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diff --git a/38787.txt b/38787.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f1487b --- /dev/null +++ b/38787.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15299 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Harper's Magazine, Vol III, June 1851, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Harper's Magazine, Vol III, June 1851 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: February 8, 2012 [EBook #38787] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S MAGAZINE, VOL III *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Wirawan, David Kline, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + HARPER'S + + NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE + + VOLUME III. + + JUNE TO NOVEMBER, 1851. + + + NEW YORK: + + HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, + + NOS. 329 AND 331 PEARL STREET, + + (FRANKLIN SQUARE.) + + 1852. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +This Number closes the Third Volume of HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. In +closing the Second Volume the Publishers referred to the distinguished +success which had attended its establishment, as an incentive to further +efforts to make it worthy the immense patronage it had received:--they +refer with confidence to the Contents of the present Volume, for proof +that their promise has been abundantly fulfilled. + +The Magazine has reached its present enormous circulation, simply +because it gives _a greater amount of reading matter, of a higher +quality, in better style, and at a cheaper price_ than any other +periodical ever published. Knowing this to be the fact, the Publishers +have spared, and will hereafter spare, no labor or expense which will +increase the value and interest of the Magazine in all these respects. +The outlay upon the present volume has been from five to ten thousand +dollars more than that upon either of its predecessors. The best talent +of the country has been engaged in writing and illustrating original +articles for its pages:--its selections have been made from a wider +field and with increased care; its typographical appearance has been +rendered still more elegant; and several new departments have been added +to its original plan. + +The Magazine now contains, regularly: + +_First._ One or more original articles upon some topic of historical or +national interest, written by some able and popular writer, and +illustrated by from fifteen to thirty wood engravings, executed in the +highest style of art. + +_Second._ Copious selections from the current periodical literature of +the day, with tales of the most distinguished authors, such as DICKENS, +BULWER, LEVER, and others--chosen always for their literary merit, +popular interest, and general utility. + +_Third._ A Monthly Record of the events of the day, foreign and +domestic, prepared with care and with the most perfect freedom from +prejudice and partiality of every kind. + +_Fourth._ Critical Notices of the Books of the Day, written with +ability, candor, and spirit, and designed to give the public a clear and +reliable estimate of the important works constantly issuing from the +press. + +_Fifth._ A Monthly Summary of European Intelligence, concerning books, +authors, and whatever else has interest and importance for the +cultivated reader. + +_Sixth._ An Editor's Table, in which some of the leading topics of the +day will be discussed with ability and independence. + +_Seventh._ An Editor's Easy Chair or Drawer, which will be devoted to +literary and general gossip, memoranda of the topics talked about in +social circles, graphic sketches of the most interesting minor matters +of the day, anecdotes of literary men, sentences of interest from papers +not worth reprinting at length, and generally an agreeable and +entertaining collection of literary miscellany. + +The object of the Publishers is to combine the greatest possible VARIETY +and INTEREST, with the greatest possible UTILITY. Special care will +always be exercised in admitting nothing into the Magazine in the +slightest degree offensive to the most sensitive delicacy; and there +will be a steady aim to exert a healthy moral and intellectual +influence, by the most attractive means. + +For the very liberal patronage the Magazine has already received, and +especially for the universally flattering commendations of the Press, +the Publishers desire to express their cordial thanks, and to renew +their assurances, that no effort shall be spared to render the work +still more acceptable and useful, and still more worthy of the +encouragement it has received. + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME III. + + + Adventure with a Grizzly Bear 101 + Ally Somers 610 + American Notabilities 834 + Anecdotes of Curran 108 + Anecdotes of Paganini 39 + Application of Electro-Magnetism to Railway Transit 786 + Autobiography of a Sensitive Spirit 479 + Bear-Steak 484 + Blind Lovers of Chamouny 68 + Bookworms 628 + Bored Wells in Mississippi 539 + Breton Wedding 87 + Brush with a Bison 218 + Captain's Self-Devotion 689 + Chapter on Giraffes 202 + Coffee-Planting in Ceylon 82 + Conversation in a Stage Coach 105 + Cricket 718 + Convict's Tale 209 + Daughter of Blood 74 + Deserted House 241 + Eagle and Swan 691 + Eclipse in July, 1851 239 + + EDITOR'S DRAWER. + + Preliminary; Word-painting; Grandiloquence; Memories of + Childhood; Good-nature, 282. Englishman's independence; Parodies; + Done twice; Punctuation; Epitaph; Personification, 284. Small + courtesies; Home California; Grumblers; Rachel Baker, 421. Take + physic, doctor; Moralizing; Curiosity, 422. Sabbath morning; + Pictures of Napoleon; Libraries; Booing; Childlike temper; Pretty + spry, 423. The sea; Old Eben; Harvest time; Long Island ghosts, + 571. Alleged lunatic; Musical elephant, 572. The Bible; New use + of a note of hand; The Ship of Death; Taste in tombstones; + Tennyson's Word-painting, 573. Western eloquence; John Bull of + old; Interrupting conversation, 575. Ollapod on October; The + Virtues too cheap, 704. Charms of the incomprehensible; Harriet + Martineau on love; The fire annihilator, 705. Originality; + Eccentricities of Swift; The Iron Duke in Rhyme; On + reminiscences, 706. Taking an interest; Determination of the + Will, 707. In France without French; Mrs. Ramsbottom; The + Disbanded Volunteer, 851. Baron Vondullbrainz; Domestic Remedies; + Dr. Johnson on Scotland, 852. Hopeful Pupils; Lord Timothy + Dexter; Adjutant-birds, 853. Dinner-giving; Keep cool; Peter + Funk; Titles of songs; John Bull as a beat-ee, 854. + + EDITOR'S EASY CHAIR. + + Ex cathedra; The commercial and romantic way of telling a thing, + 707. The winning loser, 708. Equestrianism as a beautifyer, 709. + Advent of autumn; Retrospective and prospective; Hard times; The + Arctic expedition, 849. Catherine Hayes; Madame Thillon; Mrs. + Warner; Healy's Webster; The Art Union; Leutze's Washington + Crossing the Delaware; American clippers, 850. French gossip; + Borrel and his wife, 851. Albert Smith, 852. + + EDITOR'S TABLE. + + The indestructibleness of the religious principle in the human + soul, 701. Night as represented by the Poets: Homer, Apollonius + Rhodius, Virgil, Byron, Job, 702. Pedantic fallacies on + education, 703. Progression of Ancestry and Posterity, 704. + Westward course of empire, 851. Marriage: the nuptial torch, + woman's rights, divorces, 846. True Charity: St. Augustine + thereupon, 848. + + Episode in the Life of John Rayner 510 + Escape from a Mexican Quicksand 481 + Execution of Fieschi, Pepin, and Morey 76 + Fairy's Choice 800 + Faquir's Curse 375 + Fashions for June 143 + Fashions for July 287 + Fashions for August 431 + Fashions for September 575 + Fashions for October 719 + Fashions for November 863 + Feet-Washing in Munich 349 + Floating Island 781 + Fortunes of the Reverend Caleb Ellison 680 + Francis's Life Boats and Life Cars. By JACOB ABBOTT 161 + French Cottage Cookery 369 + Frenchman in London 236 + Gallop for Life 802 + Hartley Coleridge 334 + Highest House in Wathendale 521 + Household of Sir Thomas More 42, 183, 310, 498, 623, 757 + Hunter's Wife 388 + Ice-Hill Party in Russia 66 + Incident during the Mutiny of 1797 652 + Incidents of Dueling 630 + Incident of Indian Life 80 + Infirmities of Genius 327 + Joanna Baillie 88 + Jeweled Watch 96 + Joe Smith and the Mormons 64 + Josephine at Malmaison 222 + Joys and Sorrows of Lumbering 517 + Lamartine on the Restoration 685 + Last days of the Emperor Alexander 565 + Last Priestess of Pele 354 + + LEAVES FROM PUNCH. + + Tired of the World; Pleasure Trip of Messrs. Robinson and Jones; + A Perfect Wretch, 141. Facts and Comments by Mr. Punch; + Comparative Love; Taking the Census; Mysterious Machine, 285. + Experimental Philosophy; The Interesting Story; Elegant and + Rational Costume for Hot Weather; A Wet Day at a Country Inn; + Scene at the Sea-Side; Affecting rather; Real Enjoyment; A Taste + for the Beautiful; Singular Optical Delusion; A most alarming + Swelling; Sunbeams from Cucumbers; Much Ado about Nothing; Little + Lessons for Little Ladies, 425. Holding the Mirror up to Nature; + A Bite; Much too considerate; A Lesson on Patience; Development + of Taste, 717. Brother Jonathan's First Lesson in Shipbuilding; + Not a difficult thing to foretell; Curiosities of Medical + Experience; Retirement, 861. + + Lima and the Limanians 598 + + LITERARY NOTICES. + + Philosophy of Mathematics; Life of Algernon Sidney; Journal and + Letters of Henry Martyn; Cooper's Water Witch, 138. Mayhew's + London Labor, 139, 281, 856. Barry's Fruit Garden; Female Jesuit; + The Wife's Sister; Poems by Mrs. E.H. Evans; Dealings with the + Inquisition; Opdyke's Political Economy; Harper's New York and + Erie Railroad Guide, 139. Tuckerman's Characteristics of + Literature; The Gold-Worshipers; Mrs. Sigourney's Letters to my + Pupils; Maurice Tiernay; Willis's Hurry-Graphs; Eastbury; + Episodes of Insect Life, 280, 568, 855. Arthur's Works, 140. + Memoirs of Wordsworth; Hitchcock's Religion of Geology; The + Glens; Abbott's Cleopatra; Mrs. Browning's Poems, 280. Cosmos; + Martin's Ortheopist; The Heir of West-Wayland; A Grandmother's + Recollections; Ida; Colton's Land and Sea; De Felice's + Protestants in France; Warren's Para; Herbert's Life and + Writings, 281. Caleb Field; Dr. Spring's First Things; Yeast; + Taylor's Angel's Song; Stuart of Dunleath; Shakspeare's Heroines; + The Solitary of Juan Fernandez; Bulwer's Not so Bad as We Seem, + 282. The Parthenon; Lady Wortley's Travels in America; Hudson's + Shakspeare; Abbott's Josephine; Fresh Gleanings; Lossing's + Field-Book; The Daughter of Night, 419. James's Fate; Inventor's + Manual, 568; Memoirs of Bickersteth; Lamartine's Stone-Mason of + Saint Point; True Remedy for the Wrongs of Woman; The Literature + and Literary Men of Great Britain and Ireland, 569. Arthur + Conway; Odd-Fellows' Offering; Loomis's Algebra; the Christian + Retrospect and Register; Anthon's Roman Antiquities; Hildreth's + History of the United States; Carpenter's Travels and Adventures + in Mexico, 570. Sprague's Phi Beta Kappa Oration; Farmer's + Every-Day Book; The Nile Boat; The Iris; The Dew-Drop; + Willow-Lane Stories; Drayton; Lord's Epoch of Creation, 710. + Theory of Human Progression; Forest Life and Forest Trees; + Semme's Service Afloat and Ashore; The Lady and the Priest; The + Attache in Spain, 711. Scenes and Legends of the North of + Scotland; Miss Benger's Mary Queen of Scots; Motherwell's Poems; + Memoirs of the Buckminsters; Plymouth and the Pilgrims; St. + John's Geology; Ware's Sketches of European Capitals; Lamartine's + Restoration; Rule and Misrule of the English in America; Poore's + Life of Napoleon, 712. Bayard Taylor's Romances, Lyrics, and + Songs; Margaret; Abbott's Young Christian; Spooner's Dictionary + of Artists; Memoirs of Chalmers; The Bible in the Family; The + Scalp Hunters, 855. The Human Body in its Connection with Man; + Ladies of the Covenant; Alban; Fifteen Decisive Battles; Queens + of Scotland; The Lily and the Bee; London Labor; Malmiztic the + Toltec; The Mind and the Heart, 856. + + London Sparrows 258 + Lord Brougham as a Judge 622 + Love and Smuggling 378 + Madames De Genlis and De Stael 59 + Mary Kingsford 121 + Maurice Tiernay, the Soldier of Fortune. + By CHARLES LEVER 28, 171, 360, 471, 635, 767 + Memories of Mexico 461 + Mems for Musical Misses 488 + Misers 614 + + MONTHLY RECORD OF CURRENT EVENTS. + + UNITED STATES. + + POLITICAL AND GENERAL NEWS.--Rumored descent upon Cuba; + President's Proclamation; arrests, 127. Legislature of New York; + the Canal Enlargement bill; close of the session; addresses to + the political parties, 127. Quick passages across the Atlantic, + 128, 275, 564. Emigrants from abroad, 128, 275, 561. May + Anniversaries in New York, 128. Opening of the Erie Railroad, + 128. Mr. Webster and Faneuil Hall, 129. Storm in New England, + 129. Secret Ballot in Massachusetts, 129. Message of the Governor + of Connecticut, 129. Southern Rights Convention at Charleston; + Messrs. Cheves and Rhett, 129. Constitutional Convention in + Virginia, 129, 277, 414, 558. Miscellaneous Intelligence from the + Northwest, 129. Texas, 130, 277. New Mexico, 130. From + California: Extra-judicial executions; death for larceny; tax on + miners: Indian hostilities; population; gold; Japanese; thermal + springs, 130. Abstract of the census, 273. Dispersion of Cuban + expedition, 273. Speeches of Mr. Webster at Buffalo and Albany, + 274. Methodist Book Concern suit, 274. Presbyterian General + Assembly at Utica, 275. At St. Louis, 275. Ocean steamers, 275. + Extra session of the New York Legislature, passage of the Canal + Enlargement bill, 275. Address of framers of the Constitution + against the bill, 275. Riot at Hoboken, 275. Legislature of + Massachusetts, principal bills passed, 276. Mr. Sumner's letter + of acceptance, 276. Maine and Massachusetts, 276. Liquor-law in + Maine, 276. Northern Eldorado, 276. Message of Governor Dinsmoore + of New Hampshire, 276. New Constitution in Maryland, 276. + Politics in Georgia, 276. In South Carolina, 276. In Mississippi, + 276. Indian hostilities in Texas, 277. From California, 277. From + Oregon, 277. Whig and Democratic Conventions in Vermont, 411. + Democratic State Convention in New Hampshire, 411. Whig and + Democratic Conventions in Pennsylvania, 412. Whig Convention in + Ohio, 412. State Rights Convention in Mississippi, 412. Whig + Convention in California, 413. Mr. Webster's Fourth of July + speech at Washington, 413. Legislature of New York; Canal bill; + apportionment of representatives, 413. Position of Mr. Fish, 413. + Legislature of Rhode Island, 413. Acceptance of new Constitution + in Ohio, 413. Widows in Kentucky to vote, 413. Celebration of the + battle of Fort Moultrie at Charleston, 414. Senators Clemens and + King of Alabama, 414. Compromise resolutions in Connecticut, 414. + Legislature of Michigan, 414. Mormon trials, 414. Mr. Webster at + Capon Springs, 414. From California: fire at San Francisco; + quartz mining; Lynch law; Chinamen; abortive expedition against + Lower California, 415. Indian treaty in Oregon, 415. Miscellanies + from the Northwest, 415. Trial of General Talcott, 415. American + traveler imprisoned in Hungary, 415. College commencements, 415, + 560. August elections, 557. State of parties, 557. Cuban + expedition sets out, 557. Progress of crime, 557. Prospects of + the harvest, 557. Indian hostilities along our frontiers, 557. + Meeting for co-operative resistance in Charleston, 557. Southern + Rights meeting, 558. New Constitution of Virginia, 558. + Democratic Convention in Ohio, 558. From California: new route; + another conflagration; T.B. McManus; vigilance committee, 559. + Joint call for a Whig Convention in New York, 559. Judge Bronson + on the Canal Enlargement bill, 560. Dinner to Archbishop Hughes, + 560. Return of the steamer Atlantic, 561. Western Railroad + Convention, 561. Colored Convention in Indiana, 562. Sioux + treaty, 562. Steam to Ireland, 562. Letter from Kossuth, 562. + Fourth of July at Turks Island, 562. Emancipation of slaves by + Mr. Ragland, 562. Soundings in Gulf of Mexico, 562. Fugitive + slaves in Mexico, 562. Expedition to Cuba fails, 692. Excitement + in the United States, 693. Whig and Democratic Conventions in + Massachusetts, 693. Whig and Democratic Conventions in New York, + 693. Severe storm, 694. From Texas: crops; trade; Indian affray; + Boundary Commission, 694. Fugitive slave cases, 694. Union + victory in Mississippi, 694. Slaves liberated by Mr. Caldwell, + 694. From California: subsidence of Lynch law; mining; Indians; + politics, 695; more executions; conflict of authorities; + miscellaneous, 841. Meeting of the New York State Agricultural + Society, 840. Railroad celebration at Boston, 840. Return of the + Arctic Expedition, 840. Legislature of Vermont, 840. Accidents + and Shipwrecks, 840. Duels, 841. Michigan conspiracy trials, 841. + Bishop in New York, 841. From New Mexico: Indians; Col. Sumner's + command; Catholic Church, 841. + + ELECTIONS.--Mr. Sumner in Massachusetts, 128. State officers in + Connecticut, 129. Congressional representatives in Massachusetts, + 276. State officers in New Hampshire, 276. August elections for + members of Congress and State officers in several States, 557. Of + delegates to State Convention in Mississippi, 694. Of Governor + and Members of Congress in Georgia, 840. + + SOUTHERN AMERICA. + + Mexico: The revenue; Indian hostilities; meditated revolution, + 130. Brazil and the Argentine Republic, 131, 277, 416, 697, 842. + Excitement in Cuba, 131. Hayti, 131. From Mexico; financial + difficulties; Indian hostilities; claims upon the United States, + 277. From Peru: Election of President; disturbances, 277. + Disturbances in Chili, 277. Central America, 278. Financial + projects in Mexico, 416. Tehuantepec survey prohibited, 416. + Chili and Peru, 416. General Rosas, 416. Uruguay, 416. New + Constitution in Bolivia, 416. New Granada, 417. Plot in + Venezuela, 417. Proposed confederation in Central America, 417. + Cholera in Jamaica, 417. Cuba, 417. Santa Cruz, 417. Hostilities + in Hayti, 417. Gloomy state of affairs in Mexico, 562. Statement + of the Tehuantepec question, 563. Insurrectionary movements in + New Granada, 563, 697. Scarcity of labor in Jamaica; colored + emigrants solicited, 563. Riot at Kingston, 563. Abortive + insurrection in Cuba, 564. Failure of the expedition and + execution of Lopez, 692. Disturbances in Guayaquil, 696. Affairs + in Chili: Election of Montt as President; revenues; railroads; + storm, 696. Peru, 697. Mexican affairs: Financial schemes; Church + property; Tehuantepec difficulties; proposed South American + confederacy; disturbances; Payno's mission to England, 697. + Decline of the slave-trade in Brazil, 697. Peace in Hayti, 697. + Volcanic Eruption in Martinique, 697. Continued troubles in + Mexico, 842. Revolution in the Northern departments, 842. + Disturbances in Central America, 842. War between Brazil and + Rosas, 842. Chili and Peru, 843. + + GREAT BRITAIN. + + Opening of the Exhibition, 131. Duke of Wellington and the + statuette of Napoleon, 131. Proceedings in Parliament: Sundry + motions; Jews' bill; model lodging houses, 131. Speech of Sir + William Molesworth on the Colonies, 132. Lord Torrington as + Governor of Ceylon, 132. Aylesbury election vacated, 132. Dinner + to Lord Stanley, 132. Troubles in the Established Church, 132. + The Kaffir war, 132, 417. Manifesto of the Chartists, 132. + Emigration, 132, 843. Legal nicety, 132. Progress of the + Exhibition. 278, 417, 565, 698, 843. American contributions, 278. + Parliamentary proceedings, 278. Copyright decision in favor of + foreigners, 278. Protectionist meeting at Tamworth, 278. + Thackeray's lectures, 278. Mr. Cobden's peace motion, 417. Census + of Great Britain, 417. Steam between Ireland and United States, + 417. Prince Albert on the American revolution, 418. Balloon + accident, 418. Passage of ecclesiastical titles bill, 564. + Jewish disabilities bill, 564. Mr. Salomons denied a seat in + Parliament, 564. Chancery reform, 565. Secret ballot, 565. + Bishops' revenues, 565. Decline of the slave trade, 565. + Depopulation of Ireland, 565. Opposition to copyright decision, + 565. The queen and the corporation of London, 565. Mr. Peabody's + entertainment, 565. The Crystal Palace as a winter garden, 566. + Prerogation of Parliament, 597. The yacht races, 698. Catholic + meeting in Dublin, 698. Condition of laboring classes, 698. + Artistic defects, 698. Persistance of Mr. Salomons, 698. Speeches + of Lord Palmerston, Bulwer, Mr. Hunt, and Mr. Disraeli, 843. + Return of the Arctic Expedition, 843. Tour of the American + minister in Ireland, 843. Submarine Telegraph, 843. + + FRANCE. + + Difficulties in the way of revision, 133. New Provisional + Ministry formed, 133. Newspaper politics, 133. Troubles at Lyons, + 133. Disturbances in the University, 133. Prosecutions against + the press, 133, 279. Bread society, 133. Refugee dinner, 133. + Holy week, 133. Hostilities in Algeria, 133. The President and + Abd-el-Kader, 133. Question of revision, 279, 418. Defeat of the + Kabyles, 279. Appointment of committee on revision, 418. The + President at Dijon, 418. Report of the committee on revision, + sketch of debate, and rejection of proposition, 566. Censure upon + and proffered resignation of ministers, 567. Free-trade motion + lost, 567. Fete to Exhibition commissioners, 567, 699. + Adjournment of Assembly, 699. Preparations for presidential + election, 699. Plots at Lyons, 699. Casualty at funeral of + Marshal Sebastiani, 699. Government and the press, 843. Progress + toward despotism, 843. Speech of the President, 844. + + GERMANY. + + Resuscitation of the Frankfort Diet, 133. Position of the Powers, + 134. Refugee loan, 134. Close of the Dresden Conference, 279. + Meeting of sovereigns, 279. Speech of the King of Prussia, 279. + The Diet, 418. Affray at Hamburg, 418. English and French + protests against Austrian projects, 567. Press ordinance in + Austria, 567. Amnesty granted in Hesse Cassel, 567. Absolutism + predominant, 699. Political persecutions of musicians, 699. + Repression in Hungary, 700. Confiscation of the Allgemeine + Zeitung, 715. Extension of the Zollverein, 844. Progress of + Despotism in Austria, 844. Austrian loan, 844. + + SOUTHERN EUROPE. + + Insurrection in Portugal, and overthrow of the Thomar Ministry, + 134, 279. Dissolution of the Spanish Cortes, 134. Railroad + commissioners appointed, 134. From Italy: Death of _Il + Passatore;_ books prohibited; Emperor of Austria at Venice; + anniversary of the battle of Novara, 134. Elections in Spain, + 279. Concordat with Rome, 279. Disturbances in Madrid, 279. + Opposition to tobacco in Italy, 279, 418. The French at Rome, + 279. Austrians in Italy, 418, 567. Banishment of Count + Guicciardini, 418. Mr. Gladstone on political prisoners at + Naples, 567. Portugal, 567. Arrests and Espionage in Italy, 699. + Foreign publications examined, 700. Inundations in Switzerland, + 700. Catastrophe at Moscow, 700. Reply of the Neapolitan + Government to Mr. Gladstone, 844. Affairs at Rome, 844. + Excitement in Spain on the Cuban question, 844. Spanish Tariff, + 844. + + THE EAST. + + Insurrections in Turkey, 134. Hungarian exiles, 134. Earthquake + in Anatolia, 134. Railroad across the Isthmus of Suez, 134. + Revolt in Egypt, 134. Affairs in India, 134. Plot against the + Nepaulese embassador, 134. Insurrection in China, 134, 567, 700. + Russian losses in Circassia, 567. Hurricane in India, 567. The + Governor-general, 567. Anti-mission movement among the Hindoos, + 567. Cholera in the Canary Islands, 567. Kossuth to be liberated, + 700. Annexation in India, 700. Affairs in Siam, 700. Massacre in + Formosa, 700. Release of Kossuth, 844. Difficulties between + Turkey and Austria, 844. Unsettled condition of Turkey, 845. + Difficulties between Persia and Russia, 845. From India, 845. + Discoveries of gold in Australia, 845. + + LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC, AND PERSONAL. + + UNITED STATES.--Visit of the President and Cabinet to the North, + 135. St. George's Society, speeches of Mr. Bulwer, and Celtic + wrath, 135. W.L. Mackenzie, 135. American meeting for the + Advancement of Science, at Cincinnati, 135. Prussian medal to + Professor Morse, 135. Return of Jenny Lind, 135. Art-Union, 135. + Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware, 136. Woodville's Game + of Chess, 136. Power's La Dorado, 136. Mr. Whitney, 136. Golden + newspaper, 136. Philadelphia Art Union, 136. Chilly McIntosh, + 136. Mr. Brace arrested in Hungary, 415. Talvi, 415. Mr. B.A. + Gould, 415. Commencements of colleges, 415, 560. Dinner to + Archbishop Hughes, 560. The Art Union, 561. Thorwaldssen's + models, 561. Statue to De Witt Clinton, 561. Huntington, Gray, + Page, 561. Greenough's Pioneer, 561. Release of Mr. Brace, 562. + Indian chiefs, 562. First book printed in New York, 562. + Education Association at Cleveland, 694. Anticipated trial of Mr. + Brace, 700. Kossuth to be liberated, 700. Small lions at Soirees, + 713. Literary strategy, 713. New work of Jonathan Edwards, 716. + Catherine Hayes, 716. Father Mathew, 841. Monument to Cooper, + 841. Methodist Book Concern, 860. W.G. Simms, 860. Works of + Andrews Norton, 860. Stockhardt's Agricultural Chemistry, 860. + + FOREIGN.--Sir Charles Lyell on rain-drop impressions, 136. + Chapman on cotton in India, 136. Artificial gems, 137. Pensions + to J.S. Buckingham, Col. Torrens, and Mrs. Jameson, 698. Mr. + Jerdan, 698. Haynau at home, 698. Notices of Tuckerman and + Ungewitter, 713. Present state of copyright question, 713. + Railroad literature, 714. Estimation of Andrews' Latin Lexicon, + 714. The Bateman children, 715. De Soto's Conquest of Florida, + 715. Gavelkind, 715. Lingard's library, 715. Latham's Ethnology, + 715. Complete Works of Frederick the Great, 716. Eugene Sue, 716. + Gasparis, 716. Reboul, the baker poet, 716. Shakspeare abroad, + 716. Cayley's Dante, 857. Tupper's Hymn, 857. Thomas Cooper, 857. + Thackeray's forthcoming novel, 857. English Records, 857. + Parkman's Pontiac, 857, 860. Carlyle's Life of Stirling, 858. + Comte's Philosophy, 858. Layard's Investigations, 858. Monument + to Wordsworth, 858. Achilli, Mazzini, 858. Thier's Consulate, + 858. De Cassagnac, 858. Cheap publications, 858. St. Just, 858. + Proudhon, 858. Spinoza, 859. Dumas, 859. Eugene Sue, Jules Janin, + 859. De Maistre, 859. Unacknowledged translations, 859. Brentano, + Metternich, 859. Monument to Muller, 859. + + OBITUARIES. + + Philip Hone, 137. Hon. David Daggett, 137. Hon. William Steele, + 137. Gen. Hugh Brady, 137. Stephen, Olin, D.D., 695. Hon. Levi + Woodbury, 695. James Fenimore Cooper, 695. Thomas H. Gallaudet, + 696. Sylvester Graham, 696. Prof. Beverley Tucker, 696. Dr. + Paulus, 700. Mr. Gibbon, 713. Harriet Lee, 713. Lady Louisa + Stuart, 713. Daniel O'Sullivan, 715. Dr. Lorenz Oken, 715. John + Godfrey Gruber, 716. M. Dupaty, 716. James Richardson, 860. + William Nicol, 860. B.P. Gibbon, 860. John Kidd, 860. + + Morbid Impulses 181 + My Novel; or, Varieties in English Life. + By SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON 111, 256, 394, 541, 665, 816 + Napoleon Bonaparte. By JOHN S.C. ABBOTT 289, 433, 577, 721 + Never Despair 651 + New Proofs of the Earth's Rotation 99 + Our National Anniversary. By BENSON J. LOSSING 145 + Oriental Saloons in Madrid 335 + Pearl Divers 46 + Pedestrian in Holland 351 + Peep at the Peraharra 322 + Personal Habits of the Walpoles 79 + Phantoms and Realities 49, 187, 337 + Pie Shops of London 392 + Pools of Ellendeen 466 + Postal Reform--Cheap Postage 837 + Poulailler the Robber 489 + Race Horses and Horse Races 329 + Recollections of the Author of Lacon 648 + Reminiscences of An Attorney 314 + Scene from Irish Life 832 + Scientific Fantasies 496 + Seals and Whales 764 + Scottish Revenge 836 + Shots in the Jungle 527 + Shadow of Ben Jonson's Mother 810 + Siberia as a Land of Exile 782 + Sight of An Angel 25 + Sketches of Oriental Life 805 + Solar System 207 + Somnambule 304 + Somnambulism 196 + Spanish Bull Fight 359 + Stories of Shipwreck 62 + Story of an Organ 754 + Story of Reynard the Fox 742 + Student Life in Paris 373 + Summer. By JAMES THOMSON 1 + Syrian Superstitions 839 + The Flying Artist 761 + The Right One 619 + The Stolen Rose 787 + The Town-Ho's Story. By HERMAN MELVILLE 658 + The Treason of Benedict Arnold. By BENSON J. LOSSING 451 + The Two Roads 61 + The Usurer's Gift 232 + Thomas Moore 791 + Tobacco Factory in Spain 326 + Village Life in Germany 320 + Visit at Mr. Webster's. By Lady EMMELINE STUART WORTLEY 94 + Visit to Laplanders 248 + Visit to Robinson Crusoe 530 + Visit to The North Cape 102 + Warnings of The Past 391 + Waterspout in Indian Ocean 469 + Weovil Biscuit Manufactory 487 + White Silk Bonnet 533 + Widow of Cologne 815 + Woman's Emancipation.--A letter from a strong-minded American + Woman 424 + Woman's Offices and Influence 654 + Wordsworth, Byron, Scott, Shelley 502 + Work Away 231 + Worship of Gold 252 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + PAGE + 1. Refulgent Summer comes 1 + 2. The meek-eyed dawn appears 2 + 3. From some promontory's top 3 + 4. Approach of evening 4 + 5. Reclined beneath the shade 5 + 6. Infancy, youth, and age 6 + 7. Hay-making 6 + 8. Sheep-washing 7 + 9. Slumbers the monarch swain 8 + 10. A various group the flocks and herds 8 + 11. A thousand shapes majestic stalk 9 + 12. An ample chair, moss-lined 10 + 13. Birth of the Nile 12 + 14. From steep to steep he pours his urn 12 + 15. Sad on the jutting eminence he sits 13 + 16. The mother strains her infant 13 + 17. Pouring forth pestilence 15 + 18. Stricken with plague 15 + 19. Thunder-storm 16 + 20. Young Celadon and his Amelia 17 + 21. A blackened corpse was struck the maid 17 + 22. The soft hour of walking 19 + 23. View on the Thames 19 + 24. The sailor's farewell 20 + 25. Shepherd and milkmaid 22 + 26. At eve the fairy people throng 22 + 27. Evening yields the world to night 23 + 28. Philosophy directs the helm 24 + 29. Rotation of the earth--Diagram 1 100 + 30. Rotation of the earth--Diagram 2 100 + 31. Tired of the world 141 + 32. Robinson and Jones pleasuring 141 + 33. Robinson and Jones on Deck 142 + 34. Robinson before and after a Voyage 142 + 35. A perfect Wretch 142 + 36. Costumes for early Summer 143 + 37. Evening dress 144 + 38. Head-dress 144 + 39. Bonnet 144 + 40. Portraits of Adams, Sherman, Livingston, Jefferson, and + Franklin 145 + 41. Portrait of Earl of Bute 146 + 42. Portrait of James Otis 147 + 43. Portrait of Patrick Henry 148 + 44. Independence Hall, Philadelphia 151 + 45. Portrait of John Hancock 152 + 46. Portrait of Robert Morris 152 + 47. Portrait of Richard Henry Lee 153 + 48. Portrait of John Dickinson 153 + 49. Portrait of Edward Rutledge 154 + 50. Portrait of Samuel Adams 154 + 51. Portrait of John Witherspoon 155 + 52. The Liberty Bell 157 + 53. Fac-simile of the Signatures to the Declaration of + Independence 158 + 54. Hauling the Life-car 161 + 55. The Life-car--Diagram 1 162 + 56. The Life-car--Diagram 2 162 + 57. The Life-car--Diagram 3 162 + 58. The Life-car--Diagram 4 162 + 59. Seizing the Cask 163 + 60. Firing the Shot 164 + 61. The Hydraulic Press 165 + 62. The Surf-boat 168 + 63. Climbing the Rope 169 + 64. The Tent 170 + 65. The Eclipse of 1851--Diagram 1 239 + 66. The Eclipse of 1851--Diagram 2 239 + 67. The Eclipse of 1851--Diagram 3 239 + 68. The Eclipse of 1851--Diagram 4 240 + 69. The Eclipse of 1851--Map 240 + 70. The Eclipse of 1851--enlarged Map 241 + 71. The Eclipse of 1851--Digits 241 + 72. Comparative Love 285 + 73. Taking the Census 286 + 74. A strange Machine 286 + 75. Costumes for Summer 287 + 76. Bonnets 288 + 77. Turkish Costume 288 + 78. The Birth-house of Napoleon 290 + 79. The Home of Napoleon's Childhood 292 + 80. Napoleon at Brienne 293 + 81. The Snow Fort 295 + 82. Lieutenant Bonaparte 299 + 83. The Water-excursion 303 + 84. Varieties of Bloomers 424 + 85. Experimental Philosophy 425 + 86. The interesting Story 425 + 87. Costumes for the Dog-days 425 + 88. A wet day at a Country Inn 426 + 89. Scene at the sea side 426 + 90. Affecting--rather 427 + 91. Real Enjoyment 427 + 92. A Taste for the Beautiful 428 + 93. Singular optical Delusion 428 + 94. A most alarming Swelling 429 + 95. Sunbeams from Cucumbers 429 + 96. Much Ado about Nothing 430 + 97. Little Lessons for Little Ladies 430 + 98. Costumes for August 431 + 99. Jackets 432 + 100. Boy's Dress 432 + 101. The Attack upon the Tuileries 435 + 102. The Emigrants 436 + 103. The Volunteer Gunners 440 + 104. Night Studies 443 + 105. Napoleon before the Convention 448 + 106. The Amazon discomfited 450 + 107. Portrait of Benedict Arnold 451 + 108. Portrait of Major Andre 453 + 109. Portrait of Sir Henry Clinton 453 + 110. Portrait of Beverley Robinson 453 + 111. Robinson's House 454 + 112. Smith's House 455 + 113. Arnold's Pass to Andre 456 + 114. Map of Andre's Route 457 + 115. Place of Andre's Capture 457 + 116. Breakfast Room at Robinson's House 458 + 117. View at Robinson's Dock 458 + 118. Washington's Head Quarters at Tappan 459 + 119. Andre's Pen-and-Ink sketch of himself 459 + 120. Andre's Monument 460 + 121. Paulding's Monument 460 + 122. Van Wart's Monument 460 + 123. Artesian Wells in Mississippi 539 + 124. The Auger for boring 539 + 125. Auger rods 539 + 126. The Pump 540 + 127. Bits for boring through Rock 540 + 128. Boring Apparatus complete 540 + 129. The Couter 540 + 130. Pump-logs 541 + 131. Section of Logs 541 + 132. Fashions for September 575 + 133. Bonnet and Head-dress 576 + 134. Chemisette 576 + 135. Napoleon and Eugene Beauharnais 578 + 136. Napoleon and his Generals 583 + 137. Napoleon on Mount Zemolo 585 + 138. Passage of the Bridge of Lodi 590 + 139. Napoleon and the Courier 593 + 140. The Burning of Banasco 595 + 141. Peruvian Cavalier 600 + 142. Limena at Home 602 + 143. Cholitas or Indian Women of Peru 603 + 144. Coming from Mass 604 + 145. Holding the Mirror up to Nature 717 + 146. A Bite 717 + 147. Much too considerate 717 + 148. A Lesson on Patience 718 + 149. Development of Taste 718 + 150. Costumes for October 719 + 151. Carriage Costume 720 + 152. Caps and Under-sleeve 720 + 153. The Encampment before Mantua 721 + 154. The Little Corporal and the Sentinel 725 + 155. The Solitary Bivouac 726 + 156. The Dead Soldier and his Dog 728 + 157. The Marshes of Arcola 733 + 158. The Exhausted Sentinel 739 + 159. Reynard at Home 743 + 160. Reynard as a Hermit 744 + 161. Sir Tibert delivering the King's Message 745 + 162. Reynard brings forward the Hare 746 + 163. Reynard on his Pilgrimage to Rome 747 + 164. Reynard attacks the Rabbit 748 + 165. Brother Jonathan's First Lesson in Shipbuilding 861 + 166. Not a difficult thing to foretell 861 + 167. Curiosities of Medical Experience 862 + 168. Retirement 862 + 169. Costumes for November 863 + 170. Opera Dress 864 + 171. Head-Dresses and Caps 864 + + + + + HARPER'S + + NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. + + NO. XIII.--JUNE, 1851.--VOL. III. + + + + +SUMMER. + +BY JAMES THOMSON + + +[Illustration: Refulgent Summer comes] + + From brightening fields of ether fair-disclos'd, + Child of the sun, refulgent SUMMER comes, + In pride of youth, and felt through nature's depth: + He comes attended by the sultry hours, + And ever-fanning breezes, on his way; + While, from his ardent look, the turning Spring + Averts her blushful face; and earth, and skies, + All-smiling, to his hot dominion leaves. + + Hence, let me haste into the mid wood shade, + Where scarce a sunbeam wanders through the gloom + And on the dark-green grass, beside the brink + Of haunted stream, that by the roots of oak + Rolls o'er the rocky channel, lie at large, + And sing the glories of the circling year. + + Come, Inspiration! from thy hermit-seat, + By mortal seldom found: may fancy dare, + From thy fix'd serious eye, and raptur'd glance + Shot on surrounding heaven, to steal one look + Creative of the poet, every power + Exalting to an ecstasy of soul. + + And thou, my youthful muse's early friend, + In whom the human graces all unite; + Pure light of mind, and tenderness of heart; + Genius and wisdom; the gay social sense, + By decency chastis'd; goodness and wit, + In seldom-meeting harmony combin'd; + Unblemish'd honor, and an active zeal + For Britain's glory, liberty, and man: + O Dodington! attend my rural song, + Stoop to my theme, inspirit every line, + And teach me to deserve thy just applause. + + With what an awful world-revolving power + Were first the unwieldy planets launch'd along + The illimitable void! thus to remain, + Amid the flux of many thousand years, + That oft has swept the toiling race of men + And all their labor'd monuments away, + Firm, unremitting, matchless, in their course, + To the kind-temper'd change of night and day, + And of the Seasons ever stealing round, + Minutely faithful: such the All-perfect Hand + That pois'd, impels, and rules the steady whole. + + When now no more the alternate Twins are fir'd, + And Cancer reddens with the solar blaze, + Short is the doubtful empire of the night; + And soon, observant of approaching day, + The meek-ey'd morn appears, mother of dews, + At first faint-gleaming in the dappled east-- + Till far o'er ether spreads the widening glow, + And, from before the lustre of her face, + White break the clouds away. With quicken'd step, + Brown night retires. Young day pours in apace, + And opens all the lawny prospect wide. + The dripping rock, the mountain's misty top, + Swell on the sight, and brighten with the dawn. + Blue, through the dusk, the smoking currents shine; + And from the bladed field the fearful hare + Limps, awkward; while along the forest glade + The wild deer trip, and often turning gaze + At early passenger. Music awakes, + The native voice of undissembled joy, + And thick around the woodland hymns arise. + Rous'd by the cock, the soon-clad shepherd leaves + His mossy cottage, where with peace he dwells; + And from the crowded fold, in order, drives + His flock, to taste the verdure of the morn. + +[Illustration: The meek-eyed dawn appears] + + Falsely luxurious, will not man awake; + And, springing from the bed of sloth, enjoy + The cool, the fragrant, and the silent hour, + To meditation due and sacred song? + For is there aught in sleep can charm the wise? + To lie in dead oblivion, losing half + The fleeting moments of too short a life; + Total extinction of the enlighten'd soul! + Or else to feverish vanity alive, + Wilder'd, and tossing through distemper'd dreams + Who would in such a gloomy state remain + Longer than nature craves; when every muse + And every blooming pleasure wait without, + To bless the wildly devious morning-walk? + + But yonder comes the powerful king of day, + Rejoicing in the east. The lessening cloud, + The kindling azure, and the mountain's brow + Illum'd with fluid gold, his near approach + Betoken glad. Lo! now apparent all, + Aslant the dew-bright earth, and color'd air, + He looks in boundless majesty abroad; + And sheds the shining day, that burnish'd plays + On rocks, and hills, and towers, and wandering streams, + High-gleaming from afar. Prime cheerer, light! + Of all material beings first, and best! + Efflux divine! Nature's resplendent robe! + Without whose vesting beauty all were wrapp'd + In unessential gloom; and thou, O sun! + Soul of surrounding worlds! in whom best seen + Shines out thy Maker! may I sing of thee? + + 'Tis by thy secret, strong, attractive force, + As with a chain indissoluble bound, + Thy system rolls entire; from the far bourn + Of utmost Saturn, wheeling wide his round + Of thirty years, to Mercury, whose disk + Can scarce be caught by philosophic eye, + Lost in the near effulgence of thy blaze. + + Informer of the planetary train! + Without whose quickening glance their cumbrous orbs + Were brute unlovely mass, inert and dead, + And not, as now, the green abodes of life-- + How many forms of being wait on thee! + Inhaling spirit; from the unfetter'd mind, + By thee sublim'd, down to the daily race, + The mixing myriads of thy setting beam. + + The vegetable world is also thine, + Parent of Seasons! who the pomp precede + That waits thy throne, as through thy vast domain, + Annual, along the bright ecliptic-road, + In world-rejoicing state, it moves sublime. + Meantime the expecting nations, circled gay + With all the various tribes of foodful earth, + Implore thy bounty, or send grateful up + A common hymn; while, round thy beaming car, + High-seen, the Seasons lead, in sprightly dance + Harmonious knit, the rosy-finger'd hours, + The zephyrs floating loose, the timely rains, + Of bloom ethereal the light-footed dews, + And soften'd into joy the surly storms. + These, in successive turn, with lavish hand, + Shower every beauty, every fragrance shower, + Herbs, flowers, and fruits; till, kindling at thy touch, + From land to land is flush'd the vernal year. + + Nor to the surface of enliven'd earth, + Graceful with hills and dales, and leafy woods, + Her liberal tresses, is thy force confin'd-- + But, to the bowel'd cavern darting deep, + The mineral kinds confess thy mighty power. + Effulgent, hence the veiny marble shines; + Hence labor draws his tools; hence burnish'd war + Gleams on the day; the nobler works of peace + Hence bless mankind; and generous commerce binds + The round of nations in a golden chain. + + The unfruitful rock itself, impregn'd by thee, + In dark retirement forms the lucid stone. + The lively diamond drinks thy purest rays, + Collected light, compact; that, polish'd bright. + And all its native lustre let abroad, + Dares, as it sparkles on the fair one's breast, + With vain ambition emulate her eyes. + At thee the ruby lights its deepening glow, + And with a waving radiance inward flames. + From thee the sapphire, solid ether, takes + Its hue cerulean; and, of evening tinct, + The purple streaming amethyst is thine. + With thy own smile the yellow topaz burns; + Nor deeper verdure dyes the robe of Spring, + When first she gives it to the southern gale, + Than the green emerald shows. But, all combin'd, + Thick through the whitening opal play thy beams; + Or, flying several from its surface, form + A trembling variance of revolving hues, + As the site varies in the gazer's hand. + + The very dead creation, from thy touch, + Assumes a mimic life. By thee refin'd, + In brighter mazes the relucent stream + Plays o'er the mead. The precipice abrupt, + Projecting horror on the blacken'd flood, + Softens at thy return. The desert joys + Wildly, through all his melancholy bounds. + Rude ruins glitter; and the briny deep, + Seen from some pointed promontory's top, + Far to the blue horizon's utmost verge, + Restless, reflects a floating gleam. But this, + And all the much-transported muse can sing, + Are to thy beauty, dignity, and use, + Unequal far; great delegated source + Of light, and life, and grace, and joy below! + +[Illustration: From some promontory's top] + + How shall I then attempt to sing of him, + Who, Light himself! in uncreated light + Invested deep, dwells awfully retired + From mortal eye, or angel's purer ken, + Whose single smile has, from the first of time, + Fill'd, overflowing, all those lamps of heaven, + That beam forever through the boundless sky; + But, should he hide his face, the astonish'd sun, + And all the extinguish'd stars, would loosening reel + Wide from their spheres, and chaos come again. + + And yet was every faltering tongue of man, + Almighty Father! silent in thy praise, + Thy works themselves would raise a general voice + Even in the depth of solitary woods, + By human foot untrod, proclaim thy power; + And to the quire celestial thee resound, + The eternal cause, support, and end of all! + + To me be Nature's volume broad-display'd; + And to peruse its all-instructing page, + Or, haply catching inspiration thence, + Some easy passage, raptur'd, to translate, + My sole delight; as through the falling glooms + Pensive I stray, or with the rising dawn + On fancy's eagle-wing excursive soar. + +[Illustration: Approach of evening] + + Now, flaming up the heavens, the potent sun + Melts into limpid air the high-rais'd clouds, + And morning fogs, that hover'd round the hills + In party-color'd bands; till wide unveil'd + The face of nature shines, from where earth seems + Far stretch'd around, to meet the bending sphere. + + Half in a blush of clustering roses lost, + Dew-dropping coolness to the shade retires, + There, on the verdant turf, or flowery bed, + By gelid founts and careless rills to muse; + While tyrant heat, dispreading through the sky, + With rapid sway, his burning influence darts + On man, and beast, and herb, and tepid stream. + + Who can, unpitying, see the flowery race, + Shed by the morn, their new-flush'd bloom resign, + Before the parching beam? So fade the fair, + When fevers revel through their azure veins. + But one, the lofty follower of the sun, + Sad when he sets, shuts up her yellow leaves, + Drooping all night; and, when he warm returns, + Points her enamor'd bosom to his ray. + + Home, from the morning task, the swain retreats; + His flock before him stepping to the fold: + While the full-udder'd mother lows around + The cheerful cottage, then expecting food, + The food of innocence and health! The daw, + The rook, and magpie, to the gray-grown oaks + (That the calm village in their verdant arms, + Sheltering, embrace) direct their lazy flight; + Where on the mingling boughs they sit embower'd, + All the hot noon, till cooler hours arise. + Faint, underneath, the household fowls convene; + And, in a corner of the buzzing shade, + The housedog, with the vacant grayhound, lies + Outstretched and sleepy. In his slumbers one + Attacks the nightly thief, and one exults + O'er hill and dale; till, waken'd by the wasp, + They, starting, snap. Nor shall the muse disdain + To let the little noisy summer race + Live in her lay, and flutter through