbus himself having the right to fit out a third vessel.</p> + +<p>But now his troubles broke out afresh, no one would furnish barks, not a +mariner could be pressed into the service; it was believed that all who +engaged in such a voyage must surely perish. After tumults and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> disputes +which lasted many weeks, Martin Pinzon and his brother came forward with a +vessel of their own, and two other caravels were with the greatest +difficulty procured.</p> + +<p>Thus the days which still elapsed before the fleet could sail, so full of +joy and hope for the Admiral, were passed by the sailors and the friends +they were to leave on shore in terror and deep gloom. At last, on Friday, +August the 3rd, in the year 1492, the caravels sailed at daybreak from the +bar of Saltes, near Palos, having on board one hundred and twenty persons, +who before starting had all joined in fervent prayer that God would protect +them from danger, and grant them success. A favourable wind bore them in +the direction of the Canary Islands. The vessel Columbus sailed in was +called the <i>Santa Maria</i>; the second, the <i>Pinta</i>, was commanded by Martin +Alonzo Pinzon, and the third, the <i>Niña</i>, by his brother Vincent Yañez +Pinzon. When they had been out at sea three days the <i>Pinta</i> made a sign of +distress; either by accident or through malice to Columbus her rudder had +been broken. Martin Pinzon repaired it as well as he could with cords, but +the next day the wind broke them, and all the vessels put in towards the +Canary Islands, and waited thereabouts three weeks whilst a new rudder was +made for the damaged bark. This occasioned much loss of time, and news +being brought that some Portuguese ships were sailing towards the Island of +Ferro, Columbus set sail again in a great hurry, fearing that the jealousy +of the King of Portugal might even now prevent him from finishing his +voyage. For three days the caravels were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> held in a deep calm, and all the +men on board felt very anxious until the winds arose, and carried them on +their way. The last land they saw was the Island of Ferro, and when they +lost sight of that, the spirits of most of the mariners began to droop, and +a wreck which they came upon a hundred and fifty leagues from Ferro, did +not tend to make them more hopeful.</p> + +<p>On the 14th of September they saw a heron and a water wagtail, which very +much surprised them, as they were the first birds they had seen. The next +night there fell from the sky, only four or five leagues from the vessels, +a wonderful stream of fire, although the sea was calm, and the winds were +asleep, and the currents steady to the northward. This was probably one of +the meteors which are often seen in warm climates. After that, from day to +day, they perceived an abundance of grasses and herbs on the surface of the +water—which appeared to have been plucked only a short time before from +some island or rock—the green patches looked almost like floating islands +themselves. Then they saw many tunny and gold fish, and a white bird of the +tropics that never passes a night on the sea. They thought, too, that the +waves were less salt than those they had crossed at first. All these signs +made the mariners very desirous of going in search of islands, but Columbus +would not yield to their wishes, and pursued the steady course he had +planned towards the west. On the 18th of September the captain of the +swift-sailing caravel <i>Pinta</i> told the Admiral that he had seen a number of +large birds flying towards the north, and that he thought there was land in +that direction. This time,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> however, Columbus felt sure that the supposed +land was nothing but a bank of clouds. The next morning a bird of the +tropics alighted on the Admiral's ship, and the day after two more came +with a black bird which had on its head a tuft of white feathers; besides +which, at dawn, three little singing birds had perched themselves on one of +the masts, and only flew away at dark. Their sweet song must have made some +of the forlorn mariners think of their homes and the pine forest of Palos +and the gardens of southern Spain, with their orange and pomegranate trees, +whilst to others it may have said, "God, in His infinite love, has sent the +little birds to cheer your hearts, and to tell you that land is near, and +that you need not fear to tread the shore of strange men, since He is the +father of all."</p> + +<p>There came a time, indeed, when these things vanished, and as the wind +always blew from the east, the men despaired of ever being able to return +to their homes. They began to reproach Columbus bitterly for having led +them, as they supposed, on a lost track, and distrusted the signs of land +even when they were renewed by fresh patches of verdure appearing, and +whole flights of singing birds coming to the caravels early in the morning, +and flying away to their unseen nests at dusk. Some of the seamen in their +frenzy were so wicked as to make a plot to throw the Admiral overboard, and +they meant after that, to turn the vessel homeward, and to say, if they +ever got back to Spain, that he had fallen from the ship's side whilst +gazing at the stars. Columbus had enough to do to pacify the crews. To the +gentle he spoke kind words; those who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> were eager for riches he flattered +with hopes of gain, and the most violent of all he threatened with the +severest punishment if they should attempt to prevent the voyage from being +completed. At this time he was exposed to extreme danger, but he had a +brave heart, and trusted in God, and did not feel afraid even when he knew +that the plot had been made to take away his life. And although he was more +anxious than any man on board, and passed many a sleepless night, looking +vainly across the starlit sea for land, he never despaired of finding it at +last.</p> + +<p>So the days passed in alternate hope and fear. Once Martin Pinzon felt so +sure that he saw land, that the crews of each vessel knelt down and chanted +a solemn thanksgiving, "Glory to God in the highest," such were the words +that rose up in the calm evening air, but, alas! the land turned out to be +only a cloud.</p> + +<p>When the mutiny was at its greatest height the heavenly Father let the men +who had murmured look on the blessed signs of land until their wicked +thoughts passed away, and hope and trust came back to their hearts instead. +For, on the 10th of October, there could be no doubt that they were near +some shore. Beside fresh herbs and grasses, they saw a green fish, which is +only found near rocks, a reed and a carved stick, a little plank, and a +branch of thorn covered with red berries, which looked as if it had only +just been plucked.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 473px;"> +<img src="images/i_168.jpg" width="473" height="650" alt="Columbus pointing to the Land.—p. 159" title="" /> +<span class="caption"><i>Columbus pointing to the Land.—p. <a href="#Page_159">159</a></i></span> +</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<p>After evening prayer on that day Columbus ordered a careful watch to be +made, and remained himself on the high stern of the <i>Santa Maria</i> during +the night. Now and then he observed a glimmer of light, which he supposed +came from the shore, and at two o'clock in the morning the firing of a gun +from the <i>Pinta</i> was the signal that land had really been seen. Not an eye +closed that night; the sails were taken in, and the whole company on board +the caravels waited in breathless suspense for the dawn. As the day broke, +Columbus perceived a level island stretching out before them covered with +trees; the natives were already coming out of the woods and rushing towards +the shore, evidently astonished at the sight of the strange vessels. The +boats were manned and armed, and Columbus, Martin Pinzon, and Vincente, his +brother, each got into a boat, Columbus bearing the royal standard of +Spain, and the others banners with green crosses upon them. The natives +stood around as they landed, and looked on, half fearful, in silence. +Columbus kissed the earth on which he first set foot, and planting the +cross upon it, called it by the name of St. Salvador.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> Then the +Spaniards hailed him as Admiral, and swore obedience to him: those who had +rebelled were now thoroughly ashamed of their wicked conduct, and entreated +his pardon—a pardon he readily granted—for it was not in his noble nature +to resent an injury done to himself.</p> + +<p>The Spanish government had decreed a reward of 10,000 maravedis<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> to him +who should first discover land; to this Columbus added a promise of a +doublet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> of silk or velvet. But although Rodrigo de Triana was the mariner +who first saw land from the <i>Pinta</i>, it was agreed by all that the Admiral +should have the prize, because it was he who had perceived the light, +probably of some torch the natives had carried, at intervals, during the +night.</p> + +<p>The island Columbus first landed upon was one of the Lucayos or Bahamas; in +his delight he fancied he had really reached the eastern shores of India, +and hence it was that the natives of the New World were called Indians. He +stayed a day or two at the island, making friends with the +dark-complexioned men, who soon lost all fear of the strangers, and +regarded with great curiosity the cups, glass beads, and hawks' bells they +gave them in exchange for the parrots, the balls of spun-cotton, and the +cassava bread, made from a great root called "yuca," which they brought +down to the shore. They were simple in their manners, and evidently thought +the shining armour and weapons of the white man very strange. They did not +know the use of iron, and taking the swords by the blades they cut +themselves with them. Some of them wore little ornaments of gold in their +noses, and when the Spaniards asked them by signs whence they got the gold, +they answered by pointing to the south.</p> + +<p>Columbus now resolved to go in search of the precious metal, and left the +island, taking with him seven Indians as interpreters. When he returned to +his ship the natives crowded around him in their canoes, each of which, +small or large, was made in one piece out of the trunk of a tree. After +finding some little islands, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> came upon the lovely island of Cuba. Here +the caravels glided down a great shining river, with waters deep and clear, +and anchored not far from the sea. It seemed to the mariners a fairy +region, in which they forgot all the care and the terror of their voyage. +Trees, higher than any they had seen in Europe, were covered with the most +tempting fruits and brilliant flowers, birds of gay-coloured plumage sang +on their branches or flitted about. The sunshine falling on the scales of +the fish made them look like precious stones, and at night, fireflies +flashed through the air, and moon and stars shone with a strange lustre +unknown in Europe. The cabins of the natives of Cuba were more elegant in +their construction than those of the other islands, and were all well +covered with branches of palm trees. That the people were accustomed to +fish was shown by the nets, made of the fibres of palm leaves, which were +found in some of the empty dwellings. Here was seen for the first time the +"batata," or potatoe plant, which has since proved such a blessing to +Europe, and some Spaniards, whom Columbus, believing that he had indeed +reached Cathay, sent on a mission to the Grand Khan, tell how, when they +came back from their fruitless journey, they met on the road numbers of +people, men and women, who held in one hand a lighted brand, and in the +other some leaves of a plant called "tabacas," rolled up in the form of a +little cylinder, one end of which they lighted and the other they put into +their mouths. It is needless to say that this was the origin of smoking +amongst the Europeans, and hence the city of Havannah in Cuba has always +been famous for the manufacture of cigars.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> + +<p>One night when the caravels were out at sea, not far from Cuba, on a voyage +of fresh discovery, the <i>Pinta</i> suddenly disappeared. The merchant Martin +Alonzo Pinzon was greedy of gain, and wanted to go to some island in search +of gold by himself. One reason of his desertion is said also to have been +his dislike of serving under another, after having been his own master for +so many years. Columbus had now only the two caravels, but he was not +deterred from making fresh attempts, and he soon found the large island of +Haiti, or Saint Domingo, to which he gave the name of Hispaniola, because +it was like the fairest parts of Spain. The land here was mountainous and +rocky, but the rocks rose up out of forests. The harbour the caravels +entered was surrounded by great trees, most of them being covered with +fruit, which gleamed red, green, and golden in the bright sunshine of the +tropics. The natives were very timid at first, as those of Cuba had been, +and fled from the coast on the approach of the strange vessels; but an +Indian woman who was captured and carried on board the <i>Santa Maria</i> was +treated so kindly that, when she went back to the shore, her own people +began to lose all fear, and brought the Spaniards many gifts of fish, +fruit, and roots, and their famed cassava bread. Another day, when Columbus +was cruising about the island, and a gale was blowing, he saved an Indian +from perishing as his fragile canoe, and the man thus rescued told the time +tale of the kindness of the Spaniards. Columbus became very friendly with a +chief, or cacique, named Guacanagari, which is a terribly long name, and +since he always remained true to the Spaniards I will only call<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> him in +future the faithful chief, to distinguish him from others in the same +island. The Admiral had set out by sea to visit him in his own village, +when a great disaster happened. It was Christmas Eve; the ocean was calm +and smooth, and about an hour before midnight the caravel <i>Santa Maria</i> was +only a league from the cacique's dwelling. Columbus, having passed many +sleepless nights, had gone to rest; soon after the steersman, giving the +helm in charge to one of the ship's boys, followed his example, and it was +not long before the whole of the crew were sound asleep also. The vessel, +thus left to a careless boy, was carried by currents on to a sandbank with +such force that great seams opened in her sides. Some of the mariners, +roused to a sense of their danger, got down into their boat, and in the +confusion rowed off to the caravel <i>Niña</i>, which took them all on board. +Soon the Admiral and the remainder of the crew had to take refuge there +also; the <i>Santa Maria</i> was firmly fixed in the sands, and was of no +farther use as a ship. When the cacique heard of the misfortune he shed +tears, and kindly sent a number of men in canoes to the Admiral's +assistance, and he helped himself to keep guard round the wrecked vessel, +that none of the valuable stores it contained might be stolen.</p> + +<p>Little boys who are safe at home at the merry Christmas-time with all whom +they love, may think of this first Christmas of the brave and patient +Admiral, passed amidst all the horrors of shipwreck, and remember that if a +simple and ignorant heathen could thus afford kindly help and sympathy to +the distressed, how much more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> love and charity ought not those to show who +call themselves the followers of Christ!</p> + +<p>The cacique came on board the <i>Niña</i> to visit Columbus, and a little while +after, the Admiral went to his village in return. When he was there he had +a cannon and a harquebuss fired to show the might of the European arms. The +Indians were so terrified at the sound that they fell flat to the ground, +but their spirits revived when they were told that such weapons would +deliver them from the Caribs, who were constantly threatening and +tormenting their chief.</p> + +<p>The cacique gave Columbus many extraordinary presents; one was a mask of +wood, with eyes, ears, and mouth gilded: the Indians were very fond of +carving such masks. They were delighted with the gifts they received from +the Spaniards, and most of all with the hawks' bells, dancing merrily to +the tinkling they made. They had so little idea of the real value of things +that a string of the commonest glass beads had far greater worth in their +eyes than a coronet of solid gold.</p> + +<p>Columbus now began to think of returning to Europe, but first of all he +constructed a fort with the remains of the stranded vessel, to which he +gave the name of Navidad,<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> in memory of the Christmas morning when his +own life and the lives of his men had been so mercifully spared. Some of +the Spaniards were to be left to guard the fort, and they were very glad to +remain in the island; they had food in plenty, the natives were kindly +disposed towards them, and to live at ease in a beautiful climate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> was far +preferable to being tossed about on the stormy sea. When the moment of +parting came, however, all were sorrowful, and they took a kindly leave of +one another, wondering whether they would ever meet again.</p> + +<p>Some time after Columbus had set out on his journey home, he came in sight +of the <i>Pinta</i>. The merchant made many excuses for his desertion, but +Columbus passed them over with few words, and the vessels kept company +until the <i>Pinta</i> again disappeared one dark night during a terrific storm, +which surprised the caravels far out in the open sea. When it was at its +greatest height Columbus retired to his cabin, and wrote two copies of a +description of the lands he had seen, then he wrapped them in wax, and put +them into two casks, one of which he threw into the sea, and the other he +placed on the poop of his vessel, that it might float if she sank.</p> + +<p>The storm abated, but Columbus was not yet destined to return to Europe in +peace. He had touched at the Island of St. Mary, one of the Azores, and +half the crew had landed to return thanks to God for their escape from the +tempest. As they were praying in a chapel they were seized by order of John +of Portugal, to whom the islands belonged. The King had watched the +movements of Columbus, and could not get over his jealousy of the Spaniards +for having succeeded in their attempt.</p> + +<p>After some trouble the seamen were set free, but even then another storm +drove Columbus to seek shelter in the river Tagus, near the Rock of Cintra. +Whilst he was there, King John invited him to his court, which he was +holding in a lovely spot, called the Vale of Paradise,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> a few leagues from +Lisbon. Certain it is, that however unkind he had been hitherto, he +received Columbus as a friend, and treated him with honour, and would not +listen to some wicked men around him, who advised him to put him to death.</p> + +<p>When Columbus did arrive at Palos on the 15th of March, 1493, the people +flocked in crowds to welcome him, and he journeyed like a prince to +Barcelona, where the Spanish court had taken up its residence for a time. +But his greatest triumph was when he had entered the gates of the city, and +went slowly along the crowded streets, surrounded by the noblest knights of +Spain, to the palace where Ferdinand and Isabella were seated under a +golden canopy in readiness to receive him. And surely the people of +Barcelona had never looked upon so strange a procession before. Six Indians +in their wild costume marched on in front; the animals belonging to the +islands, live parrots, and other gaily plumed birds, till then unknown in +Europe, the golden ornaments and the weapons of the natives, strange +plants, valuable resins and gums, all had their part in the show. When +Columbus arrived at the palace the King and Queen would not suffer him to +stand or kneel in their presence, but they knelt down themselves in the +sight of all the people, and thanked God fervently for the wondrous +spectacle before them, and the new world that the courage and constancy of +a good man had given to Leon and Castille. Whilst Columbus remained in +Spain he was treated with the highest esteem and honour, and his sons, +Diego and Fernando were appointed pages to Prince Juan, the heir to the +Spanish throne.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<p>Martin Alonzo Pinzon arrived at the port of Palos on the evening of the day +Columbus had landed amid crowds of welcoming faces. He was so jealous of +his rival's glory, and so deeply mortified besides when he remembered his +own mean conduct towards one who had always been kind to him, that he went +on shore privately, and instead of taking part in the public rejoicings, +repaired to his home, where he fell ill, and died soon after, as it is +said, of grief.</p> + +<p>In the autumn of the same year Columbus set out on his second voyage with a +fleet of seventeen ships, and fifteen hundred men, amongst whom were +<i>hidalgos</i>, merchants and adventurers, and several priests, intended to +convert the Indians to the Christian faith.</p> + +<p>On his way to Hispaniola he found some islands belonging to the group of +the Antilles. The first one he saw he called Domenica, because he +discovered it on a Sunday. After that he came to a large and fertile +island, to which he gave the name of Guadaloupe, and there the Spaniards +saw for the first time the pine-apple. But although they found plenty of +luscious fruits and sweet water, which refreshed them after their voyage, +they were not at all happy there because they perceived from the remains of +human bodies hanging about the dwellings that the natives of the island +were cannibals, or Caribs, who feasted on the flesh of their fellow +creatures. Columbus was in great alarm for fear some of his crew who had +strayed into the forests should fall victims to this horrible practice; but +happily, most of the men were absent on some warlike expedition, and had +left their women to guard the island, and the missing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> mariners found their +way back to the sea-shore. Another of the larger islands discovered at this +time now bears the name of Porto Rico.</p> + +<p>When the fleet arrived about a league from the settlement of Navidad, all +objects around were hidden in the darkness of night. Columbus felt very +anxious to know if the men whom he had left to guard the fort were alive +and in safety, and he had two guns fired off to announce his arrival. The +echo died away in silence, no answer came, and a terrible fear filled his +heart. About midnight some Indians came in a boat to the principal caravel, +and asked to see the Admiral. They had brought him a present of gilded +masks from the faithful chief, and told how he lay sick in a little village +near, having been wounded in an affray with another chief named Caonabo, +who dwelt on the mountains of Cibao, and was called "The Lord of the House +of Gold," because of the abundance of gold in that region. These Indians +gave very confused accounts of the Spaniards who had been left in the fort. +Some of them were dead, they said, having been killed in a skirmish; others +were dispersed. Columbus did not know what to think. Even when the day +broke, the place seemed strangely silent and deserted, and at last he sent +some of his people in a boat to the shore to gain tidings. Alas! the +fortress was a heap of ruins, the comrades of other days had all +disappeared without leaving a trace behind. Columbus soon learned that +several of the Spaniards had been faithless to the trust reposed in them, +and after quarrelling amongst themselves had gone off to the mountains of +Cibao, tempted by the prospect of finding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> gold. The few who remained in +the fort had been surprised by Caonabo. He had rushed down upon them with +his warriors, and had burnt all the dwellings of the white men, although +the faithful chief had done his best to help to defend them: Columbus heard +from him that the reports of the fate of the Spaniards were true.</p> + +<p>When the cacique visited Columbus on board his ship he was greatly +astonished at the sight of the animals which had been brought out to the +west, such as cattle, pigs and calves, but most of all the Indians wondered +at the power and size of the horse, which was to tread their shores for the +first time. Besides these, Columbus had brought to the island many domestic +fowls, also vegetables and fruits which he hoped would flourish in the new +soil; among the latter were oranges, lemons, and citrons, supposed to have +grown originally in India and Persia, and to have been introduced into +Europe by the Arabs and Moors.</p> + +<p>Immediately on his arrival Columbus founded the city of Isabella on the +north of the island. For a little time the work went on bravely, and then +troubles arose. The provisions conveyed in the vessels were nearly all +gone; the climate was found to be sultry and damp, and unhealthy for those +who had lived in the drier air of Spain. The young <i>hidalgos</i>, who had come +out in the hope of gaining riches and fame, were angry and disappointed +that they did not find gold at once in abundance. To appease their murmurs, +Columbus sent a very bold cavalier named Alonso de Ojeda to explore the +famed mountains of Cibao, with a band of men, of whom most were of noble +birth. When they came back from their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> dangerous expedition, they told the +Admiral that they had seen gold in plenty glittering in particles amongst +the sands of the mountain streams, and in the beds of the torrents. Several +ships returned about this time to Spain, bearing samples of the gold thus +discovered, besides various fruits and plants unknown in Europe.</p> + +<p>The complaints of the settlers were again breaking out, when Columbus, +leaving the growing city of Isabella in charge of his brother Diego, who +had accompanied him on the voyage, set out himself for the mountains of +Cibao with four hundred men, well armed, and a great multitude of Indians. +When they arrived at the foot of the mountain land, it was found that so +large a force could not ascend the wild and difficult path which was used +by the Indians, and some brave young Spanish gentlemen who had been used to +all kinds of manœuvres in the wars with the Moors, and were very eager +to win fresh renown, undertook to make a road by which the whole company +could pass. Thus in a few hours, by dint of hard labour, the first road in +the New World was constructed, and it was called in honour of those who had +made it, "El Puerto de los hidalgos," "The Gentleman's Pass."</p> + +<p>When they came to the gorge of the mountain an immense plain spread out +before them covered with lovely flowers, and with trees rising out of it, +such as the graceful palm with its slender stem and feathery plume at the +top, and the wide-spreading mahogany-tree with its dense foliage. The air +was so balmy, and the whole scene was so beautiful, that Columbus gave it +the name of "Vega Real," which means Royal Plain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> + +<p>As they went higher up the mountains the way became rougher, and they lost +the sweet flowers and fruits which had afforded them so much delight. Some +of them saw what it must be confessed gave them still greater pleasure, and +that was the gold which sparkled in the sands of the streams. At the top of +a steep hill they built a fort, which they called Fort St. Thomas, that +there might be a place of refuge for those who should work the mines. +Caonabo did not at all like his "golden house" to be thus invaded, and took +his revenge, as will be seen hereafter. The Indians as yet were very +willing to exchange gold for the glass beads and toys the Spaniards gave +them, and would search for it on purpose to bring it to them. One old man +parted with two pieces of gold which weighed an ounce, and thought he was +magnificently paid for it with a hawk's bell.</p> + +<p>When Columbus returned to Isabella, he found that the building of the city +had been neglected: the workmen were either ill or weary of the task, and +he gave orders that all who had come out to the island should assist in the +labour. The proud Spanish <i>hidalgos</i> worked with very unwilling hearts, and +never forgave Columbus for submitting them to what they considered a great +degradation. Some of them were so disappointed with the New World and the +difficulty of making themselves rich without any trouble that they fell ill +and died, bitterly reproaching Columbus until their last hour as being the +cause of all their misfortunes. These troubles made the Admiral very +unhappy; still, amidst them all he had some joys, and one very great one, +when after he had gone to coast along a part of Cuba unknown to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> him, he +came upon the large island of Jamaica, with its high blue mountains and its +groves of majestic trees. Jamaica thus ranks third of the great islands +made known to the Europeans. Here the natives made each of their boats out +of the single trunk of a tree, and when they used for this purpose the +enormous stem of a mahogany tree they had a very large boat indeed.</p> + +<p>Columbus did not stay long at Jamaica, but cruised about another part of +Cuba, and found some smaller islands near its coast, which were so lovely +that he called them "The Queen's Gardens." On his way back to Hispaniola he +became very ill, and was senseless when his vessel reached the port of +Isabella. Great was his joy, when he opened his eyes once more to find his +brother Bartholomew by his bedside; he had been sent to the island by the +Spanish sovereigns, and as he was very brave and clever he was well fitted +to take the command of affairs whilst his brother was ill.</p> + +<p>The troubles in the island rapidly increased. The chiefs, with the +exception of the faithful one, were ready to make war on the Spaniards and +drive them away. Caonabo was the fiercest of all; he lay siege to the Fort +of St. Thomas, but Alonso de Ojeda was inside with a few brave men, and +harassed his army so much by his firearms that the Indians at last withdrew +in despair. Ojeda afterwards captured Caonabo in a very daring manner, and +brought him bound to himself on his horse to the city of Isabella, where he +was imprisoned in the Admiral's house. After this the Indians were ordered +to pay tribute in gold dust, which at first only made them resist the more; +it seemed so hard to them to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> have to work from morning to night in search +of gold, after the free and happy life, happy for them because it was idle, +they had lived in their island before the strangers came. It was not until +a battle had been fought on the lovely plain of the Vega, and some of them +had been killed by the firearms of the Spaniards, which were far more +destructive than their own weapons, that they consented with heavy hearts +to bring their tribute.</p> + +<p>For everything that went wrong, Columbus alone was unjustly blamed, and at +last some unkind persons went to Spain and told the King and Queen that he +had brought all the misery on the colony by his bad government. And a day +came when he set out for Spain himself to plead his cause with Ferdinand +and Isabella; because, whatever his enemies had said, his conduct had +always been loyal and upright, and the cause of all the unhappiness lay in +the violent temper and the avarice of many of the men who had embarked with +him for the sake of making themselves rich, instead of serving the king and +queen, and promoting the glory of Spain.</p> + +<p>The vessel he sailed in was crowded with criminals, discontented persons +and Indian captives; amongst the latter was the proud chief Caonabo, but he +died during the voyage.</p> + +<p>When Columbus arrived this time in Spain, there were neither triumphs nor +rejoicings, and he wore as he landed the dress of a Franciscan friar, a +long robe, with a cord for a girdle, in sign of humility. He was soon +cheered, however, by a kind invitation to court. Ferdinand and Isabella did +not yet forget how much they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> owed to him, and they gave no heed to the +complaints that had been made against him, while the massive gold ornaments +he had brought with him, and the rich products of the islands induced them +to hope that his discoveries would bring them great wealth in the time to +come.</p> + +<p>He therefore lived in Spain in some degree of comfort until the May of the +year 1498, when after many tiresome delays he started on a third voyage +with only six ships and took a different route to that he had gone before. +From the Cape Verde Isles he went south-west towards the region spreading +out eight or ten degrees north and south of the Equator, where the sea is +smooth as glass, and the sun shines straight down, and there is not a +breath of air to fill a sail. The heat on this occasion was intense, and +the mariners very nearly died of thirst when their supply of water was +exhausted and they could get no more. Columbus therefore sailed westward, +instead of going farther south as he had at first proposed, and one day, +just three months after he had left Spain, three mountains seemed to rise +up out of the ocean afar, and as he came nearer he found to his joy that +all the mountains rose from one island, to which in his thankfulness he +gave the name of Trinidad.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> + +<p>On this voyage he also discovered the mouths of the river Orinoco, which it +will be seen, by the map of South America, are not very far from the island +of Trinidad. Still, Columbus did not think when he landed, that he was +treading the shores of a vast new continent, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> imagined that it was a +part of Asia. After this he found the land the Indians called Paria. The +natives here welcomed him kindly, and brought him bread and maize: they +were tall and graceful, and their manners were gentle; they wore garments +of cotton wrought so beautifully with colours that they looked like rich +silks, and they carried targets besides bows and arrows. They had several +kinds of liquors which they offered to the Spaniards to drink. One was +"white as milk," made from maize; others were nearly black, and tasted as +if they were made from unripe fruit.</p> + +<p>The country was covered with flowers and fruit-trees; vines were twined +from tree to tree and bright plumaged birds, chiefly parrots, flitted +about. Some of the natives wore collars of gold around their necks, and +some had bracelets of pearls, the sight of which gave great satisfaction to +the Spaniards, for they thought they had discovered a new source of riches. +Columbus would have liked to have spent much time in exploring the coasts +of Paria, but his stores were nearly all consumed, and he was ill and +almost blind from having strained his eye-sight during the dark nights of +his voyages, and was therefore obliged to think of returning to Hispaniola +or San Domingo, as it was called besides. Along the north coast of Paria he +saw many islands, some of which afterwards became famous for their pearl +fisheries, and in one little barren isle he got many beautiful pearls in +exchange for hawks' bells, and pieces of broken china, which the Indians +thought very precious.</p> + +<p>At last, wearied out in mind and body he arrived at Hispaniola, hoping to +rest for a while in peace, but he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> found the colony in a state of +rebellion; a wicked man named Roldan, who had been raised to high estate by +Columbus, persuaded the people to rise up against the Admiral of the Indies +and his brothers: the mines were no longer worked, the building of the city +was left unfinished, and there was scarcely any food. And now we come to +the saddest part in the whole story of Columbus. Some wretched convicts who +had been sent out of Spain to the island, and who were in league with +Roldan, contrived to make their escape and return to Europe, where the +false reports they spread reached the ears of Ferdinand and Isabella, and +induced them to believe at last that he was not really worthy of the trust +they had reposed in him. Francesco Bovadilla, a man who cared very little +what he did, was therefore sent to Hispaniola with orders to govern the +island in his stead, whilst Columbus himself was to be sent back to Spain.</p> + +<p>It had happened that at the very moment the Admiral was going to embark on +his third voyage he was deeply affronted by a follower of one of his worst +enemies in Spain; and although he had endured many wrongs and injuries in a +patient and forgiving spirit, he gave way this time to a violent fit of +passion, and struck the time-serving creature repeatedly in his wrath. The +news of this was of course conveyed to the King and Queen, and this one act +of passion on the part of Columbus made them more inclined to believe in +the reports of his ill conduct than all the complaints that had been spoken +against him: they thought that if he were capable of such an action, there +were more cruel and angry deeds to come; just as one little storm cloud +hastening across<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> the clear blue sky makes us dread that others, heavier +and darker, are near.</p> + +<p>As soon as Bovadilla arrived he settled himself in the Admiral's house, +Columbus being absent at one of the forts, and laid hands on all the money, +plate, jewels, and valuable things he could find. Columbus disdained to +question the acts of an unruly man like Bovadilla, and journeying in haste +and alone to St. Domingo, he calmly resigned his command. He was then put +in fetters, although for a long time no one could be found who would fasten +them. At last this shameful office was performed by one of his cooks, a +Spaniard. His brother Diego was already in chains on board a caravel: +Bartholomew would have resisted, but was advised by the Admiral to submit +calmly, and the three brothers, who were so loving and could have comforted +one another in their misfortunes, were all kept apart.</p> + +<p>One day Columbus saw an officer named Villejo coming towards him in his +prison followed by his guards.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going to take me, oh, Villejo?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"To the vessel, your Excellency, to embark," he replied.</p> + +<p>"To embark!" exclaimed Columbus, radiant with joy. "Do you speak truth?"</p> + +<p>"By the life of your Excellency I speak truth;" said he; and they went +indeed on board the caravel which was to convey them to Spain.</p> + +<p>During the voyage Villejo and the captain of the vessel were very kind to +him, and were grieved to see him in chains; they would have removed them, +but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> Columbus would not let them do so, saying that they had been placed +upon him by order of the King, and his younger son Fernando tells us that +his father, stung at last by a sense of his wrongs, kept them ever after +hung up in his room as a sign of the manner in which he had been rewarded +for his services. Yet let us hope that when he looked at them he forgave +his enemies, since there are no injuries too deep to be forgiven, if we +ourselves would receive pardon of our heavenly Father for our many +misdeeds.</p> + +<p>When Columbus landed at Cadiz thus shackled, a murmur of shame and +indignation was breathed throughout Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella ordered +his fetters to be removed at once, and sent him a large sum of money to pay +the expenses of a visit to court. And when he appeared in their presence, +bowed down by illness and age, and worn out with the dangers and +misfortunes he had gone through, and he saw tears in the eyes of Isabella, +who had once been his kindest friend, he knelt down and burst into a flood +of tears himself. The Queen consoled him with gentle words, and tried to +atone by her kindness for the many affronts he had suffered. Ferdinand +always maintained that he had never given orders for Columbus to be +fettered, and that Bovadilla had acted rashly on his own authority. Be that +as it may, the King was a stern and narrow-minded man; he did not like to +see a foreigner filling the important office of Viceroy of the Indies, and +he took care never to reinstate Columbus in his former dignity, whilst he +sent out a man named Ovando to govern Hispaniola instead of Bovadilla.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> + +<p>Columbus now formed the project of finding a strait somewhere about the +Isthmus of Darien, which should prove a shorter route to India than the +voyage by the Cape of Good Hope. Although he was getting feeble and aged he +had the same steadfast spirit which had enabled him to wait patiently all +the best years of his life, and had helped him bravely through all his +troubles, and he wanted yet to be of farther service to his fellow-men +before he died. The Portuguese under Vasco de Gama had already anchored +opposite Calcutta, and the trade with India was thus all their own, while +the discovery of the West Indian islands seemed to be less important. If +anything more were to be done by Columbus it must be begun at once, and the +King and Queen granted him four caravels with which to set out on his +fourth and last voyage. The crews of all amounted to four hundred and fifty +men. His brother Bartholomew was with him and his younger son Fernando; the +elder one, Diego, being left to manage his affairs in Spain.</p> + +<p>The little fleet was to have gone straight to Jamaica, but the principal +vessel sailed so badly that it hindered the others, and Columbus steered +instead for Hispaniola, hoping to exchange it for one of the fleet that had +carried out Ovando. He also asked to be allowed shelter in the harbour of +San Domingo, as he believed from certain signs in the atmosphere which he +knew only too well, that a very great storm was near; but Ovando would +neither let him have a vessel nor take shelter. Just at that time, the +fleet which had brought out Ovando was ready to sail, and was to convey to +Spain, the rebel and conspirator Roldan, Bovadilla, who had treated +Columbus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> so ill, and many persons who had led idle and wicked lives in the +island. They had with them a great quantity of gold, some of which had been +gained by the labour and miseries of the Indians. Amongst the gold that +Roldan was going to take to the King and Queen was one enormous solid lump, +which was said to have been found by an Indian woman in a brook.</p> + +<p>Although Columbus was denied shelter himself he sent a message to the port, +warning the men who were about to sail of the approaching storm, and +entreating them to remain in the harbour until it was over. Well had it +been for them if they had listened to his advice, but they only laughed at +it and boldly put out to sea. Before two days had passed a terrible +hurricane arose, the tempest burst over the ships, and all those men who +had been the greatest enemies of Columbus were swallowed up with their gold +by the foaming waves. The few vessels which were not entirely destroyed +returned to Hispaniola in a shattered condition; only one was able to reach +Spain, and that strangely enough had on board a large sum of money which +belonged by right to Columbus, and had been despatched to Spain by his +agent.</p> + +<p>Columbus kept close to the shore that night, but the tempest was terrible +for him too; the caravels were dispersed and every one on board expected +death, or thought that the others were lost. At last all the vessels, more +or less damaged, arrived safely at Port Hermoso on the west of the island, +and Columbus stayed there some days to repair them. During an interval of +calm he reached the Gardens of Cuba, but soon after this his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> troubles +began afresh. For forty days he coasted along Honduras, while the most +fearful storms prevailed, and the whole time he could enter no port. The +sea was tremendously high, heavy rains fell continually, and the thunder +and lightning were so terrific that the mariners thought that the end of +the world was coming; added to this the sails and rigging of the caravels +were torn, and the provisions were spoiled by the damp. Columbus grieved +that his son Fernando should be exposed to all these misfortunes. He says +of him in a letter, "God gave him so great courage that he sustained the +others, and if he put his hand to work, he did it as if he had been at sea +for eighty years. It was he who consoled me; I had fallen ill and many a +time was near the gate of the tomb. From a little cabin which I had caused +to be constructed on the stern I directed the voyage. My brother was on the +most wretched and dangerous of the vessels; great was my sorrow because I +had brought him against his will." Then he goes on to tell all his +troubles; and laments that although he had served Castille for so many +years, he had not really a roof in the land he could call his own. He +thought tenderly, too, of his son Diego, in Spain, and pictured the sorrow +he would feel if he heard that all the vessels had perished. In the forty +days the fleet only made seventy leagues; but at least they reached a cape +where the coast made an angle and turned southwards, and the admiral in his +joy and gratitude gave it the name of "Gracias a Dios."<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<p>Now he sailed along the Mosquito shore, the rivers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> of which abounded with +tortoises and alligators, and in one of these rivers they lost some of +their men who had gone in a boat to seek for provisions. This cast a great +gloom over the rest, which had not passed away when they came to a +beautiful island full of groves of cocoa nuts, bananas, and palms, and +rested awhile between it and the main land. The Indians on shore were very +proud, for when the admiral refused the gifts they brought to the ship, +they tied all the toys and bells the Spaniards had given them together, and +laid them on the sands. When Columbus quitted the spot, he took seven of +these Indians with him as interpreters, and coasted along Costa Rica for +several leagues, until he entered a great bay full of lovely islands. The +natives here wore large plates of gold hanging from chains of cotton cord +around their necks, and strange crowns made of the claws of beasts, and the +quills of birds. They told the strangers that about seventy leagues off +they would find Veragua, a country which abounded in gold. And it seemed, +indeed, as if they spoke the truth, for the nearer they came to that +country the more gold they saw. The natives wore crowns of it on their +heads, and rings of it round their wrists and ancles; their garments were +embroidered with it; their tables and seats were ornamented with it. But +Columbus had not come out this time in search of gold, but to find the +strait which should enable Spain to trade with India at ease, and he left +the land of promised riches and went on the way he thought would lead to +his discovery. Alas! it was soon found that the caravels were too leaky to +sail with safety; they had been pierced through by a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> worm which infests +the tropical seas, and can bore through the hardest wood;<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> and Columbus +was obliged to give up sailing, for the present, in search of the strait, +and returned to seek for the gold mines of Veragua.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> It was now +December, and again the caravels were overtaken by one of the terrible +storms of the tropics. The poor mariners gave themselves up for lost; day +and night they confessed their sins one to another, and made vows of what +they would do if their lives were spared. The lightnings were so incessant +that the sky glowed like "one vast furnace;" and they saw, too, for the +first time a water-spout, which, advancing towards the caravels, threatened +them with destruction; but the Lord heard the prayers the terrified seamen +sent up at the strange sight, and the column of water passed by without +doing them any injury.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the storm there was an interval of calm, during which they +saw many sharks; these fishes are supposed to scent dead bodies at a +distance, and often draw near ships when danger is at hand. The sailors +caught some of them, and took out of one a live tortoise, which lived some +time on board one of the vessels; from another they took the head of a +shark, which shows that these monsters sometimes eat one another. In the +history which Fernando wrote of his father, he says that the sufferings of +all on board were very great for want of food; the provisions being spoiled +by the damp, and they had to eat their biscuit in the dark, because it was +so full of worms that it was too dreadful to behold by clear daylight.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p><p>At last they entered a port which the Indians called Hueva, and went from +thence along a canal for three days. When they landed they found the +natives living in the trees like birds, their cabins being fastened to +poles which were suspended from one tree to another. Perhaps they did this +on account of the wild beasts, the forest being full of lions, bears, +racoons, tiger-cats, and sajinos, a species of wild boar which attack men. +After a while the caravels anchored in the mouth of a river which was +really in the country of the gold mines. The admiral sent his brother on +shore to explore the land; and as he soon satisfied himself that there was +gold to be found there in plenty, Columbus at once began to form a +settlement on the river, which he called Belen, or Bethlehem, after the +star the wise men had seen in the east, because the caravels had arrived +there on the Feast of the Epiphany. It was agreed that Bartholomew should +remain here while the admiral returned to Spain to procure fresh vessels +and supplies. So they built houses of wood, thatched with the leaves of +palm trees, on a little hill not far from the mouth of the river, and eked +out their scanty store of provisions with the pine-apples, bananas, and +cocoanuts, which grew around them in plenty; and drank the wine the Indians +made from the pine-apple, and a sort of beer prepared from maize, or Indian +corn. When the rains ceased, however, Columbus found that the river was so +shallow, his crazy and worm-eaten ships could not get out and cross the +bar, so that he was obliged to wait patiently until the rains should swell +the river again and set him free.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now it happened that Quibain, the chief of the district, was very angry +when he saw the Spaniards had taken up their abode in his country, and +ordered all his fighting men to be ready to drive them away. A brave man +named Diego Mendez offered to reconnoitre the Indian camp, and soon +returned to tell Columbus that he had seen a thousand Indians who seemed to +be arrayed for battle. After this, with only one companion, he contrived to +get to the chief's village, pretending that he was a surgeon, and could +cure a wound Quibain had received in some skirmish. As he approached the +house a horrible sight awaited him; for on a level plain in front of it the +heads of three hundred men were fixed on poles. This was enough to give a +terrible idea of the fury of Quibain, if it were once roused. Mendez was +not allowed, however, to enter the cacique's dwelling; and went back to the +settlement to tell Columbus what he had seen, and the news he had heard +that the Indians were coming to burn their houses and ships.</p> + +<p>Now, as we have said before, Bartholomew Columbus was a very brave man, and +he set out from Belen with Diego Mendez, and about seventy armed men in +boats, and soon landed at the foot of the hill on which the chief dwelt. +Then he ascended the hill with only Diego and four men besides, ordering +the others to rush forward at the firing of a gun. Bartholomew went alone +to the spot where Quibain was sitting in the open air, and pretending to +look at his arm, held it tight until his comrade fired the gun which should +summon the rest. He had much ado to hold the chief in his grasp, but he +kept firm until he was bound hand and foot. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> house was soon surrounded, +and all the family of Quibain were taken prisoners without the shedding of +a drop of blood; and Bartholomew returned to the settlement laden with +spoils, amongst which were many massive gold ornaments, and two coronets of +gold.</p> + +<p>Quibain was committed to the care of the pilot of the fleet, and was tied +by a strong cord to a bench in the pilot's boat. In the darkness of night +the chief complained of the tightness of the cord, and the pilot, touched +with pity, loosened it, holding the end of it in his hand. When he was +looking another way for a moment, the wily Indian plunged into the water +and disappeared; the pilot of course was obliged to let go his hold or he +would have been pulled in after him.</p> + +<p>Columbus now thought that since the greatest enemy of the Spaniards had +thus perished, and the river was again filled by the heavy rains, he might +safely return to Spain, and he sailed out of the harbour. But Quibain had +not been drowned; he swam cleverly to the shore, and when he found his +house deserted, he assembled all his warriors, intending to take his +revenge. Some of the Spaniards who were to remain were straying carelessly +about, when these wild men rushed out of their hiding places in the deep +woods, and killed and wounded several of them. Bartholomew and Mendez soon +drove them back with their fire arms; but Diego Tristan, the captain of one +of the vessels, who had gone on shore with eleven men to get wood and +water, was cruelly killed by the Indians, and only one Spaniard of the +whole party survived to tell the tale. So the remainder shut themselves up +in a fortress they made of a boat and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> some chests and casks, and defended +themselves as well as they could by their fire arms.</p> + +<p>Columbus, meanwhile, was pursuing his voyage, and meant to touch at +Hispaniola on his way to Spain. Some of the Indian captives who were on +board his ship, escaped; the others killed themselves in their despair. +Diego Tristan not having returned to the admiral's vessel with his boat, a +brave pilot swam to the shore and gained tidings of all that had happened. +Columbus now resolved to break up his settlement, and take all his people +back to Spain, but even this he could not do for a very long time. First of +all a storm arose, as terrific as the previous ones had been: he was in the +deepest anxiety, when one night he had fallen asleep, he heard, in a dream, +a voice that consoled him for all that he had suffered, and reminded him of +the never-failing mercy of God, so that when he awoke he had fresh hope and +courage in his heart.</p> + +<p>And before long there was a calm, which enabled him to reach the fortress +where his brother and his brave comrades were in such great distress. The +caravel that was with them was too much damaged to be of farther use, and +they were obliged to leave it behind. Thankful indeed were the Spaniards to +leave the country of Veragua, where they had gone through so many troubles +and left many of their countrymen lying dead. They embarked in the three +vessels that were left, but one of these was soon found to be in a very +dangerous condition, and the whole company crowded on two wretched +caravels. They could not reach Hispaniola on account of the storms, and +were glad to put into the harbour of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> St. Gloria, at Jamaica, where they +gave up the struggle. The two vessels were now run aground and tied +together, and cabins were constructed at the prow and stern, which were the +only parts of the caravels above water. They were thatched with straw, to +keep out the rain, and here for one long year Columbus remained with his +crew, forsaken and in much misery. The Indians indeed brought them cassava +bread, and fish and flesh, for which they gave them the usual toys and +beads; but how were they to make known their distress to Ovando, that he +might send vessels to their relief? At last the brave and faithful Mendez, +the only one who would undertake such a perilous journey, ventured in a +canoe with six Indians and one Spaniard to reach the island of Hispaniola. +The first time he tried he was surrounded by the savages and carried off by +them, but he contrived to make his escape and returned alone to the +harbour: it is not known what became of his companions. The second time he +tried he succeeded in reaching the island. During his absence a number of +the crew rebelled; Columbus, rising from his sick bed, endeavoured vainly +to pacify them, but they forsook him and went on shore, where they behaved +very ill to the Indians.</p> + +<p>Eight months passed before Columbus received any tidings of Mendez, and he +began to fear that he had been killed by the savages or had perished in his +frail canoe. At last a messenger came from Hispaniola, and said that Ovando +would send a vessel for the forlorn band as soon as he had one large enough +to hold them all. When Columbus knew that they would be rescued, in the +greatness of his soul he offered a free pardon to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> the men who had +rebelled, and offered to take them safely to Spain if they would return to +the path of duty; all that he required was that their ringleader should be +kept a prisoner. But this bad man would not let them accept the pardon, and +persuaded some of the Indians to join them and take up their weapons +against Columbus. Bartholomew, of the martial spirit, had to go on shore +and quell the disturbance by force; after this their spirit was broken, and +they confessed their misdeeds and asked Columbus to forgive them. Ovando +sent two vessels, and Columbus then took them all on board and gave them +money to buy food and clothing, of which they were in sore need: he +succoured alike those who had been faithful throughout and those who had +rebelled, remembering how the merciful Lord maketh the sun to shine on all.</p> + +<p>On his way to Spain he touched at St. Domingo, and embarked afresh. +Scarcely had he left the shore when the mast of his ship was carried away +by a squall. Storms went with him all the way home, and he was wearied out +with pain and anxiety when he anchored in the harbour of St. Lucar, never +more to sail on the sea he loved so well.</p> + +<p>He only lived eighteen months after his arrival. The remainder of his life +may be told in a few sad words. Queen Isabella, his friend and patron, died +only a few days after his return to Spain. The King refused to listen to +his claim for the just reward of his services and those of his brave +companions, and it reflects no honor on the Spanish monarch that he allowed +him to pass the last days of his useful life in poverty and neglect.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>On Ascension day, the 6th of May of the year 1506, Columbus died at +Valladolid. Friends were around him as he sank to rest, saying, with his +last breath, "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit." And it may be that +the hardships he had endured, and the insults and reproaches of his +fellow-men, made him long more earnestly for that better land, fairer than +the loveliest island that had risen up from the ocean before his astonished +gaze, the land of the redeemed, where "the Lamb which is in the midst of +the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them into living waters; and God +shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."</p> + +<p>As if to make amends for the neglect he had experienced whilst on earth his +remains were interred with great pomp in the convent of St. Francis at +Seville. They were removed three times after that, and now rest in the +cathedral of the Havannah at Cuba. He made by his will his son Diego his +heir, and ordered that one of his family should always reside at Genoa, +which shows that he preserved an affectionate remembrance of his native +city until the last days of his life.</p> + +<p>His son Fernando tells us that he had a long face, a bright complexion, an +aquiline nose, and lively eyes of clear grey, which seemed to enforce +obedience. His hair was fair in his youth, but began to turn white when he +was only thirty years of age, which made him look much older than he really +was. He was very frugal, and dressed with great simplicity. Although +naturally hasty in temper he treated all persons around him with extreme +gentleness and kindness, and was always ready to succour those who were in +trouble or need. He was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> sincerely religious, and never omitted to praise +and to pray to God during his voyages either morning or night. In calm +weather and in stormy the voices of the mariners chanting their matins and +vespers rose from the lonely sea. Sunday to him was always a day of rest, +and he would never set sail on that day if he could avoid doing so.</p> + +<p>This chapter ought not to end without the relation of the well-known story +of Columbus and the egg. One day, after his triumphal return from his first +voyage, he was dining at the table of the Grand Cardinal of Spain, and one +of the grandees present asked him if he did not think others could have +found out the way to the new shore as well as himself. Upon this Columbus +took an egg, and asked each person present to make it stand on the table. +Not one being able to do so, Columbus took the egg, and, breaking one end +of it, made it stand upright. Then he said that if one showed the way it +was easy enough for others to follow in his steps, just as the company +assembled could each make the egg stand on the table now that he had shown +them how to do it.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/end.jpg" width="450" height="132" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> A caravel was a small light bark, more fitted to sail on a +river than to cross the stormy seas.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Salvador, Spanish for Saviour.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> A copper coin of Spain, thirty-four of which are worth one +real.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <i>Navidad</i>, Spanish for Nativity.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Trinidad, Spanish for Trinity.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Gracias a Dios, Spanish for "Thanks be to God."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> See Washington Irving.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Now called Panama.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE CHEVALIER DU BAYARD.</h2> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/p.jpg" width="125" height="129" alt="P" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_2">Pierre de Terrail Bayard was born in the year 1475, at the castle of +Bayard, in Dauphiné. His ancestors had long been feudal lords of the part +of the province whence they took their name, and were always renowned for +their valour and loyalty. The great-great-grandfather of Pierre died in the +Battle of Poictiers at the feet of his king, John of France: his +great-grandfather fell at Cressy; his grandfather at Monthéri; and his +father received so many wounds in an action with the Germans that he could +never after leave his Castle of Bayard. And when he was getting feeble, and +felt that his days were numbered, he called his four sons around him, and +asked each one of them what state of life he would choose for himself.</p></div> + +<p>The eldest replied that he would like always to live at the old Castle of +Bayard, amongst his own people; so his father said to him, "Very well, +George, since you are so fond of home, you shall stay here and fight the +bears." Pierre, the second son, then thirteen years old, said that he +desired to follow the profession of arms, as his father had done; and that +he trusted through the grace of God to acquit himself with honour therein. +The third son said he would like to have an abbey, like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> his uncle, the +Monseigneur of Esnay, and the youngest wished to be a bishop, like his +uncle of Grenoble.</p> + +<p>The Sire du Bayard rejoiced very much at the choice little Pierre had made, +but as he could not decide at once where he should be trained for the +service of his country, he sent in haste for his brother-in-law, the Bishop +of Grenoble, that he might tell him the glad news and ask his advice in the +matter.</p> + +<p>The bishop came, and made good cheer at the Castle, several gentlemen of +Dauphiné having been invited thither to render him honour. He was as much +delighted as the Sire du Bayard at the thought that Pierre would maintain +the glory of his ancestors, and the day after his arrival advised that he +should enter the service of Charles, Duke of Savoy. The Duke was then at +Chambéry, a place not far from the Castle, and the Bishop of Grenoble +proposed taking his nephew to him the next morning.</p> + +<p>Thus it was settled that little Pierre should leave his home for ever, and +part with his brothers, his merry playmates in the woods and fields around +Bayard, and his gentle mother, who loved him perhaps above all her other +sons; but his father felt that he was getting weaker every hour, and since +he was not rich, he was very anxious to provide for the welfare of his +children as far as he could before he died.</p> + +<p>First of all, however, it was agreed that Pierre must be equipped as a +page, and the Bishop sent for his own tailor, bidding him bring with him +satin and velvet, and all that was necessary for a page's dress in those +days. The tailor had to work hard all night, and the next<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> morning, Pierre +in his new habit went down into the courtyard and mounted a war-horse, +which stood there ready saddled, while his father and all his guests looked +on from the lower windows of the Castle. The horse feeling so light a +burden upon him grew restive, and it seemed each moment as if Pierre must +have been thrown, but to the delight and astonishment of all who beheld +him, the boy, who had left school only a fortnight before, managed his +horse, as an old French writer tells us, with as much skill as if he had +been thirty years of age.</p> + +<p>The Sire du Bayard now bid him not to dismount, and gave him his blessing, +after which all the rest of the people took leave of him. Pierre's eyes +filled with tears when his father looked so proudly and lovingly at him. +"Monseigneur, my father," he said, "I pray to our Lord to give you a long +and happy life, and to me grace, so that before you quit this world, you +may hear good news of me."</p> + +<p>In the meantime his mother was weeping alone in a turret chamber of the +Castle; for although she was glad that he had chosen to follow a soldier's +life for the honour of his name, she grieved bitterly at the thought of +parting with him, and feared that she should never see him again. She came +down into the courtyard by a back staircase, and there took leave of him +with many tears, and gave him words of advice which he remembered so well +all his life long that he gained both from his friends and from his foes +the title of "The good knight, without fear and without reproach."</p> + +<p>These were some of the words she said: That he was to love and serve God, +without giving Him offence, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> far as in him lay; and that he could do no +good work in this world without His help and blessing. That he was to be +gentle and courteous to all, casting away pride; humble, ready to serve his +fellow creatures, and sober in eating and drinking. That he was never to +tell a lie, or flatter, or be a tale-bearer, or be idle; that he was to be +loyal in deed and speech, to keep his word; to succour the widows and +orphans, for which the Lord would repay him, and that he was to share with +the needy such gifts as God might bestow upon him, since giving in honour +of Him made no man poor.</p> + +<p>When the noble lady had spoken thus, she gave her son a little purse, which +contained a few pieces of gold, and then having implored a trusty servant +of the Bishop's to be careful of him, because he was so very young to leave +home, she bade him a last farewell.</p> + +<p>The day after Pierre's arrival at Chambéry was Sunday. After mass, a great +banquet was served in honour of the Bishop of Grenoble, who was a very holy +man, and much beloved by the Duke of Savoy. During the repast Pierre stood +beside his uncle and poured out his wine for him, and when it was ended he +did not linger over the remains of the feast with the pages and youths +belonging to Duke Charles's household, but hastened back to his lodgings +and saddled his horse, and having mounted it, went down to the courtyard of +the palace.</p> + +<p>The Duke had remarked his graceful bearing during dinner, and now seated in +a gallery was watching him in the court below. Then the Bishop told him how +the Sire du Bayard, being too much enfeebled by his wounds to lift his +sword again, had sent his little son Pierre to him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> as a gift, and hoped +that he would allow him to enter his service. The Duke of Savoy said that +the present was both good and fair, and agreed to take young Bayard into +his service without delay. So the Bishop returned home, and Pierre was left +alone amongst strangers. He must have sorrowed at first for the old life at +Castle Bayard, and the watchful love of his mother, but whatever he felt, +he began to fulfil his duties with an earnest heart, and was kind and +gentle to all around him, and never forgot to pray morning and night that +the Almighty would give him grace to remain loyal and brave. Pierre lived +with the Duke at Chambéry for six months, and during that time he made +himself beloved by every inmate of the house: he was a great favourite with +the Duchess of Savoy, and had one little playmate, amongst the young +maidens who were in attendance upon her, to whom he was much attached.</p> + +<p>When the six months had expired the whole party set off on their mules, +according to the custom of travelling at that time, to visit King Charles +the Eighth in the city of Lyons. The king, struck with the reports he had +heard of Bayard's conduct, and the knightly grace he displayed in his +presence, made him his own page, and had him lodged in the house of the +Seigneur de Ligny, a prince of the house of Luxembourg, to be trained with +about thirty other noble youths in the use of arms.</p> + +<p>There was a squire belonging to the household of the Duke of Savoy who +loved little Pierre very much, and they had scarcely arrived at Lyons +before he told him that he knew he should never be able to keep him after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +the king had once seen him exercise in the meadow of Esnay. King Charles +witnessed the wonderful evolutions he performed on his war-horse with the +greatest delight; he was never weary of seeing him spur on the animal to +fresh gambols; "Pique,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> pique, encore une fois!" he cried, and all the +little pages echoing the words of the king, cried in their shrill voices, +"Piquez, piquez!" so that Pierre was called long after by the familiar name +of "Piquet" in memory of the day.</p> + +<p>Before the Duke of Savoy left Lyons he gave a supper to the Seigneur de +Ligny and some of the chief nobles in the city. The repast was enlivened by +the music of the royal minstrels and singers: it was served early, and when +it was ended the company played at various games all the remainder of the +evening, and drank spiced wines before they separated. This was the usual +manner of entertainment at that time, and if ladies were included in the +invitations, there would be dancing until midnight, which was considered a +very late hour.</p> + +<p>The years passed on, and Pierre was very happy with his companions in the +house of the Seigneur de Ligny. There was then living in Burgundy a brave +knight named Claude de Vauldré, whom the king summoned to Lyons, in order +that the young nobles of the city might contend with him, and thus give +proof of the progress they had made in their martial studies.</p> + +<p>As soon as Claude arrived he hung up his shield, and it was a custom that +if any person touched a shield thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> suspended, he gave a sign that he was +ready to engage in combat with its owner.</p> + +<p>One day, as Pierre was passing by, he sighed deeply, and said to himself, +"Ah, if I only knew how to equip myself for the combat, how gladly would I +touch yonder shield, and so gain some real knowledge of the use of arms!" +One of his comrades, Bellabre, seeing him so full of care, asked him what +he was thinking about; and when he told him of his desire, and his distress +at having no money to buy horses and weapons, Bellabre advised him to ask +help from his uncle, the rich Abbé of Esnay.</p> + +<p>Bayard, with hope revived by this counsel, touched the shield, and after a +sleepless night set off for Esnay very early in the morning, in a little +boat, with Bellabre. They found the abbé saying his matins. He grumbled +terribly at first at his nephew's request, saying that the money given by +the founders of the abbey was to serve God with, and not to be spent in +jousts and tilting. Bayard, however, prevailed upon him to provide him with +a hundred crowns and two horses; and the abbé, in a more softened mood, +ordered a merchant of Lyons to furnish him with all other things that he +required.</p> + +<p>The greatest wonder was expressed in Lyons that a youth not yet eighteen +years of age should venture to contend with an experienced knight like +Claude Vauldré; but when the day of trial came, Bayard repelled the thrusts +of his opponent in the most daring and fearless manner; and the ladies who +sat in the balconies, watching the combatants in the arena below, exclaimed +with one voice that he had done better than all the rest.</p> + +<p>One morning, soon after the tournament, the Seigneur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> de Ligny called +Pierre to him, and told him that as the war the French had long been +carrying on in Italy was to be continued, he should now enter his company, +which was stationed at the little town of Ayre, in Picardy. The Seigneur +told him also that he would give him three hundred francs a year for his +service, and three horses, richly caparisoned. Bayard then went to take +leave of the king, who bestowed on him, at parting, the finest horse in his +stable; and last of all, he bade farewell with many tears to the good +seigneur himself, whose house had been for him a second happy home. It is +worthy of remark, throughout the life of the good knight, that in whatever +circumstances he was placed, he always spoke of his happiness. And what +<i>was</i> the secret of that happiness, which neither the agony he endured when +he lay disabled by wounds could take from him, nor the hardships and toil +he had to go through during his numerous campaigns? Surely it was his +loving kindness to all around him, which sprang from his own love to +Almighty God and his Son Jesus Christ. To do good is truly to be happy, and +love begets love. Bayard was dreaded by the enemies of his country because +he was so steadfast and brave; but we never find that he had one personal +enemy, or that he harboured a quarrelsome thought.</p> + +<p>As he drew near the little town of Ayre, his future comrades rushed out on +the road to meet him, they were so glad to have him amongst them, and the +ladies flocked to the windows to welcome him as he passed along the +streets. Bayard had sent his servant on before to prepare a great supper at +his lodgings, and there he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> entertained his new companions the night of his +arrival. And very soon after he had a tournament cried in Ayre, which +lasted two days and attracted a vast concourse of people to the spot.</p> + +<p>It was the beautiful summer time, and the little town looked very gay with +the banners streaming from its windows, and the bright armour of the +knights and the jewels and silken robes of the ladies flashing in the +sunlight. The trumpets were sounded, and Bayard was the first to enter the +lists against one of his neighbours of Dauphiné, who was a very rough man +of arms. The good knight, before he vanquished him, broke his lance in five +or six pieces. The trumpets sounded again in full clang, and in the next +trial Bayard very nearly had his arm broken, but he won from his opponent a +little casque adorned with plumes. Then came Bellabre and a formidable +Scottish captain, named David Fergus, who was greatly renowned for his +strength and skill.</p> + +<p>When the first day's contest was over, there was joyous feasting and +dancing in Ayre until midnight, and the next morning all the knights went +to mass, after which they dined together in good fellowship, and at two +o'clock in the afternoon they repaired to the arena to complete the trial. +And at evening, when they had all done their part in the sport, and the air +was filled with shouting and merry talking, the trumpets were sounded to +command silence, and to Bayard was awarded the honour of decreeing the +prizes. The young knight protested that he was not worthy of so great an +honour, and was about to withdraw, but the people present insisted that he +should adjudge them, and no other,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> because he had fought the best of all. +So he gave the first prize, which was a bracelet of pure gold, to his +friend Bellabre; and the second one, a fine diamond, to the gallant +Scottish captain. It was usual for the knights to present the prizes they +had thus won to the young maidens whom they had chosen for their brides. +During the time Pierre remained in Ayre he made himself very much beloved +by his liberality, and his readiness to help those who were in distress. +Many of his companions were poor, although they were of noble family, and +if any one of them wanted setting up in arms, or was in need of money, +Bayard was sure to let him share the last crown piece he had in his purse. +Besides this, he never forgot the poor, and every morning he used to attend +the service of the church, which made him happy for the day, and strong to +overcome evil.</p> + +<p>When King Charles the Eighth undertook his expedition to Naples, the good +knight accompanied him with the Seigneur de Ligny, and in the battle of +Fornova, which the French gained over the Italians on their way back to +France, he displayed great valour, and had two horses killed under him at +the first charge. Whilst the French companies remained in Italy they were +allowed to amuse themselves in tilting and jousts, provided no particular +warfare was going on at the time; and Bayard had leisure to visit the +Duchess of Savoy, at Carignan, and held a great tournament there in honour +of the favourite playmate of his childhood, who was now married to Monsieur +de Fluxas, an officer belonging to the household of Charles of Savoy. And +here he saw many who recalled the happy days at Chambéry: it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> a joyous +meeting on both sides, and Bayard remembered all those who had been kind to +him when he first left the old castle of Bayard, and to the master +palfrenier,<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> who was very fond of him, he gave a horse worth fifty +pieces of silver; and to the squire, who had been so loth to part with him +in Lyons, and had now retired from the service of the Duke of Savoy, he +sent a mule, because the old man was ill with the gout, and could not walk.</p> + +<p>After the death of Charles VIII., the Italian war was continued by his +successor, Louis XII., and Bayard was constantly engaged in supporting the +honour of the French arms. In the year 1503 Louis declared war against +Ferdinand, of Arragon, because he had behaved very badly to him by +pretending to be his ally, whilst in reality he was planning to take from +the French all the places they had conquered in Italy. Three great armies +were prepared to invade the dominions of Ferdinand on every side. The good +knight served in the first: it was composed of 18,000 infantry, and 2,000 +men-at-arms, and was destined for the recovery of the kingdom of Naples, +which had been wrenched out of the hands of the French by Gonsalvo, the +Great Captain.</p> + +<p>By the time the army arrived in the south of Italy, the season was far +advanced, and the French and the Spaniards remained for a long time on the +opposite shores of the river Garigliano, near Naples. Pedro de Paz, the +leader of the Spanish troops, was a man of the most daring courage, +although in person he was so small, that it is said when he was on +horseback his head was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> all that could be seen of him above the saddle. One +day he formed a plan which, had it been carried out, would have caused very +great loss to the French. This was to cross the Garigliano with a hundred +men-at-arms, at a place where he knew there was a ford, in the hope that +the French would hasten thither to resist him, and leave his other troops +to gain possession of a bridge of boats which had been thrown across the +river. His plan was successful in the beginning; there was a sudden alarm +in the French camp. The good knight who always liked to be where the danger +was greatest, had a lodging close by the bridge; he happened to be there at +the time with only one of his squires. Having heard the noise, they were +just going to arm themselves, and hasten to join in the affray, when Bayard +perceived 200 of the enemy's horse advancing towards the bridge. He told +his companion to fly to the rest of the army and give the alarm, whilst he +amused the Spaniards until succour could arrive. The good knight then went +alone to the bridge with his lance in his hand, and found the Spaniards +just ready to cross at the other end. But he did not let them advance, and +kept the bridge single handed until his squire came back with 100 +men-at-arms; the enemy thought at last his efforts could not be human! The +men-at-arms, with Bayard at their head, soon forced all the Spaniards to +quit their post, and chased them a good mile beyond it; they would have +pursued them farther, but they saw several hundred men coming to the +rescue, and they turned their horses in the direction of the camp. Bayard +was always the last to retreat; on this occasion he was far behind the +others,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> his horse being so tired that it could only go very slowly on its +way; and soon a body of Spaniards bore down suddenly upon him, his horse +was thrown into a ditch, and he was surrounded by twenty or thirty Spanish +knights, who kept crying "Surrender, Señor, surrender!" The good knight +defended himself to the utmost, but he thought he should not be able to +hold out long against so many, and fortunately his comrades, who had missed +him just as they had reached the bridge, were seen hastening to the spot +where he was so hardly pressed.</p> + +<p>Directly the Spaniards heard the quick tread of their horses they carried +him off, and kept asking his name; but he only replied that he was a +gentleman; because if they had known whom it was they had captured he might +never have come out of their hands alive. A cry, however, rose on the air, +"Turn, Spaniards, you shall not carry away thus the flower of chivalry!" +The French came up, and a fierce struggle ensued. Bayard mounted another +horse, and soon extricated himself from his enemies, exclaiming the while, +"France! Bayard, whom you let go!" The Spaniards were greatly vexed and +discouraged when they found out how important a prize they had lost, and +began at once to retreat, while the French rode home in the winter dusk +joyful and triumphant to their camp.</p> + +<p>The good knight held out bravely against the foes of his country, but the +enterprise did not succeed, and a treaty was made which obliged the French +to withdraw all their forces from the kingdom of Naples, and return by sea +or land to their own country. Bayard and another valiant knight named Louis +d' Ars, were very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> indignant that such a treaty should have been made; they +refused to sign it, and said they would rather stay in Italy and perish by +the sword than allow the Italians to believe that all Frenchmen were +cowards; and they undertook to defend several small towns which remained to +the French in Naples, with a few followers who would not forsake them, and +sold all their jewels and silver plate that they might be able to buy +provisions and ammunition. Thus, to the astonishment of Europe, these two +knights maintained the honour of their countrymen in Italy, and did not +give up the towns they had engaged to defend until the following year, when +the king recalled them to France, and rewarded them in proportion to their +services.</p> + +<p>The good knight was dangerously wounded some years later at the taking of +Brescia. This city had opened its gates to the victorious French three +years before, but had been delivered into the hands of the Venetians +through the treachery of an Italian count, who resided within its walls. As +soon as the king's nephew, Gaston, Duke de Nemours<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> heard of this, he +marched forty leagues in the depth of winter, in the hope of recovering the +town, having already sent Bayard on in advance. The day after his arrival, +they took possession of the citadel, which still held out for the French, +and the next day they agreed to take the town by assault. The road leading +down from the citadel to the rampart was very slippery on account of the +heavy rains, and the duke was obliged to take off his shoes to prevent +himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> from falling; still he went bravely on, followed by the good +knight and his men-at-arms. When the Venetians saw Bayard at the first +rampart, they tried all they could to kill him; because, they said, if he +were once overcome the others would never dare approach. Bayard steadily +gained his way, however, and cheered his men on to victory until he passed +the rampart, and a thousand of the French were enabled to make their +entrance into the town. But in doing this he received a pike-wound in his +thigh; the pike going in so hard that the end of it broke, and the iron was +left in the flesh. Bayard told the captain beside him that he might lead +off his men now that the town was won, but that he should never pass from +the place again, and reckoned himself a dead man.</p> + +<p>The knowledge that the Chevalier was severely wounded only served to make +the French captains press on the assault with greater fury, and they fought +their way into the public place, or square, where they killed many of the +Venetians, and obliged the others to lay down their arms. The good knight +was left with two of his archers, who tried to staunch the blood that +flowed from his wounds. When they saw that all the strongholds in the town +were gained, they sought around until they found a wooden plank, or door, +and on this they carried him into the best looking house they could see. +This house belonged to an Italian gentleman, who not very courageously had +fled for safety to a monastery, and had left his wife and daughters in the +town. The archers knocked at the door, and were allowed to carry in their +burden, and they afterwards stationed themselves outside to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> prevent the +enemy from entering. The Italian lady received Bayard very kindly; she was +grieved to see him suffering so much, and went herself with one of the +archers to fetch a good surgeon to dress his wound.</p> + +<p>It was nearly five weeks before he could rise from his bed, and during that +time he had sent his <i>maître d'hôtel</i> to seek for the lady's husband, so +that the whole family might live happily together under his protection, +their house being the only one in Brescia that was neither sacked nor +pillaged. And he said afterwards that although he had endured the greatest +pain from his wound, he had never once been unhappy, because he had been +with friends; it only vexed him to think that the French were getting +nearer the Spaniards every day, and that a battle would soon take place, in +which he would not be able to assist; and he used to tell the Duke de +Nemours, who came daily to see him whilst he remained in the town, because +he loved him so much, that he would rather be borne to the battle-field in +a litter than not be present at all. For it was the great object of the +king of France to drive the Spaniards out of Lombardy, since he knew that +as long as they were roving about in Italy, his duchy of Milan would never +be secure.</p> + +<p>One day Bayard found, to his joyful surprise, that he could walk once more, +and his surgeon gave him leave to start at the expiration of two days for +the French camp. According to the custom of the victorious French, the +whole family were in reality the prisoners of Bayard, and the Italian lady +was in great trouble of mind, thinking that he would demand at least ten +or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> twelve thousand crowns for their ransom, which was more than they were +able to pay. So on the morning of the day when the good knight was to +depart after dinner, she came to him, and knelt down before him. Bayard +would not suffer her to kneel, so rising, she presented him with a purse +which contained 1,500 ducats. When she had opened it, he laughed: "How many +are there, madam?" he asked. The lady thought that he was laughing because +there were so few, and began to make excuses; but when the Chevalier found +out that she wanted to pay her ransom, he declared that he would take +nothing from her at all; that the welcome she had given him was worth more +than a hundred thousand crowns, and that he should feel himself bound in +gratitude to serve her until the end of his days. It was so unusual for the +French to release their prisoners without a ransom that the Italian lady +was deeply moved; she went down on her knees, and kissing the hand of the +good knight, she said, "Flower of chivalry, may the Lord reward you for +what you have done!" She pressed him so hard however to accept the purse +that Bayard consented to take it out of esteem and respect for her, and her +two daughters then came to bid him farewell. The damsels were very +beautiful; they were skilled in embroidery, and could sing and play the +lute and spinet, and many a time the Chevalier, as he lay writhing in pain, +had been cheered by their music. When they came in, they too would have +knelt to thank him for his kindness and protection, but he made them rise, +and dividing the ducats into three parts, he gave each of them a thousand +for a marriage portion, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> five hundred that remained he gave to +their mother for the relief of the religious houses in Brescia, which had +been plundered by the French. The maidens now produced the parting gifts +they had prepared; the Chevalier received them very graciously, and said +that he should wear them as long as he lived; one was a bracelet made of +gold and silver thread, and the other a purse of crimson worked in gold. +Then they all touched hands after the fashion of Italy, and the good knight +bade them farewell kneeling, and they all wept bitterly when he rode away +from the door, they were so grieved to think they should never see him +again.</p> + +<p>When Bayard reached the camp of the Duke de Nemours, he found that his +countrymen had arrived only that day before Ravenna, and that the enemy +were six miles off, but the next day they came nearer by two miles. The +night but one before the famous battle of Ravenna, several captains were at +supper with the Duke de Nemours, talking the while of the contest which was +so soon to take place. Bayard was amongst the guests, and the Duke told him +that as the Spaniards had a great respect for his talents, and were very +anxious to know if he were in the camp, he thought it would be advisable +for him to attempt some skirmish with them the next day, just to see how +well they could fight. The good knight was delighted with the idea; +"Monseigneur," he replied, "I promise you on my word of honour that, God +helping, I shall see them so close before noon, that I shall be able to +bring you news."</p> + +<p>Now the Baron of Bearne, the Duke's lieutenant, coveted the glory of being +the first to attack the enemy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> and although the Chevalier was known to +rise very early in the morning, he thought that he would rise earlier +still, and thus steal a march upon him. So as soon as soon as the supper +was ended, he went to tell all his followers to be ready armed before break +of day, charging them also to keep the matter a profound secret.</p> + +<p>When the good knight returned to his tent, he also arranged with some of +the chief captains how the attack should be made, and then, they all went +to rest until the trumpet should sound to awaken them at dawn.</p> + +<p>It was very early the next morning when they set out, carrying with them +the banners of the Duke of Lorraine unfurled, in the hope that they would +bring them good luck. They did not, of course, know that the Baron of +Bearne had already gone the same path; but the sound of weapons clashing, +and of horses' hoofs, soon fell upon their ears; the baron had indeed +crossed the canal which lay between the two armies, and had advanced to the +enemy's camp; but he had been discomfited, and was forced to retire.</p> + +<p>When Bayard saw that Neapolitans and Spaniards were boldly crossing the +canal in pursuit of the fugitives, he called to his comrades to fly to the +aid of their countrymen, and rushed before any into the midst of a troop of +one hundred and twenty men. His comrades loved him too well not to follow +him, and he chased the enemy back right into the camp, and overthrew there +numbers of their tents, although the Spaniards were all astir and ready for +battle. When he thought he had aroused them sufficiently, he sounded the +trumpet for a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> retreat, and arrived in the camp of the Duke de Nemours with +the news he had promised to bring him, but without having lost a single +man.</p> + +<p>The Duke now assembled all the captains and knights, and told them, that +his uncle the king desired that a battle should take place at once, because +he had heard that the Venetians and Swiss were about to descend into the +Duchy of Milan; and it was agreed that the French army should pass the +bridge of boats across the canal, and attack the enemy on the morrow.</p> + +<p>The next morning the Duke came out of his tent at sunrise. "Look, +gentlemen!" he said to his companions, "how red the sun is!" And one of +them, who was much beloved by him, replied, "Do you know, Monseigneur, what +that signifies? That a great captain will fall to-day: it will be either +you or Cardonna, the viceroy." The duke only laughed at his remark, and +went to watch the army passing the bridge with Bayard and some other +knights, while the Spaniards, in great alarm, hastened to put the whole of +their troops in battle array.</p> + +<p>Just as the duke was telling the good knight, that they might fall an easy +prey to their enemies, if any harquebussiers were concealed thereabouts, a +body of from twenty to thirty Spaniards appeared, amongst whom was Pedro de +Pas. Bayard was the first to speak. "Gentlemen," said he, "you will linger +about here like ourselves until the play begins. I entreat that not a +harquebuss be fired on your part, and we will not fire upon you." Pedro de +Pas then asked the name of the knight who had spoken, and was overjoyed to +find that he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> really in the company of the Chevalier du Bayard, who had +gained so much renown in Naples.</p> + +<p>The Duke de Nemours was a merciful man, and he offered to settle the +quarrel by single combat with the viceroy, to spare the effusion of blood. +His followers, however, thought that the risk was too great; and the army +having crossed the canal by eight o'clock in the morning, the battle began. +It lasted many hours, and was very terrible on both sides; and although the +Spaniards were defeated, the French bought their victory very dearly, with +the life of their brave and good young prince, Gaston of Nemours. For the +prediction of his friend had indeed been fulfilled, and he lay among the +slain! The good knight fought all through that long battle like a hero; he +had gone in pursuit of the enemy, and came back to the field late in the +afternoon, to find that the duke was dead.</p> + +<p>A short time after this, the Venetians, the Swiss, and the army sent by the +Pope pressed forward, and the French were soon obliged to retire out of +Lombardy, only leaving garrisons in some of the strong castles. At Pavia, +Bayard made himself very famous by defending a bridge of boats, during two +hours against the Swiss; he had two horses killed under him, and received a +severe wound in the shoulder before he would give way. His companions +thought that his wound was mortal, though he declared it was nothing, and +they staunched it with moss, which they tore off the stems of trees, and +with linen which they tore from their shirts. The good knight did not +recover for a very long time after the French army had recrossed the +mountains, and he went<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> to his uncle the Bishop of Grenoble, in whose +palace he was lodged and watched over, "like the precious stone set in pure +gold." And he was so ill that he thought to his sorrow that he should die +in his bed, instead of closing his eyes for ever on the battle-field; but +all the people of Grenoble prayed for him—his good uncle, nobles, +merchants, monks, and nuns; there was not a voice that did not rise up in +prayer to the Almighty for his recovery. And after a long while his +strength and spirit returned to him, and he remained some months at +Grenoble, greatly honoured for all the brave deeds he had achieved.</p> + +<p>In the battle of Guinegatte, commonly called the battle of the Spurs, from +the speed with which the French soldiers took flight, the Chevalier was +made prisoner, but not until he had saved his countrymen from entire +disgrace by his valour. Henry the Eighth was then at war with France, and +Maximilian, Emperor of Germany, was serving in the army of the English +monarch for the pay of a hundred crowns a day.</p> + +<p>Before Henry and Maximilian had arrived in the English camp, the Earl of +Shrewsbury had begun the siege of Perouane, a town on the borders of +Picardy, close by Guinegatte. The besieged had defended themselves bravely, +and the governor of the province had succeeded in forcing his way through +the English camp, to bring them a large supply of bacon and gunpowder. He +had got safely back again, when the French horsemen, who had advanced to +protect him, were attacked suddenly by a body of English, whilst they were +straying carelessly about without their helmets and cuirasses, because<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +they were overpowered by the intense heat of the day. Thus it was that they +took flight, and that several noblemen amongst them of high rank were made +prisoners. Bayard retreated with great regret; he had only fourteen +men-at-arms with him, and yet he often turned back and faced his enemies. +At last they came to a little bridge, where only two horsemen could pass at +a time, and below it there was a deep ditch full of water. The good knight +then sent word to the camp, by an archer that he had arrested the enemy for +at least half an hour, and that delay, would give the army time to get into +order. The archer went straight to the camp, and Bayard was left with his +few men to guard the bridge. He was soon surrounded on all sides, and +advised his people to surrender; and when they were all secured, he rode +towards an English gentleman, who, either wearied with the fight or +oppressed by the heat, was resting beneath a tree. Bayard put his sword to +his throat, and exclaimed, "Surrender, man-at-arms, or you are a dead man!" +The gentleman, naturally wishing to save his life, surrendered, and asked +the stranger who he was. "I am the Captain Bayard," replied the knight, +"and now I surrender to you, and give you my sword to hold, and entreat you +to conduct me to some place of safety, and to have the kindness to let me +have my sword, if we meet with any Englishmen on our way, who may desire to +kill me." The gentleman promised this, and they set off for the camp of +King Henry, and had really to defend themselves more than once, upon the +road thither.</p> + +<p>Bayard remained in the tent of his prisoner, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> treated him well, but on +the fifth day of his captivity, he said to him, "My gentleman, I wish you +would lead me in safety to the camp of the king, my master, for I am +utterly tired of being here."</p> + +<p>"How?" cried the other. "We have not yet agreed as to your ransom."</p> + +<p>"To my ransom, indeed!" said the knight; "but it is rather for me to think +of yours, since you are my prisoner; and if I surrendered to you it was +only to save my life. My gentleman," continued he, "whether faith is kept +with me, or not, I feel assured that in some way I shall fight with you by +and by."</p> + +<p>The gentleman did not quite relish the idea of a combat with the +redoubtable Bayard, so he replied in courteous terms, that he only wished +to do what was right in the affair, and would consult with his captains.</p> + +<p>When the enemy knew that Bayard was safe in the camp, they were as much +pleased as if they had won another victory. The Emperor of Germany sent for +him to his tent.</p> + +<p>"Captain Bayard, my friend," said he, "I have great pleasure in seeing you. +Would that I had many men like you! I think in a little while I should be +able to avenge myself of all the tricks, your master has played me in times +gone by." Presently, he said to him, "Methinks we have been at war together +before, and I remember to have heard that Bayard was one who never fled."</p> + +<p>"Sire," replied the Good Knight promptly, "if I had fled I should not have +been here."</p> + +<p>Then bluff King Harry came up and said, "Truly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> Monsieur de Bayard, if all +men were like you, the siege which I have begun before this town, would +soon be raised; but any way you are my prisoner."</p> + +<p>"Sire," answered the Chevalier, "I do not own it, and yet I would fain +believe yourself and the emperor."</p> + +<p>The gentleman whose tent Bayard had shared now appeared, and related the +whole affair; and there was a discussion, as to which was really the +prisoner. The Emperor, whose advice governed the movements of the English +army, at last decided in favour of Bayard, but acquitted both on account of +their mutual courtesy; and King Henry said that the Good Knight might leave +the camp, if he would promise on his word of honour to remain unarmed for +six weeks. Bayard was very grateful, both to the emperor and to the king, +and went to divert himself in the country, in the best manner he could +until the six weeks were passed. During this time the King of England tried +by various means, to attach him to his service, but his trouble was thrown +away; it would have been impossible for the Chevalier to have entertained a +disloyal thought.</p> + +<p>Not long after this Louis the Twelfth died, and his cousin, Francis, Count +of Angoulême, was declared King of France. Immediately after his +coronation, the young king began to prepare secretly for the conquest of +Milan, that duchy having lately returned to the allegiance of the Italian +duke Sforza. Bayard was ordered to repair with three or four thousand men, +to the borders of his native province of Dauphiné, and after performing +several brave actions, he got down quietly into the plain of Piedmont. +Prosper Colonna, the Pope's lieutenant,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> was there in the Castle of +Carmaignolle. When he heard of the arrival of the Chevalier, he exclaimed, +in a tone of extreme scorn, "That Bayard has crossed the mountains; I will +take him as I would a pigeon in a cage!"</p> + +<p>The other French captains arrived in the plain, and the Good Knight advised +that they should rest their horses that night, and attack Colonna the next +day at dawn in his castle.</p> + +<p>They had a large piece of water to cross before they could get to the +place; but they knew of a ford, and two or three hours after midnight they +mounted their horses in silence, and set out on the road. Prosper was not +alarmed, because he still thought that only Bayard was there with his +company, and he would have remained at Carmaignolle, had he not received +orders to change his quarters. He did not hurry himself in the least, and +stopped on his journey to dine at a little town called Villefranche. When +the French arrived at the castle, they found to their disappointment that +Colonna was gone, and they all agreed to pursue him. The Seigneur +d'Imbercourt was foremost in the troop; he soon reached the town; Colonna +was already there, and his people shut the gates. The Good Knight came up +in time however to gain them, and although the enemy gave the alarm to a +body of three or four thousand Swiss, he made his way into the town, +followed by his men-at-arms, and found the Italian commander seated at his +dinner. Colonna was enraged at being thus captured, like "a pigeon in a +cage" himself, instead of in battle; the Good Knight tried to cheer him up, +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> make the best of it, but the whole affair cost the signor, besides his +liberty, 50,000 crowns worth of gold and silver plate, furniture, and +money, and that was quite enough to make a man look sad. The French found a +very large sum of money in the town, and nearly 700 beautiful coursers and +Spanish horses.</p> + +<p>Francis had already crossed the mountains which separate France from Italy. +He was delighted to hear of the capture of Colonna, and soon waged the +tremendous battle of Marignano with the Swiss, who were the partizans of +Sforza and Colonna, and were indignant that Francis had succeeded in +crossing the Alps. Marignano was situate about a league from the city of +Milan. The Swiss were determined to defend the duchy to the last extremity, +and had assembled a very large army. The battle began at four o'clock on a +September afternoon in the year 1415, and was only discontinued when it was +too dark to see to fight. The king passed the night in his armour on the +carriage of a cannon, and was surprised at daybreak to find the enemy +within a few paces of him in readiness to renew the attack. The young king +and the chevalier fought at Marignano side by side, and both displayed +extraordinary valour; and when the victory was decided for the French, +Francis, to reward Bayard for the great share he had had in it, received +the honour of knighthood from his hands.</p> + +<p>The day of Marignano, "the combat of giants," as an old Italian hero called +it, who had been in eighteen pitched battles, was disastrous indeed for the +Swiss, for it is said that when they began to retreat they left<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> 10,000 of +their comrades lying dead upon the battle-field.</p> + +<p>In the last charge that was made, Bayard was mounted on a fiery courser, +the first he had ridden having been killed under him. He was so closely +beset that the bridle was torn from his horse, and the animal, thus freed +from restraint, galloped off and made its way through the enemy's ranks; it +would have carried its rider right into the midst of a troop of Swiss, if +its course had not been intercepted by a field full of vines entwined from +tree to tree; the good knight but for this timely wall of defence, must +assuredly have fallen into the hands of his enemies. He had not quite lost +his senses in the rapid flight, and he glided down gently from his horse, +threw away his arms and a part of his armour, and crawled along a ditch, in +the direction as he supposed of the French camp. Fortunately he was not +mistaken; he soon had the delight of hearing the cry of "France! France!" +in the distance, and was enabled to reach his companions, and rejoice with +them over the great victory they had gained; although a victory bought with +the lives of so many fellow creatures, cannot but bring a sharp pang of +sorrow to the heart of every man.</p> + +<p>The fame of Bayard had now risen to such a height, that nearly all the +young nobles of France, begged to be allowed the honour of serving under +him, in the defence of the town of Mezieres. Maximilian and Ferdinand were +both dead, and Charles V. was Emperor of Germany and King of Spain. +Charles, who was quite as ambitious as the young king of France, had +ordered the Count of Nassau to advance towards the frontiers, and lay +siege<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> to the town of Mousson. The men who defended it were cowards, and +lay down their arms almost without fighting. The Count, finding this +success so easy, next besieged Mezieres, and through this town the Emperor +intended his troops to have passed into France. But Francis knew that if he +suffered Mezieres to be taken, it would be the most foolish thing he could +do; it was like giving the enemy the key of the gate that kept them out of +France. So he wisely ordered Bayard to hasten to its defence; and although +the Good Knight had only 1,000 men in the place, he obliged the Count of +Nassau, and his 35,000 Germans, to retire with shame and loss after a +lengthened siege. The service he thus performed for his country was very +great, and the king rewarded him for it with a hundred lances, and the +collar of St. Michael.</p> + +<p>In the year 1524 he was sent into Italy to oppose the army of the Constable +de Bourbon, who had left his own king to serve the Emperor. Bourbon was led +to do this, on account of the many affronts he had received from the +beautiful and haughty Louisa, of Savoy, the mother of Francis I.; still, +however great the cause of offence may be, it is quite inexcusable for a +man to bear arms against his country.</p> + +<p>The chief command of the army was given to Bonnivet: he was very brave, but +so rash that his zeal often did more harm than good, and he was totally +wanting in the judgment, and presence of mind a great captain ought to +possess. Lannoy, the viceroy of Naples, had collected a large number of +troops; to these were added the forces of the Marquis of Pescara, the +general of the Spaniards, and those of the traitor Bourbon. Bonnivet failed +in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> plan of attack, and was obliged to try and get back into France by +crossing the valley of Aosta; but on his way he received a bad wound in the +arm, and could no longer lead on his men. In his distress he sent word to +Bayard that he alone could save the French army if he would. The good +knight had thought the whole enterprise ill-judged, and when he set out at +the head of his men-at-arms, he had not been cheerful and hopeful as he had +been accustomed to be whenever he entered on a fresh campaign. Nevertheless +he swore in reply to Bonnivet that he would either save the army or perish +in the attempt; and as he had always courted the post of danger, he took +the command of the rear, and made his men try bravely like himself to +sustain the whole shock of the enemy's troops, whilst the rest of the army +gained time to effect a retreat. This was at a place near Romagnano. As +Bayard was thus striving he was wounded by a musket-ball, and the shock was +so great that he uttered the word "Jesus," and then said that it was all +over with him on earth. Faint from pain and loss of blood, he held on as +long as he could to the bow of his saddle, but sank at last to the ground, +and desired to be placed under a tree with his face turned towards the foe. +And there the good knight lifted up the hilt of his sword, and kissed it as +though it had been the cross, and saying, softly, "Miserere mei, Deus!" lay +back pale and calm to wait for the approach of death. His faithful <i>maître +d'hôtel</i>, who had followed him through many dangers, was with him now, and +was almost beside himself with grief.</p> + +<p>"Jacques, my friend," said the dying knight, "do not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> mourn for me. It is +the will of God that I should quit this world where I have ever received a +full measure of His grace, and far more honour than I deserved. The only +regret I have in dying is, that I have not done all that I ought to have +done, and if I had lived longer, I would have hoped to have made amends for +my past faults. But as it is, I implore my Maker to have mercy upon my poor +soul, and trust through his great and boundless love that he will not judge +me with rigour; feeling assured that Thou, oh my Saviour, hast promised +pardon to all those who turn to Thee with humble and contrite hearts."</p> + +<p>In this condition he was found by the Constable de Bourbon, who spoke to +him thus; "Monsieur de Bayard, truly I pity you."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Monsieur," replied the chevalier, "do not pity me, but rather have +compassion on yourself for having fought against your king, your country, +and your oath."</p> + +<p>The Marquis of Pescara came by soon after, and was deeply grieved to see +him in such a state; he ordered a tent to be pitched over him, and had him +tended with the utmost care, but it was of no avail; a mortal blow had been +struck, and the good knight rendered up his soul to God, as so many of his +ancestors had done, upon the battle-field.</p> + +<p>Pescara had his body embalmed and conveyed to his kinsmen in Dauphiné, and +the Duke of Savoy decreed that royal honours should be paid to it on its +mournful journey. When it reached Dauphiné, people of all ranks came out to +meet it, and then returned to their houses and shut themselves up in sorrow +and gloom. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> body was interred at Minimes, in a church founded by the +Bishop of Grenoble.</p> + +<p>There was mourning throughout many lands when it was known that the Good +Knight was dead. King Francis was very much attached to him, and could not +get over the loss he had sustained for a very long time. And the following +year, when he had been obliged to surrender to Lannoy after the battle of +Pavia, he exclaimed sadly within his prison walls, "Ah, Bayard, if thou +hadst been alive, I should not have been here!"</p> + +<p>Thus had the Chevalier lived, faithful to the promise of his childhood; +ever ready to risk his life in the service of his country, helpful and +loving to all, joyous and light-hearted. When he was in the enemy's +territory he strictly defrayed every expense he incurred, and very often +left some kind remembrance for those who had served him: in success he +showed mercy, and made himself as much beloved by the vanquished as by his +own soldiers. He never wished for the highest place or envied the good +fortune of other men. Amid the spoils of war he seemed to desire nothing +for himself, and one instance alone will suffice to show how far he was +removed from any selfish feelings. During the war with the Spaniards, he +received notice one day that a large sum of money was on its way to the +Spanish commander. His own troops being in great want of necessaries he +resolved to obtain this money, which was fair to do in warfare; so he sent +some of his men to waylay the bearers of it in one part of the country, +while his companion Tardien watched for it in another. Bayard had the good +luck to seize the treasure, and found it to consist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> of 15,000 ducats. The +Spaniard who carried it was in great terror at having fallen into the hands +of the enemy, and gave it up without a murmur. Tardien was brave and +merry-hearted, but he had the misfortune of being very poor, and he was +terribly grieved on his return to the camp to find that he had not been the +happy man to secure the money, and declared that the half of the sum would +have redeemed his fortunes for ever.</p> + +<p>Bayard was in a cheerful mood, and he asked his soldiers how much of the +treasure they thought Tardien ought to receive. They replied, "None at +all." Then Bayard, after enjoying for a time the dismay of his companion in +arms, called him to him, and gave him 7,500 ducats, the exact half of the +sum they had captured. The Good Knight then divided the remainder amongst +his soldiers, not keeping one farthing for himself, and sent the Spaniard +with an escort to a place of safety whence he could return to his own +home.</p> +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> "Piquer," an old French word, signifying "to spur on, to +animate, or encourage."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> <i>Palfrenier</i>, "groom of the stables."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Gaston was Governor of Milan.</p></div> +</div> + +<p><br /><br /></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 396px;"> +<img src="images/i_236.jpg" width="396" height="639" alt="Queen Elizabeth's farewell to Captain Martin Frobisher.—p. +225" title="" /> +<span class="caption"><i>Queen Elizabeth's farewell to Captain Martin Frobisher.—p. +<a href="#Page_225">225</a></i></span> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> +<h2>SIR MARTIN FROBISHER.</h2> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/o.jpg" width="125" height="124" alt="O" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_1">One summer's day, in the year 1576, Queen Elizabeth stood at the window of +her palace at Greenwich, waving her hand in sign of farewell as two small +barks and a pinnace glided gently down the river Thames. The barks were the +<i>Gabriel</i> and the <i>Michael</i>. On board the first one was the gallant Martin +Frobisher, who, after having waited fifteen years for funds to enable him +to carry out his voyage, was now on his way in search of a north-west +passage to China. Little is known of the early days of Frobisher, except +that he was at Doncaster, in Yorkshire, and that he was well skilled in +maritime knowledge, and one of the most experienced seamen of his time. The +passage he proposed to find, he thought would enable his countrymen to +reach the shores of China in far less time than by sailing as the +Portuguese always sailed, all round by the Cape of Good Hope; and thus for +years before he had started, he had been going from friend to friend, +nobleman and merchant, in the hope of finding some one to help him to get +together a fleet. At last he found a patron in Ambrose Dudley, the good +Earl of Warwick, and with his help, and his own untiring efforts besides, +he raised sufficient money to fit out the two vessels and the one small +pinnace, which had provisions on board to last twelve months.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> +</div> + +<p>After the little fleet had gone past the palace, Queen Elizabeth sent one +of the gentlemen of her court on board the <i>Gabriel</i> to tell Frobisher how +much pleasure the enterprise afforded her, and to bid him come and take +leave of her the following day. She was proud, too, to think that one of +her subjects was brave enough to venture up into the icy seas and cold +regions, the very idea of which had struck terror into the hearts of many a +mariner, when he had met on the ocean great icebergs floating southwards, +as though they were messengers sent to warn him of approaching the frozen +seas.</p> + +<p>When Frobisher had got as far as the Shetland Isles, he turned his course +towards the west, and on the 11th of July, nearly four weeks after he had +started, he came in sight of land, which he supposed to be the Freeseland +seen by a Venetian, named Zeno, two hundred years before. He could not land +there because of the great blocks of ice which filled the sea near the +shore, and they had much ado to keep clear of them, because there was a +thick fog. Here a great misfortune happened; the pinnace disappeared in the +mist, and the services of the four men it had on board were thus lost. The +company of the <i>Michael</i> also began to distrust the voyage, and to repent +that they had engaged in it. Under cover of the fog, they went off towards +England, and were so wicked as to say on their arrival that the bark +<i>Gabriel</i> had been cast away.</p> + +<p>Thus forsaken, the brave captain went on alone; the mast of his vessel was +broken, and the topmast was blown over; nevertheless he continued to sail +towards the north-west, thinking that he must surely come to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> some shore. +And nine days after he had seen Freeseland, he came to a high piece of +land, which he called Queen Elizabeth's; it was part of what is now called +Labrador. Still more to the north he reached another foreland, with a great +bay or passage of sea dividing two lands, but this was so blocked up with +ice that he had to wait until it melted, or was carried away by currents. +He called the passage "Frobisher's Straits," after himself, by which name +it has been known ever since. If any little readers will unfold a map of +North America and look just north of Hudson's Straits, they will see +Frobisher's Straits, and how the land on either side is broken up into +islands, some of which are named "Hall's Islands," after Christopher Hall, +the master of the bark <i>Gabriel</i>. Frobisher thought as yet that the shores +were all firm land; and when the ice broke up, he sailed sixty leagues +along the strait, and there he landed. First of all he had to defend +himself from some great deer, which ran at him in such a manner that he had +a very narrow escape of his life. Another time when he landed he went to +the top of a hill, and saw from thence several objects in the distance +which he thought were porpoises or seals, but when they came nearer he +found that they were boats filled with men. The boats were made of +sealskins, with a keel of wood inside. The men were of dark complexion, +with long black hair, broad faces, and flat noses; the women's faces were +painted in blue streaks. Some of these people hid behind a rock, and were +evidently watching for an opportunity of stealing his boat, but he hastened +down the hill just in time to secure it, and went back to the vessel. It +was terribly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> cold already; in one night the snow lay a foot thick upon the +hatches: the brief summer of the northern regions was past. The natives +soon began to come on board the bark, and to talk with the sailors in an +unknown tongue; they brought the captain salmon and flesh which they eat +raw themselves; also bearskins and sealskins, for which Frobisher gave them +toys, bells, and looking-glasses. They got very friendly with his men, +although he warned them not to trust them too quickly; and one day five of +the sailors were enticed by the savages to go in a boat to the shore, and +neither men nor boat ever appeared again. What was to be done? Frobisher +was on board his bark, and now the only boat was gone, and he could not get +to the shore. He thought that he must try and capture one of the sealskin +boats of the natives, and he rang a low, sweet-toned bell, which was sure +to be a great temptation to the wild men, and made signs that he would give +it to him who should fetch it. The first bell he purposely threw into the +sea, and then he rang another. The savages, getting more eager to secure +the prize, crowded around him, and one came so very near that he had just +put out his hand to grasp the bell, when the captain pulled him, boat and +all, on board the bark. The poor savage was said to have been so angry at +being captured, that he bit his tongue in two in his rage; he was brought +to England as a specimen of the newly found race, but he fell ill soon +after his arrival and died.</p> + +<p>As the cold was rapidly increasing, Frobisher began to think of returning +home to report what he had seen, and after many useless attempts to land, +on account of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> the ice along the coasts, he told his men when next they +could set foot on shore, that they were to bring him whatever they could +find in memory of the region he had taken possession of in the queen's +name. Some of them brought him a few flowers, some only grasses, and one +brought him a piece of black stone very like sea-coal, which from its +weight seemed to be a mineral. Frobisher did not think much of it at first +sight, but he brought it with him to England. He arrived in his native +country on the 2nd day of October, and all people praised him for his +courage and perseverance; and it was thought that if another expedition +were made, there would be every chance of finding the desired north-west +passage to China.</p> + +<p>One day when he was with some friends in London, it happened that he had +nothing to show for his voyage except the lump of coal. The wife of one of +the adventurers who was present, threw by chance a piece of it into the +fire, and it burned so long that at last it was taken out and quenched in a +little vinegar, when lo! as if by magic, it appeared "like a bright +marquisset" of gold. It was then shown to some gold finers in London, who +tried it and found that it contained pure gold, and gave great hope that +more might be found in the region whence it was brought. The gold finers +even offered themselves to share in a fresh enterprise, so that a second +voyage was proposed for the following year, Queen Elizabeth herself +entering heartily into the scheme.</p> + +<p>The second expedition was fitted out in a more important manner than the +first one had been. Frobisher sailed in a tall ship of the queen's, which +was called the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> <i>Aid</i>, accompanied by the two barks <i>Michael</i> and +<i>Gabriel</i>. The vessels were provisioned for six months, and had on board in +all 140 men, although many more would have liked to go on the voyage.</p> + +<p>They sailed northwards until they anchored in the bay of St. Magnus, one of +the Orkney Isles. The inhabitants fled in terror as soon as the ship's +company landed, and only took heart when they heard for what purpose they +had come. For few indeed were the visitors who came to those barren +islands, except perhaps the pirates who roamed the northern seas. There is +scarcely a tree amongst the whole group, and the people, having no wood, +make their fires of turf and heather to cheer them during the long stormy +winter. But the nights in these cold northern latitudes are made bright and +beautiful by the aurora borealis, which flashes across the sky, and is of +the same nature as lightning, only that it travels through a higher region +of the air. Sometimes it is purple and sometimes green, and where the air +is driest it is red. When the auroræ, or northern lights, flicker in the +sky, the inhabitants of the Shetland Isles call them, "the merry dancers."</p> + +<p>The gold finers were very glad that they stopped on their way at the +Orkneys, for in one of the islands they found a mine of silver. The vessels +only stayed there one day, however, and then put out to sea, now drifting +to the north and now to the west, as the wind shifted. They were +seventy-six days without sight of land, but they met on their way trunks of +trees, and monstrous fishes and fowls. At length the wind was prosperous, +and they came to Greenland, where the sea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> near the coast was again full of +drift ice. One day whilst they were cruising about here they dropped a hook +into the sea, and caught an enormous fish called a halibut, which is said +to have furnished a whole day's food for the ship's company. It must have +been a very large fish to have dined and supped 140 persons. All along the +dreary shores the only living creatures they saw were some little birds. +The weather, being very cold and stormy they made for Frobisher's Straits, +and came again to the smaller of Hall's Islands, where the ore had been +taken up the year before, but they only found this time one little piece. +On the large island, however, they found plenty of what they supposed to be +gold, and Frobisher, with forty gentlemen and soldiers, ascended a steep +hill, and planting a column or cross upon it, he sounded a trumpet, and +called the place Mount Warwick, after the good earl. Then they knelt down +in a ring, and said their prayers and thanksgivings. As they were going +back to their boats, they saw a number of savages making signs to them from +the top of the hill, as if they wished to be friendly, but Frobisher, +remembering the fate of the five mariners, did not feel inclined to trust +them, and he only held up two of his fingers to signify that two of their +men should advance towards two of his own. This was done, and then they +began to be more confident of each other's designs. The people here had a +very odd way of bartering their wares: they would bring sealskins and raw +flesh and lay them on the ground, and make signs that the strangers should +do the same with the things they meant to exchange. Then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> they went away, +and if they liked the toys and the beads they saw on the ground, they came +back in a little while and took them up, leaving their own wares behind +them; and if they did not like them, they gathered up their property and +departed.</p> + +<p>After passing through many dangers and tempests Frobisher found a bay which +he thought would be a good harbour for his ships, and he landed with his +gold finers on a little island, where all the sands and cliffs glittered so +brightly, that they thought they had indeed come to a land of gold. But +when they tried it, to their great disappointment it turned out to be only +black-lead. In the same sound they came to a small island, to which they +gave the name of Smith's Island, because the smith belonging to the ship's +company first set up his forge there. Here they found a mine of silver, but +they had a great deal of trouble to get it out of the rocks.</p> + +<p>Soon after this Frobisher marched upon the southern shore of the strait in +search of ore with all his best men, and when he had appointed leaders, and +told all those who were to follow them that they must be orderly and +persevering, he made every man kneel down and thank God that He had +preserved them hitherto from all dangers. Then, with a banner flying, they +marched towards the tops of the mountains, which were steep and very +difficult to ascend. The whole land was silent; not a human being was to be +seen, so they went back to their ships, and landed next on the northern +shore. Here they saw people, and found hidden under a stone such things as +kettles made of fish-skins, knives of bone,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> and bridles. One of the +savages took a bridle and caught with it a dog belonging to the strangers, +to show how dogs were used to draw the sledges.</p> + +<p>Five leagues from Bear's Sound, Frobisher found a bay in which he could +anchor, near a small island, which he named after the Countess of Warwick, +and this was the farthest place he visited that year. There was plenty of +ore in it, and Frobisher set the miners to work, and worked hard himself +also, that he might encourage the others by his example. And he sent the +bark <i>Michael</i>, in which he had come to the island, for the <i>Aid</i> and the +rest of his people. They were very much astonished to see on the mainland +the dwellings of the Esquimaux; these were holes in the ground, shaped like +an oven, and were usually made at the foot of a hill for shelter, and +opened towards the south. Above ground they built with whalebone, because +they had no timber, and covered in the roof of it with sealskins, and +strewed moss on the floor for a carpet. Travellers of more recent date +describe the huts of the Esquimaux, as the people in these northern regions +were called, as being made in the same manner. A winter hut is a hole +hollowed out in the earth or snow, like a cellar; a large piece of ice +serves for a door, and a lamp burns inside, where the family sleep on the +skins of seals and sea-dogs. Close by is a similar hole, where they eat the +flesh of whales, seals, and sea-dogs—and all of it raw. The mariners who +went with Frobisher tell how the savages ate ice when they were thirsty, +and could get no water. Their dogs were not unlike wolves, and were yoked +together to draw the sledges; the smaller<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> ones they fattened and kept for +eating. Their weapons were made of bone, and their bow-strings of sinews; +they clothed themselves in the skins of seals and sea-dogs, and sometimes +even in garments made of feathers; for God, in His loving mercy, has given +the fowls thicker feathers than those of more southern latitudes, and the +animals warmer furs for the comfort of man, just as He has given luscious +fruits to refresh his parched lips in tropical countries, and gigantic +trees to shelter him from the intense heat of the sun.</p> + +<p>A captive, who had been taken by some of the mariners, was shown a portrait +of the savage who had been enticed on board the <i>Gabriel</i> the year before. +When he saw it, he began talking to it, and asking it questions, just as if +it had been really alive. He told the strangers by signs that he had +knowledge of the five men who were missing, and declared that they had not +been eaten up by the savages. It is supposed that they lived the rest of +their lives amongst the savages; and Frobisher determined, as he could find +no trace of them, that he would load his ships with the ore he had found, +and return to England. He was very proud when all the labour was brought to +an end, for with "five poor miners," and a few gentlemen and soldiers, they +had carried on board almost two hundred tons of ore in twenty days. On the +night of the 21st of August the whole company were ready to embark, and +glad they were to return, for they were very weary, and the water began to +freeze around their ships at night. The next day they took down their +tents, lighted bonfires on the highest hill, and having marched round the +island with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> their banner unfurled, they fired a volley of cannon in sign +of farewell, and after having encountered several storms on their voyage, +they reached Milford Haven about the end of September.</p> + +<p>When Frobisher arrived in England he hastened to Windsor, where he was very +graciously received by Queen Elizabeth. A third expedition was planned for +the next spring, both to search for gold and to try and discover the +north-west passage. A strong fort was devised, the pieces of which were to +be carried in one of the ships, and put together when they arrived in the +new region, to which Queen Elizabeth gave the name of "Meta Incognita," or +"Unknown Land." The fort was intended for the people to dwell in, who were +to remain there during the winter, whilst twelve of the vessels out of the +fifteen that composed the fleet were to come home laden with ore—that is +to say, if it were to be found. All the captains bade the queen farewell at +Greenwich, and kissed her hand, and she gave to Frobisher "a chain of fair +gold," to show the delight she took in his enterprise. They left Harwich +for the third time on the 31st of May—Frobisher sailed in the <i>Aid</i>: the +strictest order was to be observed during the voyage; the whole company on +board were to serve God twice a day with the prayers of the Church of +England: the sailors were not allowed to swear, or to play at cards and +dice. Every evening all the fleet had to come up and speak with the +admiral, and the watchword, if any came up in the night, was this, "Before +the world was God." And the answer from the other vessel was, "After God, +came Jesus Christ His Son."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the 20th of June, after having sailed fourteen days without sight of +land, they came, at two o'clock in the morning, to the west of Freeseland. +Frobisher took possession of it in the queen's name, calling it West +England, and gave the name of Charing Cross to one of its high cliffs. The +nights in the northern regions are never dark during the summer months. As +far north as the vessels sailed the sun does not set until after ten +o'clock, and it rises again before two, so that a great part of the night, +the sky is filled with the rosy flush of sunrise and sunset. Then, in the +winter, when the days are as short as the nights are in summer, because the +north part of the world is turned away from the sun, the moon and stars are +wondrously bright, and with the northern lights enliven the long dark +hours.</p> + +<p>The savages in West Freeseland were like those in Meta Incognita; they were +very timid, and fled at the approach of the strangers, leaving all their +household goods behind them. Amongst these the mariners found some dried +herrings and a box of small nails, also some pieces of carved fir wood; but +for whatever they took they left pins, knives, or looking-glasses in +exchange.</p> + +<p>From Freeseland they went towards Frobisher's Straits, and on the way one +of the ships, called the <i>Salamander</i>, struck a great whale such a blow +with her stern that she stood quite still. A horrible noise rose up from +the sea, and the next day the dead body of a whale was seen floating about.</p> + +<p>One night the vessels entered somewhere inside the straits, and found the +whole place frozen into "walls, bulwarks, and mountains," which they could +not pass:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> they had to stem and strike the rocks of ice to make their way +at all. Some of the fleet, where they found the sea open, entered in, and +were in great danger.</p> + +<p>The bark <i>Dennis</i> struck against one of the rocks and sank within sight of +the fleet. In her distress she fired a gun, and happily the whole of her +crew were rescued in the boats that were sent to her aid. It was a great +misfortune, nevertheless, because part of the fort was on board, and was +thus lost. A violent wind from the south-east drove the ice on the backs of +the vessels. The mariners and miners had never witnessed such peril before, +and they were indeed in terrible plight, because they were shut in by +blocks of ice on all sides, and had to fix cables, beds, and planks around +their ships to protect them from them, or they would have been all cut to +pieces. Besides this they had to stand the whole night and the next day +beating it off with poles, pikes, and oars—Frobisher working hardest of +all, and cheering his men by his kind words, and his brave, steadfast +spirit. And those who were not strong enough to work prayed for the rest; +which the weak can always do, whilst stronger men are doing God's will by +helping their fellow-creatures; and prayer and work, blended in one, rise +up an acceptable offering to the Father in heaven.</p> + +<p>Four of the vessels were out in the open sea, and during the storm the +mariners were in great alarm for the safety of those shut up in the ice, +and they too knelt praying for them around their mainmast. The wind at last +blew from the north-west, and dispersed the ice, and the second night the +ships in distress were seen of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> the four others. Then the whole fleet +veered off seaward, meaning to wait until the sun should melt the icebergs, +or the winds drive them quite away, and when they had got out far into the +sea, they took in their sails and lay adrift. On the 7th of July they +thought they saw the North Foreland of the straits, but there was a dense +fog at the time; and the snow often fell in flakes so that they could not +clearly see, although now and then the sun would shine on the vessels with +intense heat. Thus they were carried far out of the way, and the lands in +that region were so much alike that Frobisher took counsel with the +captains of the fleet, to determine what part they had reached.</p> + +<p>The fogs lasted twenty days, and during that time they had indeed drifted +sixty leagues out of their way into unknown straits. Frobisher was very +anxious to recover the position he had lost, and as soon as he saw the ice +a little open he bravely led the way and anchored at last in the Countess +of Warwick's Sound. Just as he thought all peril was past, he met a great +iceberg, which forced the anchor through the ship's bows and made a breach. +Here they found, to their joy, two barks, which had been missing since the +night of their greatest danger: it was a joyful meeting, and a good man, +named Master Wolfall, who had left his living in his own country, and his +wife and children, in the hope of converting the heathens in the new land, +preached a sermon to the whole company, in which he told them to thank God +for their deliverance, and reminded them that they should ever watch and +pray, since none could tell how soon he might die.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now that they were all assembled once more Frobisher lost no time, but set +at work at once to look for the ore. Gentlemen and soldiers, all helped the +miners in their labour, whilst the captains of the vessels sought out new +mines, and the gold finers made trial of the ore. But when they wanted to +raise the fort, so many parts of it had been destroyed in the storm that it +was no longer fitted for its object, and although one of the brave captains +wanted to remain there with only fifty men, it was found that a building +large enough to hold them all could not be raised before the winter set in. +The cold was now rapidly increasing; every night the ships' ropes were +frozen so that no man might handle them without cutting his hands; besides +this the vessels were leaky, and the ice at any moment might have blocked +them in altogether, when all on board must have perished.</p> + +<p>Thus Frobisher was compelled to return to England without having found the +passage he had hoped all his life to discover. It is said that if he had +not had charge of the fleet, he would have sailed straight to the South +Sea, and thus pointed out a nearer route to China.</p> + +<p>Before they left, they caused a house of lime and stone to be built, on the +Countess of Warwick's Island, which they hoped would remain standing until +the following year, and they left in it bells, pictures, looking-glasses, +whistles, and pipes for the delight of the savages, and an oven, with bread +baked in it, that they might taste it and see how it was made. Then they +sowed peas and corn, and various sorts of grain, to see if they would grow; +and they buried all the timber left of the fort, that it might be ready for +them to use if they came to the place again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> + +<p>Whilst the ships were being laden with the ore, the admiral wanted to find +something else, and he went higher up the straits in a pinnace. It was then +that he discovered that the land on either side was not all firm as he had +imagined, but broken up into many islands.</p> + +<p>On the voyage home some of the vessels got scattered during the violent +storms that arose, and they were kept long apart, but they all reached +England by October of the year 1578.</p> + +<p>After this there is no account of Frobisher until he went in his ship the +<i>Aid</i> on an expedition to the West Indies with Sir Francis Drake, and was +present at the taking and sacking of St. Domingo. When Philip II. of Spain +sent the Invincible Armada to invade England, the English fleet prepared to +resist it was divided into four squadrons, and Frobisher commanded one of +them in the ship called the <i>Triumph</i>. Lord Howard of Effingham, the Lord +High Admiral of the fleet, was a witness of his gallant conduct on that +occasion, and knighted him on board the <i>Triumph</i> whilst the action was +going on. A little later he served under Sir Walter Raleigh in an +expedition directed towards the coasts of Spain. And in 1594 Queen +Elizabeth, having engaged to help King Henry the Fourth of France against +the Spaniards, he was sent with four vessels to protect the coasts of +Normandy and Bretagne from their attacks.</p> + +<p>On being told that they had seized the Fort of Croysson, near Brest in +Bretagne, and that Sir John Norris was trying to regain it, he hastened to +land his troops and join the English and French. With the help he afforded +the fort was taken; and although he was wounded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> severely during the +assault, he brought back the fleet in safety to Plymouth.</p> + +<p>Soon after he arrived, however, his wound proved mortal, through the +carelessness, as it is said, of his surgeon, and England lost the services +of one of her bravest and most faithful officers. His chroniclers say of +him that he was courageous, clever, upright, hasty, and severe. He was not +the less a hero because he did not succeed in his undertakings; his +attempts were made in an earnest and faithful spirit, and his example +served to encourage other men to embark in fresh voyages of discovery, +which proved more fortunate than his own.</p> + +<p>It is said that some of the ore he brought home the third time did not +prove to be gold, and Queen Elizabeth therefore renounced the idea of a +fourth expedition.</p> + +<p>In her wardrobe of jewels she preserved the bone of a strange fish, "like a +sea-unicorn," the mariners had found on their second voyage, embedded in +the ice. "The fish was twelve yards long," round like a porpoise, with a +bone of two yards growing out of the snout or nostrils.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> +<h2>SIR WALTER RALEIGH.</h2> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/s.jpg" width="125" height="126" alt="S" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_2">Sir Walter Raleigh, famed as a soldier, a sailor, an author, and a +courtier, was born in Devonshire, in the year 1552. His father, Walter +Raleigh, whose ancestors were known before the Conquest, had an estate near +Plymouth; his mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Philip Camperdown. He +received the earlier part of his education at a school in the parish of +Budely; at the age of sixteen we find that he was a commoner at Oxford, and +already distinguished as an orator and a philosopher. A year later he went +as a volunteer with one of his relations to help the Protestants in France, +and afterwards served in the Netherlands under the Prince of Orange.</p></div> + +<p>Raleigh had naturally a very active mind, and when he was not engaged in +war, he would be busily employed in planning expeditions to the New World, +some of which were carried out partly at his own expense. He had read the +voyages of Columbus and of Vasco de Gama with the deepest interest, and, +like many other ardent men of his time, desired earnestly to follow in the +path of those brave pioneers.</p> + +<p>In the year 1580 he commanded the royal troops in Ireland at the time of +Desmond's rebellion. Philip II., to punish Elizabeth for having helped his +Flemish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> subjects, sent a number of Spaniards and Italians to join the +rebels. The Spanish general was besieged in a fort he had built at Kerry; +he was forced to surrender, and the enemies of Raleigh cast great blame on +him for the cruelties exercised towards the unhappy prisoners, whilst in +reality he was only carrying out the orders of Lord Grey, the deputy of +Ireland.</p> + +<p>In a dispute he had with Lord Grey on his return to England, Raleigh +defended himself so cleverly, that he drew upon him the attention of the +queen; and an incident which occurred about this time served to bring him +into great favour at court.</p> + +<p>The queen was out walking with some of her courtiers, and having come to a +muddy place, she paused, as if in doubt whether to cross it or not. Raleigh +was present, and he immediately threw off a beautiful new cloak he wore, +and spread it on the ground. The queen tripped lightly over it, much +pleased with the gallant action, which she never forgot.</p> + +<p>Raleigh was of middle height; he had dark hair, and was said to have been +very handsome, although he had an exceedingly high forehead, and was +"long-faced and sour-lidded." His dress as he stood amongst the courtiers +would have consisted of a doublet of silk or satin fitting closely to the +body, with enormous silken or velvet hose, richly ornamented; a peaked hat, +and the cloak of gay hue, "fronted with gold and silver lace," would have +completed the costume. Raleigh was always richly attired; at one time of +his life he had a suit of armour composed of solid plates of silver, with +which he wore a belt adorned with precious stones; and Sir<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> Walter Scott +describes a portrait he had seen of him which represented him clad in white +satin, with a chain of very large pearls hanging around his neck.</p> + +<p>The queen in the course of time bestowed on him lands in Ireland, both in +the counties of Cork and Waterford. She also gave him an estate at +Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, where he laid out some beautiful gardens. He +asked so many favours for his friends, as well as for himself, that +Elizabeth once said to him soon after she had knighted him, "When shall you +cease to be a beggar, Sir Walter?"</p> + +<p>"When your Majesty ceases to be benevolent," he replied.</p> + +<p>The court life, however gay and pleasant, did not satisfy his eager spirit, +and he rejoiced very much when the queen granted him a patent for the +discovery and planting of new lands in America. For this purpose he fitted +out two small vessels, which reached the coast of Florida in the year 1585. +They sailed northward as far as an island called Roanoke, and found a tract +of land on the continent, to which Elizabeth gave the name of Virginia, but +it did not really become a flourishing colony until the reign of her +successor.</p> + +<p>Raleigh, like many other noble-minded men of his time, bore a great hatred +to Spain on account of her tyrannies; and when the invincible Armada came +to invade England, he was amongst the bravest of those who fought for their +queen and their country. And the next year he held an important command +under Drake and Norris in an expedition to place Don Antonio on the throne +of Portugal.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>When he returned to England, after having won great fame by his valour, he +found that the young Earl of Essex was rising rapidly in the queen's +favour. Much jealousy existed between these two courtiers; they were +constantly quarrelling, and the following incident will show how petty were +the means used by Essex to annoy his rival.