her song, + Not mean, though simple: to the sun allied, + From him they draw their animating fire. + + Wak'd by his warmer ray, the reptile young + Come wing'd abroad; by the light air upborne, + Lighter, and full of soul. From every chink, + And secret corner, where they slept away + The wintry storms--or, rising from their tombs + To higher life--by myriads, forth at once, + Swarming they pour; of all the varied hues + Their beauty-beaming parent can disclose. + Ten thousand forms! ten thousand different tribes! + People the blaze. To sunny waters some + By fatal instinct fly; where, on the pool, + They, sportive, wheel; or, sailing down the stream + Are snatch'd immediate by the quick-ey'd trout, + Or darting salmon. Through the greenwood glade + Some love to stray; there lodg'd, amus'd, and fed + In the fresh leaf. Luxurious, others make + The meads their choice, and visit every flower, + And every latent herb: for the sweet task, + To propagate their kinds, and where to wrap, + In what soft beds, their young, yet undisclos'd, + Employs their tender care. Some to the house, + The fold, and dairy, hungry, bend their flight; + Sip round the pail, or taste the curdling cheese: + Oft, inadvertent, from the milky stream + They meet their fate; or, weltering in the bowl, + With powerless wings around them wrapp'd, expire. + + But chief to heedless flies the window proves + A constant death; where, gloomily retir'd, + The villain spider lives, cunning and fierce, + Mixture abhorr'd! Amid a mangled heap + Of carcasses, in eager watch he sits, + O'erlooking all his waving snares around. + Near the dire cell the dreadless wanderer oft + Passes, as oft the ruffian shows his front. + The prey at last ensnar'd, he dreadful darts, + With rapid glide, along the leaning line; + And, fixing in the wretch his cruel fangs, + Strikes backward, grimly pleas'd: the fluttering wing, + And shriller sound, declare extreme distress + And ask the helping hospitable hand. + + Resounds the living surface of the ground. + Nor undelightful is the ceaseless hum, + To him who muses through the woods at noon; + Or drowsy shepherd, as he lies reclin'd, + With half shut eyes, beneath the floating shade + Of willows gray, close-crowding o'er the brook. + +[Illustration: Reclined beneath the shade] + + Gradual, from these what numerous kinds descend, + Evading even the microscopic eye! + Full nature swarms with life; one wondrous mass + Of animals, or atoms organiz'd, + Waiting the vital breath, when Parent-Heaven + Shall bid his spirit blow. The hoary fen, + In putrid streams, emits the living cloud + Of pestilence. Through the subterranean cells. + + Where searching sunbeams scarce can find a way, + Earth animated heaves. The flowery leaf + Wants not its soft inhabitants. Secure, + Within its winding citadel, the stone + Holds multitudes. But chief the forest boughs, + That dance unnumber'd to the playful breeze, + The downy orchard, and the melting pulp + Of mellow fruit, the nameless nations feed + Of evanescent insects. Where the pool + Stands mantled o'er with green, invisible + Amid the floating verdure millions stray. + Each liquid, too, whether it pierces, soothes, + Inflames, refreshes, or exalts the taste, + With various forms abounds. Nor is the stream + Of purest crystal, nor the lucid air, + Though one transparent vacancy it seems, + Void of their unseen people. These, conceal'd + By the kind art of forming Heaven, escape + The grosser eye of man: for, if the worlds + In worlds inclos'd should on his senses burst, + From cates ambrosial, and the nectar'd bowl, + He would abhorrent turn; and in dead night. + When silence sleeps o'er all, be stunn'd with noise. + + Let no presuming impious railer tax + Creative Wisdom, as if aught was form'd + In vain, or not for admirable ends. + Shall little haughty ignorance pronounce + His works unwise, of which the smallest part + Exceeds the narrow vision of her mind? + As if upon a full-proportion'd dome, + On swelling columns heav'd, the pride of art! + A critic fly, whose feeble ray scarce spreads + An inch around, with blind presumption bold, + Should dare to tax the structure of the whole. + And lives the man whose universal eye + Has swept at once the unbounded scheme of things, + Mark'd their dependence so, and firm accord, + As with unfaltering accent to conclude + That _this_ availeth naught? Has any seen + The mighty chain of beings, lessening down + From Infinite Perfection to the brink + Of dreary nothing, desolate abyss! + From which astonish'd thought, recoiling, turns? + Till then, alone let zealous praise ascend, + And hymns of holy wonder, to that Power, + Whose wisdom shines as lovely on our minds, + As on our smiling eyes his servant-sun. + + Thick in yon stream of light, a thousand ways, + Upward and downward, thwarting and convolv'd, + The quivering nations sport; till, tempest-wing'd, + Fierce Winter sweeps them from the face of day + Even so, luxurious men, unheeding pass, + An idle summer-life in fortune's shine, + A season's glitter! thus they flutter on + From toy to toy, from vanity to vice; + Till, blown away by death, oblivion comes + Behind, and strikes them from the book of life. + +[Illustration: Infancy, youth, and age] + + Now swarms the village o'er the jovial mead + The rustic youth, brown with meridian toil, + Healthful and strong; full as the summer rose + Blown by prevailing suns, the ruddy maid, + Half-naked, swelling on the sight, and all + Her kindled graces burning o'er her cheek. + Even stooping age is here; and infant hands + Trail the long rake, or, with the fragrant load + O'ercharg'd, amid the kind oppression roll. + Wide flies the tedded grain; all in a row + Advancing broad, or wheeling round the field, + They spread the breathing harvest to the sun, + That throws refreshful round a rural smell; + Or, as they rake the green-appearing ground, + And drive the dusky wave along the mead, + The russet haycock rises thick behind, + In order gay: while heard from dale to dale, + Waking the breeze, resounds the blended voice + Of happy labor, love, and social glee. + +[Illustration: Hay-making] + + Or rushing thence, in one diffusive band, + They drive the troubled flocks, by many a dog + Compell'd, to where the mazy-running brook + Forms a deep pool; this bank abrupt and high, + And that, fair-spreading in a pebbled shore. + Urg'd to the giddy brink, much is the toil, + The clamor much, of men, and boys, and dogs, + Ere the soft fearful people to the flood + Commit their woolly sides. And oft the swain, + On some impatient seizing, hurls them in: + Embolden'd, then, nor hesitating more, + Fast, fast they plunge amid the flashing wave, + And panting labor to the farther shore. + Repeated this, till deep the well-wash'd fleece + Has drank the flood, and from his lively haunt + The trout is banish'd by the sordid stream, + Heavy and dripping, to the breezy brow + Slow move the harmless race; where, as they spread + Their swelling treasures to the sunny ray, + Inly disturb'd, and wondering what this wild + Outrageous tumult means, their loud complaints + The country fill--and, toss'd from rock to rock, + Incessant bleatings run around the hills. + At last, of snowy white, the gather'd flocks + Are in the wattled pen innumerous press'd, + Head above head; and rang'd in lusty rows + The shepherds sit, and whet the sounding shears. + The housewife waits to roll her fleecy stores, + With all her gay-dress'd maids attending round. + One, chief, in gracious dignity enthron'd, + Shines o'er the rest, the pastoral queen, and rays + Her smiles, sweet-beaming, on her shepherd-king, + While the glad circle round them yield their souls + To festive mirth, and wit that knows no gall. + Meantime, their joyous task goes on apace: + Some, mingling, stir the melted tar, and some, + Deep on the new-shorn vagrant's heaving side + To stamp his master's cipher ready stand; + Others the unwilling wether drag along; + And, glorying in his might, the sturdy boy + Holds by the twisted horns the indignant ram. + Behold where bound, and of its robe bereft, + By needy man, that all-depending lord, + How meek, how patient, the mild creature lies! + What softness in its melancholy face, + What dumb, complaining innocence appears! + Fear not, ye gentle tribes, 'tis not the knife + Of horrid slaughter that is o'er you wav'd; + No, 'tis the tender swain's well-guided shears, + Who having now, to pay his annual care, + Borrow'd your fleece, to you a cumbrous load, + Will send you bounding to your hills again. + +[Illustration: Sheep-washing] + + A simple scene! yet hence Britannia sees + Her solid grandeur rise: hence she commands + The exalted stores of every brighter clime, + The treasures of the sun without his rage; + Hence, fervent all, with culture, toil, and arts, + Wide glows her land; her dreadful thunder hence + Rides o'er the waves sublime, and now, even now, + Impending hangs o'er Gallia's humbled coast; + Hence rules the circling deep, and awes the world. + + 'Tis raging noon; and, vertical, the sun + Darts on the head direct his forceful rays. + O'er heaven and earth, far as the ranging eye + Can sweep, a dazzling deluge reigns; and all, + From pole to pole, is undistinguish'd blaze. + In vain the sight, dejected to the ground, + Stoops for relief; thence hot ascending streams + And keen reflection pain. Deep to the root + Of vegetation parch'd, the cleaving fields + And slippery lawn an arid hue disclose, + Blast fancy's blooms, and wither even the soul. + Echo no more returns the cheerful sound + Of sharpening scythe; the mower, sinking, heaps + O'er him the humid hay, with flowers perfum'd; + And scarce a chirping grasshopper is heard + Through the dumb mead. Distressful nature pants. + The very streams look languid from afar; + Or, through the unshelter'd glade, impatient, seem + To hurl into the covert of the grove. + + All conquering heat, oh, intermit thy wrath! + And on my throbbing temples potent thus + Beam not so fierce! Incessant still you flow, + And still another fervent flood succeeds, + Pour'd on the head profuse. In vain I sigh, + And restless turn, and look around for night: + Night is far off; and hotter hours approach. + Thrice-happy be! who on the sunless side + Of a romantic mountain, forest-crown'd, + Beneath the whole-collected shade reclines, + Or in the gelid caverns, woodbine-wrought, + And fresh bedew'd with ever-spouting streams, + Sits coolly calm, while all the world without, + Unsatisfied and sick, tosses in noon. + Emblem instructive of the virtuous man, + Who keeps his temper'd mind serene, and pure, + And every passion aptly harmoniz'd, + Amid a jarring world with vice inflam'd. + + Welcome, ye shades! ye bowery thickets, hail! + Ye lofty pines! ye venerable oaks! + Ye ashes wild, responding o'er the steep! + Delicious is your shelter to the soul, + As to the hunted hart the sallying spring, + Or stream full-flowing, that his swelling sides + Laves, as he floats along the herbag'd brink. + Cool, through the nerves, your pleasing comfort glides; + The heart beats glad; the fresh-expanded eye + And ear resume their watch; the sinews knit; + And life shoots swift through all the lighten'd limbs. + +[Illustration: A various group the flocks and herds] + +[Illustration: Slumbers the monarch swain] + + Around the adjoining brook that purls along + The vocal grove, now fretting o'er a rock, + Now scarcely moving through a reedy pool, + Now starting to a sudden stream, and now + Gently diffus'd into a limpid plain, + A various group the herds and flocks compose + Rural confusion! On the grassy bank + Some ruminating lie; while others stand + Half in the flood, and often bending sip + The circling surface. In the middle droops + The strong laborious ox, of honest front, + Which incompos'd he shakes; and from his sides + The troublous insects lashes with his tail, + Returning still. Amid his subjects safe, + Slumbers the monarch swain: his careless arm + Thrown round his head, on downy moss sustain'd: + Here laid his scrip, with wholesome viands fill'd; + There, listening every noise, his watchful dog. + + Light fly his slumbers, if perchance a flight + Of angry gadflies fasten on the herd; + That startling scatters from the shallow brook, + In search of lavish stream. Tossing the foam, + They scorn the keeper's voice, and scour the plain + Through all the bright severity of noon; + While, from their laboring breasts, a hollow moan + Proceeding, runs low-bellowing round the hills. + + Oft in this season too the horse, provok'd, + While his big sinews full of spirits swell, + Trembling with vigor, in the heat of blood, + Springs the high fence; and, o'er the field effus'd, + Darts on the gloomy flood, with steadfast eye, + And heart estrang'd to fear: his nervous chest, + Luxuriant and erect, the seat of strength! + Bears down the opposing stream; quenchless his thirst, + He takes the river at redoubled draughts: + And with wide nostrils, snorting, skims the wave. + + Still let me pierce into the midnight depth + Of yonder grove, of wildest, largest growth; + That, forming high in air a woodland quire, + Nods o'er the mount beneath. At every step, + Solemn and slow, the shadows blacker fall, + And all is awful listening gloom around. + + These are the haunts of meditation, these + The scenes where ancient bards the inspiring breath, + Ecstatic, felt: and, from this world retir'd. + Convers'd with angels, and immortal forms, + On gracious errands bent: to save the fall + Of virtue struggling on the brink of vice; + In waking whispers, and repeated dreams, + To hint pure thought, and warn the favor'd soul + For future trials fated to prepare; + To prompt the poet, who devoted gives + His muse to better themes; to soothe the pangs + Of dying worth, and from the patriot's breast + (Backward to mingle in detested war, + But foremost when engag'd) to turn the death: + And numberless such offices of love, + Daily and nightly, zealous to perform. + +[Illustration: A thousand shapes majestic stalk] + + Shook sudden from the bosom of the sky, + A thousand shapes or glide athwart the dusk, + Or stalk majestic on. Deep-rous'd, I feel + A sacred terror, a severe delight, + Creep through my mortal frame; and thus, methinks. + A voice, than human more, the abstracted ear + Of fancy strikes, "Be not of us afraid, + Poor kindred man! thy fellow-creatures, we + From the same Parent-Power our beings drew-- + The same our Lord, and laws, and great pursuit. + Once some of us, like thee, through stormy life + Toil'd tempest-beaten, ere we could attain + This holy calm, this harmony of mind, + Where purity and peace immingle charms: + Then fear not us; but with responsive song, + Amid those dim recesses, undisturb'd + By noisy folly and discordant vice, + Of nature sing with us, and nature's God. + Here frequent, at the visionary hour, + When musing midnight reigns or silent noon, + Angelic harps are in full concert heard, + And voices chanting from the wood-crown'd hill, + The deepening dale, or inmost sylvan glade; + A privilege bestow'd by us, alone, + On contemplation, or the hallow'd ear + Of poet, swelling to seraphic strain." + + And art thou, Stanley, of that sacred band? + Alas, for us too soon! Though rais'd above + The reach of human pain, above the flight + Of human joy, yet, with a mingled ray + Of sadly pleas'd remembrance, must thou feel + A mother's love, a mother's tender woe; + Who seeks thee still in many a former scene, + Seeks thy fair form, thy lovely beaming eyes, + Thy pleasing converse, by gay lively sense + Inspir'd--where moral wisdom mildly shone + Without the toil of art, and virtue glow'd. + In all her smiles, without forbidding pride. + But, O thou best of parents! wipe thy tears; + Or rather to parental Nature pay + The tears of grateful joy--who for a while + Lent thee this younger self, this opening bloom + Of thy enlighten'd mind and gentle worth. + Believe the muse: the wintry blast of death + Kills not the buds of virtue; no, they spread. + Beneath the heavenly beam of brighter suns, + Through endless ages, into higher powers. + + Thus up the mount, in airy vision rapt, + I stray, regardless whither; till the sound + Of a near fall of water every sense + Wakes from the charm of thought: swift-shrinking back, + I check my steps, and view the broken scene. + + Smooth to the shelving brink a copious flood + Rolls fair and placid; where collected all, + In one impetuous torrent, down the steep + It thundering shoots, and shakes the country round. + At first, an azure sheet, it rushes broad; + Then whitening by degrees as prone it falls, + And from the loud-resounding rocks below + Dash'd in a cloud of foam, it sends aloft + A hoary mist, and forms a ceaseless shower + Nor can the tortur'd wave here find repose: + But, raging still amid the shaggy rocks, + Now flashes o'er the scattered fragments, now + Aslant the hollow'd channel rapid darts; + And falling fast from gradual slope to slope, + With wild infracted course, and lessen'd roar, + It gains a safer bed, and steals at last, + Along the mazes of the quiet vale. + + Invited from the cliff, to whose dark brow + He clings, the steep-ascending eagle soars, + With upward pinions, through the flood of day, + And, giving full his bosom to the blaze, + Gains on the sun; while all the tuneful race, + Smit by afflictive noon, disorder'd droop, + Deep in the thicket; or, from bower to bower + Responsive, force an interrupted strain. + The stockdove only through the forest coos, + Mournfully hoarse; oft ceasing from his plaint, + Short interval of weary woe! again + The sad idea of his murder'd mate, + Struck from his side by savage fowler's guile + Across his fancy comes; and then resounds + A louder song of sorrow through the grove. + + Beside the dewy border let me sit, + All in the freshness of the humid air: + There on that hollow'd rock, grotesque and wild, + An ample chair moss-lin'd, and overhead + By flowing umbrage shaded; where the bee + Strays diligent, and with the extracted balm + Of fragrant woodbine loads his little thigh. + +[Illustration: An ample chair, moss-lined] + + Now, while I taste the sweetness of the shade, + While nature lies around deep-lull'd in noon, + Now come, bold fancy, spread a daring flight, + And view the wonders of the torrid zone + Climes unrelenting! with whose rage compar'd, + Yon blaze is feeble, and yon skies are cool. + + See, how at once the bright-effulgent sun, + Rising direct, swift chases from the sky + The short-liv'd twilight; and with ardent blaze + Looks gayly fierce o'er all the dazzling air: + He mounts his throne; but kind before him sends, + Issuing from out the portals of the morn, + The general breeze to mitigate his fire, + And breathe refreshment on a fainting world. + Great are the scenes, with dreadful beauty crown'd + And barbarous wealth, that see, each circling year, + Returning suns and double seasons pass: + Rocks rich in gems, and mountains big with mines, + That on the high equator ridgy rise, + Whence many a bursting stream auriferous plays; + Majestic woods, of every vigorous green, + Stage above stage, high waving o'er the hills, + Or to the far horizon wide-diffus'd, + A boundless deep immensity of shade. + Here lofty trees, to ancient song unknown, + The noble sons of potent heat and floods + Prone-rushing from the clouds, rear high to heaven + Their thorny stems, and broad around them throw + Meridian gloom. Here, in eternal prime, + Unnumber'd fruits, of keen, delicious taste + And vital spirit, drink amid the cliffs, + And burning sands that bank the shrubby vales, + Redoubled day; yet in their rugged coats + A friendly juice to cool its rage contain. + + Bear me, Pomona! to thy citron groves; + To where the lemon and the piercing lime, + With the deep orange, glowing through the green, + Their lighter glories blend. Lay me reclin'd + Beneath the spreading tamarind, that shakes, + Fann'd by the breeze, its fever-cooling fruit. + Deep in the night the massy locust sheds, + Quench my hot limbs; or lead me through the maze, + Embowering, endless, of the Indian fig; + Or thrown at gayer ease, on some fair brow, + Let me behold, by breezy murmurs cool'd, + Broad o'er my head the verdant cedar wave, + And high palmettos lift their graceful shade. + Oh! stretch'd amid these orchards of the sun, + Give me to drain the cocoa's milky bowl, + And from the palm to draw its freshening wine; + More bounteous far than all the frantic juice + Which Bacchus pours. Nor, on its slender twigs + Low-bending, be the full pomegranate scorn'd; + Nor, creeping through the woods, the gelid race + Of berries. Oft in humble station dwells + Unboastful worth, above fastidious pomp. + Witness, thou best ananas, thou the pride + Of vegetable life, beyond whate'er + The poets imag'd in the golden age: + Quick let me strip thee of thy tufty coat, + Spread thy ambrosial stores, and feast with Jove! + + From these the prospect varies. Plains immense + Lie stretch'd below, interminable meads, + And vast savannas, where the wandering eye, + Unfix'd, is in a verdant ocean lost. + Another Flora there, of bolder hues + And richer sweets, beyond our garden's pride, + Plays o'er the fields, and showers with sudden hand + Exuberant Spring; for oft these valleys shift + Their green-embroidered robe to fiery brown, + And swift to green again, as scorching suns, + Or streaming dews and torrent rains, prevail. + Along these lonely regions, where, retir'd + From little scenes of art, great Nature dwells + In awful solitude, and naught is seen + But the wild herds that own no master's stall, + Prodigious rivers roll their fattening seas; + On whose luxuriant herbage, half-conceal'd, + Like a fall'n cedar, far diffus'd his train, + Cas'd in green scales, the crocodile extends. + The flood disparts: behold! in plaited mail, + Behemoth rears his head. Glanc'd from his side, + The darted steel in idle shivers flies: + He fearless walks the plain, or seeks the hills; + Where, as he crops his varied fare, the herds, + In widening circle round, forget their food, + And at the harmless stranger wondering gaze. + + Peaceful, beneath primeval trees that cast + Their ample shade o'er Niger's yellow stream. + And where the Ganges rolls his sacred wave, + Or 'mid the central depth of blackening woods + High-rais'd in solemn theater around, + Leans the huge elephant; wisest of brutes! + Oh, truly wise! with gentle might endow'd, + Though powerful, not destructive. Here he sees + Revolving ages sweep the changeful earth, + And empires rise and fall; regardless he + Of what the never-resting race of men + Project: thrice happy! could he 'scape their guile, + Who mine, from cruel avarice, his steps, + Or with his towery grandeur swell their state, + The pride of kings! or else his strength pervert, + And bid him rage amid the mortal fray, + Astonish'd at the madness of mankind. + Wide o'er the winding umbrage of the floods, + Like vivid blossoms glowing from afar, + Thick-swarm the brighter birds. For Nature's hand. + That with a sportive vanity has deck'd + The plumy nations, there her gayest hues + Profusely pours. But, if she bids them shine, + Array'd in all the beauteous beams of day, + Yet frugal still, she humbles them in song. + Nor envy we the gaudy robes they lent + Proud Montezuma's realm, whose legions cast + A boundless radiance waving on the sun, + While philomel is ours; while in our shades, + Through the soft silence of the listening night, + The sober-suited songstress trills her lay. + + But come, my muse, the desert-barrier burst, + A wild expanse of lifeless sand and sky, + And, swifter than the toiling caravan, + Shoot o'er the vale of Sennaar, ardent climb + The Nubian mountains, and the secret bounds + Of jealous Abyssinia boldly pierce. + Thou art no ruffian, who beneath the mask + Of social commerce com'st to rob their wealth, + No holy fury thou, blaspheming Heaven. + With consecrated steel to stab their peace, + And through the land, yet red from civil wounds, + To spread the purple tyranny of Rome. + Thou, like the harmless bee, may'st freely range, + From mead to mead bright with exalted flowers, + From jasmine grove to grove; may'st wander gay, + Through palmy shades and aromatic woods, + That grace the plains, invest the peopled hills, + And up the more than Alpine mountains wave. + There on the breezy summit, spreading fair + For many a league; or on stupendous rocks. + That from the sun-redoubling valley lift, + Cool to the middle air their lawny tops; + Where palaces, and fanes, and villas rise, + And gardens smile around, and cultur'd fields; + And fountains gush; and careless herds and flocks + Securely stray; a world within itself, + Disdaining all assault: there let me draw + Ethereal soul, there drink reviving gales. + Profusely breathing from the spicy groves, + And vales of fragrance; there at distance hear + The roaring floods, and cataracts, that sweep + From disembowel'd earth the virgin gold; + And o'er the varied landscape, restless, rove, + Fervent with life of every fairer kind. + A land of wonders! which the sun still eyes + With ray direct, as of the lovely realm + Enamor'd, and delighting there to dwell. + + How chang'd the scene! In blazing height of noon. + The sun, oppress'd, is plung'd in thickest gloom. + Still horror reigns, a dreary twilight round, + Of struggling night and day malignant mix'd. + For to the hot equator crowding fast, + Where, highly rarefied, the yielding air + Admits their stream, incessant vapors roll, + Amazing clouds on clouds continual heap'd; + Or whirl'd tempestuous by the gusty wind, + Or silent borne along, heavy and slow, + With the big stores of steaming oceans charg'd. + Meantime, amid these upper seas, condens'd + Around the cold aerial mountain's brow, + And by conflicting winds together dash'd, + The thunder holds his black tremendous throne; + From cloud to cloud the rending lightnings rage; + Till, in the furious elemental war + Dissolv'd, the whole precipitated mass + Unbroken floods and solid torrents pours. + +[Illustration: Birth of the Nile] + + The treasures these, hid from the bounded search + Of ancient knowledge; whence, with annual pomp, + Rich king of floods! o'erflows the swelling Nile. + From his two springs, in Gojam's sunny realm, + Pure-welling out, he through the lucid lake + Of fair Dembia rolls his infant stream. + There, by the naiads nurs'd, he sports away + His playful youth, amid the fragrant isles + That with unfading verdure smile around. + Ambitious, thence the manly river breaks; + And gathering many a flood, and copious fed + With all the mellow'd treasures of the sky, + Winds in progressive majesty along: + Through splendid kingdoms now devolves his maze; + Now wanders wild o'er solitary tracts + Of life-deserted sand: till glad to quit + The joyless desert, down the Nubian rocks, + From thundering steep to steep, he pours his urn. + And Egypt joys beneath the spreading wave. + +[Illustration: From steep to steep he pours his urn] + + His brother Niger too, and all the floods + In which the full-form'd maids of Afric lave + Their jetty limbs; and all that from the tract + Of woody mountains stretch'd through gorgeous Ind + Fall on Cormandel's coast, or Malabar; + From Menam's orient stream, that nightly shines + With insect lamps, to where aurora sheds + On Indus' smiling banks the rosy shower; + All, at this bounteous season, ope their urns, + And pour untoiling harvest o'er the land. + + Nor less thy world, Columbus, drinks, refresh'd + The lavish moisture of the melting year. + Wide e'er his isles, the branching Orinoque + Rolls a brown deluge; and the native drives + To dwell aloft on life-sufficing trees-- + At once his dome, his robe, his food, and arms. + Swell'd by a thousand streams, impetuous hurl'd + From all the roaring Andes, huge descends + The mighty Orellana. Scarce the muse + Dares stretch her wing o'er this enormous mass + Of rushing water; scarces she dares attempt + The sea-like Plata; to whose dread expanse, + Continuous depth, and wondrous length of course, + Our floods are rills. With unabated force, + In silent dignity they sweep along; + And traverse realms unknown, and blooming wilds, + And fruitful deserts--worlds of solitude, + Where the sun smiles and Seasons teem in vain, + Unseen and unenjoyed. Forsaking these, + O'er peopled plains they fair-diffusive flow, + And many a nation feed, and circle safe, + In their soft bosom, many a happy isle; + The seat of blameless Pan, yet undisturbed + By Christian crimes and Europe's cruel sons. + Thus pouring on they proudly seek the deep, + Whose vanquish'd tide, recoiling from the shock, + Yields to this liquid weight of half the globe; + And ocean trembles for his green domain. + + But what avails this wondrous waste of wealth, + This gay profusion of luxurious bliss, + This pomp of Nature? what their balmy meads. + Their powerful herbs, and Ceres void of pain? + By vagrant birds dispers'd, and wafting winds. + What their unplanted fruits? what the cool draughts, + The ambrosial food, rich gums, and spicy health, + Their forests yield? their toiling insects what, + Their silky pride, and vegetable robes? + Ah! what avail their fatal treasures, hid + Deep in the bowels of the pitying earth, + Golconda's gems, and sad Potosi's mines? + Where dwelt the gentlest children of the sun! + What all that Afric's golden rivers roll, + Her odorous woods, and shining ivory stores? + Ill-fated race! the softening arts of peace, + Whate'er the humanizing muses teach; + The godlike wisdom of the tempered breast; + Progressive truth, the patient force of thought; + Investigation calm, whose silent powers + Command the world; the light that leads to Heaven; + Kind equal rule, the government of laws, + And all-protecting freedom, which alone + Sustains the name and dignity of man: + These are not theirs. The parent sun himself + Seems o'er this world of slaves to tyrannize; + And, with oppressive ray, the roseate bloom + Of beauty blasting, gives the gloomy hue, + And feature gross; or worse, to ruthless deeds, + Mad jealousy, blind rage, and fell revenge, + Their fervid spirit fires. Love dwells not there, + The soft regards, the tenderness of life, + The heart-shed tear, the ineffable delight + Of sweet humanity: these court the beam + Of milder climes; in selfish fierce desire, + And the wild fury of voluptuous sense, + There lost. The very brute creation there + This rage partakes, and burns with horrid fire. + + Lo! the green serpent, from his dark abode, + Which even imagination fears to tread, + At noon forth-issuing, gathers up his train + In orbs immense, then, darting out anew, + Seeks the refreshing fount, by which diffus'd + He throws his folds; and while, with threatening tongue + And dreadful jaws erect, the monster curls + His flaming crest, all other thirst appall'd, + Or shivering flies, or check'd at distance stands, + Nor dares approach. But still more direful he, + The small close-lurking minister of fate, + Whose high concocted venom through the veins + A rapid lightning darts, arresting swift + The vital current. Form'd to humble man, + This child of vengeful Nature! There, sublim'd + To fearless lust of blood, the savage race + Roam, licens'd by the shading hour of guilt, + And foul misdeed, when the pure day has shut + His sacred eye. The tiger, darting fierce, + Impetuous on the prey his glance has doom'd; + The lively-shining leopard, speckled o'er + With many a spot, the beauty of the waste; + And, scorning all the taming arts of man, + The keen hyena, fellest of the fell: + These, rushing from the inhospitable woods + Of Mauritania, or the tufted isles + That verdant rise amid the Libyan wild, + Innumerous glare around their shaggy king, + Majestic, stalking o'er the printed sand; + And, with imperious and repeated roars, + Demand their fated food. The fearful flocks + Crowd near the guardian swain; the nobler herds, + Where round their lordly bull, in rural ease, + They ruminating lie, with horror hear + The coming rage. The awaken'd village starts; + And to her fluttering breast the mother strains + Her thoughtless infant. From the pirate's den, + Or stern Morocco's tyrant fang, escap'd, + The wretch half-wishes for his bonds again; + While, uproar all, the wilderness resounds, + From Atlas eastward to the frighted Nile. + +[Illustration: The mother strains her infant] + +[Illustration: Sad on the jutting eminence he sits] + + Unhappy he! who from the first of joys, + Society, cut off, is left alone + Amid this world of death. Day after day, + Sad on the jutting eminence he sits, + And views the main that ever toils below; + Still fondly forming in the farthest verge, + Where the round ether mixes with the wave, + Ships, dim-discovered, dropping from the clouds. + At evening, to the setting sun he turns + A mournful eye, and down his dying heart + Sinks helpless; while the wonted roar is up, + And hiss continual through the tedious night. + Yet here, even here, into these black abodes + Of monsters, unappall'd, from stooping Rome, + And guilty Caesar, Liberty retired, + Her Cato following through Numidian wilds; + Disdainful of Campania's gentle plains + And all the green delights Ausonia pours-- + When for them she must bend the servile knee, + And fawning take the splendid robber's boon. + + Nor stop the terrors of these regions here. + Commission'd demons oft, angels of wrath, + Let loose the raging elements. Breath'd hot + From all the boundless furnace of the sky, + And the wide glittering waste of burning sand, + A suffocating wind the pilgrim smites + With instant death. Patient of thirst and toil, + Son of the desert! even the camel feels, + Shot through his wither'd heart, the fiery blast. + Or from the black-red ether, bursting broad, + Sallies the sudden whirlwind. Straight the sands, + Commov'd around, in gathering eddies play; + Nearer and nearer still they darkening come, + Till, with the general all-involving storm + Swept up, the whole continuous wilds arise; + And by their noonday fount dejected thrown, + Or sunk at night in sad disastrous sleep, + Beneath descending hills, the caravan + Is buried deep. In Cairo's crowded streets + The impatient merchant, wondering, waits in vain, + And Mecca saddens at the long delay. + + But chief at sea, whose every flexile wave + Obeys the blast, the aerial tumult swells. + In the dread ocean, undulating wide, + Beneath the radiant line that girts the globe, + The circling Typhon, whirl'd from point to point, + Exhausting all the rage of all the sky, + And dire Ecnephia reign. Amid the heavens, + Falsely serene, deep in a cloudy speck + Compress'd, the mighty tempest brooding dwells + Of no regard save to the skillful eye, + Fiery and foul, the small prognostic hangs + Aloft, or on the promontory's brow + Musters its force. A faint deceitful calm, + A fluttering gale, the demon sends before, + To tempt the spreading sail. Then down at once, + Precipitant, descends a mingled mass + Of roaring winds, and flame, and rushing floods. + In wild amazement fix'd the sailor stands. + Art is too slow. By rapid fate oppress'd, + His broad-wing'd vessel drinks the whelming tide, + Hid in the bosom of the black abyss. + With such mad seas the daring Gama fought, + For many a day, and many a dreadful night, + Incessant, laboring round the _stormy cape_; + By bold ambition led, and bolder thirst + Of gold. For then, from ancient gloom, emerg'd + The rising world of trade: the genius, then, + Of navigation, that in hopeless sloth + Had slumber'd on the vast Atlantic deep + For idle ages, starting, heard at last + The Lusitanian prince; who, heaven-inspired, + To love of useful glory rous'd mankind, + And in unbounded commerce mixed the world. + + Increasing still the terrors of these storms, + His jaws horrific arm'd with threefold fate, + Here dwells the direful shark. Lur'd by the scent + Of steaming crowds, of rank disease, and death, + Behold! he rushing cuts the briny flood, + Swift as the gale can bear the ship along; + And from the partners of that cruel trade + Which spoils unhappy Guinea of her sons, + Demands his share of prey--demands themselves. + The stormy fates descend: one death involves + Tyrants and slaves; when straight their mangled limbs + Crashing at once, he dyes the purple seas + With gore, and riots in the vengeful meal. + + When o'er this world, by equinoctial rains + Flooded immense, looks out the joyless sun, + And draws the copious steam; from swampy fens, + Where putrefaction into life ferments, + And breathes destructive myriads; or from woods, + Impenetrable shades, recesses foul, + In vapors rank and blue corruption wrapp'd, + Whose gloomy horrors yet no desperate foot + Has ever dar'd to pierce--then, wasteful, forth + Walks the dire power of pestilent disease. + A thousand hideous fiends her course attend, + Sick nature blasting, and a heartless woe, + And feeble desolation, casting down + The towering hopes and all the pride of man. + Such as, of late, at Carthagena quench'd + The British fire. You, gallant Vernon, saw + The miserable scene; you, pitying, saw + To infant weakness sunk the warrior's arm; + Saw the deep-racking pang, the ghastly form, + The lip pale-quivering, and the beamless eye + No more with ardor bright; you heard the groans + Of agonizing ships, from shore to shore; + Heard, nightly plung'd amid the sullen waves, + The frequent corse--while on each other fix'd, + In sad presage, the blank assistants seemed, + Silent, to ask, whom fate would next demand. + +[Illustration: Pouring forth pestilence] + +[Illustration: Stricken with plague] + + What need I mention those inclement skies + Where, frequent o'er the sickening city, plague, + The fiercest child of Nemesis divine, + Descends? From Ethiopia's poison'd woods, + From stifled Cairo's filth, and fetid fields + With locust-armies putrefying heap'd, + This great destroyer sprung. Her awful rage + The brutes escape. Man is her destin'd prey, + Intemperate man! and o'er his guilty domes + She draws a close incumbent cloud of death; + Uninterrupted by the living winds, + Forbid to blow a wholesome breeze; and stain'd + With many a mixture by the sun, suffus'd, + Of angry aspect. Princely wisdom, then, + Dejects his watchful eye; and from the hand + Of feeble justice, ineffectual, drop + The sword and balance: mute the voice of joy, + And hush'd the clamor of the busy world. + Empty the streets, with uncouth verdure clad. + Into the worst of deserts sudden turn'd + The cheerful haunt of men--unless escap'd + From the doom'd house, where matchless horror reigns, + Shut up by barbarous fear, the smitten wretch, + With frenzy wild, breaks loose, and loud to Heaven + Screaming, the dreadful policy arraigns, + Inhuman and unwise. The sullen door, + Yet uninfected, on its cautious hinge + Fearing to turn, abhors society. + Dependents, friends, relations, Love himself, + Savag'd by woe, forget the tender tie, + The sweet engagement of the feeling heart. + But vain their selfish care: the circling sky, + The wide enlivening air is full of fate; + And, struck by turns, in solitary pangs + They fall, unblest, untended, and unmourn'd. + Thus o'er the prostrate city black despair + Extends her raven wing; while, to complete + The scene of desolation, stretch'd around, + The grim guards stand, denying all retreat, + And give the flying wretch a better death. + + Much yet remains unsung: the rage intense + Of brazen-vaulted skies, of iron fields, + Where drought and famine starve the blasted year; + Fir'd by the torch of noon to tenfold rage, + The infuriate hill that shoots the pillar'd flame; + And, rous'd within the subterranean world, + The expanding earthquake, that resistless shakes + Aspiring cities from their solid base, + And buries mountains in the flaming gulf. + But 'tis enough; return, my vagrant muse: + A nearer scene of horror calls thee home. + + Behold, slow-settling o'er the lurid grove, + Unusual darkness broods; and growing gains + The full possession of the sky, surcharg'd + With wrathful vapor, from the secret beds, + Where sleep the mineral generations, drawn. + Thence nitre, sulphur, and the fiery spume + Of fat bitumen, steaming on the day, + With various-tinctur'd trains of latent flame, + Pollute the sky, and in yon baleful cloud, + A reddening gloom, a magazine of fate, + Ferment; till, by the touch ethereal rous'd, + The dash of clouds, or irritating war + Of fighting winds, while all is calm below, + They furious spring. A boding silence reigns, + Dread through the dun expanse; save the dull sound + That from the mountain, previous to the storm, + Rolls o'er the muttering earth, disturbs the flood, + And shakes the forest leaf without a breath. + Prone, to the lowest vale, the aerial tribes + Descend: the tempest-loving raven scarce + Dares wing the dubious dusk. In rueful gaze + The cattle stand, and on the scowling heavens + Cast a deploring eye; by man forsook, + Who to the crowded cottage hies him fast, + Or seeks the shelter of the downward cave. + + 'Tis listening fear, and dumb amazement all: + When to the startled eye the sudden glance + Appears far south, eruptive through the cloud; + And following slower, in explosion vast, + The thunder raises his tremendous voice. + At first, heard solemn o'er the verge of heaven, + The tempest growls; but as it nearer comes, + And rolls its awful burden on the wind, + The lightnings flash a larger curve, and more + The noise astounds--till overhead a sheet + Of livid flame discloses wide, then shuts + And opens wider, shuts and opens still + Expansive, wrapping ether in a blaze. + Follows the loosen'd aggravated roar, + Enlarging, deepening, mingling, peal on peal + Crush'd horrible, convulsing heaven and earth. + +[Illustration: Thunder-storm] + + Down comes a deluge of sonorous hail, + Or prone-descending rain. Wide-rent, the clouds + Pour a whole flood; and yet, its flame unquench'd + The unconquerable lightning struggles through, + Ragged and fierce, or in red whirling balls, + And fires the mountains with redoubled rage. + Black from the stroke, above, the smouldering pine + Stands a sad shatter'd trunk; and, stretch'd below, + A lifeless group the blasted cattle lie: + Here the soft flocks, with that same harmless look + They wore alive, and ruminating still + In fancy's eye; and there the frowning bull, + And ox half-rais'd. Struck on the castled cliff, + The venerable tower and spiry fane + Resign their aged pride. The gloomy woods + Start at the flash, and from their deep recess, + Wide-flaming out, their trembling inmates shade + Amid Caernarvon's mountains rages loud + The repercussive roar; with mighty crush, + Into the flashing deep, from the rude rocks + Of Penmaenmawr heap'd hideous to the sky, + Tumble the smitten cliffs; and Snowdon's peak, + Dissolving, instant yields his wintry load. + Far-seen, the heights of heathy Cheviot blaze, + And Thule bellows through her utmost isles. + + Guilt hears appall'd, with deeply troubled thought, + And yet not always on the guilty head + Descends the fated flash. Young Celadon + And his Amelia were a matchless pair; + With equal virtue form'd, and equal grace, + The same, distinguish'd by their sex alone: + Hers the mild lustre of the blooming morn, + And his the radiance of the risen day. + +[Illustration: Young Celadon and his Amelia] + + They lov'd: but such their guileless passion was, + As in the dawn of time inform'd the heart + Of innocence, and undissembling truth. + 'Twas friendship heighten'd by the mutual wish, + The enchanting hope, and sympathetic glow, + Beam'd from the mutual eye. Devoting all + To love, each was to each a dearer self; + Supremely happy in the awaken'd power + Of giving joy. Alone, amid the shades, + Still in harmonious intercourse they liv'd + The rural day, and talk'd the flowing heart, + Or sigh'd and look'd unutterable things. + +[Illustration: A blackened corpse was struck the maid] + + So pass'd their life, a clear united stream, + By care unruffled; till, in evil hour, + The tempest caught them on the tender walk, + Heedless how far, and where its mazes stray'd, + While, with each other bless'd, creative love + Still bade eternal Eden smile around. + Heavy with instant fate, her bosom heav'd + Unwonted sighs, and stealing oft a look + Of the big gloom, on Celadon her eye + Fell tearful, wetting her disorder'd cheek. + In vain assuring love, and confidence + In Heaven, repress'd her fear; it grew, and shook + Her frame near dissolution. He perceiv'd + The unequal conflict; and, as angels look + On dying saints, his eyes compassion shed, + With love illumin'd high. "Fear not," he said, + "Sweet innocence! thou stranger to offense, + And inward storm! He who yon skies involves + In frowns and darkness, ever smiles on thee + With kind regard. O'er thee the secret shaft + That wastes at midnight, or the undreaded hour + Of noon, flies harmless; and that very voice + Which thunders terror through the guilty heart, + With tongues of seraphs whispers peace to thine. + 'Tis safety to be near thee sure, and thus + To clasp perfection!" From his void embrace, + Mysterious Heaven! that moment, to the ground, + A blacken'd corse, was struck the beauteous maid, + But who can paint the lover, as he stood, + Pierc'd by severe amazement, hating life, + Speechless, and fix'd in all the death of woe! + So, faint resemblance, on the marble tomb + The well-dissembled mourner stooping stands, + Forever silent, and forever sad. + + As from the face of heaven the shatter'd clouds + Tumultuous rove, the interminable sky + Sublimer swells, and o'er the world expands + A purer azure. Nature, from the storm, + Shines out afresh; and through the lighten'd air + A higher lustre and a clearer calm, + Diffusive, tremble; while, as if in sign + Of danger past, a glittering robe of joy, + Set off abundant by the yellow ray, + Invests the fields, yet dropping from distress. + + 'Tis beauty all, and grateful song around, + Join'd to the low of kine, and numerous bleat + Of flocks thick-nibbling through the clover'd vale. + And shall the hymn be marr'd by thankless man, + Most-favor'd; who with voice articulate + Should lead the chorus of this lower world? + Shall he, so soon forgetful of the hand + That hush'd the thunder, and serenes the sky, + Extinguish'd feel that spark the tempest wak'd, + That sense of powers exceeding far his own, + Ere yet his feeble heart has lost its fears? + + Cheer'd by the milder beam, the sprightly youth + Speeds to the well-known pool, whose crystal depth + A sandy bottom shows. Awhile he stands + Gazing the inverted landscape, half-afraid + To meditate the blue profound below; + Then plunges headlong down the circling flood. + His ebon tresses and his rosy cheek + Instant emerge; and through the obedient wave, + At each short breathing by his lip repell'd, + With arms and legs according well, he makes, + As humor leads, an easy-winding path; + While, from his polish'd sides, a dewy light + Effuses on the pleas'd spectators round. + + This is the purest exercise of health, + The kind refresher of the summer heats, + Nor, when cold Winter keens the brightening flood, + Would I weak-shivering linger on the brink. + Thus life redoubles; and is oft preserved, + By the bold swimmer, in the swift illapse + Of accident disastrous. Hence the limbs + Knit into force; and the same Roman arm + That rose victorious o'er the conquer'd earth, + First learned, while tender, to subdue the wave. + Even, from the body's purity, the mind + Receives a secret sympathetic aid. + + Close in the covert of an hazel copse, + Where winded into pleasing solitudes + Runs out the rambling dale, young Damon sat; + Pensive, and pierc'd with love's delightful pangs. + There to the stream that down the distant rocks + Hoarse-murmuring fell, and plaintive breeze that play'd + Among the bending willows, falsely he + Of Musidora's cruelty complain'd. + She felt his flame; but deep within her breast, + In bashful coyness, or in maiden pride, + The soft return conceal'd--save when it stole + In sidelong glances from her downcast eye, + Or from her swelling soul in stifled sighs. + Touched by the scene, no stranger to his vows, + He fram'd a melting lay, to try her heart; + And, if an infant passion struggled there, + To call that passion forth. Thrice-happy swain! + A lucky chance, that oft decides the fate + Of mighty monarchs, then decided thine. + For, lo! conducted by the laughing Loves, + This cool retreat his Musidora sought: + Warm in her cheek the sultry season glow'd; + And, rob'd in loose array, she came to bathe + Her fervent limbs in the refreshing stream. + What shall he do? In sweet confusion lost, + And dubious flutterings, he awhile remain'd. + A pure ingenuous elegance of soul, + A delicate refinement known to few, + Perplex'd his breast, and urg'd him to retire; + But love forbade. Ye prudes in virtue, say, + Say, ye severest, what would you have done? + Meantime, this fairer nymph than ever bless'd + Arcadian stream, with timid eye around + The banks surveying, stripp'd her beauteous limbs + To taste the lucid coolness of the flood. + Ah! then, not Paris on the piny top + Of Ida panted stronger, when aside + The rival goddesses the vail divine + Cast unconfin'd, and gave him all their charms, + Than, Damon, thou; as from the snowy leg, + And slender foot, the inverted silk she drew; + As the soft touch dissolv'd the virgin zone; + And, through the parting robe, the alternate breast, + With youth wild-throbbing, on thy lawless gaze + In full luxuriance rose. But, desperate youth, + How durst thou risk the soul-distracting view, + As from her naked limbs, of glowing white, + Harmonious swell'd by Nature's finest hand, + In folds loose-floating fell the fainter lawn, + And fair expos'd she stood--shrunk from herself, + With fancy blushing, at the doubtful breeze + Alarm'd, and starting like the fearful fawn? + Then to the flood she rush'd: the parted flood + Its lovely guest with closing waves received, + And every beauty softening, every grace + Flushing anew, a mellow lustre shed-- + As shines the lily through the crystal mild, + Or as the rose amid the morning dew, + Fresh from Aurora's hand, more sweetly glows. + While thus she wanton'd now beneath the wave + But ill-concealed, and now with streaming locks, + That half-embrac'd her in a humid vail, + Rising again, the latent Damon drew + Such maddening draughts of beauty to the soul, + As for a while o'erwhelm'd his raptur'd thought + With luxury too daring. Check'd, at last. + By love's respectful modesty, he deem'd + The theft profane, if aught profane to love + Can e'er be deem'd, and, struggling from the shade, + With headlong hurry fled; but first these lines, + Trac'd by his ready pencil, on the bank + With trembling hand he threw: "Bathe on, my fair, + Yet unbeheld save by the sacred eye + Of faithful love: I go to guard thy haunt; + To keep from thy recess each vagrant foot, + And each licentious eye." With wild surprise, + As if to marble struck, devoid of sense, + A stupid moment motionless she stood: + So stands the statue that enchants the world: + So bending tries to vail the matchless boast, + The mingled beauties of exulting Greece. + Recovering, swift she flew to find those robes + Which blissful Eden knew not; and, array'd + In careless haste, the alarming paper snatch'd. + But when her Damon's well known hand she saw + Her terrors vanish'd, and a softer train + Of mix'd emotions, hard to be describ'd, + Her sudden bosom seiz'd: shame void of guilt, + The charming blush of innocence, esteem + And admiration of her lover's flame, + By modesty exalted. Even a sense + Of self-approving beauty stole across + Her busy thought. At length, a tender calm + Hushed by degrees the tumult of her soul, + And on the spreading beech, that o'er the stream + Incumbent hung, she with the sylvan pen + Of rural lovers this confession carv'd, + Which soon her Damon kiss'd with weeping joy: + "Dear youth! sole judge of what these verses mean, + By fortune too much favor'd, but by love, + Alas! not favor'd less, be still as now + Discreet, the time may come you need not fly." + +[Illustration: The soft hour of walking] + + The sun has lost his rage; his downward orb + Shoots nothing now but animating warmth, + And vital lustre; that, with various ray, + Lights up the clouds, those beauteous robes of heaven + Incessant roll'd into romantic shapes, + The dream of waking fancy! Broad below + Cover'd with ripening fruits, and swelling fast + Into the perfect year, the pregnant earth + And all her tribes rejoice. Now the soft hour + Of walking comes: for him who lonely loves + To seek the distant hills, and there converse + With Nature; there to harmonize his heart, + And in pathetic song to breathe around + The harmony to others. Social friends, + Attun'd to happy unison of soul-- + To whose exalting eye a fairer world, + Of which the vulgar never had a glimpse, + Displays its charms--whose minds are richly fraught + With philosophic stores, superior light-- + And in whose breast, enthusiastic, burns + Virtue the sons of interest deem romance, + Now call'd abroad enjoy the falling day: + Now to the verdant _portico_ of woods, + To Nature's vast _lyceum_, forth they walk; + By that kind _school_ where no proud master reigns, + The full free converse of the friendly heart, + Improving and improv'd. Now from the world, + Sacred to sweet retirement, lovers steal, + And pour their souls in transport, which the Sire + Of love approving hears, and _calls it good_. + Which way, Amanda, shall we bend our course? + The choice perplexes. Wherefore should we choose? + All is the same with thee. Say shall we wind + Along the streams? or walk the smiling mead; + Or court the forest glades? or wander wild + Among the waving harvests? or ascend, + While radiant Summer opens all its pride, + Thy hill, delightful Sheen? Here let us sweep + The boundless landscape; now the raptur'd eye + Exulting swift, to huge Augusta send, + Now to the sister-hills that skirt her plain + To lofty Harrow now, and now to where + Majestic Windsor lifts his princely brow. + In lovely contrast to this glorious view, + Calmly magnificent, then will we turn + To where the silver Thames first rural grows. + There let the feasted eye unwearied stray; + Luxurious, there, rove through the pendent woods + That nodding hang o'er Harrington's retreat, + And stooping thence to Ham's embowering walks, + Beneath whose shades, in spotless peace retir'd, + With her the pleasing partner of his heart, + The worthy Queensbury yet laments his Gay, + And polish'd Cornbury woos the willing muse, + Slow let us trace the matchless vale of Thames-- + Fair-winding up to where the muses haunt + In Twit'nam's bowers, and for their Pope implore + The healing god, to royal Hampton's pile, + To Clermont's terrac'd height, and Esher's groves, + Where in the sweetest solitude, embrac'd + By the soft windings of the silent Mole, + From courts and senates Pelham finds repose. + Enchanting vale! beyond whate'er the muse + Has of Achaia or Hesperia sung! + O vale of bliss! O softly swelling hills! + On which the power of cultivation lies, + And joys to see the wonders of his toil. + +[Illustration: View on the Thames] + + Heavens! what a goodly prospect spreads around, + Of hills, and dales, and woods, and lawns, and spires, + And glittering towns, and gilded streams, till all + The stretching landscape into smoke decays! + Happy Britannia! where the queen of arts, + Inspiring vigor, liberty abroad + Walks, unconfin'd, even to thy farthest cots, + And scatters plenty, with unsparing hand. + + Rich is thy soil, and merciful thy clime: + Thy streams unfailing in the Summer's drought + Unmatch'd thy guardian oaks; thy valleys float + With golden waves; and on thy mountains flocks + Bleat numberless--while, roving round their sides, + Bellow the blackening herds in lusty droves. + Beneath, thy meadows glow, and rise unquell'd + Against the mower's scythe. On every hand + Thy villas shine. Thy country teems with wealth + And property assures it to the swain, + Pleas'd and unwearied in his guarded toil. + + Full are thy cities with the sons of art; + And trade and joy, in every busy street, + Mingling are heard: even drudgery himself. + As at the car he sweats, or dusty hews + The palace-stone, looks gay. Thy crowded ports, + Where rising masts an endless prospect yield, + With labor burn, and echo to the shouts + Of hurried sailor, as he hearty waves + His last adieu, and, loosening every sheet, + Resigns the spreading vessel to the wind. + +[Illustration: The sailor's farewell] + + Bold, firm, and graceful, are thy generous youth + By hardship sinew'd, and by danger fir'd, + Scattering the nations where they go; and first, + Or in the listed plain, or stormy seas. + Mild are thy glories too, as o'er the plans + Of thriving peace thy thoughtful sires preside; + In genius, and substantial learning, high; + For every virtue, every worth, renown'd; + Sincere, plain-hearted, hospitable, kind; + Yet like the mustering thunder when provok'd, + The dread of tyrants, and the sole resource + Of those that under grim oppression groan. + + Thy sons of glory many! Alfred thine, + In whom the splendor of heroic war + And more heroic peace, when govern'd well, + Combine; whose hallow'd name the virtues saint, + And his own muses love--the best of kings. + With him thy Edwards and thy Henrys shine, + Names dear to fame, the first who deep impress'd + On haughty Gaul the terror of thy arms, + That awes her genius still. In statesmen thou, + And patriots, fertile. Thine a steady More, + Who, with a generous though mistaken zeal, + Withstood a brutal tyrant's useful rage, + Like Cato firm, like Aristides just, + Like rigid Cincinnatus nobly poor-- + A dauntless soul erect, who smil'd on death. + Frugal and wise, a Walsingham is thine; + A Drake, who made thee mistress of the deep, + And bore thy name in thunder round the world. + Then flam'd thy spirit high; but who can speak + The numerous worthies of the maiden-reign? + In Raleigh mark their every glory mix'd; + Raleigh, the scourge of Spain; whose breast with all + The sage, the patriot, and the hero burn'd. + Nor sunk his vigor when a coward reign + The warrior fetter'd, and at last resign'd, + To glut the vengeance of a vanquish'd foe. + Then, active still and unrestrain'd, his mind + Explor'd the vast extent of ages past, + And with his prison-hours enrich'd the world; + Yet found no times, in all the long research, + So glorious, or so base, as those he prov'd, + In which he conquer'd, and in which he bled. + Nor can the muse the gallant Sidney pass, + The plume of war! with early laurels crown'd, + The lover's myrtle, and the poet's bay. + A Hampden too is thine, illustrious land, + Wise, strenuous, firm, of unsubmitting soul, + Who stemm'd the torrent of a downward age + To slavery prone, and bade thee rise again, + In all thy native pomp of freedom bold. + Bright, at his call, thy age of men effulg'd; + Of men on whom late time a kindling eye + Shall turn, and tyrants tremble while they read. + Bring every sweetest flower, and let me strew + The grave where Russell lies; whose temper'd blood, + With calmest cheerfulness for thee resign'd, + Stain'd the sad annals of a giddy reign-- + Aiming at lawless power, though meanly sunk + In loose inglorious luxury. With him + His friend, the British Cassius, fearless bled; + Of high determin'd spirit, roughly brave, + By ancient learning to the enlighten'd love + Of ancient freedom warm'd. Fair thy renown + In awful sages and in noble bards + Soon as the light of dawning science spread + Her orient ray, and wak'd the muses' song. + Thine is a Bacon, hapless in his choice; + Unfit to stand the civil storm of state, + And through the smooth barbarity of courts, + With firm but pliant virtue, forward still + To urge his course. Him for the studious shade + Kind Nature form'd, deep, comprehensive, clear, + Exact, and elegant; in one rich soul, + Plato, the Stagyrite, and Tully join'd. + The great deliverer he! who from the gloom + Of cloister'd monks, and jargon-teaching schools, + Led forth the true philosophy, there long + Held in the magic chain of words and forms, + And definitions void: he led her forth, + Daughter of heaven! that slow-ascending still, + Investigating sure the chain of things, + With radiant finger points to heaven again. + The generous Ashley thine, the friend of man; + Who scann'd his nature with a brother's eye, + His weakness prompt to shade, to raise his aim, + To touch the finer movements of the mind, + And with the _moral beauty_ charm the heart + Why need I name thy Boyle, whose pious search, + Amid the dark recesses of his works, + The great Creator sought? And why thy Locke, + Who made the whole internal world his own? + Let Newton, pure intelligence, whom God + To mortals lent, to trace his boundless works + From laws sublimely simple, speak thy fame + In all philosophy. For lofty sense, + Creative fancy, and inspection keen + Through the deep windings of the human heart, + Is not wild Shakspeare thine and Nature's boast? + Is not each great, each amiable muse + Of classic ages, in thy Milton met? + A genius universal as his theme, + Astonishing as chaos, as the bloom + Of blowing Eden fair, as heaven sublime. + Nor shall my verse that elder bard forget, + The gentle Spenser, fancy's pleasing son, + Who, like a copious river, pour'd his song + O'er all the mazes of enchanted ground; + Nor thee, his ancient master, laughing sage, + Chaucer, whose native manners painting verse, + Well moraliz'd, shines through the Gothic cloud + Of time and language o'er thy genius thrown. + + May my song soften, as thy daughters I, + Britannia, hail! for beauty is their own, + The feeling heart, simplicity of life, + And elegance, and taste; the faultless form, + Shap'd by the hand of harmony; the cheek, + Where the live crimson, through the native white + Soft-shooting, o'er the face diffuses bloom, + And every nameless grace; the parted lip, + Like the red rose-bud moist with morning dew, + Breathing delight; and, under flowing jet, + Or sunny ringlets, or of circling brown, + The neck slight-shaded, and the swelling breast, + The look resistless, piercing to the soul, + And by the soul informed, when dress'd in love + She sits high-smiling in the conscious eye. + + Island of bliss! amid the subject seas + That thunder round thy rocky coasts, set up, + At once the wonder, terror, and delight + Of distant nations; whose remotest shore + Can soon be shaken by thy naval arm; + Not to be shook thyself, but all assaults + Baffling, like thy hoar cliffs the loud sea-wave. + + O Thou by whose almighty nod the scale + Of empire rises, or alternate falls, + Send forth the saving virtues round the land, + In bright patrol: white peace, and social love; + The tender-looking charity, intent + On gentle deeds, and shedding tears through smiles + Undaunted truth, and dignity of mind; + Courage compos'd, and keen; sound temperance, + Healthful in heart and look; clear chastity, + With blushes reddening as she moves along, + Disorder'd at the deep regard she draws; + Rough industry; activity untir'd, + With copious life inform'd, and all awake; + While in the radiant front, superior shines + That first paternal virtue, public zeal-- + Who throws o'er all an equal wide survey, + And, ever musing on the common weal, + Still labors glorious with some great design. + + Low walks the sun, and broadens by degrees, + Just o'er the verge of day. The shifting clouds + Assembled gay, a richly gorgeous train, + In all their pomp attend his setting throne. + Air, earth, and ocean smile immense. And now + As if his weary chariot sought the bowers + Of Amphitrite and her tending nymphs, + (So Grecian fable sung) he dips his orb; + Now half immers'd; and now a golden curve; + Gives one bright glance, then total disappears + Forever running an enchanted round, + Passes the day, deceitful, vain, and void; + As fleets the vision o'er the formful brain, + This moment hurrying wild the impassion'd soul, + The next in nothing lost. 'Tis so to him, + The dreamer of this earth, an idle blank: + A sight of horror to the cruel wretch + Who, all day long in sordid pleasure roll'd, + Himself an useless load, has squander'd vile, + Upon his scoundrel train, what might have cheer'd + A drooping family of modest worth. + But to the generous still-improving mind, + That gives the hopeless heart to sing for joy, + Diffusing kind beneficence around, + Boastless, as now descends the silent dew-- + To him the long review of order'd life + Is inward rapture, only to be felt. + + Confess'd from yonder slow-extinguish'd clouds, + All ether softening, sober evening takes + Her wonted station in the middle air; + A thousand shadows at her beck. First this + She sends on earth; then that of deeper dye + Steals soft behind, and then a deeper still, + In circle following circle, gathers round, + To close the face of things. A fresher gale + Begins to wave the wood, and stir the stream, + Sweeping with shadowy gust the fields of corn; + While the quail clamors for his running mate, + Wide o'er the thistly lawn, as swells the breeze, + A whitening shower of vegetable down + Amusive floats. The kind impartial care + Of Nature naught disdains: thoughtful to feed + Her lowest sons, and clothe the coming year, + From field to field the feather'd seeds she wings. + +[Illustration: Shepherd and milkmaid] + +[Illustration: At eve the fairy people throng] + + His folded flock secure, the shepherd home + Hies, merry-hearted; and by turns relieves + The ruddy milkmaid of her brimming pail; + The beauty whom perhaps his witless heart, + Unknowing what the joy-mix'd anguish means + Sincerely loves, by that best language shown + Of cordial glances and obliging deeds. + Onward they pass, o'er many a panting height, + And valley sunk, and unfrequented; where + At fall of eve the fairy people throng, + In various game and revelry to pass + The summer night, as village stories tell. + But far about they wander from the grave + Of him, whom his ungentle fortune urg'd + Against his own sad breast to lift the hand + Of impious violence. The lonely tower + Is also shunn'd; whose mournful chambers hold, + So night-struck fancy dreams, the yelling ghost. + +[Illustration: Evening yields the world to night] + + Among the crooked lanes, on every hedge, + The glow-worm lights his gem; and, through the dark, + A moving radiance twinkles. Evening yields + The world to night; not in her winter robe + Of massy Stygian woof, but loose array'd + In mantle dun. A faint erroneous ray, + Glanc'd from the imperfect surfaces of things, + Flings half an image on the straining eye; + While wavering woods, and villages, and streams, + And rocks, and mountain tops, that long retain'd + The ascending gleam, are all one swimming scene, + Uncertain if beheld. Sudden to heaven + Thence weary vision turns; where, leading soft + The silent hours of love, with purest ray + Sweet Venus shines; and from her genial rise + When daylight sickens, till it springs afresh, + Unrival'd reigns, the fairest lamp of night. + As thus the effulgence tremulous I drink + With cherish'd gaze, the lambent lightnings shoot + Across the sky; or horizontal dart, + In wondrous shapes--by fearful murmuring crowds + Portentous deem'd. Amid the radiant orbs + That more than deck, that animate the sky, + The life-infusing suns of other worlds, + Lo! from the dread immensity of space + Returning, with accelerated course, + The rushing cornet to the sun descends; + And as he sinks below the shading earth, + With awful train projected o'er the heavens, + The guilty nations tremble. But, above + Those superstitious horrors that enslave + The fond sequacious herd, to mystic faith + And blind amazement prone, the enliven'd few, + Whose god-like minds philosophy exalts, + The glorious stranger hail. They feel a joy + Divinely great: they in their powers exult, + That wondrous force of thought which mounting spurns + This dusky spot and measures all the sky, + While from his far excursion through the wilds + Of barren ether, faithful to his time, + They see the blazing wonder rise anew, + In seeming terror clad, but kindly bent + To work the will of all sustaining Love; + From his huge vapory train perhaps to shake + Reviving moisture on the numerous orbs + Through which his long ellipsis winds--perhaps + To lend new fuel to declining suns, + To light up worlds, and feed eternal fire. + + With thee, serene philosophy, with thee, + And thy bright garland, let me crown my song! + Effusive source of evidence, and truth! + A lustre shedding o'er the ennobled mind, + Stronger than summer noon; and pure as that + Whose mild vibrations soothe the parted soul, + New to the dawning of celestial day. + Hence through her nourish'd powers, enlarg'd by thee, + She springs aloft, with elevated pride, + Above the tangling mass of low desires + That bind the fluttering crowd; and, angel-wing'd. + The heights of science and of virtue gains, + Where all is calm and clear; with nature round, + Or in the starry regions, or the abyss, + To reason's and to fancy's eye display'd: + The first up-tracing, from the dreary void, + The chain of causes and effects to him, + The world-producing Essence, who alone + Possesses being; while the last receives + The whole magnificence of heaven and earth, + And every beauty, delicate or bold, + Obvious or more remote, with livelier sense, + Diffusive painted on the rapid mind. + + Tutor'd by thee, hence poetry exalts + Her voice to ages; and informs the page + With music, image, sentiment, and thought, + Never to die! the treasure of mankind, + Their highest honor, and their truest joy! + + Without thee, what were unenlighten'd man? + A savage roaming through the woods and wilds, + In quest of prey; and with the unfashion'd fur + Rough-clad; devoid of every finer art, + And elegance of life. Nor happiness + Domestic, mix'd of tenderness and care, + Nor moral excellence, nor social bliss, + Nor guardian law, were his; nor various skill + To turn the furrow, or to guide the tool + Mechanic; nor the heaven-conducted prow + Of navigation bold, that fearless braves + The burning line or dares the wintry pole, + Mother severe of infinite delights! + Nothing, save rapine, indolence, and guile, + And woes on woes, a still revolving train! + Whose horrid circle had made human life + Than non-existence worse; but, taught by thee, + Ours are the plans of policy and peace: + To live like brothers, and conjunctive all + Embellish life. While thus laborious crowds + Ply the tough oar, philosophy directs + The ruling helm; or, like the liberal breath + Of potent heaven, invisible, the sail + Swells out, and bears the inferior world along. + + Nor to this evanescent speck of earth + Poorly confin'd--the radiant tracts on high + Are her exalted range; intent to gaze + Creation through; and, from that full complex + Of never-ending wonders, to conceive + Of the Sole Being right, who _spoke the word_, + And nature mov'd complete. With inward view + Thence on the ideal kingdom swift she turns + Her eye; and instant, at her powerful glance, + The obedient phantoms vanish or appear; + Compound, divide, and into order shift, + Each to his rank, from plain perception up + To the fair forms of fancy's fleeting train; + To reason then, deducing truth from truth, + And notion quite abstract; where first begins + The world of spirits, action all, and life + Unfetter'd, and unmix'd. But here the cloud, + So wills Eternal Providence, sits deep. + Enough for us to know that this dark state, + In wayward passions lost, and vain pursuits, + This infancy of being, can not prove + The final issue of the works of God, + By boundless Love and perfect Wisdom form'd, + And ever rising with the rising mind. + +[Illustration: Philosophy directs the helm] + + + + +THE SIGHT OF AN ANGEL. + + + 'Tis to create, and in creating live + A being more intense, that we endow + With form our fancy, gaining as we give + The life we image. + +The date of the year was--no matter what; the day of the month was--no +matter what; when a great general undertook to perform a great +victory--a great statesman undertook to pass a great political +measure--a great diplomatist undertook a most important mission--a great +admiral undertook the command of a great fleet; all which great +undertakings were commanded by the very same great monarch of a very +great nation. At the same time did a great nobleman give a great +entertainment at a great house, and a great beauty made a great many +great conquests. On the same day, in the same year, in a very small +room, in a very small house, in a very small street, in a very small +town in Germany, did a very poor mason commence a very rude carving on a +very rough stone. All the public journals of the day told a thousand +times over the names of the great general, the great statesman, the +great diplomatist, the great admiral, and the great monarch; all the +fashionable papers of the day did the same of the great nobleman, the +great company, and the great beauty: but none of them spoke of poor +Johan Schmit, of the little town of ----, on the Rhine. + +Many years had passed away, and the date of the year was--no matter +what; but history was telling of a great general who, with consummate +wisdom, courage, and skill, and at the cost of numberless nameless +lives, gained a great victory, which determined the fate and fortune of +a great monarch and a great nation; consequently affecting the fate and +fortunes of the world. It entered into minute detail of how his forces +were disposed; where lay the right wing, where lay the left; where the +cavalry advanced, and how the infantry sustained the attack; how the +guns of the artillery played upon the enemy's flank and rear; and how +the heavy dragoons rode down the routed forces, and how, finally, the +field was covered with the enemy's dead and wounded, while so few of +"our own troops" were left for the kite and the carrion crow. Then did +history speak of the honors that awaited and rewarded the triumphant +hero, of the clamorous homage of his grateful country, and the approving +smiles of his grateful monarch; of the _fetes_, the banquets, the +triumphal processions, all in his honor; of the new titles, the lands, +estates, and riches poured upon him; of the state and luxury in which he +lived: until the tolling of every bell throughout the kingdom, the +eight-horse hearse, the mile-long procession, the Dead March in "Saul," +and the volley over the grave, announced that a public statue, on a +column a hundred feet high, in the largest square of the largest town, +was all that could now record the name of the greatest general of the +greatest nation in the world. + +History then spoke of a great statesman who on a certain day in a +certain year, passed a certain most important measure, affecting the +interest of a great nation, and consequently of the whole world. It +spoke of his wisdom and foresight, the result of great intellect, energy +and labor, giving a biographic sketch of his career from cradle to +coffin; dismissing him with a long eulogium on his talents, integrity, +and activity, and lamenting the loss such great men were to their +country. Then came the name of the great diplomatist whose services had +been equally important, and who was dismissed with a similar memoir and +eulogium. Then the great admiral, who lived through a whole chapter all +to himself, and had his name brought in throughout the whole history of +the great monarch whose reign had been rendered so brilliant by the +great deeds of so many great men. Of the great feast given by the great +nobleman, and the conquests of the great beauty, there remains to this +day a record, of the former in the adulatory poems of his flatterers, +though the giver was gone--no matter where; of the latter many fair +portraits and many fond sonnets, though the object had gone--no matter +where. But no scribe told the history, no poet made a sonnet, no artist +drew the portrait of poor Johan Schmit, the mason, who made the rude +carving on the rough stone in the little town of ----, on the Rhine. +This task remains for an historian as obscure as himself, who now begins +a rude carving on the rough stone of a human life. + +After the example of the great historian already alluded to, I shall +touch but lightly on the early history of my hero; merely stating that +thirty years before the present date, Johan Schmit was born to Johan +Schmit the elder, by his wife Gretchen, after a similar presentation of +five others; that he got through the usual maladies childhood is heir +to, and was at the age of fifteen apprenticed to Herman Schwartz, a +master-builder in the town of Bonn. There, after some years of +hod-carrying, mortar-spreading, and stone-cutting--ascending steadily, +both literally and metaphorically, the ladder of his profession--honest +Johan took a prudent, diligent woman to wife, who lost no time in making +him the father of three thriving heirs to his house and his hod. Johan +was in tolerably good work, lived in the small house in the small street +already mentioned, and kept his family, without much pinching on the +part of the thrifty Gertrude, in their beer, thick bread, and +sauerkraut. His work, his wife, his children, and his two companions, +Karl Vratz, and Caspar Katzheim, with whom he drank very hoppy beer at +the "Gold Apfel," just round the corner of the street, comprised the +whole interests which occupied the heart and brain of Johan Schmit, of +the little town of ----, on the Rhine. Johan had no other idea in his +head when he rose in the morning than the day's work, the same as it was +yesterday, and would be to-morrow; no other thought when he returned +from it in the evening than that Frudchen had his supper ready for him, +that little Wilhelm and Johan would run to meet him, and that little +Rosechen, the baby, would crow out of her cradle at him, if awake, and +that after his supper he would just walk down to the "Gold Apfel," and +smoke a pipe with Karl and Caspar as usual. But Johan went to church +occasionally with his wife, going through his routine of crossings, +genuflexions, and sprinklings with holy water as orderly as any man. He +heard the priest speak of doing his duty and obeying the church. Johan +believed he did both; his duty--hard work--lay plainly before him; he +was honest, sober, and kind to his family, and had certainly no idea or +intention of disobeying the church. Thus, in a monotonous task of hard +labor for daily bread and the support of an increasing family, plodded +contentedly away the life of Johan Schmit of the little town of ----, on +the Rhine. + +But there is an era in the life of every one, even the most plodding and +homely; and so it was with Johan Schmit. It happened one day that he was +sent for to repair a broken wall in the chateau of the Count von +Rosenheim, situated not far from the town where Johan lived, on the +Rhine; and having completed his job, the housekeeper (the count being +absent) took the poor mason through the splendid rooms as a treat. Here +he beheld what he had never seen in his life before; velvet curtains, +silken sofas, crystal mirrors, gilded frames, paintings, and sculpture; +until his eyes were more dazzled than they had been since the first time +he entered the cathedral of Bonn. But after gazing his fill upon all +this gorgeous spectacle, his eyes happened to fall upon a small bronze +statuette of an angel, which the housekeeper informed him was a copy of +the Archangel Michael, from some church, she knew not where. + +Here was Johan arrested, and here would he have stood forever; for, +after looking upon this angel, he saw nothing more: every thing vanished +from before him, and nothing remained but the small bronze statuette. +Johan had seen plenty of angels before in the churches, fresh-colored, +chubby children, and he often thought his own little Rosechen would look +just like them if she had wings; but this was something far different. A +youth under twenty, and yet it gave no more idea of either age or sex +than of any other earthly condition. Clad in what Johan supposed would +represent luminous scale-armor, something dazzling and transparent, like +what he had heard the priests call the "armor of God"--the hands crossed +upon the bosom, the head slightly bowed, the attitude so full of awe, +obedience, and humility; and yet what attitude of human pride or +defiance was half so lofty, so noble, so dignified? The sword hung +sheathed by the side, the long wings folded; but the face--oh, how could +he describe that face, so full of high earnestness and holy calm? so +bright, so serious, so serene! He felt awed, calmed, and elevated as he +looked at it. + +"You must go now," exclaimed Madame Grossenberg; and Johan started from +his reverie, made his bow, replaced his paper cap, and went home, with +his head full of the angel instead of his work. He saw it there instead +of stout Frudchen and the children, who climbed about, and wondered at +his abstraction. He went to bed, and dreamed of the angel--glorified it +seemed to be--and, perhaps for the first time in his life, recalled his +dream, and saw the beautiful vision before his waking eyes all the next +day at his work--even in the "Gold Apfel," the most unlikely place for +an angel; and again when he closed his eyes to sleep. In short, the +angel became to him what his gold is to the miser, his power is to the +ambitious man, and his mistress to the lover: he saw nothing else in the +whole world but the angel; and this now filled the heart and brain of +poor Johan Schmit, of the little town of ----, on the Rhine. + +There are some things we desire to possess, and other things we desire +to produce; the former is the feeling of the connoisseur and collector: +the latter, of the artist. The first requires taste and money; the +latter--we won't say what it requires, or what it evinces, for enough +has been said on the subject already. Johan Schmit had no money; taste +he must have had, or he could not have admired the angel; he was no +artist, certainly; he had never drawn a line, or cut any thing but a +stone in his life; and yet he felt he must do something about that +angel. He saw it so plainly and so constantly before him, that he felt +he could copy it, if he only knew how. Now, as he could not draw, he +could not copy it in that manner; but as he could cut stone, no matter +how hard, he did not see why he might not attempt to cut the angel upon +a large stone, which he procured, and brought quietly up to a small +garret at the top of his house for that purpose. + +It was at this time that the general, the statesman, the diplomatist, +and the admiral, all severally planned their great undertakings; and it +was at this time that a strange thought passed through the brain of +Johan Schmit, as he sate looking at the great rough stone before him. +Johan was, as we have seen, quite an uneducated man; he hardly knew +enough of writing to spell his own name; and as to reading, he had never +looked into a book since he left school, at the age of twelve; he +therefore hardly knew the nature of his own ideas. His thoughts, never +arranged, were but like vague sensations passing through his mind, which +he could not define; but if he could have defined them they would have +taken something like the following expression: + +The angel seemed to have awakened a new world within him; not that he +thought of the legend of the Archangel Michael, which he had heard long +ago, and forgotten; but of the first idea of the artist who designed +that particular angel: what must have been his thoughts! what image +must he have had before him as he made that form grow from the marble +block into living beauty! Whence could such an idea have come? It must +surely have been a visitation from God--a spark of his own creative +power. And how must the artist have felt as, day by day and hour by +hour, he saw his work developing and perfecting before him, until at +last it stood up, a sight to make men wonder and almost worship--an +embodiment of all that was pure, lofty, and holy. Then came the contrast +of his own sordid work, so low, so slave-like, so brute-like. What human +idea could be put into hod-carrying, mortar-spreading, and +stone-cutting? Could not an animal or a machine do as much? For the +first time, perhaps, in his life, Johan felt that he had a soul not to +be bounded by the limits of his work or the daily necessities of +existence; and in his rough way he asked himself: How can the higher +aspirations of that soul be reflected in man's every-day life? and +whether a human mind should be bounded by the narrow routine of plodding +toil, for the supplying of common wants? And all these thoughts, vague, +unformed, a dim and undefined sense of something, passed through Johan's +brain as he sate cutting away at the stone, and trying to form the angel +in his little garret, in the little town of ----, on the Rhine. +Patiently he labored at it after his day's work was over; patiently he +bore all his failures, when he saw in the indistinct outline that the +angel's arm was too short, its right leg crooked, its wings shapeless, +and its head, instead of bending gracefully, stuck upon its breast like +an excrescence; patiently he bore the scoldings of his wife for his +dullness and abstraction, and the tricks of his children to arouse him; +patiently he listened to the remonstrances of Karl and Caspar, for his +bad companionship at the "Gold Apfel;" and patiently he bore the still +more serious remonstrances of his master, at the careless and negligent +manner in which he often performed his work, when a vision of the angel +chanced to flit with more than usual vividness before him. Time wore on; +and if Johan did not progress rapidly with his angel, Gertrude was far +more active and diligent in presenting him with images in another +material, and urging loudly at the same time the necessity of working +hard for an increasing family. Poor Gertrude: she was a good woman, and +loved her husband without understanding him; but she had a quick temper, +and was what is commonly called a shrew. She thought Johan wanted +rousing; and to rouse him she rated him: he bore it all patiently, and +thought of the angel--it was strange how that angel soothed and consoled +him! Caspar, his fellow-workman, fell from a scaffold, and broke his +leg. Caspar, too, had a wife and children: Johan undertook his work--he +worked double hours, and divided his wages with Caspar. + +Karl revealed to him in confidence over his pipe at the "Gold Apfel," +that he was in debt, and had been threatened with a jail: Johan lent him +the money unknown to Gertrude, and worked hard to make it up; as he knew +Karl could never pay him. + +He had now no time to work at the angel; and time was going on with him. +By his little broken looking-glass he could see his beard growing gray; +but strange to say, the angel, though less distinct in form than when he +saw it, was still firmly fixed in his memory; and though it seemed to be +etherialized, he could always call up its image before him; and still, +every moment he could spare, did he hasten to his garret, and cut away +at the rough stone. But these hours were stolen from his natural rest, +and nature punished the theft; his strength visibly declined. Yet he +could not abandon his work--and this not from any ambitious ideas of its +success, for he never dreamed of succeeding--he felt his own inability +too much to hope for it;--but there was something in the exercise of +will, mind, and heart--something which seemed to elevate him in spite of +himself, while at his employment, that balanced all other feelings of +disappointment and weariness, making him a happier--no, that is not the +word, but a nobler--man. And now Johan Schmit had contrived to +apprentice his eldest son, send his second to school, pay the doctor's +long bill for two children, and bury another; besides having helped +Caspar during his illness, and paid Karl's debt. Thrifty Gertrude +managed to keep things together; and in her cleaning and bustling had no +time to observe the wan face and wasted frame of her husband. The stone +had been gradually cut into a form which was nearly as shapeless as +before Johan touched it; and yet, to his eyes, it did bear some rude +resemblance to the angel of his inspiration--which appeared before his +eyes so vividly as he returned from an unusually-long and hard day's +work to his home, that he thought he could just put one or two finishing +strokes before going to bed which would recall his dimly-remembered +model. Without touching supper or pipe, he embraced his wife and +children, and went to his garret. He looked long on the rude block +before him, and then took up his hammer and chisel to complete his work. +After two or three attempts, an unwonted languor stole over him; the +tools dropped from his hands, and he worked no more; but the vision of +the angel before his eyes grew stronger and stronger, and of something +brighter and more glorious than the angel, but he did not attempt to +carve it. + +In the early morning Gertrude awoke, and was surprised not to see her +husband. Thinking he might have risen to his work earlier than usual, +she arose and went down stairs; the door was bolted, and there were no +signs of Johan. She called; no answer: then, becoming alarmed, she +roused the children to look for him. The small house was soon searched, +but no Johan discovered; when Wilhelm, remembering the garret he had +seen his father steal away into, ascended the ladder leading to it--and +there, on his knees, his head resting on the rude block of stone, lay +the lifeless body of Johan Schmit. The last thing his eyes beheld on +earth was _that_ angel;--but who can say on what vision they opened. + +His wife and children removed to Bonn, to her father; who had saved +money, and promised to take care of them. His body was laid in the +little cemetery of the little town: his widow placed a wooden cross at +the head of his grave, which in time, rotted and fell down; so that the +place is now left unmarked by any thing. That stone, on which a human +heart had carved itself out, was broken up to mend the town wall. And +thus, while a large marble slab, with a long inscription, covers the +remains of the great general, the great statesman, the great +diplomatist, the great admiral, the great nobleman, and the great +beauty--not even a piece of wood or a block of stone tells of the mere +existence of poor Johan Schmit, of the little town of ----, on the +Rhine. + +They could work out their idea of life, and the objects for which it was +given, by their successful dedication of it to pride, ambition, vanity, +and coquetry. _He_ could not; but who can tell what effect that futile +effort, that unknown and profitless toil, may have had upon the fate of +his soul where it now is? + + + + +MAURICE TIERNAY, + +THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE.[1] + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +"THE BREAKFAST AT LETTERKENNY." + +Early the next morning, a messenger arrived from the Cranagh, with a +small packet of my clothes and effects, and a farewell letter from the +two brothers. I had but time to glance over its contents, when the tramp +of feet and the buzz of voices in the street attracted me to the window, +and on looking out I saw a long line of men, two abreast, who were +marching along as prisoners, a party of dismounted dragoons, keeping +guard over them on either side, followed by a strong detachment of +marines. The poor fellows looked sad and crest-fallen enough. Many of +them wore bandages on their heads and limbs, the tokens of the late +struggle. Immediately in front of the inn door stood a group of about +thirty persons; they were the staff of the English force and the +officers of our fleet, all mingled together, and talking away with the +greatest air of unconcern. I was struck by remarking that all our +seamen, though prisoners, saluted the officers as they passed, and in +the glances interchanged I thought I could read a world of sympathy and +encouragement. As for the officers, like true Frenchmen, they bore +themselves as though it were one of the inevitable chances of war, and, +however vexatious for the moment, not to be thought of as an event of +much importance. The greater number of them belonged to the army, and I +could see the uniforms of the staff, artillery, and dragoons, as well +as the less distinguished costume of the line. + +Perhaps they carried the affectation of indifference a little too far, +and in the lounging ease of their attitude, and the cool unconcern with +which they puffed their cigars, displayed an over-anxiety to seem +unconcerned. That the English were piqued at their bearing was still +more plain to see; and indeed in the sullen looks of the one and the +careless gayety of the other party, a stranger might readily have +mistaken the captor for the captive. + +My two friends of the evening before were in the midst of the group. He +who had questioned me so sharply now wore a general officer's uniform, +and seemed to be the chief in command. As I watched him, I heard him +addressed by an officer, and now saw that he was no other than Lord +Cavan himself, while the other was a well-known magistrate and country +gentleman, Sir George Hill. + +The sad procession took almost half an hour to defile; and then came a +long string of country cars and carts, with sea chests and other stores +belonging to our officers, and, last of all, some eight or ten +ammunition wagons and gun carriages, over which an English union-jack +now floated in token of conquest. + +There was nothing like exultation or triumph exhibited by the peasantry +as this pageant passed by. They gazed in silent wonderment at the scene, +looked like men that scarcely knew whether the result boded more of good +or evil to their own fortunes. While keenly scrutinizing the looks and +bearing of the bystanders I received a summons to meet the general and +his party at breakfast. + +Although the occurrence was one of the most pleasurable incidents of my +life, which brought me once more into intercourse with my comrades and +my countrymen, I should perhaps pass it over with slight mention, were +it not that it made me witness to a scene which has since been recorded +in various different ways, but of whose exact details I profess to be an +accurate narrator. + +After making a tour of the room, saluting my comrades, answering +questions here, putting others there, I took my place at the long table, +which, running the whole length of the apartment, was indiscriminately +occupied by French and English, and found myself with my back to the +fire-place, and having directly in front of me a man of about +thirty-three or four years of age, dressed in the uniform of a chef de +brigade; light-haired and blue-eyed, he bore no resemblance whatever to +those around him, whose dark faces and black beards, proclaimed them of +a foreign origin. There was an air of mildness in his manner, mingled +with a certain impetuosity that betrayed itself in the rapid glances of +his eye, and I could plainly mark that while the rest were perfectly at +their ease, he was constrained, restless, watching eagerly every thing +that went forward about him, and showing unmistakably a certain anxiety +and distrust widely differing from the gay and careless indifference of +his comrades. I was curious to hear his name, and on asking, learned +that he was the Chef de Brigade Smith, an Irishman by birth, but holding +a command in the French service. + +I had but asked the question, when pushing back his chair from the +table, he arose suddenly, and stood stiff and erect, like a soldier on +the parade. + +"Well, sir, I hope you are satisfied with your inspection of me," cried +he, and sternly addressing himself to some one behind my back. I turned +and perceived it was Sir George Hill, who stood in front of the fire, +leaning on his stick. Whether he replied or not to this rude speech I am +unable to say, but the other walked leisurely round the table, and came +directly in front of him. "You know me _now_, sir, I presume," said he, +in the same imperious voice, "or else this uniform has made a greater +change in my appearance than I knew of." + +"Mr. Tone!" said Sir George, in a voice scarcely above a whisper. + +"Ay, sir, Wolfe Tone; there is no need of secrecy here; Wolfe Tone, your +old college acquaintance in former times, but now chef de brigade in the +service of France." + +"This is a very unexpected, a very unhappy meeting, Mr. Tone," said +Hill, feelingly; "I sincerely wish you had not recalled the memory of +our past acquaintance. _My_ duty gives me no alternative." + +"Your duty, or I mistake much, can have no concern with me, sir," cried +Tone, in a more excited voice. + +"I ask for nothing better than to be sure of this, Mr. Tone," said Sir +George, moving slowly toward the door. + +"You would treat me like an emigre rentre," cried Tone, passionately; +"but I am a French subject and a French officer." + +"I shall be well satisfied if others take the same view of your case, I +assure you," said Hill, as he gained the door. + +"You'll not find me unprepared for either event, sir," rejoined Tone, +following him out of the room, and banging the door angrily behind him. + +For a moment or two the noise of voices was heard from without, and +several of the guests, English and French, rose from the table, eagerly +inquiring what had occurred, and asking for an explanation of the scene, +when suddenly the door was flung wide open, and Tone appeared between +two policemen, his coat off, and his wrists inclosed in handcuffs. + +"Look here, comrades," he cried in French; "this is another specimen of +English politeness and hospitality. After all," added he, with a bitter +laugh, "they have no designation in all their heraldry as honorable as +these fetters, when worn for the cause of freedom! Good-by, comrades; we +may never meet again, but don't forget how we parted!" + +These were the last words he uttered, when the door was closed, and he +was led forward under charge of a strong force of police and military. A +post-chaise was soon seen to pass the windows at speed, escorted by +dragoons, and we saw no more of our comrade. + +The incident passed even more rapidly than I write it. The few words +spoken, the hurried gestures, the passionate exclamations, are yet all +deeply graven on my memory; and I can recall every little incident of +the scene, and every feature of the locality wherein it occurred. With +true French levity many reseated themselves at the breakfast-table; +while others, with perhaps as little feeling, but more of curiosity, +discussed the event, and sought for an explanation of its meaning. + +"Then what's to become of Tiernay," cried one, "if it be so hard to +throw off this 'coil of Englishman?' _His_ position may be just as +precarious." + +"That is exactly what has occurred," said Lord Cavan; "a warrant for his +apprehension has just been put into my hands, and I deeply regret that +the duty should violate that of hospitality, and make my guest my +prisoner." + +"May I see this warrant, my lord?" asked I. + +"Certainly, sir. Here it is; and here is the information on oath through +which it was issued, sworn to before three justices of the peace by a +certain Joseph Dowall, late an officer in the rebel forces, but now a +pardoned approver of the Crown; do you remember such a man, sir?" + +I bowed, and he went on. + +"He would seem a precious rascal; but such characters become +indispensable in times like these. After all, M. Tiernay, my orders are +only to transmit you to Dublin under safe escort, and there is nothing +either in _my_ duty or in _your_ position to occasion any feeling, of +unpleasantness between _us_. Let us have a glass of wine together." + +I responded to this civil proposition with politeness, and after a +slight interchange of leave-takings with some of my newly-found +comrades, I set out for Derry on a jaunting-car, accompanied by an +officer and two policemen, affecting to think very little of a +circumstance which, in reality, the more I reflected over the more +serious I deemed it. + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +A SCENE IN THE ROYAL BARRACKS. + +It would afford me little pleasure to write, and doubtless my readers +less to read my lucubrations, as I journeyed along toward Dublin. My +thoughts seldom turned from myself and my own fortunes, nor were they +cheered by the scenes through which I traveled. The season was a +backward and wet one, and the fields, partly from this cause, and partly +from the people being engaged in the late struggle, lay untilled and +neglected. Groups of idle, lounging peasants stood in the villages, or +loitered on the high roads, as we passed, sad, ragged-looking, and +wretched. They seemed as if they had no heart to resume their wonted +life of labor, but were waiting for some calamity to close their +miserable existence. Strongly in contrast with this were the air and +bearing of the yeomanry and militia detachments, with whom we +occasionally came up. Quite forgetting how little creditable to some of +them, at least, were the events of the late campaign, they gave +themselves the most intolerable airs of heroism, and in their drunken +jollity, and reckless abandonment, threatened, I know not what--utter +ruin to France and all Frenchmen. Bonaparte was the great mark of all +their sarcasms, and, from some cause or other, seemed to enjoy a most +disproportioned share of their dislike and derision. + +At first it required some effort of constraint on my part to listen to +this ribaldry in silence; but prudence, and a little sense, taught me +the safer lesson of "never minding," and so I affected to understand +nothing that was said in a spirit of insult or offense. + +On the night of the 7th of November we drew nigh to Dublin; but instead +of entering the capital, we halted at a small village outside of it +called Chapelizod. Here a house had been fitted up for the reception of +French prisoners, and I found myself, if not in company, at least under +the same roof with my countrymen. + +Nearer intercourse than this, however, I was not destined to enjoy, for +early on the following morning I was ordered to set out for the Royal +Barracks, to be tried before a court-martial. It was on a cold, raw +morning, with a thin, drizzly rain falling, that we drove into the +barrack-yard, and drew up at the mess-room, then used for the purposes +of a court. As yet none of the members had assembled, and two or three +mess-waiters were engaged in removing the signs of last night's debauch, +and restoring a semblance of decorum to a very rackety-looking +apartment. The walls were scrawled over with absurd caricatures, in +charcoal or ink, of notorious characters of the capital, and a very +striking "battle-piece" commemorated the "Races of Castlebar," as that +memorable action was called, in a spirit, I am bound to say, of little +flattery to the British arms. There were to be sure little compensatory +illustrations here and there of French cavalry in Egypt, mounted on +donkeys, or revolutionary troops on parade, ragged as scarecrows, and +ill-looking as highwaymen; but a most liberal justice characterized all +these frescoes, and they treated both Trojan and Tyrian alike. + +I had abundant time given me to admire them, for although summoned for +seven o'clock, it was nine before the first officer of the court-martial +made his appearance, and he having popped in his head, and perceiving +the room empty; sauntered out again, and disappeared. At last a very +noisy jaunting-car rattled into the square, and a short, red-faced man +was assisted down from it, and entered the mess-room. This was Mr. +Peters, the Deputy Judge Advocate, whose presence was the immediate +signal for the others, who now came dropping in from every side, the +President, a Colonel Daly, arriving the last. + +A few tradespeople, loungers, it seemed to me, of the barrack, and some +half-dozen non-commissioned officers off duty, made up the public; and I +could not but feel a sense of my insignificance in the utter absence of +interest my fate excited. The listless indolence and informality, too, +offended and insulted me; and when the President politely told me to be +seated, for they were obliged to wait for some books or papers left +behind at his quarters, I actually was indignant at his coolness. + +As we thus waited, the officers gathered around the fire-place, chatting +and laughing pleasantly together, discussing the social events of the +capital, and the gossip of the day; every thing, in fact, but the case +of the individual on whose future fate they were about to decide. + +At length the long-expected books made their appearance, and a few +well-thumbed volumes were spread over the table, behind which the Court +took their places, Colonel Daly in the centre, with the Judge upon his +left. + +The members being sworn, the Judge Advocate arose, and in a hurried, +humdrum kind of voice, read out what purported to be the commission +under which I was to be tried; the charge being, whether I had or had +not acted treacherously and hostilely to his Majesty, whose natural born +subject I was, being born in that kingdom, and, consequently, owing to +him all allegiance and fidelity. "Guilty or not guilty, sir?" + +"The charge is a falsehood; I am a Frenchman," was my answer. + +"Have respect for the Court, sir," said Peters; "you mean that you are a +French officer, but by birth an Irishman." + +"I mean no such thing;--that I am French by birth, as I am in +feeling--that I never saw Ireland till within a few months back, and +heartily wish I had never seen it." + +"So would General Humbert, too, perhaps," said Daly, laughing; and the +Court seemed to relish the jest. + +"Where were you born, then, Tiernay?" + +"In Paris, I believe." + +"And your mother's name, what was it?" + +"I never knew; I was left an orphan when a mere infant, and can tell +little of my family." + +"Your father was Irish, then?" + +"Only by descent. I have heard that we came from a family who bore the +title of 'Timmahoo'--Lord Tiernay of Timmahoo." + +"There was such a title," interposed Peters; "it was one of King James's +last creations after his flight from the Boyne. Some, indeed, assert +that it was conferred before the battle. What a strange coincidence, to +find the descendant, if he be such, laboring in something like the same +cause as his ancestor." + +"What's your rank, sir?" asked a sharp, severe-looking man, called Major +Flood. + +"First Lieutenant of Hussars." + +"And is it usual for a boy of your years to hold that rank; or was there +any thing peculiar in your case that obtained the promotion?" + +"I served in two campaigns, and gained my grade regularly." + +"Your Irish blood, then, had no share in your advancement?" asked he +again. + +"I am a Frenchman, as I said before," was my answer. + +"A Frenchman, who lays claim to an Irish estate and an Irish title," +replied Flood. "Let us hear Dowall's statement." + +And now, to my utter confusion, a man made his way to the table, and, +taking the book from the Judge Advocate, kissed it in token of an oath. + +"Inform the Court of any thing you know in connection with the +prisoner," said the Judge. + +And the fellow, not daring even to look toward me, began a long, +rambling, unconnected narrative of his first meeting with me at Killala, +affecting that a close intimacy had subsisted between us, and that in +the faith of a confidence, I had told him how, being an Irishman by +birth, I had joined the expedition in the hope that with the expulsion +of the English I should be able to re-establish my claim to my family +rank and fortune. There was little coherence in his story, and more than +one discrepant statement occurred in it; but the fellow's natural +stupidity imparted a wonderful air of truth to the narrative, and I was +surprised how naturally it sounded even to my own ears, little +circumstances of truth being interspersed through the recital, as though +to season the falsehood into a semblance of fact. + +"What have you to reply to this, Tiernay?" asked the Colonel. + +"Simply, sir, that such a witness, were his assertions even more +consistent and probable, is utterly unworthy of credit. This fellow was +one of the greatest marauders of the rebel army: and the last exercise +of authority I ever witnessed by General Humbert was an order to drive +him out of the town of Castlebar." + +"Is this the notorious Town-Major Dowall?" asked an officer of +artillery. + +"The same, sir." + +"I can answer, then, for his being one of the greatest rascals +unhanged," rejoined he. + +"This is all very irregular, gentlemen," interposed the Judge Advocate; +"the character of a witness can not be impugned by what is mere +desultory conversation. Let Dowall withdraw." + +The man retired, and now a whispered conversation was kept up at the +table for about a quarter of an hour, in which I could distinctly +separate those who befriended from those who opposed me, the Major being +the chief of the latter party. One speech of his which I overheard made +a slight impression on me, and for the first time suggested uneasiness +regarding the event. + +"Whatever you do with this lad must have an immense influence on Tone's +trial. Don't forget that if you acquit him you'll be sorely puzzled to +convict the other." + +The Colonel promptly overruled this unjust suggestion, and maintained +that in my accent, manner, and appearance, there was every evidence of +my French origin. + +"Let Wolfe Tone stand upon his own merits," said he, "but let us not mix +this case with his." + +"I'd have treated every man who landed to a rope," exclaimed the Major, +"Humbert himself among the rest. It was pure 'brigandage,' and nothing +less." + +"I hope if I escape, sir, that it will never be my fortune to see you a +prisoner of France," said I, forgetting all in my indignation. + +"If my voice have any influence, young man, that opportunity is not +likely to occur to you," was the reply. + +This ungenerous speech found no sympathy with the rest, and I soon saw +that the Major represented a small minority in the Court. + +The want of my commission, or of any document suitable to my rank or +position in the service, was a great drawback; for I had given all my +papers to Humbert, and had nothing to substantiate my account of myself. +I saw how unfavorably this acknowledgement was taken by the Court; and +when I was ordered to withdraw that they might deliberate, I own that I +felt great misgivings as to the result. + +The deliberation was a long, and as I could overhear, a strongly +disputed one. Dowall was twice called in for examination, and when he +retired on the last occasion, the discussion grew almost stormy. + +As I stood thus awaiting my fate, the public, now removed from the +Court, pressed eagerly to look at me; and while some thronged the +door-way, and even pressed against the sentry, others crowded at the +window to peep in. Among these faces, over which my eye ranged in half +vacancy, one face struck me, for the expression of sincere sympathy and +interest it bore. It was that of a middle-aged man of an humble walk in +life, whose dress bespoke him from the country. There was nothing in his +appearance to have called for attention or notice, and at any other time +I should have passed him over without remark, but now, as his features +betokened a feeling almost verging on anxiety, I could not regard him +without interest. + +Whichever way my eyes turned, however my thoughts might take me off, +whenever I looked toward him, I was sure to find his gaze steadily bent +upon me, and with an expression quite distinct from mere curiosity. At +last came the summons for me to reappear before the Court, and the crowd +opened to let me pass in. + +The noise, the anxiety of the moment, and the movement of the people +confused me at first, and when I recovered self-possession, I found that +the Judge Advocate was reciting the charge under which I was tried. +There were three distinct counts, on each of which the Court pronounced +me "NOT GUILTY," but at the same time qualifying the finding by the +additional words--"by a majority of two;" thus showing me that my +escape had been a narrow one. + +"As a prisoner of war," said the President, "you will now receive the +same treatment as your comrades of the same rank. Some have been already +exchanged, and some have given bail for their appearance to answer any +future charges against them." + +"I am quite ready, sir, to accept my freedom on parole," said I; "of +course, in a country where I am an utter stranger, bail is out of the +question." + +"I'm willing to bail him, your worship; I'll take it on me to be surety +for him," cried a coarse, husky voice from the body of the court; and at +the same time a man dressed in a great coat of dark frieze pressed +through the crowd and approached the table. + +"And who are you, my good fellow, so ready to impose yourself on the +Court?" asked Peters. + +"I'm a farmer of eighty acres of land, from the Black Pits, near +Baldoyle, and the Adjutant there, Mr. Moore, knows me well." + +"Yes," said the Adjutant, "I have known you some years, as supplying +forage to the cavalry, and always heard you spoken of as honest and +trust-worthy." + +"Thank you, Mr. Moore; that's as much as I want." + +"Yes; but it's not as much as _we_ want, my worthy man," said Peters; +"we require to know that you are a solvent and respectable person." + +"Come out and see my place then; ride over the land and look at my +stock; ask my neighbors my character; find out if there's any thing +against me." + +"We prefer to leave all that trouble on _your_ shoulders," said Peters; +"show us that we may accept your surety and we'll entertain the question +at once." + +"How much is it?" asked he, eagerly. + +"We demanded five hundred pounds for a Major on the staff; suppose we +say two, Colonel, is that sufficient?" asked Peters of the President. + +"I should say quite enough," was the reply. + +"There's eighty of it any way," said the farmer, producing a dirty roll +of bank notes, and throwing them on the table; "I got them from Mr. +Murphy in Smithfield this morning, and I'll get twice as much more from +him for asking; so if your honors will wait 'till I come back, I'll not +be twenty minutes away." + +"But we can't take your money, my man; we have no right to touch it." + +"Then what are ye talking about two hundred pounds for?" asked he, +sternly. + +"We want your promise to pay in the event of this bail being broken." + +"Oh, I see, it's all the same thing in the end; I'll do it either way." + +"We'll accept Mr. Murphy's guarantee for your solvency," said Peters; +"obtain that and you can sign the bond at once." + +"Faith I'll get it sure enough, and be here before you've the writing +drawn out;" said he, buttoning up his coat. + +"What name are we to insert in the bond?" + +"Tiernay, sir." + +"That's the prisoner's name, but we want yours." + +"Mine's Tiernay too, sir, Pat Tiernay of the Black Pits." + +Before I could recover from my surprise at this announcement he had left +the Court, which, in a few minutes afterward, broke up, a clerk alone +remaining to fill up the necessary documents and complete the bail-bond. + +The Colonel, as well as two others of his officers, pressed me to join +them at breakfast, but I declined, resolving to wait for my name-sake's +return, and partake of no other hospitality than his. + +It was near one o'clock when he returned, almost worn out with fatigue, +since he had been in pursuit of Mr. Murphy for several hours, and only +came upon him by chance at last. His business, however, he had fully +accomplished; the bail-bond was duly drawn out and signed, and I left +the barrack in a state of happiness very different from the feeling with +which I had entered it that day. + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +A BRIEF CHANGE OF LIFE AND COUNTRY. + +My new acquaintance never ceased to congratulate himself on what he +called the lucky accident that had led him to the barracks that morning, +and thus brought about our meeting. "Little as you think of me, my +dear," said he, "I'm one of the Tiernays of Timmahoo myself; faix, until +I saw you, I thought I was the last of them! There are eight generations +of us in the church-yard at Kells, and I was looking to the time when +they'd lay my bones there, as the last of the race, but I see there's +better fortune before us." + +"But you have a family I hope?" + +"Sorrow one belonging to me. I might have married when I was young, but +there was a pride in me to look for something higher than I had any +right, except from blood, I mean; for a better stock than our own isn't +to be found; and that's the way years went over and I lost the +opportunity, and here I am now an old bachelor, without one to stand to +me, barrin' it be yourself." + +The last words were uttered with a tremulous emotion, and on turning +toward him I saw his eyes swimming with tears, and perceived that some +strong feeling was working within him. + +"You can't suppose I can ever forget what I owe you, Mr. Tiernay." + +"Call me Pat, Pat Tiernay," interrupted he, roughly. + +"I'll call you what you please," said I, "if you let me add friend to +it." + +"That's enough; we understand one another now, no more need be said; +you'll come home and live with me. It's not long, maybe, you'll have to +do that same; but when I go you'll be heir to what I have: 'tis more, +perhaps, than many supposes, looking at the coat and the gaiters I'm +wearin'. Mind, Maurice, I don't want you, nor I don't expect you to turn +farmer like myself. You need never turn a hand to any thing. You'll have +your horse to ride--two if you like it. Your time will be all your own, +so that you spend a little of it, now and then, with me, and as much +divarsion as ever you care for." + +I have condensed into a few words the substance of a conversation which +lasted till we reached Baldoyle; and passing through that not +over-imposing village, gained the neighborhood of the sea-shore, along +which stretched the farm of the "Black Pits," a name derived, I was +told, from certain black holes that were dug in the sands by fishermen +in former times, when the salt tide washed over the pleasant fields +where corn was now growing. A long, low, thatched cabin, with far more +indications of room and comfort than pretension to the picturesque, +stood facing the sea. There were neither trees nor shrubs around it, and +the aspect of the spot was bleak and cheerless enough, a coloring a dark +November day did nothing to dispel. + +It possessed one charm, however, and had it been a hundred times +inferior to what it was, _that_ one would have compensated for all +else--hearty welcome met me at the door, and the words, "This is your +home, Maurice," filled my heart with happiness. + +Were I to suffer myself to dwell even in thought on this period of my +life, I feel how insensibly I should be led away into an inexcusable +prolixity. The little meaningless incidents of my daily life, all so +engraven on my memory still, occupied me pleasantly from day till night. +Not only the master of myself and my own time, I was master of every +thing around me. Uncle Pat, as he loved to call himself, treated me with +a degree of respect that was almost painful to me, and only when we were +alone together, did he relapse into the intimacy of equality. Two +first-rate hunters stood in my stable; a stout-built half-deck boat lay +at my command beside the quay; I had my gun and my grayhounds; books, +journals; every thing, in short, that a liberal purse and a kind spirit +could confer--all but acquaintance. Of these I possessed absolutely +none. Too proud to descend to intimacy with the farmers and small +shopkeepers of the neighborhood, my position excluded me from +acquaintance with the gentry; and thus I stood between both, unknown to +either. + +For a while my new career was too absorbing to suffer me to dwell on +this circumstance. The excitement of field sports sufficed me when +abroad, and I came home usually so tired at night that I could barely +keep awake to amuse Uncle Pat with those narratives of war and +campaigning he was so fond of hearing. To the hunting-field succeeded +the Bay of Dublin, and I passed days, even weeks, exploring every creek +and inlet of the coast; now cruising under the dark cliffs of the Welsh +shore, or, while my boat lay at anchor, wandering among the solitary +valleys of Lambay; my life, like a dream full of its own imaginings, and +unbroken by the thoughts or feelings of others! I will not go the length +of saying that I was self-free from all reproach on the inglorious +indolence in which my days were passed, or that my thoughts never +strayed away to that land where my first dreams of ambition were felt. +But a strange fatuous kind of languor had grown upon me, and the more I +retired within myself, the less did I wish for a return to that struggle +with the world which every active life engenders. Perhaps--I can not now +say if it were so--perhaps I resented the disdainful distance with which +the gentry treated me, as we met in the hunting-field or the +coursing-ground. Some of the isolation I preferred may have had this +origin, but choice had the greater share in it, until at last my +greatest pleasure was to absent myself for weeks on a cruise, fancying +that I was exploring tracts never visited by man, and landing on spots +where no human foot had ever been known to tread. + +If Uncle Pat would occasionally remonstrate on the score of these long +absences, he never ceased to supply means for them, and my sea store and +a well-filled purse were never wanting, when the blue Peter floated from +"La Hoche," as in my ardor I had named my cutter. Perhaps at heart he +was not sorry to see me avoid the capital and its society. The +bitterness which had succeeded the struggle for independence was now at +its highest point, and there was what, to my thinking at least, appeared +something like the cruelty of revenge in the sentences which followed +the state trials. I will not suffer myself to stray into the debatable +ground of politics, nor dare I give an opinion on matters, where, with +all the experience of fifty years superadded, the wisest heads are +puzzled how to decide; but my impression at the time was, that lenity +would have been a safer and a better policy than severity, and that in +the momentary prostration of the country lay the precise conjuncture for +those measures of grace and favor, which were afterward rather wrung +from than conceded by the English government. Be this as it may, Dublin +offered a strange spectacle at that period. The triumphant joy of one +party--the discomfiture and depression of the other. All the exuberant +delight of success here; all the bitterness of failure there. On one +side festivities, rejoicings, and public demonstrations; on the other, +confinement, banishment, or the scaffold. + +The excitement was almost madness. The passion for pleasure, restrained +by the terrible contingencies of the time, now broke forth with +redoubled force, and the capital was thronged with all its rank, riches, +and fashion, when its jails were crowded, and the heaviest sentences of +the law were in daily execution. The state trials were crowded by all +the fashion of the metropolis; and the heart-moving eloquence of Curran +was succeeded by the strains of a merry concert. It was just then, too, +that the great lyric poet of Ireland began to appear in society, and +those songs which were to be known afterwards as "The Melodies," par +excellence, were first heard in all the witching enchantment which his +own taste and voice could lend them. To such as were indifferent to or +could forget the past, it was a brilliant period. It was the last +flickering blaze of Irish nationality, before the lamp was extinguished +for ever. + +Of this society I myself saw nothing. But even in the retirement of my +humble life the sounds of its mirth and pleasure penetrated, and I often +wished to witness the scenes which even in vague description were +fascinating. It was then in a kind of discontent at my exclusion, that I +grew from day to day more disposed to solitude, and fonder of those +excursions which led me out of all reach of companionship or +acquaintance. In this spirit I planned a long cruise down channel, +resolving to visit the Island of Valencia, or, if the wind and weather +favored, to creep around the southwest coast as far as Bantry or +Kenmare. A man and his son, a boy of about sixteen, formed all my crew, +and were quite sufficient for the light tackle and easy rig of my craft. +Uncle Pat was already mounted on his pony, and ready to set out for +market, as we prepared to start. It was a bright spring morning--such a +one as now and then the changeful climate of Ireland brings forth, in a +brilliancy of color and softness of atmosphere that are rare in even +more favored lands. + +"You have a fine day of it, Maurice, and just enough wind," said he, +looking at the point from whence it came. "I almost wish I was going +with you." + +"And why not come, then?" asked I. "You never will give yourself a +holiday. Do so for once, now." + +"Not to-day, any how," said he, half sighing at his self-denial. "I have +a great deal of business on my hands to-day; but the next time--the very +next you're up to a long cruise, I'll go with you." + +"That's a bargain, then?" + +"A bargain. Here's my hand on it." + +We shook hands cordially on the compact. Little knew I it was to be for +the last time, and that we were never to meet again. + +I was soon aboard, and with a free mainsail skimming rapidly over the +bright waters of the bay. The wind freshened as the day wore on, and we +quickly passed the Kish light-ship, and held our course boldly down +channel. The height of my enjoyment in these excursions consisted in the +unbroken quietude of mind I felt, when removed from all chance of +interruption, and left free to follow out my own fancies, and indulge my +dreamy conceptions to my heart's content. It was then I used to revel in +imaginings which sometimes soared into the boldest realms of ambition, +and at other strayed contemplatively in the humblest walks of obscure +fortune. My crew never broke in upon these musings; indeed old Tom +Finnerty's low crooning song rather aided than interrupted them. He was +not much given to talking, and a chance allusion to some vessel afar +off, or some head-land we were passing, were about the extent of his +communicativeness, and even these often fell on my ear unnoticed. + +It was thus, at night, we made the Hook Tower; and on the next day +passed, in a spanking breeze, under the bold cliffs of Tramore, just +catching, as the sun was sinking, the sight of Youghal Bay, and the tall +headlands beyond it. + +"The wind is drawing more to the nor'ard," said old Tom, as night closed +in, "and the clouds look dirty." + +"Bear her up a point or two," said I, "and let us stand in for Cork +harbor, if it comes on to blow." + +He muttered something in reply, but I did not catch the words, nor, +indeed, cared I to hear them, for I had just wrapped myself in my +boat-cloak, and stretched at full length on the shingle ballast of the +yawl, was gazing in rapture at the brilliancy of the starry sky above +me. Light skiffs of feathery cloud would now and then flit past, and a +peculiar hissing sound of the sea told, at the same time, that the +breeze was freshening. But old Tom had done his duty in mentioning this +once; and thus having disburdened his conscience, he closehauled his +mainsail, shifted the ballast a little to midships, and, putting up the +collar of his pilot-coat, screwed himself tighter into the corner beside +the tiller, and chewed his quid in quietness. The boy slept soundly in +the bow, and I, lulled by the motion and the plashing waves, fell into a +dreamy stupor, like a pleasant sleep. The pitching of the boat continued +to increase, and twice or thrice, struck by a heavy sea, she lay over, +till the white waves came tumbling in over her gunwale. I heard Tom call +to his boy, something about the head-sail, but for the life of me I +could not or would not arouse myself from a train of thought that I was +following. + +"She's a stout boat to stand this," said Tom, as he rounded her off, at +a coming wave, which, even thus escaped, splashed over her like a +cataract. "I know many a bigger craft wouldn't hold up her canvas under +such a gale." + +"Here it comes, father. Here's a squall," cried the boy, and with a +crash like thunder, the wind struck the sail, and laid the boy +half-under. + +"She'd float if she was full of water," said the old man, as the craft +"righted." + +"But maybe the spars wouldn't stand," said the boy, anxiously. + +"'Tis what I'm thinking," rejoined the father. "There's a shake in the +mast, below the caps." + +"Tell him it's better to bear up, and go before it," whispered the lad, +with a gesture toward where I was lying. + +"Troth it's little he'd care," said the other; "besides, he's never +plazed to be woke up." + +"Here it comes again," cried the boy. But this time the squall swept +past ahead of us, and the craft only reeled to the swollen waves, as +they tore by. + +"We'd better go about, sir," said Tom to me; "there's a heavy sea +outside, and it's blowing hard now." + +"And there's a split in the mast as long as my arm," cried the boy. + +"I thought she'd live through any sea, Tom!" said I, laughing; for it +was his constant boast that no weather could harm her. + +"There goes the spar," shouted he, while with a loud snap the mast gave +way, and fell with a crash over the side. The boat immediately came head +to wind, and sea after sea broke upon her bow, and fell in great floods +over us. + +"Cut away the stays--clear the wreck," cried Tom, "before the squall +catches her." + +And although we now labored like men whose lives depended on the +exertion, the trailing sail and heavy rigging, shifting the ballast as +they fell, laid her completely over; and when the first sea struck her, +over she went. The violence of the gale sent me a considerable distance +out, and for several seconds I felt as though I should never reach the +surface again. Wave after wave rolled over me, and seemed bearing me +downward with their weight. At last I grasped something; it was a +rope--a broken halyard--but by its means I gained the mast, which +floated alongside of the yawl as she now lay keel uppermost. With what +energy did I struggle to reach her. The space was scarcely a dozen feet, +and yet it cost me what seemed an age to traverse. Through all the +roaring of the breakers, and the crashing sounds of storm, I thought I +could hear my comrades' voices shouting and screaming, but this was in +all likelihood a mere deception, for I never saw them more. + +Grasping with a death-grip the slippery keel, I hung on the boat through +all the night. The gale continued to increase, and by day-break it blew +a perfect hurricane. With an aching anxiety I watched for the light to +see if I were near the land, or if any ship were in sight, but when the +sun rose nothing met my eyes but a vast expanse of waves tumbling and +tossing in mad confusion, while overhead some streaked and mottled +clouds were hurried along with the wind. Happily for me, I have no +correct memory of that long day of suffering. The continual noise, but +more still, the incessant motion of the sea and sky around brought on a +vertigo, that seemed like madness; and although the instinct of +self-preservation remained, the wildest and most incoherent fancies +filled my brain. Some of these were powerful enough to impress +themselves upon my memory for years after, and one I have never yet been +able to dispel. It clings to me in every season of unusual depression or +dejection; it recurs in the half nightmare sleep of over fatigue, and +even invades me when, restless and feverish, I lie for hours incapable +of repose. This is the notion that my state was one of after-life +punishment; that I had died, and was now expiating a sinful life by the +everlasting misery of a castaway. The fever brought on by thirst and +exhaustion and the burning sun which beamed down upon my uncovered head, +soon completed the measure of this infatuation, and all sense and +guidance left me. + +By what instinctive impulse I still held on my grasp I can not explain, +but there I clung during the whole of that long dreadful day, and the +still more dreadful night, when the piercing cold cramped my limbs, and +seemed as if freezing the very blood within me. It was no wish for life; +it was no anxiety to save myself that now filled me. It seemed like a +vague impulse of necessity that compelled me to hang on. It was, as it +were, part of that terrible sentence which made this my doom forever! + +An utter unconsciousness must have followed this state, and a dreary +blank, with flitting shapes of suffering, is all that remains to my +recollection.... + +Probably within the whole range of human sensations, there is not one so +perfect in its calm and soothing influence as the first burst of +gratitude we feel when recovering from a long and severe illness! There +is not an object, however humble and insignificant, that is not for the +time invested with a new interest. The air is balmier, flowers are +sweeter, the voices of friends, the smiles and kind looks, are dearer +and fonder than we have ever known them. The whole world has put on a +new aspect for us, and we have not a thought that is not teeming with +forgiveness and affection. Such, in all their completeness, were my +feelings as I lay on the poop-deck of a large three-masted ship, which, +with studding and top-gallant sails all set, proudly held her course up +the Gulf of St. Lawrence. + +She was a Dantzig barque, the "Hoffnung," bound for Quebec, her only +passengers being a Moravian minister and his wife, on their way to join +a small German colony established near Lake Champlain. To Gottfried +Kroeller and his dear little wife I owe not life alone, but nearly all +that has made it valuable. With means barely removed from absolute +poverty, I found that they had spared nothing to assist in my recovery; +for, when discovered, emaciation and wasting had so far reduced me that +nothing but the most unremitting care and kindness could have succeeded +in restoring me. To this end they bestowed not only their whole time and +attention, but every little delicacy of their humble sea-store. All the +little cordials and restoratives meant for a season of sickness or +debility were lavished unsparingly on me, and every instinct of national +thrift and carefulness gave way before the more powerful influence of +Christian benevolence. + +I can think of nothing but that bright morning, as I lay on a mattress +on the deck, with the "Pfarrer" on one side of me, and his good little +wife, Lyschen, on the other; he, with his volume of "Wieland," and she +working away with her long knitting-needles, and never raising her head +save to bestow a glance at the poor sick boy, whose bloodless lips were +trying to mutter her name in thankfulness. It is like the most delicious +dream as I think over those hours, when, rocked by the surging motion of +the large ship, hearing in half distinctness the words of the +"Pfarrer's" reading, I followed out little fancies--now +self-originating, now rising from the theme of the poet's musings. + +How softly the cloud shadows moved over the white sails and swept along +the bright deck! How pleasantly the water rippled against the vessel's +side! With what a glad sound the great ensign flapped and fluttered in +the breeze! There was light, and life, and motion on every side, and I +felt all the intoxication of enjoyment. + +And like a dream was the portion of my life which followed. I +accompanied the Pfarrer to a small settlement near "Crown Point," where +he was to take up his residence as minister. Here we lived amid a +population of about four or five hundred Germans, principally from +Pomerania, on the shores of the Baltic, a peaceful, thrifty, quiet set +of beings, who, content with the little interests revolving around +themselves, never troubled their heads about the great events of war or +politics; and here in all likelihood should I have been content to pass +my days, when an accidental journey I made to Albany, to receive some +letters for the Pfarrer, once more turned the fortune of my life. + +It was a great incident in the quiet monotony of my life, when I set out +one morning, arrayed in a full suit of coarse glossy black, with buttons +like small saucers, and a hat whose brim almost protected my shoulders. +I was, indeed, an object of very considerable envy to some, and I hope, +also, not denied the admiring approval of some others. Had the +respectable city I was about to visit been the chief metropolis of a +certain destination which I must not name, the warnings I received about +its dangers, dissipations, and seductions, could scarcely have been more +earnest or impressive. I was neither to speak with, nor even to look at, +those I met in the streets. I was carefully to avoid taking my meals at +any of the public eating-houses, rigidly guarding myself from the +contamination of even a chance acquaintance. It was deemed as needless +to caution me against theatres or places of amusement, as to hint to me +that I should not commit a highway robbery or a murder, and so, in +sooth, I should myself have felt it. The patriarchal simplicity in which +I had lived for above a year, had not been without its effect in +subduing exaggerated feeling, or controlling that passion for excitement +so common to youth. I felt a kind of drowsy, dreamy languor over me, +which I sincerely believed represented a pious and well-regulated +temperament. Perhaps in time it might have become such. Perhaps with +others, more happily