</p> + +<p>The nobles used to make a very splendid appearance at the jousts and +tournaments which were held on the queen's birthday, and on one of these +occasions Raleigh took it into his head to accoutre all his followers in +orange-coloured plumes. Essex hearing of this, got together a much more +numerous cavalcade, decked all in the colour chosen by Raleigh, and +appeared at the head of his followers dressed in a complete suit of +orange-colour, so that when he entered the tilt-yard in sight of Elizabeth, +the followers of his rival only looked "like so many appendages to his own +train."<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> Raleigh once set out at the head of a fleet with two of the +queen's ships, and had the good fortune to capture a Portuguese vessel +which had a very rich cargo. It was in the year 1595 that he sailed with +five vessels for the discovery and conquest of Guiana,<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> a country of +South America, which was called "El Dorado," on account of the gold mines +it was supposed to contain. This was an enterprise he had planned during +some months that he had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> living in retirement at Sherborne, having +incurred the displeasure of the queen. First of all he had sent out a +captain to the spot, who made a favourable report of his voyage when he +returned home. So Raleigh put out to sea and landed in the island of +Trinidad, where he burnt the fort of Saint Joseph, which had been lately +constructed by the Spaniards, and took Don Antonio, the Spanish governor, +prisoner. He treated Antonio very kindly, and gained from him some valuable +information in reference to the country he desired to explore. He was now +very eager to set out on his enterprise, and liked the idea of it all the +better because it would undoubtedly be attended with danger. He left his +ships at Cariapan, in Trinidad, and sailed with a hundred men in several +small barks to find "the golden land." And before he returned to England he +had sailed 400 miles up the river Orinoco, which flows through Guiana, thus +being the first Englishman who had ventured in that direction.</p> + +<p>Sir Walter Raleigh wrote some strange accounts of the people he found in +the new country. Those that inhabited the mouth of the Orinoco upon the +northern branches of the river were called "Tissitinas;" they were very +brave, and talked slowly and sensibly. In dry weather they had their +dwellings on the ground like most other people, but between May and +September the Orinoco rising thirty feet and overflowing the broken land, +they lived up in the trees, as Columbus had already found men living in +other parts a century before. They never eat anything that was planted or +sown, and for bread they used the tops of the palmitos.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> The people<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +dwelling on the branches of the Orinoco called Capuri, and Macureo, were +skilful makers of canoes, and sold them for gold and tobacco. When their +chief, or king, died, they had the strange custom of keeping his body until +all the flesh fell off its bones, and then they adorned the skull with +gay-coloured feathers, and the limbs with gold plates, and hung up the +skeleton in the house the chief had dwelt in when alive. The more gentle +natives used to make war on the cannibals, but all tribes were at peace +with one another, and held the Spaniards for their common enemy when the +English appeared amongst them.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the adventurers suffered greatly from thirst and from the +excessive heat of the climate, since Guiana lies all in the torrid zone, +the hottest part of the earth. In one district they passed through, which +was low and marshy, the water that issued out of the boggy ground was +almost red, and they could only fill their waterpots with it about noon, +for if they filled them at morning or evening, it was as bad to drink as +poison, and at night it was worst of all. The wine that was used in some +parts was very strong; it was made of the juice of different fruits and +herbs, and highly seasoned with pepper. The natives kept it in great +earthen pots, which held ten or twelve gallons each.</p> + +<p>At one time during their travels the weather became fearfully hot. The +rivers were bordered with high trees, which met overhead and shut out the +air, so that they panted for breath; the currents were against them; the +water was very unwholesome to drink, and their bread was all gone. They +lived on fish, and the fruits they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> plucked along the banks of the rivers. +The beautiful flowers of the tropics twined around the great trees in the +shade, and there were birds flitting about, as Sir Walter writes, "crimson, +carnation, orange, tawny, and purple!" Still, they were in great want of +bread, and an old native pilot whom they had taken, promised them that if +they would enter a branch of the river on their right hand, with only their +barge and wherries, and leave the galley they had come in to anchor in the +great river, he would take them to a town, where they would find bread and +poultry. So they set off in their wherries, and, because they thought the +place was so near, they took no food with them at all. The day wore on, and +still the pilot said "a little farther," until the sun was low in the sky, +and they had glided down the stream forty miles. Then all at once it became +dark, because there is no twilight in the tropics; dark as pitch, they +said; the river narrowed and the trees bent over it so closely, that they +had to cut their passage through the branches with their swords. They +distrusted the pilot, although the poor old man, who must have been +somewhat out of his reckoning, still kept assuring them that they had only +a little further to go; and an hour after midnight, to their great joy they +saw a light, and heard the barking of dogs, and came to a village or town +which was almost empty, because nearly all its inhabitants had gone to the +head of the Orinoco to trade for gold. Here they found plenty of fish, and +fowls, and Indian wine, and bread, for which they gave the people things in +exchange. Raleigh says that the Spaniards used to get a hundred pounds of +cassava bread for a knife.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> + +<p>There is frequent mention in his narrative of an old king named Topiawari, +whose son he brought with him to England. He was a hundred and ten years +old, and had been taken prisoner by the Spaniards under Berreo, and led +about by them in a chain for seventeen days, that he might guide them from +place to place, for he was "a man of great understanding and policy." He +purchased his freedom with a hundred plates of gold. This old king came +fourteen miles on foot to see the English commander, and returned to his +home the same day; which must have been a long journey for one who, as he +touchingly observed himself, was "old, weak, and every day called for by +death." A number of people came with him from the villages laden with +provisions, and amongst these were delicious pine-apples in plenty. One of +the people gave Raleigh an armadillo, which he calls "a very wonderful +creature, barred all over with small scales, with a horn growing out of +it," the powder of which he was told cured deafness.</p> + +<p>Raleigh found out, as he thought, where the mines were, and brought some +spar with him to England, which was considered to afford satisfactory +promise of gold. The old king told him of a mountain of pure gold which Sir +Walter believed himself to have seen in the distance; it seemed to him like +a white tower, and had a great stream of water flowing over the top of it. +But since the rivers had begun to rise, and he had no tools to work the +supposed mines with, he resolved to return to England, well pleased that he +had found "El Dorado;" and prepared to give a glowing account of the +fertility of its soil, its valuable woods and rich gums, its different<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +berries, which dyed the most vivid crimson and carnation hues, its cotton +and silk, its pepper, sugar, and ginger, which flourished there as +luxuriantly as in the West Indian islands.</p> + +<p>Just as the adventurers were about to return to Trinidad, they encountered +a terrific storm in the broad mouth of the river Capuri, and were obliged +to lie in the dark, close to the shore. At midnight, when the wind began to +abate, Raleigh says, "We put ourselves to God's keeping and thrust out into +the sea, and left the galley to anchor until daylight. And so, being all +very sober and melancholy, one faintly cheering another to show courage, it +pleased God that the next day we descried the island of Trinidad."</p> + +<p>When Sir Walter arrived in England he published an account of the discovery +of the large and beautiful country of Guiana. Either he must have been +carried away by the excitement of the adventure, or he must have wilfully +exaggerated when he described the gold mines so confidently, since no one +who followed him ever found so great a treasure of the precious metal as he +declared was in existence. Queen Elizabeth could not be prevailed upon to +give orders for the planting of a colony in the new land, much as she +desired to increase her dominions, and so it was that the English did not +really make a settlement in Guiana until the year 1634.</p> + +<p>Raleigh went after his return on a great expedition, which ended in the +conquest of Cadiz. In this Essex had the chief command, but it was +Raleigh's courage and daring that assured the taking of the city.</p> + +<p>The favour he was held in at court now began to decline,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> and the great +fame he had earned as a soldier and a navigator had made him many enemies. +It is said that he connived with Cecil for the downfall of Essex, and he +was charged by those who bore him ill-will with having taken pleasure in +witnessing the execution of that nobleman. His own words, spoken just +before his death on the scaffold many years later, will best vindicate him +from such an accusation. He said that he was all the time in the armory of +the Tower, at the end where he could only just see Essex. He shed tears at +his death, and grieved that he was not with him, for he had heard that he +had desired to be reconciled with him before he died. And it is natural to +suppose that these two men, each one indeed at fault, would have been +happier, one in dying and the other while he lived, if they had exchanged a +few kind words, at which the old bitterness and hatred would have melted +away.</p> + +<p>The remaining part of the life of Sir Walter Raleigh was a succession of +misfortunes and sorrows: at the death of the queen his good fortune may be +said to have deserted him. The same year that James the Sixth of Scotland +succeeded his cousin Elizabeth, a plot was formed to place on the throne of +England in his stead the Lady Arabella Stuart, who was equally descended +from Henry the Seventh with himself. The Lords Grey and Cobham, Sir Walter +Raleigh, two Catholic priests, and several others were accused of conniving +at it, and arrested for high treason. How far Raleigh was implicated it is +difficult now to decide: it is probable that he knew of the plot, because +he was the intimate friend of Lord Cobham. He was carried to Winchester, +where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> sentence of death was passed upon him, and he remained there a whole +month, daily expecting to be led to the scaffold. At the urgent entreaty of +Lady Raleigh the king commuted the sentence of death to imprisonment in the +Tower; and there, on the 15th of December, 1603, Raleigh took up his abode, +followed by his affectionate wife and his son Walter, who had obtained +permission to share his captivity. Most English boys have looked on the +rooms in the Tower where this brave man passed more than twelve years, a +large portion out of the life on earth, especially on the narrow +sleeping-room, to enter which, he had to creep under a low stone archway.</p> + +<p>Those years must have contrasted strangely with his past life, full of +brave deeds and adventures in a land where all things seemed new. His +friends and his enemies alike pitied him now that he was shut up within his +gloomy walls. The young Prince Henry had a great regard for him, and +admired his brilliant qualities. "Surely," he used to say, "no man but my +father would keep such a bird in a cage!"</p> + +<p>After his first despair was over he employed himself in making chemical +experiments, in educating his children—for his second son Carew was born +in the Tower,—and in writing several works, one of which, entitled "The +History of the World," has been much admired.</p> + +<p>And when, after so many years had passed, and the doors of his prison were +opened, he came out into the free air, "a worn, weak, and aged man," almost +without fortune, haughty, and prone to take offence no more, but still +brave and hopeful. He obtained his liberty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> chiefly through the interest of +the Duke of Buckingham, whose services he paid with the sum of fifteen +hundred pounds. He was released on condition of finding the gold mines of +Guiana, and having embarked in the enterprise all that remained of his own +and his wife's fortunes he set sail for South America, taking with him his +son Walter, all the while the sentence of death once passed upon him was +still hanging over his head.</p> + +<p>But failure and sorrow were in store for him: two of his ships abandoned +him; sickness broke out amongst the crews of those that remained, Sir +Walter Raleigh was attacked by it himself, and was not able to land when +they drew near the shore of Guiana. He deputed Captain Keymis to land with +the adventurers, and to repel any Spaniards he might find near the mine. An +affray took place in which young Raleigh was killed; and Keymis, attempting +to keep a footing on shore, a second time was surprised by some Spaniards +who had been lying in wait for him. The failure of the enterprise and the +disappointment of Raleigh weighed so heavily upon him, that he killed +himself in despair.</p> + +<p>Raleigh thus went back to England in sorrow for the loss of his son, and +with little hope left that his own life would be spared. When he landed in +England he found that the king was very angry with him for having attacked +the Spaniards, because he was at peace with their sovereign; and that he +intended to renew all his former accusations against him. This King James +was led to do by Gondemar, the Spanish ambassador, who bore an extreme +hatred to Raleigh; it is even supposed that the Spaniards in Guiana had +been secretly told to prepare<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> to resist. James made a proclamation to the +effect that he had forbidden all acts of hostility on land belonging to the +Spaniards. Directly Raleigh heard this he wrote a letter to the king in +defence of his conduct. He was repairing to London, and was met on the road +by Sir Lewis Stukely, one of his relations, who told him that he was to +arrest him. Then it was that Raleigh yielded to weakness which he repented +of in after hours. He pretended that he was ill, that he had lost his +reason, anything to delay the moment of his arrest.</p> + +<p>Once he planned an escape to France, but when he had got in disguise from +the Tower Docks as far as Woolwich he was overtaken by some people in the +pay of the Government; and at Greenwich was formally arrested by his +kinsman, who had accompanied him in his flight. The next morning, August +7th, he was conducted to the Tower, where he took a kind farewell of the +king, and remained imprisoned there until the 28th of October. And on that +day, as he was lying ill, the king's officers came at eight o'clock in the +morning to convey him to Westminster. Thence he was taken to Gate House, +and the next morning to the Old Palace Yard, where the scaffold was erected +on which he was to die, that the king might preserve peace with Spain! The +people of England thought James was very unkind to condemn a man whose +guilt had never been proved, and who was the most valiant and spirited in +the whole land. And indeed the execution of Raleigh has ever been +considered unjust.</p> + +<p>He appeared upon the scaffold with a smiling countenance, and saluted all +of his friends and acquaintances<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> who were present. Then he spoke in his +own defence, but notwithstanding the deep silence around, his words were +not heard by the Lords Arundel and Doncaster, and some other lords and +knights who sat at a window looking into the yard, and he begged them to +come upon the scaffold. When he had saluted them all he thanked God for +having brought him into the light to die, instead of suffering him to die +in the dark prison of the Tower. Then he defended himself eloquently +against the numerous charges that had been made against him, and ended by +entreating all his friends to pray for him, because he said that since he +had been a soldier, a captain, a sea-captain, and a courtier, he must needs +have fallen into many sins.</p> + +<p>The lords and knights departed sorrowfully from the scaffold, and Raleigh +prepared for death; he gave away his hat, his wrought night-cap, and some +money to some of those who remained near him. "I have a long journey to +go," he said, "and therefore I will take my leave." And when he had taken +off his black velvet gown and his satin doublet, he called to the headsman, +and examined the axe, saying, as he felt along its edge, "This is a sharp +medicine, but it is a physician for all disorders." Being asked which way +he would lay his head on the block, he said, "So the heart be right, it is +no matter which way the head lieth." A minute later his head was severed +with two blows from his body; the story of his life was ended, and the +unjust king could keep the peace he had purchased with the sacrifice of a +man who, although faulty, had many of the attributes of true greatness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p> + +<p>The body of Sir Walter Raleigh was buried in St. Margaret's Church. His +sorrowing widow kept his head in a case during her lifetime; it was +afterwards buried with her son Carew at West Horsley, in Surrey. Raleigh +was tenderly attached to his wife, and wrote her an affectionate and solemn +letter during the early part of his imprisonment, in which he gave her some +good advice. "If you can live free from want," he said, "care for no more, +for the rest is but vanity. Love God, and begin betimes; in Him you shall +have everlasting felicity. When you have travelled and wearied yourself +with all sorts of worldly cogitations, you shall sit down in sorrow at the +end.... Teach your son also to serve and fear God whilst he is young, that +the fear of God may grow up in him."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> This story is mentioned in the "British Biography."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Guiana was originally discovered to the Europeans by Vincent +Pinzon before the end of the fifteenth century. It was Juan Martinez, a +Spaniard, who first gave the name of El Dorado to the city of Manoa, in +Guiana.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> A species of palm.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p> +<h2>SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.</h2> + + +<div class="drop"> +<img src="images/s.jpg" width="125" height="126" alt="S" class="cap" /> +<p class="cap_2"> +Sir Philip Sidney was born at Penshurst in Kent, in the year 1554. His +father, Sir Henry Sidney, was one of the best men that ever lived, and +governed Ireland for some time with extreme justice and prudence. His +mother was Mary, daughter of the Duke of Northumberland, who was beheaded +for maintaining the cause of Lady Jane Grey. She had the sorrow of seeing +her brother Lord Guildford Dudley also led to the scaffold; and after these +terrible events lived much in retirement, devoting herself to the care and +education of her sons Philip and Robert, and her daughter Mary, afterwards +Countess of Pembroke.</p></div> + +<p>Under the guidance of such parents, the children at Penshurst grew up in +the closest bonds of family love. The grand old house they lived in was an +abode worthy of a noble race. It had been given by Edward the Sixth to Sir +William Sidney, the grandfather of Sir Philip. The park was famed for its +beeches, chestnut trees, and oaks of stately growth; one of the latter, +known by the name of "Sidney's Oak," remains standing to this day. Rich +pasture lands lay around, the streams abounded with fish, the gardens and +orchards with flowers and fruit. Here wandered Sir Philip with his beloved +sister, his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> young brother Robert, who succeeded to his uncle's earldom of +Leicester,<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> with the chivalrous Raleigh, the poet Spenser, the +play-writer Ben Jonson, and all the good, brave, and clever men of that +age.</p> + +<p>From his earliest childhood he was so sweet-tempered and intelligent that +his father lovingly called him "the light of this family." He was very fond +of study, and went first to school at Shrewsbury, where we find he +delighted his father greatly, when he was twelve years old, by writing him +a letter in Latin, and another in French. At the age of fifteen he went to +Christchurch, Oxford, where he appears to have studied with much diligence +during the short period of his college life.</p> + +<p>In the year 1571 an embassy was sent to the Court of Charles the Ninth of +France, in order to treat for a marriage between the king's youngest +brother, Henry Duke of Alençon, and Queen Elizabeth. The queen had already +shown signs of regard for young Sidney, whom in after years she called "the +brightest jewel in her crown," and she allowed him to go abroad with the +mission, for the purpose of acquiring a perfect knowledge of foreign +languages.</p> + +<p>Sir Philip was in Paris on the fatal day of Saint Bartholomew, but was safe +in the house of his friend Walsingham, then English minister at the French +Court, whilst the unhappy Protestants were being cruelly massacred +everywhere around him.</p> + +<p>He afterwards travelled through Germany to Vienna,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> where he made himself +perfect in every martial exercise, going thence to study science at Venice, +to visit the poet Tasso at Padua, and lastly to Rome.</p> + +<p>And whilst he was storing his mind with knowledge, and learning all +accomplishments worthy of a true knight, he tried to lead a holy life, and, +as far as it was in his power, to keep himself blameless in the sight of +God and man; so that when he returned to England at the age of twenty, +other men far older than himself looked up to him with respect, and he was +considered the brightest ornament of the English Court.</p> + +<p>During his travels in Flanders, which at that time belonged to Spain, he +had grieved to see how unhappy the people were made by the Duke of Alva, +the State minister of Philip the Second of Spain. Philip did not love his +Flemish subjects at all; they were mostly Protestants, and he wanted to +take their liberty from them and force them to become Roman Catholics. And +when they began to rebel against his unjust treatment, he sent the cruel +Duke of Alva to them, having first told him that he might do whatever he +liked with them.</p> + +<p>Alva arrived in Brussels, and began by arresting and imprisoning the Counts +Egmont and Horn, two noble-minded men, who, after trying in vain to make +peace between the king and the Belgians, had taken the part of the +Protestants from a love of justice and mercy. Count Egmont had helped +Philip to win the great battle of St. Quentin over the French, but he was +compassionate as well as brave, and Philip was so afraid that he would be +too kind to the people of Belgium that he advised Alva secretly to get rid +of him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> + +<p>Alva kept the Counts in prison in Ghent for nine months, and then had them +carried to Brussels and beheaded, on the 4th of June, 1568, on a scaffold +raised on one of the principal squares in the city. They died with courage, +martyrs for the liberty of Flanders, but their execution was a cruel +injustice, and the people were nearly frantic with grief when the bloody +deed was done. Alva remained in Flanders more than four years, and is said +to have caused eighteen thousand Protestants to be beheaded during that +time. Then Holland rose in revolt; the Prince of Orange was made +stadtholder, and Alva, seeing that his day was over, went back to Spain, +where he must have been very unhappy when he thought over all his +wickedness. The Protestants in Germany fared very little better than those +in Flanders, for when the Emperor Rudolf the Second began to reign, he +forbade them to worship according to their faith. Sidney was sent on an +embassy to Rudolf, and did all he could whilst he was in Germany to humble +Spain.</p> + +<p>The Flemings asked Elizabeth to be their queen; this she would not agree +to, but she sent them some troops and some money, and Sidney implored her +to let him take the command in the enterprise, he wanted so much to be of +service to his fellow-men, and to deliver those who were unjustly treated +from their oppressors. The queen declared, however, that she could not +spare him from her Court, and he was obliged to wait patiently a little +longer. Meanwhile he took part in the amusements of the Court, the jousts +and the royal progresses from place to place, which were always attended +with great show. To these must be added the masques, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> the first time +Sir Philip distinguished himself as an author was by writing a masque, +entitled "The Lady of May," which was performed before the queen at +Wanstead in Essex. Sidney was the patron of artists, musicians, and +authors; he was a kind and sincere friend of the poet Spenser, who had +originally been brought from his home in Ireland to the English Court by +Sir Walter Raleigh.</p> + +<p>Weary at last of remaining inactive, Sidney planned, without the queen's +knowledge, an expedition to America, in which he was to be joined by the +bold navigator, Sir Francis Drake. He had arrived at Plymouth, whence the +ships were to start, when Elizabeth, having gained information of the +projected voyage, sent messengers with letters to Sidney, in which she +desired him not to sail, and threatened to stay the whole fleet if he did +not obey her.</p> + +<p>Sir Philip, already on the alert, contrived to intercept the messengers; +their letters were taken from them by two soldiers disguised as sailors. +The queen, finding threats useless, then sent a positive royal command to +her favourite, which he was bound out of duty to his sovereign to obey, and +thus he was fated never to see the beautiful new land in the west, with its +growth of gorgeous flowers and rich fruits, its giant trees, and its +bright-coloured birds, its wonderful landscapes, the beauty of which far +exceeded the ideal formed of them.</p> + +<p>Elizabeth's displeasure did not last long. It was the high esteem she held +him in that made her so loth to let him quit England, and she was not +offended with him when he had the courage to write her a letter in which he +entreated her not to marry the Duke of Alençon, now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> Duke of Anjou, and +pointed out the trouble such a union might bring upon England. The queen +wisely followed his advice, and gave up all idea of a marriage which her +subjects had very much disliked.</p> + +<p>Sir Philip, one day in the tilt-yard, had a dispute with Lord Oxford, in +which both were to blame, but Lord Oxford the more so of the two. This +caused Sidney to withdraw for a time from Court, and retire to a house he +had at Wilton, where he wrote "The Arcadia," a pastoral romance, and some +other works, which gained him the fame of a poet. He did not mean "The +Arcadia" to be published, nor did it appear in print until after his death. +He wrote it to afford pleasure to his sister Mary, and sent to her each +part of it as he completed it.</p> + +<p>A time came when the Flemings were again reduced to a state of extreme +wretchedness. The great and good stadtholder was basely murdered, and the +Spanish troops were making rapid progress through the country. So they +asked Elizabeth again to be their queen and to send them succour. She +refused the crown a second time, but agreed to help the Flemings with +troops on condition that the towns of Flushing and Brille should be placed +in her hands. And Sidney, to his great joy, was appointed governor of +Flushing, whither he went in November, 1585. The good Count Maurice of +Nassau received him as a brother, and he was made general of all the +forces, English and Dutch, in the town. Soon he had to welcome there his +uncle, the Earl of Leicester, who, by the favour of Elizabeth, was +entrusted with the command of the army.</p> + +<p>For some time Sidney was obliged to remain inactive,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> but in the year 1586 +he and Count Maurice surprised Axel, a town on the way to Antwerp, and the +strongest place held by the Spaniards in the Netherlands. Here he kept his +soldiers in the strictest order. When they were marching they were enjoined +to be silent, and a band of the choicest among them was stationed in the +market-place for the security of the town.</p> + +<p>So many brave gentlemen were covetous of the honour of surprising +Gravelines, that Sir Philip Sidney, not liking to risk the lives of all, +persuaded his inferior officers to try their fortune by dice on the top of +a drum. The lot fell upon Sir William Browne, and by this game of +hazard<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> the lives of many Englishmen were saved.</p> + +<p>On the 30th of August Sidney went with his uncle to invest Doesburg, a +fortress on the river Issel. This place was important because it opened the +way to Zutphen, and if Zutphen were once taken, the English and Dutch would +command the river. Doesburg was gained, and Zutphen soon after surrounded; +Leicester guarding it by water, and Sir Philip Sidney, Count Louis of +Nassau, and Sir John Norris, guarding it by land.</p> + +<p>News was brought to the English camp that a large supply of food was at a +place called Deventer, not far off, and Leicester was resolved that it +should not be brought into the town, whilst the garrison were equally +resolved to receive it. On the morning of the 22nd of September, Sidney +advanced to the walls of Zutphen with only 200 men. Before he set out he +was clad in complete armour, but meeting the marshal of the camp only +lightly armed, he took off some of the armour that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> covered his legs. There +was a mist at the time he set out, but when he had galloped quite close to +the town, it dispersed, and he found a thousand of the enemy in readiness +to receive him. The fight soon began, his horse was killed under him, and +he mounted another. The battle was furious, and the Spaniards, although +they were five times as many as the English, were totally routed. In the +last charge, Sir Philip was wounded severely in the thigh; his horse, being +very mettlesome, rushed furiously from the battle-field, and carried him a +mile and a half, wounded and bleeding, to the spot where Leicester stood. +When he lay in his anguish on the field, a bottle of water was brought to +him that he might quench his thirst; but seeing a soldier near him, wounded +like himself, look wistfully at it, he ordered it to be carried to him, +saying, "This man's necessity is greater than mine."</p> + +<p>His friends and his soldiers were overcome with grief when his state became +known; at the sight of his sufferings they almost forgot the glory of his +triumph; Yet amidst all his pain, he never ceased declaring that as long as +he lived his life was the queen's, and not his own, and that his friends +ought not to be discouraged. They laid him gently in his uncle's barge; +slowly it glided down the river to Arnheim, in Gelderland, and whilst he +lay patiently in it, he was heard to express the hope that his wound was +not mortal, and that he might yet have time to become holier before he +died.</p> + +<p>Day after day he lay in great pain, but talking kindly the while to the +friends who grouped lovingly around him, and tended by his wife, +Walsingham's daughter, who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> hastened to Arnheim as soon as she heard +tidings of his disaster. When he felt he could only live a little time +longer, he made his confession of Christian faith, and settled his earthly +affairs, remembering in his will all those whom he had loved. He took a +tender farewell of his brother Robert, telling him "to love his memory and +cherish his friends, and to govern his own will by the word of his +Creator." And then having called for music, while sweet strains filled the +chamber, silent with coming death, the spirit passed from this world.</p> + +<p>His remains were brought to England, and interred in the great church of +St. Paul, which eighty years later was destroyed by the fire of London.</p> + +<p>"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord:" such were the words inscribed +on his coffin; and the perfectness of his character, and the regard in +which men held him, cannot be better expressed than in the language of the +old chronicle which says, "As his life was most worthie, so his end was +most godlie. The love men bore him, left fame behind him; his friendlie +courtesie to many procured him good-will of all."<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p>The Poles after the death of their king, Stephen Balori, would have +conferred the crown on Sir Philip Sidney, because he was so justly renowned +for his humane and upright spirit, but he thought that his first duty was +to his sovereign, and the idea was renounced.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> The Earl of Leicester, the Court favourite of Queen +Elizabeth, was brother to Lady Mary Sidney.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> See "British Biography."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Holinshed.</p></div> + +<h4><i>J. AND W. RIDER, PRINTERS, LONDON.</i></h4> +</div> + + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY'S BOOK OF HEROES***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 37315-h.txt or 37315-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/7/3/1/37315">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/3/1/37315</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Boy's Book of Heroes + + +Author: Helena Peake + + + +Release Date: September 4, 2011 [eBook #37315] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY'S BOOK OF HEROES*** + + +E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Josephine Paolucci, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 37315-h.htm or 37315-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37315/37315-h/37315-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37315/37315-h.zip) + + + + + +[Illustration: _"And thrusting his sword through its head, laid it +dead on the ground."--p. 4_] + + +THE BOY'S BOOK OF HEROES. + +by + +HELENA PEAKE. + +With Original Illustrations. + + + + + + + +London: +Frederick Warne and Co., +Bedford Street, Covent Garden. +New York: Scribner, Welford, and Co. + +London: +J. and W. Rider, Printers, +Bartholomew Close. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + HEREWARD--LAST OF THE SAXONS 1 + + THE CID 17 + + LOUIS IX., KING OF FRANCE 49 + + GUSTAVUS VASA, KING OF SWEDEN 82 + + BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN 110 + + CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 144 + + THE CHEVALIER DE BAYARD 192 + + SIR MARTIN FROBISHER 225 + + SIR WALTER RALEIGH 242 + + SIR PHILIP SIDNEY 257 + + + + +A LITTLE BOY'S BOOK OF HEROES. + + + + +HEREWARD.--LAST OF THE SAXONS. + + +In the days of Edward the Confessor there lived in Mercia a noble +Anglo-Saxon youth named Hereward. He was brave, stedfast, and spirited, but +so violent and overbearing, so ready to quarrel and to use his sword, if +everything he desired was not conceded to him at once that the youths he +played and wrestled with around his home at Bourne[1], resolved to make +complaint of him to his father, Leofric, the great Earl of Mercia. + +Leofric was a very valiant man, and he had done King Edward good service at +the time of Earl Godwin's rebellion. He had three sons; of these Hereward +was the second; the eldest was Algar, whom the Confessor made lord over +East Anglia. + +Leofric was very much grieved when he heard, day after day, of the unruly +deeds of his son, and found that he paid little heed to the reproofs he so +justly deserved. And if Leofric was grieved, far more so was his wife, the +saintly lady Godiva, who passed nearly the whole of her time in the +performance of good works, feeding and clothing the poor, nursing the sick, +and praying long hours for those she loved, and it may be most of all for +her wayward son, Hereward. Besides this, she gave large sums of money for +the support of religious houses, and founded the monastery at Coventry, +which is said to have contained greater treasure of gold, silver, and +jewels, than any other in England. + +But father and mother at last were wearied out, and Leofric persuaded King +Edward to outlaw his turbulent son, as the only means of preserving peace +in the neighbourhood of his castle of Bourne. + +The youth, not the least dismayed when sentence was passed upon him, set +out on his travels accompanied by one servant, named Martin, as brave and +as reckless as himself, and who followed him because he loved him. Perhaps +some of his relations were sorry after all to see him go, for they could +not help admiring his free, brave spirit, and amongst those who cared for +him was his uncle Brand, abbot of Peterborough, a very pious man, as the +chroniclers say, but haughty and unbending to the enemies of his land. + +Let us glance at Hereward as he bade farewell for many a year to the home +of his youth. He was of middle height, broad shouldered, and sturdy limbed, +but active and graceful in all his movements. His features were handsome, +his golden hair fell in long curls over his shoulders, according to the +Saxon fashion; one of his large eyes being blue and the other grey, gave a +strange expression to his countenance. + +It is supposed that he lived chiefly in the woods and forests during the +early days of his exile, but a few months after he quitted Bourne, we find +him "beyond Northumberland" with the Fleming, Gilbert of Ghent, who bore +him good-will, and had sent for him as soon as he heard that he was +outlawed. Hereward had not been long in his friend's house, which was in +some part of Scotland, when an event occurred which redounded very much to +his credit. + +It was the custom then for rich men to have various kinds of sports at +Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, and they used to keep a number of wild +beasts in enclosures, which were led forth at these seasons, that the noble +youths assembled might try their strength against them. + +It was Christmas time when Hereward arrived "beyond Northumberland." He had +passed some joyous days hunting in the wintry forests, and had become a +great favourite with the company, because he excelled in all manly sports, +and could charm the ladies besides by singing sweetly, and playing on the +harp, in the long winter evenings. But when he looked at the wild beasts in +their cages, he only saw one that he thought he should like to fight with, +and that was a huge white bear, which was known to be exceedingly fierce. +And beyond this it was said that its parent was the famed Norwegian bear, +which lived far away in the pine woods of the north, and, according to the +fable believed in at the time, was endowed with human sense, and could +understand human speech. + +Now it happened one day that the white bear broke the bars of its +enclosure, and rushed out, killing and tearing to pieces all the animals +that came in its path. This must have been very alarming, and worse still, +it was making its way towards a room, opening out of the court where the +women and children belonging to the house had taken refuge, and some +knights in their terror had followed them, instead of trying to drive back +the fierce creature with their lances. Hereward had just come in from +hunting, and saw at a glance what had happened; he went straight up to the +bear, and thrusting his sword through its head, he laid it dead on the +ground. + +His praises after this were sung far and wide; but amidst all the joy there +was a secret plot made to destroy him by some of the knights who had shown +themselves to be cowards, and were jealous of the bold deed he had +performed. So one day they concealed themselves in the wood and tried to +kill him as he came slowly along the mossy paths followed by his servant +Martin. The story tells how Hereward slew two of these knights in +self-defence, and another crept away, or was carried wounded to the house. +Soon after this he bade Gilbert of Ghent farewell; he said that he could +not live happily where there were traitors, but those who loved him were +grieved when he rode away, and the women shed many tears, remembering how +he had saved them with his strong right arm from a cruel death. + +From Scotland he went to Cornwall, and there we are told he performed some +brave deeds, and rescued a Cornish princess by slaying in combat a fierce +and cruel Pict, a giant in height, whom her father had commanded her to +marry against her own inclination. + +Some time after he was heard of in Ireland, where he took part in the +warlike exploits of King Ranald. Whenever there was fighting he was sure to +be found where the danger was thickest, and the name of "The Wake" was +given to him because he was always on the watch for his enemies, and could +never be taken unawares. + +But in Ireland he began to get homesick; he longed to see his brave father +once more, and his mother, the Lady of Bourne, sitting amongst her maidens, +or gliding amongst the sick like some comforting angel; he wanted to know +if his relations had any kindly feeling left towards him. This longing +became so strong that he asked the king to give him two ships, which Ranald +granted him readily in return for his services, and with these he set out +for England. But he had not sailors enough on board, and since he could get +no more to serve him in Ireland, he sailed up northwards towards the +Orkneys. When he reached these islands a storm arose and one of his ships +was wrecked on the shore of Hoy. + +With the other vessel he hoped to get safe to England, but he had not been +long at sea when the winds blew furiously, the waves dashed and foamed, and +storm-tossed for many days he was at last driven on the shore of Flanders. +In this country he found a welcome, and married a noble Flemish lady named +Torfrida. No part of his life, perhaps, was more peaceful than that which +he spent in his new home: nevertheless, it appears that wherever he was, he +always engaged in the wars that were carried on around him, and never +failed to distinguish himself by his valour. + +Whilst Hereward had been wandering about all this time an outlaw, great +changes had taken place in the affairs of England. On the death of Edward +the Confessor the English had welcomed Harold, son of Earl Godwin to the +throne, quietly setting aside Edgar Atheling, who was too weak-minded to +defend his right, or to have ruled had he been king. But Harold had +scarcely been crowned when William of Normandy began making his vast +preparations for the conquest of England. The terrible battle of Hastings +had been fought; Harold the Second was slain, and nearly all the bravest +warriors amongst the English had fallen on the battle-field. And with the +exception of a few valiant noblemen, it seemed as if the people of England +had lost all spirit and would bow quietly to the Norman yoke. Leofric of +Mercia was dead; Algar also had died, leaving two fair young sons, Edwin +and Morcar, who at the time of the conquest were accounted the most +powerful noblemen in the land, Edwin being Earl of Mercia, and Morcar, Earl +of Northumberland. It must be remembered that Mercia included all the +midland counties of England. + +The brothers proclaimed Edgar Atheling king, and tried to persuade the +Londoners to rise; but their efforts were of no avail, and they were soon +obliged to retire to their own lands. + +One day, some emigrants came to Flanders and told Hereward all that had +happened in England. Oh, how he wished he had been amongst the Saxons on +the day of battle! Surely, if there had been many as brave and stern as he, +the Normans would have been driven back. And when he learned that some +Frenchmen had taken possession of the estate of Bourne, which was now his +own, and that they were cruelly oppressing his widowed mother, he only +waited to bid Torfrida farewell, and then set out for England, followed by +Martin, with the intention of avenging his mother's wrongs. + +It was late in the evening when he drew near the old house of Bourne. Some +of the companions of his boyhood recognised him, and told him that William +of Normandy had given his estate to a low-born foreigner, and that a party +of Normans had just taken up their abode in the house. So Hereward hastened +on towards Bourne, and sought out a house at the end of the long street +which belonged to one Percy where he thought he could lodge for the night. +Here he found a number of fighting men bewailing the misfortunes of +England, and heard from them how the Frenchmen had robbed his mother of all +her treasures, and how his youngest brother, a youth of sixteen, had been +slain defending her, and his head had been fastened up over the door of the +house. And one amongst the company of warriors said, that if Hereward, the +outlawed son of Leofric had been at home, this trouble would never have +come upon Bourne. + +Now Hereward, having formed a plan in his mind, did not make himself known +yet: he only said that he had come from Flanders, but the men perceived by +the flash of his eye and his proud bearing that his spirit was kindled at +their wrongs, and their hearts leaned towards him because he looked so +brave and strong. + +After a while, the warriors dropped off one by one to sleep as the night +wore on. Hereward heard in the silence around, the sound of harps and +joyful singing, and the clinking of goblets. He asked a boy what it was +that he heard, and the boy said it was the merry-making of the guests in +the lord's house above, where the youngest son had been killed only the day +before. Then Hereward beckoned Martin and Percy to him, and by their means +he covered his helmet and his shining coat of mail with some woman's robe +of black stuff, and went out with Martin, who was disguised in like manner, +to the house of Bourne. The first grievous sight that awaited him was the +head of his young brother fixed up above the door. He could see through the +windows the Normans sitting at their feast in noisy merriment: they boasted +loudly of their deeds, and spoke slightingly of Hereward, whom they +believed to be far away in Flanders, although one Flemish woman amongst the +guests declared that if he had been there he could have overthrown them +all. + +Then Hereward, the Wake, the Terrible, waited to hear no more; he rushed +with Martin on those unprepared men; a fearful struggle began, and of all +the foreigners, it is said that not one was left there alive when the day +dawned. Such is the story told by the Monk of Ely, of the fierce and +relentless manner in which Bourne was rescued from the Normans. + +The Lady Godiva was very thankful to know that she had yet a son to protect +her. After this night of horror she removed to the Abbey of Croyland, where +she lived praying and fasting, and tending the poor and sick until she +died. + +In the year 1069 there was a rebellion throughout England. The English were +angry and indignant when they saw how the Conqueror bestowed all the high +offices in the land upon his Normans, whilst he trod their own liberties +under foot. + +Several bands of patriots assembled in the marshy lands of Cambridgeshire, +and there in the island of Ely they formed entrenchments of earth and wood, +and lived in security, often completely hidden by the mists that rose up +from the stagnant waters. There, too, they were amongst friends; the Abbey +of Croyland was in the marshes; Peterborough was not far off northward, and +as yet the monastery was held by the Abbot Brand, who prided himself on +never having sought favour from the Conqueror. + +Meanwhile, Hereward had returned to Flanders, but he did not remain there +long, and when he came back to England a second time, bringing with him his +wife Torfrida and his little daughter, his kinsmen welcomed him heartily, +and asked him to lead them in the battles they hoped to fight with the +Normans. + +But notwithstanding the numerous warlike deeds he had performed, he was not +what was called a legitimate "miles" or knight, and to be this it was +requisite that he should receive knighthood according to the Anglo-Saxon +custom. It was a law that every man desiring to be a lawful knight should +go to some abbey, and the evening before the ceremony of knighthood was to +take place, should confess his sins in deep penitence, and pass the whole +night inside the church in prayer and mortification. The next morning he +was to hear mass, and then offer up his sword upon the altar; this being +done the Gospel would be read, and the priest, having consecrated the +sword, would place it on the neck of the warrior with his blessing.[2] + +The Normans looked with much scorn on this manner of knighthood at the +hands of a priest, but it may have been, as a modern French historian +observes, that they did not like to see so many knights continually rising +up amongst a people they had conquered. + +Hereward went to Peterborough,[3] with two of his band, Winter and Gwenoch, +and persuaded his uncle to knight them all. And he told him that William +had given the abbey to Thorold, called "the fighting monk," but that Brand +would not believe for a long time. + +All the brave Anglo-Saxons rose up now to make a last effort to deliver +themselves from the Normans. The Danes came to help them under Objorn, +brother of Sweyn, King of Norway. Edgar Atheling appeared from Scotland +with a number of brave men. The people of York put their Norman governor to +death; the fiercest struggles were in the north of England. Hereward +established himself with his followers in the island of Ely, and had a +fortress of wood constructed which served them for shelter, and was a point +where other men of like mind could meet them from the forests and +fastnesses around. And here they remained for a long time to the great +annoyance of the Normans who could not reach them because their horses +constantly lost their footing in the marshes and bogs around. + +Thorold set out for Peterborough, but Brand did not live to be despoiled +of his abbey. Hereward hearing that the fighting monk was coming, hastened +to Peterborough with some of his men, and when they found that the monks +were not at all inclined to bar the entrance of Thorold, they took all the +crosses, and golden cups, the sacred robes and staffs belonging to the +abbey, and carried them to their quarters in Ely. And soon after this the +monks of Peterborough opened the gates to the Normans. + +The Danish warriors made their way to Ely, but William found means to +persuade Sweyn to recall them, and he bribed Objorn to retire by giving him +large presents and the liberty of plundering the sea coast. The departure +of the Danes caused great vexation to the people in Ely, because they +carried away with them all the sacred treasures of Peterborough. + +Now Taillebois, the Angevin,[4] had many followers, and being a great +boaster, he swore that he would quickly drive the outlaws out of their +hiding places. The fighting monk was out in the marshes, and he told him +that he meant to attack the English. Hereward let him enter a forest of +willows which served to protect the patriots from their enemies, but as +Taillebois went in on one side of the forest, he came out on the other side +himself, and falling upon Thorold and his men, who had remained behind, he +took them all prisoners and kept them in the marshes, not releasing the +abbot until he had paid him three thousand marks of silver. + +The young brothers, Edwin and Morcar, had not joined in this last +rebellion, but they were not at all happy at King William's court; their +hearts were with their brave kinsman and not with the conqueror of their +land. At last Edwin went to Northumberland to lay his plans for another +rising, and Morcar fled to the island of Ely, where Hereward was still +holding out bravely, although the Saxon nobles in other parts of England +had all given way. + +William was very uneasy so long as he could not gain possession of Ely. In +the hope of preventing the Saxons from coming out of the island, he +surrounded it with flat-bottomed boats and made a causeway to the extent of +two miles. The workmen who were employed in constructing the causeway were +much harassed by Hereward and his men, and the king was persuaded by some +of his nobles to place an old woman, believed to be a witch, in a wooden +tower at the head of the works that she might use her spells against the +enemy. Hereward, on this, came out with his troop and set fire to the +willows that grew closely around the tower, and thus the poor old woman +perished in the flames. This seems to have been a very cruel act on the +part of our hero, although, unhappily, in those days, the burning of +witches was not considered a crime. + +The island remained blockaded for several months. At last the inmates of a +monastery in the interior got very hungry because no provisions could be +brought in, and they sent word to the king that they would show him how his +troops might enter the island if he would promise not to deprive them of +their property. Two Norman knights, Gilbert de Clare, and Guillaume de +Larenne undertook to try the path; the king's troops poured in after them, +and it is said that they put a thousand Englishmen to the sword. All the +nobles now surrendered except Hereward, and William imprisoned Morcar, and +Egelwine, Bishop of Durham, who had taken refuge in Ely. Morcar died in his +prison,[5] and Egelwine went mad, and as for the others "they suffered so +much in their captivity that it had been better for them if they had been +put to death the day they were taken."[6] + +Hereward, with a few of his men, fought his way through the enemy and +escaped from their pursuit by difficult paths to the lowlands of +Lincolnshire. There some Saxon fishermen who were in the habit of carrying +fish every day to the Norman stations, along the marshes, concealed them in +their boats by covering them up with straw. When the boats reached one of +these strongholds, the Normans little imagining that their greatest enemy +was so near, purchased their fish as usual, and when it was cooked, sat +down to dinner. They had scarcely begun to eat when Hereward and his men +rose up out of the straw, and with hatchets in their hands rushed suddenly +upon them. There was a fierce conflict, and many of the Normans were slain; +those who survived fled in great terror and left their horses behind them +ready saddled. Then Hereward, and the followers that remained to him, each +chose a good steed for himself and galloped away into the forests. + +In the country around they found many friends, and before they came as far +as Huntingdon their company included a hundred well armed men, all of them +faithful subjects of Hereward and proud to share his exploits. Their +numbers increasing daily, they became so strong at last that Gaimar, the +French poet, says they might have assailed a city. And a very strong castle +they did take, and found in it quantities of gold, silver, and armour, +besides rich furs and stuffs. So for a while they went on fighting under +their brave leader with spirit unquenched; often one Englishman against +three of the enemy. + +But hope died out even in the heart of Hereward when the power of the +Conqueror became fully established in the land. His friends were either +dead or in prison, or they had been sent blinded and maimed to their homes. +The persuasions of a Saxon lady, named Alfrueda, helped to induce him to +make peace, or rather a truce, with William, and he set out accordingly, +followed by three of his comrades, for Winchester, where the king was then +living. But when he drew near the gates of the city, he thought that this +manner of presenting himself before his sovereign was unworthy of his own +high rank, and he turned back in order to provide a more dignified escort. +The second time he approached Winchester he was at the head of forty men, +all clad in armour from head to foot, and mounted on handsomely accoutred +horses. The king had a great admiration for the valour and constancy of +Hereward; he welcomed him gladly to his court, and suffered him to retain +his estate at Bourne. + +Notwithstanding this, the Normans were always trying to quarrel with the +brave Saxon, and one day Oger, the Breton, offended him so deeply that a +combat took place between them, in which Oger was wounded. Then the enemies +of Hereward told the king that he had spoken evil of him, and persuaded him +to arrest him for that and for having wounded Oger. William seems to have +been very ready to believe ill of his powerful subject, and ordered him to +be imprisoned in Bedford Castle, where he remained a whole year. + +When Hereward was released he went to live in his house at Bourne, and was +known by the name of "the Lord of the Fens." The monk who wrote his life in +Latin, asserts that he died peacefully in his home, but other documents +have been found which prove that he did not meet his death in quiet, but in +fierce conflict with his enemies. + +His house at Bourne was frequently attacked by the Normans. One day he was +sitting outside the door, the weather was sultry, and he had fallen asleep. +Suddenly, he was awakened by the clash of weapons and the tread of horses, +and found that he was surrounded by a party of Bretons. He was without his +coat of mail, and had only a sword and a short pike. Undaunted amongst so +many, he snatched up a shield that was lying near, and defended himself +"like a lion." Taillebois, his greatest enemy, was with the troop. When he +perceived him he cried out that they were all traitors because he had made +his peace with the king, and that if they sought his life or his goods they +should pay dearly for either. Terrible was the struggle that ensued; the +Normans fell around; Hereward himself received four sword thrusts at once; +it was Raoul de Dol, a Breton knight, who rushed forward to give him the +death blow; then, he made one last effort, and flinging his shield in the +face of his foe, he fell back dead. + +The life of Hereward was marked by many fierce deeds, and would that all +anger and strife had been hushed before he died! His memory must be +cherished because he loved his country so well, and it was great and noble +of him, when all his partizans had laid down their arms in submission, to +stand up alone in her righteous cause, and to be the last man to yield to +the thraldom of a conqueror. + +The daughter of Hereward was given in marriage by William to a valiant +knight named Hugh de Evermere, to whom she brought the lands of Bourne. +Torfrida ended her days in the Abbey of Croyland. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Bourne, then called Brun, in Lincolnshire. + +[2] See Sharon Turner. + +[3] Peterborough was formerly called Burgh. + +[4] Angevin, a native of Anjou. + +[5] See Gaimar. + +[6] Edwin, the brother of Morcar, was slain by some of his own followers. + + + + +THE CID. + + +According to the Spanish chronicles the famous Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, known +by the name of the Cid, was born about the year 1026, in the city of +Burgos, the capital of old Castille. His father, Diego Laynez, was +descended from Layn Calvo, one of two judges by whom the country was +governed after Ordono, its king, had behaved very treacherously. When we +first hear of Rodrigo as a youth of gentle manners, but of great courage +and bodily strength, Don Ferrando, a Christian king, who traced his descent +from the other judge, was ruling over Castille. + +Spain was then composed of many different kingdoms; the Moors had been +steadily gaining ground ever since they first set foot in the land, more +than three hundred years before, whilst the Christians had been trying as +steadily to keep them back. Now they held sway over by far the larger +portion of Spain; several of the great-cities, especially those in the +south, were under the dominion of Moorish kings, and were filled with +beautiful buildings, many of which remain, to show what wonderful skill the +Arabian architects must have possessed. The Moors lived in great splendour; +their palaces and courts were paved with marble, and the walls were covered +with arabesques in brilliant colours, or fretwork in gold[7]; the ceilings +were often of cedar wood, inlaid with silver, ivory, or mother of pearl, +and the chambers were filled with the fragrance of costly spices, which +were kept always burning. Then they had beautiful gardens blooming with +roses and myrtles, where orange trees grew, and silvery fountains played +into basins of white marble. The outside of their buildings was also richly +ornamented, and sometimes with the strangest devices. The Alhambra, the +finest of all the Moorish palaces, which still remains in its ancient +splendour, was not built in the city of Granada until nearly two hundred +years after the death of the Cid. + +The Spaniards themselves were very brave, and inherited their valour from +the Visigoths, who were in possession of Spain for a long time before the +Moors crossed over the sea from Africa. The middle ages were not as dark +for them as they were for the other nations of Europe, because their +Moorish invaders taught them many useful arts and sciences, and also +introduced into Spain various fruits and trees which had hitherto only +grown in the East, or in Africa. Amongst these was the pomegranate, with +its shining dark green leaves, its beautiful crimson blossom, and its red, +juicy fruit; then there was the palm-tree, which was cultivated in the +fertile soil of Valencia, until it reached the height of a hundred and +fifty feet; and the strange-looking carob-tree, with leaves gloomily dark, +and pods full of a sweet pulp, like manna in taste, which were given to the +horses and mules. + +Some of the Moorish kings were merciful rulers, and rendered their subjects +happy; still, as they were strangers and infidels, it was very natural for +the Spaniards to wish to drive them out of the land, and Rodrigo de Bivar +is renowned for having regained more ground from them than any of the other +great Spanish captains. + +Whilst Rodrigo was still a youth, a quarrel arose between his father and a +certain Count Gomez, during which the Count gave his adversary a blow. +Laynez was old and feeble, and could not lift his sword, and he grieved +over the insult with a Spaniard's sense of shame and thirst for revenge. +Rodrigo, indignant at seeing his father treated thus scornfully, went out +and defied the Count to a combat, and slew him in the struggle. And when he +came home and told his father how he had avenged the affront that had been +offered him, the old man decreed that he should be considered thenceforth +as the head of the house of Layn Calvo. Alas! those were terrible times +when men fired up at the slightest provocation, and thought their honour +was at stake if an offence were not wiped out with the shedding of blood, +and seldom or never gave the "soft answer that turneth away wrath." + +A little while after this, the Moors, led by five of their kings, entered +Castille; they plundered the cities and carried away captive men, women, +and children, besides seizing the cows and the sheep that were feeding in +the pastures. They were going home in triumph when Rodrigo, young as he +was, came up with them in the mountains of Oca, and put them all to the +rout. + + "He rode to the hills of Oca, where the Moormen lay, + He conquered all the Moors, and took from their prey." + +His father being now dead, he went home to his mother, a noble lady, the +daughter of the Count of Asturias, and told her how he had won back all +that the Moors had taken, and had made their five kings captive. His mother +was very proud of his success, and rejoiced still more when she heard him +say that it would not be fair to keep the kings in prison, and that he +would send them all back to their own territory. And the Moors were so +touched by his generous conduct towards them that they resolved to pay +tribute and to remain subject to the king of Castille. + +The next event recorded in his life is his marriage with Ximena, daughter +of Count Gomez, whom he had slain. It is said that Ximena, without any +regard for the memory of her father, went to the king, Don Ferrando, and +entreated him to allow her to be married to Rodrigo de Bivar, because she +thought that he would one day be the richest and most powerful man in the +realm. + +The marriage took place, and a short time after, Don Ferrando, of Castille, +and Don Ramiero, of Arragon, had a quarrel about a city called Calahorra, +each laying claim to it as his rightful possession. As it seemed impossible +to find out which king had the right on his side, it was agreed to decide +the question by single combat, so Don Martin Gonzalez, accounted the +bravest knight in all Spain, was chosen to fight for Ramiero, and Rodrigo +de Bivar was to fight for Ferrando. + +Before the day of the combat arrived, Rodrigo set out on a pilgrimage to +the holy shrine of St. James, at Compostella, accompanied by twenty +knights. The Spaniards have a curious legend in reference to this journey +which must not be passed over, although so many strange stories are told of +the Cid that it is difficult to discover how many of the events detailed in +his life are really true. + +On the road to Compostella the pilgrims found a leper struggling in a +quagmire, and crying in vain for help. Rodrigo hastened to his relief and +dragged him out of the muddy water. Then he set him before him on his own +horse and continued his journey. When they arrived at the inn where they +were to pass the night, Rodrigo seated the leper at supper next himself, +and eat with him of all the viands that were served before them off the +same plate. The knights to show their disgust at this, rose with one accord +and left the supper room. Nevertheless, Rodrigo, feeling sure that no one +else in the inn would have pity upon the poor leper or give him shelter, +made him share his bed, but when he awoke at midnight he found him gone. +After a while a figure appeared before him, clad in shining white garments, +and a voice asked him if he were asleep or awake. "I am awake," replied +Rodrigo, "but who art thou, and whence is this fragrance and brightness?" + +The strange visitant, answered, "I am Saint Lazarus, the leper whom thou +hast succoured and honoured for the love of God;" and he told him that when +he felt a breath near him, such as he had felt that night, before he +appeared, it would be a sign that he should succeed in whatever enterprise +he was engaged in at the time; and he told him also that he should be +feared both by Christians and Moors, and that his foes should never prevail +against him. Then the saint vanished, and Rodrigo, wondering at the +extraordinary vision, knelt down, and remained many hours in prayer, and at +daybreak he set out on his pilgrimage once more, doing all the good he +could along his journey. + +On the day fixed for the combat, Rodrigo had not appeared at the spot where +it was to take place, and his cousin Alvar Fanez, was preparing to fight in +his stead. But at the very moment when the contest was to begin, he stepped +forward and took his stand against the champion of Arragon. They fought so +fiercely that their lances were broken, and they were both severely +wounded, and although Gonzalez taunted his opponent by saying that he +should never go back alive to his bride, Dona Ximena, Rodrigo was more +cruel to him than he need have been, and gave him his death wound as he +lay, faint from loss of blood, upon the ground. Then Don Ferrando came up +and embraced Rodrigo, and helped to unharm him himself; he was so glad that +he could take possession of Calahorra, but all the people of Arragon +sorrowed bitterly for the loss of Gonzalez, their bravest knight. + +The Counts of Castille now grew jealous of Rodrigo's renown, and plotted +with the Moors that a battle should take place, in which they hoped he +might be killed and so stand no longer in their way. The affair was made +known to the Moors who were his vassals; they refused to share in the +treason, and revealed the whole plot to their lord. The king was very angry +when he heard of the treachery of his nobles, and to punish them, he +ordered all the traitors to quit the kingdom at once. + +About this time Rodrigo was knighted in the great mosque of Coimbra, the +king giving him his sword, the queen his horse, and the infanta fastening +on his spurs. After this he was called Ruy Diaz, Ruy being short for +Rodrigo; and his Moorish vassals when they brought him tribute called him +"El Seid," the Arabic for "the lord," so that he was known thenceforth by +the name of the Cid. + +Not long after this Don Ferrando died, leaving his dominions divided +amongst his five children. Sancho had Castille, Alonzo Leon, Garcia +Gallicia, and their two sisters, the cities of Tora and Zamora. The +brothers kept at peace for only two years, and then they went to war with +one another. The Cid remained faithful to the fortunes of Don Sancho, and +one day during the war, when the king was being carried away prisoner by +thirteen knights who were on the side of Alonzo, Ruy Diaz chanced to come +up with them in time, and being unarmed, he asked them to give him a lance. +The knights refused at first, but afterwards gave him one, laughing at the +idea that one man could hold out against so many. They soon found that they +were mistaken, for the Cid overthrew them one after another until only two +were left, and thus freed Don Sancho from the power of his enemies. The war +between the brothers unhappily lasted some years, and at last Alonzo was +defeated by Sancho, and shut up in prison, whence he contrived to escape to +the court of the Moorish kings. Sancho himself received a death blow from +an unknown hand at the siege of Zamora. Before he died he prayed that his +brother Alonzo might come from the land of the Moors and show favour to the +Cid, and that the hidalgos would entreat him to forgive whatever wrongs, +he, Don Sancho, had done to him. + +Alonzo returned from the land of the Moors, and as soon as he arrived his +sister Urraca sent letters to all the nobles in the kingdom that they might +render him homage. Those of Leon and Gallicia were very glad to come and +receive him for their king; then the Castillians appeared, and they kissed +his hands, all except the Cid; but they were not all content, for Alonzo +had been suspected of having connived at the death of Don Sancho. + +When the king saw that the Cid would not kiss his hand, he was vexed, and +he asked him why he held back. And the Cid replied that he would never +render him homage until he had sworn with twelve of his hidalgos who were +likewise suspected, that he had not connived at the death of Don Sancho. + +The king consented to take the oath in the great church of Saint Gadea, in +Burgos, and went thither on the appointed day with his sisters and all his +court. The Cid made him stand with the hidalgos on a high stage so that +they might be seen by all the people in the church; then he took the book +of the holy gospels and laid it on the altar, and when Alonzo had placed +his hand upon it, he asked him in the most solemn manner if he had anything +to do with his brother's death. And he said that if it were so, and he +denied the crime, he should die a like death himself, at the hands of one +who was not a Castillian, but would come from a strange land. + +At the end of every sentence the Cid spoke, the king and his hidalgos +answered, Amen. + +It was an awful scene, and when Alonzo heard the doom pronounced upon him +if he did not speak the truth, he turned pale, and asked Ruy Diaz why he +pressed him so much, because he made him take the oath three times. When he +had sworn that he was innocent for the last time, the Cid kissed his hand +and acknowledged him for his king, and from thenceforth Alonzo reigned over +Castille, Leon, Gallicia, and Navarre, and was free from the attempts of +his brother Garcia since he had invited him to his court, and then shut him +up in a strong castle, where he remained to the end of his days. It was a +very long time, however, before he could look kindly on the Cid, for he +thought he had done him a great injury by making him take the oath so many +times before his people. + +The first expedition of Ruy Diaz after this was against the kings of +Seville and Cordova, in which he won great honour, and afterwards returned +to Castille laden with spoils. Then he lay sick for a long time, and could +not go with Alonzo to fight the Moors in another part of Spain. And it +happened that when the king was far away, a vast company of Moors, thinking +that all was quiet, entered Castille and did great damage to the country. +The Cid, hearing of this, roused himself and gathered his strength and +pursued them as far as the city of Toledo. The Castillians around Toledo +were very jealous of his power, and they complained to Alonzo that Ruy Diaz +had driven the Moors into their territory on purpose to annoy them. + +Alonzo flew into a great passion, and summoned the Cid to his presence, and +glad of an opportunity of vexing him, ordered him to leave the country of +Castille for ever, and all the fair domains he possessed. + +When the sentence was passed the Cid's cousin, Alvar Fanez, and all his +friends, kinsmen, and vassals, declared that if he must needs quit the land +they would follow him into his exile and remain faithful to him all the +days of their life. This comforted Ruy Diaz, although he did not desire +that so many of those he loved should condemn themselves to wander in the +land of the Moors for his sake. He sent his wife Ximena, and his two little +daughters, Elvira and Sol,[8] to the convent of Saint Peter, of Cardena, +where they would be safe; and one sad day he bade farewell to his home in +Castille and set out on his wanderings, the king having granted him nine +days for his journey out of the country. + +The costly furniture of his palace in Burgos had been all stored away; +there were no people coming and going; no voices of children gladdened the +empty halls; the birds were all gone from the perches, there would be no +more pleasant pastime of hawking, the whole place was silent and desolate. + +When the Cid saw this he knelt down and turned towards the east, and prayed +that he might be victorious over the Moors, and gain enough to requite his +friends for their devotion. Then he turned to the whole company and cheered +them with the hope that he might yet be able to return to Castille in +honour. And an old woman, who stood by the door, repeated the Spanish +proverb, "Go in a lucky moment, and you shall make spoil of whatever you +desire." + +The mausoleum of the Cid now occupies the spot where his palace stood, and +his statue ornaments the gate of Saint Maria, which is the principal +entrance into the city of Burgos, and opens on to one of the bridges +leading out into the suburb called Vega. + +As Ruy Diaz came with his people through the streets of Burgos, the +citizens wept aloud; they were so grieved to see him depart, and to know +that no house might afford