constituted, the impression would have been +confirmed and fixed; but in _my_ case it was a mere lacker that the +first rubbing in the world was sure to brush off. + +I arrived safely at Albany, and having presented myself at the bank of +Gabriel Shultze, was desired to call the following morning, when all the +letters and papers of Gottfried Kroeller should be delivered to me. A +very cold invitation to supper was the only hospitality extended to me. +This I declined on pretext of weariness, and set out to explore the +town, to which my long residence in rural life imparted a high degree of +interest. + +I don't know what it may now be: doubtless a great capital, like one of +the European cities; but at the time I speak of, Albany was a strange, +incongruous assemblage of stores and wooden houses, great buildings like +granaries, with whole streets of low sheds around them, where open to +the passer-by, men worked at various trades, and people followed out the +various duties of domestic life in sight of the public; the daughters +knitted and sewed; mothers cooked and nursed their children; men ate, +and worked, and smoked, and sang, as if in all the privacy of closed +dwellings, while a thick current of population poured by, apparently too +much immersed in their own cares, or too much accustomed to the scene, +to give it more than passing notice. + +It was curious how one bred and born in the great city of Paris, with +all its sights and sounds, and scenes of excitement and display, could +have been so rusticated by time, as to feel a lively interest in +surveying the motley aspect of this quaint town. There were, it is true, +features in the picture very unlike the figures in "Old World" +landscape. A group of red men, seated around a fire in the open street, +or a squaw carrying on her back a baby, firmly tied to a piece of curved +bark; a Southern-stater, with a spanking wagon-team, and two grinning +negroes behind, were new and strange elements in the life of a city. +Still, the mere movement, the actual busy stir and occupation of the +inhabitants, attracted me as much as any thing else; and the shops and +stalls where trades were carried on were a seduction I could not resist. + +The strict puritanism in which I had lately lived taught me to regard +all these things with a certain degree of distrust. They were the +impulses of that gold-seeking passion of which Gottfried had spoken so +frequently; they were the great vice of that civilization, whose +luxurious tendency he often deplored; and here, now, more than one-half +around me were arts that only ministered to voluptuous tastes. Brilliant +articles of jewelry; gay cloaks, worked with wampum, in Indian taste; +ornamental turning, and costly weapons, inlaid with gold and silver, +succeeded each other, street after street; and the very sight of them, +however pleasurable to the eye, set me a-moralizing, in a strain that +would have done credit to a son of Geneva. It might have been, that in +my enthusiasm I uttered half aloud what I intended for soliloquy: or +perhaps some gesture, or peculiarity of manner, had the effect; but so +it was: I found myself an object of notice; and my queer-cut coat and +wide hat, contrasting so strangely with my youthful appearance and +slender make, drew many a criticism on me. + +"He ain't a Quaker, that's a fact," cried one, "for they don't wear +black." + +"He's a down-Easter--a horse jockey chap, I'll be bound," cried another. +"They put on all manner of disguises and 'masqueroonings.' I know 'em!" + +"He's a calf preacher--a young bottle-nosed Gospeller," broke in a +thick, short fellow, like the skipper of a merchant ship. "Let's have +him out for a preachment." + +"Ay, you're right," chimed in another. "I'll get you a sugar hogshead in +no time;" and away he ran on the mission. + +Between twenty and thirty persons had now collected; and I saw myself, +to my unspeakable shame and mortification, the centre of all their looks +and speculations. A little more _aplomb_ or knowledge of life would have +taught me coolness enough in a few words to undeceive them: but such a +task was far above me now; and I saw nothing for it but flight. Could I +only have known which way to take, I need not have feared any pursuer, +for I was a capital runner, and in high condition; but of the locality I +was utterly ignorant, and should only surrender myself to mere chance. +With a bold rush, then, I dashed right through the crowd, and set off +down the street, the whole crew after me. The dusk of the closing +evening was in my favor; and although volunteers were enlisted in the +chase at every corner and turning, I distanced them, and held on my way +in advance. My great object being not to turn on my course, lest I +should come back to my starting point, I directed my steps nearly +straight onward, clearing apple-stalls and fruit tables at a bound; and +more than once taking a flying leap over an Indian's fire, when the mad +shout of the red man would swell the chorus that followed me. At last I +reached a network of narrow lanes and alleys, by turning and winding +through which, I speedily found myself in a quiet secluded spot, with +here and there a flickering candle-light from the windows, but no other +sign of habitation. I looked anxiously about for an open door; but they +were all safe barred and fastened; and it was only on turning a corner I +spied what seemed to me a little shop, with a solitary lamp over the +entrance. A narrow canal, crossed by a rickety old bridge, led to this; +and the moment I had crossed over, I seized the single plank which +formed the footway, and shoved it into the stream. My retreat being thus +secured, I opened the door, and entered. It was a barber's shop; at +least, so a great chair before a cracked old looking glass, with some +well-worn combs and brushes, bespoke it; but the place seemed +untenanted, and although I called aloud several times, none came or +responded to my summons. + +I now took a survey of the spot which seemed of the poorest imaginable. +A few empty pomatum pots, a case of razors that might have defied the +most determined suicide, and a half-finished wig, on a block painted +like a red man, were the entire stock in trade. On the walls, however, +were some colored prints of the battles of the French army in Germany +and Italy. Execrably done things they were, but full of meaning and +interest to my eyes in spite of that. With all the faults of drawing and +all the travesties of costume, I could recognize different corps of the +service, and my heart bounded as I gazed on the tall shakos swarming to +a breach, or the loose jacket as it floated from the hussar in a charge. +All the wild pleasures of soldiering rose once more to my mind, and I +thought over old comrades who doubtless were now earning the high +rewards of their bravery in the great career of glory. And as I did so, +my own image confronted me in the glass, as with long, lank hair, and a +great bolster of a white cravat, I stood before it. What a contrast!--how +unlike the smart hussar, with curling locks and fierce mustache! Was I +as much changed in heart as in looks. Had my spirit died out within me. +Would the proud notes of the bugle or the trumpet fall meaningless on my +ears, or the hoarse cry of "Charge!" send no bursting fullness to my +temples? Ay, even these coarse representations stirred the blood in my +veins, and my step grew firmer as I walked the room. + +In a passionate burst of enthusiasm I tore off my slouched hat and +hurled it from me. It felt like the badge of some ignoble slavery, and I +determined to endure it no longer. The noise of the act called up a +voice from the inner room, and a man, to all appearance suddenly roused +from sleep, stood at the door. He was evidently young, but poverty, +dissipation, and raggedness made the question of his age a difficult one +to solve. A light-colored mustache and beard covered all the lower part +of his face, and his long blonde hair fell heavily over his shoulders. + +"Well," cried he, half angrily, "what's the matter; are you so impatient +that you must smash the furniture?" + +Although the words were spoken as correctly as I have written them, they +were uttered with a foreign accent; and, hazarding the stroke, I +answered him in French by apologizing for the noise. + +"What! a Frenchman," exclaimed he, "and in that dress; what can that +mean?" + +"If you'll shut your door, and cut off pursuit of me, I'll tell you +every thing," said I, "for I hear the voices of people coming down that +street in front." + +"I'll do better," said he, quickly, "I'll upset the bridge, and they can +not come over." + +"That's done already," replied I; "I shoved it into the stream as I +passed." + +He looked at me steadily for a moment without speaking, and then +approaching close to me, said, "Parbleu! the act was very unlike your +costume!" At the same time he shut the door, and drew a strong bar +across it. This done, he turned to me once more--"Now for it: who are +you, and what has happened to you?" + +"As to what I am," replied I, imitating his own abruptness, "my dress +will almost save the trouble of explaining; these Albany folk, however, +would make a field-preacher of me, and to escape them I took to flight." + +"Well, if a fellow will wear his hair that fashion, he must take the +consequence," said he, drawing out my long lank locks as they hung over +my shoulders. "And so you wouldn't hold forth for them; not even give +them a stave of a conventical chant." He kept his eyes riveted on me as +he spoke, and then seizing two pieces of stick for the firewood, he beat +on the table the ran-tan-plan of the French drum. "That's the music you +know best, lad, eh?--that's the air, which, if it has not led +heavenward, has conducted many a brave fellow out of this world at +least: do you forget it?" + +"Forget it! no," cried I; "but who are you; and how comes it +that--that--" I stopped in confusion at the rudeness of the question I +had begun. + +"That I stand here, half-fed, and all but naked; a barber in a land +where men don't shave once a month. Parbleu! they'd come even seldomer +to my shop if they knew how tempted I feel to draw the razor sharp and +quick across the gullet of a fellow with a well-stocked pouch." + +As he continued to speak, his voice assumed a tone and cadence that +sounded familiarly to my ears as I stared at him in amazement. + +"Not know me yet," exclaimed he, laughing; "and yet all this poverty and +squalor isn't as great a disguise as your own, Tiernay. Come, lad, rub +your eyes a bit, and try if you can't recognize an old comrade." + +"I know you, yet can not remember how or where we met," said I, in +bewilderment. + +"I'll refresh your memory," said he, crossing his arms, and drawing +himself proudly up. "If you can trace back in your mind to a certain hot +and dusty day, on the Metz road, when you, a private in the seventh +Hussars, were eating an onion and a slice of black bread for your +dinner, a young officer, well-looking and well-mounted, cantered up, and +threw you his brandy flask. Your acknowledgment of the civility showed +you to be a gentleman; and the acquaintance thus opened, soon ripened +into intimacy." + +"But he was the young Marquis de Saint Trone," said I, perfectly +remembering the incident. + +"Or Eugene Santron, of the republican army, or the barber at Albany, +without any name at all," said he, laughing. "What, Maurice, don't you +know me yet?" + +"What, the lieutenant of my regiment! The dashing officer of Hussars!" + +"Just so, and as ready to resume the old skin as ever," cried he, "and +brandish a weapon somewhat longer, and perhaps somewhat sharper, too, +than a razor." + +We shook hands with all the cordiality of old comrades, meeting far away +from home, and in a land of strangers; and although each was full of +curiosity to learn the other's history, a kind of reserve held back the +inquiry, till Santron said, "My confession is soon made, Maurice; I left +the service in the Meuse, to escape being shot. One day, on returning +from a field manoeuvre, I discovered that my portmanteau had been +opened, and a number of letters and papers taken out. They were part of +a correspondence I held with old General Lamarre, about the restoration +of the Bourbons, a subject, I'm certain, that half the officers in the +army were interested in, and, even to Bonaparte himself, deeply +implicated in too. No matter, _my_ treason, as they called it, was too +flagrant, and I had just twenty minutes' start of the order which was +issued for my arrest, to make my escape into Holland. There I managed to +pass several months in various disguises, part of the time being +employed as a Dutch spy, and actually charged with an order to discover +tidings of myself, until I finally got away in an Antwerp schooner, to +New York. From that time my life has been nothing but a struggle, a hard +one, too, with actual want, for in this land of enterprise and activity, +mere intelligence, without some craft or calling, will do nothing. + +"I tried fifty things--to teach riding, and when I mounted into the +saddle, I forgot everything but my own enjoyment, and caracolled, and +plunged, and passaged, till the poor beast hadn't a leg to stand on; +fencing, and I got into a duel with a rival teacher, and ran him through +the neck, and was obliged to fly from Halifax; French, I made love to my +pupil, a pretty looking Dutch fraulein, whose father didn't smile on our +affection; and so on I descended from a dancing-master to a waiter, a +_laquais de place_, and at last settled down as a barber, which +brilliant speculation I had just determined to abandon this very night; +for to-morrow morning, Maurice, I start for New York and France again; +ay, boy, and you'll go with me. This is no land for either of us." + +"But I have found happiness, at least contentment, here," said I, +gravely. + +"What! play the hypocrite with an old comrade! shame on you, Maurice," +cried he. "It is these confounded locks have perverted the boy," added +he, jumping up; and before I knew what he was about, he had shorn my +hair, in two quick cuts of the scissors, close to the head. "There," +said he, throwing the cut-off hair toward me, "there lies all your +saintship; depend upon it, boy, they'd hunt you out of the settlement +if you came back to them cropped in this fashion." + +"But you return to certain death, Santron," said I; "your crime is too +recent to be forgiven or forgotten." + +"Not a bit of it; Fouche, Cassaubon, and a dozen others now in office, +were deeper than I was. There's not a public man in France could stand +an exposure, or hazard recrimination. It's a thieves' amnesty at this +moment, and I must not lose the opportunity. I'll show you letters that +will prove it, Maurice; for, poor and ill-fed as I am, I like life just +as well as ever I did. I mean to be a general of division one of these +days, and so will you too, lad, if there's any spirit left in you." + +Thus did Santron rattle on, sometimes of himself and his own future; +sometimes discussing mine; for while talking, he had contrived to learn +all the chief particulars of my history, from the time of my sailing +from La Rochelle for Ireland. + +The unlucky expedition afforded him great amusement, and he was never +weary of laughing at all our adventures and mischances in Ireland. Of +Humbert, he spoke as a fourth or fifth-rate man, and actually shocked me +by all the heresies he uttered against our generals, and the plan of +campaign; but, perhaps, I could have borne even these better than the +sarcasms and sneers at the little life of "the settlement." He treated +all my efforts at defense as mere hypocrisy, and affected to regard me +as a mere knave, that had traded on the confiding kindness of these +simple villagers. I could not undeceive him on this head; nor what was +more, could I satisfy my own conscience that he was altogether in the +wrong; for, with a diabolical ingenuity, he had contrived to hit on some +of the most vexatious doubts which disturbed my mind, and instinctively +to detect the secret cares and difficulties that beset me. The lesson +should never be lost on us, that the devil was depicted as a sneerer! I +verily believe the powers of temptation have no such advocacy as +sarcasm. Many can resist the softest seductions of vice: many are proof +against all the blandishments of mere enjoyment, come in what shape it +will; but how few can stand firm against the assaults of clever irony, +or hold fast to their convictions when assailed by the sharp shafts of +witty depreciation. + +I'm ashamed to own how little I could oppose to all his impertinences +about our village, and its habits; or how impossible I found it not to +laugh at his absurd descriptions of a life which, without having ever +witnessed, he depicted with a rare accuracy. He was shrewd enough not to +push this ridicule offensively, and long before I knew it I found myself +regarding, with his eyes, a picture in which, but a few months back, I +stood as a fore-ground figure. I ought to confess, that no artificial +aid was derived from either good cheer, or the graces of hospitality; we +sat by a miserable lamp, in a wretchedly cold chamber, our sole solace +some bad cigars, and a can of flat, stale cider. + +"I have not a morsel to offer you to eat, Maurice, but to-morrow we'll +breakfast on my razors, dine on that old looking-glass, and sup on two +hard brushes and the wig!" + +Such were the brilliant pledges, and we closed a talk which the +flickering lamp at last put an end to. + +A broken, unconnected conversation followed for a little time, but at +length, worn out and wearied, each dropped off to sleep--Eugene on the +straw settle, and I in the old chair--never to awake till the bright sun +was streaming in between the shutters, and dancing merrily on the tiled +floor. + +An hour before I awoke he had completed the sale of all his little stock +in trade, and, with a last look round the spot where he had passed some +months of struggling poverty, out we sallied into the town. + +"We'll breakfast at Jonathan Hone's," said Santron. "It's the first +place here. I'll treat you to rump steaks, pumpkin pie, and a gin +twister that will astonish you. Then, while I'm arranging for our +passage down the Hudson, you'll see the hospitable banker, and tell him +how to forward all his papers, and so forth, to the settlement, with +your respectful compliments and regrets, and the rest of it." + +"But am I to take leave of them in this fashion?" asked I. + +"Without you want _me_ to accompany you there, I think it's by far the +best way," said he, laughingly. "If, however, you think that my presence +and companionship will add any lustre to your position, say the word and +I'm ready. I know enough of the barber's craft now to make up a head 'en +Puritan,' and, if you wish, I'll pledge myself to impose upon the whole +colony." + +Here was a threat there was no mistaking; and any imputation of +ingratitude on my part were far preferable to the thought of such an +indignity. He saw his advantage at once, and boldly declared that +nothing should separate us. + +"The greatest favor, my dear Maurice, you can ever expect at my hands +is, never to speak of this freak of yours; or, if I do, to say that you +performed the part to perfection." + +My mind was in one of those moods of change when the slightest impulse +is enough to sway it, and more from this cause than all his persuasion, +I yielded; and the same evening saw me gliding down the Hudson, and +admiring the bold Kaatskills, on our way to New York. + +(TO BE CONTINUED.) + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] Continued from Vol. II. p. 747. + + + + +ANECDOTES OF PAGANINI. + + +Paganini was in all respects a very singular being, and an interesting +subject to study. His talents were by no means confined to his wonderful +powers as a musician. On other subjects he was well-informed, acute, and +conversible, of bland and gentle manners, and in society, perfectly +well-bred. All this contrasted strangely with the dark, mysterious +stories which were bruited abroad, touching some passages in his early +life. But outward semblance and external deportment are treacherous as +quicksands, when taken as guides by which to sound the real depths of +human character. Lord Byron remarks, that his pocket was once picked by +the civilest gentleman he ever conversed with, and that by far the +mildest individual of his acquaintance was the remorseless Ali Pacha of +Yanina. The expressive lineaments of Paganini told a powerful tale of +passions which had been fearfully excited, which might be roused again +from temporary slumber, or were exhausted by indulgence and premature +decay, leaving deep furrows to mark their intensity. Like the generality +of his countrymen, he looked much older than he was. With them, the +elastic vigor of youth and manhood rapidly subsides into an interminable +and joyless old age, numbering as many years, but with far less both of +physical and mental faculty to render them endurable, than the more +equally poised gradations of our northern clime. It is by no means +unusual to encounter a well developed Italian, whiskered to the +eye-brows, and "bearded like the pard," who tells you, to your utter +astonishment, that he is scarcely seventeen, when you have set him down +from his appearance as, at least, five-and-thirty. + +The following extract from Colonel Montgomery Maxwell's book of Military +Reminiscences, entitled "My Adventures," dated Genoa, February 22d, +1815, supplies the earliest record which has been given to the public +respecting Paganini, and affords authentic evidence that some of the +mysterious tales which heralded his coming were not without foundation. +He could scarcely have been at this time thirty years old. "Talking of +music, I have become acquainted with the most _outre_, most extravagant, +and strangest character I ever beheld, or heard, in the musical line. He +has just been emancipated from durance vile, where he has been for a +long time incarcerated on suspicion of murder. His long figure, long +neck, long face, and long forehead; his hollow and deadly pale cheek, +large black eye, hooked nose, and jet black hair, which is long, and +more than half hiding his expressive Jewish face; all these rendered him +the most extraordinary person I ever beheld. There is something +scriptural in the _tout ensemble_ of the strange physiognomy of this +uncouth and unearthly figure. Not that, as in times of old, he plays, as +Holy Writ tells us, on a ten-stringed instrument; on the contrary, he +brings the most powerful, the most wonderful, and the most heart-rending +tones from one string. His name is Paganini; he is very improvident and +very poor. The D----s, and the Impressario of the theatre got up a +concert for him the other night, which was well attended, and on which +occasion he electrified the audience. He is a native of Genoa, and if I +were a judge of violin playing, I would pronounce him the most +surprising performer in the world!" + +That Paganini was either innocent of the charge for which he suffered +the incarceration Colonel Maxwell mentions, or that it could not be +proved against him, may be reasonably inferred from the fact that he +escaped the galleys or the executioner. In Italy, there was then, _par +excellence_ (whatever there may be now), a law for the rich, and another +for the poor. As he was without money, and unable to buy immunity, it is +charitable to suppose he was entitled to it from innocence. A nobleman, +with a few _zecchini_, was in little danger of the law, which confined +its practice entirely to the lower orders. I knew a Sicilian prince, who +most wantonly blew a vassal's brains out, merely because he put him in a +passion. The case was not even inquired into. He sent half a dollar to +the widow of the defunct (which, by the way, he borrowed from me, and +never repaid), and there the matter ended. Lord Nelson once suggested to +Ferdinand IV. of Naples, to try and check the daily increase of +assassination, by a few salutary executions. "No, no," replied old +Nasone, who was far from being as great a fool as he looked, "that is +impossible. If I once began that system, my kingdom would soon be +depopulated. One half my subjects would be continually employed in +hanging the remainder." + +Among other peculiarities, Paganini was an incarnation of avarice and +parsimony, with a most contradictory passion for gambling. He would +haggle with you for sixpence, and stake a rouleau on a single turn at +_rouge et noir_. He screwed you down in a bargain as tightly as if you +were compressed in a vice; yet he had intervals of liberality, and +sometimes did a generous action. In this he bore some resemblance to the +celebrated John Elwes, of miserly notoriety, who deprived himself of the +common necessaries of life, and lived on a potato skin, but sometimes +gave a check for L100 to a public charity, and contributed largely to +private subscriptions. I never heard that Paganini actually did this, +but once or twice he played for nothing, and sent a donation to the +Mendicity, when he was in Dublin. + +When he made his engagement with me, we mutually agreed to write no +orders, expecting the house to be quite full every night, and both being +aware that the "sons of freedom," while they add nothing to the +exchequer, seldom assist the effect of the performance. They are not +given to applaud vehemently; or, as Richelieu observes, "in the right +places." What we can get for nothing we are inclined to think much less +of than that which we must purchase. He who invests a shilling will not +do it rashly, or without feeling convinced that value received will +accrue from the risk. The man who pays is the real enthusiast; he comes +with a predetermination to be amused, and his spirit is exalted +accordingly. Paganini's valet surprised me one morning, by walking into +my room, and, with many "_eccellenzas_" and gesticulations of respect, +asking me to give him an order. I said, "Why do you come to me? Apply to +your master--won't he give you one?" "Oh, yes; but I don't like to ask +him." "Why not?" "Because he'll stop the amount out of my wages!" My +heart relented; I gave him the order, and paid Paganini the dividend. I +told him what it was, thinking, as a matter of course, he would return +it. He seemed uncertain for a moment, paused, smiled sardonically, +looked at the three and sixpence, and with a spasmodic twitch, deposited +it in his own waistcoat pocket instead of mine. Voltaire says, "no man +is a hero to his valet de chambre," meaning, thereby, as I suppose, that +being behind the scenes of every-day life, he finds out that Marshal +Saxe, or Frederick the Great, is as subject to the common infirmities of +our nature, as John Nokes or Peter Styles. Whether Paganini's squire of +the body looked on his master as a hero, in the vulgar acceptation of +the word, I can not say, but in spite of his stinginess, which he +writhed under, he regarded him with mingled reverence and terror. "A +strange person, your master," observed I. "_Signor_," replied the +faithful Sancho Panza, "_e veramente grand uomo, ma da non potersi +comprendere_." "He is truly a great man, but quite incomprehensible." It +was edifying to observe the awful importance with which Antonio bore the +instrument nightly intrusted to his charge to carry to and from the +theatre. He considered it an animated something, whether daemon or angel +he was unable to determine, but this he firmly believed, that it could +speak in actual dialogue when his master pleased, or become a dumb +familiar by the same controlling volition. This especial violin was +Paganini's inseparable companion. It lay on his table before him as he +sat meditating in his solitary chamber; it was placed by his side at +dinner, and on a chair within his reach when in bed. If he woke, as he +constantly did, in the dead of night, and the sudden _estro_ of +inspiration seized him, he grasped his instrument, started up, and on +the instant perpetuated the conception which otherwise he would have +lost forever. This marvelous Cremona, valued at four hundred guineas, +Paganini, on his death-bed, gave to De Kontski, his nephew and only +pupil, himself an eminent performer, and in his possession it now +remains. + +When Paganini was in Dublin at the musical festival of 1830, the Marquis +of Anglesea, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, came every night to the +concerts at the theatre, and was greatly pleased with his performance. +On the first evening, between the acts, his Excellency desired that he +might be brought round to his box to be introduced, and paid him many +compliments. Lord Anglesea was at that time residing in perfect privacy +with his family, at Sir Harcourt Lees' country house, near Blackrock, +and expressed a wish to get an evening from the great violinist, to +gratify his domestic circle. The negotiation was rather a difficult +one, as Paganini was, of all others, the man who did nothing, in the way +of business, without an explicit understanding, and a clearly-defined +con-sid-e-ra-ti-on. He was alive to the advantage of honor, but he loved +money with a paramount affection. I knew that he had received enormous +terms, such as L150 and L200 for fiddling at private parties in London, +and I trembled for the viceregal purse; but I undertook to manage the +affair, and went to work accordingly. The aid-de-camp in waiting called +with me on Paganini, was introduced in due form, and handed him a card +of invitation to dinner, which, of course, he received and accepted with +ceremonious politeness. Soon after the officer had departed, he said, +suddenly, "This is a great honor, but am I expected to bring my +instrument?" "Oh, yes," I replied, "as a matter of course--the Lord +Lieutenant's family wish to hear you in private." "_Caro amico_," +rejoined he, with petrifying composure, "_Paganini con violino e +Paganini senza violino,--ecco due animali distinti_." "Paganini with his +fiddle, and Paganini without it, are two very different persons." I knew +perfectly what he meant, and said, "The Lord Lieutenant is a nobleman of +exalted rank and character, liberal in the extreme, but he is not +Croesus; nor do I think you could, with any consistency, receive such an +honor as dining at his table, and afterward send in a bill for playing +two or three tunes in the evening." He was staggered; and asked, "What +do you advise?" I said, "Don't you think a present, in the shape of a +ring, or a snuff-box, or something of that sort, with a short +inscription, would be a more agreeable mode of settlement?" He seemed +tickled by this suggestion, and closed with it at once. I dispatched the +intelligence through the proper channel, that the violin and the _gran +maestro_ would both be in attendance. He went in his very choicest mood, +made himself extremely agreeable, played away, unsolicited, throughout +the evening, to the delight of the whole party; and on the following +morning, a gold snuff-box was duly presented to him, with a few +complimentary words engraved on the lid. + +A year or two after this, when Paganini was again in England, I thought +another engagement might be productive, as his extraordinary attraction +appeared still to increase. I wrote to him on the subject, and soon +received a very courteous communication, to the effect, that, although +he had not contemplated including Ireland in his tour, yet he had been +so impressed by the urbanity of the Dublin public, and had, moreover, +conceived such a personal esteem for my individual character, that he +might be induced to alter his plans, at some inconvenience, provided +always I could make him a more enticing proposal than the former one. I +was here completely puzzled, as, on that occasion, I gave him a clear +two-thirds of each receipt, with a bonus of L25 per night, in addition, +for two useless coadjutors. I replied, that having duly deliberated on +his suggestion, and considered the terms of our last compact, I saw no +possible means of placing the new one in a more alluring shape, except +by offering him the entire produce of the engagement. After I had +dispatched my letter, I repented bitterly, and was terrified lest he +should think me serious, and hold me to the bargain; but he deigned no +answer, and this time I escaped for the fright I had given myself. When +in London, I called to see him, and met with a cordial reception; but he +soon alluded to the late correspondence, and half seriously said, "That +was a curious letter you wrote to me, and the joke with which you +concluded it, by no means a good one." "Oh," said I, laughing, "it would +have been much worse if you had taken me at my word." He then laughed, +too, and we parted excellent friends. I never saw him again. He returned +to the Continent, and died, having purchased the title of Baron, with a +patent of nobility, from some foreign potentate, which, with his +accumulated earnings, somewhat dilapidated by gambling, he bequeathed to +his only son. Paganini was the founder of his school, and the original +inventor of those extraordinary _tours de force_ with which all his +successors and imitators are accustomed to astonish the uninitiated. But +he still stands at the head of the list, although eminent names are +included in it, and is not likely to be pushed from his pedestal. + + + + +THE HOUSEHOLD OF SIR THO^S MORE.[2] + +LIBELLUS A MARGARETA MORE, QUINDECIM ANNOS NATA, CHELSEIAE INCEPTVS. + +"Nulla dies sine linea." + + +Hearde mother say to Barbara, "Be sure the sirloin is well basted for +y^e king's physician:" which avised me that Dr. Linacre was expected. In +truth, he returned with father in y^e barge; and they tooke a turn on +y^e river bank before sitting down to table; I noted them from my +lattice; and anon, father, beckoning me, cries, "Child, bring out my +favorite Treatyse on Fisshynge, printed by Wynkyn de Worde; I must give +the doctor my loved passage." + +Joyning 'em with y^e book, I found father telling him of y^e roach, +dace, chub, barbel, etc., we oft catch opposite y^e church; and hastilie +turning over y^e leaves, he beginneth with unction to read y^e passage +ensuing, which I love to y^e full as much as he:-- + +He observeth, if the angler's sport shoulde fail him, "he at y^e best +hathe his holsom walk and mery at his ease, a swete ayre of the swete +savour of y^e meade of flowers, that maketh him hungry; he heareth the +melodious harmonie of fowles, he seeth y^e young swans herons, ducks, +cotes, and manie other fowles, with theire broods, which me seemeth +better than alle y^e noise of hounds, faukenors, and fowlers can make. +And if the angler take fysshe, then there is noe man merrier than he is +in his spryte." And, "Ye shall not use this forsaid crafty disporte for +no covetysnesse in the encreasing and sparing of your money onlie, but +pryncipallie for your solace, and to cause the health of your bodie, and +speciallie of your soule, for when ye purpose to goe on your disportes +of fysshynge, ye will not desire greatlie manie persons with you, which +woulde lett you of your game. And thenne ye may serve God devoutlie, in +saying affectuouslie your customable prayer; and thus doing, ye shall +eschew and voyd manie vices." + +"Angling is itselfe a vice," cries Erasmus from y^e thresholde; "for my +part I will fish none, save and except for pickled oysters." + +"In the regions below," answers father; and then laughinglie tells +Linacre of his firste dialogue with Erasmus, who had beene feasting in +my Lord Mayor's cellar:--"'Whence come you?' 'From below.' 'What were +they about there?' 'Eating live oysters, and drinking out of leather +jacks.' 'Either you are Erasmus,' etc. 'Either you are More or +nothing.'" + +"'Neither more nor less,' you should have rejoyned," sayth the doctor. + +"How I wish I had," says father; "don't torment me with a jest I might +have made and did not make; 'speciallie to put downe Erasmus." + +"Concedo nulli," sayth Erasmus. + +"Why are you so lazy?" asks Linacre; "I am sure you can speak English if +you will." + +"Soe far from it," sayth Erasmus, "that I made my incapacitie an excuse +for declining an English rectory. Albeit, you know how Wareham requited +me; saying, in his kind, generous way, I served the Church more by my +pen than I coulde by preaching sermons in a countrie village." + +Sayth Linacre, "The archbishop hath made another remark, as much to y^e +purpose: to wit, that he has received from you the immortalitie which +emperors and kings cannot bestow." + +"They cannot even bid a smoking sirloin retain its heat an hour after it +hath left the fire," sayth father. "Tilly-vally! as my good Alice +says,--let us remember the universal doom, 'fruges consumere nati,' and +philosophize over our ale and bracket." + +"Not Cambridge ale, neither," sayth Erasmus. + +"Will you never forget that unlucky beverage?" sayth father. "Why, man, +think how manie poore scholars there be, that content themselves, as I +have hearde one of St. John's declare, with a penny piece of beef +amongst four, stewed into pottage with a little salt and oatmeal; and +that after fasting from four o'clock in the morning! Say grace for us +this daye, Erasmus, with goode heart." + +At table, discourse flowed soe thicke and faste that I mighte aim in +vayn to chronicle it--and why should I? dwelling as I doe at y^e +fountayn head? Onlie that I find pleasure, alreadie, in glancing over +the foregoing pages whensoever they concern father and Erasmus, and wish +they were more faithfullie recalled and better writ. One thing sticks by +me,--a funny reply of father's to a man who owed him money and who put +him off with "Memento Morieris." "I bid you," retorted father, "Memento +Mori AEris, and I wish you woulde take as goode care to provide for y^e +one as I do for the other." + +Linacre laughed much at this, and sayd,--"That was real wit; a spark +struck at the moment; and with noe ill-nature in it, for I am sure your +debtor coulde not help laughing." + +"Not he," quoth Erasmus. "More's drollerie is like that of a young +gentlewoman of his name, which shines without burning." ... and, oddlie +enow, he looked acrosse at _me_. I am sure he meant Bess. + +Father broughte home a strange gueste to-daye,--a converted Jew, with +grizzlie beard, furred gown, and eyes that shone like lamps lit in dark +cavernes. He had beene to Benmarine and Tremecen, to y^e Holie Citie and +to Damascus, to Urmia and Assyria, and I think alle over y^e knowne +world; and tolde us manie strange tales, one hardlie knew how to +believe; as, for example, of a sea-coast tribe, called y^e Balouches, +who live on fish and build theire dwellings of the bones. Alsoe, of a +race of his countrie-men beyond Euphrates who believe in Christ, but +know nothing of y^e Pope; and of whom were y^e Magians y^t followed y^e +Star. This agreeth not with our legend. He averred that, though soe far +apart from theire brethren, theire speech was y^e same, and even theire +songs; and he sang or chaunted one which he sayd was common among y^e +Jews alle over y^e world, and had beene so ever since theire citie was +ruinated and y^e people captivated, and yet it was never sett down by +note. Erasmus, who knows little or nought of Hebrew, listened to y^e +words with curiositie, and made him repeate them twice or thrice: and +though I know not y^e character, it seemed to me they sounded thus:-- + + Adir Hu yivne bethcha beccaro, + El, b'ne; El, b'ne; El, b'ne; + Bethcha beccaro. + +Though Christianish, he woulde not eat pig's face; and sayd swine's +flesh was forbidden by y^e Hebrew law for its unwholesomenesse in hot +countries and hot weather, rather than by way of arbitrarie prohibition. +Daisy took a great dislike to this man, and woulde not sit next him. + +In the hay-field alle y^e evening. Swathed father in a hay-rope, and +made him pay y^e fine, which he pretended to resist. Cecy was just about +to cast one round Erasmus, when her heart failed and she ran away, +colouring to y^e eyes. He sayd, he never saw such pretty shame. Father +reclining on y^e hay, with head on my lap and his eyes shut, Bess asked +if he were asleep. He made answer, "Yes, and dreaming." I askt, "Of +what?" "Of a far-off future daye, Meg; when thou and I shall looke back +on this hour, and this hay-field, and my head on thy lap." + +"Nay, but what a stupid dream, Mr. More," says mother. "Why, what woulde +_you_ dreame of, Mrs. Alice?" "Forsooth, if I dreamed at alle, when I +was wide awake, it shoulde be of being Lord Chancellor at y^e leaste." +"Well, wife, I forgive thee for not saying at the _most_. Lord +Chancellor quotha! And you woulde be Dame Alice, I trow, and ride in a +whirlecote, and keep a Spanish jennet, and a couple of grey hounds, and +wear a train before and behind, and carry a jerfalcon on your fist." "On +my wrist." "No, that's not such a pretty word as t'other! Go to, go!" + +Straying from y^e others, to a remote corner of the meadow, or ever I +was aware, I came close upon Gammer Gurney, holding somewhat with much +care. "Give ye good den, Mistress Meg," quoth she, "I cannot abear to +rob y^e birds of theire nests; but I knows you and yours be kind to dumb +creatures, soe here's a nest o' young owzels for ye--and I can't call +'em dumb nowther, for they'll sing bravelie some o' these days." "How +hast fared, of late, Gammer?" quoth I. "Why, well enow for such as I," +she made answer; "since I lost y^e use o' my right hand, I can nowther +spin, nor nurse sick folk, but I pulls rushes, and that brings me a few +pence, and I be a good herbalist; and, because I says one or two English +prayers and hates y^e priests, some folks thinks me a witch." "But why +dost hate y^e priests?" quoth I. "Never you mind," she gave answer, +"I've reasons manie; and for my English prayers, they were taught me by +a gentleman I nursed, that's now a saint in heaven, along with poor +Joan." + +And soe she hobbled off, and I felt kindlie towards her, I scarce knew +why--perhaps because she spake soe lovingly of her dead sister, and +because of that sister's name. _My_ mother's name was Joan. + + * * * * * + +Erasmus is gone. His last saying to father was, "They will have you at +court yet;" and father's answer, "When Plato's year comes round." + +To me he gave a copy, how precious! of his Testament. "You are an +elegant Latinist, Margaret," he was pleased to say, "but, if you woulde +drink deeplie of y^e well-springs of wisdom, applie to Greek. The Latins +have onlie shallow rivulets; the Greeks, copious rivers, running over +sands of gold. Read Plato; he wrote on marble, with a diamond; but above +alle, read y^e New Testament. 'Tis the key to the kingdom of heaven." + +To Mr. Gunnel, he said, smiling, "Have a care of thyself, dear Gonellus, +and take a little wine for thy stomach's sake. The wages of most +scholars nowadays, are weak eyes, ill-health, an empty purse, and shorte +commons. I neede only bid thee beware of the two first." + +To Bess, "Farewell, Bessy; thank you for mending my bad Latin. When I +write to you, I will be sure to signe myselfe 'Roterodamius.' Farewell, +sweete, Cecil; let me always continue your 'desired amiable.' And you, +Jacky,--love your book a little more." + +"Jack's deare mother, not content with her girls," sayth father, "was +alwaies wishing for a boy, and at last she had one that means to remain +a boy alle his life." + +"The Dutch schoolmasters thoughte _me_ dulle and heavie," sayth Erasmus, +"soe there is some hope of Jacky yet." And soe, stepped into y^e barge, +which we watched to Chelsea Reach. How dulle the house has beene ever +since! Rupert and William have had me into y^e pavillion to hear y^e +plot of a miracle-play they have alreadie begunne to talk over for +Christmasse, but it seemed to me downrighte rubbish. Father sleeps in +towne to-nighte, soe we shall be stupid enow. Bessy hath undertaken to +work father a slipper for his tender foot; and is happie, tracing for +y^e pattern our three moor-cocks and colts; but I am idle and tiresome. + +If I had paper, I woulde beginne my projected _opus_; but I dare not ask +Gunnel for anie more just yet; nor have anie money to buy some. I wish I +had a couple of angels. I think I shall write to father for them +to-morrow; he alwaies likes to heare from us if he is twenty-four hours +absent, providing we conclude not with "I have nothing more to say." + + * * * * * + +I have writ my letter to father. I almoste wish, now, that I had not +sent it. + +Rupert and Will still full of theire moralitie, which reallie has some +fun in it. To ridicule y^e extravagance of those who, as the saying is, +carry theire farms and fields on theire backs, William proposes to come +in, all verdant, with a reall model of a farm on his back and a windmill +on his head. + + * * * * * + +How sweete, how gracious an answer from father! John Harris has broughte +me with it y^e two angels; less prized than this epistle. + + * * * * * + + July 10. + +Sixteenth birthdaye. Father away, which made it sadde. Mother gave me a +payr of blue hosen with silk clocks; Mr. Gunnel, an ivorie handled +stylus; Bess, a bodkin for my hair; Daisy, a book-mark; Mercy, a saffron +cake; Jack, a basket; and Cecil, a nosegay. William's present was +fayrest of alle, but I am hurte with him and myselfe: for he offered it +soe queerlie and tagged it with such.... I refused it, and there's an +end. 