him shelter even for one night. So when the dark +came he was obliged to have a tent raised on the sandy plain and rest for a +while there. + +At last he got to the convent of Cardena, and bade a long farewell to his +wife and daughters, giving them a hundred marks of gold for their +expenditure; and before he left he gave the Abbot fifty marks of silver, +and commended his family to his care, for he did not feel sure that he +should ever see them again. Then he pursued his journey, travelling all +night because he had a long and difficult way to go before he could get to +the land of the Moors. The next day but one they crossed the river Douro in +wooden boats, and rested at a place called Figueruela. And there in the +night he either dreamed or had a vision of an angel coming to him who said, +"Cid, be of good cheer, for it shall be well with thee all thy life long; +and thou shalt accomplish all that thou shalt undertake, and shalt become +rich and honoured." The Cid thought very much on what he had heard, and he +arose and gave thanks for the mercy that had befallen him. The following +day he reached the wild Sierra, of Miedes, and he said, "Friends, let us +mount our horses quickly, and cross the Sierra and go out of the kingdom of +Don Alonzo, for this is the ninth day, and it is time we were gone." So +they passed the Sierra in the dark night and then they were in the country +of the Moors. The whole company of the Cid amounted to 400 horsemen, and +3,000 foot. They travelled by night, and hid by day until they reached the +Castle of Castregon. Ruy Diaz concealed himself and his friends close by, +and in the morning the Moors, not knowing they were there, came out of the +Castle gates to go to their work; the Spaniards rushed suddenly upon them, +slaying some and dispersing the rest, and soon got possession of the castle +where they found a quantity of gold and silver. But they could not stay in +it because there was no water, and besides this, the Moors all around were +vassals of Don Alonzo. So the Cid left the Moors there whom he had taken +prisoner in the skirmish, and went further on his way to meet with fresh +adventures. During the whole time of his exile he remained loyal to the +king who had so unjustly treated him, and did him good service, for he took +many strong castles from the Moors, and either drove the invaders out of +the land or made them subject to Castille. He shared with his company all +the rich spoils he won, and after many brave exploits determined to send +his cousin Alvar to Alonzo with a present of thirty Arab horses, and a +message entreating him to restore him to his favour, and to give back to +his friends the estates they had lost by following him into his exile. + +When the king saw the beautiful Arab horses, each with a fine sword mounted +in silver hanging from its saddle, his face brightened, and he could not +bring himself to refuse the gift. Still he thought it was too soon yet to +pardon the mighty Cid, and only restored to his friends and relations their +lands. + +Ruy Diaz got as far as the district of Ternel in Arragon, and there he +settled himself in a fortress on a high rock which has been called ever +since "The Rock of the Cid." From this stronghold he sallied forth from +time to time against the Moors, and forced numbers of them to pay tribute. +And besides overcoming the Moors, he served the king by punishing some +great Spanish lords who had been guilty of treason, and Alonzo at last +desired him to return to the court. The Cid waited yet to take the strong +Castle of Rueda from the Moors, and then he came back to Castille in +honour, as he had hoped on the sorrowful day when he left Burgos. All the +king's displeasure passed away when Ruy Diaz came before him and delivered +into his hands the rich treasures he had captured, and Alonzo gave him many +castles, and the right of keeping in future all the places he should win +from the Moors for himself. + +Ruy Diaz was chosen to lead the Spanish army against Toledo in the year +1032. This city was possessed by the Moorish king Yahia, and was considered +so important a place, that all the Christian sovereigns in Spain made up +their quarrels, and joined together to besiege it. Yahia held out for three +years, and then only yielded up the city on condition that he should reign +over Valencia instead. The first Christian banner that entered Toledo was +the banner of the Cid. A story is told by the Spaniards how, when the army +had to cross a ford of the Tagus, that they might get nearer the city, and +the river was so swollen that the horsemen feared to plunge into it, a monk +of the order of St. Benedict rode over first on an ass, after which the +whole army passed over in safety. + +Later on, Castille was threatened by the Almoravides, a nation of African +Moors. The Moorish kings already settled in Spain had many bitter quarrels +amongst themselves; there was trouble and treason all over the land. Yahia, +who was protected by the Cid, and called himself his friend, was murdered +by a wicked alcayde named Abeniaf soon after he had joined with Ruy Diaz to +defend Spain against the Almoravides. Abeniaf buried the treasures of the +murdered king, and let some of the new invaders into Valencia, for which +service they made him Wali, or governor of the city. + +The Cid came with a great army of Christians and Moors, and lay siege to +Valencia, so incensed was he at the cruel death of Yahia, and began by +attacking the suburbs, because by gaining them he could close all round the +city, and prevent the Moors from going in or coming out. That siege of +Valencia was very terrible, the people died daily of hunger; they eat +horses, dogs, cats, and mice, and when all the flesh was gone they had only +a little wheat and garlic, and a few raisins and figs. + +In their sore need they implored some more of the Almoravides to come to +their aid, although a great quarrel had broken out between that people and +Abeniaf. The Almoravides set out for Valencia, but they were dismayed by a +violent tempest which arose and turned back. Then the besieged went almost +mad through hunger and misery, and the Cid came nearer its walls, thinking +that famine would force them to yield. The longer the siege lasted, the +more defiant did Abeniaf become; besides which he governed the people very +cruelly, and oppressed them in every way. The Cid was very cruel too +outside their walls, and showed them no mercy. He sent word to them that he +would burn all persons who should dare to come out of the city, and it is +said that several Moors who tried to escape were burned by his command. +Many men, women, and children, too, came out whenever the gates were +opened, and sold themselves to the Christians for food. The price of a Moor +was a loaf and a pitcher of wine. + +At last Abeniaf agreed to deliver up the place if no succour came within +fifteen days, provided he might still continue in his office of Wali. The +people thought they might yet be saved, because they had entreated the King +of Saragossa to assist them, but no help came, and the gates were opened, +and the Christians poured in to the city. + +The Cid entered with all the hidalgos and knights, and went up to the +highest tower in the wall, whence he could look down on the whole of +Valencia; and the Moors came to him, and they kissed his hands, and bade +him welcome. The Cid, in return, ordered that all the windows of the tower +which looked towards the streets should be closed, that the Spaniards might +not annoy the Moors by prying into their affairs, and commanded the +Christians to guard the people and to pay them the greatest honour. The +Moors were very grateful for his kindness, and rejoiced indeed that the +city had been given up, for now the provision merchants could come inside +the gates and they could buy food; and some of them were so famished that +they went and plucked the grass and herbs from the field, and tried thus to +satisfy their sharp hunger. It must have been a sad sight to have seen +those who had survived the famine standing about like ghosts, whilst there +was mourning in every house, and space had not been found to bury all the +dead. + +The Cid planted his banner on the Alcazar, which was the name given to all +royal houses and palaces in Spain. He caused Abeniaf to be seized by force, +and after he had made him say where he had concealed the treasures of Yahia +he condemned him to be burnt alive, but showed mercy to his son when the +Moors entreated him not to include him in the punishment of his father; and +had the Cid put the innocent child to death it would have been as dreadful +a crime as Abeniaf was guilty of in murdering Yahia. + +The city of Valencia lay in a great plain which was called the Garden, +because it was covered with the most luxuriant vegetation, and trees, such +as the mulberry, olive, orange, carob, and palm grew in its fertile soil. +There were fair gardens lying between the walls and the shore. + +When the Cid had taken up his abode in the vast and beautiful Alcazar, the +people began to cast off their sorrow and gloom, and to take part in the +rejoicings made by the Spaniards. Valencia was now all his own. He +suffered the Moors to remain in the city and to keep all their herds and +flocks; they were to give him a tenth part of their substance, and to +retain all their customs; and he made a good man Wali over them that they +might be governed by their own laws. Those who were not content with this +arrangement, he ordered to go and dwell in the suburb of Alcudia, outside +the walls. From this time he was called the Cid Campeador, the latter title +being given to one greatly renowned for his exploits. + +One day, Hieronymo, a holy and learned man, "all shaven and shorn," came +from the East to Valencia, and desired to see the Cid. He said that if he +might once meet the Moors on the battle-field, and have his fill of smiting +them, he would be content. These were warlike words for a priest, but they +pleased Ruy Diaz, and the very next day after the stranger arrived the +mosques were changed into churches, and Hieronymo was made Bishop of +Valencia. + +The King of Seville soon came with the Almoravides to besiege the Cid in +his new abode. Ruy Diaz defeated him, and won from them his famed horse +Bavieca, although the chronicles say that Bavieca was the horse he chose +when a boy, because it was so fiery, and the name was given to it from his +godfather exclaiming, "Bavieca (meaning simpleton) thou hast chosen ill." + +After this he sent his faithful cousin Alvar with a number of brave knights +to fetch his wife and daughters from the convent of Cardena, where they had +been all this time. The ladies were joyful indeed to hear that Valencia was +gained, and when they drew near, the Cid came out on his horse Bavieca, +with a stately company to meet them, and he took them up to the highest +tower of the Alcazar, whence they could see all the fair city lying in its +plain beside the sea, and its beautiful houses built by the Moorish +architects, its fountains and gateways, and its gardens filled with the +brilliant flowers and luscious fruits of the East. + +Dona Ximena and her daughters had been in Valencia about three months, when +news was brought to the Cid that King Yusef was coming from Morocco with +50,000 horsemen, and myriads of men on foot, to invest the city by sea and +land. The Campeador was not alarmed; he had his fortresses well manned, and +the enormously thick walls of the city repaired, and he got in plenty of +provisions, whilst a number of his vassals, Christians and Moors, came to +his aid. + +The day before the battle he took his wife and Elvira and Sol to the tower, +and showed them the Moors as they gained their footing on shore. Soon they +began to enter the gardens, and Ruy Diaz told a very brave man to go down +thither with two hundred knights, and show them a little play. So he went +down, and soon drove them out of the gardens. The Cid, being so often at +war, had certain signals, by which the knights knew how many of them were +to arm themselves and assemble, the signal being usually the ringing of a +bell. + +Early the next morning Bishop Hieronymo sang the mass and absolved all the +Christians from their sins; praying afterwards, warlike man that he was, to +be the first to drive back the enemy. Whilst it was still dark, the Cid, +well armed and mounted on Bavieca, went out with his company at the gate +which was called the Gate of the Snake. They loitered about at first, and +then when the Cid rang his bell the Christians came out of their +hiding-places amongst the narrow ways and passes, and the Moors were shut +in between their enemies and the sea. There was hard fighting that day; the +Moors, arming themselves in haste, made a firm stand, but before night they +were overcome and fled to Denia, leaving great riches behind them in the +camp. Ruy Diaz, who had been wounded in the battle, rode joyfully back to +the city when they were gone, still mounted on Bavieca, and with his drawn +sword still in his hand; and he sent King Alonzo a present of three hundred +horses laden with the gold and silver he had found amongst the spoils. + +Yusef died soon after his defeat, and his brother Bucar swore upon the +Koran, the book of their law, that he would take revenge upon the mighty +Castillian chief. + +The Infantes of Carrion, Diego, and Fernan Gonzalez, vassals of King Alonzo +in Castille, having heard how the power of the Cid was increasing day by +day, demanded his daughters in marriage, thinking by so doing they would +become rich and powerful themselves. The Cid was pleased with the proposal, +but Dona Ximena did not like the idea of such a marriage at all; however, +since the king had heartily approved of it, she dared say nothing against +it. + +The weddings were performed by Bishop Hieronymo, and there were great +rejoicings in Valencia for eight days. Each day had its festival, either in +bull-fighting, or tilting, or shooting stones from the cross-bow, or they +witnessed the performances of the Moorish jugglers and buffoons, who were +very clever in their art. Then there were magnificent banquets in the +Alcazar, the tables being covered with silver dishes filled with rare and +highly-seasoned meats. + +For two years the Infantes lived with their wives at Valencia in peace; but +at the end of that time a misfortune happened, which caused them to break +with their father-in-law, although it was no fault of his. The Cid had a +very large and lively lion, which afforded him great amusement, and was +kept in an iron house, which opened into a high court behind the Alcazar; +three men had the charge of it, and it was their custom about mid-day to +open the door of its house, and let it come into the court to eat its +dinner, taking care before they left to fasten the door of the court +securely. + +The Cid used to dine in company every day, and after dinner he sometimes +fell asleep, for he was getting old. One day a man came to him, and told +him that many vessels had arrived before Valencia, having on board a great +host of the Moors, and among them Bucar, the African king, who had sworn to +revenge the death of his brother. When the Cid heard this he was very much +pleased, for it was nearly three years since he had had a fight with the +Moors. He had his bell rung as a sign that all the honourable men in the +city should assemble, and when they came to Alcazar, and the Infantes were +there too, he told them the news, and agreed with them as to the manner in +which they should repel the advance of their foes. When this was done he +went quietly to sleep, and Diego and Fernan, and the rest of the company +sat playing at tables[9] and at chess. + +It happened that the men who guarded the lion heard that the Moors had +come, and rushed to the palace to see if the news were true, forgetting in +their anxiety to close the door of the court behind them. And lo and +behold! the lion, when it had dined right royally, and saw the door open, +walked out of the court and straight into the great hall where all the +company were assembled. It certainly was an alarming sight, and the people +did not know what to do, fearing that the lion might be roused to fury and +tear some of them to pieces. Diego and Fernan Gonzalez showed more terror +and cowardice than all the rest, and Diego ran and hid himself under the +Cid's chair, and very nearly died of fright in his undignified retreat, +whilst Fernan rushed out of a gallery which led into a court where there +was a winepress, and entering therein he tumbled among the lees, which +served him quite right. + +The others remained in the hall, and stood around the Cid to guard him +while he slept. The noise of their talking, however, at last awakened him, +and he saw how the lion came towards him and licked his hand, and he asked +what it meant. And when the lion heard his voice, it stood quite quiet, and +the Cid arose and took it by the neck as if it had been a hound, and made +it go back to its iron house, calmly giving orders that it should be more +strictly guarded in future. + +When the Infantes came out of their hiding-places they must have felt very +much ashamed, but they gave a very different version of the story to what +had really happened. In the famous poem of the Cid, which contains a great +deal of historic truth, Ruy Diaz forbears reproaching his sons-in-law for +their cowardice. Be that as it may, they made the event a pretence for +taking offence with him, as they were wicked and discontented men; they +were tired of their wives, and thought that they ought to have wedded +damsels of far higher rank than the daughters of the Cid. So they said that +he had arranged that the lion should come out of its den only to put them +to shame before all the hidalgos; and their uncle, Suero Gonzalez, wickedly +advised them to ask Ruy Diaz to let them take their wives to their home in +Carrion, that, once out of Valencia, they might do with them whatsoever +they pleased. + +In the meantime there was much noise in the city. Bucar had landed his +forces, and arrived in a plain about a league from Valencia, which was +called Quarto; and there the Cid gave him such a defeat that he was obliged +to flee with his diminished army across the sea. Ruy Diaz was still kindly +disposed towards his sons-in-law; and when the battle was over he thanked +them for the share they had had in it, when they had really done nothing at +all, and had only pretended to fight; such men were not worthy to have +married the daughters of the Cid! Now they said that they had heard no news +of their father and mother in Carrion since they left Castille; and they +wanted to take their wives home, and tell their parents what honour they +had attained to by marrying them. Dona Ximena had no faith in them, and she +told her husband that they were not true-hearted; she was very loth to let +her daughters go with them; nevertheless the Cid trusted them still, and +one day Elvira and Sol set out from Valencia with the Infantes; their +parents, and a great and valiant company going with them two leagues on the +road to Castille. Before they started, Ruy Diaz gave them presents worthy +of a king. First of all, he gave them a quantity of cloth of gold, silk, +and wool, a hundred horses richly caparisoned, and a hundred mules with +gorgeous trappings; then he gave them ten goblets of pure gold, and a +hundred vases of silver besides quantities of silver in plate and shields. +A hundred well-appointed knights were to accompany them into Castille; +amongst whom were two very brave men, named Martin Pelaez and Pero Sanchez, +whom the Cid held in great esteem. Last of all he gave the Infantes each a +golden-hilted sword to defend their wives with; these two swords he prized +very much, because he had won them from the Moors, and he had named them +Colada and Tizona. + +When it was time to part, Elvira and Sol took a sorrowful leave of their +parents, and the Cid, as he turned away from them began to feel some +misgivings in his heart, and to wonder if Ximena had really been right in +her distrust. The Infantes, however, still promised to treat their wives +with honour, and the cavalcade went on towards Castille. On the way they +were entertained by a Moorish king, a vassal of the Cid's, who could not do +enough to show his pleasure in welcoming them, and so far all was well, and +they went through the valleys until they reached the oak forest of Torpes. +When they arrived there the Infantes told all the knights to go forward, +and said they would stay for a while in the forest. Elvira asked her +husband Diego why they remained there alone; he replied that she should +soon see. Then these wicked men took their wives by the hair and dragged +them along until they came to the fountain of Torpes, and there they beat +them with the leathern girths of their saddles until the blood flowed from +their wounds. And they took from them all the costly jewels, and robes of +silk and ermine Dona Ximena had given them, and went on their way, leaving +the poor ladies half dead by themselves in the forest, where the wild +beasts might have come and devoured them. Elvira and Sol startled the birds +in the branches overhead by the piteous cries they uttered in their terror +and pain; then, finding that no one came to their aid, they said their +prayers very fervently, and sank fainting to the ground. + +The cruel Infantes mounted their horses, and took the mules which had +carried their wives, and said aloud as they went out of the forest, "Now we +have done with the daughters of the Cid! We demeaned ourselves by marrying +them, and we are avenged of the affront their father put upon us by letting +loose the lion." + +Felez Nunoz, however, the nephew of the Cid, happened to pass that way, and +he heard what the Infantes said. He would have punished them on the spot, +but he feared they would return and perhaps kill their wives; so he went +into the deep oak glades, and kept calling his cousins by their names until +he found them. Then, in great sorrow to behold the terrible plight they +were in, he gave them water to drink, and carried them to a part of the +forest where they would be in greater safety, and made a soft couch for +them of tender green leaves and grass, whereon they might rest, for they +were utterly worn out. + +The knights had gone on their way, and when they saw the Infantes coming +towards them bringing with them the mules and the rich robes of their +wives, they began to fear that some evil deed had been done, and they all +crowded round them, taunting them with their cowardice, and threatening to +fight them. The Infantes wanted to be rid of them all, and declared that if +the knights would go back to the forest, they would find Elvira and Sol by +the fountain there unharmed. So Martin Pelaez and Pero Sanchez, and all the +bravest men in the company returned thither; but when Felez Nunoz and his +cousins heard their voices they were alarmed, thinking the Infantes were +near; and they kept quite still, so that the knights could not find them, +and returned, very angry, to pursue the cowardly brothers, feeling sure +that some foul deed had been done. Diego and Fernan, however, were already +beyond their pursuit,--craven-hearted men can fly fast, and the knights set +out at once for the court of Don Alonzo, and told their king all that had +happened. + +Now the ladies in the forest at first had nothing to eat, and were very +near dying of hunger, when, by good fortune Felez Nunoz found his way to a +village where he bought them food, and he kept them thus from starving for +seven days; but could not make their misfortunes known to the Cid because +he feared to leave them by themselves in the wild forest. At last he found +in his village a worthy man in whose house the Cid had once lodged, and he +brought two asses to the forest, and made the noble ladies mount them, and +led them in safety to his own house, where his wife tended them kindly, +rejoicing that she had them under her roof. Here they wrote a letter to +their father, which Felez Nunoz undertook to convey to him at Valencia. On +the road thither he met Alvar Fanez and Pero Bermudez, who were going to +the king with a present from Ruy Diaz, of two hundred horses he had won in +his battle with Bucar, besides a number of swords and a hundred Moorish +captives. These knights were enabled to give Don Alonzo a faithful account +of all that had happened, and the king was very indignant at the wickedness +of his vassals, and appointed a day, three months from the time, when he +would hear the matter through, and give judgment in his Cortes at Toledo. +And Alvar and Pero set out in search of the Cid's daughters, taking with +them from Alonzo two mules, with saddles richly adorned with gold, and +jewelled robes for the sisters, so that they might return to Valencia in +the same attire they had worn when they started on their hapless journey. +When they had found them at the good man's house, Pero went on to Valencia, +and Alvar remained with the knights who had followed him to guard his +cousins. The indignation and anger of the mighty Cid may be imagined when +he heard how his children had been treated. Dona Ximena was more dead than +alive, and she was thankful indeed when she had her dear daughters safe at +home with her once more. + +Great preparations were made for the day of trial. The walls of the palace, +where judgment was to be given, were hung with cloth of gold, rich carpets +were spread on the floor, and a great throne was placed in readiness for +the king. The Cid left Hieronymo and Martin Pelaez in charge of his city, +and set out betimes for Toledo with so great a host of followers that it +looked like an army. When he drew near Alonzo came out to meet him, but he +would not cross the Tagus that night, and had candles lighted in the church +of Saint Servans on the shore, and kept a vigil there a great part of the +night with his friends. And he ordered one of his hidalgos to set a +beautiful ivory chair he had won from the Moors close beside the king's +throne, and sent a hundred squires, each one an hidalgo, to stand around it +all night to guard it, with swords hanging from their necks. + +There were many people in Toledo who were friends of the Infantes of +Carrion, and therefore ill-disposed towards the Cid, and they thought he +was taking a great liberty in having his chair set beside the king's +throne: but Alonzo honoured him, and he suffered it to remain. + +It was a stately meeting; we are told that when the day came Ruy Diaz wore +a tunic of gold tissue, and over that a red skin with points of gold; this +he always wore, and on his head he had a coif of scarlet and gold: his long +beard, which was getting white, was tied up with a cord.[10] When he came +into the hall, the king and all the people stood up, except those who were +on the side of the Infantes of Carrion. + +Alonzo gave judgment against those wicked men, and made them give up the +golden-hilted swords Colada and Tizona, which they did not indeed deserve +to keep. But the Cid was not content when judgment was pronounced; he +thought the dishonour was not yet wiped away, and he stood up and required +that three knights should fight for his cause against three of Carrion. + +When he said this the three brave knights named Martin Antolinez, Pero +Bermudez, and Nuno Gustios, entreated him to let them fight on his side; +and a terrible quarrel arose; the Infantes said many rude things of the +Cid, and his haughty hidalgos would not suffer their insults to pass; they +quarrelled and fought until the king could scarcely hear himself speak, and +he rose from his seat and called the Alcaydes, and went to confer with them +in a chamber apart, while the Cid and all the others remained in the hall. +When he came back he sat down on his throne with great solemnity, and told +the people to listen to the sentence, which decreed that a combat should +take place three weeks from that day between the Infantes and their uncle +Suero Gonzalez on the side of Carrion, and the three brave knights who were +willing to fight for the Cid. + +Ruy Diaz was now content; he rose from his seat and kissed the king's hand, +and prayed that God might have him in His holy keeping for many good years, +so that he might administer justice worthily, as he had done that day. + +In the midst of all this, messengers arrived at the palace from the kings +of Arragon and Navarre, demanding the daughters of the Cid in marriage for +their sons, when the unhappy marriage they had made with the Infantes of +Carrion should be dissolved. Ruy Diaz went back to Valencia in joy, and +told the glad news to his wife; adding that they need have no fear now for +their daughters' happiness, because the princes of Arragon and Navarre +were known far and wide to be honourable men. The combat took place on the +appointed day. The Cid lent Colada and Tizona to his knights, and Diego and +Fernan Gonzalez, and their uncle Suero, were all three overcome and wounded +in the presence of King Alonzo; and, they crept away in disgrace and were +never seen more, and Carrion, after the death of Don Gonzalez, their +father, went back to the crown of Castille. + +When the three victorious knights returned safe and sound to Valencia, and +made known there the result of the combat, the joy of the Cid was beyond +all bounds, and as for Dona Ximena, and Elvira, and Sol, they would fain +have kissed the feet of their valiant defenders. There was rejoicing in the +city for eight days, and banquets were held every day, the silver dishes +being filled with the flesh of many extraordinary animals, which were +cooked in Spain for the first time, having been sent to the Cid with a +number of rare and beautiful presents from the Soldan, or Sultan of Persia. +The Soldan paid great court to Ruy Diaz, and made known to him how a vast +army of Christians had come out to the East and lay before Jerusalem, +hoping to conquer that city from the Saracens; and that was the first +crusade which had been preached by Peter the Hermit, when William Rufus was +reigning in England. + +The Cid remained in peace at Valencia for five years, and kept the Moors so +quiet that they no longer molested the Christians, but lived with them on +friendly terms. At the end of this time news came suddenly that Bucar had +stirred up all the chiefs in Barbary to cross the sea in revenge for the +victory that Ruy Diaz had gained over him in the field of Quarto. + +The Cid sent the Moors who dwelt in the city to the suburb of Alcudia, +where he thought they had better remain until the affair was ended. His +strength was failing fast; and one night, as he lay wakeful on his bed, his +chamber was filled with a strange brightness and fragrance, and he had +another wonderful vision, in which Saint Peter appeared to him, aged and +white as snow, with a bunch of keys in his hand, and told him now to mind +other things besides the coming of Bucar, for that in thirty days he should +die, and yet by the help of Saint James he should conquer his foes after he +was dead. When the vision disappeared the Cid was lost in wonder, but he +felt greatly comforted; and early in the morning he called the hidalgos +around him and told them what he had seen, and how they should conquer the +Moors. The last day that he was able to rise from his bed he ordered the +city gates to be shut, and repaired to the church of Saint Peter, where he +spoke long and earnestly to the people assembled there, reminding them +that, however great and honourable their estate in life might be, not one +of them could escape death. Then he took leave of them all, and confessed +his sins at the feet of Bishop Hieronymo. From that time until his death, +seven days afterwards, he took no nourishment except a little myrrh and +balsam stirred in rose water, such as was used to embalm the dead bodies of +kings in the East, and had been sent among the gifts of the Soldan in a +casket of gold. He bequeathed great riches to his knights, leaving a +thousand marks of silver to those who had only served him one year, and he +ordered four thousand poor persons to be clothed at his expense. On Sunday, +the 25th of May, 1099, the Cid died, in the seventy-third year of his age. +These were his dying words: "Lord Jesus Christ, Thine is the kingdom; Thou +art above all kings and all nations, and all kings are at Thy command. I +beseech Thee to pardon my sins, and let my soul enter the light that hath +no end." + +Three days after his death King Bucar came, and with him thirty-six kings +or chiefs. It is said that fifteen thousand tents were pitched around +Valencia. As all was quiet inside the city, the Africans thought that their +enemy dared not come out against them. + +Meanwhile the body of the Cid had been embalmed and fixed in a wooden frame +upright upon Bavieca, and the frame being painted to represent armour, it +looked really as if he were alive. A mournful procession went out at +midnight from the gate towards Castille. First the banner of the Cid was +carried, guarded by five hundred knights; then came one hundred more, +around the body of their lord; and lastly, Ximena followed sorrowfully with +all her company, and three hundred knights in the rear. By the time they +had all passed out the summer night was spent, and it was broad daylight. + +Alvar Funez now fell upon the Moors with the forces that remained in +Valencia; and so great was the terror and uproar he caused that they fled +towards the sea, leaving their riches for the spoils of the Christians. The +Moors who had retired to the suburb saw the procession pass, and thought +that their lord had gone forth alive. But when they entered the city from +whence all the Spanish knights had gone, they marvelled at the strange +silence in the streets, until they saw written on the walls in Arabic that +the Cid Campeador was dead. From that day Valencia remained in the power of +the Moors until it was won by King Jayme of Arragon, in the year 1238; but +the city was always known by the name of "Valencia of the Cid." + +The body of Ruy Diaz was placed in his ivory chair at the right of the +altar of Saint Peter in the church of Cardena. It was clothed in purple +cloth which had been given to him by the Soldan, and remained thus more +than ten years. When that time had passed it was buried in a vault beside +the grave of Dona Ximena, who only survived him three years. And Bavieca, +his favourite horse, was buried not far from his master, under some trees +in front of the convent of Saint Peter of Cardena. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] Like the Alhambra court in the Crystal Palace. + +[8] _Sol_, Spanish for sun. + +[9] _Tablas_, in the Spanish tables, probably the game of draughts. + +[10] See Southey's "Chronicle." + + + + +LOUIS IX., KING OF FRANCE. + + +The good king Louis the Ninth, commonly called St. Louis, because he led so +holy a life, was born at Poissy, in the year 1215, whilst his grandfather, +Philip Augustus, was still on the throne of France. Poissy was a beautiful +place, just as Fontainebleau is now, where the kings of France used to go +and hunt, and enjoy the sweet fresh air; and the queens passed many happy +days with their little children, away from the cares and the splendour of +the court. + +Louis was always of a meek and gentle disposition, truthful and upright. +His mother, Blanche of Castille, watched over him tenderly herself, and +took care to place around him as early as possible the holiest and most +learned men in France, in the hope that through their influence he might +grow up to be a good king. Blanche was a woman of great piety, and she was +very clever and beautiful besides; she had many children, but although +Louis was always her favourite amongst them all, she did not indulge him +either in luxury or pleasure, and used often to say to him, "My son, I love +you more than I can tell; yet I would rather see you lying dead at my feet +than know you were guilty of a mortal sin." + +Louis did indeed try earnestly to be good, and to remember the words of +his mother; he was obedient to his instructors, and is said to have +understood Latin well, and to have been versed in the works of the fathers +of the Church, and in the history of the kings who reigned before him; and +that was knowing a great deal, for the times he lived in were called "the +dark ages," because so very little was learnt or known, especially in +Europe. His amusements were hunting and fishing, and playing at chess, but +he did not care for these as he cared for the services of the church, +attending them daily with his little brothers, and loving the holy chants +and hymns he heard there more than any songs of merriment. + +Louis was only eleven years old when his father, King Louis the Eighth, +died, after a reign of less than four years. He had then four brothers +younger than himself--Robert, John, Alphonse, and Charles; and one little +sister named Isabel. As he was so very young, his mother, Queen Blanche, +governed his kingdom for him, and she had many troubles to contend with, on +account of the quarrels and revolts of some of the most powerful nobles in +the land. Several of these refused to attend the coronation of Louis, which +took place at Rheims, after he had been knighted, according to the custom +of the time, at Soissons. The ceremony was very solemn; Queen Blanche would +not let it be made an occasion of rejoicing, because her heart was so full +of sorrow for the death of her husband; and the day after she took Louis to +Paris, and began at once to think what would be the best measures for +securing his safety and the welfare of the country. + +It was at the siege of Bellesme that Louis gained his first experience in +war, when he was only twelve years of age. The Count de Bretagne, foremost +of the rebellious nobles, had invaded the territory of the king, and was +causing great misery to the country people by laying waste their land and +destroying their villages. To chastise him, and bring him to obedience, +Queen Blanche set off in the depth of winter with her son Louis and only a +few followers, to lay siege to the Castle of Bellesme, where the count had +first set up his standard of rebellion. + +The snow lay deep on the ground, and icicles hung from the trees along the +road-side: the cold was intense, and the march was difficult in the short +winter days, but little Louis was as brave as he was gentle, and cared +nothing for the cold and discomfort, nor did he tremble the least at the +idea of the coming affray; his mother had taught him to endure manfully +hardships and pain and fatigue, and to trust in God, whatever danger was at +hand. + +The Castle of Bellesme exists no longer; its ruins have long crumbled away: +in those days it was a strong fortress, surrounded by thick walls flanked +with towers. The Count of Bretagne was inside the castle with all the +bravest of his men, and the queen's party made two assaults upon it in +vain. The cold had numbed the energies of the knights and the soldiers in +the camp, and they were very nearly frozen to death. Queen Blanche then +published a decree which promised large rewards to all persons who should +cut down the trees in the forests around, and bring the wood to the camp. +The peasants were soon seen joyfully bringing the wood on their shoulders +and in carts: enormous fires were kindled, and the warmth so quickly +restored the spirits of the besiegers, that before two days had passed, the +greater part of the fortification was thrown down, and the haughty Count de +Bretagne, seeing no hope of succour, was obliged to surrender. Queen +Blanche and her little son treated the garrison with great kindness when +they came out; and a treaty was soon after made, by which it was agreed +that Louis's brother John should marry, when he grew up, the daughter of +the Count de Bretagne. + +Whilst Louis was growing out of childhood, and striving day by day to +become more holy in the sight of God, the rebellions of the nobles were +continually breaking out afresh, and had to be put down by force of arms, +or the crown would have lost much of its power. This chapter, however, is +not to be a record of all the disturbances that occurred in France during +the early part of the good king's reign, but rather a description of the +events which brought to light most strikingly his piety, his courage, and +his patience. + +In the year 1233 Louis was persuaded by his mother to bestow his hand on +Marguerite, daughter of Raymond Berenger, Count of Provence. Raymond had +four daughters, and Marguerite was the most beautiful and talented of them +all. Her sister Eleanor was married soon after to Henry the Third of +England, and another sister, named Beatrice, to Louis's brother Charles, +Count of Anjou. + +The royal marriage was celebrated with great magnificence at Sens; and when +Louis was twenty years of age he took the reins of government into his own +hands: nevertheless Queen Blanche continued to influence him by her advice, +and was obeyed by him until her death, on all occasions save one, as will +be seen hereafter. + +The peace of the country was not really established until the year 1239, +when some of the quarrelsome nobles had gone on a crusade to the Holy Land. +The enterprise did not succeed; the Christian army was entrapped and +defeated by the Saracens, and Jerusalem became a possession of the Sultan +of Egypt. The king was deeply grieved at the failure; he was always +thinking of the miseries and oppressions the Christians were forced to +endure in the East, and resolved to go and help them as soon as he could +leave his country in prosperity. When the rumour of this was spread in +Palestine, the sheik, or old man of the mountain, singled out the King of +France for his victim, and despatched two of his assassins to Paris, +thinking thus to put an end to all idea of a fresh crusade. + +Having boasted, however, of his intended deed before some of the knights +templars, he was told by them that if he put Louis to death, his brothers +would certainly avenge the crime, and draw upon him the ill will of many +nations besides France. The sheik now became as anxious to preserve the +king's life as he had been to take it, and sent off in a great hurry two of +his emirs to the court of France to warn Louis of his danger. The king +received the intelligence calmly, and only instituted another company of +guards, who were armed with maces of brass. But when the assassins could +not be discovered, notwithstanding the marks by which the emirs declared +they would be known, these men hastened to Marseilles, and luckily arrived +there before the Arabs set foot on shore. When they had told them how the +sheik had determined not to take the king's life, they conducted them to +Paris, and all four were received with kindness by Louis, and went back to +the East much impressed with the magnificence of the French court; for +although the king loved neither luxury nor pleasure, his court was always +kept up with dignity and splendour. The Sire de Joinville, who was +twenty-two years in his company, tells us how, at a great festival held at +Saumur, which was called a plenary court, the king wore a coat of blue +samite, a species of satin, with overcoat and mantle of crimson samite, +bordered with ermine, and strangely enough, a cotton cap on his head, which +did not become him at all. His hair, which was fair, he wore short, +according to the custom of the time. At this feast there were at least +three thousand knights present, and so many robes of cloth of gold and of +silk had never been seen before. King Louis, his brothers, and the King of +Navarre sat at one table, Joinville himself carving for them; the queen +mother and her ladies sat at another, and the archbishops and bishops at a +third; and to guard the king's table stood three of the greatest barons in +the land; and to guard them stood thirty knights, in garments of rich +silken stuff; and these again had a retinue of the royal officers behind +them. + +During the whole time that the plenary courts were held, the king was +obliged to dine in public, and it was an old custom, that before the +dinner was ended, three heralds at arms, each with a rich cap in his hand, +cried out three times, "Bounty of the most powerful King!" and then threw +gold and silver to the people, so that the poor had their share of the +rejoicing as well as the rich. + +The king was seized with a dangerous illness at Pontoise in the year 1244. +This was a very great sorrow for his people, since it was feared that he +would die, and they joined in solemn processions all over the kingdom, and +went to the churches to pray to the Almighty to restore him to health. +Queen Blanche was the saddest of all, and passed her time between the sick +chamber of her son, and the foot of the altar, where she knelt for hours in +silent prayer. + +When Louis felt that he was getting weaker, he sent for all the members of +his household, and thanked them for their services; after which he +recommended them to serve God with earnest and faithful hearts. Then he +sank into a lethargy, which those who were watching by his bedside at first +mistook for death. The lethargy lasted several days, and then the king gave +signs of returning life. The first words he spoke after opening his eyes +were these:--"By the grace of God the light of the East has shone upon me +from the height of heaven, and recalled me from the dead." He summoned the +Bishop of Paris to his presence, and required him to affix the cross to his +shoulder, as a sign that he bound himself to go on the crusade. + +The sorrow which had been forgotten when the king gave signs of recovery, +now broke out afresh. The two queens, Blanche and Marguerite, threw +themselves on their knees, and implored him with many tears not to go on +the crusade; even the bishops, who stood by, tried to persuade him not to +engage in so difficult an enterprise, but all in vain. Louis would take no +nourishment until the cross was really fastened to his shoulder; and his +people heard of the vow he had taken in gloom and regret, for they thought +if he once set sail for the Holy Land, they would never see him again. + +The king did not really recover until several months had passed, and then +he wrote to the Christians in the East to tell them that he was coming to +their aid. But it was a long time yet before he was able to set out, +because he loved his people very dearly, and wanted to provide everything +for their comfort and happiness during his absence, when his mother, Queen +Blanche, was to rule over them in his stead. He persuaded the most +turbulent of the nobles to go with him on the crusade, and when the best +measures had been taken for securing the peace of the kingdom, he made +known that he was ready to redress every injury he had offered, it being +the custom then for all good crusaders to make their peace with God and man +before they embarked in their enterprise. + +Louis then went with his brothers, Robert of Artois and Charles of Anjou, +to the church of Saint Denis to receive his pilgrim's scrip and staff, and +the oriflamme, or sacred banner of Saint Denis. This was a banner of +flame-coloured silk, which was always carried before the French armies on +solemn occasions for the encouragement of the soldiers. The king, having +requested all holy persons to pray that his undertaking might prove +successful, came back to Paris, and heard mass at the great church of Notre +Dame, and then went out of the city he was not to behold again for so long, +followed by the clergy, the nobles, and multitudes of the common people. + +The crimson and the samite, the gold-embroidered garments with the ermines, +were now laid aside for a plain grey robe trimmed with grey and white fur. +The trappings of the king's horses were no longer adorned with gold, but +the steel of their harness was polished until it shone like silver. Louis +computed before he left France how much his former luxuries had cost him +yearly, and then caused the amount to be regularly distributed to the poor. + +At Cluny, Queen Blanche bade her son a long sad farewell: it was the first +time he had ever thwarted her wishes by refusing to give up the crusade, +when she urged that a vow made in a time of extreme weakness was not +binding. His young wife could not bring herself to part with him, and +declared she would follow him to the end of the world. + +When all was ready, the king, with his brothers Robert and Charles, Queen +Marguerite, and the young Countess of Anjou, and a vast number of crusaders +of all nations, embarked at Aigues-Mortes, a port on the Mediterranean, +which had been constructed for the occasion. They took the direction of +Cyprus, and the winds being favourable, all the vessels except one, which +was unhappily shipwrecked, reached the island in safety. Here the crusaders +remained during the winter. For two years before they arrived, the king's +people had been bringing wine and various provisions for the army from the +most fertile countries of Europe, and had laid up their store in the +island. The tubs of wine they had piled one upon the other, until they +looked like great barns; and the wheat and the barley lay in heaps in the +fields, green on the outside, where the warm rains falling softly upon them +had made them sprout. The crusaders found an abundant supply of food in +Cyprus, without having recourse to their stores, and when in the spring +they wanted to set out for Egypt, they took off the outer covering of the +heaps, and saw the wheat and the barley beneath, as fresh as if it had just +been cut. + +The departure from the island was fixed for Ascension Day in the year 1249. +The crusaders embarked towards evening at the port called Limesson, where +they had landed. The vessels large and small amounted to 1,650, and were +thronged with a vast assembly of people of all callings and nations, 2,800 +of them being knights. The next day the king sent a sealed packet into +every vessel, with orders for it to remain unopened until the fleet had set +sail; the purport of this was that they should proceed direct to Damietta. +The wind, however, blew against them, and forced them to return to the +port; and when they had got out to sea again a few days after, a violent +tempest arose from the side of Egypt, and scattered all the vessels. Louis +himself was obliged to go back to the port of Limesson, and found on +arriving there that his fleet was diminished by one hundred and twenty +vessels, and that the number of knights was reduced to seven hundred! But +he would not suffer the followers who remained to him to be cast down, and +on Trinity Sunday they set sail once more, and although in continual dread +of another storm, they went on their way safely, until a sailor who knew +the coasts of Egypt, and served as a guide, warned them that they were +before Damietta, the great stronghold of the Saracens in Egypt. All the +other vessels now crowded around the one which bore the king, who stood up +among his people calm and trustful, encouraging them to persevere for the +love of God, and not to flinch in the moment of danger. + +Saleh, the Sultan, was at some distance from Damietta; he was supposed to +be dying, and had confided the care of his army to the emir Facardin. The +Saracens had seen the sea covered with masts and sails by seven o'clock in +the morning, and had rung the bell of their great mosque to spread the +alarm in the city: the Christians heard the sound across the sea in the +clear summer air. Facardin ordered four Corsair vessels to approach the +fleet, but three of these ventured too near, and were overwhelmed by +showers of stones from the larger vessels. The fourth went back to convey +the tidings that the King of France had come with a number of foreign +princes. + +At mid-day the fleet of the Christians cast anchor in the roads of +Damietta. The port was full of men-of-war, and the flat country of Egypt +was covered with rich tents, whilst crowds of people on foot and on horse +stood along the shore, sounding their twisted horns, and their great +cymbals, two of which were a sufficient load for an elephant; and making, +as the Sire de Joinville affirms, "a sound horrible to be heard!" + +A council was held on board the king's vessel, at which it was resolved to +land the next day, although only a portion of the fleet had as yet arrived +in the roads; but Louis thought that delay would inspire fear, and perhaps +afford the Saracens the opportunity of destroying his army by degrees. So +when it got dark, the crusaders lighted a great number of torches, and kept +watch all night; and they confessed their sins one to another, and prayed +for those they loved, and had left behind in Europe; and as many as had +quarrelled made friends, that they might be ready for death, if it should +meet them in the struggle on the morrow. + +At daybreak they lifted anchor, and sailed for the island of Giza, which +was joined to Damietta by a bridge of boats across the river Nile. The king +commanded his people to get down into the flat boats they had brought with +them, because the large vessels could not approach the shore: the boat +Joinville was in soon distanced the one which bore the Oriflamme, and was +first to gain the land. + +Suddenly the air was darkened by a flight of arrows from the bows of the +Saracens. Louis, seeing this, gave orders for each man to disembark as he +could, and jumped from his boat into the water, covered as he was by his +armour, with his shield on his breast, and his sword in his hand. The water +was deeper there than elsewhere, and he was immersed up to his shoulders, +but the sight of the Oriflamme safely landed encouraged him in his efforts, +and he got to the shore before any of the others. Although countless swords +and pike points were aimed at him as he landed, the good king did not +forget to kneel down for a moment on the sand, to thank the Almighty for +having preserved him thus far; then, rising, he would have rushed on the +Saracens at once and alone, if his knights, who were now gaining their +footing on shore, had not prevented him. + +All the rest now followed; Louis put his people in battle array as they +landed, and ordered an attack to be made on some of the enemy's larger +vessels. Before the day was ended the Christian army had driven the +Saracens from the western shores of the Nile, and had got possession of the +bridge of boats; they would have pursued their foes, but night coming on, +the king sounded a retreat, and encamped on the ground he had conquered. +Meanwhile the poor queen and the Countess of Anjou had been in terrible +anxiety and distress when they watched from their vessel afar the +multitudes rushing into the water, and could not tell whether their +husbands were alive or drowned. And great must have been their joy when the +news was conveyed to him that those they loved so dearly were safe on +shore, and that their efforts, as yet, had been crowned with success. + +Early the next morning, which was Sunday, the king was giving orders for +the siege of Damietta, when two Christian captives came to the camp and +told him that the city was deserted. The king could scarcely credit their +words, and sent one of his knights to the spot to see if they were really +true. The knight returned with the same account; the Saracens had gone back +to Damietta in great distress the evening before, and on their arrival had +heard that the Sultan was dead. + +The rumour struck dismay into the heart of Facardin, and he only waited to +put the Christian slaves who were in the city to death, and to burn the +bazaars where the provisions were sold, and then he went out at the gates +the same night with his army and the garrison; old men and women, children +and sick persons following in the rear of the craven-hearted troops, until +by daylight the whole city was deserted. + +Damietta was now open to the Christians; they had only to cross the bridge +of boats and enter its gates. The king in his thankfulness thought that he +ought not to enter the city as a triumphant warrior, but humbly, and clad +as a pilgrim; and he walked thither barefoot, followed by the King of +Cyprus, who had joined the crusade, the patriarch of Jerusalem, the legate, +and all the bishops and priests who had accompanied the army. A mosque, +where the Saracens had worshipped, was hastily converted into a Christian +church, and a solemn chant of thanksgiving ascended from its altar. The +crusaders had indeed reason to be thankful because Damietta was so strong a +place, protected by a double wall on the side of the Nile, and by a triple +one on the side of the flat country. The king determined to remain there +until the autumn, and thus avoid marching in the great heat, and the danger +which his army would be exposed to from the rising of the Nile, for the +river begins to rise in the month of June, and mounts higher and higher +until September, overflowing the land along its course so that it looks +like a great marsh, and the villages and trees appear like islands above +the water. By November the fields are dry again and covered with a rich +brown slime, and the people then begin to sow their corn. The soil being +so fertile, in the winter months the valley of the Nile presents the +appearance of a beautiful garden; indeed, the natives are obliged sometimes +to mix sand with the loam, or the fruits and vegetables would grow and +ripen too quickly. + +When the water had risen to a certain height, the Saracens used to open +their dykes with great solemnity and let it flow over the land; and it was +remembered with sadness in the Christian camp how they had used it for the +destruction of the crusading army in the enterprise which had failed only a +few years before. + +The queen and her sister, with their ladies in attendance, were lodged in +one of the palaces in the city, and the pilgrims who had come in the hope +of reaching Jerusalem in another; but the king remained in his tent outside +with the army. + +The crusaders soon began to suffer from the intense heat of the climate, +and the flies and noxious insects which infested the camp. + +The report of the sultan's death had been false. Saleh was still living, +but almost at his last gasp; and finding he could not dictate to the King +of France the hour when a battle should take place between them, he devised +a sure method of annoyance by offering a reward of a besant of gold for +every head of a Christian which should be brought to him. The Arabs or +Bedouins undertook to perform this service. Clad only in the skins of wild +beasts, they would suddenly appear in the camp, and vanish on their +swift-footed horses as soon as they were seen. On dark nights they used to +put their ear to the ground, as the Arabs do to this day, and listen if +the night watch had gone its rounds before they began their dread work; and +as there were always people sleeping on the outskirts of the camp, who had +gone out in search of prey, scarcely a night passed but some heads were +missing at daybreak. The king, to mislead them, ordered the night watch to +be made by foot soldiers instead of horsemen, but it did not prevent the +maurauders from coming, and at last the crusaders had to dig a deep trench +all round the camp as a surer means of keeping them away. + +Louis was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his brother Alphonse, Count of +Poitou, Prince John being left in France to assist the queen-mother in the +cares of the government. The Count came at last, bringing with him the wife +of Robert of Artois. The time was wearing on, and a council was held to +determine which way they should next proceed. Robert, who was as zealous in +the crusade as Louis himself, but who had not his brother's patience and +calmness of mind, strongly advised that they should pursue the road to +Cairo, or Babylon, as it was then called, and so aim a blow at the whole +dominion of the Sultan in Egypt. The king yielded to his wishes, and +leaving the queen and the princesses in the city, with a sufficient number +of guards to protect them, he set out from Damietta, although he was in +weak health from the effects of the climate. The army crossed the bridge of +boats, but it could only go slowly along; there were so many things, such +as engines, arms, harness, and provisions, to be transported. The crusaders +imagined that they were going to Babylon, the great city of the East, on +the banks of the Euphrates; but the city they were approaching was only so +named by some settlers from the Eastern Babylon, and was what is now called +"Old Cairo," although in those days it was almost as great a place as +Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt. They were much astonished at the +abundant vegetation on the shores of the Nile, and the treasures to be +found even in its waters; for the Sire de Joinville tells us how the +country people used to throw their nets into the river at evening, and take +them up in the morning filled with cinnamon, aloes, ginger, rhubarb, and +things of a like nature; the common belief being that these riches dropped +from the trees in the garden of paradise, and were wafted up the river to +their feet! + +The Egyptian fleet was stationed at Massoura, a city nearly a third of the +way between Damietta and Cairo. The sultan was now dead, but his widow +would not let it be known until her son could arrive to take the government +into his hands, for fear that the people should get discouraged. + +The crusaders had not gone far from Damietta, when they found their passage +barred by the Thanis, a branch of the Nile, the opposite shore of which was +guarded by a body of five hundred Saracen horsemen. The Thanis was the +river they had to cross; it was deep near its steep shores; there was no +bridge, neither did they know of a ford, so they encamped on the ground +which formed the extremity of the angle between the two rivers, only +separated from the town of Massourah by the stream and a part of the plain. +Their situation soon became very dangerous, because the Saracens were +constantly attacking their side which was unprotected by the waters: the +machines of the enemy, too, were better than their own, and poured upon +them a continual volley of stones, darts, javelins, arrows, and heavy +pieces of wood. Then at night the Saracens would throw upon them their +terrible Greek fire, which appeared with a loud hissing noise, "like a +fiery dragon flying through the air," and rendered the camp as light as +day. The Saracens were more skilful in the art of making fireworks than the +Europeans, and always employed them in warfare. The basis of the Greek fire +was naphtha, a clear, thin mineral fluid, which is very inflammable, and +burns with much smoke. When it came, the Christians would throw themselves +down on the ground and hide their faces, and the king, whenever he heard it +explode in the night, would rise in his bed and say, "Blessed Lord God, +save my people!" and every night he would send round the camp to inquire +who had been injured by it. Sometimes it was put out with vinegar and sand, +but it usually occasioned great harm, not only to the people in the camp, +but also to the machines. + +The king, having tried in vain to construct a dyke, had now to think +seriously of returning to Damietta, or of remaining in this corner between +the rivers, surrounded by the enemy, and almost in total want of +provisions. He was about to retreat, notwithstanding the sorrow and +disappointment it cost him to give up the enterprise, when a Bedouin, who +had abandoned the Saracens, came to the camp and said that he knew of a +ford which the horsemen might pass, and would show it to them for the sum +of five hundred besants of gold, but not until he had the money safe in his +hand. + +The king joyfully accepted his offer, and arranged that the Duke of +Burgundy should be left with the infantry to guard the camp, whilst he, +with his brothers and all the rest, should attempt the passage. The Count +of Artois begged for the honour of passing first, and the king somewhat +reluctantly granted him his request, on condition that he should not +venture to fight until the whole army had assembled; he knew so well his +brother's ardent spirit and rashness. + +Before daybreak they all set out for the ford, with the Arab marching at +their head, and went out of the straight road to avoid being seen by their +foes. The Arab plunged into the water first of all, and as he knew the way +perfectly it was not difficult for him to cross, but Robert of Artois did +not find it so easy to effect a footing, the opposite shore being high and +slippery from the richness of its soil. Next to him went the Templars, and +then William, Earl of Salisbury, surnamed "Longue Epee," who had joined the +crusade with two hundred English knights. Ah! little those brave men knew +they were going to their death, and that of all who crossed in hope and +ardour that morning, only enough should survive to come back and tell the +tale! + +The sight of the Arabs fleeing who guarded the ford, made Robert forget the +oath he had sworn to his brother; he rushed after them in pursuit; the Emir +Facardin coming out to ascertain the cause of alarm, was quickly surrounded +and killed, and numbers of the Saracens, in dismay at the loss of their +leader, left their camp to their foes, and retired in disorder to Massoura. + +Meanwhile the king had passed the ford in his turn, with all the rest of +the horsemen, and was greatly surprised that he did not find his brother +and the advance guard waiting for him on the other side. Fearing some +misfortune had happened, he told ten of his knights to go in search of +Count Robert, and remind him that he was to attempt nothing until the whole +army had assembled. After this he set out quickly in the direction of the +Saracens; but what was his astonishment when he found that instead of being +able to stand against them, he was surrounded by them on all sides, whilst +the air was filled with their hideous cries, and the noise of their +barbarous instruments! The Saracens, terror-stricken at first by the +approach of the Christians, had now rallied in multitudes, and completely +closed in the army of the crusaders between the river and the town of +Massoura. The king, undismayed, prepared for immediate battle, although his +knights and nobles tried to persuade him that it would be hopeless to +combat so large a force. Just at that moment the constable Imbert de +Beaujeu rode up to tell him that the Count of Artois was besieged in a +house at Massoura, and would perish if succour did not arrive. The king +sent a body of troops to his aid, and promised that he would soon be with +him himself; and then he turned to his people and exhorted them to keep +their ranks firm; and told them that the soldiers of Christ ought not to +fear a set of miscreants like those who were crowding around them. The +whole aspect of the king that day inspired courage; his face was calm, his +eyes shone with a steadfast light; he had a helmet of gold on his head, +which from his great height towered above the ranks of his army; his +double-edged sword was so heavy, that to strike a blow with it, he had to +grasp it with both hands. + +The signal being given, the bravest of the crusaders rushed on the +Saracens; others, less courageous, tried to regain the camp of the Duke of +Burgundy, but were most of them drowned in the attempt. The king was sure +to be found where the fight was the thickest, or where the weak were in +want of succour; and once during the battle he was surrounded by six +Saracens, who seized the bridle of his horse, and yet he freed himself by +his own aid alone. + +The Duke of Burgundy and his men heard the conflict going on from the +opposite shore; they longed to fly to the king's assistance, but their very +eagerness hindered them, and it was a long time before any of them could +cross the river. When a body of the king's archers arrived on the plain, +they found that Louis had maintained his ground, and that the battle of +Massoura was won: yet, had it not been for the king's example, the day had +been lost, so great was the fury and strength of the enemy. + +Both Christians and Saracens were now utterly wearied out with fighting; +the heat had been intense, and Louis, having waited for all the wounded who +could be assembled, set out at sunset for the Saracen camp on the Thanis. +His golden helmet oppressed him, and he was glad to accept from Joinville a +casque of steel, which enabled him to breathe more freely. He had only gone +a little way on the road when a prior of the knights hospitallers met him +and asked if he knew where his brother was, the Count of Artois. + +"Yes," replied the king, "I know that he is in heaven." And then he said +that the Lord should be praised equally for what He gave and for what He +withheld; and in the dark of the evening his tears began to flow, not only +for his own sorrow, but for that of the young Countess of Artois, who had +only come out to the East to bid her husband a last farewell. + +For Robert indeed was slain; deaf to the remonstrances of the Grand Master +of the Templars, an old man, whose advice had been well heeded, and to +those of the Earl of Salisbury, he persisted in following the Saracens to +Massoura, and had met there the fate he had drawn upon him by his untimely +zeal and rashness. His brave companions perished with him, with the +exception of the Grand Master, who lost an eye in the conflict, and one or +two others; the Englishman who bore the standard wrapped it around him as +he fell. And as the king appeared to have known beforehand what had +happened, so it is said the mother of the Earl of Salisbury had a vision of +her son ascending to heaven, with a crown of glory on his head, before she +received the tidings of his death. + +The king encamped that night close by the machines of the Saracens, and on +the second day after the battle of Massoura, the struggle began afresh. The +Saracens had taken the victory to themselves, and had sent the news of +their supposed triumph to Cairo by their carrier pigeons. Bondocar, the +chief, who had rallied the troops in Massoura appeared on the field in the +coat of arms starred with lilies which Robert of Artois had worn. The Greek +fire was poured forth incessantly from the front line of the Saracens as +they came up in battle array; the king had the crupper of his horse covered +with it once during the conflict, when he had gone to the rescue of his +brother Charles, who was in danger. The Saracens were repulsed a second +time, but the victory was dearly bought, so many men and horses being +wounded, and the crusaders passed a dreary time before Massoura, whilst +their provisions grew less and less; and it being Lent, they lost their +strength by eating only roots, wheat, and fruit; fish they had in plenty at +first, but to their horror they found out that they had fed on the dead +bodies which the Saracens had thrown into the river. A pestilence broke +out, and the camp was like one vast hospital. The king, in mistaken zeal, +had caused the bodies to be taken out of the water, that those of the +Christians might receive Christian burial, and helped to bury them himself. +This only increased the unwholesomeness of the air, and at last Louis fell +ill too. The crusaders now began to despair; the king had been as brave in +misfortune as he had been on the battle-field, and had cheered the spirits +of his followers: he visited the sick day and night, and sat beside the +bedside of the dying, reminding them of their Saviour's love, and +comforting many a poor soul with the hope of heaven. It is recorded how one +of the lowliest of the army declared as he lay dying that he could not +depart until he had seen the kind face of his master bending over him once +more. + +The Saracens having prevented the approach of the vessels that were coming +to the camp with provisions, the king, as a last resource, offered to give +up the city of Damietta to the Sultan Malek al Moadhem, if he would agree +to restore Jerusalem to the Christians, the Counts of Poiton and Anjou +remaining in Egypt as hostages. + +The Sultan would have no other hostage but the king himself, and Louis +would willingly have sacrificed himself for his people if his nobles had +allowed him to do so. There was no alternative but to retreat to Damietta, +and the army decamped one spring night in the dark, the old people and the +sick and wounded being carried out first, and the king leaving the camp the +last of all with the barons Gautier de Chatillon and Geoffray de Sardines. +He was so weak and ill that he could hardly sit upright on his little Arab +horse; yet he was the bravest among the brave in that troop which went +slowly and sadly along in the dark, defending themselves as they could from +the attacks of the Arabs, who had been bribed for the purpose of molesting +them. + +Geoffray de Sardines had to deal many a blow to keep the Saracens from his +master, who soon became too feeble to lift his sword, and they were in the +greater danger because the whole of the Egyptian army was behind them. At +last they reached a little village, and the king, having fainted away, was +carried into the first house they met with, whilst Chatillon stood outside +in the street defending it until he fell mortally wounded. + +When Louis had recovered a little, Philip de Montfort came to him, and told +him that he had seen an emir, to whom he had been sent on a mission once +before, and if he liked he would make a treaty with him on the terms +desired by the Saracens. + +The king agreed to the plan; De Montfort went to the emir, and all would +have been well if a sergeant belonging to the French army, thinking to save +the king's life, had not cried out to the knights who were standing around, +"Surrender, Sir Knights! the king commands you to do so!" The Christian +warriors, believing that the king had really commanded them to give way, +lay down their swords, and the emir, seeing they were all prisoners, said +there was no further need of a treaty. Then cords and chains were thrown +around them, and they were all conducted to Massoura. + +The king was shut up in the house of a scribe; he was loaded with chains, +and strictly watched, while the barons and knights were huddled together in +a court which was open to the sky. King Louis was very unkindly treated by +the Sultan at first; he was only allowed to have one attendant with him; +this man, whose name was Isambert, nursed him tenderly, dressed him, and +made his bread; and said afterwards that he had never heard his master +utter one word of complaint or impatience during the whole time of his +captivity. It was a marvel how Louis ever lived through his illness; his +strength was almost spent; and at night, to add to his discomfort, he had +nothing to cover him as he lay on his wretched bed but an old cloak, which +a poor man had given him out of compassion in Massoura. + +After a time, Malek al Moadhem, fearing the reproaches of the European +nations, treated his captive more kindly; he had his chains removed and +sent him his own physicians, and delicate food from his royal table, and to +keep him warm he gave him two robes of black samite, trimmed and lined with +fur, which were plentifully adorned with gold buttons. And best of all he +allowed him to have his almoner and a priest with him, and something like +joy came back to the poor king when the Saracens brought him one day his +missal, or book of prayers, which he had lost and never thought to see +again. And so, comforted and strengthened by prayer, Louis was not unhappy +even within prison walls, away from all he loved, and waited patiently +until the Almighty should see fit to make a way for him to regain his +liberty. + +And a way came at last: the sultan agreed to release him on condition of +his giving up Damietta and paying a ransom of a million besants of gold. +Louis agreed to the terms, but he said that the liberty of the King of +France should not be bought with money, and that the gold should be paid +for his people, and the city should be his own ransom. The sultan, struck +with the spirit of his reply, reduced the sum he had asked by two hundred +thousand besants, and a truce was concluded between the Christians and the +Saracens of Egypt and Syria. It was arranged that half the ransom should be +paid at once, and the other half as soon as the king should reach the port +of Acre in Palestine, his brother Alphonse remaining in Egypt as hostage. +Louis was then set at liberty; he had recovered from his illness through +the skill of the Arabian physicians, and he repaired to Acre where the +queen and the princesses had