'Twas unmannerlie and unkinde of me, and I've cried aboute it +since. + +Father alwaies gives us a birthdaye treat; soe, contrived that mother +shoulde take us to see my Lord Cardinal of York goe to Westminster in +state. We had a merrie water-party; got goode places and saw the show; +crosse-bearers, pillar-bearers, ushers and alle. Himselfe in crimson +engrayned sattin, and tippet of sables, with an orange in his hand helde +to 's nose, as though y^e common ayr were too vile to breathe. What a +pompous priest it is! The archbishop mighte well say, "That man is drunk +with too much prosperitie." + +Between dinner and supper, we had a fine skirmish in y^e straits of +Thermopylae. Mr. Gunnel headed the Persians, and Will was Leonidas, with +a swashing buckler, and a helmet a yard high; but Mr. Gunnel gave him +such a rap on the crest that it went over y^e wall; soe then William +thought there was nothing left for him but to die. Howbeit, as he had +beene layd low sooner than he had reckoned on, he prolonged his last +agonies a goode deal, and gave one of y^e Persians a tremendous kick +just as they were aboute to rifle his pouch. They therefore thoughte +there must be somewhat in it they shoulde like to see; soe, helde him +down in spite of his hitting righte and lefte, and pulled therefrom, +among sundrie lesser matters, a carnation knot of mine. Poor varlet, I +wish he would not be so stupid.... + +After supper, mother proposed a concert; and we were alle singing a +rounde, when, looking up, I saw father standing in y^e door-way, with +such a happy smile on his face! He was close behind Rupert and Daisy, +who were singing from y^e same book, and advertised them of his coming +by gentlie knocking theire heads together; but I had the firste kiss, +even before mother, because of my birthdaye. + + * * * * * + +It turns out that father's lateness yester-even was caused by press of +businesse; a forayn mission having beene proposed to him, which he +resisted as long as he could, but was at lengthe reluctantlie induced to +accept. Length of his stay uncertayn, which casts a gloom on alle; but +there is soe much to doe as to leave little time to think, and father is +busiest of alle; yet hath founde leisure to concert with mother for us a +journey into y^e country, which will occupy some of y^e weeks of his +absence. I am full of carefulle thoughts and forebodings, being +naturallie of too anxious a disposition. Oh, let me caste alle my cares +on another! Fecisti nos ad te, Domine; et inquietum est cor nostrum, +donec requiescat in te. + + * * * * * + +'Tis soe manie months agone since that I made an entry in my libellus, +as that my motto--"nulla dies sine linea--," hath somewhat of sarcasm in +it. How manie things doe I beginne and leave unfinisht! and yet, less +from caprice than lack of strength; like him of whom y^e scripture was +writ--"this man beganne to build and was not able to finish." My _opus_, +for instance; the which my father's prolonged absence in y^e autumn and +my winter visitt to aunt Nan and aunt Fan gave me such leisure to carrie +forward. But alack! leisure was less to seeke than learninge; and when I +came back to mine olde taskes, leisure was awanting too; and then, by +reason of my sleeping in a separate chamber, I was enabled to steale +hours from y^e earlie morn and hours from y^e night, and, like unto +Solomon's virtuous woman, my candle went not out. But 'twas not to +purpose y^t I worked, like y^e virtuous woman, for I was following a +Jack-o-lantern; having forsooke y^e straight path laid downe by Erasmus +for a foolish path of mine owne; and soe I toyled, and blundered, and +puzzled, and was mazed; and then came on that payn in my head. Father +sayd, "What makes Meg soe pale!" and I sayd not: and, at y^e last, I +tolde mother there was somewhat throbbing and twisting in y^e back of +mine head like unto a little worm that woulde not die; and she made +answer, "Ah, a maggot," and soe by her scoff I was shamed. Then I gave +over mine opus, but y^e payn did not yet goe; soe then I was longing for +y^e deare pleasure, and fondlie turning over y^e leaves, and wondering +woulde father be surprised and pleased with it some daye, when father +himself came in or ever I was aware. He sayth, "What hast thou, Meg?" I +faltered and would sett it aside. He sayth, "Nay, let me see;" and soe +takes it from me; and after y^e firste glance throws himself into a +seat, his back to me, and firste runs it hastilie through, then beginnes +with methode and such silence and gravitie as that I trembled at his +side, and felt what it must be to stand a prisoner at the bar, and he +y^e judge. Sometimes I thought he must be pleased, at others not: at +lengthe, alle my fond hopes were ended by his crying, "This will never +doe. Poor wretch, hath this then beene thy toyl? How couldst find time +for soe much labor? for here hath been trouble enow and to spare. Thou +must have stolen it, sweet Meg, from the night, and prevented y^e +morning watch. Most dear'st! thy father's owne loved child;" and soe, +caressing me till I gave over my shame and disappointment. + +"I neede not to tell thee, Meg," father sayth, "of y^e unprofitable +labour of Sisyphus, nor of drawing water in a sieve. There are some +things, most deare one, that a woman, if she trieth, may doe as well as +a man; and some she can not, and some she had better not. Now, I tell +thee firmlie, since y^e first payn is y^e leaste sharpe, that, despite +y^e spiritt and genius herein shewn, I am avised 'tis work thou canst +not and work thou hadst better not doe. But judge for thyselfe; if thou +wilt persist, thou shalt have leisure and quiet, and a chamber in my new +building, and alle y^e help my gallery of books may afford. But thy +father says, forbear." + +Soe, what could I say, but "My father shall never speak to me in vayn!" + +Then he gathered y^e papers up and sayd, "Then I shall take temptation +out of your way;" and pressing 'em to his heart as he did soe, sayth, +"They are as deare to me as they can be to you;" and soe left me, +looking out as though I noted (but I noted not), the clear-shining +Thames. 'Twas twilighte, and I stoode there I know not how long, alone +and lonely; with tears coming, I knew not why, into mine eyes. There was +a weight in y^e ayr, as of coming thunder; the screaming, ever and anon, +of Juno and Argus, inclined me to mellancholie, as it alwaies does: and +at length I beganne to note y^e moon rising, and y^e deepening +clearnesse of y^e water, and y^e lazy motion of y^e barges, and y^e +flashes of light whene'er y^e rowers dipt theire oars. And then I +beganne to attend to y^e cries and different sounds from acrosse y^e +water, and y^e tolling of a distant bell; and I felle back on mine olde +heart-sighinge, "Fecisti nos ad te, Domine; et inquietum est cor +nostrum, donec requiescat in te." + +Or ever the week was gone, my father had contrived for me another +journey to New Hall, to abide with the lay nuns, as he calleth them, +aunt Nan and aunt Fan, whom my step-mother loveth not, but whom I love +and whom father loveth. Indeede, 'tis sayd in Essex that at first he +inclined to aunt Nan rather than to my mother; but that, perceiving my +mother affected his companie and aunt Nan affected it not, he diverted +his hesitating affections unto her and took her to wife. Albeit, aunt +Nan loveth him dearlie as a sister ought: indeed, she loveth alle, +except, methinketh, herself, to whom, alone, she is rigid and severe. +How holie are my aunts' lives! Cloistered nuns could not be more pure, +and could scarce be as usefulle. Though wise, they can be gay; though +noe longer young, they love the young. And theire reward is, the young +love them; and I am fulle sure, in this world they seeke noe better. + +Returned to Chelsea, I spake much in prayse of mine aunts, and of single +life. On a certayn evening, we maids were sett at our needles and +samplers on y^e pavillion steps; and, as follie will out, 'gan talk of +what we would fayn have to our lots, shoulde a good fairie starte up and +grant eache a wish. Daisy was for a countess's degree, with hawks and +hounds. Bess was for founding a college, Mercy a hospital, and she spake +soe experimentallie of its conditions that I was fayn to goe partners +with her in the same. Cecy commenced "Supposing I were married; if once +that I were married"--on which, father, who had come up unperceived, +burst out laughing and sayth, "Well, dame Cecily, and what state would +you keep?" Howbeit as he and I afterwards paced together, juxta fluvium, +he did say, "Mercy hath well propounded the conditions of an hospital or +alms-house for aged and sick folk, and 'tis a fantasie of mine to sett +even such an one afoot, and give you the conduct of the same." + +From this careless speech, dropped, as 'twere, by y^e way, hath sprung +mine house of refuge! and oh, what pleasure have I derived from it! How +good is my father! how the poor bless him! and how kind is he, through +them, to me! Laying his hand kindly on my shoulder, this morning, he +sayd, "Meg, how fares it with thee now? Have I cured the payn in thy +head?" Then, putting the house-key into mine hand, he laughingly added, +"'Tis now yours, my joy, by Livery and Seisin." + + * * * * * + + Aug. 6. + +I wish William w^d give me back my Testament. Tis one thing to steal a +knot or a posie, and another to borrow y^e most valuable book in y^e +house and keep it week after week. He soughte it with a kind of +mysterie, soe as that I forbeare to ask it of him in companie, lest I +s^d doe him an ill turn; and yet I have none other occasion. + +The emperor, the King of France, and Cardinal Ximenes are alle striving +which shall have Erasmus, and alle in vayn. He hath refused a +professor's chayr at Louvain, and a Sicilian bishoprick. E'en thus it +was with him when he was here this spring--the Queen w^d have had him +for her preceptor, the King and Cardinal prest on him a royall apartment +and salarie, Oxford and Cambridge contended for him, but his saying was, +"Alle these I value less than my libertie, my studdies, and my literarie +toyls." How much greater is he than those who woulde confer on him +greatness! Noe man of letters hath equall reputation or is soe much +courted. + + * * * * * + +Yestereven, after overlooking the men playing at loggats, father and I +strayed away along Thermopylae into y^e home-field; and as we sauntered +together under the elms, he sayth with a sigh, "Jack, is Jack, and no +More ... he will never be any thing. An' 'twere not for my beloved +wenches, I should be an unhappy father. But what though!--My Meg is +better unto me than ten sons; and it maketh no difference at harvest +time whether our corn were put into the ground by a man or a woman." + +While I was turning in my mind what excuse I might make for John, father +taketh me at unawares by a sudden change of subject; saying, "Come, tell +me, Meg, why canst not affect Will Roper?" + +I was a good while silent, at length made answer, "He is so unlike alle +I esteem and admire ... so unlike alle I have been taught to esteem and +admire by you."-- + +"Have at you," he returned laughing, "I knew not I had been sharpening +weapons agaynst myself. True he is neither Achilles nor Hector, nor even +Paris, but yet well enough, meseems, as times go--smarter and comelier +than either Heron or Dancey." + +I, faltering, made answer, "Good looks affect me but little--'tis in his +better part I feel the want. He can not ... discourse, for instance, to +one's mind and soul, like unto you, dear father, or Erasmus." + +"I should marvel if he could," returned father gravelie, "thou art mad, +my daughter, to look, in a youth of Will's years, for the mind of a man +of forty or fifty. What were Erasmus and I, dost thou suppose, at Will's +age? Alas, Meg, I should not like you to know what I was! Men called me +the boy-sage, and I know not what, but in my heart and head was a world +of sin and folly. Thou mightst as well expect Will to have my hair, +eyes, and teeth, alle getting y^e worse for wear, as to have the fruits +of my life-long experience, in some cases full dearly bought. Take him +for what he is, match him by the young minds of his owne standing: +consider how long and closelie we have known him. His parts are, +surelie, not amiss: he hath more book-lore than Dancey, more mother wit +than Allington." + +"But why need I to concern myself about him?" I exclaymed, "Will is very +well in his way: why s^d we cross each other's paths? I am young, I have +much to learn, I love my studdies--why interrupt them with other and +lesse wise thoughts?" + +"Because nothing can be wise that is not practical," returned father, +"and I teach my children philosophie to fitt them for living in y^e +world, not above it. One may spend a life in dreaming over Plato, and +yet goe out of it without leaving y^e world a whit y^e better for our +having made part of it. 'Tis to little purpose we studdy, if it onlie +makes us look for perfections in others which they may in vayn seek for +in ourselves. It is not even necessary or goode for us to live entirelie +with congeniall spiritts. The vigourous tempers the inert, the +passionate is evened by the cool-tempered, the prosaic balances the +visionarie. Woulde thy mother suit me better, dost thou suppose, if she +coulde discuss polemicks like Luther or Melancthon? E'en thine owne +sweet mother, Meg, was less affected to study than thou art--she learnt +to love it for my sake, but I made her what she was." + +And, with a suddain burste of fond recollection, he hid his eyes on my +shoulder, and for a moment or soe, cried bitterlie. As for me, I shed, +oh! such salt teares!... + +FOOTNOTE: + +[2] Continued from the May Number. + + + + +THE PEARL-DIVERS. + + +At the commencement of the last year's fishery, there was a man whom, go +wherever I would, I was always certain to meet. Like myself, he was a +diver, and like myself moreover, he pretended to have no surname, but +went simply by the name of Rafael. At the cleansing-trough, beneath the +surface of the sea, no matter where it was, we were always thrown +together, so that we quickly became intimate; and his remarkable skill +as a diver had inspired me with considerable esteem for him. Alike +courageous as skillful, he snapped his fingers at the sharks, declaring +his power to intimidate them by a particular expression of the eye. In +fine, he was a fearless diver, an industrious workman, and, above all, a +most jovial comrade. + +Matters went smoothly enough between us, till the day when a girl and +her mother took up their abode at the island Espiritu Sante.[3] Some +business that I had to transact with the dealers in this island afforded +me an opportunity of seeing her. I fell desperately in love; and as I +enjoyed a certain amount of reputation, neither she nor her mother +looked with an unfavorable eye on my suit or my presents. When the day's +work was over, and every body supposed me asleep in my hut, I swam +across to the island, whence I returned about an hour after midnight +without my absence being at all surmised. + +Some days had elapsed since my first nocturnal visit to Espiritu Sante, +when, as I was one morning going to the fishery just before daybreak, I +met one of those old crones who pretend to be able to charm the sharks +by their spells. She was seated near my hut, and appeared to be watching +my arrival. As she perceived me, she exclaimed, "How fares it with my +son, Jose Juan?" + +"Good morning, mother!" I replied, and was passing on, when she +approached me, and said, "Listen to me, Jose Juan; I have to speak to +you of that which nearly concerns you." + +"Nearly concerns me!" I repeated, in great surprise. + +"Yes. Do you deny that your heart is in the island of Espiritu Sante, or +that you cross the strait every night to see and converse with her on +whom you have bestowed your love?" + +"How know you that?" + +"No matter; I know it well. Jose Juan, for you this voyage is fraught +with a twofold peril. The foes whom my charms can hold harmless during +the day only lie in wait for you each night beneath the waves; on the +shore, foes more dangerous still, and over whom my arts are powerless, +dog your steps. I come to offer you my aid to combat these double +dangers." + +My only answer was by a loud laugh of contempt. The old Indian's eyes +sparkled with fiendish fury as she exclaimed, "And because you are +without faith, you deem me without power? Be it so; there are those who +believe in the influence you but scoff at." + +As she spoke, she drew from her pocket a little case of printed cloth, +and producing amid pearls of inferior value one of a large size and +brilliant water, she replied, "Know you aught of this?" It was one I had +given to Jesusita; for such was the girl's name. + +"How came you by it?" cried I. + +The witch gave me a look of hatred. + +"How came I by it? Why, 'twas given me by a damsel the fairest that ever +set foot on these shores; a damsel who would be the glory and happiness +of a young man, and who came to crave my protection--that protection you +hold so cheap--for one she fondly loves." + +"His name!" I exclaimed, with a fearful sinking at my heart. + +"What matters it," jeeringly returned the hag, "since _his_ name is not +the one you bear?" + +I hardly know how I resisted the impulse to crush the cursed witch +beneath my feet; but after a moment's reflection, I turned my back to +her that she might not read in my face the anguish of my soul, and +coolly saying, "You are a lying old dotard," I walked on to the fishery. + +On the evening of that day, which seemed as if it would never close, I +went as usual to Jesusita, and the welcome she gave me soon dispelled +all lurking suspicions. I felt no doubt but that the old woman, in +resentment of my contemptuous treatment, had purposely deceived me as to +the name of him for whom Jesusita had craved that protection which I had +despised. + +I had utterly forgotten my scene with the witch, when, one night, I was +as usual crossing the strait on my return home. The sky was dark and +lowering, yet not so cloudy but that I could distinguish amid the waves +something which, from its manner of swimming, I could make out to be a +man. The object was alongside of me. The old crone's words rushed upon +my memory, and I felt a thrill of agony convulse my frame. For an enemy +I cared but little; the idea that I had a rival unnerved me at once. + +I determined to ascertain who the unknown might be; and not wishing to +be seen, I swam under water in his direction. When, according to my +calculation, we must have crossed each other, he above and I below the +surface, I rose above water. The blood had rushed to my head with such +violence as to render me unable for some time to distinguish aught +amidst the darkness beyond the phosphorescent light that played upon the +crest of the waves; unerring signs of a coming storm. Nevertheless, I +held on my course in the direction of Espiritu Sante. Some few minutes +elapsed ere I again beheld the swimmer's head. He clove the waves with +such rapidity that I could scarce keep pace with him. But one alone +among all I knew could vie with me in swiftness; I redoubled my efforts, +and soon gained so much on him as obliged me to strike out less quickly. +In short, I saw him land upon a rock and ascend it; and as a flash of +lightning played upon sea and shore, I recognized the face of Rafael. +Here, as elsewhere, were we doomed to cross each other's path. A feeling +of hatred, deadly and intense, was busy at my heart, and methought it +were well we met but once again. However, we were destined to meet on +one more occasion than I had reckoned upon. + +At first I determined upon calling him by name and discovering my +presence; but there are moments in one's life when our actions refuse to +second the will. Spite of myself, I suffered him to pursue his way, +while I gained the eminence he had just quitted. Thence was it easy for +me to watch his course. I observed him take the same direction I was so +wont to take, then knock at the door of that hut I knew so well. He +entered, and disappeared. + +I fancied for one moment I heard, borne along the howling of the gale, +the old witch's scoffing laugh as she croaked out, "What matters it to +you, since _his_ name is not the one you bear?" and, looming amid the +darkness, methought I saw her shriveled and withered arm stretched out +in the direction of Jesusita's dwelling; and I rushed forward, knife in +hand. A few strides, and I stood before the door, and stooped down to +listen; but I heard naught beyond indistinct murmurings. I had now +partially recovered my _sang-froid_, and bent my whole thoughts upon +revenge. + +I drew my knife, and passed it along a stone to assure its edge; but I +did so with such carelessness or agitation that it shivered to the hilt. +Thus deprived of the sole weapon that I could rely upon for my revenge, +I felt that I had not an instant to lose. I ran in all haste to the +beach, and unmoored a boat that lay alongside. My rage renewed my +energies: I crossed the strait, rushed to my hut, procured another +knife, and again set out to Espiritu Sante. The gale increased in +violence. The sea gleamed like a fiery lake. The gavista's[4] wailing +cry re-echoed along the rocks; the sea-wolf's howl was heard amid the +darkness. All at once sounds of another kind broke upon my ear: they +seemed to proceed from the very bosom of the ocean. I listened; but a +sudden squall overpowered the confused murmurings of the waves, and I +fancied my senses had deceived me, when, some seconds afterward, the cry +was repeated. This time I was not mistaken: the cry I heard was that of +a human being in the very extremity of anguish and despair. As the voice +proceeded from the direction of the island, I at once conjectured it was +Rafael who was calling for help. I looked out, but looked in vain; the +obscurity was too thick, and I could distinguish nothing. Suddenly, I +again heard the voice exclaim, "Boat ahoy, for God's blessed sake!" + +It was Rafael's voice. 'Tis all very well to have sworn to do your enemy +to death, to wreak your just revenge on him who has so bitterly +aggrieved you; yet when, on a night murky and dark as that his tones +arise from forth a sea swarming with monsters, and when those tones are +uttered by a fearless man, and, albeit, wrestling in mortal peril, there +is in that cry of last anguish somewhat that strikes awe to the very +soul. I could not repress a shudder. + +But my emotion was of short duration. I heard the sounds of a strong arm +buffeting the waves, and I rowed in that direction. Amidst a luminous +shower of spray and foam I discovered Rafael. Singular enough, instead +of availing himself of his strength to gain the boat, he remained +stationary. I quickly perceived the cause. At some distance from him, a +little below the surface of the water, there was a strong phosphoric +light; this light was slowly making way toward Rafael. Right well I knew +what that light portended; it streamed from a _tintorera_[5] of the +largest size. One stroke of the oar, and I was close to Rafael: he +uttered a cry as he perceived me, but was too much exhausted to speak. +He seized the gunwale of the boat by an effort of despair, but his arms +were too wearied to enable him to raise his body. His eyes, though +glazed with fear, yet bore so expressive a glance as they encountered +mine, that I seized his hands in my own, and pressed them forcibly +against the sides of the boat. The _tintorera_ still gradually advanced. +For a moment, but one brief moment, Rafael's legs hung motionless; he +uttered a piercing shriek, his eyes closed, his hands let loose their +hold, and the upper part of his body fell back into the sea. The shark +had bitten him in two. + +Ay! I might, perchance, have grasped his limbs too firmly in mine, +possibly I prevented him from getting into the boat, but my knife was +innocent of his blood; besides, was he not my rival--perchance my +successful rival? However, scarcely had he disappeared than I plunged +after him; for although the _tintorera_ had ridded me of a hated foe, +still I bore it a grudge for its brutal proceedings in thus summarily +disposing of poor Rafael. Besides, the honor of the corporation of +divers was at stake. Having once tasted human flesh, the shark would +doubtless attack us in turn. Well, nothing so much excites the ferocity +of the _tintorera_ as such tempestuous nights as the one that bore its +silent testimony to my rival's fate. A viscous substance that oozes from +porous holes around the monster's mouth diffuses itself over the surface +of the skin, rendering them as luminous as fire-flies, and this +particularly during a thunderstorm. This luminous appearance is the more +visible in proportion to the darkness of the night. By a merciful +dispensation of nature, they are almost unable to see; so that the +silent swimmer has at least one advantage over them. Moreover, they can +not seize their prey without turning on their backs; so that it is not +difficult to imagine that a courageous man and a skillful swimmer has +some chances in his favor. + +I dived to no great depth, in order to husband my wind, and also to cast +a hasty glance above, beneath, and around me. The waves roared above my +head, loud as a crash of thunder; fiery flakes of water drove around +like dust before the winds of March; but in my immediate vicinity all +was calm. A black and shapeless mass struck against me as I lay +suspended in my billowy recess; 'twas all that was left of Rafael. +Surely it was written in the book of doom that I should always find that +man in my path. + +I surmised that the brute I was in quest of would be at no great +distance, for the fiery streak I had perceived waxed larger and larger. +The _tintorera_ and myself must, I inferred, be at equal depths; but the +shark was preparing to rise. My breath began to fail, and I was +unwilling to allow the monster to get above me, as then he could have +made me share Rafael's fate without troubling himself to turn on his +back. My hopes of obtaining the victory over it depended upon the time +it required to execute this manoeuvre. The _tintorera_ swam diagonally +toward me with such rapidity that at one time I was near enough to +distinguish the membrane that half-covered its eyes, and to feel its +dusky fins graze my body. Gobbets of human flesh still clung around the +lower jaw. The monster gazed on me with its dim, glassy eye. My head had +that moment attained the level of its own. I drank in the air with a +gurgle I could not suppress, and struck out a lusty stroke in a parallel +direction and turned round: well for me I did so. The moon lighted up +for a single instant the whitish-gray colored belly of the +_tintorera_--that instant was enough for as it opened its enormous +mouth, bristling with its double row of long pointed teeth, I plunged +the dagger I had reserved for Rafael into its body, and drew it +lengthwise forth. The _tintorera_, mortally wounded, sprung several feet +out of the water, and fell striking out furiously with its tail, which +fortunately did not reach me. For a space I struggled, half blinded by +the crimson foam that beat against my face; but as I beheld the huge +carcass of the enemy floating a lifeless mass upon the surface, I gave +vent to a triumphant shout, which, spite of the storm, might be heard on +either coast. + +Day-light began to dawn as I gained the shore, in a state of utter +exhaustion from the exertion I had undergone. The fishermen were raising +their nets, and, as I arrived, the tide washed upon the coast the +_tintorera_ and Rafael's ghastly remains. It was soon spread abroad that +I had endeavored to rescue my friend from his horrible fate, and my +heroic conduct was lauded to the echo. But one person, and one alone, +suspected the truth--that person is now my wife. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] Island in the Gulf of California, famous for the quantity of +oyster-beds and the quality of the pearls. + +[4] Seamew. + +[5] Species of shark most especially dreaded by divers for pearls, whose +intrepidity is such that they fearlessly attack all other species. + + + + +PHANTOMS AND REALITIES.--AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.[6] + +PART THE SECOND--NOON. + + +IX. + +Things happen in the world every day which appear incredible on paper. +Individuals may secretly acknowledge to themselves the likelihood of +such things, but the bulk of mankind feel it necessary to treat them +openly with skepticism and ridicule. The real is sometimes too real for +the line and plummet of the established criticism. It is the province of +art to avoid these exceptional incidents, or to modify and adapt them so +that they shall appear to harmonize with universal humanity. Hence it is +that fiction is often more truthful than biography; and it is obvious +enough that it ought to be so, if it deal only with materials that are +reconcilable with the general experience. + +But I am not amenable to the canons of art. I am not writing fiction. I +am relating facts; and if they should appear unreasonable or improbable, +I appeal, for their vindication, to the candor of the reader. Every man, +if he looks back into the vicissitudes of his life, will find passages +which would be pronounced pure exaggeration and extravagance in a novel. + +When I met Astraea the next morning, I could perceive those traces of +deep anxiety which recent circumstances had naturally left behind, and +which the flush and excitement of the preceding evening had concealed. +She was very pale and nervous. She felt that the moment had come when +all disguises between us must end forever, and she trembled on the verge +of disclosures that visibly shook her fortitude. + +The day was calm and breathless. Scarcely a leaf stirred in the trees, +and the long shadows slept without a ruffle on the turf. The stillness +of the place contrasted strangely with the tempest of emotions that was +raging in my heart. I longed to get into the air. I felt the house +stifling, and thought that I should breathe more freely among the +branches of the little wood that looked so green and cool down by the +margin of the stream. There was a rustic seat there under a canopy of +drooping boughs, close upon the water and the bridge, where we could +enjoy the luxury of perfect solitude. Requesting her to follow me, I +went alone into the wood. + +The interval seemed to me long before she came; and when she did come, +she was paler and more agitated than before. I tried to give her +confidence by repeated protestations of my devotion; and as she seemed +to gather courage from the earnestness of my language, I again and again +renewed the pledges which bound me to her, at any risk our position +might demand. + +"It is that," she exclaimed, "which gives me hope and comfort. You have +had time to reflect on these pledges, and weigh the consequences they +involve, and you now repeat them to me with an ardor which I should do +you a great wrong to doubt. I entirely trust to you. If I am deceived, I +will try still to be just, and hardly blame you so much as the world, +which few men can relinquish for love." + +There was a pause, during which she gradually recovered her +self-composure. I felt that these expressions gave me a nobler motive +for surrendering every thing for her sake. She seemed to make me a hero +by the penalties my devotion enforced upon me; and I was eager to prove +myself capable of the most heroic sacrifices. In the abyss of an +overwhelming passion, where reason is imprisoned by the senses, every +man is willing to be a martyr. + +"You have required of me, Astraea," said I, "no, not required; but you +have placed before me the possibility of sufferings and trials resulting +from our union--loss of friends, the surrender of many things that enter +into the ordinary scheme of married life, and that are considered by the +world indispensable to its happiness. I am ready to relinquish them all. +I have looked for this end. I know not why it should be so, nor does it +give me a moment's concern. I only know that I love you passionately, +and that life is desolation to me without you. Let us therefore have no +further delay. All impediments are now out of our path. We have our +destinies in our own hands. Let us knit them into one, and disappoint +the scandal and malignity which, from that hour, can exercise no further +influence over us." + +"You spoke," returned Astraea, looking with a calm, clear gaze into my +face, as if she penetrated my soul, "you spoke of married life." + +The question surprised me. It was her look more than her words that +conveyed a meaning, indistinct, but full of terrible suggestions. It was +a key to a thousand painful conjectures, which flashed upon me in an +instant, leaving confusion and giddiness behind, and nothing certain but +the fear of what was to follow. I could not answer her; or, rather, did +not know how to answer her, and merely tried to reassure her with a +smile, which I felt was hollow and unnatural. + +"One word," she proceeded, in the same tone, "must dispel that dream +forever. It is not for us that serene life you speak of. It is not for +me. Our destinies, if they be knit together, must be cemented by our own +hands, not at the altar in the church, but in the sight of heaven--a +bond more solemn, and imposing a more sacred obligation." + +I will not attempt to describe the effect of these expressions. A cold +dew crept over my body, and I felt as if a paralysis had struck my +senses. Yet at the same moment, and while she was speaking so quietly +and deliberately, and uttering words, under the heavy weight of which +the fabric I had reared in my imagination crumbled down, and fell with a +crash that smote my brain--a crowd of memories came upon me--isolated +words and gestures, the dark allusions of the dwarf, and the warnings of +Astraea herself--a crowd of things that were all dark before were now +lighted up. As the stream of electricity flies along the chain, +traversing link after link and mile after mile, with a rapidity that +baffles calculation, so my thoughts flashed over every incident of the +past. I now understood it all--the mystery that lay buried in Astraea's +words and abstractions--the vacant heart--the hope that looked out from +her eyes, and then fled back to be quenched in silent despair--her +yearnings for solitude and repose--the devotional spirit that, blighted +in the world, and condemned to be shut out from seeking happiness in +social conventions, had fallen back upon its own lonely strength, and +made to itself a faith of passion! It was all plain to me now. But there +were explanations yet to come. + +"Astraea!" I cried, hoarsely, and I felt the echoes of the name moaning +through the trees. "Astraea! What is the meaning of these dreadful words? +Have you not pledged your faith to me?" + +"Irrevocably!" she returned. + +"Then what new impediment has arisen to our union?" + +"None that has not existed all along. Have you not seen it darkening +every hour of our intercourse? Have you not understood it in the fear +that has given such intensity to feelings which, had all been open +before us, would have been calm and unperturbed?--that has imparted to +love, otherwise sweet and tranquil, the wild ardor of obstructed +passion? Your instincts must have told you, had you allowed yourself a +moment of reflection, that the woman who consents to immolate her pride, +her delicacy, her fame, for the man she loves, must be fettered by ties +which leave her no alternative between him and the world. Why am I here +alone with you?" + +This was not said in a tone of reproach, but it sounded like reproach, +and wounded me. It was all true. I ought to have understood that +suffering of her soul which, now that the clouds were rolling back from +before my eyes, had become all at once intelligible. But to be surprised +into such a discovery, to have misunderstood her unspoken agonies and +sacrifices, jarred upon me, and made me feel as if my nature were not +lofty enough to comprehend, by its own unassisted sympathies, the +grandeur of her character. I imagined myself humiliated in her presence, +and this consideration was paramount, for the moment, over all others. +It stripped my devotion of all claim to a heroism kindred to her own, +and deprived me of the only merit that could render me worthy of her +love. Yet in the midst of this conflict, other thoughts came flooding +upon me; and voices from the world I was about to relinquish for her +rung like a knell upon my ears. There were still explanations to come +that might afford me some refuge from these tortures. + +"Yes, Astraea, I was conscious of some obstruction; but how could I +divine what it was? Even now I must confess myself bewildered. But as +all necessity for further reserve is at an end, you will be candid and +explicit with me. What is the impediment that stands in the way of our +union?" + +I did not intend it, but I was aware, while I was speaking, that there +was ice in my voice, and that the words issued from my lips as if they +were frozen. + +"You mean," she replied, coldly, but in a tone that conveyed a feeling +of rising scorn, "you mean our marriage?" + +"Certainly." + +"I never can be your wife." + +As I had anticipated some such statement, I ought not to have betrayed +the amazement with which I looked at her; but it was involuntary. I did +not ask her to go on; seeing, however, that I expected it, she added, + +"I am the wife of another!" + +I started from my seat, and, in a paroxysm of frenzy, paced up and down +before her. I did not exclaim aloud, "You have deceived me!" but my +flashing eyes and flushed brow expressed it more eloquently than +language. She bore this in silence for a few minutes, and then addressed +me again, + +"I said I would try not to blame you. I blame only myself. Like all men, +you are strong in protestations, and feeble, timid, and vacillating in +action. You are thinking now of the world, which only last night you so +courageously despised. A few hours ago, you believed yourself so +superior to the common weaknesses of your sex, that you were ready to +make the most heroic sacrifices. What has become of that vehement +resolution, that brave self-reliance? Vanished on the instant you are +put to the proof. Believe me, you have miscalculated your own +nature--all men do in such cases. A woman whose heart is her life, and +who shrinks in terror from all other conflicts, is alone equal to such a +struggle as this. The world is your proper sphere; do not deceive +yourself. You could not sustain isolation; you would be forever looking +back, as you are at this moment, for the consolations and support you +had abandoned." + +"No, Astraea!" I exclaimed; "you wrong me. My resolution is unchanged; +but you must allow something for the suddenness--the shock--" + +"I give you credit," she resumed, "for the best intentions. It is not +your fault that habit and a constitutional acquiescence in it have left +you no power over your will in great emergencies. You are what the world +has made you; and you should be thankful that you have found it out in +time. For me, what does it matter? By coming here, I have violated +obligations for which society will hold me accountable, though they +pressed like prison-bars upon me, lacerating and corroding my soul. It +will admit no excuse for their abandonment in the unutterable misery +they entailed. I am as guilty by this one step as if I had plunged into +the depths of crime. The world does not recognize the doctrine that the +real crime is in the admission of the first disloyal thought; it only +looks to appearances which I have outraged. I have compromised myself +beyond redemption. I can not retrieve my disgrace, though I am as pure +in act as if we had never met. But I have done it upon my own +responsibility, and upon me alone let the penalty fall. From this hour I +release you." + +Her language, and the dignity of her manner, stung me. She seemed to +tower above me in the strength of her will, and the firmness with which +she went through a scene that shattered my nerves fearfully, and made me +equally irresolute of speech and purpose. While I was harrowed by an +agony that fluttered in every pulse, she was perfectly calm and +collected, and, rising quietly from her seat, turned away to leave me. + +This action roused me from the stupor of indecision. The situation in +which she was placed--making so new a demand upon my feelings--gave me a +sort of advantage which I thought might enable me to recover the ground +I had lost. By the exercise of magnanimity in such circumstances, I +should vindicate myself in her estimation, and prove myself once more +worthy of the opinion she had originally formed of me. It was something +nobler, I thought, to embrace ruin at this moment for her sake, than if +I had known it all along, and had come to that conclusion by a +deliberate process of reasoning. This train of subtle sophistry, which +has taken up some space to detail, struck me like a flash of light on +the instant I thought I was about to lose her. I could bear all things +but that, and could suffer all things to avert it. And so again I became +her suitor, in a kind of proud generosity, that flattered itself by +stooping to gain its own ends. How mean and selfish the human heart is +when our desires are set in opposition to our duties! + +I sprang forward, and clasped her eagerly by the hands. I flung myself +on my knees before her. Tears leaped into my eyes. I told her that I had +wronged her--that we had wronged each other--that I had never wavered in +my faith--that we were bound to each other--and that we could commit no +crime now except that of doubting, at either side, the truth of the love +which had brought us there, and for which I, like her, had relinquished +the world forever. + +She had a woman's heart, full of tenderness and pity; and it is the +tendency of woman's nature to forgive and believe where the affections +are interested, without exacting much proof or penalty. She bent over +me, and raised me in her arms. The storm had passed away, and she +trusted in me implicitly again. + +Her history? What was it? We shall come to it presently. + + +X. + +The storm had passed away; but it left traces of disorder behind, such +as a tempest leaves in a garden over which it has recently swept. The +collision had set us both thinking. We felt as if a mist had suddenly +melted down, and enabled us, for the first time, to see clearly before +us. We felt this differently, but we were equally conscious of the +change. + +"I am the wife of another!" + +The words still throbbed in my brain. I could not escape from the images +they conjured up. I could not rid myself of the doubts and distrusts, +shapeless, but oppressive, thus forced upon me. I could not recall a +single incident out of which, until these words were uttered, I could +have extracted the remotest suspicion of her situation. To me, and to +every person around her, Astraea had always appeared a free agent. She +bore no man's name. She acted with perfect independence, so far as +outward action was concerned; and the only restraint that ever seemed to +hang upon her was some dark memory, or heavy sorrow, that clouded her +spirit. Here was the mystery solved. She was a bond-woman, and had +hidden her fetters from the world. In our English society, where usages +are strict, and shadows upon a woman's reputation, even where there is +not a solitary stain, blot it out forever, this was strange and painful. +It looked like a deception, and, in the estimate of all others, it was a +deception. This was the way in which it first presented itself to me. I +had not emancipated myself from the influence of opinion, or habit, or +prejudice, or whatever that feeling may be called which instinctively +refers such questions to the social standard. The recoil was sudden and +violent. Yet, nevertheless, I felt rebuked by the superiority of Astraea +in the strength of purpose and moral courage she displayed under +circumstances which would have overwhelmed most other women. Her +steadfastness had a kind of grandeur in it, that seemed to look down +upon my misgivings as failings or weaknesses of character. And she sat +silently in this pomp of a clear and unfaltering resolution, while I, +fretted and chafed, exhibited too plainly my double sense alike of the +injury she had inflicted on me, and of the ascendency which, even in the +hour of injury, she exercised over me. It was the stronger mind, made +stronger by the force of love, overawing the weaker, made weaker by the +prostration of the affections. + +And she, too, had something to reflect upon in this moment of mutual +revolt. + +She loved me passionately. She loved me with a devotion capable of +confronting all risks and perils. The profound unselfishness and +truthfulness of her love made her serene at heart, and inspired her with +a calmness which enabled her to endure the worst without flinching. +There was not a single doubt of herself in her own mind. Her faith gave +her the fortitude needful for the martyr. When a woman trusts every +thing to this faith, and feels her reliance on it sufficient for the +last sacrifice, she is prepared for an issue which no man contemplates, +and which no man is able to encounter with an equal degree of courage or +confidence in his own constancy. With her it is otherwise. By one step, +the ground is closed up behind her forever; no remorse can help her, no +suffering can make atonement, or propitiate reconciliation; she can not +retract, she can not retreat, she can not return! No man is ever placed +in this extremity, though his sin be of a ten-fold deeper dye. Such is +the moral justice of society. He has always a space to fall back +upon--he has always room to retrieve, to recover, to reinstate himself. +But she is lost! The foreknowledge of her doom, which shuts out hope, +makes her strong in endurance; the magnitude of her sacrifice enhances +and deepens the idolatry from which it proceeded; she clings to it, and +lives in it evermore, as the air which she must breathe, or die. But he? +He has ever the backward hope, the consciousness of the power of +retracing his steps. The world is there behind him, as he left it, its +eager tumult still floating into his ears from afar off, its reckless +gayeties, its panting ambition, its occupations, and its pleasures; and +he knows he can re-enter it when he lists. He, then, if he consent to +commit the great