already arrived, having quitted Damietta a +little while before. It was a joyful meeting, for Marguerite had been very +unhappy through all those long sad months at Damietta, not only on account +of the miseries of the crusaders, but also from the constant fear of +falling into the hands of the Saracens herself. And a little son who was +born to her there received the name of "Tristan," in memory of the sorrows +she had endured. + +Louis did not return to France at once, but remained some time at Acre, in +the hope of inducing the Christian powers to enter into a league for the +recovery of the Holy Land, and it was not until the news of his mother's +death reached him, and his presence was required in his country, that he +bade farewell to the East, where he had bravely striven for so much, and +yet had gained so little. + +The king was received with great joy by his people on his return to France, +but they were less happy when they saw the cross still on his shoulder, as +a sign that he meant to engage in another crusade when the truce should +have expired. As soon as he arrived he occupied himself in making good laws +for his country, and was so greatly famed for his justice that other +sovereigns were glad to benefit by his example. His laws against evil-doers +were very severe; no murderer or thief dared abide in Paris, and merchants +and tradesmen who gave false measures were punished with extreme rigour. +The king used often to sit beneath an oak in the Bois de Vincennes, or on a +carpet spread in a garden, to hear the complaints and grievances of the +common people, and to administer justice to them. He had always been +charitable from his earliest years: a hundred and twenty poor persons were +maintained in his house, and three poor old men, besides those who were +crippled and lame, dined with him every day at his own table; the king +would cut their bread and meat for them, and pour out their wine, and +would serve them before he ate anything himself. And beyond this, he gave +large sums to hospitals, religious houses, and colleges, and succoured +widows and poor ladies and gentlemen, and all those who by reason of age or +illness could no longer work for their living. + +The good king used to employ the morning with the affairs of the state; he +dined at mid-day, and after dinner his readers would come to him, and he +read the Bible with interpreters, or the works of the fathers of the +church: sometimes, instead of reading, he would converse with good and +learned men, who always found a welcome at his court. In the evening, +before he retired to rest, he used to assemble his children around him, and +hear them repeat their prayers and the tasks they had learned during the +day. Then he would tell them of the deeds of good emperors and kings, and +of the fate that generally befel those who were idle, or careless of the +happiness of their subjects. At midnight he would rise from his bed to +attend Matins, and so afraid was he of being asleep when any of the church +services began, that he had candles lighted which only burnt a certain +time, that his servants might not fail to awaken him as soon as they were +spent. His brothers used to share with him works of charity and holy +offices. When Baldwin II., Emperor of Constantinople, sent him as a gift +the Crown of Thorns supposed to be the one worn by our blessed Saviour, and +part of the word of the True Cross on which He died, in return for the aid +Louis had afforded him when he was in great need, we read how the king +received the sacred relics in the deepest humility, and bareheaded and +barefoot carried the Crown of Thorns with his brother Robert of Artois to +the church of Notre-Dame. It was to form a shrine for these relics that +Louis built the beautiful Sainte Chapelle in Paris. Again, we read how, +when a new hospital was completed, the king carried in the first bed +himself, with his son-in-law, the King of Navarre, whilst his brothers +conveyed the remainder of the sick people into the wards. The whole family +were united in deeds of love and compassion. There was no office too lowly +for Louis to perform; no person, however mean and wretched, who had not a +place in his heart. And if we except the harsh laws he made against the +Jews through his zeal for the Christian faith, no sovereign ever showed +more mercy and justice towards his people. + +One Good Friday, when the king was going his rounds to all the churches in +Paris, according to his custom, he saw on the other side of the way a leper +who was shunned by every person he met. The king immediately crossed over +the muddy road and gave the poor man some money, and kissed his hand to +show that he loved him, although he was despised and avoided by all others. +The king never resumed his costly robes after his return from the Holy +Land, but wore dark-coloured garments of cloth and silk, and instead of +handsome furs he only wore the skins of hares, rabbits, and squirrels, that +he might have the more money to spare for his charities. + +In the summer of the year 1270 the Christians set out once more from the +port of Aigues-Mortes on the seventh and last crusade. Bondocar had become +a very powerful sovereign, and the Saracens were making so great progress +in the East, that all Christian princes became alarmed, and were urged by +the Pope to hasten to the relief of Palestine. + +The Crusaders, with Louis and three of his sons at their head, directed +their course this time to Tunis, hoping by gaining possession of that city +to cut off all communication between the Saracens of the East, and those of +Morocco and Spain. + +As soon as they arrived before Tunis the enemy came in sight, as if they +were going to attack the camp, and then retired. Just as they were +vanishing in the distance two Spanish slaves came and told the king that +the Lord of Tunis had arrested all who were Christians amongst his troops, +and intended to cut off their heads directly the march should begin upon +Tunis. The next night three Saracens appeared before the advance guard of +the Christians, and touching their turbans in token of respect, made known +by signs that they demanded baptism. + +The king did not know what to think of the matter, and ordered them to be +guarded in a tent; and a little while after a hundred more appeared, making +the same signs. Whilst they were amusing the soldiers by their odd +gestures, other Saracens rushed unexpectedly upon the camp, and after +killing many of the Christians, ran away before they could be captured. The +army thought to revenge the affront on the three men, but they began to +shed tears, and one of them declared that a captain of more than two +thousand men like himself wanted to ruin him by treachery, and if the king +would send one of the two others to the camp of the Saracens, the whole +army would pass over to the Christians. The king did not dare to trust him, +and thought it wisest to send them all away, for fear he should be guilty +of shedding innocent blood. As the Crusaders were making a very deep ditch +the next day all around the camp, the entire body of the Saracens came in +sight, spreading from the sea on one side, to the country on the other. +They meant to surround the army, but Louis rushing out upon them, a +skirmish ensued, and when a few of their number were slain, all the rest +took flight. Thus they kept on harassing and dodging the army; the +Christian warriors had no peace with them; and if ever they took off their +armour they had to put it on again directly for some fresh alarm, although +the Saracens never ventured to give them battle. + +Louis was desirous of waiting before Tunis until the arrival of his brother +Charles, now king over Sicily; and he prepared meanwhile by sea and land +for the siege of the city, which was very strongly fortified. The delay +proved the source of misfortune; the Christians had worse evils to contend +with than those occasioned by the Saracens. The heat was intense, and the +reflection from the sunlit mountains caused a dazzling light which almost +blinded their eyes. When the wind blew it came loaded with burning sand, +and the plague broke out on the coast. Then the Crusaders drooped one by +one; the young Count de Nevers, the son whom Louis loved best of all, was +seized with the sickness and died, and on the day of his death the good +Saint Louis fell ill himself. When he felt that he should never rise from +his bed again, he set all his earthly affairs in order, and gave good +advice to his children, telling them always to love one another, and +maintain the peace of their country. For the rest of the time he lived he +prayed in patience, and praised God for all that had befallen him +throughout his life; and one night he uttered the word "Jerusalem," adding, +"Let us go to Jerusalem." It was to the heavenly Jerusalem the king was +going, the eternal city, where all weeping and sorrow and trouble should be +hushed for ever. Before he died he prayed long and earnestly for his +people, that they might be delivered from their enemies, and last of all, +with peace in his face, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Lord, I +will enter into Thy house; I will adore Thee in Thy holy temple, and I will +glorify Thy name." + +When Charles of Anjou arrived at Tunis a little while after the king had +ceased to breathe, he was surprised to find that the camp was all silent, +and that no one had come to meet him on the shore. And hastening to the +royal tent, the sight that greeted him was the dead body of his brother +clad in a hair shirt, and stretched on a bed of ashes; for thus had Louis, +in his humility, desired to die. Charles shed many tears, and kissed the +feet of his dead brother again and again, and the whole camp was filled +with sorrowful faces, so dearly had the good king been loved by his +followers. + +Louis, having reigned over France for nearly forty-four years, left the +kingdom to his eldest son Philip, who carried on the crusade for a while +with the other princes, and defeated the Saracens on several occasions. By +November, however, all the French Crusaders had quitted the East, and +Philip occupied himself in the affairs of his own country. His father +wrote him some instructions, which he was to read after his death, and +which have been carefully preserved. The following maxims were amongst +those they contained:-- + + "Dear son, the first thing I teach thee is to set thy + heart to love God, for without Him none can be saved. + + * * * * * + + "If God send thee adversity, receive it with patience, + and thank the Lord for it, and think that thou hast + deserved it, and that it will turn to thy profit. If He + give thee prosperity, thank Him for it humbly, so as + not to lose by pride or otherwise what ought to render + thee better; for one ought not to abuse the gifts of + God." + + "Be kind and charitable to the poor, the weak, and + those who are in trouble, and aid them according to thy + power." + + "Maintain the good customs of thy country, and destroy + the bad ones. Only have in thy company prudent and + unambitious men. Flee and avoid the company of the + wicked." + + "Listen willingly to the word of God, and keep it in + thy heart. Let no one be so bold as to speak a word + which might lead to sin in thy presence." + + + + +GUSTAVUS VASA, KING OF SWEDEN. + + +There was once a princess named Margaret, daughter of Waldemar, King of +Denmark, who on her father's death married Haquin, king of Norway. When her +husband died she reigned over Norway alone; and when her son Olaus died she +reigned over Denmark too. Margaret governed her people well, but she dearly +loved power, and was not content with the countries she already possessed; +so she went to war with her near neighbours, the Swedes, and defeated and +captured Albert, their king. Margaret kept him in prison seven years, and +then only released him when he had agreed to give up his crown as the price +of his liberty. In the year 1397 a great meeting of the States General of +the three countries was held at a place called Calmar, and there it was +settled that Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, should all be governed by one +sovereign. After Margaret's death the Swedes were very unhappy for many +years, because they were so sorely oppressed by the Danes: they did not +submit tamely, and a long series of troubles and wars ensued. + +When Gustavus Vasa, the great hero of the North, was born in the year 1490, +Sweden had in some measure freed itself from the Danish yoke, and was +governed by Sten Sture, a Swede, who had the title of Adminstrator. Sture +was a man of firm and upright character, who had never suffered the Danes +to triumph over him, although they were always trying to regain full power +over his country, and had made a solemn vow with the Russians to subdue it +entirely. + +Gustavus Erickson, commonly called Gustavus Vasa, was born at the Castle of +Lindholm, near Stockholm. His father, Erick Johannson, was descended from +the royal houses of Vasa and Sture, both of which came from the Old +Norwegian kings, and were connected with many of the royal families of +Europe. They had always been renowned for their love of freedom, their +steadfast spirit, and their valour. Sten Sture had given to Erick Johannson +a beautiful estate, called Castle-holm, and the Island of Aland, in the +Gulf of Bothnia. He loved to have him with him at his court, and took +charge of his little son Gustavus, because he wanted to see him grow up +worthy of his royal birth, and to teach him to love his unhappy country +with all his heart; hoping that he might one day restore to it the freedom +it had enjoyed before it was overcome by the ambitious Northern queen. + +The boy was brought up simply and without luxury; he ate coarse food, and +learned to hunt, and was allowed to climb about the mountains around +Lindholm as much as he liked, so that he grew very strong, and could endure +great fatigue without a murmur, whilst he thoroughly enjoyed his sports and +his liberty in the keen, fresh air. When John, the reigning king of Denmark +came in State to visit Sture at Stockholm, he was struck by the spirited +bearing, and free, open nature of Gustavus; and fearing that when he was +older he might prove the source of danger to himself, he asked Sture to let +him take care of him, and bring him up at the Danish court. Sture, however, +wisely declined his offer, and sent the child to Aland to be out of danger, +and watched over him until his death, when Svante Sture governed Sweden in +his place. Gustavus was treated with great kindness by the new +Administrator, who loved peace, and only suffered good men to be around +him, thus making his Court a school for all knightly virtues. Gustavus +remained with him until he was eighteen, and then went to Upsal to attend a +school which had been founded there by the elder Sture. A story is told of +him which shows how deeply the teaching of his friend had taken root in his +heart. In one of the divisions of the school he was accustomed to read the +classics with a Dane, who once happened to let fall some remarks against +Sweden. In a moment, the Swedish youth drew his sword, plunged it through +the book which was open before him, and rushed out of the place, never to +return to it again. For all this, he was very happy at Upsal, and they were +merry days when a flock of students, in their red gowns, rushed out of the +city gates to enjoy a holiday in the open country beyond. Gustavus studied +with great diligence, and was more learned than most of the other noble +youths of his time, for in general they were quite content if they knew how +to handle their weapons, and cared very little for learning out of books. +Gustavus made himself perfect in all knightly accomplishments, and could +play on several musical instruments, which were all kept long afterwards, +hung up in the Castle of Stockholm, in remembrance of the happy days of his +youth. He never touched them after he had once given his whole thought to +the rescue of his country, but I dare say, when his great work was done, +and Sweden was free and happy once more, and he looked at them as they hung +on the walls, he seemed to hear all the old tunes which had gladdened his +youth, and thought kindly of the companions of his early years, who had +many of them died, or passed out of his sight. + +Gustavus was tall, slender, and fairhaired; his countenance was open and +expressed kindness; his temper was cheerful, and his courage could never be +daunted: he had a wonderful memory to the very last hours of his life. When +he had been in Upsal six years he came back to the Court of Stockholm, +where he went on with his studies, and lived until he was twenty-five years +of age, beloved by his friends, and esteemed by all for his upright +conduct. + +In the meantime a change had taken place in the affairs of Denmark. King +John was dead, and his son Christiern the Second had come to the throne. +The new king suffered himself to be advised by his mother-in-law Sigbritt, +a spiteful and meddling Dutchwoman; and he began his reign with many unjust +actions towards the Swedes, which provoked them to fight once more for +their freedom. Sten Sture the younger had succeeded his father Svante; he +resolved to free his country from the bondage of Denmark, and he spoke +earnest words in the Council House. + +"We must be firm," he said. "We must offer up our blood, and show the +people who come after us, how dear to us was our freedom, rather than sit +still with a weight upon our shoulders, which crushes us to the ground." + +And very soon the war began. King Christiern came himself to the scene of +action, and lay siege to Stockholm. Sture and Gustavus Erickson, who bore +the banner of Sweden, gained two victories over the Danes; the king was in +danger, being nearly surrounded by his enemies, and was obliged to think of +returning to his own country. He made it appear as if he wished for peace, +and agreed to meet Sture in order to treat for terms, provided hostages +were sent to his quarters in the persons of Gustavus and five Swedish +statesmen of high rank. It was arranged that when these hostages reached +his vessel at a place called Krongshamm, he should present himself in the +quarters of Sture, and that when he returned to his vessel the Swedes +should be free to depart. + +Although it was well known that the promises of Christiern were not to be +trusted, the six hostages set out in a boat with a crew of twelve men, but +they had hardly got half-way when a Danish vessel, having a hundred men on +board, met them, and closed their path. The captain told them that the king +wished to meet them at a place called Elfsnabbe, where he had some +important matters to discuss with them. Gustavus replied with spirit that +they had simply come as hostages, and had no power to transact business; +they would therefore either await the king at Krongshamm or return at once +to their own quarters. + +The Swedes soon found, however, that it was of no use to resist, and they +were forced on board the Danish vessel, and thus conveyed to the king. The +tyrant rejoiced that he had Gustavus Vasa, the most dreaded of his enemies +in his power, and without taking any heed of his promise, sailed with his +booty to Denmark as quickly as he could. The people of Sweden were very +sorrowful, and angry too when they knew Gustavus had been thus captured, +for his brave conduct and his success had already made them hope that +better days were in store for them. Sture also was grieved at Christiern's +breach of faith--the more so that he had been too generous to suspect him +of such deceit--and only a short time before, when the king had been +brought very low by sickness and famine, had sent him succour, and cared +for him as if he had been his warmest friend instead of his most bitter +foe. + +When the Swedes arrived in Denmark they were shut up in the citadel of +Copenhagen, and it was decided that they should be put to death at once. +Only, as they had been guilty of no crime, it was not easy to find a +pretence for passing sentence upon them. Whilst their fate was pending, +Sigbritt urged the king to spare their lives, saying, that so long as he +had them in his power, he could impose upon the Swedes laws more and more +severe, with the threat of putting their countrymen to instant death if +they did not obey them. Christiern, as usual, followed the advice of his +mother-in-law, which for once proved the source of blessing to Sweden, and +Gustavus and his companions were only shut up in prison. + +Gustavus had a kinsman at Copenhagen of the name of Banner, who was much +attached to him, and feared that if he lived solely under the eye of the +tyrant he would be exposed to many insults. So he prevailed with Christiern +to let him keep him in his castle of Calloe, a strong fortress in Denmark, +and made himself a surety for him to the amount of six thousand dollars. + +In the early part of the year 1520 Christiern declared war. The Swedes were +prepared to resist him, for the peasants had come down from the mountains, +and had flocked to the standard of Sture until the army was increased to +the number of 10,000 men. The cause of the king of Denmark was strongly +favoured by the Pope and Trolle, Archbishop of Upsal, who were both very +angry because the Protestant faith was daily gaining ground in Sweden. +Trolle came of an ancient house, only second in rank and dignity to that of +Sture, and a long standing quarrel between these two houses served at the +present moment to widen the breach between them. + +The Swedes fought bravely, but they were soon overcome, and in a battle at +Bogisund, Sture received a wound in the head, of which he died a few days +after. The state of the country now seemed hopeless; its regular army only +numbered 500 men; those who had crowded its ranks when the war began were +brave-hearted men, eager to defend the right, but they were not trained and +skilful soldiers. Sture dead, and Gustavus Vasa in prison, there was +neither ruler in the land nor leader in strife. The Swedes began indeed to +be disheartened; a few of the bravest clung to the hope that a fresh +attempt might yet be made to resist the tyrant's power; some, less +hopeful, thought it best to lay down their swords and submit; others again, +said that they would rather die first. Sture's widow, Christina--herself of +royal birth--and a woman of great spirit, came forward to revenge her +husband's death, and to implore the Swedes not to desert the cause of +freedom. She sent her little son Nil Sture to Dantzig to be out of danger, +and went to Stockholm, where she made the people swear rather to bury +themselves beneath the ruins of the city, than become the slaves of the +Danish king. + +For a short time a little gleam of hope broke over the land, but Christiern +feeling assured that he could not really call himself King of Sweden until +he had Stockholm in his power, resolved to come in person with a great +fleet and besiege the capital. + +In the meantime Gustavus was sorrowing for the troubles of his fatherland, +and his face was clouded and sad when he followed his kinsman Banner to the +gay festivals of the Danish court, and heard people tell how the king had +triumphed over his countrymen, and was bending by degrees their proud +spirit. He was heartily tired, too, of his prison, although he was guarded +less strictly now than he had been at first, and was allowed to wander +about by himself within one mile of the castle. During his lonely walks he +revolved many plans in his mind, and at last one morning at sunrise he put +on the disguise of a peasant, and made his escape from Calloe. The first +day he wandered about a part of the country unknown to him, and the next +day at noon he reached the town of Flensburg, where he feared he should +have been betrayed. But outside the town, for his good fortune, he found a +number of Saxon merchants who had been buying oxen in Jutland, and were on +their way back to Germany; without much trouble he entered their service, +and thus got safely out of Denmark. + +In the September of the year 1519 he came to the free city of Lubeck, where +he made himself known at the Council House, and asked to be received as a +guest, secure from the tyranny of the Danish king. Soon after he arrived, +Banner came in search of him. He was very angry with Gustavus for having +escaped out of his hands, and exposed him to the king's wrath, and wanted +him to return with him to Denmark. Gustavus promised to refund the six +thousand dollars Banner would be obliged to forfeit, but it was not likely +that he would agree to go back to his gloomy prison. So he remained some +months at Lubeck, and heard there of the death of Sture and the defeat of +his countrymen. It was at this time, when Martin Luther, the great +Reformer, came to visit the city of Lubeck, that Gustavus Vasa declared +himself a convert to the Protestant faith. + +The Council at last promised to assist him with men and money, and granted +him a merchant's vessel in which he reached the coast of Sweden towards the +end of May in the year 1520. As he approached Stockholm, he found its haven +filled by the Danish fleet, and not caring to show himself yet, he landed +at a promontory a short distance from Calmar. Stockholm was now possessed +by the Danes, King Christiern had taken up his abode in one of the palaces, +and Christina had been forced to retire to the castle, which was strongly +guarded, and still held out against the Danes. Gustavus entered the city +secretly and found his way to the castle, where he was welcomed and +received with great honour by Sture's widow. He then went to the market +place, and made himself known to the people who had assembled there in +crowds, and he told them what a disgrace it was for them to be in bondage +to Christiern. The people listened in silence and hung their heads; it +seemed as if all spirit had been crushed within them. So Gustavus went back +to the castle to see if he could arouse a better feeling there, but the +German soldiers who were employed to guard it broke out into fury at the +very idea of fighting, they were so utterly tired of all the misery of war, +and they would have murdered Gustavus on the spot if Christina had not been +there to protect him. + +He now saw that his only safety would be at the head of an army: the Danes +were all ready to besiege the castle, and it was therefore no longer a +place to shelter him; but the moment for action was not yet come, and he +roamed about in the country around Stockholm in disguise, now in the +forests and now in the fields, hiding by day and travelling by night, and +mingling sometimes with the Danes for the purpose of gaining news. And on +Sundays, when the peasants were in the churches, he would stand amongst +them, and try to cheer them by telling them that happier days were in store +for them when they should be free once more. Still the people did not care +to listen: they said that so long as they obeyed the King of Denmark, they +had salt and herrings in plenty; what more did they want? And sometimes +when Gustavus had turned away from them they would shoot after him with +their arrows. Such was the abject state they had been brought to by +long-continued insult and oppression. Besides this Christiern had spies in +all parts, and had set a heavy price upon the head of Gustavus, and +threatened all persons who should attempt to conceal him with the +punishment of death. + +After escaping from many dangers, he came through Ludermannland to the +house of Joachim Brahe, a noble councillor of Sweden, who had married his +sister Margaret. The meeting between brother and sister was full of joy, +and Gustavus hoped that Brahe would have been prevailed upon to take up +arms in the defence of his country, but the prudent statesman was not to be +enticed. Christiern, whose presence had for a time been required in +Denmark, was now on his way to Stockholm, and Brahe was one of the guests +invited thither to behold the crown of Sweden placed upon his head. He +could see nothing but rashness and certain failure in the project of taking +up arms against so powerful a foe. Gustavus, therefore, bade his sister +farewell with a heavy heart, and went on his way once more, and after +wandering about some time longer in disguise, he retired to a country house +at Rafnaes, which belonged to his father, to think over in solitude what +was best to be done. + +King Christiern arrived in Stockholm with his wife, leaving Sigbritt to +manage the affairs of Denmark. With the help of the Pope, and the +Archbishop of Upsal, he had himself declared heir to the Swedish throne +before an immense concourse of people, and was crowned in their presence. +Before this he promised to release all captives, and conferred many marks +of royal favour upon the chief men of Stockholm. The first days after he +was crowned were given up to knightly sports, and feasting, and merriment. +But before three days had passed, the king's cruel temper got the better of +him, and he withdrew from the scene of rejoicing to a secret council +chamber, where he sat thinking over the best means of getting rid of the +bishops and senators, and all men of high estate in Sweden, that his own +position on the throne might be quite secure. + +Soon it appeared as if a shadow of gloom had fallen over the city, where +all had been noisy mirth: the castle was suddenly filled with prisoners; +bishops and statesmen were alike consigned to its dark dungeons; in all the +market places scaffolds were erected; and the unhappy captives were told +that they must die. + +The 8th of November in the year 1520 was the day on which the fearful deed +began, a deed never equalled in horror in the annals of Swedish history. +Early in the dark morning all the gates of the city were shut to prevent +anybody from taking flight, and making the affair known in the country +beyond. Every new comer was let in, but no one was allowed to go out. The +streets were guarded, and field-pieces were placed upon the great market +place, levelled towards the people. The way from the castle to the market +was lined with Danish soldiers; trumpeters rode about the streets and +proclaimed that all persons were to retire to their houses; and close their +doors on pain of death. But the common people were horror-struck at these +preparations they dared to disobey the king's orders, and crowded together +to see what would happen next. + +Towards noon the castle gates were opened, and bishops and nobles, +councillors and burgomasters, were led between executioners and common +soldiers to the appointed place on the market, just in front of the Council +House. The bishops were clad in their sacred robes, the councillors had not +had time to take off the dress they wore in council. Oh what a sad +procession it was, as they came slowly along, with erect heads and a proud +and calm demeanour worthy of their race! Sobs and murmurs were heard +amongst the crowd; the roughest of the soldiers and headsmen were touched +with pity and respect as these innocent men, most of them grey-headed, +walked to their death. As soon as they reached the market place, a speech +was made to the mob in which it was declared that the king was deeply +grieved to be obliged to have recourse to such severe measures, but that he +felt himself bound to punish the Swedes for the offence they had given to +the Pope by becoming Protestants. And thus he made the terrible crime he +was about to commit even worse, by his falsehood! + +One of the bishops, an aged man, then declared his innocence, and asked +that a clergyman might be allowed to attend himself and his companions in +their last moments; but his request was refused, and a noise was made to +prevent his words from being heard by the people. Then the headsmen began +their dread work; the fourth victim was Erick Johannson the father of +Gustavus. In a little time the market place was filled with dead bodies +and the streets streamed with blood. Some of the mob, roused to a state of +frenzy by the dreadful spectacle, made an attempt to rescue those of the +doomed ones who were yet living, but they were cut down by the soldiers who +had received orders to quell any outbreak on the part of the common people +with the punishment of death. Escape was not to be thought of, because the +gates of the city were always kept closed; the frightened people crept into +cellars and corners. And when the king heard that they had hidden +themselves, he caused a decree of pardon to be read, so that many of them +came out believing it to be true, and only fell into the trap he had thus +artfully laid for them. + +Ninety-four Swedes fell the first day. For two days and two nights the +corpses lay on the market place, and the cattle and the fowls strayed +amongst them. To add to the horror the king caused the dead bodies of Sture +the younger and his son Sten to be disinterred and thrown amongst the +murdered to be buried with them. + +Sture's widow, Christina, did not escape the king's wrath; she was summoned +to his presence and condemned to die, but some persons present asked the +tyrant to spare her life, and she was only sentenced to be imprisoned for +the rest of her days. + +In other parts of Sweden deeds equally cruel were enacted. Numbers of the +peasants were deprived each of a leg and a hand, and, thus maimed, they +were supposed to be able to till the land although they could not possibly +fight. For these acts of cruelty and oppression Christiern the Second +justly gained the title of the Wicked, and his own people soon began to +hate him as much as the Swedes hated him for all the evil he had done. + +In the meantime Gustavus was sought for in vain. He was still in his +hiding-place at Rafnaes, sending out his peasants now and then to collect +news. And one sad day a grey-haired man came to the neighbouring castle of +Gripsholm which belonged to Joachim Brahe. It was Brahe's steward; he had +followed his master to Stockholm, and had witnessed his unhappy fate. The +old man could not speak for crying, and could only make known by signs the +terrible events that had happened. Soon after, a peasant came by, and told +the same story. And Gustavus sat in the lonely house, sorrowing for his +father and his friends, and many of his kindred besides; yet although he +was forsaken by all, and surrounded as it were by enemies, he would not +give up hope, but only longed the more to succour his unhappy country. So +one day he packed up all the money and valuable things he possessed, and +taking them with him, left Rafnaes on horseback with the idea of persuading +the brave people of Dalecarlia to stand by him in the struggle for freedom. + +This province, which was the scene of his adventures for some time, is +bordered on its western side by Norway: the mountain ridge which divides +the sources of its two rivers Dalef from Lake Famund in that country rises +to between three and four thousand feet above the level of the sea. +Dalecarlia abounds in rivers and lakes; the winters there are long and +severe; corn will not grow, and the tender bark of the pine trees is mixed +with the scanty supply of rye or barley of which the people make their +bread. Wolves and bears frequent the forests, and fish is plentiful in all +the lakes, except in those near Fahlun, now the capital of the province, +where the vapours for ever rising out of the great copper mine there, drive +away to a distance birds, beasts, and fishes, and destroy, all verdure in +the country around. Fahlun lies in a wide valley between two lakes; the +mine is a vast abyss, and is worked open to the sky, and besides copper +produces gold, silver, vitriol, ochre, and brimstone. The natives of +Darlecarlia are hardy from the nature of their climate; they have always +been very brave, trusting in their own strength, and having very little +intercourse with the other people of Sweden. At the time Gustavus was +amongst them they were so simple in their manners that the noblemen could +scarcely be distinguished from the peasants. There was not a town then in +the whole province, the people clustered together in villages, which were +divided into parishes. Some of these lay along the rivers and lakes, others +were hidden among the mountains, and were only to be approached by the +steepest and most difficult of paths. + +Gustavus took with him as he supposed the most faithful of all his +servants, but the cowardly man thought the fortunes of his master much too +insecure to be followed, and contrived to get away from him with the +valuable things it had been his duty to carry. Gustavus soon found out his +treachery, and pursued him until his horse could go no farther; then, being +in great danger himself, he was obliged to leave the horse and the few +things he had with him on the road and run for very life. Thus, without +friends or money, clad in a coarse peasant's frock, he wandered about the +dark pine forests and the mountains, only occasionally finding a roof to +shelter his head from the inclement winter nights, or food to satisfy his +sharp hunger. Still he never despaired, but trusted that God would let him +live until he should have given back to his country the happiness it had +lost for so long. + +On the last day of November he arrived at Fahlun, and there he cut his hair +short, and put on a round hat, such as the Dalecarlians wore, and a rough +woollen vest, and set out with an axe on his shoulder in search of work. In +a little time he found employment in the mines of Fahlun, by which he +earned barely enough for his support; and finding that the noxious vapours +and the closeness of the mines impaired his health, he left them, and +wandered farther until he came to the house of a rich man named Andres +Fehrson. Here he was hired as a farm-labourer, and set to work in the +barns. The other farm-servants soon began to watch the new comer with +interest. In their intercourse with him they soon found that he was not +quite like one of themselves; he had been observed, too, to wear a rich +silken handkerchief, beneath his woollen vest, and they suspected that he +was some nobleman in disguise. Reports of this reached the ears of Fehrson, +and he desired that the stranger should come to him. The very moment he saw +him he recognised him as a fellow student in the school at Upsal, but +although he was very glad to see his old comrade again, he dared not keep +so dangerous a person in his house, and he urged him to go higher up the +mountains and not to stay too long a time in one place. Gustavus was +therefore obliged to set out on his wearisome travels once more: the winter +had set in with all its rigour, the lakes and rivers were frozen, and as he +was crossing some ice between Wika and Torsanga, a part of it gave way, and +he fell up to his shoulders in the water, and was very nearly drowned. +However, he managed to clamber out, and he found his way to a cottage, +where some kind peasants gave him food and shelter, and afterwards brought +him to the country house of Arendt Fehrson, a relation of Andres, who had +served under Gustavus in the war with the Danes. + +This man appeared to receive him with respect and courtesy, but soon after +his arrival he rode swiftly to one of his friends to tell him of the prize +concealed in his house, and to ask him to join him in making the affair +known to the king;--for it will be remembered that a heavy price had been +set upon the head of Gustavus--and the man who would have been base enough +to betray him would have reaped great gain to himself. This friend was too +honourable to listen to such a proposal, and Fehrson, enraged at his +refusal, went to another of his friends, an officer in the Danish service, +who had fewer scruples. Fehrson passed the evening at his house in feasting +and drinking, and it was planned between them that he should return home +the next morning, accompanied by twenty men, and seize the fugitive by +force. + +But Barbro Stigsdotter, the wife of Fehrson, had guessed the treachery of +her husband, for she had seen him ride past his own house as he came from +Magno Wilson, and take the road which led to the officer's dwelling. +Touched with pity, she warned Gustavus of his danger, and kindly provided +him with a horse and sledge, so that he might fly at once. + +Gustavus was very thankful to avail himself of the means of escape, and was +soon flitting over the snow in his sledge beneath the starry sky in search +of another place of refuge. The next morning, when Arendt Fehrson arrived +with his twenty men, he was told that his guest had been missing since the +evening before, and that no one knew whither he was gone. + +Gustavus at last reached the house of a true friend, a Swedish pastor, who +helped him with good advice during the eight days he remained with him, and +strengthened him in his resolve to arouse the Dalecarlians. But he dared +not stay longer in this part of the country, because Arendt Fehrson had +already spread the report of his being alive; and the pastor drove him to +the village of Isale, where he was received into the cottage of an honest +peasant named Swen Nilson, who did him good and faithful service. + +One day when Gustavus was standing in the cottage, clad in his peasant's +garb, which was beginning to be the worse for wear, a body of Danish +soldiers employed to track the fugitive, rushed in, breathless and anxious, +and asked if a young nobleman, a well known traitor to the king, were not +concealed about the place. Nilson answered, No; and his wife, to remove +suspicion, gave Gustavus a sharp blow with a long wooden spoon, and scolded +him loudly for standing idle instead of going to work in the barn with the +others. Gustavus took the hint, and hastened out of the cottage, thus +escaping from his pursuers, who did not for one moment suppose that the +general of the Swedish army, and the descendant of kings, was concealed +beneath so humble a disguise. + +[Illustration: Front. _Gustavus Vasa in the Swedish peasant's hut.--p. +100_] + +After this Swen Nilson had the courage to drive his guest in a cart loaded +with straw to Rattwik. It was a dangerous journey: the Danish soldiers +guarded all the passes and bridges, and some of them plunged their weapons +into the straw, and wounded Gustavus severely in the leg as he lay covered +up at the bottom of the cart. He bore the pain in silence, but +unfortunately the blood dripped from the wound through the cart, and would +have betrayed the fact that he lay hidden there, had not Nilson thought of +cutting open the heel of his horse, so that the blood appeared to be +trickling from that. Happily the hurt was not dangerous, and the moment +after it was bound up on his arrival at Rattwik, Gustavus went to the +church, where a great crowd of people had assembled, and without making +himself known, he told them of the horrible cruelty of the King of Denmark, +and how Sweden would never be free unless they roused themselves, as their +brave ancestors would have done, to shake off the shameful bondage. + +The peasants listened in horror, they were moved by his words, and said +they would take up arms as soon as they could find out how their neighbours +were disposed in the matter. Gustavus thought he had gained something, and +went on joyfully to Mora, the largest and most populous parish in the +valley. The news of his coming got spread abroad, and the Danish governor, +who dwelt in the strong castle of Westeras, began to tremble; he knew that +the inhabitants of the valleys, if once aroused, could make themselves +very terrible. So he doubled the heavy price already set upon the head of +Gustavus, and told the people around that none of the deeds reported to be +done at Stockholm had really been carried out, and that Christiern was a +most kind and merciful sovereign! + +It was Christmas-time when Gustavus arrived in Mora: the peasants had come +down from their distant mountain homes to make merry with their friends in +the valley, and one day he went up to the top of a hill, and spoke to a +vast concourse of people, who had followed him out of curiosity. Here again +some of the peasants were touched by his words; their eyes filled with +tears, and they signified by their shouts and cheers that they were willing +to aid him. But others were of a different mind; they did not want to go to +war; the nobles had hitherto been chiefly the objects of the king's +cruelty, and they thought that they should be left in peace themselves. +They were very near fetching their weapons, and chasing the speaker by +force from the spot. A turn of good fortune, however, came to Gustavus +whilst he was still at Mora. + +A party of a hundred Danes, having heard that he was there in the hope of +rousing the peasants, rushed suddenly upon the place, making the air +resound with their wild cries, and threatening to put every one they met to +the sword if he were not given up. The peaceful people of Mora were unused +to be thus disturbed, and they hastened to ring the church-bells, which +were only rung when some great danger was at hand. The wind carried the +sound of the bells to the neighbouring villages, and in a little while +some thousand armed peasants were seen pouring into Mora. They stormed the +great walled-in court around the pastor's house, where the Danes (alarmed +in their turn) had taken refuge, broke down its gates with heavy wooden +stakes, and only spared the lives of the soldiers on condition that they +should not attempt to lay hands on Gustavus. This was the first time that +arms had been taken up in his cause: it was a feeling of honour that +prompted the Dalecarlian peasants to defend him, because they said that +they should have been ashamed if any one demanding their help had been +taken by force from amongst them. + +Gustavus, thankful to his preservers, now quitted Mora, and took his way +towards the western valleys, so that he might conceal himself in the wilder +parts of the country, if the fury of his pursuers increased. Many Swedish +nobles had already fled thither, and they came out of their hiding-places, +and met together in the valley. And there came to Mora an old man named +Lars Olosson, who had always been faithful to his country, and another +brave man came from the forest, and entreated the people to take up arms. +The peasants now saw that they were in earnest, and they hastened to seek +for Gustavus, fearing that he might already have passed the boundary and +entered Norway. But Swedish messengers can go on their errands very +quickly, because all through their nine months of dreary winter the +peasants wear long sliding-shoes, which enable them to flit over the snow +with almost the speed of an arrow. These shoes are very strange looking +things; they are long, narrow pieces of fir-wood, the one worn on the +right foot being three feet in length, and that on the left foot seven. The +messengers found Gustavus in a parish called Lima, and he was joyful indeed +when he came back to Mora, and saw that two hundred peasants were ready to +follow him at once. Their numbers soon increased, and he divided them into +little companies, which had their headquarters, so that they could all +fight in unity: they were hardy, long-lived men, and could be quite content +to live upon coarse meal stirred in water, or a little bread made of the +bark of the trees if they could get no better food. And Gustavus still went +up the steep mountain paths from cottage to cottage, and from one country +house to another to try and persuade the people to help him, and before the +ice had melted on the rivers and lakes the number of his followers had +increased to several thousand. He chose sixteen of the youngest and bravest +for his bodyguard, and maintained strict discipline amongst his men, +although he was greatly beloved by them for his kindness of heart. + +The first attempt they made was on the strong castle of the Governor of the +Koppar Mountain, which they captured, together with the stores of +provisions it contained. Amongst these was a large chest full of money, +which Gustavus divided amongst his followers, and another day they captured +some pieces of silk, which they made into banners, but they had neither +powder nor balls as yet. + +Now that Gustavus had so large an army he wanted to begin the war by a bold +stroke, and he drew off towards Westeras, the governor of the strong +fortress there, being at the time absent in Stockholm. Here he gained a +great victory over the Danes, which prepared the way to future success, but +the manner in which a great part of his army rejoiced over the triumph they +had won, was not at all to his taste. It happened thus: some of his troops +had gone on in advance, and after a desperate struggle got possession of +the place, whilst Gustavus was still in the forest with the rear of his +army. After the affray they found some huge casks of wine and brandy, which +they carried off to the Council House, and foolishly regaled themselves +with until they all fell to quarrelling, or were heavy with sleep. The +greatest disorder prevailed; the Danes took advantage of the tumult to +renew the attack; and would have recovered the fortress had not Gustavus +appeared with the rest of the army. He was very angry indeed with his men, +and had to fight hard to drive back the Danes, so that a great number of +soldiers were killed on either side; and when the battle was over he caused +the hoops to be removed from the casks of wine that remained, and let it +all flow away on the ground in sight of his whole army. This was in the +month of May in the year 1521, when the short Swedish spring was changing +to summer, and the land, having cast off its mantle of snow, looked fresh, +and green, and full of hope. In the northern climes the flowers bloom, and +the leaves come back to the trees very quickly, and a few weeks sunshine is +sufficient to ripen the barley and the rye, or the corn, in the places +where it will grow. + +After the battle of Westeras the peasants armed themselves in the plains of +Sweden; the nobles headed them, and many officers deserted from the +Viceroy whom King Christiern had left in Stockholm to manage the affairs of +the State. The Viceroy and Trolle were friends; they soon began to be +greatly alarmed; but they could get no succour from Denmark because the +people there disliked them so much, and were getting so tired of the evil +doings of their king. Many battles were fought, and the Swedes were not +always successful, but at last Gustavus got possession of Stockholm after +having besieged it three times; and a happy day came, when he entered the +capital surrounded by senators, officers, and the first nobles in the land, +and repaired to the great church, where--kneeling at the foot of the +altar,--he thanked the Almighty aloud, for having preserved him through so +many dangers, and granted him success. And then he went to the palace, +where he wept for those whom he had loved very dearly, and now missed on +this day of his triumph. Not only had his father and his brother-in-law +perished in the massacre at Stockholm, but his mother Cecilia, and two of +his sisters, had been cruelly put to death during the siege. It is said +that if the siege had been raised their lives would have been spared, but +these brave women knew in that case their country would have been lost, and +they were content to die for its sake. + +In the year 1523 the Danes would not have Christiern to reign over them any +longer, and made his uncle Frederic, Duke of Holstein, king in his stead. +Christiern was forced to leave the country, and retired into Flanders, with +his wife and children. When Sigbritt had to leave the royal palace, she did +not dare venture out of it, even in disguise, and was carried to the +vessel destined to receive her concealed in a large chest. + +The Swedes, full of gratitude and love for their preserver, wanted him to +be crowned King of Sweden. Gustavus, however, refused this honour, and +governed the country for some time as administrator. But as the years went +on and it was in danger from the plots made by the Roman Catholics and the +friends of Christiern, he yielded to the wishes of the people, and in June, +1527, was solemnly crowned King of Sweden under the title of Gustavus the +First. He had long forgiven all the offences that had been offered him, +whilst he remembered every little act of kindness that had been shown him +when he was wandering about, a wretched fugitive, in hourly danger of his +life. During the thirty-three years he reigned his great care was to make +his subjects happy, and he was fully employed in setting his country in +order, after the misery it had suffered for so many years. It was Gustavus +who settled the Protestant faith throughout the land, and Luther, and +Melancthon, and other great Protestant divines, used frequently to visit +his court. He wished to inspire his people with a taste for arts and +sciences, and encouraged learning by inviting studious and clever men to +Stockholm: printing had been already introduced into Sweden about the year +1483, when Sten Sture the Elder founded the famous School or University at +Stockholm. The king employed his peasants in working fresh mines and salt +springs; he caused hops to be grown in Sweden, so that the iron sent out +yearly in exchange for that produce might be kept in the country, and prove +the source of comfort and wealth. Any merchant or tradesman convicted of +dishonesty was punished with extreme rigour, and the bad laws were done +away with, and good ones ordained in their place. The palace was open to +all who demanded audience, when the king was ever ready to hear complaints, +or to give advice. He thought the Bible the best of all books, and grounded +his actions on its holy precepts; and the Swedes were so happy under his +just and merciful rule that they always cried when he went abroad, "Long +live Gustavus, the best loved of kings!" Soon after he came to the throne +he married Catherine, daughter of the Duke of Magnus, whose sister had just +espoused the Crown Prince of Denmark. Catherine died young, and Gustavus +next married Margaret, daughter of an ancient senator, the Governor of East +Gothnia: this lady was amiable and beautiful, and made her husband and her +children very happy. The king used to tell his children not to be proud of +their high estate, saying, "One man is as good as another, and when the +play is over we are all equal;" meaning, when the life of trial upon earth +was ended. The only approach to vanity in his character was to be seen in +his love for magnificent apparel; but this was quite an excusable fault, +when it is remembered how content he was to wear the coarse peasant's dress +in the days of his misfortunes. + +At the last assembly he convoked at Stockholm in the year 1560, he was led +into the Senate House, where his four sons, Erick, John, Magnus, and +Charles, and all the orders in the kingdom were assembled. He then caused +his will to be read, and made his children swear to obey it. Erick was +declared successor to the throne; John, possessor of Finland; Magnus of +Eastern Gothnia; and Charles of Sudermania. In a few earnest words he urged +his people to obey his successor and to preserve the greatest unity among +themselves; since on that would depend their strength and their freedom: he +said also, that if he had ever done any good, thanks for it were to be +ascribed to God alone, and implored pardon for all the faults he had +committed. + +Very soon after this he died, leaving a name which is still cherished in +the heart of every Swede; for he was called not only the king, but the +father and the instructor of his people. It must not be thought that his +long reign was free from care, since he had constantly to preserve himself +from the attempts that were made by the friends of Christiern to take his +power from him. + +When he came to the throne he found the country laid waste by the ravages +of war, and its people almost without hope. He left Sweden free and happy, +an army ready to march at a moment's notice, and a treasury full of money; +indeed, it is said, that after his death a great vaulted chamber was found +so full of silver that the door of it could scarcely be opened. + +Gustavus never forgot that he owed his success to the brave Dalecarlians; +and his watch word, when about to engage on any expedition attended with +danger, was always, "God and the Swedish peasants!" + + + + +BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN, + +THE HERO OF CHIVALRY. + + +About the year 1320 Bertrand du Guesclin was born in the castle of La Motte +Bron, which stood in a picturesque part of Bretagne, about six leagues from +the city of Rennes. His father, Reynauld du Guesclin, was a brave and loyal +knight, who served God truly, and was very kind to the poor, giving them a +great part of his substance, although he was not at all rich himself. + +Bertrand was the eldest of ten children. Unhappily his excessive ugliness +made him an object of dislike to his mother, and she was not nearly so kind +to him as she was to her other children. Besides this, he was self-willed +and savage, and his temper would break out into fits of violence which +terrified his little brothers and sisters, and exposed him to the contempt +of the whole household. This rough and repelling exterior, however, only +hid for a time a generous nature and a feeling heart, and many were the +tears poor Bertrand shed in solitude, for he was too proud to let them be +seen, when he rebelled against the harsh treatment he received on account +of his ill-behaviour. + +One day the lady of La Motte was seated at table in the dining-hall of the +castle with her younger sons, Guillaume and Olivier, whilst Bertrand was +eating his dinner in a corner apart. It was very sad to know that the +eldest son of the family behaved so rudely that his parents would not allow +him to take his place at the table. But this day it happened that some +chance word of ridicule reached him in his corner, and he arose in fury, +and, rushing towards the table, commanded his brothers to make room for him +at the upper end, where his place as the eldest child should have been by +right. His brothers, surprised at the tone of his voice, obeyed, and his +mother suffered him to sit in the highest place; but he had not been there +long before his awkward and uncouth manners obliged her to order him to +return to his corner. Bertrand arose, and in his rage clenched his hand, +and hit the oaken table so hard a blow that it overturned, and emptied the +contents of the dishes into the laps of the persons seated around it. This +passionate act of course called down a fresh torrent of reproaches on his +head. In the midst of all the disorder a lady, who was a frequent visitor +at the castle, entered the hall. She asked Bertrand's mother why she was so +angry. The lady of La Motte answered her by pointing to her little son, who +was now sobbing bitterly in his corner. The lady went up to him, and +although he was sullen at first, she soon persuaded him to tell her his +sorrows. She invited him to return to the table, and Bertrand, to the +astonishment of all who were present, took the dish of peacock which the +steward was just bringing into the hall, and a goblet of wine, and served +her with them himself, awkwardly it must be confessed, but in a spirit of +gratitude for the few kind words she had spoken. + +The lady who had thus befriended him was the daughter of a Jewish +physician, but with her father had been converted to Christianity. She was +reputed to be very clever, and was skilled in an art which was much +practised in those days, namely, that of foretelling future events by +observing the lines in people's hands, very much in the same manner as +gipsies pretend to tell fortunes, even in our own time. After dinner she +called Bertrand to her, and attentively examined his face and his hand, and +presently told his mother that she ought to be proud of having such a son, +instead of despising him, because she was convinced that when he grew up to +be a man he would do great things for the glory of his country. From this +day his mother looked more kindly upon him; she had him dressed for the +first time in a manner suitable to his rank, and commanded the servants to +treat him with the respect due to the eldest son of their master. + +Bertrand's fiery temper, however, and his love of fighting, were a +continual source of trouble and anxiety to his parents. Before he was nine +years of age he would often leave the castle without their knowledge, and +collect all the children he met with on his way, and then fight them one by +one, or try his strength against a number of them together. When he +returned home, bleeding, and with torn and soiled garments, his mother +would justly reprove him for behaving so little like a gentleman. + +At last his fighting propensities increased to such a pitch that the +country people complained of him to his father, and the Sire de la Motte +was obliged to order a forfeit to be paid by the parents of all children +who were found in his company. Nevertheless Bertrand still contrived to get +out of the castle secretly, and to lead the little villagers to their mimic +battles. His father, as a last resource, shut him up in the dungeon of the +castle, and in this dreary place he remained four months. But one evening a +maid-servant, whose office it was to bring him his food twice a day, left +the door open behind her, and Bertrand managed to slip out, not forgetting +in his haste to turn the key upon her, in case she should betray him to his +parents. Then he ran as fast as ever he could to a field, unfastened a mare +from one of his father's ploughs, mounted it, laughing heartily the while +at the ploughman, who was rushing after him, and galloped as far as Rennes, +without saddle or bridle, to the house of his aunt, a sister of the Sire de +la Motte, who was married to a knight of great honour. + +His aunt had often heard of his misconduct at home, and was not at all +pleased to see him arrive in such plight. She began scolding him in harsh +words, when luckily for him his uncle intervened in his favour, reminding +his wife that Bertrand was only a child, and had done nothing yet to +forfeit his honour. "He is brave and spirited," said the good knight; "let +us keep him in our house, and see if we cannot transform him into a great +captain for the glory of Bretagne." + +Bertrand remained with his uncle at Rennes until he was sixteen, and +learned from him all the accomplishments necessary for a knight. Moreover, +he learned to be gentle and courteous to those around him, and in these +happier circumstances the good points of his character shone forth, and +his violent temper was curbed, whilst his spirit remained free. It is +related of him that he was so generous, that when he met with any poor +persons, and had no money with him, he would give them some of the very +clothes he wore, and if he had only a penny would share it with those who +were in need. He found his greatest delight in listening to his uncle's +stories of battles and sieges, and when some noble exploit was related, +would clap his hands for joy, whilst his eyes shone like fire. + +A very great fault, however, still remained to him, and that was his love +of fighting. One Sunday it was announced in the city of Rennes that a prize +would be given to the youth who should acquit himself best in single +combat. Bertrand burned with impatience to enter the lists, and his aunt, +fearing the temptation might prove too strong for him, carried him off with +her to church, thinking he would certainly be safe there under her vigilant +eye. As soon as Bertrand saw that her attention was fully absorbed in +listening to the sermon, he took the opportunity of slipping out of church, +and ran at full speed to the market-place. Here he was recognised by some +of his opponents of former years, but he made them promise not to betray +him to his aunt, and was just going to enter the lists, when a young +Breton, who had thrown twelve of his competitors to the ground, advanced +proudly to claim the prize, which was a hat with feather and silver band. + +Bertrand defied him to the combat, and after a long struggle succeeded in +overthrowing him; but during the time he had happened to fall on his +opponent, and in so doing had cut his knee severely with a stone. This +accident caused him so much pain that he could hardly stand, and he begged +his comrades to take him to a surgeon's, where his wound could be dressed. +The prize was brought to him there, but he dared not accept it, for fear +his aunt, of whom he always seems to have had a wholesome dread, should +hear of what he had done. She had indeed missed him, and had sought for him +everywhere, and she did not spare her reproaches when she discovered the +state he was in. Nevertheless she showed him greater kindness than he +deserved, and nursed him until he had recovered from his wound. + +The knight at last persuaded his father to recall him to the castle of La +Motte Bron. Now Bertrand tasted the real joy of home for the first time, +for his father was so delighted at the improvement in his character that he +no longer withheld his love from him, and every member of the household had +a kind word for him; while in former times, when he was so very naughty and +unruly, there had only been complaints and reproofs. + +The Sire Du Guesclin took care that the martial studies of his son should +be completed, and gave him a little horse, on which Bertrand rode about to +visit the great lords in the neighbourhood, and was present at the jousts +and tournaments which were so often held at that time. Du Guesclin's +poverty and youth prevented him, however, from entering the lists, and +making known his courage and martial skill to the world. He grieved, too, +because he was so ugly, and so humbly equipped, his famed steed being +"little better than a miller's horse." + +The time came at last when he was enabled to distinguish himself. A great +tournament was announced at Rennes on the marriage of Jeanne de Penthievre, +heiress to the duchy of Bretagne, with Charles de Blois, who was nephew to +the King of France. The Sire de la Motte Bron judged it to be a fit +occasion for the display of his dignity, and went with the nobles of +Bretagne to Rennes, followed by a great number of his vassals; whilst poor +Bertrand, mounted on his insignificant horse, and easily recognised by the +roundness and largeness of his head, his short nose, his strongly-marked +eyebrows, and his square-set figure, was an object of ridicule to the +peasants as they flocked along the road to Rennes. The tournament used to +be held in an open space inside the city, and the ladies, richly attired, +looked on from the windows and balconies around. + +Bertrand's eyes flashed when he reached the arena where the knights were +already engaged, and heard the sound of the trumpets and the clashing of +the weapons. "I shall never please the ladies," he said, as he had said +many a time before, "but I will make my name to be feared by the enemies of +my country." + +Seeing one of his relations retire from the combat, he followed him to his +house, and, throwing himself on his knees before him, implored him to lend +him some armour and a horse. His cousin good-naturedly lent him a fresh +horse, and armed him himself, and Bertrand rushed back to the tournament, +and, having entered the lists without naming himself, challenged a knight, +and quickly overthrew him. Another knight now came forward to avenge the +vanquished one, and Bertrand was just going to attack him, when he saw his +father's arms upon his shield, and bowing low, withdrew, to the +astonishment of the spectators. After this he challenged no fewer than +fifteen knights without coming to grief himself. All the people present +were now very anxious to know his name, and one of the ladies who sat in +the great balcony entreated a Norman knight to descend into the arena, and, +if possible, remove the visor from the victor's face. The knight went down, +and had just succeeded in removing the helmet from Bertrand's head, when a +strong arm suddenly lifted him off his horse and laid him in the dust. Then +Reynauld du Guesclin recognised his son, and hastened to embrace him in his +pride and joy, and Bertrand was proclaimed victor over all to the sound of +the trumpets, and received the prize, which was a beautiful silver swan, +life size. The prize, however, he did not keep for himself, but gave it to +his cousin, whose kindness had enabled him to win so great renown. + +When Bertrand was twenty years of age he was no longer contented with +displaying his prowess in tournaments, but began to fight in good earnest, +taking the part of Charles de Blois in a quarrel that lasted for a very +long time between that prince and his rival, Jean de Montfort. + +Jean de Bretagne, known by the name of the Good Duke, had died without +leaving any childhood, and was succeeded by his brother, Guy, Count of +Penthievre, whose daughter's marriage with Charles de Blois had occasioned +the festivity at Rennes. Charles thus claimed the duchy in right of his +wife; but Guy was no sooner dead than his half-brother, Jean de Montfort, +came forward, and maintained that his title to Bretagne was a better one +than that of his niece. + +This was not true, because the right of female succession had been fully +established in the duchy, and the King of France and many of the Breton +nobles sided with Charles, while the King of England sent assistance to De +Montfort. + +The wives of both princes were women of extraordinary spirit. Jeanne, +Countess de Montfort, defended her husband's rights whilst he lived, and +after his death those of his son, who was likewise named Jean; and once +during the war, when she was shut up in the town of Hennebon, she held out, +like a brave and skilful general, against all the attacks of the enemy +until Sir Walter Manny arrived with succour from King Edward the Third of +England. Jeanne de Penthievre was a woman of equal courage, but her pride +and ambition caused her husband to risk the battle which cost him his life, +and proved, as will be seen hereafter, the ruin of her own cause. + +Du Guesclin chose the side of Charles de Blois because he believed it to be +the right one. "Never," said he, "while I live, will I maintain an +unrighteous cause." He was soon at the head of sixty men, in readiness to +serve, and sold his mother's jewels that he might be able to buy horses, +harness, and arms. His chroniclers tell us, however, how he very soon +captured from an English knight, whom he met in a forest, a treasure +consisting of jewels, which he gave to his mother in compensation for those +she had lost. Although gunpowder was known in those days, it was very +little used; the chief weapons were swords, lances, battle-axes, +cross-bows, and clubs; and every warrior defended himself with the shield. +Bertrand's name came to be feared by his enemies, as he had predicted in +the days gone by: his first attempts in warfare were chiefly against the +English, who held many of the fortresses in Bretagne for Jean de Montfort. +A story is told of the manner in which he gained possession of one of +these, the Castle of Fougeray, which was a very important place. + +Bertrand knew all the ins and outs of the castle, because in the chances of +war he had once been a prisoner for a short time within its walls, and he +disguised himself, and about twenty of his companions in arms, as +wood-cutters, in white gowns reaching down to the knee, and with bundles of +faggots on their shoulders, as he had often seen the poor peasants bringing +wood to the castle. He divided his men, to make it appear that they were +coming from different parts of the country to sell their wood, and waited +for the time when the governor should have gone out of his stronghold with +a part of the garrison. When all was ready they passed the night securely +in the forest, and came out of it in the grey dawn of the morning with +their bundles on their shoulders. + +The watchman of Fougeray saw them dimly in the distance, and rang the bell, +to give the alarm, but all fear vanished when it was seen that only +wood-cutters were coming towards the castle. Bertrand advanced to the +drawbridge, and asked the porter if he did not want wood. The porter said +that he did, and not suspecting any harm, let down the drawbridge at once. +Du Guesclin laid down his heavy load of wood so as to prevent the bridge +from being drawn up, and rushed on to the castle, shouting "Guesclin," the +war cry which afterwards became so terrible to his enemies. His comrades +followed quickly at his summons; the unhappy porter fell wounded in the +struggle, and as there were a hundred men in the place and Bertrand had +only sixty when all had come to his aid, the conflict was very sharp; women +and children even throwing showers of stones on the heads of the Bretons. +Du Guesclin himself was severely wounded, and was found defending himself +to the last, without his hatchet, when a party of cavalry belonging to +Charles de Blois came up in time to secure possession of the castle. The +whole affair may have been considered an ingenious trick, but I think it +would have been more noble for Bertrand to have ridden up openly to his +enemies, clad in his armour, and with his sword in his hand, than to have +deceived them by the woodcutter's guise. + +The war went on, and at last the King of England sent Henry, the good Duke +of Lancaster, to Bretagne at the head of a large force, with orders to lay +siege to Rennes, the city where Bertrand had passed the happiest days of +his boyhood, and which had twice been the scene of his triumphs. Besides +all the great English nobles who had accompanied the duke, the army was +increased by many Breton gentlemen who had enlisted themselves on the side +of Jean de Montfort, and Lancaster made a solemn vow not to depart from +Rennes until he had planted his standard upon its walls. + +Bertrand concealed himself in a forest near the city, and constantly +harassed his enemies by rushing suddenly upon them, by day and by night, +and always to the cry of "Guesclin," until at last the Duke of Lancaster +swore that if ever the brave Breton captain fell into his hands, he would +never let him free, however large a ransom might be offered for him. + +Lancaster made several attempts upon Rennes, but with little success. One +day an English officer who had been captured by Du Guesclin, told him that +his countrymen intended to undermine the city and open a breach. Upon this +news Bertrand contrived one very dark night to glide with his Bretons into +the midst of the English camp, where all was silent, and set fire to some +of the tents. The enemy, awakened by the usual cry of "Guesclin," thought +that Charles de Blois had fallen upon them with his army, and were very +angry as they put out their fires to find it was only Bertrand with his +handful of men. + +The governor of Rennes now gave orders that in all the houses near the +ramparts little copper basins should be hung with one or two balls of brass +in each, so that by the jingling of the metal, which the movement of the +miners would cause, it might be known in what direction they were at work. +By this means the garrison were enabled to work against them until the mine +was pierced, and the besiegers found a body of troops ready to beat them +back. + +The Duke of Lancaster now thought of another plan for subduing the people +of Rennes. Knowing that they were almost without provisions, he caused two +thousand pigs to be assembled in a field near the walls of the city, hoping +that the hungry inhabitants would come out for the purpose of capturing +them. The governor, however, was not to be outwitted, and had a sow +attached by a rope to the gate of Rennes, with its head downwards. The sow +struggled so hard to free itself and grunted and squeaked so loud that the +other pigs were naturally attracted to the spot. When the besieged saw that +the pigs were coming in that direction they lowered the drawbridge, and cut +the rope. The sow, thus released, ran joyfully back into the city, followed +by all the other pigs, and it was certain that the famished people of +Rennes had a good meal that day and for many days after. + +Du Guesclin performed numerous acts of daring during the siege, and one +day, when the Bretons had eaten up the two thousand pigs and were very near +dying of hunger again, he intercepted and captured a hundred waggons, +loaded with wine, flour, and salt meat, which were on their way to the +English camp; but when he found that the waggoners were supplying these +provisions to the