treason against a confiding devotion, can afford to be +bold; that boldness which has always an escape and safeguard in reserve! +But it is this consideration which makes him irresolute and infirm--it +is this which dashes his resolves with hesitation, and makes him +temporize and play fast and loose in his thoughts, while his lips +overflow with the fervid declamation of passion. He may believe himself +to be sincere; but no man understands himself who believes that he has +renounced the world. The world has arranged it otherwise for him. + +The whole conditions of her position were clear to Astraea. She had not +now considered them for the first time; but the mistrust, not of my love +for her, but of my character, was now first awakened; and if she +trembled for the consequences, it was not for her own sake, but for +mine. Men can not comprehend this abnegation of self in women, and, not +being able to comprehend it, they do not believe in it. It requires an +elevation and generosity rare in the crisis of temptation, and, perhaps, +also, an entire change of surrounding circumstances and +responsibilities, to enable them to estimate it justly; the power of +bestowing happiness through a life-long sacrifice, instead of the +privilege of receiving it at a trifling risk. + +When we had become a little more at our ease, and I had endeavored by a +variety of commonplaces to revive her faith in me, Astraea, with the most +perfect frankness, entered upon her history. I will not break up the +narrative by the occasional interruptions to which it was subjected by +my curiosity and impatience, but preserve it as nearly entire as I can. + +"There is a period," said Astraea, "in all our lives when we pass through +delusions which an enlarged experience dispels. We too often begin by +making deities, and end by total skepticism. I suppose, like every body +else, I had my season of self-deception, although it has not made me an +absolute infidel." + +And as she said this, she looked at me with a smile so full of +sweetness, that I yielded myself up implicitly to the enchantment. + +"I was devotedly attached to my father," she continued; "he educated me, +and was so proud of the faculties which his own careful tending drew +into activity, that it was the greatest happiness of my life to deserve +the kindness which anticipated their development. There was no task my +father set to me I did not feel myself able to conquer by the mere +energy of the love I bore him. The education he bestowed upon me was not +the cultivation of the intellect alone--I owe him a deeper debt, fatally +as I have discharged it--for it was his higher aim to educate my +affections. He succeeded so well, that I would at any moment have +cheerfully surrendered my own fondest desires, or have sacrificed life +itself, to comply with any wish of his. You shall judge whether I have a +right to say that I loved him better than I loved myself. + +"My mother was a beauty. A woman of whom one can say nothing more than +that she was a beauty, is misplaced in the home of a man of intellect. +One can never cease wondering how it is that such men marry such women; +but I believe there are no men so easily ensnared by their own +imaginations, or who trouble themselves so little about calculating +consequences. They make an ideal, and worship it; and, as your true +believers contrive to refresh their motionless saints by new draperies +and tinsel, so they go on perpetually investing their idols with +fictitious attributes, to encourage and sustain their devotions. But +that sort of self-imposition can not last very long; and the best +possible recipe for stripping the idol of its false glitter is to marry +it! My father made this discovery in due time. He found that beauty +without enthusiasm or intellect is even less satisfying than a picture, +which is, at least, suggestive, and leaves something to the imagination. +There was no sympathy between them. She existed only in company, which, +from the languor of her nature, she hardly seemed to enjoy. Change, and +variety, and the flutter of new faces were as necessary to her as they +were wearisome to him; and so gradually and imperceptibly the distance +widened between them, and his whole affections were concentrated on me. +This may in some measure account for the formation of my character. I +was neither weakened nor benefited by maternal tenderness; and my +studies and habits, shaped and regulated by my father, imparted to me a +strength and earnestness which--now that they avail me nothing--may +speak of as existing in the past. + +"It is nearly ten years since my mother died; she went out as a flower +dies, drooping slowly, and retaining something of its sweetness to the +end. My father outlived her several years. That was the happiest period +of my life. There was not a break in the love that bound us together. +But there came a struggle at last between us--a struggle in which that +love was bitterly tried and tested on both sides. + +"I made a deity to myself, as most young people do, especially when they +are flattered into the belief that they are more _spirituelle_ and +capable of judging for themselves, than the rest of the world. It was a +girlish fancy; all girls have such fancies, and look back upon them +afterward as they look back upon their dreams, trying to collect and put +together forms and colors that fade rapidly in the daylight of +experience. + +"One of our visitors made an impression upon me; perhaps that is the +best way to describe it. He had a sombre and poetical air--that was the +first thing that touched me--an oval face, very pale and thoughtful, and +chiseled to an excess of refinement; a sensitive mouth; dark, melancholy +eyes; and black, lustrous hair. I remember he had quite a Spanish or +Italian cast of features; and that was dangerous to a young girl steeped +in the lore of history and chivalry. You think it strange, perhaps, I +should make this sort of confession to _you_; you expect that I should +rather suffer you to believe that, until we met, I had never been +disturbed by the sentiment of love; yet you may entirely believe it. +This was a mere phantasy--the prescience of what was to come--the +awakening of the consciousness of a capacity of loving which, until now, +was never stirred in its depths. It merely showed me what was in my +nature, but did not draw it out. + +"The fascination was on the surface; but, while it lasted, I thought it +intense; and such is the contradiction in the constitution of youth, +that a little opposition from my father only helped to strengthen it. In +the presence of that sad face, into which was condensed an irresistible +influence, I was silent and timid, frightened at the touch of his white +hands, and so confused that I could neither speak to him, nor look at +him: but in my father's presence, when we talked of him, and my father +hinted distrusts and antipathies, I was bold in his defense, and soared +into an enthusiasm that often surprised us both. It was evident that I +was in love--to speak by the card--and that the admonitions of +experience were thrown away upon me. + +"My father was grieved at this discovery, when it really came to take a +serious shape of resistance to his advice. As yet, we had only flirted +round the confines of the subject, and neither of us had openly +recognized it as a reality. The action of the drama was in my own brain. +The hero of my fantastic reveries regarded me only as a precocious +child: was amused, or, at the utmost, interested by my admiration of +him, which he could not fail to detect; and it was not until he imagined +he had traced a deeper sentiment in my shy and embarrassed looks, that +he began to feel any emotion himself. But the emotions which spring out +of vanity or compassion, which come only as a sort of generous or +pitying acknowledgment of an unsought devotion, have no stability in +them. It is more natural, and more likely to insure duration of love +that they should originate at the other side. Woman was formed to be +sued and won; it is the law of our organization. Men value our affection +in proportion to the efforts it has cost to gain them. The rights of a +difficult conquest are worn with pride and exultation, while the fruits +of an easy victory are held in indifference. These things, however, were +mysteries to me then. + +"There was a kind of love-scene between us. I can hardly recall any +thing of it, except that I thought him more grand and noble than ever, +and full of a magnificent patronage of my nerves and my ignorance. He +was several years older than I was, which made a great distance between +us, and made me look up to him with a superstitious homage. I remember +nothing more about it, only that when I left him, I felt as if I had +suddenly grown up into a woman. + +"And now came the beginning of the struggle. + +"We had other visitors who were better liked by my father. I could not +then understand his objections to my Orlando. I have understood them +since, and know that he was right in that, if he erred in the rest. + +"Among our visitors was one whom I can not speak of without a shudder. +There was in him a combination of qualities calculated to inspire me +with aversion, which grew from day to day into loathing. I do not +believe my father really liked that man. Circumstances, however, had +given him an influence in our house, against which it was vain for me to +contend. His family was closely connected with my mother; and my father +had acquired an estate through his marriage, with which these people +were mixed up as trustees; they had, in fact, a lien upon us, which it +was impossible to shake off; and by this means maintained a position +with us which was at once so familiar and harassing to me, that nothing +but my devotion to my father restrained me from an open mutiny against +them. + +"This man, who was not much my senior in years, but who seemed to have +been born old, and to have lived centuries for every year of my life, +entertained the most violent passion for me. I had no suspicion of it at +first; and as the closeness of our relations threw us constantly +together, I was feeding it unknowingly for a long time before I +discovered it. I will spare you what I felt when I made that +discovery--the horror! the despair! + +"When I compared this man, loathsome and hideous to me, with him who was +the Orlando, the Bayard, the Crichton of my foolish dreams, it made me +sick at heart. So deep was the detestation he inspired, that, young as I +was, I would have gladly renounced my own choice to have escaped from +him. But there was one consideration paramount even to that; it was my +father's desire that I should marry him. + +"By some such sorcery as wicked demons in the wise allegories of fable +obtain a control over good spirits, the demon who had thus risen up in +my path obtained an ascendency over my father. It was impossible that he +could have persuaded my father, who was clear-sighted and sagacious, +into the belief that he possessed a single attribute of goodness; it +must have been by the force of a fascination, such as serpents are said +to exercise over children, that he wrought his ends. And the comparison +was never applied with greater justice, for my father was as guileless +as a child in mere worldly affairs, while the other was a subtle +compound of cunning and venom, glazed over with a most hypocritical +exterior. + +"He worked at his purpose for months and months in the dark, by +artifices which assisted his progress without betraying his aim. He +adroitly avoided an abrupt disclosure of his design, for he knew, or +feared, that if it came too suddenly, it would have shocked even my +father. He saw that my fancy was taken up elsewhere, and the first part +of his plot was, to prejudice and poison my father's mind against his +rival. In this he effectually succeeded. But it was a more difficult +matter to bring round his own object, and he never could have achieved +it, with all his skill, had he not been so mixed up with our affairs as +to have it in his power to involve my father in a net-work of +embarrassments. The meshes were woven round him with consummate +ingenuity, and every effort at extrication only drew them tighter and +tighter. + +"Had I known as much of the world then as I do now I might have acted +differently. But I was a girl; my sensibility was easily moved; my +terrors were easily alarmed; and I loved my father too passionately to +be able to exercise a calm judgment where his safety was concerned. It +was this devotion--impetuous and unreflecting--that gave an advantage to +the fiend, of which he availed himself unrelentingly, and which threw +me, bound and fettered, at his feet. + +"I will not dwell on these memories. My heart was harrowed by a terrible +conflict. I know not how it might have been, had I not gathered a little +strength from wounded pride. A circumstance came to my relief which +crushed my enthusiasm, and from that instant determined my fate. + +"My father had often thrown out doubts of the sincerity of him to whom I +looked up with so much admiration; and at last he spoke more explicitly +and urgently. He told me that the hero of my dreams was merely trifling +with my feelings, and amusing himself at the expense of my credulity--in +short, that he was no better than a libertine. I revolted against these +cruel accusations, and repelled them by asserting that he was the +noblest and truest of human beings. But my father knew more of him than +I did. Even while these painful discussions were going on between us, +news arrived that he had been detected in a heartless conspiracy to +entrap and carry off a ward in chancery--a discovery which compelled him +to fly the country. + +"I was stunned and humiliated. The dream was over. The idol was broken, +and the shrine degraded forever. What resource should women have in such +cases if pride did not come to their help--that pride which smiles while +the heart is bleeding, and makes the world think that we do not suffer! +They know not what we suffer--what we hide! Our education trains us up +in a mask, which is often worn to the end, when the secret that has fed +upon our hearts, and consumed our lives, day by day, descends into the +dark grave with us! My sufferings at the time were very great--I thought +they would kill me. What mattered it to me then how they disposed of me. +Poor fool! I looked in on my desolated fancy, and gave myself up for +lost. + +"It was in this mood the machinations of that man whom I abhorred +triumphed over me. My father's affairs had become hopelessly entangled +in his, and a proposal to avert chancery suits and settle disputed +titles by a union between the families of the litigants presented the +only means of adjustment. My father listened to this insidious proposal +at first reluctantly; then, day by day, as difficulties thickened, he +became more reconciled to it; and, at length, he broke it to me, with a +deprecating gentleness that never sued in vain to the heart that +idolized him. I had nothing left in the world but my father to love. +Under any circumstances my love for him would have made me waver. As it +was, wounded and hopeless, galled, deceived, and cast off--for I felt as +all girls do, and was thoroughly in earnest in my sentimental misery--my +love for him lightened the sacrifice he prayed, rather than demanded at +my hands. + +"Girl as I was. I could see the change that had passed over my father. +The strong man was subdued and broken down. His clear understanding had +given way; even his heart was no longer as generous and impulsive as it +used to be. I could not bear to witness these alterations; and when I +was told that it was in my power to relieve him from the weight that +pressed upon him, what could I do? + +"There were many violent struggles--many fits of tears and solitary +remorse; but they all yielded to that imperative necessity, to that +claim upon my feelings, which was paramount to every thing else. The +first step was a contract of marriage, which I was simply required to +sign. I was too young then to marry! This consideration was thrown in as +a sort of tender forbearance to me, which, it was hoped, would +propitiate my reluctant spirit. And from that hour, the demon, claiming +me for his own, was incessant in his attendance upon me. I had hoped by +that act to shake him off my father; but he was the Old Man of the +Waters to his drowning victim, and at every moment only clutched and +clung to him more closely. + +"At last my father fell ill. First, he moped about the house, with a +low, wearing cough. None of his old resources availed him. He couldn't +read; the pleasant things he used to talk of--books, character, +philosophy--no longer interested him. The placid mind was growing carped +and restless. He was absorbed in his ailments. Trifles vexed him, and +instead of the large and genial subjects which formerly engrossed him, +he was taken up with petty annoyances. Oh, with what agony I watched +that change from day to day! Then from the drawing-room to the bed, from +whence he never rose again. + +"It was in his last sickness--toward the close--when the wings of the +Angel of Death were darkening his lids, and his utterance was +thickening, and his vision becoming dimmer and dimmer, that he called me +to his side. He knew the horror that was in my thoughts; but I was +already pledged, and it was not a time for me to shrink, when he, in +whom my affections were garnered up, besought me to make his death-bed +happy by completing the sacrifice. There were those around us who said +that it was merely to ease _his_ mind, that he might feel he did not +leave me behind him alone and without a protector; that the marriage +would be performed in his presence; that we should then separate, and +that my husband--oh, how I have hated that word! what images of wrong +and cruelty are condensed into it!--would regard that ghastly ceremony +only as a guarantee that when my grief had abated, and the signs of +mourning were put off, I should consent to become his wife before the +world. I believed in that and trusted to it. It was all written down and +witnessed, that he would not enforce this marriage till time had soothed +and reconciled me to it; and as the realization of it was to depend upon +myself, I thought I was secure against the worst. Upon these conditions +I was married beside the death-bed of my father. + +"The plot was deeply laid. The snare was covered with flowers. I was +nominally free. I was the wife, and not the wife, of him who, when a +little time had passed away, and my father was in the grave, and I was +at his mercy, assumed the right of asserting over me the authority of a +husband. I did not then know the full extent of my dependence. Upon the +failure of my consent, the whole property was to devolve upon him. Of +that I thought little; it was a cheap escape from a bondage I abhorred, +if, by surrendering all I possessed, I _could_ escape. There was nothing +left in my own hands, but the power of withholding my consent, and I did +withhold it; and my aversion increased with the base, unmanly, and +vindictive means he used to wring it from me. + +"Years passed away; he was ever in my path, blighting me with threats +and scoffs. My life was one continued mental slavery. He had the right, +or he usurped it, of holding me in perpetual bondage--hovering about me, +watching my actions, and subjecting me to a persecution which, invisible +to every body else, was felt by me in the minutest trifles. And all this +time my heart, shut up and stifled, felt a longing, such as prisoners +feel, to breathe the free air, to find its wings and escape. I was +conscious of a capacity for happiness; I felt that my existence was +wasting under a hideous influence--that my situation was cruel and +anomalous--that it was equally guilty to stay and feed the rebellion of +my blood, that might at last drive me mad, or to fly from the evil +thoughts that fascinated and beset me;--and long contemplation of this +corroding misery convinced me that the greater guilt was the hourly +falsehood--the constant mutiny of my soul--the sin I was committing +against nature by continuing to tolerate the semblance of an obligation +that made me almost doubt the justice of heaven! + +"Again and again he renewed the subject, only to be again and again +repulsed with increased bitterness and scorn. The sternness of my +resolution gradually obtained a victory over his perseverance. No man, +be his devotion as intense as it may, can persist in this way, when he +is thoroughly assured that a woman hates or despises him; and _he_ had +ample reason to know that I did both. Threats failed--hints of scandal +and defamation failed--prayers and entreaties failed--he tried them all; +and he saw at last that my determination was irrevocable. I would not +redeem my pledge. I took all the consequence of the perfidy. I submitted +to the ignominy of his taunts and reproaches, and even admitted their +justice, rather than stain my soul with a blacker crime. What was left +to him? His arts were baffled--his pride turned to dust--his love +rejected? What was left to him out of this ruin of his long cherished +scheme? REVENGE! + +"Although he could not force me to fulfill the contract, he could blast +my life in its bloom--wither the tree to the core--make a desert round +it--poison the very atmosphere that gave it nourishment and +strength--and wait patient--to see it die, leaf by leaf, and branch by +branch, This was his devilish project. Love--if ever so sacred a passion +had found its way into his soul--was transformed into hate, deadly and +unrelenting; the red current had become gall; and the same slow, +insatiable energy, with which he had before urged and forced his suit, +was now applied to torture and distract me. I wonder it did not drive me +to some act of desperation! + +"And all this time I moved through society like others. Nobody suspected +the vulture that was at my heart; and I had to endure the wretched +necessity of acting a daily lie to the world. It gave a false severity +to my manner--it made me seem austere and lofty, where I only meant to +avert approaches which it would have been criminal to have admitted and +deceived. And I had need of all that repellant armor; and it served me, +and saved me--till I met you! + +"Shall I proceed any farther? Shall I tell you how a new state of +existence seemed insensibly opening before me?--how the want in my heart +became unconsciously filled?--and that which had been a dream to me all +my life long, vague, flitting, and undefined, was now a reality, clear, +fixed, and distinct? What that sympathy was it is needless to ask, which +made me feel that your history was something like my own--that you, too, +had some discontent with the world, that made you yearn for peace and +solitude, and the refuge of love, like me. I fought bravely at first. +You know not how earnestly I questioned myself--how I probed my wounded +spirit, and battled with the temptation. All that was hidden from you; +but it was not the less fierce and agonizing. The blessed thought and +hope of freedom, of a happiness which I had never trusted myself to +contemplate, was a strong and blinding fascination. I saw my +wretchedness, and close at hand its perilous remedy. Doomed either way, +which was I to choose? The world?--my soul? All was darkness and terror +to me. Calamity had made me desperate; yet I was outwardly calm and +self-sustained. But I was goaded too far at last; _he_ goaded me; and my +resolution was taken; it was one plunge--and all was over. I fled from +the misery I could no longer endure, and live; and I know the cost--I +know the penalty--I see before me the retribution. Let it come--my fate +is sealed!" + + +XI. + +This narrative occupied a longer time in the relation than in the shape +to which I have reduced it, for it was frequently interrupted by +questions and exclamations, which I have not thought it necessary to +insert here. When she concluded, the day was already waning, and the +long shadows from the woods were stretching down the stream, and the +setting sun was, here and there, blazing through the trees, like focal +rays caught on the surface of a burning-glass. The haze of evening was +gathering round us, and settling over the little bridge which was now +slowly fading into the distance. + +Astraea had confided her whole life to me with the utmost candor. The +strong emotions she exhibited throughout afforded the best proof, if any +were wanted, of her perfect sincerity. There was nothing kept back--no +_arriere-pensee_--no false coloring; her real character came out +forcibly in this painful confession. Few women would have had the +requisite fortitude to submit to such an ordeal, and take their final +stand upon a position which marked them out as Pariahs in the eyes of +the world. I felt how great the misery must have been from which she +sought this terrible escape; and how much greater was the strength of +will that sustained her in the resolution to embrace it. Her wild sense +of natural justice had risen in resistance against laws which it +appeared to her more criminal to obey than to violate. It was not a +paroxysm of the passions--it was not the sophistry that seeks for its +own convenience to arraign the dispensations of society; it was a strong +mind, contending in its own right against obligations founded on force, +and violence, and wrong--asserting its claim to liberate itself from +trammels to which it had never given a voluntary assent--recoiling from +a life of skepticism and hypocrisy, and the frightful conflicts it +entails between duty and the instincts of reason and the heart--and +prepared, since no other alternative was left, to suffer in itself +alone, and in the consequences of its own act, all obloquy, all +vengeance the world could inflict. That there lay beneath this a grave +error, undermining the foundations upon which the whole social +superstructure rested, was, in a certain large and general sense, +sufficiently obvious to me. But who could argue such questions against +convictions based upon individual and exceptional injuries? Who could +require, in the very moment and agony of sacrifice, that she who had +been thus wronged and tortured, and who had never, of her own free +action, incurred the responsibility from which she revolted, should +offer herself up a victim to laws that afforded her no protection, and +condemned her to eternal strife, and the sins of a rebellious +conscience? I would have saved her if I could. It was my first +impulse--my most earnest desire. But of what avail was the attempt? +Where was she to find refuge? Only one of two courses lay before her--to +return and fulfil her contract, or to renounce the world: the first was +doubtful, perhaps impossible; the second, she had resolved upon. Even if +I were to hold back on the brink of the precipice, it would not shake +her determination. + +In this extremity and in the last resort, I felt myself bound to her by +every consideration of love and honor. Honor! When that element enters +into our casuistry, the peril is at its height! + +"Have you never endeavored to release yourself from this contract?" I +inquired. + +"He would not release me." + +"Have you explicitly demanded it of him, so that you should have the +satisfaction of feeling that you had tried all other means before you +broke the bond yourself?" + +"I have demanded and besought it of him--prayed to him--appealed to him, +by his soul's hopes here and hereafter, to release me. I have laid my +own perdition on his refusal--and he still refused. I gave up all; +offered to leave England forever; to give him security that, be my fate +what it might, neither he nor his should be troubled with me. To no +purpose--he was iron. He could have procured a separation, which I could +not. I gave him the means, and would have borne any humiliation to +obtain my freedom. He would not release me; he held me bound, that he +might gloat his vengeance upon my sufferings." + +"And this man--this fiend--you have not told me, Astraea, who he is." + +While I was speaking, I observed her looking keenly through the mist +that was collecting about us. Some object had attracted her attention. +My eyes followed the direction hers had taken, and I discerned a figure, +apparently wrapped up in a cloak, about the centre of the bridge, on the +near side. We watched it in silence for a space of two or three minutes, +when it moved slowly from its position, and winding down among the +trees, took the path that led directly to the spot where we were seated. +She grasped my arm, and cried in a whisper-- + +"Stand firm. Speak not. It is my deed, not yours. The hour I have looked +for through long years of anguish is come at last. Fear nothing for me!" + +The figure approached, still enveloped in a cloak, and stood exactly +opposite to us. For a moment--the most intense I ever remember--not a +word was uttered. At last, the stranger spoke. + +"It is, then, as I expected. I have tracked you to your hiding-place, +and I find you with your paramour." + +It was the voice of the dwarf! The blood leaped in my veins, and, hardly +conscious of what I was doing, or meant to do, I sprang from my seat. +Astraea rose at the same moment, and interposed. + +"If you have the least regard or respect for me," she said, "do not +interfere. For my sake, control yourself." + +"For _your_ sake!" echoed the dwarf. "Do you glory in _his_ shame, as +well as your own?" + +"Shame!" cried Astraea. "Take back the foul word, and begone. You have no +authority, no rights here. The shame is yours, not mine--yours, unmanly, +pitiful, and mean, who have taken advantage of a contract wrung from a +girl to doom the life of a woman to misery." + +"Have I no authority?" quoth the dwarf. "Listen to me--you must--you +shall--if it kill you in your heroics. I am your husband--my authority +is law. I can command you to my foot, and you must obey me. You think +you are secure; but I will show you that you have committed an egregious +mistake. Believe me," he added, in a tone of supercilious mockery, for +which I could have inflicted summary chastisement--"believe me, you only +deceive yourself, as you have tried to deceive me." + +"In what have I tried to deceive you?" she demanded. "I have been so +explicit with you, that none but the most contemptible of your sex would +have persisted at such a sacrifice of pride and feeling. Pride? You have +none. Where you proffered love--oh! such love!--you found +aversion;--where you sought, sued, and threatened, you received nothing +in return but loathing and scorn. And now, henceforth and forever, I +break all bonds between us. Since you will not do it, I will--I _have_ +done it! Obey you? I owe you no obedience. Be wise; take my answer, and +leave me." + +"Not at your bidding, madam. I did not come here to visit you in your +retirement, and be turned away so unceremoniously. It is not my +intention to leave you. Where you are, there must I be too." + +The insolent coolness with which this was spoken, rendered it very +difficult for me to submit to the injunction Astraea had imposed upon me. +I began to feel that _I_, too, had rights, and that the course this +husband-in-law was pursuing, was not the best calculated to induce me to +surrender them. + +"Where I am you shall never come again!" returned Astraea. "That is over. +A gulf yawns between us. Do not tempt it any further." + +"I will not be critical about words with you," said the dwarf. "If I am +not to come where you are, you shall come to me. It is the same thing. +You are only wasting your fine speeches. I have come here to take you +back to London." + +"To take me back?" she echoed. "Are you mad? Do you believe such a thing +credible? I have chosen my own course; and no power, authority, or force +can turn me from it. Take me back! Even were I willing to go--suppose I +were weak enough to repent the step I have taken--can you not see--have +you not eyes and understanding to see and comprehend, that it would be +to your own eternal dishonor--that it would only bring upon you the +contempt and derision of the world?" + +"It is for me to judge of that. Come--we are losing time, and it is +growing dark already." + +"Then why do you stay? Why do you not go as you came. I have given you +my answer; and if you were to stand here forever, you will get none +other. Have you no particle of self-respect left?" + +"Whatever self-respect or pride I had," returned the dwarf, in a low and +bitter tone, "you have trampled upon, and raised up a demoniac spirit in +this place. It might have been otherwise once. I loved you--ay! writhe +under the word--I loved you; but I was ill-favored, misshapen, stunted, +and loathsome to look upon. You thought that love and ambition and high +thoughts could not take up with such a frame as this--that they all went +with straight limbs and milky faces. Nature could not condescend to +endow the dwarf with the attributes of humanity. But I was a man as well +as they--had the passions and hopes of a man, the capabilities of good +and evil. You never sought the good; you never felt it to be your duty +to seek and cultivate the better qualities which my own consciousness of +my outward defects made irresolute and wayward in development. You only +looked upon the surface: and in the selfishness of your heart you +spurned me from you. You never thought of asking yourself whether it was +in your power to redeem and elevate, for noble ends, the human soul that +was pent up in this weak and distorted body. You never stopped to +reflect whether, by your contumely and pride of beauty, you were not +destroying the germs of all self-respect, perverting the virtuous +instincts into poisonous fangs, and shattering to the core the best +resolves of a human being who might be better than yourself. A word of +kindness in season--a generous construction of my character--an effort +to call my moral strength into action, might have raised me to the +dignity of the manhood it was your pleasure to disdain and +degrade--might have given me the fortitude and the compensating motive +to resign you--might have saved us both! But that word was never on your +lips--that effort you were not generous enough to try. What I am, then, +you have made me--bitter to the dregs, engrossed by one thought, living +but for one object. Life is a curse to me. Every new day that rises upon +me, humiliation and despair are before me. Do you believe I will suffer +this tamely? What have I to lose? You hate me--I return you hate for +hate, loaded with the recollections of years of scorn and defiance. +Defiance? Ha! ha! It is my turn now, and no remorse shall step in +between us to mitigate my vengeance!" + +His voice rose almost into a shriek at the close, he had worked himself +up to such a height of fanatic excitement; yet, notwithstanding the +denunciation with which he ended, it was impossible not to be touched +with pity for the real suffering that had reduced him to this condition. +A great sorrow had converted this wretched man into a human fiend; and I +never before believed that there were the elements of tenderness in him +which these references to the past seemed dimly to light up. Astraea +heard it all very calmly. + +"We are not answerable for our likings or antipathies," she replied; +"and I am no more accountable for my feeling than you are for your +shape. Had you possessed the instincts you speak of--the manhood you +claim for yourself, you might have long since secured, at least, my +gratitude, and spared us both the ignominy of this night. But it is +useless to look back. I have nothing more to say. Let us part--in hate, +if you will. I am indifferent alike to your opinions and your vengeance. +Avail yourself of whatever power the law gives you; but here we now +part, never to meet again!" + +As she said this, she moved away, and I still lingered behind to protect +her retreat, if it should be necessary. + +"No, madam; not so easily. We do not part. I command you to leave this +place, and go with me. It is my pleasure. Do not compel me to enforce +it." + +Seeing him rush forward to follow her, I placed myself between them. + +"I charge you," cried the dwarf, "to stand out of my path. It will be +dangerous." + +"You have threatened me before," I exclaimed; "and it is full time that +you and I should understand each other. I have an advantage over you +which I do not desire to use, except in extremity; be careful, +therefore, how you provoke it. Advance no further, or I will not answer +for the consequences!" + +"So, then, you champion her in her guilt," he cried. + +"I know of no guilt," I replied. "I have not interfered hitherto; I had +no right to do so. But I will not suffer any violence to be committed +toward her; she must be free to act as she pleases!" + +"And what right have you to interfere now?" + +"The right which every man has to protect a woman against outrage." + +"I warn you for the last time!" exclaimed the dwarf, his eyeballs +flashing fire. "It is you who have done this; you who have tempted and +destroyed her--destroyed us both. Do not urge me to the retribution I +thirst for. Put your hand upon me; there is my outstretched arm--only +touch it with your fingers, and put me on my defense!" + +Astraea was standing at my side. + +"I charge you," she said, "to leave him, and go into the house. He will +not dare to follow me!" + +"I will dare the depths of perdition, and follow you wherever you go. +See how he shrinks from me!--this champion and bully, for whom you stand +condemned and branded before the world!" + +"Bully!" I cried, "if you were not the feeble, wretched thing you are, I +would strike you to the earth. It is you, not I, that have worked out +this shame for your own fiendish ends. Did you not tell me that you +helped and encouraged our intercourse--that you saw feelings growing up, +and used all your arts to heighten them into an attachment which you +knew would bring misery upon us all? For what purpose, devil as you are, +did you do this?" + +"To break her heart--for she had broken mine!" + +"Be content, then, with what you have done, and leave us. You have +placed me in a position which no fear of consequences can induce me to +abandon. I will protect her to the last. Look upon us henceforth as +inseparable, and rid us of your presence, lest I lose all self-command." + +Grasping Astraea's hand, and controlling myself by a violent effort, I +turned from him to lead her toward the house. + +Perhaps it was this action which suddenly infuriated the demon, who now +looked more horrible in the contortions of his unbridled rage than ever; +and as I turned I felt, rather than saw, that he had coiled himself up +to spring upon me. Relieving myself from her, I instantly faced him. His +motions were as quick as light. One hand was upon my chest, and the +other was fumbling under his cloak. Suspecting his intention, I seized +his right arm and dragged it out. There was a pistol in his hand. It was +not a time to exercise much forbearance in consideration of his physical +inferiority, and by desperate force I wrenched the pistol from his +grasp, and, tossing it over his head, flung it into the river. In the +struggle, however, it had gone off, and, by the cry of pain he uttered, +I concluded that he was wounded. But I was too much heated to think of +that; and, in the fierceness of the conflict between us, I lifted him up +by main strength, and flung him upon the ground. + +Leaving him there, I hastened to Astraea, and we both went into the +house, taking care to lock and bar the door, so that he could not follow +us. The windows of the sitting-room went down close to the gravel-walk +outside, upon which they opened. These were already secured, and we were +safe. + +As we sat there, half an hour afterward, a low, piteous voice came +wailing through the shutters, uttering one word, which it repeated at +intervals, in a tone that pierced me to the soul. "Astraea! Astraea! +Astraea!" It was a voice so freighted with sorrow, that, had not evil +passions intervened to shut our hearts to its petition, we must have +relented and shown mercy to him out of whose despair it issued. But we +held our breaths, hardly daring to look in each other's faces, and moved +not! + +God! all the long night that wailing voice seemed repeating, in fainter +tones, "Astraea! Astraea! Astraea!" and she to whom it was addressed, and +to whom it appealed in vain--let me not recall the memory! Many years +have since trampled out other recollections, but that voice still seems +to vibrate on my heart, and the name still surges up as I heard it then, +sobbing through tears of mortal agony! + +(TO BE CONTINUED.) + +FOOTNOTE: + +[6] Continued from Vol. II. p. 762. + + + + +MADAME DE GENLIS AND MADAME DE STAEL.[7] + + +Before the Revolution, I was but very slightly acquainted with Madame de +Genlis, her conduct during that disastrous period having not a little +contributed to sink her in my estimation; and the publication of her +novel, "The Knights of the Swan" (the _first_ edition), completed my +dislike to a person who had so cruelly aspersed the character of the +queen, my sister in-law. + +On my return to France, I received a letter full of the most passionate +expressions of loyalty from beginning to end; the missive being signed +Comtesse de Genlis: but imagining this could be but a _plaisanterie_ of +some intimate friend of my own, I paid no attention whatever to it. +However, in two or three days it was followed by a second epistle, +complaining of my silence, and appealing to the great sacrifices the +writer had made in the interest of my cause, as giving her a _right_ to +my favorable attention. Talleyrand being present, I asked him if he +could explain this enigma. + +"Nothing is easier," replied he; "Madame de Genlis is unique. She has +lost her own memory, and fancies others have experienced a similar +bereavement." + +"She speaks," pursued I, "of her virtues, her misfortunes, and +Napoleon's persecutions." + +"Hem! In 1789 her husband was quite ruined, so the events of that period +took nothing from _him_; and as to the tyranny of Bonaparte, it +consisted, in the first place, of giving her a magnificent suite of +apartments in the Arsenal; and in the second place, granting her a +pension of six thousand francs a year, upon the sole condition of her +keeping him every month _au courant_ of the literature of the day." + +"What shocking ferocity!" replied I, laughing; "a case of infamous +despotism indeed. And this martyr to our cause asks to see me!" + +"Yes; and pray let your royal highness grant her an audience, were it +only for once: I assure you she is most amusing." + +I followed the advice of M. de Talleyrand, and accorded to the lady the +permission she so pathetically demanded. The evening before she was to +present herself, however, came a third missive, recommending a certain +Casimir, the _phenix_ of the _epoque_, and several other persons +besides; all, according to Madame de Genlis, particularly celebrated +people; and the postscript to this effusion prepared me also beforehand +for the request she intended to make, of being appointed governess to +the children of my son the Duc de Berry, who was at that time not even +married. + +Just at this period it so happened that I was besieged by more than a +dozen persons of every rank in regard to Madame de Stael, formerly +exiled by Bonaparte, and who had rushed to Paris without taking breath, +fully persuaded every one there, and throughout all France, was +impatient to see her again. Madame de Stael had a double view in thus +introducing herself to me; namely, to direct my proceedings entirely, +and to obtain payment of the two million francs deposited in the +treasury by her father during his ministry. I confess I was not +prepossessed in favor of Madame de Stael, for she also, in 1789, had +manifested so much hatred toward the Bourbons, that I thought all she +could possibly look to from us, was the liberty of living in Paris +unmolested: but I little knew her. She, on her side, imagined that we +ought to be grateful to her for having quarreled with Bonaparte--her own +pride being, in fact, the sole cause of the rupture. + +M. de Fontanes and M. de Chateaubriand were the first who mentioned her +to me; and to the importance with which they treated the matter, I +answered, laughing, "So Madame la Baronne de Stael is then a supreme +power?" + +"Indeed she is, and it might have very unfavorable effects did your +royal highness overlook her: for what she asserts, every one believes, +and then--she has suffered _so_ much!" + +"Very likely; but what did she make my poor sister-in-law the queen +suffer? Do you think I can forget the abominable things she said, the +falsehoods she told? and was it not in consequence of them, and the +public's belief of them, that she owed the possibility of the +embassadress of Sweden's being able to dare insult that unfortunate +princess in her very palace?" + +Madame de Stael's envoys, who manifested some confusion at the fidelity +of my memory, implored me to forget the past, think only of the future, +and remember that the genius of Madame de Stael, whose reputation was +European, might be of the utmost advantage, or the reverse. Tired of +disputing I yielded; consented to receive this _femme celebre_, as they +all called her, and fixed for her reception the same day I had notified +to Madame de Genlis. + +My brother has said, "Punctuality is the politeness of kings"--words as +true and just as they are happily expressed; and the princes of my +family have never been found wanting in good manners; so I was in my +study waiting when Madame de Genlis was announced. I was astonished at +the sight of a long, dry woman, with a swarthy complexion, dressed in a +printed cotton gown, any thing but clean, and a shawl covered with dust, +her habit-shirt, her hair even, bearing marks of great negligence. I had +read her works, and remembering all she said about neatness, and +cleanliness, and proper attention to one's dress, I thought she added +another to the many who fail to add example to their precepts. While +making these reflections, Madame de Genlis was firing off a volley of +courtesies; and upon finishing what she deemed the requisite number, she +pulled out of a great huge bag four manuscripts of enormous dimensions. + +"I bring," commenced the lady, "to your royal highness what will amply +repay any kindness you may show to me--No. 1 is a plan of conduct, and +the project of a constitution; No. 2 contains a collection of speeches +in answer to those likely to be addressed to Monsieur; No. 3, addresses +and letters proper to send to foreign powers, the provinces, &c.; and in +No. 4 Monsieur will find a plan of education, the only one proper to be +pursued by royalty, in reading which, your royal highness will feel as +convinced of the extent of my acquirements as of the purity of my +loyalty." + +Many in my place might have been angry; but, on the contrary, I thanked +her with an air of polite sincerity for the treasures she was so +obliging as to confide to me, and then condoled with her upon the +misfortunes she had endured under the tyranny of Bonaparte. + +"Alas! Monsieur, this abominable despot dared to make a mere plaything +of _me_! and yet I strove, by wise advice, to guide him right, and teach +him to regulate his conduct properly: but he would not be led. I even +offered to mediate between him and the Pope, but he did not so much as +answer me upon this subject; although (being a most profound theologian) +I could have smoothed almost all difficulties when the Concordat was in +question." + +This last piece of pretension was almost too much for my gravity. +However, I applauded the zeal of this new mother of the church, and was +going to put an end to the interview, when it came into my head to ask +her if she was well acquainted with Madame de Stael. + +"God forbid!" cried she, making a sign of the cross: "I have no +acquaintance with _such people_; and I but do my duty in warning those +who have not perused the works of that lady, to bear in mind that they +are written in the worst possible taste, and are also extremely immoral. +Let your royal highness turn your thoughts from such books; you will +find in _mine_ all that is necessary to know. I suppose monsieur has not +yet seen _Little Necker_?" + +"Madame la Baronne de Stael Holstein has asked for an audience, and I +even suspect she may be already arrived at the Tuileries." + +"Let your royal highness beware of this woman! See in her the implacable +enemy of the Bourbons, and in me their most devoted slave!" + +This new proof of the want of memory in Madame de Genlis amused me as +much as the other absurdities she had favored me with; and I was in the +act of making her the ordinary salutations of adieu, when I observed her +blush purple, and her proud rival entered. + +The two ladies exchanged a haughty bow, and the comedy, which had just +finished with the departure of Madame de Genlis, recommenced under a +different form when Madame de Stael appeared on the stage. The baroness +was dressed, not certainly dirtily, like the countess, but quite as +absurdly. She wore a red satin gown, embroidered with flowers of gold +and silk; a profusion of diamonds; rings enough to stock a pawnbroker's +shop; and, I must add, that I never before saw so low a cut corsage +display less inviting charms. Upon her head was a huge turban, +constructed on the pattern of that worn by the Cumean sibyl, which put a +finishing stroke to a costume so little in harmony with her style of +face. I scarcely understand how a woman of genius _can_ have such a +false, vulgar taste. Madame de Stael began by apologizing for occupying +a few moments which she doubted not I should have preferred giving to +Madame de Genlis. "She is one of the illustrations of the day," observed +she with a sneering smile--"a colossus of religious faith, and +represents in her person, she fancies, all the literature of the age. +Ah, ah, monsieur, in the hands of _such people_ the world would soon +retrograde; while it should, on the contrary, be impelled forward, and +your royal highness be the first to put yourself at the head of this +great movement. To you should belong the glory of giving the impulse, +guided by _my experience_." + +"Come," thought I, "here is another going to plague me with plans of +conduct, and constitutions, and reforms, which I am to persuade the king +my brother to adopt. It seems to be an insanity in France this composing +of new constitutions." While I was making these reflections, madame had +time to give utterance to a thousand fine phrases, every one more +sublime than the preceding. However, to put an end to them, I asked her +if there was any thing she wished to demand. + +"Ah, dear!