enemy at their own cost, he paid them liberally for all +that he had seized. + +The Duke of Lancaster now prepared a huge machine which was often used in +those times of warfare. This was a wooden tower on wheels, as high as the +walls of the city, which contained a number of men inside, who shot surely +from it with their arrows. The tower would have caused great havoc, had not +Bertrand one night crawled out with his Bretons, and completely destroyed +it by fire. + +Winter was now coming on: the lengthened siege had lost the lives of many +brave men, and Henry of Lancaster at last sent a herald to Du Guesclin to +tell him that he desired to speak with him. The herald brought a written +passport which, alas! Bertrand was obliged to have read to him by one of +his comrades. He had always been so heedless and disobedient in the old +days at La Motte, that no one had been able to teach him to read or write, +and he had never succeeded in learning in after years, although some +authors assert that he could really sign his name. + +Bertrand dismissed the herald with a handsome present of clothes and money, +and then repaired to the camp of the brave English duke. When there he was +asked by Lancaster, whom he owned for his master. "Charles de Blois," he +replied promptly, "to whom Bretagne belongs in right of his wife." + +The Duke was much pleased with his boldness and resolution, and offered him +a high rank in his army if he would consent to enter his service; but +Bertrand replied that nothing should ever shake him in his fidelity to +Charles de Blois. + +Lancaster now received orders from his father to raise the siege: yet he +could not depart, in remembrance of the oath he had taken, and Du Guesclin +proposed that he should enter the city with ten of his knights, and plant +his standard on its walls. When this was done, Du Guesclin politely asked +him where the war was to be carried on in future. "Bertrand, my fair +friend," replied the duke, "you shall soon know." He had scarcely gone past +the barrier when he saw his standard thrown down into the moat; +nevertheless he had kept his oath, and having raised the siege, he decamped +with all his host, and went to pass the winter at Auray. + +Du Guesclin was quick to resent an affront offered to any member of his +family. The Duke of Lancaster with the brave Sir John Chandos was before +Dinan, which town Bertrand, his brother Olivier, and the governor who had +defended Rennes, had hastened to enter before the enemy could invest it. +One day when all was quiet, Olivier Du Guesclin had gone out of the town +unarmed for the purpose of amusing himself in the open country, when he met +with an English knight, who asked him his name, and behaved in a very +haughty manner towards him, and made him walk on first, vowing that he +should not escape until he had given him a thousand good florins. A Breton +knight, however, who had seen Olivier made prisoner, hastened to tell Du +Guesclin what had happened. Bertrand instantly mounted his horse and rode +off to the English camp, where he found the Duke of Lancaster in his tent +playing at chess with Sir John Chandos, whilst several of the chief nobles +were standing around looking on. They were all glad to see Bertrand because +they had a great respect for his valour, and it is true that he had many +qualities which endeared him to his fellow-men, and gained for him +friendships which lasted as long as life. + +Du Guesclin would not drink the wine they poured out for him until justice +had been done to his brother. Henry of Lancaster was an upright man, and +promised to settle the matter fairly. He summoned the offending knight to +his presence, and ordered him to release Olivier at once. But the knight, +who was called Thomas of Canterbury, would not allow that the complaint +made against him by Bertrand was just, and threw down his iron glove in +defiance. It was soon known in Dinan that a terrible combat would take +place between the two knights, and the people feared that Du Guesclin would +fall, because the Englishman was possessed of such extraordinary strength +and skill. But a very beautiful young lady of noble family in Dinan, named +Tiphaine de Raguenel, whom Bertrand married soon after the siege was +raised, predicted that he would triumph over his foe. Tiphaine was called +an astrologer, because she professed to foretell by observing the stars in +the heavens, whether people were to be prosperous in their lives or +unfortunate; happy or miserable. This was very foolish, and we know better +in our own times than to put faith in such a science; and even in Dinan, +when by chance Tiphaine's predictions came true, the people looked upon her +with distrust and called her a witch. The Duke of Lancaster with all his +nobles came into the town to witness the combat, which ended to the great +joy of the inhabitants of Dinan in the triumph of Bertrand, and the +offending knight was ordered by Lancaster to retire from his service. + +The siege of Dinan was raised by our King Edward, who had King John of +France at this time a prisoner in the palace of the Savoy. Du Guesclin went +on fighting for Charles de Blois, until at last the younger Jean de +Montfort got weary of the war, and proposed to his rival that the Duchy of +Bretagne should be halved between them; and that Rennes should be the +capital of Charles's dominions, and Nantes the capital of his own. Charles +de Blois was a man who loved peace; he agreed solemnly to divide the duchy +as Jean had proposed, and would have kept faith with him, had not his wife +broken out into a violent passion as soon as she heard what he had done, +and overruled him by saying that she would never consent to so shameful a +settlement, and that she had married him to defend the whole of her duchy, +and not the half of it. The war must have broken out again at once if the +good offices of Lancaster had not effected a truce for a time. + +When King John came back to France he invited Du Guesclin to enter his +service, and gave him the command of a hundred lances. Each lance, or +man-at-arms, was attended by three archers, a man armed with a cutlass, and +a page, so that a company of a hundred lances really included six hundred +men. Du Guesclin had the permission to form his troop of the gentlemen of +Bretagne, of whom many were his relations and friends; and with these he +set out hopefully to take part in a war which King John was carrying on in +Normandy against the wicked King of Navarre. + +Bertrand did the king good service in Normandy, and captured the towns of +Mantes and Meulan. At the latter place he lost all patience with the +tardiness of the besiegers, and seizing a ladder, began to mount it with +his sword in his hand, and his shield on his breast. He was just mounting +the last steps and boasting to the Baron of Mereuil who was on the other +side of the wall, that he would soon make him feel the strength of his arm, +when the baron threw some heavy stones on the ladder, which dashed it to +pieces, and Bertrand fell with his head downwards into the ditch around the +city wall. The ditch was full of water, and Bertrand was taken out by his +comrades half dead, but he scarcely waited for his injuries to be healed, +before he began to fight with greater vigour than before, and a little +while later gained the battle of Cocherel over the Captal de Buche, who was +fighting for the King of Navarre, and took the Captal prisoner. + +King John was now dead, and Charles the Wise was on the throne of France. +The victory at Cocherel had served to raise the spirits of the French, who +had been much cast down by their defeats during the two last sieges, and +the fame of Du Guesclin was spoken all over the country. + +But the war unhappily broke out in Bretagne once more. Jean de Montfort, +angry with his rival for his breach of faith, came with his army to invest +the town of Auray. The people there were in great need and misery, and +lighted fires every night on the summits of their towers in token of their +distress. Charles de Blois set off at once to assist them in their danger, +but his wife at parting, charged him on no account whatever to agree to any +division of the duchy. Du Guesclin and many brave nobles and knights +hastened to join his army; and when they arrived in sight of Auray, De +Montfort sent a herald to them to propose peace on the terms that had +already been made, or to demand an immediate battle. + +Charles de Blois, weakly dreading the anger of his wife if he gave way, +sent the herald back without an answer, although in his heart he was +longing more than ever to be at peace. + +In the disastrous battle of Auray which began soon after, and lasted for +seven hours, Charles de Blois lost his life, the celebrated Oliver Du +Clisson an eye, and Du Guesclin his liberty. It was late in the day, and +Bertrand was left almost alone upon the battle field with the dead lying +around him; he had been thrown from his horse, and surrounded by his +enemies, but he had risen from the ground and defended himself +single-handed to the last. Now the blood was flowing from his wounds; his +sword was broken; the handle had been wrenched off his battle-axe, and Sir +John Chandos found him armed only with an iron hammer. It was useless for +him to resist longer, and when he had given up the broken piece of his +sword into the hands of the English knight, the battle was at an end. + +Charles de Blois had fought that day like one in despair. With his last +breath he had said that he had long waged war against his conscience. And +thus the feud was ended which had lasted for nearly twenty years; Jean de +Montfort could have the whole duchy of Bretagne for himself, and the +unhappy widow of his rival had the sorrow of remembering that it was her +own pride and unbending spirit which had cost her the life of her husband. +The people of Bretagne were so tired of war that when, a little while +after, the treaty, which Jean de Montfort was making with Jeanne, could not +be settled, they assembled in a vast concourse and throwing themselves on +the ground, implored the Count to give them peace. + +The King of France did not suffer Bertrand to remain a captive long. The +country was at that time infested by bands of lawless men of various +nations, who called themselves "Free Companies," and used to go about +laying waste the orchards and fields, sacking and burning the castles of +the nobility; and making war just as they pleased. The greater number of +these men were disbanded soldiers, whose services were no longer needed now +that the war was at an end. + +Their power became very formidable when such men as Sir Hugh de Caverlay, +the Green Knight, Sir Matthew Gournay, and many others who were renowned +for their valour, joined them, and elected themselves their leaders. + +The thought occurred to King Charles that Du Guesclin was the one man +capable of ridding his country of so terrible a scourge, and he hastened to +pay the hundred thousand francs which his enemies had required for his +ransom, and told him that if he would consent to drive the Free Companies +out of France, he might choose his own method of carrying out his purpose. + +Du Guesclin went to the camp where the Free Lances were assembled, and, as +many of the leaders had already served under his banner, he found little +difficulty in persuading them to go with him into Spain on a crusade +against the Saracens, who still retained possession of a part of that +country. But a war had already broken out between Pedro the Second of Spain +and his half brother, Henry of Trastamare. Pedro had made himself hateful +to his subjects by repeated acts of tyranny, and worst of all had suffered +his wife, Blanche de Bourbon, to be cruelly murdered. This princess was +very amiable and lovely; she was sister to the Queen of France, and +granddaughter to the good Saint Louis, and Charles, indignant and sorrowful +at her unhappy fate, thought the services of Du Guesclin would be better +employed in driving Pedro from the throne than in making war on the +Saracens. + +Bertrand was therefore ordered to hasten to the assistance of Henry of +Trastamare, and one day he collected all the Free Companies at a place +called Chalons sur Saone, and marched from thence southwards, to the great +delight of the French nation, taking Avignon on his way, where the Pope +then resided, instead of at Rome. + +The companies went to Avignon to ask for absolution, because they had been +excommunicated, that is to say, cut off from all fellowship with the +church, on account of their lawless deeds. The Pope readily granted them +absolution, but he was not nearly so ready to give them a large sum of +money--which they asked for in addition to the 200,000 gold florins which +they had already received from Du Guesclin--and it was only after a long +delay, that he could be persuaded to give them any money at all. + +The troops Du Guesclin led himself were called "The White Company," because +they all wore a white cross on their shoulder, as a sign that they meant to +abolish the religion of the Jews, which Pedro was supposed to favour. Pedro +was very much alarmed at the approach of so vast an army; he happened to be +engaged at the time in laying waste with fire and sword the lands belonging +to his brother, whilst Henry himself was hiding in a castle with his wife +and children, and for a long while could not be made to believe that the +French hero was really coming to his aid. + +Du Guesclin soon enabled him, however, to gain possession of several +cities, and at a frontier town, called Maguelon Home, he took the title of +King. And when the people of Burgos (which was the Christian capital of +Spain at that time) heard of the approach of the White Company, they +brought the keys of the city, and laid them at the feet of Henry, and +joyfully acknowledged that he was King over Castille. Henry made a +triumphant entry into Burgos, with Bertrand, his deliverer, clad in +complete armour by his side; they went to the palace, where a great banquet +was served before them, with the richest viands, while the whole city was +one scene of rejoicing and merriment, and wine flowed in the streets like +water; the people were so glad to be freed from the tyranny of Pedro the +Second. + +Bertrand having thus placed Henry of Trastamare on the throne, urged him to +send for his wife Jeanne, that they might both be crowned the same day. And +when the Queen was seen approaching the capital, Bertrand went out to meet +her, accompanied by the bravest of his knights. As soon as the Queen +perceived that it was Du Guesclin who was advancing towards her, she +alighted from her mule that she might render him the greater honour, and +turning to his whole company, she exclaimed, "Friends, and gentlemen, it +may truly be said that we hold the crown of Castille through you alone." +Henry and Jeanne were crowned at Burgos on Easter-day of the year 1366, and +the King, in gratitude for the services of Du Guesclin, gave him the Duchy +of Molina, and made him constable of Castille. + +Pedro meanwhile was in great terror at the approach of his brother, and +kept himself concealed with his treasures in a forest a hundred leagues +long. One of his treasures was a table of pure gold, inlaid with jewels, +and engraven with the portraits of Charlemagne's twelve peerless knights. +Amongst the gems was a carbuncle, which is said to have had the peculiar +property of shining by night as brightly as the sun shines by day; and one +very dark night, when Pedro was outside the walls of a city, and beset with +dangers on every side, he was obliged to have his table fetched out from +among his treasures, that he might discover by its light the means of +escape. The stone may have possessed a singular brilliancy, but for the +fact of its shining as brightly as the sunlight, I cannot vouch. It was +said to have another strange property, that of changing colour and turning +black directly poison approached it. + +The forest was near the town of Cardonna, where Pedro had taken refuge, +immediately after the great city of Toledo had surrendered to his brother. +Henry supposed him to be still in the town, and went in pursuit of him with +Du Guesclin, Hugh de Caverlay, Olivier de Mauny, and many other valiant +men. Their way between Toledo and Cardonna lay through the long forest, +which was full of wild beasts and snakes, and had neither villages nor +houses of any kind in its depths. They were in this wild tract seven days, +and lost many of their men there; some of them being devoured by the wild +beasts, and others dying from the bites of the snakes. When they got to +Cardonna they found, of course, that Pedro had fled, but they took +possession of the town. + +Now that Henry had really been placed on the throne, Bertrand thought he +might carry out his original plan, and proceed to Granada, which was the +stronghold and capital of the Moors in Spain. The Queen, however, with +many tears implored him not to forsake her husband; she dreaded so much the +anger and cruelty of Pedro, when he should come out of his hiding-place. +And Pedro soon made himself dreaded once more, for he had found his way to +Guienne and entreated the Black Prince, who held his court in that +province, to protect him, and assist him with troops; and had offered him +his golden table, and part of his treasures as an equivalent for his aid; +promising him, besides, a large sum of money to defray the cost of an army. +The Black Prince, either out of compassion for the fallen King, or because +he did not like to see his rival in league with France, agreed to assist +him; and in the spring of the year 1367 crossed the province of Navarre +with Pedro, and a large army of Gascons, Normans, and English, and entered +Castille. + +The fortunes of Henry already began to decline: several of the Companies +withdrew from his service, and enlisted themselves in preference under the +banner of the Black Prince. Du Guesclin urged the King not to risk a +decisive battle too soon, but he would not listen to him, and the two +armies met at Najara, on the right bank of the river Ebro. The watchword of +the Black Prince's army was "Guienne and St. George!" and that of King +Henry's, "Castille and St. James!" + +The battle proved disastrous for the King of Castille, his cavalry were +forced to give way, and the rout becoming general he escaped from the field +with very few of his followers. When Bertrand saw the King's discomfiture, +he stationed himself against a wall, and with a battle-axe defended +himself so vigorously that several Englishmen were overthrown by him; and +at last his enemies dared not approach him, but only hurled at him their +daggers and swords. The Black Prince, hearing of this, desired to see him, +and went with his standard unfurled to the place where he stood. Bertrand +recognised the Prince, and kneeling on one knee before him said, "To you, +Sire, the Prince of Wales, I surrender myself and to no other; for I will +never be the captive of Pedro, e'en though I die in my defence!" + +The Prince received the submission of Du Guesclin graciously, and confided +him to the keeping of the Captal de Buche, who in remembrance of his own +capture by Bertrand in the battle of Cocherel, told him kindly that he +might live with him at large, if he would give him his word not to escape. +Du Guesclin, much pleased with the confidence reposed in him, swore, like a +true knight, that he would rather die than break his word. + +For six months he remained with the English army, and during that time had +no cause to complain of his treatment. But as soon as he arrived at +Bordeaux, where the Black Prince held his splendid Court, he was shut up in +the prison of Ha. One morning whilst he was there, three pilgrims, who had +arrived in Bordeaux the evening before, had gone to hear mass in the Church +of Notre Dame. One of these pilgrims was Henry of Trastamare, who had +disguised himself thus in the hope of journeying safely to the Duke of +Anjou, to entreat him to support his cause. + +Several knights happened to be in the church, who had fought with Du +Guesclin in the battle of Najara; they began talking of their common +misfortunes, and Henry, taking one of them apart, asked news of Bertrand, +and learned with sorrow that the Black Prince had made a vow never to +ransom him or set him free. Henry went home with the knight to whom he had +spoken, and told him who he was, and persuaded him to procure him the means +of seeing Du Guesclin. So the knight concealed the King in his house, and +went to the prison of Ha, and told the gaoler that he was going to Bretagne +to seek for money to pay his ransom, and that he greatly desired to see Du +Guesclin before he started. + +The gaoler did not admit him at once, but only hinted that such things were +not done without a bribe. The knight assured him that Du Guesclin was most +liberal, and would amply reward him if he would procure the interview. The +gaoler owned that he was so proud of his prisoner, that he hoped such a man +might never go out of his hands, and after a little more delay he conducted +the knight to Bertrand, who thought that his visitor had come to borrow +money, and was much surprised to hear that Henry of Trastamare was in +Bordeaux in the disguise of a pilgrim of St. James. He called the gaoler, +and told him that there was a poor pilgrim in the city, a native of +Bretagne, and one of his own vassals, whom he wished to assist with money +to enable him to complete his journey; and he begged him to take his seal +and go to a certain Italian jew in the city, and ask him for the sum of 400 +florins. The gaoler fetched the money; Du Guesclin gave him a hundred +florins for himself, and by noon the King was admitted into the prison. A +more sumptuous dinner than was usually seen within its walls was served in +his honour, and they lingered over it, talking of their misfortunes and of +the King's project for seeking aid from the Duke of Anjou; Du Guesclin +would not, however, on any account suffer him to ask the duke to pay his +ransom. Whilst they were at dinner the gaoler began to feel the pricks of +his conscience, and he took his wife apart, and told her that he suspected +some treason was going on between the pilgrim and Du Guesclin against his +master the Black Prince, and that he must acquaint him with the whole +affair. The gaoler's wife whispered her husband's intentions to Bertrand, +and the brave knight, with a dexterity similar to that he had employed, +when as a boy he freed himself from the dungeon of La Motte, did not suffer +his keeper to pass through the prison wicket, but dealt him so heavy a blow +with a stick that the poor man fell on his knees: then taking the keys from +his pocket, he opened the door to Henry, who quickly disappeared with his +two companions and the knight who had accompanied him thus far. Bertrand +closed the door upon them, and keeping the keys, came back to the gaoler +and, after giving him a good beating, shut him up in a room by himself, as +a warning that the transaction was not to be breathed beyond the prison +walls. + +The Duke of Anjou assisted Henry, and enabled him to enter Burgos a second +time, whilst Pedro was obliged to fly from the throne he had re-ascended +after the battle of Najara. Many of the knights who had been taken +prisoners in that contest were now ransomed, but Du Guesclin, "the scourge +of the English," as he was called, was deemed too formidable an enemy to +be set at large; and he might have remained in prison until his dying day, +had not some of the English nobles, who held his qualities in high esteem, +remonstrated with their prince in his favour, and taunted him by saying +that he only retained his prisoner through fear. + +The Black Prince at last resolved to have an interview with his captive, +and Du Guesclin, overjoyed at the prospect of obtaining his release, rose +hastily at the prince's summons, and appeared before him in the soiled and +coarse grey robe he wore in his prison, but which could not detract from +the dignity of his bearing. He told the prince that he was indeed weary of +his long confinement; "I have listened to the rats and mice long enough," +he said, "and I would fain go where I can hear the birds sing once more." + +The prince told him that he would set him free that very day without a +ransom, if he would swear never again to bear arms against him for France; +or against Pedro for Henry. These conditions Bertrand of course could not +accept, and before the interview was ended he had spoken with so much +honesty and candour, that the Black Prince could not but own the +righteousness of his cause, and requested him to name his own ransom. +Bertrand fixed it at 100,000 gold florins, and when the prince asked him +why he named so large a sum, he declared his ransom should not be less than +70,000 florins, adding that although he was a poor knight, the Kings of +France and Castille would assuredly pay that sum for him; and that if they +did not that the Breton women would spin till they had gained the money for +him. + +He was now set at liberty on condition of obtaining his ransom. The people +of Bordeaux flocked to see him when he came out of his prison, and the +Princess of Wales, Joanna the Fair, journeyed expressly from Angouleme to +Bordeaux that she might have the honour of entertaining him at a banquet, +and presented him besides with 10,000 francs towards his ransom. Sir John +Chandos and Hugh de Caverlay helped also to raise the sum required. Chandos +was always his friend, although he fought on the opposite side; and it may +be that these brave men esteemed one another the more for clinging to what +each one believed to be the right. + +Du Guesclin had hardly gone a league on his way homewards when he met a +poor knight who was returning to his prison in Bordeaux on foot, in a very +forlorn condition, because he was unable to pay his ransom. Bertrand not +only gave him the money to pay it, but also enough to set him up in arms. + +The knight told him that the Duke of Anjou was then besieging the town of +Tarascon. Bertrand was bound in honour not to fight; but he could not +resist going to Tarascon, to aid the duke with his advice, and made the +besieged tremble at the very sound of his name. And there he was in the +midst of all the danger, and the clashing of weapons, mounted on his horse, +but with a peeled rod in his hand, instead of a sword, for his oath's sake! + +When he reached his own estate in Bretagne, he begged his wife to give him +her jewels, and all the valuable things she possessed; but she told him +that a number of poor knights and squires, all taken at Najara, had come +to her in great distress, and that she had given them all she could find in +the castle. Bertrand was very glad that his wife had been so kind to the +poor men, and had not sent them away empty handed. The sum for his ransom +was raised amongst his relations and friends, and he had set out for +Bordeaux, when he met ten poor knights, whose ransoms he could not resist +paying; preferring to remain a captive himself rather than to know that so +many others were languishing in prison, away from their homes, and all whom +they loved. + +When the Black Prince heard of Bertrand's generosity, he did not shut him +up in a dungeon again, but let him go about the city as he pleased on his +word of honour that he would not escape. A day came when mules were seen +approaching Bordeaux loaded with 70,000 good gold florins which the kings +of France and Castille and the Duke of Anjou had sent to purchase his +liberty. + +Du Guesclin, a free man once more, devoted himself entirely to the cause of +Henry, and defeated Pedro in a great battle near Toledo, notwithstanding +the help afforded the Spanish King by the Moors. The fortunes of Pedro now +rapidly declined, the Black Prince not caring to aid him again, because he +had not kept the promises he made before the battle of Najara. + +After a battle fought near Montiel,[11] in the south of Spain, Pedro took +refuge in the Castle of Montiel, in which there was only one way of going +in or coming out, and before this entrance Le Begue de Vilaines, who was +fighting for Henry, stationed himself with his pennon. In this extremity it +was arranged that Pedro should make his escape from the castle at midnight +with twelve of his companions. It was a dark misty night, and when Pedro +crept out of the castle, Le Begue, who stood waiting for him with three +hundred men, could not see him, but fancied he heard the sound of +footsteps. + +"Who art thou?" he cried, "Speak, or thou art a dead man." The first one +addressed escaped in the darkness. The next who came, Le Begue believed to +be the king, and asked him who he was with the dagger held close to his +breast. Then Pedro, seeing he had no chance of escape, cried "Begue, Begue, +I am the King, Don Pedro, of Castille;" and surrendering himself to him he +implored him to take him to some place where he should be beyond the reach +of his half-brother. + +Le Begue took him to his own quarters, but he had not been there long +before Henry of Trastamare and some of his followers entered the chamber +where he was concealed; and in the furious struggle which ensued Pedro was +slain by the hands of his brother. Thus died this unhappy king, whose many +evil deeds gained for him the surname of "The Cruel;" but Henry was very +wicked and cruel also to take his brother's life, and could not have been +happy when he remembered Montiel, although he had now undisputed possession +of the throne. + +Du Guesclin was now at liberty to return to his own country. The King of +Castille parted from him with great regret, and gave him some handsome +presents in token of gratitude for the services he had rendered him. Du +Guesclin on his return, was constantly employed in the war which broke out +again between England and France, and regained many of the places which +the English had taken from the French. The time came when King Charles +thought that the wisest measure he could pursue would be to make Bertrand, +Constable of France, which was the highest office in all the realm. +Bertrand was unwilling to accept so great an honour, saying that there were +many men more worthy of it than himself. Charles declared, however, that +there was neither prince nor noble in the land who would not cheerfully +obey the brave knight, and Du Guesclin was made Constable. From that time +he was surrounded by all the dignity and splendour of the court, and always +sat at the table with the king. + +But certain it is when men have reached their highest estate, they are very +often near a fall. Bertrand was again employed in Bretagne, when meeting +with some reverses, he incurred the king's displeasure. Charles, having +listened to some evil reports which were spread against him, did not +scruple to express his discontent, and Bertrand took the matter so much to +heart that he resigned his Constable's sword, and was only induced to +resume his office when the king found out that the reports were untrue, and +tried to atone to him for the mistake he had made. In the year 1380, +Bertrand was sent to drive the English out of the south of France. He was +very glad to go thither, because it always grieved him to make war on the +people of his own province of Bretagne. After reducing some places of +little importance, he went to help his friend Sancerre in the siege of the +Castle of Randan, which was possessed by the English, and some Gascons, who +were unfriendly to France. The Constable pressed the siege with vigour and +vowed that he would never depart from the spot till the castle was taken. +And he never did depart from thence alive, for he was seized with a violent +fever, which in a short time proved fatal. The knowledge of his danger made +the besiegers more anxious than ever to gain the fortress, and the garrison +were obliged at last to agree to surrender on a certain day. + +The Sire de Roos, the governor of the castle, having been informed of the +dangerous condition of Du Guesclin, desired to render up the keys into his +own hands; and when the appointed day had arrived, he came out of the +gates, followed by all the garrison. It was summer time, and the rays of +the setting sun shone on their unfurled banners, as they went to the tent, +where the dying Constable lay. His knights were standing sorrowfully around +him; they could not bear to think that he would never rise from his bed +again, that his voice would never more cheer them on to victory. The +English themselves shed tears at the mournful spectacle. + +When Du Guesclin had prayed that his sins might be forgiven him, he +entreated the nobles and knights to be faithful to their king, and not make +war, which would cause the blood of peasants, and defenceless old men, and +women and children to be shed; remembering with sorrow how heedlessly he +had himself waged war in the days of his youth. Then dismissing them all +except his friend Du Clisson, he asked for his constable's sword, and +prayed him to deliver it into the hands of the king, and when they had +bidden each other a last farewell, Du Clisson stood by him in tears and in +silence until his spirit passed away. + +So died Du Guesclin, the Hero of Chivalry, a man with many failings, but +brave and generous beyond comparison, and ever faithful to his friends. +Although the violence of his temper broke out at intervals all his life +long, he could be kind and gentle. Queens and princesses esteemed him for +his respectful courtesy, and we like to read, how, when the Black Prince +summoned him to his presence, the stern warrior was found playing merrily +with his gaoler's children, inside the dreary walls of his prison. + +Some authors assert that the governor of the Castle of Randan only laid the +keys on the coffin of Du Guesclin; but the most probable account is that he +really gave them into his hands before he died. + +Charles the Wise grieved sincerely for the loss the country had sustained, +and ordered the remains of the Constable to be interred in the Church of +Saint Denis with almost regal pomp. + +Jeanne de Laval, the second wife of Du Guesclin, founded several religious +houses, and instituted services in memory of her illustrious husband. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[11] The green knight fell in this battle. + + + + +CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. + + +Christopher Columbo, or Columbus, was born in the city of Genoa, about the +year 1436. His father, Domenico Columbo, earned the bread of his family by +combing wool, which, however lowly it may be thought at the present time, +was once a very honourable occupation, and was invented three hundred years +after the birth of our Lord by Blaise, the good martyr-bishop of Armenia, +who to this day is regarded as the patron of woolcombers. + +Christopher had two brothers, Bartholomew, and Diego, and one sister; of +the latter there is nothing particular recorded. The three brothers loved +one another dearly. Bartholomew had a brave and ardent spirit, and was fond +of an active life; in the troubles and dangers they shared in after years +Christopher would call him "another self;" and he said not long before he +died that his brothers had always been his best friends. Christopher as a +child was quiet and thoughtful. He loved to stand on the shore of the +beautiful bay spreading out at the feet of Genoa, "the city of marble +palaces," and to watch the waves under their different aspects; now dancing +joyously in the sunshine; then great sea-horses, foaming and dashing with +terrible noise on the sands; now again, loveliest of all, lying at rest as +if tired, in the solemn quiet of night, and giving back myriads of golden +gleams for every star that twinkled in the clear Italian sky. And whilst +Christopher thus watched the sea, he had very strange ideas for a young +child, for he thought that the whole of the world had not been discovered, +and that beyond the great Atlantic Ocean, which he had only heard of, there +were lands that had never yet been trodden by Europeans. At the time he +lived the Portuguese had discovered the Cape Verde Isles in the Atlantic, +much of the western coast of Africa, and the Cape of Good Hope. They wanted +some of the gold, amber, and ivory, the rich silks, and the fragrant woods +and spices of India, and to trade in these things they had to find out a +way to the East by sea, because the Venetians took care to keep the +overland route to India clear for themselves. Venice, on the eastern side +of Italy, and Genoa, on the western side, shared all the commerce of that +country, but they were not on friendly terms; and for years and years the +Genoese were trying to drive the Turks, Venetians, and Spaniards out of the +Mediterranean Sea, that they might carry on their own commerce without +being molested. + +When Domenico Colombo found that his son Christopher had a very strong +desire to be a sailor, he did not force him to pass his life in combing +wool, but sent him to a famed school at Pavia, where he might learn such +things as would be useful to him in the career he had chosen. So Columbus +learned diligently about the earth, the sea, and the stars, and something +of drawing and mathematics beside. When he was fourteen he returned to +Genoa, and went to sea for the first time with one of his relations, who +was likewise named Colombo. This man was a corsair, and had many a bold +skirmish with the Turks and Venetians. During several years Christopher +sailed with him from one place to another, and got used to a seafaring +life. It happened in one of the skirmishes which took place between Lisbon +and Cape St. Vincent, that fire broke out in a huge Venetian galley to +which the vessel Christopher commanded for his kinsman had been chained +during the fight; the flames quickly spread to the spot where he stood, and +to save his life he was obliged to jump from the deck into the waves. +Fortunately he had grasped an oar, and with this he was enabled to reach +the shore of Portugal, at the distance of two leagues from the burning +vessels. From thence he went to Lisbon, where he was kindly received by +some Genoese, and he determined to remain in that city, because there were +better means there of studying and of carrying out the plans he was making +for a voyage in search of unknown lands. The Portuguese themselves were +eager to make fresh discoveries: their mariners, sailing westward from the +Azores, had seen floating on the waters corpses belonging to a race of men +unknown in Europe, Africa, or Asia; besides these there were trunks and +branches of strange trees, and huge sugar-canes which had been wafted +through the Atlantic by the Gulf Stream. All these objects made them think +that only a portion of the inhabited world had yet been revealed to them. + +Two centuries had passed since Marco Polo, the bold Venetian explorer, had +set out from Constantinople for the land of the Tartars. There he had found +a friend in the great Kublai Khan, who ruled over Tartary and China, and +was sent by him on a mission to China and India, being thus the first +European who visited China Proper. On his return he told such extraordinary +tales of the people he had seen, and their customs, that most men were +afraid to believe in them, and thought they were pure inventions. Years +after, when the countries he had described became known to the Europeans, +it was found that he had spoken a great deal of truth, and his example +caused fresh enterprises to be projected. Men must not despair because they +do not at once see the fruit of their labour: if they only undertake it in +a true and steadfast spirit, it is sure to turn sooner or later to the +benefit of their fellow-creatures. Truly great men do not toil for +themselves but for the good they may do to others; they sow the seed, and +in God's time, not theirs, it will bear fruit. + +In Lisbon Columbus married Dona Felippa, the daughter of a poor but noble +Italian named Perestrello, the governor of the island of Porto Santo, one +of the Madeiras, which had only lately been found. Perestrello was a very +famous navigator, and lost his life in the service of Portugal. After his +marriage Columbus went to live in the house of his wife's mother, and she +gave him all the charts her husband had drawn, and the accounts he had +written of his voyages, which proved very useful to him because they made +him familiar with all the parts of the world the Portuguese had hitherto +explored. So he lived on in Lisbon, supporting his wife and his mother by +making and selling maps and globes, besides which he used to send a part of +the money he earned to his aged father at Genoa, and helped his brothers +also by enabling them to go to school. Sometimes he would leave home for a +while, and take part in the expeditions that were directed towards the +coast of Guinea, or he would visit Porto Santo, where he had a friend in +Pietro Correo, who had once been governor of the island, and was married to +his wife's sister. Yet although he was made very happy by the birth of his +son Diego, it was sad to wait year after year without any chance of +starting on his voyage; for, poor as he was, it was quite impossible for +him to buy vessels and man them at his own expense. + +Some of the ancient philosophers who flourished centuries before the birth +of our Lord had convinced themselves that the earth was round. That such is +the case is shown by the appearance of a vessel after it has left the +shore. At a certain distance the whole of it is seen; farther off only its +hulk or body; at a greater distance still, the topmast alone is visible. +This proves that something hides the lower part of the ship from the +spectator, and that something, is the roundness of the earth. Again--when +an eclipse of the moon takes place the moon enters the shadow of the earth, +and cannot get the light of the sun, which, reflected on her surface, gives +her the bright silvery glow which makes her so lovely by night, and so we +appear to lose the whole, or part of her face. Now the shadow that is seen +being round, the earth must be round from which it is cast. And when men +found, in the days when very long voyages were undertaken, that by sailing +and journeying in one direction they came back to the point whence they had +started, they wanted indeed no further proof that such was the correct +figure of the earth. Thus it was natural for Columbus to expect to reach +the eastern shore of India, or of Cathay (as China was then called) by +sailing westward across the Atlantic, never dreaming that the earth was so +large as it is, and that the pathway he went would make known to the people +of the Old World the whole vast continent of America, and the Pacific, the +greatest of all Oceans! + +Having been refused assistance in his native city, he resolved at last to +lay his plans before John the Second of Portugal. The king referred the +matter to a Council, where it was soon decided that the voyage could not be +carried out, but Columbus was not easily disheartened, as his patience +during one-and-twenty years proved, and he begged the Portuguese monarch so +earnestly to assist him that he had almost been supplied with the vessels +he required, had there not been in Lisbon some persons who were very +jealous of him, and wanted the glory of making the attempt themselves. +These persons gained information of the proposed route, and then set out in +secret to try it, not unknown, as it is said, to the king. But when they +had been out at sea some time, and saw the waves spread out around them as +far as sight could reach, they lost all courage, and put back to Lisbon as +quickly as they could, saying on their return that the voyage could never +be tried. + +Columbus was indignant at being treated thus: he had passed fourteen years +of his life in waiting, and had thought and studied so much for the +enterprise on which he had set his heart that he had made no fortune for +himself. His gentle wife Felippa was dead; and one day he bid farewell to +his home in Lisbon and quitted Portugal with the idea of laying his cause +before Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. First of all, however, he went to +Genoa, where he saw his father, and provided out of his own scanty means +for the old man's comfort. + +When he arrived in Spain he sought the favour and assistance of two +powerful Spanish nobles, the duke of Medina Sidonia and the Duke of Medina +Coeli. The latter was the kinder of the two; he was just going to give +Columbus three or four caravels, which lay opposite the port of Cadiz, when +he suddenly thought that the enterprise was so vast, that none but a king +should direct it. He spoke so kindly, however, of Columbus to Queen +Isabella, that she desired him to repair to her court at Cordova. + +When he arrived he found the city like a camp, and the king and queen +entirely occupied in preparing for a grand campaign against the Moors. One +Moorish city after another had indeed yielded to the Spanish arms, but the +invaders who had held ground in Spain for nearly eight hundred years, were +still in possession of much of the southern part of the country. At such a +moment Isabella had no time to listen to the demands of a needy adventurer +like Columbus, and his humble dress and his poverty made him an object of +contempt in the eyes of the haughty Spanish grandees. At last, through the +efforts of the Grand Cardinal of Spain, he was allowed to enter the +presence of Ferdinand. The king ordered him to plead his cause before a +great council of learned monks at Salamanca. During the time it was held, +Columbus was a guest in the convent of St. Stephen, which was the +foundation of the famous university of Salamanca. The monks of the convent +were kind to him; they entered into his plans, and believed that the voyage +he proposed would lead to great discoveries; and prove the source of +infinite benefit to mankind; but those who came to confer with them were +not of the same opinion, and they tried, by quoting the Holy Scriptures, to +convince Columbus that he was in error. Now Columbus was a very devout man, +and one strong inducement for him to undertake the voyage was, the hope of +spreading the gospel in distant parts of the world, and he must have been +greatly pained when sentence was passed against him, and his views except +by a few, were misunderstood and treated as idle dreams. Nevertheless he +lingered on in Spain, in the hope that his appeal for aid might be heard +one day by Isabella herself, who was of a more noble and generous character +than her husband. So he followed the court from place to place as the seat +of war changed, and in one campaign he bore an honourable part in the +struggle with the Moors; while part of the time he remained in Spain he +lived quietly at Cordova, earning his bread by making charts, and maps, as +he had done before at Lisbon. When he heard that the city of Granada, the +stronghold of the Moors, was to be invested by the Spanish army, he +determined to make one more appeal, for he was sure that the king and queen +would be too busy to listen to him, when the siege had once begun. All they +would do was to promise to hear him when they should be released from the +cares of war, and Columbus, grieving to think that he had wasted so many +years of his life in useless waiting, made up his mind to leave Spain for +ever, and apply for aid at the court of France. + +From the time he left Cordova little is known of him until he appeared at +the gate of the Convent of St. Maria de Rabida, which stood in the midst of +a forest of pine trees, near the port of Palos, in Andalusia. His son Diego +was with him; the boy was both tired and hungry, for they had come a long +way without resting. Just as Columbus was asking for some bread and water +for him at the gate, Friar Juan Perez, the guardian of the convent happened +to pass by. The good friar welcomed the strangers kindly; he bade them +enter, and in the course of conversation Columbus opened his heart to him +and told him about his plans, and his firm trust that by the grace of God +he should be able to carry them out. Friar Juan had already thought on the +subject himself, and he was so delighted with the ideas of Columbus that he +sent for two friends to confer with him: one was Fernandez Garcia, a +physician of Palos, who had a great longing to go in search of unknown +lands; the other was Martin Alonzo Pinzon, a merchant who had vessels of +his own, and traded with many foreign ports. These were presently joined by +some mariners of Palos, who had had much experience at sea. + +Friar Juan persuaded Columbus to stay a little longer in Spain, and wrote a +letter to Queen Isabella, hoping that his influence might induce her to +sanction the enterprise, since he had once been her confessor, and had +always been held by her in great esteem. The court had removed to Santa Fe, +and an honest pilot, named Sebastian Rodriguez, undertook to convey the +letter thither. At the end of a fortnight he brought back an answer from +the queen which gave hope and joy to Columbus and his friends, and caused +Friar Juan to saddle his mule in haste, and set out at midnight for the +Spanish court. Isabella was indeed beginning to think the voyage worthy of +consideration, and wished to talk on the subject with Juan himself. And +very soon she summoned Columbus to Santa Fe, and sent him some money to +enable him to buy a mule for his journey, and a dress suitable to appear in +at court, so that he might no longer be despised for his needy attire. + +Columbus arrived in time to see Boabdil, the last of the Moorish kings in +Spain, deliver the keys of the Alhambra into the hands of the Spanish +sovereigns: the hundred thousand Moors, who had shut themselves up within +the massive walls of Granada, had been forced to yield; the Crescent was +thrown down, and the Royal standard of Spain was planted on the red towers +of the most beautiful of Moorish palaces. There were rejoicings and +festivities without end among the Spaniards, but Columbus was sad and +forlorn in the midst of all the gaiety; the courtiers were jealous of the +favour Isabella had shown him on his arrival, and although the king and +queen kept their promise and listened to him once more, they were +persuaded, by a haughty and powerful priest named Talavera, now Bishop of +Granada, to offer him terms which he could not accept. He began to feel +utterly disheartened, and resolving again to leave Spain and ask help from +France, he mounted his mule and quitted Santa Fe. He had reached the pass +of Pinos, two leagues from Granada, when to his surprise a courier overtook +him and recalled him to the Court. Some of his friends had at last +persuaded Isabella to grant him real assistance, and she became all at once +so eager for the voyage to be carried out, that she declared her kingdom of +Castille should defray the cost of it, and offered to pledge her own jewels +to furnish money besides. + +The king and queen then signed a decree by which Columbus was to be +supplied with vessels and men; to be named Admiral of the Fleet, and +Viceroy of all the lands he should discover; and to have a right to a tenth +part of all the gold, silver, pearls, precious stones, and spices he might +find within the limits of the land he was to rule over for the Spanish +sovereigns. Besides this the title of Don was to be prefixed to his name +and to the name of his heirs. + +All the doubts, the long weary days of waiting, were at an end. In deep +thankfulness and joy Columbus went back to Palos, from which port it was +arranged that the fleet should set sail. And one May morning a Royal decree +was read in the porch of the largest church there which ordered the +authorities of Palos to have two caravels[12] ready for the sea within ten +days, Columbus himself having the right to fit out a third vessel. + +But now his troubles broke out afresh, no one would furnish barks, not a +mariner could be pressed into the service; it was believed that all who +engaged in such a voyage must surely perish. After tumults and disputes +which lasted many weeks, Martin Pinzon and his brother came forward with a +vessel of their own, and two other caravels were with the greatest +difficulty procured. + +Thus the days which still elapsed before the fleet could sail, so full of +joy and hope for the Admiral, were passed by the sailors and the friends +they were to leave on shore in terror and deep gloom. At last, on Friday, +August the 3rd, in the year 1492, the caravels sailed at daybreak from the +bar of Saltes, near Palos, having on board one hundred and twenty persons, +who before starting had all joined in fervent prayer that God would protect +them from danger, and grant them success. A favourable wind bore them in +the direction of the Canary Islands. The vessel Columbus sailed in was +called the _Santa Maria_; the second, the _Pinta_, was commanded by Martin +Alonzo Pinzon, and the third, the _Nina_, by his brother Vincent Yanez +Pinzon. When they had been out at sea three days the _Pinta_ made a sign of +distress; either by accident or through malice to Columbus her rudder had +been broken. Martin Pinzon repaired it as well as he could with cords, but +the next day the wind broke them, and all the vessels put in towards the +Canary Islands, and waited thereabouts three weeks whilst a new rudder was +made for the damaged bark. This occasioned much loss of time, and news +being brought that some Portuguese ships were sailing towards the Island of +Ferro, Columbus set sail again in a great hurry, fearing that the jealousy +of the King of Portugal might even now prevent him from finishing his +voyage. For three days the caravels were held in a deep calm, and all the +men on board felt very anxious until the winds arose, and carried them on +their way. The last land they saw was the Island of Ferro, and when they +lost sight of that, the spirits of most of the mariners began to droop, and +a wreck which they came upon a hundred and fifty leagues from Ferro, did +not tend to make them more hopeful. + +On the 14th of September they saw a heron and a water wagtail, which very +much surprised them, as they were the first birds they had seen. The next +night there fell from the sky, only four or five leagues from the vessels, +a wonderful stream of fire, although the sea was calm, and the winds were +asleep, and the currents steady to the northward. This was probably one of +the meteors which are often seen in warm climates. After that, from day to +day, they perceived an abundance of grasses and herbs on the surface of the +water--which appeared to have been plucked only a short time before from +some island or rock--the green patches looked almost like floating islands +themselves. Then they saw many tunny and gold fish, and a white bird of the +tropics that never passes a night on the sea. They thought, too, that the +waves were less salt than those they had crossed at first. All these signs +made the mariners very desirous of going in search of islands, but Columbus +would not yield to their wishes, and pursued the steady course he had +planned towards the west. On the 18th of September the captain of the +swift-sailing caravel _Pinta_ told the Admiral that he had seen a number of +large birds flying towards the north, and that he thought there was land in +that direction. This time, however, Columbus felt sure that the supposed +land was nothing but a bank of clouds. The next morning a bird of the +tropics alighted on the Admiral's ship, and the day after two more came +with a black bird which had on its head a tuft of white feathers; besides +which, at dawn, three little singing birds had perched themselves on one of +the masts, and only flew away at dark. Their sweet song must have made some +of the forlorn mariners think of their homes and the pine forest of Palos +and the gardens of southern Spain, with their orange and pomegranate trees, +whilst to others it may have said, "God, in His infinite love, has sent the +little birds to cheer your hearts, and to tell you that land is near, and +that you need not fear to tread the shore of strange men, since He is the +father of all." + +There came a time, indeed, when these things vanished, and as the wind +always blew from the east, the men despaired of ever being able to return +to their homes. They began to reproach Columbus bitterly for having led +them, as they supposed, on a lost track, and distrusted the signs of land +even when they were renewed by fresh patches of verdure appearing, and +whole flights of singing birds coming to the caravels early in the morning, +and flying away to their unseen nests at dusk. Some of the seamen in their +frenzy were so wicked as to make a plot to throw the Admiral overboard, and +they meant after that, to turn the vessel homeward, and to say, if they +ever got back to Spain, that he had fallen from the ship's side whilst +gazing at the stars. Columbus had enough to do to pacify the crews. To the +gentle he spoke kind words; those who were eager for riches he flattered +with hopes of gain, and the most violent of all he threatened with the +severest punishment if they should attempt to prevent the voyage from being +completed. At this time he was exposed to extreme danger, but he had a +brave heart, and trusted in God, and did not feel afraid even when he knew +that the plot had been made to take away his life. And although he was more +anxious than any man on board, and passed many a sleepless night, looking +vainly across the starlit sea for land, he never despaired of finding it at +last. + +So the days passed in alternate hope and fear. Once Martin Pinzon felt so +sure that he saw land, that the crews of each vessel knelt down and chanted +a solemn thanksgiving, "Glory to God in the highest," such were the words +that rose up in the calm evening air, but, alas! the land turned out to be +only a cloud. + +When the mutiny was at its greatest height the heavenly Father let the men +who had murmured look on the blessed signs of land until their wicked +thoughts passed away, and hope and trust came back to their hearts instead. +For, on the 10th of October, there could be no doubt that they were near +some shore. Beside fresh herbs and grasses, they saw a green fish, which is +only found near rocks, a reed and a carved stick, a little plank, and a +branch of thorn covered with red berries, which looked as if it had only +just been plucked. + +[Illustration: _Columbus pointing to the Land.--p. 159_] + +After evening prayer on that day Columbus ordered a careful watch to be +made, and remained himself on the high stern of the _Santa Maria_ during +the night. Now and then he observed a glimmer of light, which he supposed +came from the shore, and at two o'clock in the morning the firing of a gun +from the _Pinta_ was the signal that land had really been seen. Not an eye +closed that night; the sails were taken in, and the whole company on board +the caravels waited in breathless suspense for the dawn. As the day broke, +Columbus perceived a level island stretching out before them covered with +trees; the natives were already coming out of the woods and rushing towards +the shore, evidently astonished at the sight of the strange vessels. The +boats were manned and armed, and Columbus, Martin Pinzon, and Vincente, his +brother, each got into a boat, Columbus bearing the royal standard of +Spain, and the others banners with green crosses upon them. The natives +stood around as they landed, and looked on, half fearful, in silence. +Columbus kissed the earth on which he first set foot, and planting the +cross upon it, called it by the name of St. Salvador.[13] Then the +Spaniards hailed him as Admiral, and swore obedience to him: those who had +rebelled were now thoroughly ashamed of their wicked conduct, and entreated +his pardon--a pardon he readily granted--for it was not in his noble nature +to resent an injury done to himself. + +The Spanish government had decreed a reward of 10,000 maravedis[14] to him +who should first discover land; to this Columbus added a promise of a +doublet of silk or velvet. But although Rodrigo de Triana was the mariner +who first saw land from the _Pinta_, it was agreed by all that the Admiral +should have the prize, because it was he who had perceived the light, +probably of some torch the natives had carried, at intervals, during the +night. + +The island Columbus first landed upon was one of the Lucayos or Bahamas; in +his delight he fancied he had really reached the eastern shores of India, +and hence it was that the natives of the New World were called Indians. He +stayed a day or two at the island, making friends with the +dark-complexioned men, who soon lost all fear of the strangers, and +regarded with great curiosity the cups, glass beads, and hawks' bells they +gave them in exchange for the parrots, the balls of spun-cotton, and the +cassava bread, made from a great root called "yuca," which they brought +down to the shore. They were simple in their manners, and evidently thought +the shining armour and weapons of the white man very strange. They did not +know the use of iron, and taking the swords by the blades they cut +themselves with them. Some of them wore little ornaments of gold in their +noses, and when the Spaniards asked them by signs whence they got the gold, +they answered by pointing to the south. + +Columbus now resolved to go in search of the precious metal, and left the +island, taking with him seven Indians as interpreters. When he returned to +his ship the natives crowded around him in their canoes, each of which, +small or large, was made in one piece out of the trunk of a tree. After +finding some little islands, he came upon the lovely island of Cuba. Here +the caravels glided down a great shining river, with waters deep and clear, +and anchored not far from the sea. It seemed to the mariners a fairy +region, in which they forgot all the care and the terror of their voyage. +Trees, higher than any they had seen in Europe, were covered with the most +tempting fruits and brilliant flowers, birds of gay-coloured plumage sang +on their branches or flitted about. The sunshine falling on the scales of +the fish made them look like precious stones, and at night, fireflies +flashed through the air, and moon and stars shone with a strange lustre +unknown in Europe. The cabins of the natives of Cuba were more elegant in +their construction than those of the other islands, and were all well +covered with branches of palm trees. That the people were accustomed to +fish was shown by the nets, made of the fibres of palm leaves, which were +found in some of the empty dwellings. Here was seen for the first time the +"batata," or potatoe plant, which has since proved such a blessing to +Europe, and some Spaniards, whom Columbus, believing that he had indeed +reached Cathay, sent on a mission to the Grand Khan, tell how, when they +came back from their fruitless journey, they met on the road numbers of +people, men and women, who held in one hand a lighted brand, and in the +other some leaves of a plant called "tabacas," rolled up in the form of a +little cylinder, one end of which they lighted and the other they put into +their mouths. It is needless to say that this was the origin of smoking +amongst the Europeans, and hence the city of Havannah in Cuba has always +been famous for the manufacture of cigars. + +One night when the caravels were out at sea, not far from Cuba, on a voyage +of fresh discovery, the _Pinta_ suddenly disappeared. The merchant Martin +Alonzo Pinzon was greedy of gain, and wanted to go to some island in search +of gold by himself. One reason of his desertion is said also to have been +his dislike of serving under another, after having been his own master for +so many years. Columbus had now only the two caravels, but he was not +deterred from making fresh attempts, and he soon found the large island of +Haiti, or Saint Domingo, to which he gave the name of Hispaniola, because +it was like the fairest parts of Spain. The land here was mountainous and +rocky, but the rocks rose up out of forests. The harbour the caravels +entered was surrounded by great trees, most of them being covered with +fruit, which gleamed red, green, and golden in the bright sunshine of the +tropics. The natives were very timid at first, as those of Cuba had been, +and fled from the coast on the approach of the strange vessels; but an +Indian woman who was captured and carried on board the _Santa Maria_ was +treated so kindly that, when she went back to the shore, her own people +began to lose all fear, and brought the Spaniards many gifts of fish, +fruit, and roots, and their famed cassava bread. Another day, when Columbus +was cruising about the island, and a gale was blowing, he saved an Indian +from perishing as his fragile canoe, and the man thus rescued told the time +tale of the kindness of the Spaniards. Columbus became very friendly with a +chief, or cacique, named Guacanagari, which is a terribly long name, and +since he always remained true to the Spaniards I will only call him in +future the faithful chief, to distinguish him from others in the same +island. The Admiral had set out by sea to visit him in his own village, +when a great disaster happened. It was Christmas Eve; the ocean was calm +and smooth, and about an hour before midnight the caravel _Santa Maria_ was +only a league from the cacique's dwelling. Columbus, having passed many +sleepless nights, had gone to rest; soon after the steersman, giving the +helm in charge to one of the ship's boys, followed his example, and it was +not long before the whole of the crew were sound asleep also. The vessel, +thus left to a careless boy, was carried by currents on to a sandbank with +such force that great seams opened in her sides. Some of the mariners, +roused to a sense of their danger, got down into their boat, and in the +confusion rowed off to the caravel _Nina_, which took them all on board. +Soon the Admiral and the remainder of the crew had to take refuge there +also; the _Santa Maria_ was firmly fixed in the sands, and was of no +farther use as a ship. When the cacique heard of the misfortune he shed +tears, and kindly sent a number of men in canoes to the Admiral's +assistance, and he helped himself to keep guard round the wrecked vessel, +that none of the valuable stores it contained might be stolen. + +Little boys who are safe at home at the merry Christmas-time with all whom +they love, may think of this first Christmas of the brave and patient +Admiral, passed amidst all the horrors of shipwreck, and remember that if a +simple and ignorant heathen could thus afford kindly help and sympathy to +the distressed, how much more love and charity ought not those to show who +call themselves the followers of Christ! + +The cacique came on board the _Nina_ to visit Columbus, and a little while +after, the Admiral went to his village in return. When he was there he had +a cannon and a harquebuss fired to show the might of the European arms. The +Indians were so terrified at the sound that they fell flat to the ground, +but their spirits revived when they were told that such weapons would +deliver them from the Caribs, who were constantly threatening and +tormenting their chief. + +The cacique gave Columbus many extraordinary presents; one was a mask of +wood, with eyes, ears, and mouth gilded: the Indians were very fond of +carving such masks. They were delighted with the gifts they received from +the Spaniards, and most of all with the hawks' bells, dancing merrily to +the tinkling they made. They had so little idea of the real value of things +that a string of the commonest glass beads had far greater worth in their +eyes than a coronet of solid gold. + +Columbus now began to think of returning to Europe, but first of all he +constructed a fort with the remains of the stranded vessel, to which he +gave the name of Navidad,[15] in memory of the Christmas morning when his +own life and the lives of his men had been so mercifully spared. Some of +the Spaniards were to be left to guard the fort, and they were very glad to +remain in the island; they had food in plenty, the natives were kindly +disposed towards them, and to live at ease in a beautiful climate was far +preferable to being tossed about on the stormy sea. When the moment of +parting came, however, all were sorrowful, and they took a kindly leave of +one another, wondering whether they would ever meet again. + +Some time after Columbus had set out on his journey home, he came in sight +of the _Pinta_. The merchant made many excuses for his desertion, but +Columbus passed them over with few words, and the vessels kept company +until the _Pinta_ again disappeared one dark night during a terrific storm, +which surprised the caravels far out in the open sea. When it was at its +greatest height Columbus retired to his cabin, and wrote two copies of a +description of the lands he had seen, then he wrapped them in wax, and put +them into two casks, one of which he threw into the sea, and the other he +placed on the poop of his vessel, that it might float if she sank. + +The storm abated, but Columbus was not yet destined to return to Europe in +peace. He had touched at the Island of St. Mary, one of the Azores, and +half the crew had landed to return thanks to God for their escape from the +tempest. As they were praying in a chapel they were seized by order of John +of Portugal, to whom the islands belonged. The King had watched the +movements of Columbus, and could not get over his jealousy of the Spaniards +for having succeeded in their attempt. + +After some trouble the seamen were set free, but even then another storm +drove Columbus to seek shelter in the river Tagus, near the Rock of Cintra. +Whilst he was there, King John invited him to his court, which he was +holding in a lovely spot, called the Vale of Paradise, a few leagues from +Lisbon. Certain it is, that however unkind he had been hitherto, he +received Columbus as a friend, and treated him with honour, and would not +listen to some wicked men around him, who advised him to put him to death. + +When Columbus did arrive at Palos on the 15th of March, 1493, the people +flocked in crowds to welcome him, and he journeyed like a prince to +Barcelona, where the Spanish court had taken up its residence for a time. +But his greatest triumph was when he had entered the gates of the city, and +went slowly along the crowded streets, surrounded by the noblest knights of +Spain, to the palace where Ferdinand and Isabella were seated under a +golden canopy in readiness to receive him. And surely the people of +Barcelona had never looked upon so strange a procession before. Six Indians +in their wild costume marched on in front; the animals belonging to the +islands, live parrots, and other gaily plumed birds, till then unknown in +Europe, the golden ornaments and the weapons of the natives, strange +plants, valuable resins and gums, all had their part in the show. When +Columbus arrived at the palace the King and Queen would not suffer him to +stand or kneel in their presence, but they knelt down themselves in the +sight of all the people, and thanked God fervently for the wondrous +spectacle before them, and the new world that the courage and constancy of +a good man had given to Leon and Castille. Whilst Columbus remained in +Spain he was treated with the highest esteem and honour, and his sons, +Diego and Fernando were appointed pages to Prince Juan, the heir to the +Spanish throne. + +Martin Alonzo Pinzon arrived at the port of Palos on the evening of the day +Columbus had landed amid crowds of welcoming faces. He was so jealous of +his rival's glory, and so deeply mortified besides when he remembered his +own mean conduct towards one who had always been kind to him, that he went +on shore privately, and instead of taking part in the public rejoicings, +repaired to his home, where he fell ill, and died soon after, as it is +said, of grief. + +In the autumn of the same year Columbus set out on his second voyage with a +fleet of seventeen ships, and fifteen hundred men, amongst whom were +_hidalgos_, merchants and adventurers, and several priests, intended to +convert the Indians to the Christian faith. + +On his way to Hispaniola he found some islands belonging to the group of +the Antilles. The first one he saw he called Domenica, because he +discovered it on a Sunday. After that he came to a large and fertile +island, to which he gave the name of Guadaloupe, and there the Spaniards +saw for the first time the pine-apple. But although they found plenty of +luscious fruits and sweet water, which refreshed them after their voyage, +they were not at all happy there because they perceived from the remains of +human bodies hanging about the dwellings that the natives of the island +were cannibals, or Caribs, who feasted on the flesh of their fellow +creatures. Columbus was in great alarm for fear some of his crew who had +strayed into the forests should fall victims to this horrible practice; but +happily, most of the men were absent on some warlike expedition, and had +left their women to guard the island, and the missing mariners found their +way back to the sea-shore. Another of the larger islands discovered at this +time now bears the name of Porto Rico. + +When the fleet arrived about a league from the settlement of Navidad, all +objects around were hidden in the darkness of night. Columbus felt very +anxious to know if the men whom he had left to guard the fort were alive +and in safety, and he had two guns fired off to announce his arrival. The +echo died away in silence, no answer came, and a terrible fear filled his +heart. About midnight some Indians came in a boat to the principal caravel, +and asked to see the Admiral. They had brought him a present of gilded +masks from the faithful chief, and told how he lay sick in a little village +near, having been wounded in an affray with another chief named Caonabo, +who dwelt on the mountains of Cibao, and was called "The Lord of the House +of Gold," because of the abundance of gold in that region. These Indians +gave very confused accounts of the Spaniards who had been left in the fort. +Some of them were dead, they said, having been killed in a skirmish; others +were dispersed. Columbus did not know what to think. Even when the day +broke, the place seemed strangely silent and deserted, and at last he sent +some of his people in a boat to the shore to gain tidings. Alas! the +fortress was a heap of ruins, the comrades of other days had all +disappeared without leaving a trace behind. Columbus soon learned that +several of the Spaniards had been faithless to the trust reposed in them, +and after quarrelling amongst themselves had gone off to the mountains of +Cibao, tempted by the prospect of finding gold. The few who remained in +the fort had been surprised by Caonabo. He had rushed down upon them with +his warriors, and had burnt all the dwellings of the white men, although +the faithful chief had done his best to help to defend them: Columbus heard +from him that the reports of the fate of the Spaniards were true. + +When the cacique visited Columbus on board his ship he was greatly +astonished at the sight of the animals which had been brought out to the +west, such as cattle, pigs and calves, but most of all the Indians wondered +at the power and size of the horse, which was to tread their shores for the +first time. Besides these, Columbus had brought to the island many domestic +fowls, also vegetables and fruits which he hoped would flourish in the new +soil; among the latter were oranges, lemons, and citrons, supposed to have +grown originally in India and Persia, and to have been introduced into +Europe by the Arabs and Moors. + +Immediately on his arrival Columbus founded the city of Isabella on the +north of the island. For a little time the work went on bravely, and then +troubles arose. The provisions conveyed in the vessels were nearly all +gone; the climate was found to be sultry and damp, and unhealthy for those +who had lived in the drier air of Spain. The young _hidalgos_, who had come +out in the hope of gaining riches and fame, were angry and disappointed +that they did not find gold at once in abundance. To appease their murmurs, +Columbus sent a very bold cavalier named Alonso de Ojeda to explore the +famed mountains of Cibao, with a band of men, of whom most were of noble +birth. When they came back from their dangerous expedition, they told the +Admiral that they had seen gold in plenty glittering in particles amongst +the sands of the mountain streams, and in the beds of the torrents. Several +ships returned about this time to Spain, bearing samples of the gold thus +discovered, besides various fruits and plants unknown in Europe. + +The complaints of the settlers were again breaking out, when Columbus, +leaving the growing city of Isabella in charge of his brother Diego, who +had accompanied him on the voyage, set out himself for the mountains of +Cibao with four hundred men, well armed, and a great multitude of Indians. +When they arrived at the foot of the mountain land, it was found that so +large a force could not ascend the wild and difficult path which was used +by the Indians, and some brave young Spanish gentlemen who had been used to +all kinds of manoeuvres in the wars with the Moors, and were very eager +to win fresh renown, undertook to make a road by which the whole company +could pass. Thus in a few hours, by dint of hard labour, the first road in +the New World was constructed, and it was called in honour of those who had +made it, "El Puerto de los hidalgos," "The Gentleman's Pass." + +When they came to the gorge of the mountain an immense plain spread out +before them covered with lovely flowers, and with trees rising out of it, +such as the graceful palm with its slender stem and feathery plume at the +top, and the wide-spreading mahogany-tree with its dense foliage. The air +was so balmy, and the whole scene was so beautiful, that Columbus gave it +the name of "Vega Real," which means Royal Plain. + +As they went higher up the mountains the way became rougher, and they lost +the sweet flowers and fruits which had afforded them so much delight. Some +of them saw what it must be confessed gave them still greater pleasure, and +that was the gold which sparkled in the sands of the streams. At the top of +a steep hill they built a fort, which they called Fort St. Thomas, that +there might be a place of refuge for those who should work the mines. +Caonabo did not at all like his "golden house" to be thus invaded, and took +his revenge, as will be seen hereafter. The Indians as yet were very +willing to exchange gold for the glass beads and toys the Spaniards gave +them, and would search for it on purpose to bring it to them. One old man +parted with two pieces of gold which weighed an ounce, and thought he was +magnificently paid for it with a hawk's bell. + +When Columbus returned to Isabella, he found that the building of the city +had been neglected: the workmen were either ill or weary of the task, and +he gave orders that all who had come out to the island should assist in the +labour. The proud Spanish _hidalgos_ worked with very unwilling hearts, and +never forgave Columbus for submitting them to what they considered a great +degradation. Some of them were so disappointed with the New World and the +difficulty of making themselves rich without any trouble that they fell ill +and died, bitterly reproaching Columbus until their last hour as being the +cause of all their misfortunes. These troubles made the Admiral very +unhappy; still, amidst them all he had some joys, and one very great one, +when after he had gone to coast along a part of Cuba unknown to him, he +came upon the large island of Jamaica, with its high blue mountains and its +groves of majestic trees. Jamaica thus ranks third of the great islands +made known to the Europeans. Here the natives made each of their boats out +of the single trunk of a tree, and when they used for this purpose the +enormous stem of a mahogany tree they had a very large boat indeed. + +Columbus did not stay long at Jamaica, but cruised about another part of +Cuba, and found some smaller islands near its coast, which were so lovely +that he called them "The Queen's Gardens." On his way back to Hispaniola he +became very ill, and was senseless when his vessel reached the port of +Isabella. Great was his joy, when he opened his eyes once more to find his +brother Bartholomew by his bedside; he had been sent to the island by the +Spanish sovereigns, and as he was very brave and clever he was well fitted +to take the command of affairs whilst his brother was ill. + +The troubles in the island rapidly increased. The chiefs, with the +exception of the faithful one, were ready to make war on the Spaniards and +drive them away. Caonabo was the fiercest of all; he lay siege to the Fort +of St. Thomas, but Alonso de Ojeda was inside with a few brave men, and +harassed his army so much by his firearms that the Indians at last withdrew +in despair. Ojeda afterwards captured Caonabo in a very daring manner, and +brought him bound to himself on his horse to the city of Isabella, where he +was imprisoned in the Admiral's house. After this the Indians were ordered +to pay tribute in gold dust, which at first only made them resist the more; +it seemed so hard to them to have to work from morning to night in search +of gold, after the free and happy life, happy for them because it was idle, +they had lived in their island before the strangers came. It was not until +a battle had been fought on the lovely plain of the Vega, and some of them +had been killed by the firearms of the Spaniards, which were far more +destructive than their own weapons, that they consented with heavy hearts +to bring their tribute. + +For everything that went wrong, Columbus alone was unjustly blamed, and at +last some unkind persons went to Spain and told the King and Queen that he +had brought all the misery on the colony by his bad government. And a day +came when he set out for Spain himself to plead his cause with Ferdinand +and Isabella; because, whatever his enemies had said, his conduct had +always been loyal and upright, and the cause of all the unhappiness lay in +the violent temper and the avarice of many of the men who had embarked with +him for the sake of making themselves rich, instead of serving the king and +queen, and promoting the glory of Spain. + +The vessel he sailed in was crowded with criminals, discontented persons +and Indian captives; amongst the latter was the proud chief Caonabo, but he +died during the voyage. + +When Columbus arrived this time in Spain, there were neither triumphs nor +rejoicings, and he wore as he landed the dress of a Franciscan friar, a +long robe, with a cord for a girdle, in sign of humility. He was soon +cheered, however, by a kind invitation to court. Ferdinand and Isabella did +not yet forget how much they owed to him, and they gave no heed to the +complaints that had been made against him, while the massive gold ornaments +he had brought with him, and the rich products of the islands induced them +to hope that his discoveries would bring them great wealth in the time to +come. + +He therefore lived in Spain in some degree of comfort until the May of the +year 1498, when after many tiresome delays he started on a third voyage +with only six ships and took a different route to that he had gone before. +From the Cape Verde Isles he went south-west towards the region spreading +out eight or ten degrees north and south of the Equator, where the sea is +smooth as glass, and the sun shines straight down, and there is not a +breath of air to fill a sail. The heat on this occasion was intense, and +the mariners very nearly died of thirst when their supply of water was +exhausted and they could get no more. Columbus therefore sailed westward, +instead of going farther south as he had at first proposed, and one day, +just three months after he had left Spain, three mountains seemed to rise +up out of the ocean afar, and as he came nearer he found to his joy that +all the mountains rose from one island, to which in his thankfulness he +gave the name of Trinidad.[16] + +On this voyage he also discovered the mouths of the river Orinoco, which it +will be seen, by the map of South America, are not very far from the island +of Trinidad. Still, Columbus did not think when he landed, that he was +treading the shores of a vast new continent, but imagined that it was a +part of Asia. After this he found the land the Indians called Paria. The +natives here welcomed him kindly, and brought him bread and maize: they +were tall and graceful, and their manners were gentle; they wore garments +of cotton wrought so beautifully with colours that they looked like rich +silks, and they carried targets besides bows and arrows. They had several +kinds of liquors which they offered to the Spaniards to drink. One was +"white as milk," made from maize; others were nearly black, and tasted as +if they were made from unripe fruit. + +The country was covered with flowers and fruit-trees; vines were twined +from tree to tree and bright plumaged birds, chiefly parrots, flitted +about. Some of the natives wore collars of gold around their necks, and +some had bracelets of pearls, the sight of which gave great satisfaction to +the Spaniards, for they thought they had discovered a new source of riches. +Columbus would have liked to have spent much time in exploring the coasts +of Paria, but his stores were nearly all consumed, and he was ill and +almost blind from having strained his eye-sight during the dark nights of +his voyages, and was therefore obliged to think of returning to Hispaniola +or San Domingo, as it was called besides. Along the north coast of Paria he +saw many islands, some of which afterwards became famous for their pearl +fisheries, and in one little barren isle he got many beautiful pearls in +exchange for hawks' bells, and pieces of broken china, which the Indians +thought very precious. + +At last, wearied out in mind and body he arrived at Hispaniola, hoping to +rest for a while in peace, but he found the colony in a state of +rebellion; a wicked man named Roldan, who had been raised to high estate by +Columbus, persuaded the people to rise up against the Admiral of the Indies +and his brothers: the mines were no longer worked, the building of the city +was left unfinished, and there was scarcely any food. And now we come to +the saddest part in the whole story of Columbus. Some wretched convicts who +had been sent out of Spain to the island, and who were in league with +Roldan, contrived to make their escape and return to Europe, where the +false reports they spread reached the ears of Ferdinand and Isabella, and +induced them to believe at last that he was not really worthy of the trust +they had reposed in him. Francesco Bovadilla, a man who cared very little +what he did, was therefore sent to Hispaniola with orders to govern the +island in his stead, whilst Columbus himself was to be sent back to Spain. + +It had happened that at the very moment the Admiral was going to embark on +his third voyage he was deeply affronted by a follower of one of his worst +enemies in Spain; and although he had endured many wrongs and injuries in a +patient and forgiving spirit, he gave way this time to a violent fit of +passion, and struck the time-serving creature repeatedly in his wrath. The +news of this was of course conveyed to the King and Queen, and this one act +of passion on the part of Columbus made them more inclined to believe in +the reports of his ill conduct than all the complaints that had been spoken +against him: they thought that if he were capable of such an action, there +were more cruel and angry deeds to come; just as one little storm cloud +hastening across the clear blue sky makes us dread that others, heavier +and darker, are near. + +As soon as Bovadilla arrived he settled himself in the Admiral's house, +Columbus being absent at one of the forts, and laid hands on all the money, +plate, jewels, and valuable things he could find. Columbus disdained to +question the acts of an unruly man like Bovadilla, and journeying in haste +and alone to St. Domingo, he calmly resigned his command. He was then put +in fetters, although for a long time no one could be found who would fasten +them. At last this shameful office was performed by one of his cooks, a +Spaniard. His brother Diego was already in chains on board a caravel: +Bartholomew would have resisted, but was advised by the Admiral to submit +calmly, and the three brothers, who were so loving and could have comforted +one another in their misfortunes, were all kept apart. + +One day Columbus saw an officer named Villejo coming towards him in his +prison followed by his guards. + +"Where are you going to take me, oh, Villejo?" he asked. + +"To the vessel, your Excellency, to embark," he replied. + +"To embark!" exclaimed Columbus, radiant with joy. "Do you speak truth?" + +"By the life of your Excellency I speak truth;" said he; and they went +indeed on board the caravel which was to convey them to Spain. + +During the voyage Villejo and the captain of the vessel were very kind to +him, and were grieved to see him in chains; they would have removed them, +but Columbus would not let them do so, saying that they had been placed +upon him by order of the King, and his younger son Fernando tells us that +his father, stung at last by a sense of his wrongs, kept them ever after +hung up in his room as a sign of the manner in which he had been rewarded +for his services. Yet let us hope that when he looked at them he forgave +his enemies, since there are no injuries too deep to be forgiven, if we +ourselves would receive pardon of our heavenly Father for our many +misdeeds. + +When Columbus landed at Cadiz thus shackled, a murmur of shame and +indignation was breathed throughout Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella ordered +his fetters to be removed at once, and sent him a large sum of money to pay +the expenses of a visit to court. And when he appeared in their presence, +bowed down by illness and age, and worn out with the dangers and +misfortunes he had gone through, and he saw tears in the eyes of Isabella, +who had once been his kindest friend, he knelt down and burst into a flood +of tears himself. The Queen consoled him with gentle words, and tried to +atone by her kindness for the many affronts he had suffered. Ferdinand +always maintained that he had never given orders for Columbus to be +fettered, and that Bovadilla had acted rashly on his own authority. Be that +as it may, the King was a stern and narrow-minded man; he did not like to +see a foreigner filling the important office of Viceroy of the Indies, and +he took care never to reinstate Columbus in his former dignity, whilst he +sent out a man named Ovando to govern Hispaniola instead of Bovadilla. + +Columbus now formed the project of finding a strait somewhere about the +Isthmus of Darien, which should prove a shorter route to India than the +voyage by the Cape of Good Hope. Although he was getting feeble and aged he +had the same steadfast spirit which had enabled him to wait patiently all +the best years of his life, and had helped him bravely through all his +troubles, and he wanted yet to be of farther service to his fellow-men +before he died. The Portuguese under Vasco de Gama had already anchored +opposite Calcutta, and the trade with India was thus all their own, while +the discovery of the West Indian islands seemed to be less important. If +anything more were to be done by Columbus it must be begun at once, and the +King and Queen granted him four caravels with which to set out on his +fourth and last voyage. The crews of all amounted to four hundred and fifty +men. His brother Bartholomew was with him and his younger son Fernando; the +elder one, Diego, being left to manage his affairs in Spain. + +The little fleet was to have gone straight to Jamaica, but the principal +vessel sailed so badly that it hindered the others, and Columbus steered +instead for Hispaniola, hoping to exchange it for one of the fleet that had +carried out Ovando. He also asked to be allowed shelter in the harbour of +San Domingo, as he believed from certain signs in the atmosphere which he +knew only too well, that a very great storm was near; but Ovando would +neither let him have a vessel nor take shelter. Just at that time, the +fleet which had brought out Ovando was ready to sail, and was to convey to +Spain, the rebel and conspirator Roldan, Bovadilla, who had treated +Columbus so ill, and many persons who had led idle and wicked lives in the +island. They had with them a great quantity of gold, some of which had been +gained by the labour and miseries of the Indians. Amongst the gold that +Roldan was going to take to the King and Queen was one enormous solid lump, +which was said to have been found by an Indian woman in a brook. + +Although Columbus was denied shelter himself he sent a message to the port, +warning the men who were about to sail of the approaching storm, and +entreating them to remain in the harbour until it was over. Well had it +been for them if they had listened to his advice, but they only laughed at +it and boldly put out to sea. Before two days had passed a terrible +hurricane arose, the tempest burst over the ships, and all those men who +had been the greatest enemies of Columbus were swallowed up with their gold +by the foaming waves. The few vessels which were not entirely destroyed +returned to Hispaniola in a shattered condition; only one was able to reach +Spain, and that strangely enough had on board a large sum of money which +belonged by right to Columbus, and had been despatched to Spain by his +agent. + +Columbus kept close to the shore that night, but the tempest was terrible +for him too; the caravels were dispersed and every one on board expected +death, or thought that the others were lost. At last all the vessels, more +or less damaged, arrived safely at Port Hermoso on the west of the island, +and Columbus stayed there some days to repair them. During an interval of +calm he reached the Gardens of Cuba, but soon after this his troubles +began afresh. For forty days he coasted along Honduras, while the most +fearful storms prevailed, and the whole time he could enter no port. The +sea was tremendously high, heavy rains fell continually, and the thunder +and lightning were so terrific that the mariners thought that the end of +the world was coming; added to this the sails and rigging of the caravels +were torn, and the provisions were spoiled by the damp. Columbus grieved +that his son Fernando should be exposed to all these misfortunes. He says +of him in a letter, "God gave him so great courage that he sustained the +others, and if he put his hand to work, he did it as if he had been at sea +for eighty years. It was he who consoled me; I had fallen ill and many a +time was near the gate of the tomb. From a little cabin which I had caused +to be constructed on the stern I directed the voyage. My brother was on the +most wretched and dangerous of the vessels; great was my sorrow because I +had brought him against his will." Then he goes on to tell all his +troubles; and laments that although he had served Castille for so many +years, he had not really a roof in the land he could call his own. He +thought tenderly, too, of his son Diego, in Spain, and pictured the sorrow +he would feel if he heard that all the vessels had perished. In the forty +days the fleet only made seventy leagues; but at least they reached a cape +where the coast made an angle and turned southwards, and the admiral in his +joy and gratitude gave it the name of "Gracias a Dios."[17] + +Now he sailed along the Mosquito shore, the rivers of which abounded with +tortoises and alligators, and in one of these rivers they lost some of +their men who had gone in a boat to seek for provisions. This cast a great +gloom over the rest, which had not passed away when they came to a +beautiful island full of groves of cocoa nuts, bananas, and palms, and +rested awhile between it and the main land. The Indians on shore were very +proud, for when the admiral refused the gifts they brought to the ship, +they tied all the toys and bells the Spaniards had given them together, and +laid them on the sands. When Columbus quitted the spot, he took seven of +these Indians with him as interpreters, and coasted along Costa Rica for +several leagues, until he entered a great bay full of lovely islands. The +natives here wore large plates of gold hanging from chains of cotton cord +around their necks, and strange crowns made of the claws of beasts, and the +quills of birds. They told the strangers that about seventy leagues off +they would find Veragua, a country which abounded in gold. And it seemed, +indeed, as if they spoke the truth, for the nearer they came to that +country the more gold they saw. The natives wore crowns of it on their +heads, and rings of it round their wrists and ancles; their garments were +embroidered with it; their tables and seats were ornamented with it. But +Columbus had not come out this time in search of gold, but to find the +strait which should enable Spain to trade with India at ease, and he left +the land of promised riches and went on the way he thought would lead to +his discovery. Alas! it was soon found that the caravels were too leaky to +sail with safety; they had been pierced through by a worm which infests +the tropical seas, and can bore through the hardest wood;[18] and Columbus +was obliged to give up sailing, for the present, in search of the strait, +and returned to seek for the gold mines of Veragua.[19] It was now +December, and again the caravels were overtaken by one of the terrible +storms of the tropics. The poor mariners gave themselves up for lost; day +and night they confessed their sins one to another, and made vows of what +they would do if their lives were spared. The lightnings were so incessant +that the sky glowed like "one vast furnace;" and they saw, too, for the +first time a water-spout, which, advancing towards the caravels, threatened +them with destruction; but the Lord heard the prayers the terrified seamen +sent up at the strange sight, and the column of water passed by without +doing them any injury. + +In the midst of the storm there was an interval of calm, during which they +saw many sharks; these fishes are supposed to scent dead bodies at a +distance, and often draw near ships when danger is at hand. The sailors +caught some of them, and took out of one a live tortoise, which lived some +time on board one of the vessels; from another they took the head of a +shark, which shows that these monsters sometimes eat one another. In the +history which Fernando wrote of his father, he says that the sufferings of +all on board were very great for want of food; the provisions being spoiled +by the damp, and they had to eat their biscuit in the dark, because it was +so full of worms that it was too dreadful to behold by clear daylight. + +At last they entered a port which the Indians called Hueva, and went from +thence along a canal for three days. When they landed they found the +natives living in the trees like birds, their cabins being fastened to +poles which were suspended from one tree to another. Perhaps they did this +on account of the wild beasts, the forest being full of lions, bears, +racoons, tiger-cats, and sajinos, a species of wild boar which attack men. +After a while the caravels anchored in the mouth of a river which was +really in the country of the gold mines. The admiral sent his brother on +shore to explore the land; and as he soon satisfied himself that there was +gold to be found there in plenty, Columbus at once began to form a +settlement on the river, which he called Belen, or Bethlehem, after the +star the wise men had seen in the east, because the caravels had arrived +there on the Feast of the Epiphany. It was agreed that Bartholomew should +remain here while the admiral returned to Spain to procure fresh vessels +and supplies. So they built houses of wood, thatched with the leaves of +palm trees, on a little hill not far from the mouth of the river, and eked +out their scanty store of provisions with the pine-apples, bananas, and +cocoanuts, which grew around them in plenty; and drank the wine the Indians +made from the pine-apple, and a sort of beer prepared from maize, or Indian +corn. When the rains ceased, however, Columbus found that the river was so +shallow, his crazy and worm-eaten ships could not get out and cross the +bar, so that he was obliged to wait patiently until the rains should swell +the river again and set him free. + +Now it happened that Quibain, the chief of the district, was very angry +when he saw the Spaniards had taken up their abode in his country, and +ordered all his fighting men to be ready to drive them away. A brave man +named Diego Mendez offered to reconnoitre the Indian camp, and soon +returned to tell Columbus that he had seen a thousand Indians who seemed to +be arrayed for battle. After this, with only one companion, he contrived to +get to the chief's village, pretending that he was a surgeon, and could +cure a wound Quibain had received in some skirmish. As he approached the +house a horrible sight awaited him; for on a level plain in front of it the +heads of three hundred men were fixed on poles. This was enough to give a +terrible idea of the fury of Quibain, if it were once roused. Mendez was +not allowed, however, to enter the cacique's dwelling; and went back to the +settlement to tell Columbus what he had seen, and the news he had heard +that the Indians were coming to burn their houses and ships. + +Now, as we have said before, Bartholomew Columbus was a very brave man, and +he set out from Belen with Diego Mendez, and about seventy armed men in +boats, and soon landed at the foot of the hill on which the chief dwelt. +Then he ascended the hill with only Diego and four men besides, ordering +the others to rush forward at the firing of a gun. Bartholomew went alone +to the spot where Quibain was sitting in the open air, and pretending to +look at his arm, held it tight until his comrade fired the gun which should +summon the rest. He had much ado to hold the chief in his grasp, but he +kept firm until he was bound hand and foot. The house was soon surrounded, +and all the family of Quibain were taken prisoners without the shedding of +a drop of blood; and Bartholomew returned to the settlement laden with +spoils, amongst which were many massive gold ornaments, and two coronets of +gold. + +Quibain was committed to the care of the pilot of the fleet, and was tied +by a strong cord to a bench in the pilot's boat. In the darkness of night +the chief complained of the tightness of the cord, and the pilot, touched +with pity, loosened it, holding the end of it in his hand. When he was +looking another way for a moment, the wily Indian plunged into the water +and disappeared; the pilot of course was obliged to let go his hold or he +would have been pulled in after him. + +Columbus now thought that since the greatest enemy of the Spaniards had +thus perished, and the river was again filled by the heavy rains, he might +safely return to Spain, and he sailed out of the harbour. But Quibain had +not been drowned; he swam cleverly to the shore, and when he found his +house deserted, he assembled all his warriors, intending to take his +revenge. Some of the Spaniards who were to remain were straying carelessly +about, when these wild men rushed out of their hiding places in the deep +woods, and killed and wounded several of them. Bartholomew and Mendez soon +drove them back with their fire arms; but Diego Tristan, the captain of one +of the vessels, who had gone on shore with eleven men to get wood and +water, was cruelly killed by the Indians, and only one Spaniard of the +whole party survived to tell the tale. So the remainder shut themselves up +in a fortress they made of a boat and some chests and casks, and defended +themselves as well as they could by their fire arms. + +Columbus, meanwhile, was pursuing his voyage, and meant to touch at +Hispaniola on his way to Spain. Some of the Indian captives who were on +board his ship, escaped; the others killed themselves in their despair. +Diego Tristan not having returned to the admiral's vessel with his boat, a +brave pilot swam to the shore and gained tidings of all that had happened. +Columbus now resolved to break up his settlement, and take all his people +back to Spain, but even this he could not do for a very long time. First of +all a storm arose, as terrific as the previous ones had been: he was in the +deepest anxiety, when one night he had fallen asleep, he heard, in a dream, +a voice that consoled him for all that he had suffered, and reminded him of +the never-failing mercy of God, so that when he awoke he had fresh hope and +courage in his heart. + +And before long there was a calm, which enabled him to reach the fortress +where his brother and his brave comrades were in such great distress. The +caravel that was with them was too much damaged to be of farther use, and +they were obliged to leave it behind. Thankful indeed were the Spaniards to +leave the country of Veragua, where they had gone through so many troubles +and left many of their countrymen lying dead. They embarked in the three +vessels that were left, but one of these was soon found to be in a very +dangerous condition, and the whole company crowded on two wretched +caravels. They could not reach Hispaniola on account of the storms, and +were glad to put into the harbour of St. Gloria, at Jamaica, where they +gave up the struggle. The two vessels were now run aground and tied +together, and cabins were constructed at the prow and stern, which were the +only parts of the caravels above water. They were thatched with straw, to +keep out the rain, and here for one long year Columbus remained with his +crew, forsaken and in much misery. The Indians indeed brought them cassava +bread, and fish and flesh, for which they gave them the usual toys and +beads; but how were they to make known their distress to Ovando, that he +might send vessels to their relief? At last the brave and faithful Mendez, +the only one who would undertake such a perilous journey, ventured in a +canoe with six Indians and one Spaniard to reach the island of Hispaniola. +The first time he tried he was surrounded by the savages and carried off by +them, but he contrived to make his escape and returned alone to the +harbour: it is not known what became of his companions. The second time he +tried he succeeded in reaching the island. During his absence a number of +the crew rebelled; Columbus, rising from his sick bed, endeavoured vainly +to pacify them, but they forsook him and went on shore, where they behaved +very ill to the Indians. + +Eight months passed before Columbus received any tidings of Mendez, and he +began to fear that he had been killed by the savages or had perished in his +frail canoe. At last a messenger came from Hispaniola, and said that Ovando +would send a vessel for the forlorn band as soon as he had one large enough +to hold them all. When Columbus knew that they would be rescued, in the +greatness of his soul he offered a free pardon to the men who had +rebelled, and offered to take them safely to Spain if they would return to +the path of duty; all that he required was that their ringleader should be +kept a prisoner. But this bad man would not let them accept the pardon, and +persuaded some of the Indians to join them and take up their weapons +against Columbus. Bartholomew, of the martial spirit, had to go on shore +and quell the disturbance by force; after this their spirit was broken, and +they confessed their misdeeds and asked Columbus to forgive them. Ovando +sent two vessels, and Columbus then took them all on board and gave them +money to buy food and clothing, of which they were in sore need: he +succoured alike those who had been faithful throughout and those who had +rebelled, remembering how the merciful Lord maketh the sun to shine on all. + +On his way to Spain he touched at St. Domingo, and embarked afresh. +Scarcely had he left the shore when the mast of his ship was carried away +by a squall. Storms went with him all the way home, and he was wearied out +with pain and anxiety when he anchored in the harbour of St. Lucar, never +more to sail on the sea he loved so well. + +He only lived eighteen months after his arrival. The remainder of his life +may be told in a few sad words. Queen Isabella, his friend and patron, died +only a few days after his return to Spain. The King refused to listen to +his claim for the just reward of his services and those of his brave +companions, and it reflects no honor on the Spanish monarch that he allowed +him to pass the last days of his useful life in poverty and neglect. + +On Ascension day, the 6th of May of the year 1506, Columbus died at +Valladolid. Friends were around him as he sank to rest, saying, with his +last breath, "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit." And it may be that +the hardships he had endured, and the insults and reproaches of his +fellow-men, made him long more earnestly for that better land, fairer than +the loveliest island that had risen up from the ocean before his astonished +gaze, the land of the redeemed, where "the Lamb which is in the midst of +the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them into living waters; and God +shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." + +As if to make amends for the neglect he had experienced whilst on earth his +remains were interred with great pomp in the convent of St. Francis at +Seville. They were removed three times after that, and now rest in the +cathedral of the Havannah at Cuba. He made by his will his son Diego his +heir, and ordered that one of his family should always reside at Genoa, +which shows that he preserved an affectionate remembrance of his native +city until the last days of his life. + +His son Fernando tells us that he had a long face, a bright complexion, an +aquiline nose, and lively eyes of clear grey, which seemed to enforce +obedience. His hair was fair in his youth, but began to turn white when he +was only thirty years of age, which made him look much older than he really +was. He was very frugal, and dressed with great simplicity. Although +naturally hasty in temper he treated all persons around him with extreme +gentleness and kindness, and was always ready to succour those who were in +trouble or need. He was sincerely religious, and never omitted to praise +and to pray to God during his voyages either morning or night. In calm +weather and in stormy the voices of the mariners chanting their matins and +vespers rose from the lonely sea. Sunday to him was always a day of rest, +and he would never set sail on that day if he could avoid doing so. + +This chapter ought not to end without the relation of the well-known story +of Columbus and the egg. One day, after his triumphal return from his first +voyage, he was dining at the table of the Grand Cardinal of Spain, and one +of the grandees present asked him if he did not think others could have +found out the way to the new shore as well as himself. Upon this Columbus +took an egg, and asked each person present to make it stand on the table. +Not one being able to do so, Columbus took the egg, and, breaking one end +of it, made it stand upright. Then he said that if one showed the way it +was easy enough for others to follow in his steps, just as the company +assembled could each make the egg stand on the table now that he had shown +them how to do it. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] A caravel was a small light bark, more fitted to sail on a river than +to cross the stormy seas. + +[13] Salvador, Spanish for Saviour. + +[14] A copper coin of Spain, thirty-four of which are worth one real. + +[15] _Navidad_, Spanish for Nativity. + +[16] Trinidad, Spanish for Trinity. + +[17] Gracias a Dios, Spanish for "Thanks be to God." + +[18] See Washington Irving. + +[19] Now called Panama. + + + + +THE CHEVALIER DU BAYARD. + + +Pierre de Terrail Bayard was born in the year 1475, at the castle of +Bayard, in Dauphine. His ancestors had long been feudal lords of the part +of the province whence they took their name, and were always renowned for +their valour and loyalty. The great-great-grandfather of Pierre died in the +Battle of Poictiers at the feet of his king, John of France: his +great-grandfather fell at Cressy; his grandfather at Montheri; and his +father received so many wounds in an action with the Germans that he could +never after leave his Castle of Bayard. And when he was getting feeble, and +felt that his days were numbered, he called his four sons around him, and +asked each one of them what state of life he would choose for himself. + +The eldest replied that he would like always to live at the old Castle of +Bayard, amongst his own people; so his father said to him, "Very well, +George, since you are so fond of home, you shall stay here and fight the +bears." Pierre, the second son, then thirteen years old, said that he +desired to follow the profession of arms, as his father had done; and that +he trusted through the grace of God to acquit himself with honour therein. +The third son said he would like to have an abbey, like his uncle, the +Monseigneur of Esnay, and the youngest wished to be a bishop, like his +uncle of Grenoble. + +The Sire du Bayard rejoiced very much at the choice little Pierre had made, +but as he could not decide at once where he should be trained for the +service of his country, he sent in haste for his brother-in-law, the Bishop +of Grenoble, that he might tell him the glad news and ask his advice in the +matter. + +The bishop came, and made good cheer at the Castle, several gentlemen of +Dauphine having been invited thither to render him honour. He was as much +delighted as the Sire du Bayard at the thought that Pierre would maintain +the glory of his ancestors, and the day after his arrival advised that he +should enter the service of Charles, Duke of Savoy. The Duke was then at +Chambery, a place not far from the Castle, and the Bishop of Grenoble +proposed taking his nephew to him the next morning. + +Thus it was settled that little Pierre should leave his home for ever, and +part with his brothers, his merry playmates in the woods and fields around +Bayard, and his gentle mother, who loved him perhaps above all her other +sons; but his father felt that he was getting weaker every hour, and since +he was not rich, he was very anxious to provide for the welfare of his +children as far as he could before he died. + +First of all, however, it was agreed that Pierre must be equipped as a +page, and the Bishop sent for his own tailor, bidding him bring with him +satin and velvet, and all that was necessary for a page's dress in those +days. The tailor had to work hard all night, and the next morning, Pierre +in his new habit went down into the courtyard and mounted a war-horse, +which stood there ready saddled, while his father and all his guests looked +on from the lower windows of the Castle. The horse feeling so light a +burden upon him grew restive, and it seemed each moment as if Pierre must +have been thrown, but to the delight and astonishment of all who beheld +him, the boy, who had left school only a fortnight before, managed his +horse, as an old French writer tells us, with as much skill as if he had +been thirty years of age. + +The Sire du Bayard now bid him not to dismount, and gave him his blessing, +after which all the rest of the people took leave of him. Pierre's eyes +filled with tears when his father looked so proudly and lovingly at him. +"Monseigneur, my father," he said, "I pray to our Lord to give you a long +and happy life, and to me grace, so that before you quit this world, you +may hear good news of me." + +In the meantime his mother was weeping alone in a turret chamber of the +Castle; for although she was glad that he had chosen to follow a soldier's +life for the honour of his name, she grieved bitterly at the thought of +parting with him, and feared that she should never see him again. She came +down into the courtyard by a back staircase, and there took leave of him +with many tears, and gave him words of advice which he remembered so well +all his life long that he gained both from his friends and from his foes +the title of "The good knight, without fear and without reproach." + +These were some of the words she said: That he was to love and serve God, +without giving Him offence, as far as in him lay; and that he could do no +good work in this world without His help and blessing. That he was to be +gentle and courteous to all, casting away pride; humble, ready to serve his +fellow creatures, and sober in eating and drinking. That he was never to +tell a lie, or flatter, or be a tale-bearer, or be idle; that he was to be +loyal in deed and speech, to keep his word; to succour the widows and +orphans, for which the Lord would repay him, and that he was to share with +the needy such gifts as God might bestow upon him, since giving in honour +of Him made no man poor. + +When the noble lady had spoken thus, she gave her son a little purse, which +contained a few pieces of gold, and then having implored a trusty servant +of the Bishop's to be careful of him, because he was so very young to leave +home, she bade him a last farewell. + +The day after Pierre's arrival at Chambery was Sunday. After mass, a great +banquet was served in honour of the Bishop of Grenoble, who was a very holy +man, and much beloved by the Duke of Savoy. During the repast Pierre stood +beside his uncle and poured out his wine for him, and when it was ended he +did not linger over the remains of the feast with the pages and youths +belonging to Duke Charles's household, but hastened back to his lodgings +and saddled his horse, and having mounted it, went down to the courtyard of +the palace. + +The Duke had remarked his graceful bearing during dinner, and now seated in +a gallery was watching him in the court below. Then the Bishop told him how +the Sire du Bayard, being too much enfeebled by his wounds to lift his +sword again, had sent his little son Pierre to him as a gift, and hoped +that he would allow him to enter his service. The Duke of Savoy said that +the present was both good and fair, and agreed to take young Bayard into +his service without delay. So the Bishop returned home, and Pierre was left +alone amongst strangers. He must have sorrowed at first for the old life at +Castle Bayard, and the watchful love of his mother, but whatever he felt, +he began to fulfil his duties with an earnest heart, and was kind and +gentle to all around him, and never forgot to pray morning and night that +the Almighty would give him grace to remain loyal and brave. Pierre lived +with the Duke at Chambery for six months, and during that time he made +himself beloved by every inmate of the house: he was a great favourite with +the Duchess of Savoy, and had one little playmate, amongst the young +maidens who were in attendance upon her, to whom he was much attached. + +When the six months had expired the whole party set off on their mules, +according to the custom of travelling at that time, to visit King Charles +the Eighth in the city of Lyons. The king, struck with the reports he had +heard of Bayard's conduct, and the knightly grace he displayed in his +presence, made him his own page, and had him lodged in the house of the +Seigneur de Ligny, a prince of the house of Luxembourg, to be trained with +about thirty other noble youths in the use of arms. + +There was a squire belonging to the household of the Duke of Savoy who +loved little Pierre very much, and they had scarcely arrived at Lyons +before he told him that he knew he should never be able to keep him after +the king had once seen him exercise in the meadow of Esnay. King Charles +witnessed the wonderful evolutions he performed on his war-horse with the +greatest delight; he was never weary of seeing him spur on the animal to +fresh gambols; "Pique,[20] pique, encore une fois!" he cried, and all the +little pages echoing the words of the king, cried in their shrill voices, +"Piquez, piquez!" so that Pierre was called long after by the familiar name +of "Piquet" in memory of the day. + +Before the Duke of Savoy left Lyons he gave a supper to the Seigneur de +Ligny and some of the chief nobles in the city. The repast was enlivened by +the music of the royal minstrels and singers: it was served early, and when +it was ended the company played at various games all the remainder of the +evening, and drank spiced wines before they separated. This was the usual +manner of entertainment at that time, and if ladies were included in the +invitations, there would be dancing until midnight, which was considered a +very late hour. + +The years passed on, and Pierre was very happy with his companions in the +house of the Seigneur de Ligny. There was then living in Burgundy a brave +knight named Claude de Vauldre, whom the king summoned to Lyons, in order +that the young nobles of the city might contend with him, and thus give +proof of the progress they had made in their martial studies. + +As soon as Claude arrived he hung up his shield, and it was a custom that +if any person touched a shield thus suspended, he gave a sign that he was +ready to engage in combat with its owner. + +One day, as Pierre was passing by, he sighed deeply, and said to himself, +"Ah, if I only knew how to equip myself for the combat, how gladly would I +touch yonder shield, and so gain some real knowledge of the use of arms!" +One of his comrades, Bellabre, seeing him so full of care, asked him what +he was thinking about; and when he told him of his desire, and his distress +at having no money to buy horses and weapons, Bellabre advised him to ask +help from his uncle, the rich Abbe of Esnay. + +Bayard, with hope revived by this counsel, touched the shield, and after a +sleepless night set off for Esnay very early in the morning, in a little +boat, with Bellabre. They found the abbe saying his matins. He grumbled +terribly at first at his nephew's request, saying that the money given by +the founders of the abbey was to serve God with, and not to be spent in +jousts and tilting. Bayard, however, prevailed upon him to provide him with +a hundred crowns and two horses; and the abbe, in a more softened mood, +ordered a merchant of Lyons to furnish him with all other things that he +required. + +The greatest wonder was expressed in Lyons that a youth not yet eighteen +years of age should venture to contend with an experienced knight like +Claude Vauldre; but when the day of trial came, Bayard repelled the thrusts +of his opponent in the most daring and fearless manner; and the ladies who +sat in the balconies, watching the combatants in the arena below, exclaimed +with one voice that he had done better than all the rest. + +One morning, soon after the tournament, the Seigneur de Ligny called +Pierre to him, and told him that as the war the French had long been +carrying on in Italy was to be continued, he should now enter his company, +which was stationed at the little town of Ayre, in Picardy. The Seigneur +told him also that he would give him three hundred francs a year for his +service, and three horses, richly caparisoned. Bayard then went to take +leave of the king, who bestowed on him, at parting, the finest horse in his +stable; and last of all, he bade farewell with many tears to the good +seigneur himself, whose house had been for him a second happy home. It is +worthy of remark, throughout the life of the good knight, that in whatever +circumstances he was placed, he always spoke of his happiness. And what +_was_ the secret of that happiness, which neither the agony he endured when +he lay disabled by wounds could take from him, nor the hardships and toil +he had to go through during his numerous campaigns? Surely it was his +loving kindness to all around him, which sprang from his own love to +Almighty God and his Son Jesus Christ. To do good is truly to be happy, and +love begets love. Bayard was dreaded by the enemies of his country because +he was so steadfast and brave; but we never find that he had one personal +enemy, or that he harboured a quarrelsome thought. + +As he drew near the little town of Ayre, his future comrades rushed out on +the road to meet him, they were so glad to have him amongst them, and the +ladies flocked to the windows to welcome him as he passed along the +streets. Bayard had sent his servant on before to prepare a great supper at +his lodgings, and there he entertained his new companions the night of his +arrival. And very soon after he had a tournament cried in Ayre, which +lasted two days and attracted a vast concourse of people to the spot. + +It was the beautiful summer time, and the little town looked very gay with +the banners streaming from its windows, and the bright armour of the +knights and the jewels and silken robes of the ladies flashing in the +sunlight. The trumpets were sounded, and Bayard was the first to enter the +lists against one of his neighbours of Dauphine, who was a very rough man +of arms. The good knight, before he vanquished him, broke his lance in five +or six pieces. The trumpets sounded again in full clang, and in the next +trial Bayard very nearly had his arm broken, but he won from his opponent a +little casque adorned with plumes. Then came Bellabre and a formidable +Scottish captain, named David Fergus, who was greatly renowned for his +strength and skill. + +When the first day's contest was over, there was joyous feasting and +dancing in Ayre until midnight, and the next morning all the knights went +to mass, after which they dined together in good fellowship, and at two +o'clock in the afternoon they repaired to the arena to complete the trial. +And at evening, when they had all done their part in the sport, and the air +was filled with shouting and merry talking, the trumpets were sounded to +command silence, and to Bayard was awarded the honour of decreeing the +prizes. The young knight protested that he was not worthy of so great an +honour, and was about to withdraw, but the people present insisted that he +should adjudge them, and no other, because he had fought the best of all. +So he gave the first prize, which was a bracelet of pure gold, to his +friend Bellabre; and the second one, a fine diamond, to the gallant +Scottish captain. It was usual for the knights to present the prizes they +had thus won to the young maidens whom they had chosen for their brides. +During the time Pierre remained in Ayre he made himself very much beloved +by his liberality, and his readiness to help those who were in distress. +Many of his companions were poor, although they were of noble family, and +if any one of them wanted setting up in arms, or was in need of money, +Bayard was sure to let him share the last crown piece he had in his purse. +Besides this, he never forgot the poor, and every morning he used to attend +the service of the church, which made him happy for the day, and strong to +overcome evil. + +When King Charles the Eighth undertook his expedition to Naples, the good +knight accompanied him with the Seigneur de Ligny, and in the battle of +Fornova, which the French gained over the Italians on their way back to +France, he displayed great valour, and had two horses killed under him at +the first charge. Whilst the French companies remained in Italy they were +allowed to amuse themselves in tilting and jousts, provided no particular +warfare was going on at the time; and Bayard had leisure to visit the +Duchess of Savoy, at Carignan, and held a great tournament there in honour +of the favourite playmate of his childhood, who was now married to Monsieur +de Fluxas, an officer belonging to the household of Charles of Savoy. And +here he saw many who recalled the happy days at Chambery: it was a joyous +meeting on both sides, and Bayard remembered all those who had been kind to +him when he first left the old castle of Bayard, and to the master +palfrenier,[21] who was very fond of him, he gave a horse worth fifty +pieces of silver; and to the squire, who had been so loth to part with him +in Lyons, and had now retired from the service of the Duke of Savoy, he +sent a mule, because the old man was ill with the gout, and could not walk. + +After the death of Charles VIII., the Italian war was continued by his +successor, Louis XII., and Bayard was constantly engaged in supporting the +honour of the French arms. In the year 1503 Louis declared war against +Ferdinand, of Arragon, because he had behaved very badly to him by +pretending to be his ally, whilst in reality he was planning to take from +the French all the places they had conquered in Italy. Three great armies +were prepared to invade the dominions of Ferdinand on every side. The good +knight served in the first: it was composed of 18,000 infantry, and 2,000 +men-at-arms, and was destined for the recovery of the kingdom of Naples, +which had been wrenched out of the hands of the French by Gonsalvo, the +Great Captain. + +By the time the army arrived in the south of Italy, the season was far +advanced, and the French and the Spaniards remained for a long time on the +opposite shores of the river Garigliano, near Naples. Pedro de Paz, the +leader of the Spanish troops, was a man of the most daring courage, +although in person he was so small, that it is said when he was on +horseback his head was all that could be seen of him above the saddle. One +day he formed a plan which, had it been carried out, would have caused very +great loss to the French. This was to cross the Garigliano with a hundred +men-at-arms, at a place where he knew there was a ford, in the hope that +the French would hasten thither to resist him, and leave his other troops +to gain possession of a bridge of boats which had been thrown across the +river. His plan was successful in the beginning; there was a sudden alarm +in the French camp. The good knight who always liked to be where the danger +was greatest, had a lodging close by the bridge; he happened to be there at +the time with only one of his squires. Having heard the noise, they were +just going to arm themselves, and hasten to join in the affray, when Bayard +perceived 200 of the enemy's horse advancing towards the bridge. He told +his companion to fly to the rest of the army and give the alarm, whilst he +amused the Spaniards until succour could arrive. The good knight then went +alone to the bridge with his lance in his hand, and found the Spaniards +just ready to cross at the other end. But he did not let them advance, and +kept the bridge single handed until his squire came back with 100 +men-at-arms; the enemy thought at last his efforts could not be human! The +men-at-arms, with Bayard at their head, soon forced all the Spaniards to +quit their post, and chased them a good mile beyond it; they would have +pursued them farther, but they saw several hundred men coming to the +rescue, and they turned their horses in the direction of the camp. Bayard +was always the last to retreat; on this occasion he was far behind the +others, his horse being so tired that it could only go very slowly on its +way; and soon a body of Spaniards bore down suddenly upon him, his horse +was thrown into a ditch, and he was surrounded by twenty or thirty Spanish +knights, who kept crying "Surrender, Senor, surrender!" The good knight +defended himself to the utmost, but he thought he should not be able to +hold out long against so many, and fortunately his comrades, who had missed +him just as they had reached the bridge, were seen hastening to the spot +where he was so hardly pressed. + +Directly the Spaniards heard the quick tread of their horses they carried +him off, and kept asking his name; but he only replied that he was a +gentleman; because if they had known whom it was they had captured he might +never have come out of their hands alive. A cry, however, rose on the air, +"Turn, Spaniards, you shall not carry away thus the flower of chivalry!" +The French came up, and a fierce struggle ensued. Bayard mounted another +horse, and soon extricated himself from his enemies, exclaiming the while, +"France! Bayard, whom you let go!" The Spaniards were greatly vexed and +discouraged when they found out how important a prize they had lost, and +began at once to retreat, while the French rode home in the winter dusk +joyful and triumphant to their camp. + +The good knight held out bravely against the foes of his country, but the +enterprise did not succeed, and a treaty was made which obliged the French +to withdraw all their forces from the kingdom of Naples, and return by sea +or land to their own country. Bayard and another valiant knight named Louis +d' Ars, were very indignant that such a treaty should have been made; they +refused to sign it, and said they would rather stay in Italy and perish by +the sword than allow the Italians to believe that all Frenchmen were +cowards; and they undertook to defend several small towns which remained to +the French in Naples, with a few followers who would not forsake them, and +sold all their jewels and silver plate that they might be able to buy +provisions and ammunition. Thus, to the astonishment of Europe, these two +knights maintained the honour of their countrymen in Italy, and did not +give up the towns they had engaged to defend until the following year, when +the king recalled them to France, and rewarded them in proportion to their +services. + +The good knight was dangerously wounded some years later at the taking of +Brescia. This city had opened its gates to the victorious French three +years before, but had been delivered into the hands of the Venetians +through the treachery of an Italian count, who resided within its walls. As +soon as the king's nephew, Gaston, Duke de Nemours[22] heard of this, he +marched forty leagues in the depth of winter, in the hope of recovering the +town, having already sent Bayard on in advance. The day after his arrival, +they took possession of the citadel, which still held out for the French, +and the next day they agreed to take the town by assault. The road leading +down from the citadel to the rampart was very slippery on account of the +heavy rains, and the duke was obliged to take off his shoes to prevent +himself from falling; still he went bravely on, followed by the good +knight and his men-at-arms. When the Venetians saw Bayard at the first +rampart, they tried all they could to kill him; because, they said, if he +were once overcome the others would never dare approach. Bayard steadily +gained his way, however, and cheered his men on to victory until he passed +the rampart, and a thousand of the French were enabled to make their +entrance into the town. But in doing this he received a pike-wound in his +thigh; the pike going in so hard that the end of it broke, and the iron was +left in the flesh. Bayard told the captain beside him that he might lead +off his men now that the town was won, but that he should never pass from +the place again, and reckoned himself a dead man. + +The knowledge that the Chevalier was severely wounded only served to make +the French captains press on the assault with greater fury, and they fought +their way into the public place, or square, where they killed many of the +Venetians, and obliged the others to lay down their arms. The good knight +was left with two of his archers, who tried to staunch the blood that +flowed from his wounds. When they saw that all the strongholds in the town +were gained, they sought around until they found a wooden plank, or door, +and on this they carried him into the best looking house they could see. +This house belonged to an Italian gentleman, who not very courageously had +fled for safety to a monastery, and had left his wife and daughters in the +town. The archers knocked at the door, and were allowed to carry in their +burden, and they afterwards stationed themselves outside to prevent the +enemy from entering. The Italian lady received Bayard very kindly; she was +grieved to see him suffering so much, and went herself with one of the +archers to fetch a good surgeon to dress his wound. + +It was nearly five weeks before he could rise from his bed, and during that +time he had sent his _maitre d'hotel_ to seek for the lady's husband, so +that the whole family might live happily together under his protection, +their house being the only one in Brescia that was neither sacked nor +pillaged. And he said afterwards that although he had endured the greatest +pain from his wound, he had never once been unhappy, because he had been +with friends; it only vexed him to think that the French were getting +nearer the Spaniards every day, and that a battle would soon take place, in +which he would not be able to assist; and he used to tell the Duke de +Nemours, who came daily to see him whilst he remained in the town, because +he loved him so much, that he would rather be borne to the battle-field in +a litter than not be present at all. For it was the great object of the +king of France to drive the Spaniards out of Lombardy, since he knew that +as long as they were roving about in Italy, his duchy of Milan would never +be secure. + +One day Bayard found, to his joyful surprise, that he could walk once more, +and his surgeon gave him leave to start at the expiration of two days for +the French camp. According to the custom of the victorious French, the +whole family were in reality the prisoners of Bayard, and the Italian lady +was in great trouble of mind, thinking that he would demand at least ten +or twelve thousand crowns for their ransom, which was more than they were +able to pay. So on the morning of the day when the good knight was to +depart after dinner, she came to him, and knelt down before him. Bayard +would not suffer her to kneel, so rising, she presented him with a purse +which contained 1,500 ducats. When she had opened it, he laughed: "How many +are there, madam?" he asked. The lady thought that he was laughing because +there were so few, and began to make excuses; but when the Chevalier found +out that she wanted to pay her ransom, he declared that he would take +nothing from her at all; that the welcome she had given him was worth more +than a hundred thousand crowns, and that he should feel himself bound in +gratitude to serve her until the end of his days. It was so unusual for the +French to release their prisoners without a ransom that the Italian lady +was deeply moved; she went down on her knees, and kissing the hand of the +good knight, she said, "Flower of chivalry, may the Lord reward you for +what you have done!" She pressed him so hard however to accept the purse +that Bayard consented to take it out of esteem and respect for her, and her +two daughters then came to bid him farewell. The damsels were very +beautiful; they were skilled in embroidery, and could sing and play the +lute and spinet, and many a time the Chevalier, as he lay writhing in pain, +had been cheered by their music. When they came in, they too would have +knelt to thank him for his kindness and protection, but he made them rise, +and dividing the ducats into three parts, he gave each of them a thousand +for a marriage portion, and the five hundred that remained he gave to +their mother for the relief of the religious houses in Brescia, which had +been plundered by the French. The maidens now produced the parting gifts +they had prepared; the Chevalier received them very graciously, and said +that he should wear them as long as he lived; one was a bracelet made of +gold and silver thread, and the other a purse of crimson worked in gold. +Then they all touched hands after the fashion of Italy, and the good knight +bade them farewell kneeling, and they all wept bitterly when he rode away +from the door, they were so grieved to think they should never see him +again. + +When Bayard reached the camp of the Duke de Nemours, he found that his +countrymen had arrived only that day before Ravenna, and that the enemy +were six miles off, but the next day they came nearer by two miles. The +night but one before the famous battle of Ravenna, several captains were at +supper with the Duke de Nemours, talking the while of the contest which was +so soon to take place. Bayard was amongst the guests, and the Duke told him +that as the Spaniards had a great respect for his talents, and were very +anxious to know if he were in the camp, he thought it would be advisable +for him to attempt some skirmish with them the next day, just to see how +well they could fight. The good knight was delighted with the idea; +"Monseigneur," he replied, "I promise you on my word of honour that, God +helping, I shall see them so close before noon, that I shall be able to +bring you news." + +Now the Baron of Bearne, the Duke's lieutenant, coveted the glory of being +the first to attack the enemy, and although the Chevalier was known to +rise very early in the morning, he thought that he would rise earlier +still, and thus steal a march upon him. So as soon as soon as the supper +was ended, he went to tell all his followers to be ready armed before break +of day, charging them also to keep the matter a profound secret. + +When the good knight returned to his tent, he also arranged with some of +the chief captains how the attack should be made, and then, they all went +to rest until the trumpet should sound to awaken them at dawn. + +It was very early the next morning when they set out, carrying with them +the banners of the Duke of Lorraine unfurled, in the hope that they would +bring them good luck. They did not, of course, know that the Baron of +Bearne had already gone the same path; but the sound of weapons clashing, +and of horses' hoofs, soon fell upon their ears; the baron had indeed +crossed the canal which lay between the two armies, and had advanced to the +enemy's camp; but he had been discomfited, and was forced to retire. + +When Bayard saw that Neapolitans and Spaniards were boldly crossing the +canal in pursuit of the fugitives, he called to his comrades to fly to the +aid of their countrymen, and rushed before any into the midst of a troop of +one hundred and twenty men. His comrades loved him too well not to follow +him, and he chased the enemy back right into the camp, and overthrew there +numbers of their tents, although the Spaniards were all astir and ready for +battle. When he thought he had aroused them sufficiently, he sounded the +trumpet for a retreat, and arrived in the camp of the Duke de Nemours with +the news he had promised to bring him, but without having lost a single +man. + +The Duke now assembled all the captains and knights, and told them, that +his uncle the king desired that a battle should take place at once, because +he had heard that the Venetians and Swiss were about to descend into the +Duchy of Milan; and it was agreed that the French army should pass the +bridge of boats across the canal, and attack the enemy on the morrow. + +The next morning the Duke came out of his tent at sunrise. "Look, +gentlemen!" he said to his companions, "how red the sun is!" And one of +them, who was much beloved by him, replied, "Do you know, Monseigneur, what +that signifies? That a great captain will fall to-day: it will be either +you or Cardonna, the viceroy." The duke only laughed at his remark, and +went to watch the army passing the bridge with Bayard and some other +knights, while the Spaniards, in great alarm, hastened to put the whole of +their troops in battle array. + +Just as the duke was telling the good knight, that they might fall an easy +prey to their enemies, if any harquebussiers were concealed thereabouts, a +body of from twenty to thirty Spaniards appeared, amongst whom was Pedro de +Pas. Bayard was the first to speak. "Gentlemen," said he, "you will linger +about here like ourselves until the play begins. I entreat that not a +harquebuss be fired on your part, and we will not fire upon you." Pedro de +Pas then asked the name of the knight who had spoken, and was overjoyed to +find that he was really in the company of the Chevalier du Bayard, who had +gained so much renown in Naples. + +The Duke de Nemours was a merciful man, and he offered to settle the +quarrel by single combat with the viceroy, to spare the effusion of blood. +His followers, however, thought that the risk was too great; and the army +having crossed the canal by eight o'clock in the morning, the battle began. +It lasted many hours, and was very terrible on both sides; and although the +Spaniards were defeated, the French bought their victory very dearly, with +the life of their brave and good young prince, Gaston of Nemours. For the +prediction of his friend had indeed been fulfilled, and he lay among the +slain! The good knight fought all through that long battle like a hero; he +had gone in pursuit of the enemy, and came back to the field late in the +afternoon, to find that the duke was dead. + +A short time after this, the Venetians, the Swiss, and the army sent by the +Pope pressed forward, and the French were soon obliged to retire out of +Lombardy, only leaving garrisons in some of the strong castles. At Pavia, +Bayard made himself very famous by defending a bridge of boats, during two +hours against the Swiss; he had two horses killed under him, and received a +severe wound in the shoulder before he would give way. His companions +thought that his wound was mortal, though he declared it was nothing, and +they staunched it with moss, which they tore off the stems of trees, and +with linen which they tore from their shirts. The good knight did not +recover for a very long time after the French army had recrossed the +mountains, and he went to his uncle the Bishop of Grenoble, in whose +palace he was lodged and watched over, "like the precious stone set in pure +gold." And he was so ill that he thought to his sorrow that he should die +in his bed, instead of closing his eyes for ever on the battle-field; but +all the people of Grenoble prayed for him--his good uncle, nobles, +merchants, monks, and nuns; there was not a voice that did not rise up in +prayer to the Almighty for his recovery. And after a long while his +strength and spirit returned to him, and he remained some months at +Grenoble, greatly honoured for all the brave deeds he had achieved. + +In the battle of Guinegatte, commonly called the battle of the Spurs, from +the speed with which the French soldiers took flight, the Chevalier was +made prisoner, but not until he had saved his countrymen from entire +disgrace by his valour. Henry the Eighth was then at war with France, and +Maximilian, Emperor of Germany, was serving in the army of the English +monarch for the pay of a hundred crowns a day. + +Before Henry and Maximilian had arrived in the English camp, the Earl of +Shrewsbury had begun the siege of Perouane, a town on the borders of +Picardy, close by Guinegatte. The besieged had defended themselves bravely, +and the governor of the province had succeeded in forcing his way through +the English camp, to bring them a large supply of bacon and gunpowder. He +had got safely back again, when the French horsemen, who had advanced to +protect him, were attacked suddenly by a body of English, whilst they were +straying carelessly about without their helmets and cuirasses, because +they were overpowered by the intense heat of the day. Thus it was that they +took flight, and that several noblemen amongst them of high rank were made +prisoners. Bayard retreated with great regret; he had only fourteen +men-at-arms with him, and yet he often turned back and faced his enemies. +At last they came to a little bridge, where only two horsemen could pass at +a time, and below it there was a deep ditch full of water. The good knight +then sent word to the camp, by an archer that he had arrested the enemy for +at least half an hour, and that delay, would give the army time to get into +order. The archer went straight to the camp, and Bayard was left with his +few men to guard the bridge. He was soon surrounded on all sides, and +advised his people to surrender; and when they were all secured, he rode +towards an English gentleman, who, either wearied with the fight or +oppressed by the heat, was resting beneath a tree. Bayard put his sword to +his throat, and exclaimed, "Surrender, man-at-arms, or you are a dead man!" +The gentleman, naturally wishing to save his life, surrendered, and asked +the stranger who he was. "I am the Captain Bayard," replied the knight, +"and now I surrender to you, and give you my sword to hold, and entreat you +to conduct me to some place of safety, and to have the kindness to let me +have my sword, if we meet with any Englishmen on our way, who may desire to +kill me." The gentleman promised this, and they set off for the camp of +King Henry, and had really to defend themselves more than once, upon the +road thither. + +Bayard remained in the tent of his prisoner, who treated him well, but on +the fifth day of his captivity, he said to him, "My gentleman, I wish you +would lead me in safety to the camp of the king, my master, for I am +utterly tired of being here." + +"How?" cried the other. "We have not yet agreed as to your ransom." + +"To my ransom, indeed!" said the knight; "but it is rather for me to think +of yours, since you are my prisoner; and if I surrendered to you it was +only to save my life. My gentleman," continued he, "whether faith is kept +with me, or not, I feel assured that in some way I shall fight with you by +and by." + +The gentleman did not quite relish the idea of a combat with the +redoubtable Bayard, so he replied in courteous terms, that he only wished +to do what was right in the affair, and would consult with his captains. + +When the enemy knew that Bayard was safe in the camp, they were as much +pleased as if they had won another victory. The Emperor of Germany sent for +him to his tent. + +"Captain Bayard, my friend," said he, "I have great pleasure in seeing you. +Would that I had many men like you! I think in a little while I should be +able to avenge myself of all the tricks, your master has played me in times +gone by." Presently, he said to him, "Methinks we have been at war together +before, and I remember to have heard that Bayard was one who never fled." + +"Sire," replied the Good Knight promptly, "if I had fled I should not have +been here." + +Then bluff King Harry came up and said, "Truly, Monsieur de Bayard, if all +men were like you, the siege which I have begun before this town, would +soon be raised; but any way you are my prisoner." + +"Sire," answered the Chevalier, "I do not own it, and yet I would fain +believe yourself and the emperor." + +The gentleman whose tent Bayard had shared now appeared, and related the +whole affair; and there was a discussion, as to which was really the +prisoner. The Emperor, whose advice governed the movements of the English +army, at last decided in favour of Bayard, but acquitted both on account of +their mutual courtesy; and King Henry said that the Good Knight might leave +the camp, if he would promise on his word of honour to remain unarmed for +six weeks. Bayard was very grateful, both to the emperor and to the king, +and went to divert himself in the country, in the best manner he could +until the six weeks were passed. During this time the King of England tried +by various means, to attach him to his service, but his trouble was thrown +away; it would have been impossible for the Chevalier to have entertained a +disloyal thought. + +Not long after this Louis the Twelfth died, and his cousin, Francis, Count +of Angouleme, was declared King of France. Immediately after his +coronation, the young king began to prepare secretly for the conquest of +Milan, that duchy having lately returned to the allegiance of the Italian +duke Sforza. Bayard was ordered to repair with three or four thousand men, +to the borders of his native province of Dauphine, and after performing +several brave actions, he got down quietly into the plain of Piedmont. +Prosper Colonna, the Pope's lieutenant, was there in the Castle of +Carmaignolle. When he heard of the arrival of the Chevalier, he exclaimed, +in a tone of extreme scorn, "That Bayard has crossed the mountains; I will +take him as I would a pigeon in a cage!" + +The other French captains arrived in the plain, and the Good Knight advised +that they should rest their horses that night, and attack Colonna the next +day at dawn in his castle. + +They had a large piece of water to cross before they could get to the +place; but they knew of a ford, and two or three hours after midnight they +mounted their horses in silence, and set out on the road. Prosper was not +alarmed, because he still thought that only Bayard was there with his +company, and he would have remained at Carmaignolle, had he not received +orders to change his quarters. He did not hurry himself in the least, and +stopped on his journey to dine at a little town called Villefranche. When +the French arrived at the castle, they found to their disappointment that +Colonna was gone, and they all agreed to pursue him. The Seigneur +d'Imbercourt was foremost in the troop; he soon reached the town; Colonna +was already there, and his people shut the gates. The Good Knight came up +in time however to gain them, and although the enemy gave the alarm to a +body of three or four thousand Swiss, he made his way into the town, +followed by his men-at-arms, and found the Italian commander seated at his +dinner. Colonna was enraged at being thus captured, like "a pigeon in a +cage" himself, instead of in battle; the Good Knight tried to cheer him up, +and make the best of it, but the whole affair cost the signor, besides his +liberty, 50,000 crowns worth of gold and silver plate, furniture, and +money, and that was quite enough to make a man look sad. The French found a +very large sum of money in the town, and nearly 700 beautiful coursers and +Spanish horses. + +Francis had already crossed the mountains which separate France from Italy. +He was delighted to hear of the capture of Colonna, and soon waged the +tremendous battle of Marignano with the Swiss, who were the partizans of +Sforza and Colonna, and were indignant that Francis had succeeded in +crossing the Alps. Marignano was situate about a league from the city of +Milan. The Swiss were determined to defend the duchy to the last extremity, +and had assembled a very large army. The battle began at four o'clock on a +September afternoon in the year 1415, and was only discontinued when it was +too dark to see to fight. The king passed the night in his armour on the +carriage of a cannon, and was surprised at daybreak to find the enemy +within a few paces of him in readiness to renew the attack. The young king +and the chevalier fought at Marignano side by side, and both displayed +extraordinary valour; and when the victory was decided for the French, +Francis, to reward Bayard for the great share he had had in it, received +the honour of knighthood from his hands. + +The day of Marignano, "the combat of giants," as an old Italian hero called +it, who had been in eighteen pitched battles, was disastrous indeed for the +Swiss, for it is said that when they began to retreat they left 10,000 of +their comrades lying dead upon the battle-field. + +In the last charge that was made, Bayard was mounted on a fiery courser, +the first he had ridden having been killed under him. He was so closely +beset that the bridle was torn from his horse, and the animal, thus freed +from restraint, galloped off and made its way through the enemy's ranks; it +would have carried its rider right into the midst of a troop of Swiss, if +its course had not been intercepted by a field full of vines entwined from +tree to tree; the good knight but for this timely wall of defence, must +assuredly have fallen into the hands of his enemies. He had not quite lost +his senses in the rapid flight, and he glided down gently from his horse, +threw away his arms and a part of his armour, and crawled along a ditch, in +the direction as he supposed of the French camp. Fortunately he was not +mistaken; he soon had the delight of hearing the cry of "France! France!" +in the distance, and was enabled to reach his companions, and rejoice with +them over the great victory they had gained; although a victory bought with +the lives of so many fellow creatures, cannot but bring a sharp pang of +sorrow to the heart of every man. + +The fame of Bayard had now risen to such a height, that nearly all the +young nobles of France, begged to be allowed the honour of serving under +him, in the defence of the town of Mezieres. Maximilian and Ferdinand were +both dead, and Charles V. was Emperor of Germany and King of Spain. +Charles, who was quite as ambitious as the young king of France, had +ordered the Count of Nassau to advance towards the frontiers, and lay +siege to the town of Mousson. The men who defended it were cowards, and +lay down their arms almost without fighting. The Count, finding this +success so easy, next besieged Mezieres, and through this town the Emperor +intended his troops to have passed into France. But Francis knew that if he +suffered Mezieres to be taken, it would be the most foolish thing he could +do; it was like giving the enemy the key of the gate that kept them out of +France. So he wisely ordered Bayard to hasten to its defence; and although +the Good Knight had only 1,000 men in the place, he obliged the Count of +Nassau, and his 35,000 Germans, to retire with shame and loss after a +lengthened siege. The service he thus performed for his country was very +great, and the king rewarded him for it with a hundred lances, and the +collar of St. Michael. + +In the year 1524 he was sent into Italy to oppose the army of the Constable +de Bourbon, who had left his own king to serve the Emperor. Bourbon was led +to do this, on account of the many affronts he had received from the +beautiful and haughty Louisa, of Savoy, the mother of Francis I.; still, +however great the cause of offence may be, it is quite inexcusable for a +man to bear arms against his country. + +The chief command of the army was given to Bonnivet: he was very brave, but +so rash that his zeal often did more harm than good, and he was totally +wanting in the judgment, and presence of mind a great captain ought to +possess. Lannoy, the viceroy of Naples, had collected a large number of +troops; to these were added the forces of the Marquis of Pescara, the +general of the Spaniards, and those of the traitor Bourbon. Bonnivet failed +in his plan of attack, and was obliged to try and get back into France by +crossing the valley of Aosta; but on his way he received a bad wound in the +arm, and could no longer lead on his men. In his distress he sent word to +Bayard that he alone could save the French army if he would. The good +knight had thought the whole enterprise ill-judged, and when he set out at +the head of his men-at-arms, he had not been cheerful and hopeful as he had +been accustomed to be whenever he entered on a fresh campaign. Nevertheless +he swore in reply to Bonnivet that he would either save the army or perish +in the attempt; and as he had always courted the post of danger, he took +the command of the rear, and made his men try bravely like himself to +sustain the whole shock of the enemy's troops, whilst the rest of the army +gained time to effect a retreat. This was at a place near Romagnano. As +Bayard was thus striving he was wounded by a musket-ball, and the shock was +so great that he uttered the word "Jesus," and then said that it was all +over with him on earth. Faint from pain and loss of blood, he held on as +long as he could to the bow of his saddle, but sank at last to the ground, +and desired to be placed under a tree with his face turned towards the foe. +And there the good knight lifted up the hilt of his sword, and kissed it as +though it had been the cross, and saying, softly, "Miserere mei, Deus!" lay +back pale and calm to wait for the approach of death. His faithful _maitre +d'hotel_, who had followed him through many dangers, was with him now, and +was almost beside himself with grief. + +"Jacques, my friend," said the dying knight, "do not mourn for me. It is +the will of God that I should quit this world where I have ever received a +full measure of His grace, and far more honour than I deserved. The only +regret I have in dying is, that I have not done all that I ought to have +done, and if I had lived longer, I would have hoped to have made amends for +my past faults. But as it is, I implore my Maker to have mercy upon my poor +soul, and trust through his great and boundless love that he will not judge +me with rigour; feeling assured that Thou, oh my Saviour, hast promised +pardon to all those who turn to Thee with humble and contrite hearts." + +In this condition he was found by the Constable de Bourbon, who spoke to +him thus; "Monsieur de Bayard, truly I pity you." + +"Ah, Monsieur," replied the chevalier, "do not pity me, but rather have +compassion on yourself for having fought against your king, your country, +and your oath." + +The Marquis of Pescara came by soon after, and was deeply grieved to see +him in such a state; he ordered a tent to be pitched over him, and had him +tended with the utmost care, but it was of no avail; a mortal blow had been +struck, and the good knight rendered up his soul to God, as so many of his +ancestors had done, upon the battle-field. + +Pescara had his body embalmed and conveyed to his kinsmen in Dauphine, and +the Duke of Savoy decreed that royal honours should be paid to it on its +mournful journey. When it reached Dauphine, people of all ranks came out to +meet it, and then returned to their houses and shut themselves up in sorrow +and gloom. The body was interred at Minimes, in a church founded by the +Bishop of Grenoble. + +There was mourning throughout many lands when it was known that the Good +Knight was dead. King Francis was very much attached to him, and could not +get over the loss he had sustained for a very long time. And the following +year, when he had been obliged to surrender to Lannoy after the battle of +Pavia, he exclaimed sadly within his prison walls, "Ah, Bayard, if thou +hadst been alive, I should not have been here!" + +Thus had the Chevalier lived, faithful to the promise of his childhood; +ever ready to risk his life in the service of his country, helpful and +loving to all, joyous and light-hearted. When he was in the enemy's +territory he strictly defrayed every expense he incurred, and very often +left some kind remembrance for those who had served him: in success he +showed mercy, and made himself as much beloved by the vanquished as by his +own soldiers. He never wished for the highest place or envied the good +fortune of other men. Amid the spoils of war he seemed to desire nothing +for himself, and one instance alone will suffice to show how far he was +removed from any selfish feelings. During the war with the Spaniards, he +received notice one day that a large sum of money was on its way to the +Spanish commander. His own troops being in great want of necessaries he +resolved to obtain this money, which was fair to do in warfare; so he sent +some of his men to waylay the bearers of it in one part of the country, +while his companion Tardien watched for it in another. Bayard had the good +luck to seize the treasure, and found it to consist of 15,000 ducats. The +Spaniard who carried it was in great terror at having fallen into the hands +of the enemy, and gave it up without a murmur. Tardien was brave and +merry-hearted, but he had the misfortune of being very poor, and he was +terribly grieved on his return to the camp to find that he had not been the +happy man to secure the money, and declared that the half of the sum would +have redeemed his fortunes for ever. + +Bayard was in a cheerful mood, and he asked his soldiers how much of the +treasure they thought Tardien ought to receive. They replied, "None at +all." Then Bayard, after enjoying for a time the dismay of his companion in +arms, called him to him, and gave him 7,500 ducats, the exact half of the +sum they had captured. The Good Knight then divided the remainder amongst +his soldiers, not keeping one farthing for himself, and sent the Spaniard +with an escort to a place of safety whence he could return to his own +home. + +[Illustration: _Queen Elizabeth's farewell to Captain Martin Frobisher.--p. +225_] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[20] "Piquer," an old French word, signifying "to spur on, to animate, or +encourage." + +[21] _Palfrenier_, "groom of the stables." + +[22] Gaston was Governor of Milan. + + + + +SIR MARTIN FROBISHER. + + +One summer's day, in the year 1576, Queen Elizabeth stood at the window of +her palace at Greenwich, waving her hand in sign of farewell as two small +barks and a pinnace glided gently down the river Thames. The barks were the +_Gabriel_ and the _Michael_. On board the first one was the gallant Martin +Frobisher, who, after having waited fifteen years for funds to enable him +to carry out his voyage, was now on his way in search of a north-west +passage to China. Little is known of the early days of Frobisher, except +that he was at Doncaster, in Yorkshire, and that he was well skilled in +maritime knowledge, and one of the most experienced seamen of his time. The +passage he proposed to find, he thought would enable his countrymen to +reach the shores of China in far less time than by sailing as the +Portuguese always sailed, all round by the Cape of Good Hope; and thus for +years before he had started, he had been going from friend to friend, +nobleman and merchant, in the hope of finding some one to help him to get +together a fleet. At last he found a patron in Ambrose Dudley, the good +Earl of Warwick, and with his help, and his own untiring efforts besides, +he raised sufficient money to fit out the two vessels and the one small +pinnace, which had provisions on board to last twelve months. + +After the little fleet had gone past the palace, Queen Elizabeth sent one +of the gentlemen of her court on board the _Gabriel_ to tell Frobisher how +much pleasure the enterprise afforded her, and to bid him come and take +leave of her the following day. She was proud, too, to think that one of +her subjects was brave enough to venture up into the icy seas and cold +regions, the very idea of which had struck terror into the hearts of many a +mariner, when he had met on the ocean great icebergs floating southwards, +as though they were messengers sent to warn him of approaching the frozen +seas. + +When Frobisher had got as far as the Shetland Isles, he turned his course +towards the west, and on the 11th of July, nearly four weeks after he had +started, he came in sight of land, which he supposed to be the Freeseland +seen by a Venetian, named Zeno, two hundred years before. He could not land +there because of the great blocks of ice which filled the sea near the +shore, and they had much ado to keep clear of them, because there was a +thick fog. Here a great misfortune happened; the pinnace disappeared in the +mist, and the services of the four men it had on board were thus lost. The +company of the _Michael_ also began to distrust the voyage, and to repent +that they had engaged in it. Under cover of the fog, they went off towards +England, and were so wicked as to say on their arrival that the bark +_Gabriel_ had been cast away. + +Thus forsaken, the brave captain went on alone; the mast of his vessel was +broken, and the topmast was blown over; nevertheless he continued to sail +towards the north-west, thinking that he must surely come to some shore. +And nine days after he had seen Freeseland, he came to a high piece of +land, which he called Queen Elizabeth's; it was part of what is now called +Labrador. Still more to the north he reached another foreland, with a great +bay or passage of sea dividing two lands, but this was so blocked up with +ice that he had to wait until it melted, or was carried away by currents. +He called the passage "Frobisher's Straits," after himself, by which name +it has been known ever since. If any little readers will unfold a map of +North America and look just north of Hudson's Straits, they will see +Frobisher's Straits, and how the land on either side is broken up into +islands, some of which are named "Hall's Islands," after Christopher Hall, +the master of the bark _Gabriel_. Frobisher thought as yet that the shores +were all firm land; and when the ice broke up, he sailed sixty leagues +along the strait, and there he landed. First of all he had to defend +himself from some great deer, which ran at him in such a manner that he had +a very narrow escape of his life. Another time when he landed he went to +the top of a hill, and saw from thence several objects in the distance +which he thought were porpoises or seals, but when they came nearer he +found that they were boats filled with men. The boats were made of +sealskins, with a keel of wood inside. The men were of dark complexion, +with long black hair, broad faces, and flat noses; the women's faces were +painted in blue streaks. Some of these people hid behind a rock, and were +evidently watching for an opportunity of stealing his boat, but he hastened +down the hill just in time to secure it, and went back to the vessel. It +was terribly cold already; in one night the snow lay a foot thick upon the +hatches: the brief summer of the northern regions was past. The natives +soon began to come on board the bark, and to talk with the sailors in an +unknown tongue; they brought the captain salmon and flesh which they eat +raw themselves; also bearskins and sealskins, for which Frobisher gave them +toys, bells, and looking-glasses. They got very friendly with his men, +although he warned them not to trust them too quickly; and one day five of +the sailors were enticed by the savages to go in a boat to the shore, and +neither men nor boat ever appeared again. What was to be done? Frobisher +was on board his bark, and now the only boat was gone, and he could not get +to the shore. He thought that he must try and capture one of the sealskin +boats of the natives, and he rang a low, sweet-toned bell, which was sure +to be a great temptation to the wild men, and made signs that he would give +it to him who should fetch it. The first bell he purposely threw into the +sea, and then he rang another. The savages, getting more eager to secure +the prize, crowded around him, and one came so very near that he had just +put out his hand to grasp the bell, when the captain pulled him, boat and +all, on board the bark. The poor savage was said to have been so angry at +being captured, that he bit his tongue in two in his rage; he was brought +to England as a specimen of the newly found race, but he fell ill soon +after his arrival and died. + +As the cold was rapidly increasing, Frobisher began to think of returning +home to report what he had seen, and after many useless attempts to land, +on account of the ice along the coasts, he told his men when next they +could set foot on shore, that they were to bring him whatever they could +find in memory of the region he had taken possession of in the queen's +name. Some of them brought him a few flowers, some only grasses, and one +brought him a piece of black stone very like sea-coal, which from its +weight seemed to be a mineral. Frobisher did not think much of it at first +sight, but he brought it with him to England. He arrived in his native +country on the 2nd day of October, and all people praised him for his +courage and perseverance; and it was thought that if another expedition +were made, there would be every chance of finding the desired north-west +passage to China. + +One day when he was with some friends in London, it happened that he had +nothing to show for his voyage except the lump of coal. The wife of one of +the adventurers who was present, threw by chance a piece of it into the +fire, and it burned so long that at last it was taken out and quenched in a +little vinegar, when lo! as if by magic, it appeared "like a bright +marquisset" of gold. It was then shown to some gold finers in London, who +tried it and found that it contained pure gold, and gave great hope that +more might be found in the region whence it was brought. The gold finers +even offered themselves to share in a fresh enterprise, so that a second +voyage was proposed for the following year, Queen Elizabeth herself +entering heartily into the scheme. + +The second expedition was fitted out in a more important manner than the +first one had been. Frobisher sailed in a tall ship of the queen's, which +was called the _Aid_, accompanied by the two barks _Michael_ and +_Gabriel_. The vessels were provisioned for six months, and had on board in +all 140 men, although many more would have liked to go on the voyage. + +They sailed northwards until they anchored in the bay of St. Magnus, one of +the Orkney Isles. The inhabitants fled in terror as soon as the ship's +company landed, and only took heart when they heard for what purpose they +had come. For few indeed were the visitors who came to those barren +islands, except perhaps the pirates who roamed the northern seas. There is +scarcely a tree amongst the whole group, and the people, having no wood, +make their fires of turf and heather to cheer them during the long stormy +winter. But the nights in these cold northern latitudes are made bright and +beautiful by the aurora borealis, which flashes across the sky, and is of +the same nature as lightning, only that it travels through a higher region +of the air. Sometimes it is purple and sometimes green, and where the air +is driest it is red. When the aurorae, or northern lights, flicker in the +sky, the inhabitants of the Shetland Isles call them, "the merry dancers." + +The gold finers were very glad that they stopped on their way at the +Orkneys, for in one of the islands they found a mine of silver. The vessels +only stayed there one day, however, and then put out to sea, now drifting +to the north and now to the west, as the wind shifted. They were +seventy-six days without sight of land, but they met on their way trunks of +trees, and monstrous fishes and fowls. At length the wind was prosperous, +and they came to Greenland, where the sea near the coast was again full of +drift ice. One day whilst they were cruising about here they dropped a hook +into the sea, and caught an enormous fish called a halibut, which is said +to have furnished a whole day's food for the ship's company. It must have +been a very large fish to have dined and supped 140 persons. All along the +dreary shores the only living creatures they saw were some little birds. +The weather, being very cold and stormy they made for Frobisher's Straits, +and came again to the smaller of Hall's Islands, where the ore had been +taken up the year before, but they only found this time one little piece. +On the large island, however, they found plenty of what they supposed to be +gold, and Frobisher, with forty gentlemen and soldiers, ascended a steep +hill, and planting a column or cross upon it, he sounded a trumpet, and +called the place Mount Warwick, after the good earl. Then they knelt down +in a ring, and said their prayers and thanksgivings. As they were going +back to their boats, they saw a number of savages making signs to them from +the top of the hill, as if they wished to be friendly, but Frobisher, +remembering the fate of the five mariners, did not feel inclined to trust +them, and he only held up two of his fingers to signify that two of their +men should advance towards two of his own. This was done, and then they +began to be more confident of each other's designs. The people here had a +very odd way of bartering their wares: they would bring sealskins and raw +flesh and lay them on the ground, and make signs that the strangers should +do the same with the things they meant to exchange. Then they went away, +and if they liked the toys and the beads they saw on the ground, they came +back in a little while and took them up, leaving their own wares behind +them; and if they did not like them, they gathered up their property and +departed. + +After passing through many dangers and tempests Frobisher found a bay which +he thought would be a good harbour for his ships, and he landed with his +gold finers on a little island, where all the sands and cliffs glittered so +brightly, that they thought they had indeed come to a land of gold. But +when they tried it, to their great disappointment it turned out to be only +black-lead. In the same sound they came to a small island, to which they +gave the name of Smith's Island, because the smith belonging to the ship's +company first set up his forge there. Here they found a mine of silver, but +they had a great deal of trouble to get it out of the rocks. + +Soon after this Frobisher marched upon the southern shore of the strait in +search of ore with all his best men, and when he had appointed leaders, and +told all those who were to follow them that they must be orderly and +persevering, he made every man kneel down and thank God that He had +preserved them hitherto from all dangers. Then, with a banner flying, they +marched towards the tops of the mountains, which were steep and very +difficult to ascend. The whole land was silent; not a human being was to be +seen, so they went back to their ships, and landed next on the northern +shore. Here they saw people, and found hidden under a stone such things as +kettles made of fish-skins, knives of bone, and bridles. One of the +savages took a bridle and caught with it a dog belonging to the strangers, +to show how dogs were used to draw the sledges. + +Five leagues from Bear's Sound, Frobisher found a bay in which he could +anchor, near a small island, which he named after the Countess of Warwick, +and this was the farthest place he visited that year. There was plenty of +ore in it, and Frobisher set the miners to work, and worked hard himself +also, that he might encourage the others by his example. And he sent the +bark _Michael_, in which he had come to the island, for the _Aid_ and the +rest of his people. They were very much astonished to see on the mainland +the dwellings of the Esquimaux; these were holes in the ground, shaped like +an oven, and were usually made at the foot of a hill for shelter, and +opened towards the south. Above ground they built with whalebone, because +they had no timber, and covered in the roof of it with sealskins, and +strewed moss on the floor for a carpet. Travellers of more recent date +describe the huts of the Esquimaux, as the people in these northern regions +were called, as being made in the same manner. A winter hut is a hole +hollowed out in the earth or snow, like a cellar; a large piece of ice +serves for a door, and a lamp burns inside, where the family sleep on the +skins of seals and sea-dogs. Close by is a similar hole, where they eat the +flesh of whales, seals, and sea-dogs--and all of it raw. The mariners who +went with Frobisher tell how the savages ate ice when they were thirsty, +and could get no water. Their dogs were not unlike wolves, and were yoked +together to draw the sledges; the smaller ones they fattened and kept for +eating. Their weapons were made of bone, and their bow-strings of sinews; +they clothed themselves in the skins of seals and sea-dogs, and sometimes +even in garments made of feathers; for God, in His loving mercy, has given +the fowls thicker feathers than those of more southern latitudes, and the +animals warmer furs for the comfort of man, just as He has given luscious +fruits to refresh his parched lips in tropical countries, and gigantic +trees to shelter him from the intense heat of the sun. + +A captive, who had been taken by some of the mariners, was shown a portrait +of the savage who had been enticed on board the _Gabriel_ the year before. +When he saw it, he began talking to it, and asking it questions, just as if +it had been really alive. He told the strangers by signs that he had +knowledge of the five men who were missing, and declared that they had not +been eaten up by the savages. It is supposed that they lived the rest of +their lives amongst the savages; and Frobisher determined, as he could find +no trace of them, that he would load his ships with the ore he had found, +and return to England. He was very proud when all the labour was brought to +an end, for with "five poor miners," and a few gentlemen and soldiers, they +had carried on board almost two hundred tons of ore in twenty days. On the +night of the 21st of August the whole company were ready to embark, and +glad they were to return, for they were very weary, and the water began to +freeze around their ships at night. The next day they took down their +tents, lighted bonfires on the highest hill, and having marched round the +island with their banner unfurled, they fired a volley of cannon in sign +of farewell, and after having encountered several storms on their voyage, +they reached Milford Haven about the end of September. + +When Frobisher arrived in England he hastened to Windsor, where he was very +graciously received by Queen Elizabeth. A third expedition was planned for +the next spring, both to search for gold and to try and discover the +north-west passage. A strong fort was devised, the pieces of which were to +be carried in one of the ships, and put together when they arrived in the +new region, to which Queen Elizabeth gave the name of "Meta Incognita," or +"Unknown Land." The fort was intended for the people to dwell in, who were +to remain there during the winter, whilst twelve of the vessels out of the +fifteen that composed the fleet were to come home laden with ore--that is +to say, if it were to be found. All the captains bade the queen farewell at +Greenwich, and kissed her hand, and she gave to Frobisher "a chain of fair +gold," to show the delight she took in his enterprise. They left Harwich +for the third time on the 31st of May--Frobisher sailed in the _Aid_: the +strictest order was to be observed during the voyage; the whole company on +board were to serve God twice a day with the prayers of the Church of +England: the sailors were not allowed to swear, or to play at cards and +dice. Every evening all the fleet had to come up and speak with the +admiral, and the watchword, if any came up in the night, was this, "Before +the world was God." And the answer from the other vessel was, "After God, +came Jesus Christ His Son." + +On the 20th of June, after having sailed fourteen days without sight of +land, they came, at two o'clock in the morning, to the west of Freeseland. +Frobisher took possession of it in the queen's name, calling it West +England, and gave the name of Charing Cross to one of its high cliffs. The +nights in the northern regions are never dark during the summer months. As +far north as the vessels sailed the sun does not set until after ten +o'clock, and it rises again before two, so that a great part of the night, +the sky is filled with the rosy flush of sunrise and sunset. Then, in the +winter, when the days are as short as the nights are in summer, because the +north part of the world is turned away from the sun, the moon and stars are +wondrously bright, and with the northern lights enliven the long dark +hours. + +The savages in West Freeseland were like those in Meta Incognita; they were +very timid, and fled at the approach of the strangers, leaving all their +household goods behind them. Amongst these the mariners found some dried +herrings and a box of small nails, also some pieces of carved fir wood; but +for whatever they took they left pins, knives, or looking-glasses in +exchange. + +From Freeseland they went towards Frobisher's Straits, and on the way one +of the ships, called the _Salamander_, struck a great whale such a blow +with her stern that she stood quite still. A horrible noise rose up from +the sea, and the next day the dead body of a whale was seen floating about. + +One night the vessels entered somewhere inside the straits, and found the +whole place frozen into "walls, bulwarks, and mountains," which they could +not pass: they had to stem and strike the rocks of ice to make their way +at all. Some of the fleet, where they found the sea open, entered in, and +were in great danger. + +The bark _Dennis_ struck against one of the rocks and sank within sight of +the fleet. In her distress she fired a gun, and happily the whole of her +crew were rescued in the boats that were sent to her aid. It was a great +misfortune, nevertheless, because part of the fort was on board, and was +thus lost. A violent wind from the south-east drove the ice on the backs of +the vessels. The mariners and miners had never witnessed such peril before, +and they were indeed in terrible plight, because they were shut in by +blocks of ice on all sides, and had to fix cables, beds, and planks around +their ships to protect them from them, or they would have been all cut to +pieces. Besides this they had to stand the whole night and the next day +beating it off with poles, pikes, and oars--Frobisher working hardest of +all, and cheering his men by his kind words, and his brave, steadfast +spirit. And those who were not strong enough to work prayed for the rest; +which the weak can always do, whilst stronger men are doing God's will by +helping their fellow-creatures; and prayer and work, blended in one, rise +up an acceptable offering to the Father in heaven. + +Four of the vessels were out in the open sea, and during the storm the +mariners were in great alarm for the safety of those shut up in the ice, +and they too knelt praying for them around their mainmast. The wind at last +blew from the north-west, and dispersed the ice, and the second night the +ships in distress were seen of the four others. Then the whole fleet +veered off seaward, meaning to wait until the sun should melt the icebergs, +or the winds drive them quite away, and when they had got out far into the +sea, they took in their sails and lay adrift. On the 7th of July they +thought they saw the North Foreland of the straits, but there was a dense +fog at the time; and the snow often fell in flakes so that they could not +clearly see, although now and then the sun would shine on the vessels with +intense heat. Thus they were carried far out of the way, and the lands in +that region were so much alike that Frobisher took counsel with the +captains of the fleet, to determine what part they had reached. + +The fogs lasted twenty days, and during that time they had indeed drifted +sixty leagues out of their way into unknown straits. Frobisher was very +anxious to recover the position he had lost, and as soon as he saw the ice +a little open he bravely led the way and anchored at last in the Countess +of Warwick's Sound. Just as he thought all peril was past, he met a great +iceberg, which forced the anchor through the ship's bows and made a breach. +Here they found, to their joy, two barks, which had been missing since the +night of their greatest danger: it was a joyful meeting, and a good man, +named Master Wolfall, who had left his living in his own country, and his +wife and children, in the hope of converting the heathens in the new land, +preached a sermon to the whole company, in which he told them to thank God +for their deliverance, and reminded them that they should ever watch and +pray, since none could tell how soon he might die. + +Now that they were all assembled once more Frobisher lost no time, but set +at work at once to look for the ore. Gentlemen and soldiers, all helped the +miners in their labour, whilst the captains of the vessels sought out new +mines, and the gold finers made trial of the ore. But when they wanted to +raise the fort, so many parts of it had been destroyed in the storm that it +was no longer fitted for its object, and although one of the brave captains +wanted to remain there with only fifty men, it was found that a building +large enough to hold them all could not be raised before the winter set in. +The cold was now rapidly increasing; every night the ships' ropes were +frozen so that no man might handle them without cutting his hands; besides +this the vessels were leaky, and the ice at any moment might have blocked +them in altogether, when all on board must have perished. + +Thus Frobisher was compelled to return to England without having found the +passage he had hoped all his life to discover. It is said that if he had +not had charge of the fleet, he would have sailed straight to the South +Sea, and thus pointed out a nearer route to China. + +Before they left, they caused a house of lime and stone to be built, on the +Countess of Warwick's Island, which they hoped would remain standing until +the following year, and they left in it bells, pictures, looking-glasses, +whistles, and pipes for the delight of the savages, and an oven, with bread +baked in it, that they might taste it and see how it was made. Then they +sowed peas and corn, and various sorts of grain, to see if they would grow; +and they buried all the timber left of the fort, that it might be ready for +them to use if they came to the place again. + +Whilst the ships were being laden with the ore, the admiral wanted to find +something else, and he went higher up the straits in a pinnace. It was then +that he discovered that the land on either side was not all firm as he had +imagined, but broken up into many islands. + +On the voyage home some of the vessels got scattered during the violent +storms that arose, and they were kept long apart, but they all reached +England by October of the year 1578. + +After this there is no account of Frobisher until he went in his ship the +_Aid_ on an expedition to the West Indies with Sir Francis Drake, and was +present at the taking and sacking of St. Domingo. When Philip II. of Spain +sent the Invincible Armada to invade England, the English fleet prepared to +resist it was divided into four squadrons, and Frobisher commanded one of +them in the ship called the _Triumph_. Lord Howard of Effingham, the Lord +High Admiral of the fleet, was a witness of his gallant conduct on that +occasion, and knighted him on board the _Triumph_ whilst the action was +going on. A little later he served under Sir Walter Raleigh in an +expedition directed towards the coasts of Spain. And in 1594 Queen +Elizabeth, having engaged to help King Henry the Fourth of France against +the Spaniards, he was sent with four vessels to protect the coasts of +Normandy and Bretagne from their attacks. + +On being told that they had seized the Fort of Croysson, near Brest in +Bretagne, and that Sir John Norris was trying to regain it, he hastened to +land his troops and join the English and French. With the help he afforded +the fort was taken; and although he was wounded severely during the +assault, he brought back the fleet in safety to Plymouth. + +Soon after he arrived, however, his wound proved mortal, through the +carelessness, as it is said, of his surgeon, and England lost the services +of one of her bravest and most faithful officers. His chroniclers say of +him that he was courageous, clever, upright, hasty, and severe. He was not +the less a hero because he did not succeed in his undertakings; his +attempts were made in an earnest and faithful spirit, and his example +served to encourage other men to embark in fresh voyages of discovery, +which proved more fortunate than his own. + +It is said that some of the ore he brought home the third time did not +prove to be gold, and Queen Elizabeth therefore renounced the idea of a +fourth expedition. + +In her wardrobe of jewels she preserved the bone of a strange fish, "like a +sea-unicorn," the mariners had found on their second voyage, embedded in +the ice. "The fish was twelve yards long," round like a porpoise, with a +bone of two yards growing out of the snout or nostrils. + + + + +SIR WALTER RALEIGH. + + +Sir Walter Raleigh, famed as a soldier, a sailor, an author, and a +courtier, was born in Devonshire, in the year 1552. His father, Walter +Raleigh, whose ancestors were known before the Conquest, had an estate near +Plymouth; his mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Philip Camperdown. He +received the earlier part of his education at a school in the parish of +Budely; at the age of sixteen we find that he was a commoner at Oxford, and +already distinguished as an orator and a philosopher. A year later he went +as a volunteer with one of his relations to help the Protestants in France, +and afterwards served in the Netherlands under the Prince of Orange. + +Raleigh had naturally a very active mind, and when he was not engaged in +war, he would be busily employed in planning expeditions to the New World, +some of which were carried out partly at his own expense. He had read the +voyages of Columbus and of Vasco de Gama with the deepest interest, and, +like many other ardent men of his time, desired earnestly to follow in the +path of those brave pioneers. + +In the year 1580 he commanded the royal troops in Ireland at the time of +Desmond's rebellion. Philip II., to punish Elizabeth for having helped his +Flemish subjects, sent a number of Spaniards and Italians to join the +rebels. The Spanish general was besieged in a fort he had built at Kerry; +he was forced to surrender, and the enemies of Raleigh cast great blame on +him for the cruelties exercised towards the unhappy prisoners, whilst in +reality he was only carrying out the orders of Lord Grey, the deputy of +Ireland. + +In a dispute he had with Lord Grey on his return to England, Raleigh +defended himself so cleverly, that he drew upon him the attention of the +queen; and an incident which occurred about this time served to bring him +into great favour at court. + +The queen was out walking with some of her courtiers, and having come to a +muddy place, she paused, as if in doubt whether to cross it or not. Raleigh +was present, and he immediately threw off a beautiful new cloak he wore, +and spread it on the ground. The queen tripped lightly over it, much +pleased with the gallant action, which she never forgot. + +Raleigh was of middle height; he had dark hair, and was said to have been +very handsome, although he had an exceedingly high forehead, and was +"long-faced and sour-lidded." His dress as he stood amongst the courtiers +would have consisted of a doublet of silk or satin fitting closely to the +body, with enormous silken or velvet hose, richly ornamented; a peaked hat, +and the cloak of gay hue, "fronted with gold and silver lace," would have +completed the costume. Raleigh was always richly attired; at one time of +his life he had a suit of armour composed of solid plates of silver, with +which he wore a belt adorned with precious stones; and Sir Walter Scott +describes a portrait he had seen of him which represented him clad in white +satin, with a chain of very large pearls hanging around his neck. + +The queen in the course of time bestowed on him lands in Ireland, both in +the counties of Cork and Waterford. She also gave him an estate at +Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, where he laid out some beautiful gardens. He +asked so many favours for his friends, as well as for himself, that +Elizabeth once said to him soon after she had knighted him, "When shall you +cease to be a beggar, Sir Walter?" + +"When your Majesty ceases to be benevolent," he replied. + +The court life, however gay and pleasant, did not satisfy his eager spirit, +and he rejoiced very much when the queen granted him a patent for the +discovery and planting of new lands in America. For this purpose he fitted +out two small vessels, which reached the coast of Florida in the year 1585. +They sailed northward as far as an island called Roanoke, and found a tract +of land on the continent, to which Elizabeth gave the name of Virginia, but +it did not really become a flourishing colony until the reign of her +successor. + +Raleigh, like many other noble-minded men of his time, bore a great hatred +to Spain on account of her tyrannies; and when the invincible Armada came +to invade England, he was amongst the bravest of those who fought for their +queen and their country. And the next year he held an important command +under Drake and Norris in an expedition to place Don Antonio on the throne +of Portugal. + +When he returned to England, after having won great fame by his valour, he +found that the young Earl of Essex was rising rapidly in the queen's +favour. Much jealousy existed between these two courtiers; they were +constantly quarrelling, and the following incident will show how petty were +the means used by Essex to annoy his rival. + +The nobles used to make a very splendid appearance at the jousts and +tournaments which were held on the queen's birthday, and on one of these +occasions Raleigh took it into his head to accoutre all his followers in +orange-coloured plumes. Essex hearing of this, got together a much more +numerous cavalcade, decked all in the colour chosen by Raleigh, and +appeared at the head of his followers dressed in a complete suit of +orange-colour, so that when he entered the tilt-yard in sight of Elizabeth, +the followers of his rival only looked "like so many appendages to his own +train."[23] Raleigh once set out at the head of a fleet with two of the +queen's ships, and had the good fortune to capture a Portuguese vessel +which had a very rich cargo. It was in the year 1595 that he sailed with +five vessels for the discovery and conquest of Guiana,[24] a country of +South America, which was called "El Dorado," on account of the gold mines +it was supposed to contain. This was an enterprise he had planned during +some months that he had been living in retirement at Sherborne, having +incurred the displeasure of the queen. First of all he had sent out a +captain to the spot, who made a favourable report of his voyage when he +returned home. So Raleigh put out to sea and landed in the island of +Trinidad, where he burnt the fort of Saint Joseph, which had been lately +constructed by the Spaniards, and took Don Antonio, the Spanish governor, +prisoner. He treated Antonio very kindly, and gained from him some valuable +information in reference to the country he desired to explore. He was now +very eager to set out on his enterprise, and liked the idea of it all the +better because it would undoubtedly be attended with danger. He left his +ships at Cariapan, in Trinidad, and sailed with a hundred men in several +small barks to find "the golden land." And before he returned to England he +had sailed 400 miles up the river Orinoco, which flows through Guiana, thus +being the first Englishman who had ventured in that direction. + +Sir Walter Raleigh wrote some strange accounts of the people he found in +the new country. Those that inhabited the mouth of the Orinoco upon the +northern branches of the river were called "Tissitinas;" they were very +brave, and talked slowly and sensibly. In dry weather they had their +dwellings on the ground like most other people, but between May and +September the Orinoco rising thirty feet and overflowing the broken land, +they lived up in the trees, as Columbus had already found men living in +other parts a century before. They never eat anything that was planted or +sown, and for bread they used the tops of the palmitos.[25] The people +dwelling on the branches of the Orinoco called Capuri, and Macureo, were +skilful makers of canoes, and sold them for gold and tobacco. When their +chief, or king, died, they had the strange custom of keeping his body until +all the flesh fell off its bones, and then they adorned the skull with +gay-coloured feathers, and the limbs with gold plates, and hung up the +skeleton in the house the chief had dwelt in when alive. The more gentle +natives used to make war on the cannibals, but all tribes were at peace +with one another, and held the Spaniards for their common enemy when the +English appeared amongst them. + +Sometimes the adventurers suffered greatly from thirst and from the +excessive heat of the climate, since Guiana lies all in the torrid zone, +the hottest part of the earth. In one district they passed through, which +was low and marshy, the water that issued out of the boggy ground was +almost red, and they could only fill their waterpots with it about noon, +for if they filled them at morning or evening, it was as bad to drink as +poison, and at night it was worst of all. The wine that was used in some +parts was very strong; it was made of the juice of different fruits and +herbs, and highly seasoned with pepper. The natives kept it in great +earthen pots, which held ten or twelve gallons each. + +At one time during their travels the weather became fearfully hot. The +rivers were bordered with high trees, which met overhead and shut out the +air, so that they panted for breath; the currents were against them; the +water was very unwholesome to drink, and their bread was all gone. They +lived on fish, and the fruits they plucked along the banks of the rivers. +The beautiful flowers of the tropics twined around the great trees in the +shade, and there were birds flitting about, as Sir Walter writes, "crimson, +carnation, orange, tawny, and purple!" Still, they were in great want of +bread, and an old native pilot whom they had taken, promised them that if +they would enter a branch of the river on their right hand, with only their +barge and wherries, and leave the galley they had come in to anchor in the +great river, he would take them to a town, where they would find bread and +poultry. So they set off in their wherries, and, because they thought the +place was so near, they took no food with them at all. The day wore on, and +still the pilot said "a little farther," until the sun was low in the sky, +and they had glided down the stream forty miles. Then all at once it became +dark, because there is no twilight in the tropics; dark as pitch, they +said; the river narrowed and the trees bent over it so closely, that they +had to cut their passage through the branches with their swords. They +distrusted the pilot, although the poor old man, who must have been +somewhat out of his reckoning, still kept assuring them that they had only +a little further to go; and an hour after midnight, to their great joy they +saw a light, and heard the barking of dogs, and came to a village or town +which was almost empty, because nearly all its inhabitants had gone to the +head of the Orinoco to trade for gold. Here they found plenty of fish, and +fowls, and Indian wine, and bread, for which they gave the people things in +exchange. Raleigh says that the Spaniards used to get a hundred pounds of +cassava bread for a knife. + +There is frequent mention in his narrative of an old king named Topiawari, +whose son he brought with him to England. He was a hundred and ten years +old, and had been taken prisoner by the Spaniards under Berreo, and led +about by them in a chain for seventeen days, that he might guide them from +place to place, for he was "a man of great understanding and policy." He +purchased his freedom with a hundred plates of gold. This old king came +fourteen miles on foot to see the English commander, and returned to his +home the same day; which must have been a long journey for one who, as he +touchingly observed himself, was "old, weak, and every day called for by +death." A number of people came with him from the villages laden with +provisions, and amongst these were delicious pine-apples in plenty. One of +the people gave Raleigh an armadillo, which he calls "a very wonderful +creature, barred all over with small scales, with a horn growing out of +it," the powder of which he was told cured deafness. + +Raleigh found out, as he thought, where the mines were, and brought some +spar with him to England, which was considered to afford satisfactory +promise of gold. The old king told him of a mountain of pure gold which Sir +Walter believed himself to have seen in the distance; it seemed to him like +a white tower, and had a great stream of water flowing over the top of it. +But since the rivers had begun to rise, and he had no tools to work the +supposed mines with, he resolved to return to England, well pleased that he +had found "El Dorado;" and prepared to give a glowing account of the +fertility of its soil, its valuable woods and rich gums, its different +berries, which dyed the most vivid crimson and carnation hues, its cotton +and silk, its pepper, sugar, and ginger, which flourished there as +luxuriantly as in the West Indian islands. + +Just as the adventurers were about to return to Trinidad, they encountered +a terrific storm in the broad mouth of the river Capuri, and were obliged +to lie in the dark, close to the shore. At midnight, when the wind began to +abate, Raleigh says, "We put ourselves to God's keeping and thrust out into +the sea, and left the galley to anchor until daylight. And so, being all +very sober and melancholy, one faintly cheering another to show courage, it +pleased God that the next day we descried the island of Trinidad." + +When Sir Walter arrived in England he published an account of the discovery +of the large and beautiful country of Guiana. Either he must have been +carried away by the excitement of the adventure, or he must have wilfully +exaggerated when he described the gold mines so confidently, since no one +who followed him ever found so great a treasure of the precious metal as he +declared was in existence. Queen Elizabeth could not be prevailed upon to +give orders for the planting of a colony in the new land, much as she +desired to increase her dominions, and so it was that the English did not +really make a settlement in Guiana until the year 1634. + +Raleigh went after his return on a great expedition, which ended in the +conquest of Cadiz. In this Essex had the chief command, but it was +Raleigh's courage and daring that assured the taking of the city. + +The favour he was held in at court now began to decline, and the great +fame he had earned as a soldier and a navigator had made him many enemies. +It is said that he connived with Cecil for the downfall of Essex, and he +was charged by those who bore him ill-will with having taken pleasure in +witnessing the execution of that nobleman. His own words, spoken just +before his death on the scaffold many years later, will best vindicate him +from such an accusation. He said that he was all the time in the armory of +the Tower, at the end where he could only just see Essex. He shed tears at +his death, and grieved that he was not with him, for he had heard that he +had desired to be reconciled with him before he died. And it is natural to +suppose that these two men, each one indeed at fault, would have been +happier, one in dying and the other while he lived, if they had exchanged a +few kind words, at which the old bitterness and hatred would have melted +away. + +The remaining part of the life of Sir Walter Raleigh was a succession of +misfortunes and sorrows: at the death of the queen his good fortune may be +said to have deserted him. The same year that James the Sixth of Scotland +succeeded his cousin Elizabeth, a plot was formed to place on the throne of +England in his stead the Lady Arabella Stuart, who was equally descended +from Henry the Seventh with himself. The Lords Grey and Cobham, Sir Walter +Raleigh, two Catholic priests, and several others were accused of conniving +at it, and arrested for high treason. How far Raleigh was implicated it is +difficult now to decide: it is probable that he knew of the plot, because +he was the intimate friend of Lord Cobham. He was carried to Winchester, +where sentence of death was passed upon him, and he remained there a whole +month, daily expecting to be led to the scaffold. At the urgent entreaty of +Lady Raleigh the king commuted the sentence of death to imprisonment in the +Tower; and there, on the 15th of December, 1603, Raleigh took up his abode, +followed by his affectionate wife and his son Walter, who had obtained +permission to share his captivity. Most English boys have looked on the +rooms in the Tower where this brave man passed more than twelve years, a +large portion out of the life on earth, especially on the narrow +sleeping-room, to enter which, he had to creep under a low stone archway. + +Those years must have contrasted strangely with his past life, full of +brave deeds and adventures in a land where all things seemed new. His +friends and his enemies alike pitied him now that he was shut up within his +gloomy walls. The young Prince Henry had a great regard for him, and +admired his brilliant qualities. "Surely," he used to say, "no man but my +father would keep such a bird in a cage!" + +After his first despair was over he employed himself in making chemical +experiments, in educating his children--for his second son Carew was born +in the Tower,--and in writing several works, one of which, entitled "The +History of the World," has been much admired. + +And when, after so many years had passed, and the doors of his prison were +opened, he came out into the free air, "a worn, weak, and aged man," almost +without fortune, haughty, and prone to take offence no more, but still +brave and hopeful. He obtained his liberty chiefly through the interest of +the Duke of Buckingham, whose services he paid with the sum of fifteen +hundred pounds. He was released on condition of finding the gold mines of +Guiana, and having embarked in the enterprise all that remained of his own +and his wife's fortunes he set sail for South America, taking with him his +son Walter, all the while the sentence of death once passed upon him was +still hanging over his head. + +But failure and sorrow were in store for him: two of his ships abandoned +him; sickness broke out amongst the crews of those that remained, Sir +Walter Raleigh was attacked by it himself, and was not able to land when +they drew near the shore of Guiana. He deputed Captain Keymis to land with +the adventurers, and to repel any Spaniards he might find near the mine. An +affray took place in which young Raleigh was killed; and Keymis, attempting +to keep a footing on shore, a second time was surprised by some Spaniards +who had been lying in wait for him. The failure of the enterprise and the +disappointment of Raleigh weighed so heavily upon him, that he killed +himself in despair. + +Raleigh thus went back to England in sorrow for the loss of his son, and +with little hope left that his own life would be spared. When he landed in +England he found that the king was very angry with him for having attacked +the Spaniards, because he was at peace with their sovereign; and that he +intended to renew all his former accusations against him. This King James +was led to do by Gondemar, the Spanish ambassador, who bore an extreme +hatred to Raleigh; it is even supposed that the Spaniards in Guiana had +been secretly told to prepare to resist. James made a proclamation to the +effect that he had forbidden all acts of hostility on land belonging to the +Spaniards. Directly Raleigh heard this he wrote a letter to the king in +defence of his conduct. He was repairing to London, and was met on the road +by Sir Lewis Stukely, one of his relations, who told him that he was to +arrest him. Then it was that Raleigh yielded to weakness which he repented +of in after hours. He pretended that he was ill, that he had lost his +reason, anything to delay the moment of his arrest. + +Once he planned an escape to France, but when he had got in disguise from +the Tower Docks as far as Woolwich he was overtaken by some people in the +pay of the Government; and at Greenwich was formally arrested by his +kinsman, who had accompanied him in his flight. The next morning, August +7th, he was conducted to the Tower, where he took a kind farewell of the +king, and remained imprisoned there until the 28th of October. And on that +day, as he was lying ill, the king's officers came at eight o'clock in the +morning to convey him to Westminster. Thence he was taken to Gate House, +and the next morning to the Old Palace Yard, where the scaffold was erected +on which he was to die, that the king might preserve peace with Spain! The +people of England thought James was very unkind to condemn a man whose +guilt had never been proved, and who was the most valiant and spirited in +the whole land. And indeed the execution of Raleigh has ever been +considered unjust. + +He appeared upon the scaffold with a smiling countenance, and saluted all +of his friends and acquaintances who were present. Then he spoke in his +own defence, but notwithstanding the deep silence around, his words were +not heard by the Lords Arundel and Doncaster, and some other lords and +knights who sat at a window looking into the yard, and he begged them to +come upon the scaffold. When he had saluted them all he thanked God for +having brought him into the light to die, instead of suffering him to die +in the dark prison of the Tower. Then he defended himself eloquently +against the numerous charges that had been made against him, and ended by +entreating all his friends to pray for him, because he said that since he +had been a soldier, a captain, a sea-captain, and a courtier, he must needs +have fallen into many sins. + +The lords and knights departed sorrowfully from the scaffold, and Raleigh +prepared for death; he gave away his hat, his wrought night-cap, and some +money to some of those who remained near him. "I have a long journey to +go," he said, "and therefore I will take my leave." And when he had taken +off his black velvet gown and his satin doublet, he called to the headsman, +and examined the axe, saying, as he felt along its edge, "This is a sharp +medicine, but it is a physician for all disorders." Being asked which way +he would lay his head on the block, he said, "So the heart be right, it is +no matter which way the head lieth." A minute later his head was severed +with two blows from his body; the story of his life was ended, and the +unjust king could keep the peace he had purchased with the sacrifice of a +man who, although faulty, had many of the attributes of true greatness. + +The body of Sir Walter Raleigh was buried in St. Margaret's Church. His +sorrowing widow kept his head in a case during her lifetime; it was +afterwards buried with her son Carew at West Horsley, in Surrey. Raleigh +was tenderly attached to his wife, and wrote her an affectionate and solemn +letter during the early part of his imprisonment, in which he gave her some +good advice. "If you can live free from want," he said, "care for no more, +for the rest is but vanity. Love God, and begin betimes; in Him you shall +have everlasting felicity. When you have travelled and wearied yourself +with all sorts of worldly cogitations, you shall sit down in sorrow at the +end.... Teach your son also to serve and fear God whilst he is young, that +the fear of God may grow up in him." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[23] This story is mentioned in the "British Biography." + +[24] Guiana was originally discovered to the Europeans by Vincent Pinzon +before the end of the fifteenth century. It was Juan Martinez, a Spaniard, +who first gave the name of El Dorado to the city of Manoa, in Guiana. + +[25] A species of palm. + + + + +SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. + + +Sir Philip Sidney was born at Penshurst in Kent, in the year 1554. His +father, Sir Henry Sidney, was one of the best men that ever lived, and +governed Ireland for some time with extreme justice and prudence. His +mother was Mary, daughter of the Duke of Northumberland, who was beheaded +for maintaining the cause of Lady Jane Grey. She had the sorrow of seeing +her brother Lord Guildford Dudley also led to the scaffold; and after these +terrible events lived much in retirement, devoting herself to the care and +education of her sons Philip and Robert, and her daughter Mary, afterwards +Countess of Pembroke. + +Under the guidance of such parents, the children at Penshurst grew up in +the closest bonds of family love. The grand old house they lived in was an +abode worthy of a noble race. It had been given by Edward the Sixth to Sir +William Sidney, the grandfather of Sir Philip. The park was famed for its +beeches, chestnut trees, and oaks of stately growth; one of the latter, +known by the name of "Sidney's Oak," remains standing to this day. Rich +pasture lands lay around, the streams abounded with fish, the gardens and +orchards with flowers and fruit. Here wandered Sir Philip with his beloved +sister, his young brother Robert, who succeeded to his uncle's earldom of +Leicester,[26] with the chivalrous Raleigh, the poet Spenser, the +play-writer Ben Jonson, and all the good, brave, and clever men of that +age. + +From his earliest childhood he was so sweet-tempered and intelligent that +his father lovingly called him "the light of this family." He was very fond +of study, and went first to school at Shrewsbury, where we find he +delighted his father greatly, when he was twelve years old, by writing him +a letter in Latin, and another in French. At the age of fifteen he went to +Christchurch, Oxford, where he appears to have studied with much diligence +during the short period of his college life. + +In the year 1571 an embassy was sent to the Court of Charles the Ninth of +France, in order to treat for a marriage between the king's youngest +brother, Henry Duke of Alencon, and Queen Elizabeth. The queen had already +shown signs of regard for young Sidney, whom in after years she called "the +brightest jewel in her crown," and she allowed him to go abroad with the +mission, for the purpose of acquiring a perfect knowledge of foreign +languages. + +Sir Philip was in Paris on the fatal day of Saint Bartholomew, but was safe +in the house of his friend Walsingham, then English minister at the French +Court, whilst the unhappy Protestants were being cruelly massacred +everywhere around him. + +He afterwards travelled through Germany to Vienna, where he made himself +perfect in every martial exercise, going thence to study science at Venice, +to visit the poet Tasso at Padua, and lastly to Rome. + +And whilst he was storing his mind with knowledge, and learning all +accomplishments worthy of a true knight, he tried to lead a holy life, and, +as far as it was in his power, to keep himself blameless in the sight of +God and man; so that when he returned to England at the age of twenty, +other men far older than himself looked up to him with respect, and he was +considered the brightest ornament of the English Court. + +During his travels in Flanders, which at that time belonged to Spain, he +had grieved to see how unhappy the people were made by the Duke of Alva, +the State minister of Philip the Second of Spain. Philip did not love his +Flemish subjects at all; they were mostly Protestants, and he wanted to +take their liberty from them and force them to become Roman Catholics. And +when they began to rebel against his unjust treatment, he sent the cruel +Duke of Alva to them, having first told him that he might do whatever he +liked with them. + +Alva arrived in Brussels, and began by arresting and imprisoning the Counts +Egmont and Horn, two noble-minded men, who, after trying in vain to make +peace between the king and the Belgians, had taken the part of the +Protestants from a love of justice and mercy. Count Egmont had helped +Philip to win the great battle of St. Quentin over the French, but he was +compassionate as well as brave, and Philip was so afraid that he would be +too kind to the people of Belgium that he advised Alva secretly to get rid +of him. + +Alva kept the Counts in prison in Ghent for nine months, and then had them +carried to Brussels and beheaded, on the 4th of June, 1568, on a scaffold +raised on one of the principal squares in the city. They died with courage, +martyrs for the liberty of Flanders, but their execution was a cruel +injustice, and the people were nearly frantic with grief when the bloody +deed was done. Alva remained in Flanders more than four years, and is said +to have caused eighteen thousand Protestants to be beheaded during that +time. Then Holland rose in revolt; the Prince of Orange was made +stadtholder, and Alva, seeing that his day was over, went back to Spain, +where he must have been very unhappy when he thought over all his +wickedness. The Protestants in Germany fared very little better than those +in Flanders, for when the Emperor Rudolf the Second began to reign, he +forbade them to worship according to their faith. Sidney was sent on an +embassy to Rudolf, and did all he could whilst he was in Germany to humble +Spain. + +The Flemings asked Elizabeth to be their queen; this she would not agree +to, but she sent them some troops and some money, and Sidney implored her +to let him take the command in the enterprise, he wanted so much to be of +service to his fellow-men, and to deliver those who were unjustly treated +from their oppressors. The queen declared, however, that she could not +spare him from her Court, and he was obliged to wait patiently a little +longer. Meanwhile he took part in the amusements of the Court, the jousts +and the royal progresses from place to place, which were always attended +with great show. To these must be added the masques, and the first time +Sir Philip distinguished himself as an author was by writing a masque, +entitled "The Lady of May," which was performed before the queen at +Wanstead in Essex. Sidney was the patron of artists, musicians, and +authors; he was a kind and sincere friend of the poet Spenser, who had +originally been brought from his home in Ireland to the English Court by +Sir Walter Raleigh. + +Weary at last of remaining inactive, Sidney planned, without the queen's +knowledge, an expedition to America, in which he was to be joined by the +bold navigator, Sir Francis Drake. He had arrived at Plymouth, whence the +ships were to start, when Elizabeth, having gained information of the +projected voyage, sent messengers with letters to Sidney, in which she +desired him not to sail, and threatened to stay the whole fleet if he did +not obey her. + +Sir Philip, already on the alert, contrived to intercept the messengers; +their letters were taken from them by two soldiers disguised as sailors. +The queen, finding threats useless, then sent a positive royal command to +her favourite, which he was bound out of duty to his sovereign to obey, and +thus he was fated never to see the beautiful new land in the west, with its +growth of gorgeous flowers and rich fruits, its giant trees, and its +bright-coloured birds, its wonderful landscapes, the beauty of which far +exceeded the ideal formed of them. + +Elizabeth's displeasure did not last long. It was the high esteem she held +him in that made her so loth to let him quit England, and she was not +offended with him when he had the courage to write her a letter in which he +entreated her not to marry the Duke of Alencon, now Duke of Anjou, and +pointed out the trouble such a union might bring upon England. The queen +wisely followed his advice, and gave up all idea of a marriage which her +subjects had very much disliked. + +Sir Philip, one day in the tilt-yard, had a dispute with Lord Oxford, in +which both were to blame, but Lord Oxford the more so of the two. This +caused Sidney to withdraw for a time from Court, and retire to a house he +had at Wilton, where he wrote "The Arcadia," a pastoral romance, and some +other works, which gained him the fame of a poet. He did not mean "The +Arcadia" to be published, nor did it appear in print until after his death. +He wrote it to afford pleasure to his sister Mary, and sent to her each +part of it as he completed it. + +A time came when the Flemings were again reduced to a state of extreme +wretchedness. The great and good stadtholder was basely murdered, and the +Spanish troops were making rapid progress through the country. So they +asked Elizabeth again to be their queen and to send them succour. She +refused the crown a second time, but agreed to help the Flemings with +troops on condition that the towns of Flushing and Brille should be placed +in her hands. And Sidney, to his great joy, was appointed governor of +Flushing, whither he went in November, 1585. The good Count Maurice of +Nassau received him as a brother, and he was made general of all the +forces, English and Dutch, in the town. Soon he had to welcome there his +uncle, the Earl of Leicester, who, by the favour of Elizabeth, was +entrusted with the command of the army. + +For some time Sidney was obliged to remain inactive, but in the year 1586 +he and Count Maurice surprised Axel, a town on the way to Antwerp, and the +strongest place held by the Spaniards in the Netherlands. Here he kept his +soldiers in the strictest order. When they were marching they were enjoined +to be silent, and a band of the choicest among them was stationed in the +market-place for the security of the town. + +So many brave gentlemen were covetous of the honour of surprising +Gravelines, that Sir Philip Sidney, not liking to risk the lives of all, +persuaded his inferior officers to try their fortune by dice on the top of +a drum. The lot fell upon Sir William Browne, and by this game of +hazard[27] the lives of many Englishmen were saved. + +On the 30th of August Sidney went with his uncle to invest Doesburg, a +fortress on the river Issel. This place was important because it opened the +way to Zutphen, and if Zutphen were once taken, the English and Dutch would +command the river. Doesburg was gained, and Zutphen soon after surrounded; +Leicester guarding it by water, and Sir Philip Sidney, Count Louis of +Nassau, and Sir John Norris, guarding it by land. + +News was brought to the English camp that a large supply of food was at a +place called Deventer, not far off, and Leicester was resolved that it +should not be brought into the town, whilst the garrison were equally +resolved to receive it. On the morning of the 22nd of September, Sidney +advanced to the walls of Zutphen with only 200 men. Before he set out he +was clad in complete armour, but meeting the marshal of the camp only +lightly armed, he took off some of the armour that covered his legs. There +was a mist at the time he set out, but when he had galloped quite close to +the town, it dispersed, and he found a thousand of the enemy in readiness +to receive him. The fight soon began, his horse was killed under him, and +he mounted another. The battle was furious, and the Spaniards, although +they were five times as many as the English, were totally routed. In the +last charge, Sir Philip was wounded severely in the thigh; his horse, being +very mettlesome, rushed furiously from the battle-field, and carried him a +mile and a half, wounded and bleeding, to the spot where Leicester stood. +When he lay in his anguish on the field, a bottle of water was brought to +him that he might quench his thirst; but seeing a soldier near him, wounded +like himself, look wistfully at it, he ordered it to be carried to him, +saying, "This man's necessity is greater than mine." + +His friends and his soldiers were overcome with grief when his state became +known; at the sight of his sufferings they almost forgot the glory of his +triumph; Yet amidst all his pain, he never ceased declaring that as long as +he lived his life was the queen's, and not his own, and that his friends +ought not to be discouraged. They laid him gently in his uncle's barge; +slowly it glided down the river to Arnheim, in Gelderland, and whilst he +lay patiently in it, he was heard to express the hope that his wound was +not mortal, and that he might yet have time to become holier before he +died. + +Day after day he lay in great pain, but talking kindly the while to the +friends who grouped lovingly around him, and tended by his wife, +Walsingham's daughter, who had hastened to Arnheim as soon as she heard +tidings of his disaster. When he felt he could only live a little time +longer, he made his confession of Christian faith, and settled his earthly +affairs, remembering in his will all those whom he had loved. He took a +tender farewell of his brother Robert, telling him "to love his memory and +cherish his friends, and to govern his own will by the word of his +Creator." And then having called for music, while sweet strains filled the +chamber, silent with coming death, the spirit passed from this world. + +His remains were brought to England, and interred in the great church of +St. Paul, which eighty years later was destroyed by the fire of London. + +"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord:" such were the words inscribed +on his coffin; and the perfectness of his character, and the regard in +which men held him, cannot be better expressed than in the language of the +old chronicle which says, "As his life was most worthie, so his end was +most godlie. The love men bore him, left fame behind him; his friendlie +courtesie to many procured him good-will of all."[28] + +The Poles after the death of their king, Stephen Balori, would have +conferred the crown on Sir Philip Sidney, because he was so justly renowned +for his humane and upright spirit, but he thought that his first duty was +to his sovereign, and the idea was renounced. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[26] The Earl of Leicester, the Court favourite of Queen Elizabeth, was +brother to Lady Mary Sidney. + +[27] See "British Biography." + +[28] Holinshed. + +_J. AND W. RIDER, PRINTERS, LONDON._ + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY'S BOOK OF HEROES*** + + +******* This file should be named 37315.txt or 37315.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/7/3/1/37315 + + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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