--oh yes, prince!" replied the lady in an indifferent tone. "A +mere trifle--less than nothing--two millions, without counting the +interest at five per cent.; but these are matters I leave entirely to my +men of business, being for my own part much more absorbed in politics +and the science of government." + +"Alas! madame, the king has arrived in France with his mind made up upon +most subjects, the fruit of twenty-five years' meditation; and I fear he +is not likely to profit by your good intentions!" + +"Then so much the worse for him and for France! All the world knows what +it cost Bonaparte his refusing to follow my advice, and pay me my two +millions. I have studied the Revolution profoundly, followed it through +all its phases, and I flatter myself I am the only pilot who can hold +with one hand the rudder of the state, if at least I have Benjamin for +steersman." + +"Benjamin! Benjamin--who?" asked I, in surprise. + +"It would give me the deepest distress," replied she, "to think that the +name of M. le Baron de Rebecque Benjamin de Constant has never reached +the ears of your royal highness. One of his ancestors saved the life of +Henri Quatre. Devoted to the descendants of this good king, he is ready +to serve them; and among several _constitutions_ he has in his +portfolio, you will probably find one with annotations and reflections +by myself, which will suit you. Adopt it, and choose Benjamin Constant +to carry out the idea." + +It seemed like a thing resolved--an event decided upon--this proposal of +inventing a constitution for us. I kept as long as I could upon the +defensive; but Madame de Stael, carried away by her zeal and enthusiasm, +instead of speaking of what personally concerned herself, knocked me +about with arguments, and crushed me under threats and menaces; so, +tired to death of entertaining, instead of a clever, humble woman, a +roaring politician in petticoats, I finished the audience, leaving her +as little satisfied as myself with the interview. Madame de Genlis was +ten times less disagreeable, and twenty times more amusing. + +That same evening I had M. le Prince de Talleyrand with me, and I was +confounded by hearing him say, "So your royal highness has made Madame +de Stael completely quarrel with me now?" + +"Me! I never so much as pronounced your name." + +"Notwithstanding that, she is convinced that I am the person who +prevents your royal highness from employing her in your political +relations, and that I am jealous of Benjamin Constant. She is resolved +on revenge." + +"Ha, ha--and what can she do?" + +"A very great deal of mischief, monseigneur. She has numerous partisans; +and if she declares herself Bonapartiste, we must look to ourselves." + +"That _would_ be curious." + +"Oh, I shall take upon myself to prevent her going so far; but she will +be Royalist no longer, and we shall suffer from that." + +At this time I had not the remotest idea what a mere man, still less a +mere woman, could do in France; but now I understand it perfectly, and +if Madame de Stael was living--Heaven pardon me!--I would strike up a +flirtation with her. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[7] This curious piece has recently appeared in the "Gazette de France," +and has excited much remark. It is given out to be the production of +Charles X. when Monsieur, and was communicated to M. Neychens by the +Marquis de la Roche Jaqueline. + + + + +THE TWO ROADS. + + +It was New-Year's night. An aged man was standing at a window. He raised +his mournful eyes toward the deep-blue sky, where the stars were +floating, like white lilies, on the surface of a clear, calm lake. Then +he cast them on the earth, where few more hopeless beings than himself +now moved toward their certain goal--the tomb. Already he had passed +sixty of the stages which lead to it, and he had brought from his +journey nothing but errors and remorse. His health was destroyed, his +mind vacant, his heart sorrowful, and his old age devoid of comfort. The +days of his youth rose up in a vision before him, and he recalled the +solemn moment, when his father had placed him at the entrance of two +roads, one leading into a peaceful, sunny land, covered with a fertile +harvest, and resounding with soft, sweet songs; while the other +conducted the wanderer into a deep, dark cave, whence there was no +issue, where poison flowed instead of water, and where serpents hissed +and crawled. + +He looked toward the sky, and cried out in his agony, "O youth, return! +O my father, place me once more at the entrance to life, that I may +choose the better way!" + +But the days of his youth and his father had both passed away. He saw +wandering lights floating far away over dark marshes, and then +disappear--these were the days of his wasted life. He saw a star fall +from heaven, and vanish in darkness. This was an emblem of himself; and +the sharp arrows of unavailing remorse struck home to his heart. Then he +remembered his early companions, who entered on life with him, but who, +having trod the paths of virtue and of labor, were now happy and honored +on this New-Year's night. The clock in the high church tower struck, and +the sound, falling on his ear, recalled his parents' early love for him, +their erring son; the lessons they had taught him; the prayers they had +offered up on his behalf. Overwhelmed with shame and grief, he dared no +longer look toward that heaven where his father dwelt; his darkened eyes +dropped tears, and, with one despairing effort, he cried aloud, "Come +back, my early days! come back!" + +And his youth _did_ return; for all this was but a dream which visited +his slumbers on New-Year's night. He was still young; his faults alone +were real. He thanked God, fervently, that time was still his own, that +he had not yet entered the deep, dark cavern, but that he was free to +tread the road leading to the peaceful land, where sunny harvests wave. + +Ye who still linger on the threshold of life, doubting which path to +choose, remember that, when years are passed, and your feet stumble on +the dark mountain, you will cry bitterly, but cry in vain: "O youth, +return! O give me back my early days!" + + + + +STORIES OF SHIPWRECK. + + +The Magpie, commanded by Lieutenant Edward Smith, was lost during a +hurricane in the West Indies, in 1826. At the moment of the vessel going +down, a gunner's mate of the name of Meldrum struck out and succeeded in +reaching a pair of oars that were floating in the water; to these he +clung, and, having divested himself of a part of his clothing, he +awaited, in dreadful anxiety, the fate of his companions. Not a sound +met his ear; in vain his anxious gaze endeavored to pierce the gloom, +but the darkness was too intense. Minutes appeared like hours, and still +the awful silence remained unbroken: he felt, and the thought was agony, +that, out of the twenty-four human beings who had so lately trod the +deck of the schooner, he alone was left. This terrible suspense became +almost beyond the power of endurance; and he already began to envy the +fate of his companions, when he heard a voice at no great distance +inquiring if there was any one near. He answered in the affirmative; +and, pushing out in the direction from whence the sound proceeded, he +reached a boat to which seven persons were clinging; among whom was +Lieutenant Smith, the commander of the sloop. So far, this was a subject +of congratulation; he was no longer alone; but yet the chances of his +ultimate preservation were as distant as ever. The boat, which had been +placed on the booms of the schooner, had, fortunately, escaped clear of +the sinking vessel, and, if the men had waited patiently, was large +enough to have saved them all; but the suddenness of the calamity had +deprived them of both thought and prudence. Several men had attempted to +climb in on one side; the consequence was, the boat heeled over, became +half filled with water, and then turned keel uppermost; and, when +Meldrum reached her, he found some stretched across the keel, and others +hanging on by the sides. + +Matters could not last long in this way; and Mr. Smith, seeing the +impossibility of any of the party being saved if they continued in their +present position, endeavored to bring them to reason, by pointing out +the absurdity of their conduct. To the honor of the men, they listened +with the same respect to their commander as if they had been on board +the schooner; those on the keel immediately relinquished their hold, and +succeeded, with the assistance of their comrades, in righting the boat. +Two of their number got into her, and commenced baling with their hats, +while the others remained in the water, supporting themselves by the +gunwales. + +Order being restored, their spirits began to revive, and they +entertained hopes of escaping from their present peril: but this was of +short duration; and the sufferings which they had as yet endured were +nothing in comparison with what they had now to undergo. The two men had +scarcely commenced baling, when a cry was heard of "A shark! a shark!" +No words can describe the consternation which ensued; it is well known +the horror sailors have of these voracious animals, who seem apprised, +by instinct, when their prey is at hand. All order was at an end; the +boat again capsized, and the men were left struggling in the waters. The +general safety was neglected, and it was every man for himself; no +sooner had one got hold of the boat than he was pushed away by another, +and in this fruitless contest more than one life was nearly sacrificed. +Even in this terrible hour, their commander remained cool and collected; +his voice was still raised in words of encouragement, and, as the +dreaded enemy did not make its appearance, he again succeeded in +persuading them to renew their efforts to clear the boat. The night had +passed away--It was about ten o'clock on the morning of the 28th: the +baling had progressed without interruption; a little more exertion, and +the boat would have been cleared, when again was heard the cry of "The +sharks! the sharks!" But this was no false alarm; the boat a second time +capsized, and the unhappy men were literally cast among a shoal of these +terrible monsters. The men, for a few minutes, remained uninjured, but +not untouched, for the sharks actually rubbed against their victims, +and, to use the exact words of one of the survivors, "frequently passed +over the boat and between us while resting on the gunwale." This, +however, did not last long; a shriek soon told the fate of one of the +men: a shark had seized him by the leg, dyeing the water with his +blood; another shriek followed, and another man disappeared. + +But these facts are almost too horrible to dwell upon; human nature +revolts from so terrible a picture; we will, therefore, hurry over this +part of our tale. + +Smith had witnessed the sufferings of his followers with the deepest +distress; and, although aware that, in all probability, he must soon +share the same fate, he never for a moment appeared to think of himself. +There were but six men left; and these he endeavored to sustain by his +example, cheering them on to further exertions. They had, once more, +recommenced their labors to clear out the boat, when one of his legs was +seized by a shark. Even while suffering the most horrible torture, he +restrained the expression of his feelings, for fear of increasing the +alarm of the men; but the powers of his endurance were doomed to be +tried to the utmost; another limb was scrunched from his body, and, +uttering a deep groan, he was about to let go his hold, when he was +seized by two of his men, and placed in the stern-sheets. + +Yet, when his whole frame was convulsed with agony, the energies of his +mind remained as strong as ever; his own pain was disregarded; he +thought only of the preservation of his crew. Calling to his side a lad +of the name of Wilson, who appeared the strongest of the remaining few, +he exhorted him, in the event of his surviving, to inform the admiral +that he was going to Cape Ontario, in search of the pirate, when the +unfortunate accident occurred. "Tell him," he continued, "that my men +have done their duty, and that no blame is attached to them. I have but +one favor to ask, and that is, that he will promote Meldrum to be a +gunner." + +He then shook each man by the hand, and bade them farewell. By degrees +his strength began to fail, and at last became so exhausted that he was +unable to speak. He remained in this state until the sun set, when +another panic seized the men from a re-appearance of the sharks; the +boat gave a lurch, and the gallant commander found an end to his +sufferings in a watery grave. + +The Anson was lost, in 1807, off the coast of France. The ship was no +longer an object of consideration; Captain Lydiard felt that he had done +his utmost to save her, but in vain, and that now every energy must be +put forth for the preservation of human life. The tempest raged with +such fury, that no boat could possibly come to their aid, nor could the +strongest swimmer hope to gain the shore. It appeared to Captain +Lydiard, that the only chance of escape for any of the crew was in +running the ship as near the coast as possible. He gave the necessary +orders, and the master ran the vessel on the sand which forms the bar +between the Loe Pool and the sea, about three miles from Helstone. The +tide had been ebbing nearly an hour when she took the ground, and she +broached to, leaving her broadside heeling over, and facing the beach. + +The scene of horror and confusion which ensued, on the Anson striking +against the ground, was one which baffles all description. Many of the +men were washed away by the tremendous sea which swept over the deck; +many others were killed by the falling of the spars, the crashing sound +of which, as they fell from aloft, mingled with the shrieks of the women +on board, was heard even amidst the roar of the waters and the howling +of the winds. The coast was lined with crowds of spectators, who watched +with an intense and painful interest the gradual approach of the +ill-fated vessel toward the shore, and witnessed the subsequent +melancholy catastrophe. + +Calm and undaunted amidst the terrors of the scene, Captain Lydiard is +described as displaying, in a remarkable degree, that self-possession +and passive heroism which has been so often the proud characteristic of +the commander of a British ship-of-war under similar harassing +circumstances. Notwithstanding the confusion of the scene, his voice was +heard, and his orders were obeyed with that habitual deference which, +even in danger and in death, an English seaman rarely fails to accord to +his commanding officer. He was the first to restore order, to assist the +wounded, to encourage the timid, and to revive expiring hope. Most +providentially, when the vessel struck, the mainmast, in falling +overboard, served to form a communication between the ship and the +shore, and Captain Lydiard was the first to point out this circumstance +to the crew. Clinging with his arm to the wheel of the rudder, in order +to prevent his being washed overboard by the waves, he continued to +encourage one after another as they made the perilous attempt to reach +the shore. It was fated that this gallant officer should not enjoy in +this world the reward of his humanity and his heroism. After watching +with thankfulness the escape of many of his men, and having seen, with +horror, many others washed off the mast, in their attempts to reach the +land, he was about to undertake the dangerous passage himself, when he +was attracted by the cries of a person seemingly in an agony of terror. +The brave man did not hesitate for a moment, but turned and made his way +to the place whence the cries proceeded. There he found a boy, a protege +of his own, whom he had entered on board the Anson only a few months +before, clinging, in despair to a part of the wreck, and without either +strength or courage to make the least effort for his own preservation. +Captain Lydiard's resolution was instantly taken: he would save the lad +if possible, though he might himself perish in the attempt. He threw one +arm round the boy, while he cheered him by words of kind encouragement; +with the other arm, he clung to the spars and mast to support himself +and his burden. But the struggle did not last long; nature was exhausted +by the mental and physical sufferings he had endured; he lost his hold, +not of the boy, but of the mast, the wild waves swept over them, and +they perished together. + + + + +JOE SMITH AND THE MORMONS. + +BY PROF. JAMES F.W. JOHNSTON. + + +In the future history of mankind, if present appearances are to be +trusted, the counties of Wayne and Ontario, N.Y., are likely to derive +an interest and importance, in the eyes of a numerous body of people, +from a circumstance wholly unconnected either with their social +progress, or with their natural productions or capabilities. In these +counties lie the scenes of the early passages in the life of Joe Smith, +the founder of the sect of the Mormons. + +Born in December, 1805, in Sharon, Windsor County, State of Vermont, he +removed with his father, about 1815, to a small farm in Palmyra, Wayne +County, New York, and assisted him on the farm till 1826. He received +little education, read indifferently, wrote and spelt badly, knew little +of arithmetic, and, in all other branches of learning he was, to the day +of his death, exceedingly ignorant. + +His own account of his religious progress is, that as early as fifteen +years of age he began to have serious ideas regarding the future state, +that he got into occasional ecstasies, and that in 1823, during one of +these ecstasies, he was visited by an angel, who told him that his sins +were forgiven--that the time was at hand when the gospel in its fullness +was to be preached to all nations--that the American Indians were a +remnant of Israel, who, when they first emigrated to America, were an +enlightened people, possessing a knowledge of the true God, and enjoying +his favor--that the prophets and inspired writers among them had kept a +history or record of their proceedings--that these records were safely +deposited--and that, if faithful, he was to be the favored instrument +for bringing them to light. + +On the following day, according to instructions from the angel, he went +to a hill which he calls Cumorah, in Palmyra township, Wayne County, and +there, in a stone chest, after a little digging, he saw the records; but +it was not till four years after, in September 1827, that "the angel of +the Lord delivered the records into his hands." + +"These records were engraved on plates which had the appearance of gold, +were seven by eight inches in size, and thinner than common tin, and +were covered on both sides with Egyptian characters, small and +beautifully engraved. They were bound together in a volume like the +leaves of a book, and were fastened at one edge with three rings running +through the whole. The volume was about six inches in thickness, bore +many marks of antiquity, and part of it was sealed. With the records was +found a curious instrument, called by the ancients Urim and Thummim, +which consisted of two transparent stones, clear as crystal, and set in +two rims of a bow"--a pair of pebble spectacles, in other words, or +"helps to read" unknown tongues. + +The report of his discovery having got abroad, his house was beset, he +was mobbed, and his life was endangered by persons who wished to possess +themselves of the plates. He therefore packed up his goods, concealed +the plates _in a barrel of beans_, and proceeded across the country to +the northern part of Pennsylvania, near the Susquehannah river, where +his father-in-law resided. Here, "by the gift and power of God, through +the means of the Urim and Thummim, he began to translate the record, +and, being a poor writer, he employed a scribe to write the translation +as it came from his mouth." In 1830 a large edition of the _Book of +Mormon_ was published. It professes to be an abridgment of the records +made by the prophet Mormon, of the people of the Nephites, and left to +his son Moroni to finish. It is regarded by the Latter-day Saints with +the same veneration as the New Testament is among Christians. + +The Church of the Latter-day Saints was organized on the 6th of April, +1830, at Manchester, in Ontario County, New York. Its numbers at first +were few, but they rapidly increased, and in 1833 removed to the State +of Missouri, and purchased a large tract of land in Jackson County. Here +their neighbors tarred and feathered some, killed others, and compelled +the whole to remove. They then established themselves in Clay County, in +the same State, but on the opposite side of the river. From this place +again, in 1835, they removed eastward to the State of Ohio, settled at +Kirtland, in Geauga County, about twenty miles from Cleveland, and began +to build a temple, upon which sixty-thousand dollars were expended. At +Kirtland a bank was incorporated by Joe and his friends, property was +bought with its notes, and settled upon the Saints, after which the bank +failed--as many others did about the same time--and Ohio became too hot +for the Mormons. Again, therefore, the Prophet, his apostles, and a +great body of the Saints, left their home and temple, went westward a +second time to the State of Missouri, purchased a large tract of land in +Caldwell County, in Missouri, and built the city of the "Far West." Here +difficulties soon beset them, and in August, 1838, became so serious +that the military were called in; and the Mormons were finally driven, +unjustly, harshly, and oppressively, by force of arms, from the State of +Missouri, and sought protection in the State of Illinois, on the eastern +bank of the Mississippi. They were well received in this State, and +after wandering for some time--while their leader, Joe Smith, was in +jail--they bought a beautiful tract of land in Hancock County, and, in +the spring of 1840, began to build the city and temple of Nauvoo. The +Legislature of Illinois at first passed an act giving great, and, +probably, injudicious privileges to this city, which, in 1844, was +already the largest in the State, and contained a population of about +twenty thousand souls. The temple, too, was of great size and +magnificence--being 128 feet long and 77 feet high, and stood on an +elevated situation, from which it was visible to a distance of 25 or 30 +miles. In the interior was an immense baptismal font, in imitation of +the brazen sea of Solomon--"a stone reservoir, resting upon the backs of +twelve oxen, also cut out of stone, and as large as life." + +But persecution followed them to Illinois, provoked in some degree, no +doubt, by their own behavior, especially in making and carrying into +effect city ordinances, which were contrary to the laws of the State. +The people of the adjoining townships rose in arms, and were joined by +numbers of the old enemies of the Mormons from Missouri. The militia +were called out; and, to prevent further evils, Joe Smith and one of his +brothers, with several other influential Saints, on an assurance of +safety and protection from the Governor of the State, were induced to +surrender themselves for trial in respect of the charges brought against +them, and were conducted to prison. Here they were inconsiderately left +by the Governor, on the following day, under a guard of seven or eight +men. These were overpowered the same afternoon by an armed mob, who +killed Joe Smith and his brother, and then made their escape. After +this, the Mormons remained a short time longer in the Holy City; but the +wound was too deep seated to admit of permanent quiet on either part, +and they were at last driven out by force, and compelled to abandon or +sacrifice their property. Such as escaped this last persecution, after +traversing the boundless prairies, the deserts of the Far West, and the +Rocky Mountains, appear at last to have found a resting-place near the +Great Salt Lake in Oregon. They are increasing faster since this last +catastrophe than ever; and are daily receiving large accessions of new +members from Europe, especially from Great Britain. They form the +nucleus of the new State of Utah, this year erected into a Territory of +the United States, and likely, in the next session of Congress, to be +elevated to the dignity of an independent State. So rapidly has +persecution helped on this offspring of ignorance, and tended to give a +permanent establishment, and a bright future, to a system, not simply of +pure invention, but of blasphemous impiety, and folly the most insane. + +The _Book of Mormon_, which is the written guide of this new sect, +consists of a series of professedly historical books--a desultory and +feeble imitation of the Jewish chronicles and prophetical books--in +which, for the poetry and warnings of the ancient prophets, are +substituted a succession of unconnected rhapsodies and repetitions such +as might form the perorations of ranting addresses by a field preacher, +to a very ignorant audience. + +The book, in the edition I possess, consists in all of 634 pages, of +which the first 580 contain the history of a fictitious personage called +Lehi and that of his descendants for the space of a thousand years. + +This Lehi, a descendant of Joseph the son of Jacob, with his family left +Jerusalem in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, six hundred years +before Christ, and, passing the Red Sea, journeyed eastward for eight +years till they reached the shore of a wide sea. There they built a +ship, and, embarking, were carried at length to the promised land, where +they settled and multiplied. Among the sons of Lehi one was called Laman +and another Nephi. The former was wicked, and a disbeliever in the law +of Moses and the prophets; the latter, obedient and faithful, and a +believer in the coming of Christ. Under the leadership of these two +opposing brothers, the rest of the family and their descendants arranged +themselves, forming the Lamanites and the Nephites, between whom wars +and perpetual hostilities arose. The Lamanites were idle hunters, living +in tents, eating raw flesh, and having only a girdle round their loins. +The skin of Laman and his followers became black; while that of Nephi +and his people, who tilled the land, retained its original whiteness. As +with the Jews, the Nephites were successful when they were obedient to +the law; and, when they fell away to disobedience and wickedness, the +Lamanites had the better, and put many to death. At the end of about +four hundred years, a portion of the righteous Nephites under Mosiah, +having left their land, traveled far across the wilderness, and +discovered the city of Zarahemla, which was peopled by the descendants +of a colony of Jews who had wandered from Jerusalem when King Zedekiah +was carried away captive to Babylon, twelve years after the emigration +of Lehi. But they were heathens, possessed no copy of the law, and had +corrupted their language. They received the Nephites warmly, however, +learned their language, and gladly accepted the law of Moses. + +This occupies 158 pages. The history of the next two hundred years +follows this new people, and that of occasional converts from the +Lamanites--called still by the general name of Nephites in their +struggles with the Lamanites, and the alternations of defeat and success +which accompany disobedience or the contrary. This occupies several +books, and brings us to the 486th page, and the period of the birth of +Christ. This event is signified to the people of Zarahemla by a great +light, which made the night as light as mid-day. And thirty-three years +after there was darkness for three days, and thunderings and +earthquakes, and the destruction of cities and people. This was a sign +of the crucifixion. Soon after this, Christ himself appears to this +people of Zarahemla in America, repeats to them in long addresses the +substance of his numerous sayings and discourses, as recorded by the +apostles; chooses twelve to go forth and preach and baptize; and then +disappears. On occasion of a great baptizing by the apostles, however, +he appears again; imparts the Holy Spirit to all, makes long discourses, +and disappears. And, finally, to the apostles themselves he appears a +third time; and addresses them in ill-assorted extracts and paraphrases +of his New Testament sayings. + +The account of these visits of our Saviour to the American Nephites, and +of his sayings, occupies about 48 pages. For about 400 years, the +Christian doctrine and church thus planted among the Nephites had +various fortune; increasing at first, and prospering, but, as +corruptions came in, encountering adversity. The Lamanites were still +their fierce enemies; and as wickedness and corrupt doctrine began to +prevail among the Christians, the Lamanites gained more advantages. It +would appear, from Joe Smith's descriptions, that he means the war to +have begun at the Isthmus of Darien--where the Nephites were settled, +and occupied the country to the north, while the Lamanites lived south +of the isthmus. From the isthmus the Nephites were gradually driven +toward the east, till finally, at the hill of Cumorah, near Palmyra, in +Wayne County, western New York, the last battle was fought, in which, +with the loss of 230,000 fighting men, the Nephites were exterminated! +Among the very few survivors was Moroni the last of the scribes, who +deposited in this hill the metal plates which the virtuous Joe Smith was +selected to receive from the hands of the angel. This occupies to the +580th page. + +But now, in the Book of Ether, which follows, Joe becomes more bold, and +goes back to the tower of Babel for another tribe of fair people, whom +he brings over and settles in America. At the confusion of the +languages, Ether and his brethren journeyed to the great sea, and, after +a sojourn of four years on the shore, built boats under the Divine +direction, water-tight, and covered over like walnuts, with a bright +stone in each end to give light! And when they had embarked in their +tight boats, a strong wind arose, blowing toward the promised land, and +for 344 days it blew them along the water, till they arrived safe at the +shore. Here, like the sons of Lehi, they increased and prospered, and +had kings and prophets and wars, and were split into parties, who fought +with each other. Finally, Shiz rose in rebellion against Coriantumr, the +last king, and they fought with alternate success, till two millions of +mighty men, with their wives and children, had been slain! And, after +this, all the people were gathered either on the one side or the other, +and fought for many days, till only Coriantumr alone remained alive! + +This foolish history is written with the professedly religious purpose +of showing the punishment from the hand of God which wicked behavior +certainly entails; and, with some trifling moralities of Moroni, +completes the _Book of Mormon_. + +Joseph Smith does not affect in this gospel of his to bring in any new +doctrine, or to supersede the Bible, but to restore "many plain and +precious things which have been taken away from the first book by the +abominable church, the Mother of Harlots." It is full of sillinesses, +follies, and anachronisms; but I have not discovered, in my cursory +review, any of the immoralities or positive licentiousness which he +himself practiced, directly inculcated. He teaches faith in Christ, +human depravity, the power of the Holy Ghost, the doctrine of the +Trinity, of the atonement, and of salvation only through Christ. He +recommends the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper; and, +whatever his own conduct and that of his people may be, certainly in his +book prohibits polygamy and priestcraft. + +The wickedness of his book consists in its being a lie from beginning to +end, and of himself in being throughout an impostor. Pretending to be a +"seer"--which, he says, is greater than a prophet--he puts into the +hands of his followers a work of pure invention as a religious guide +inspired by God, and which, among his followers, is to take the place of +the Bible. Though an ignorant man, he was possessed of much shrewdness. +He courted persecution, though he hoped to profit, not to die by it. +Unfortunately, his enemies, by their inconsiderate persecution, have +made him a martyr for his opinions, and have given a stability to his +sect which nothing may now be able to shake. It was urged by Smith +himself that the New World was as deserving of a direct revelation as +the Old; and his disciples press upon their hearers that, as an +_American revelation_, this system has peculiar claims upon their regard +and acceptance. The feeling of nationality being thus connected with the +new sect, weak-minded native-born Americans might be swayed by patriotic +motives in connecting themselves with it. But it is mortifying to learn +that most numerous accessions are being made to the body in their new +home by converts proceeding from England.[8] Under the name of the +"Latter-day Saints," professing the doctrines of the gospel, the +delusions of the system are hidden from the masses by the emissaries who +have been dispatched into various countries to recruit their numbers +among the ignorant and devoutly-inclined lovers of novelty. Who can tell +what two centuries may do in the way of giving a historical position to +this rising heresy? + +FOOTNOTE: + +[8] It has been recently stated that the Mormon emigration from +Liverpool alone, up to the present year, has been 13,500, and that they +have, on the whole, been superior to and better provided than the other +classes of emigrants. Of course, many more of his sect must have +emigrated from other ports, and many even from the port of Liverpool, +whose faith and ultimate destination was not known. + + + + +AN ICE-HILL PARTY IN RUSSIA. + + +The reader, I hope, will have no objection to quit his comfortable +fire-side, put on his furs, and accompany me to a sledge, or ice-hill +party. + +An army of about ten or fifteen sledges start from a house where all the +party assemble, the gentlemen driving themselves, and each family taking +some provisions with them. After about an hour and three-quarters' +drive, the whole caravan arrives at the house of a _starosto_ +(president) of the work-people employed by the foreign commercial houses +in Russia. The _starosto_ is usually a wealthy man, and mostly looked up +to by his neighbors, as he has by some most extraordinary means acquired +some few townish manners, which suit _his_ country appearance as much as +glazed boots, and a polka tie would suit the true English country +farmer. + +After having warmed themselves before a good hot Russian stove, the +party begin operations by getting the sledges ready, and ascending the +ice-hills. The hills are made of a wooden scaffold, covered with huge +bits of ice, all of an equal size, placed side-by-side, so as to fit +closely together. By being constantly watered, they gradually become one +solid mass, as smooth as a mirror. The hill, which usually is of a +considerable height, and rather sloping, ends in a long, narrow plain of +ice called the run, which is just broad enough for three narrow sledges +to pass each other, and long enough to carry you to the foot of a second +hill. + +The sledges are usually of iron, long and narrow, and covered by +cushions, often embroidered by the fair hand of a lady. They are low, +and so constructed that they can hold one or two persons, as the case +may be. Both the run and the hill are bordered by fir trees on each +side, and on such evening parties are illuminated with Chinese lamps +placed between the branches of the trees. Fancy yourself on the top of +the hill looking down this illuminated avenue of firs, which is +reflected in the mirror of the ice, as if determining to outshine the +lights in the clear sky, and the gay laughing crowds moving up and down +the hills, and you have before you the finest and most perfect picture +of sorrowless enjoyment, as a striking contrast to the lifeless nature +surrounding it. The briskness of the movement, and the many accidents +happening to the clumsy members of the party, keep up the excitement, +while the contest of young men to obtain this or the other lady for +their partner on their down-hill journey (not in life), never allows the +conversation or the laugh to flag for one moment. I remember once +getting into what school-boys would call an awful scrape with one of the +ice-hill heroes. We both started together from the second hill on a +race, and I, having a faster sledge, overtook him by the length of my +conveyance, and arrived at the top of the hill before him. Seeing that +the _belle_ of the evening was disengaged, I approached her with all the +formality with which the newly-admitted youth requests the queen of a +ball-room for the pleasure and honor to dance a polka with her, and +asked her to go down. Forgetting a previous appointment with my former +antagonist, she accepted my offer, and the latter just arrived in time +to see us start from the hill. In his rage he determined to do me some +mischief by upsetting my sledge, as soon as he had an opportunity of +doing so without any damage to another party. He soon had an occasion, +but, unfortunately I had a sledge with a lady before me; passing me, he +hit me, and I, hitting against the sledge before me, without being able +to avoid it, at the same time getting hold of his legs, upset all three. +Luckily, no injury was done, as the whole lot were upset into the snow, +to the great enjoyment of all spectators. + +Gradually the time to retire approaches. The lamps begin to go out, and +the hills, divested of their beauty, appear like the ruins of a +magnificent city of olden times. Here and there you see a single lamp +peeping out from the branches of the trees, wistfully looking round in +search of its brothers, as if it wanted to assure itself of the absence +of any other enlightening object. + +The party go in to refresh themselves with tea and other warm beverages. +The gentlemen wait on the ladies, and a new contest begins, as each +tries to surpass the other in politeness and quickness. If it is a +supper, you see these youthful and useful members of society running +about with plates of sandwiches, or steering along with a cup of +_bouillon_ in one and a glass of wine in the other hand, through the +intricate passages formed by the numberless tables occupied by members +of the fair sex. And then having, after a great deal of danger, at last +arrived at their destination, they find the lady they wanted to serve +already provided with every necessary comfort; and, perchance, she is so +much engaged in conversation with their more fortunate rival, that she +can not even give them a grateful smile for their trouble. Now the +ladies adjourn, and the field of action is left to the gentlemen. All +restraint seems to have gone. The clatter of knives, the jingling of +glasses, the hubbub of voices, all this makes such a chaos of strange +and mysterious noises, that it has quite a deafening effect. At last a +cry of order is heard from the top of the table. One of the directors of +the party, after having requested the audience to fill their glasses, in +flowery language proposes the health of the ladies, which, of course, is +drunk with tremendous applause, manifested by acts, such as beating with +the handles of knives and forks on the table, and clapping hands. + +After several other toasts, the party adjourn to join the ladies. +Merry-making now begins, and an hour or so is passed in social games, +such as hunting the slipper, cross-questions, crooked answers, and +others. At last, the parties wrap themselves up again in their furs, and +prepare to go home. On their homeward tour, one of the finest phenomena +in nature may, perchance, appear to them. A streak of light, suddenly +appearing on the horizon, shoots like lightning up to the sky. One +moment longer, and the whole sky is covered by such streaks, all of +different colors amalgamating together, and constantly changing and +lighting up the objects as bright as daylight. This is the Aurora +Borealis, one of the numerous spectacles of nature, which the common +people regard with astonishment, while the cultivated mind finds sermon +on the glory of our Maker in every object he meets on his journey +through life; looks at it with admiration and reverence. + + + + +THE BLIND LOVERS OF CHAMOUNY.[9] + + +It was during a second visit to the beautiful and melancholy valley of +Chamouny that I became acquainted with the following touching and +interesting story. A complete change of ideas had become absolutely +necessary for me; I sought, therefore, to kindle those emotions which +must ever be awakened by the sublime scenes of Nature; my wearied heart +required fresh excitement to divert it from the grief which was +devouring it; and the melancholy grandeur of Chamouny seemed to present +a singular charm to my then peculiar frame of mind. + +Again I wandered through the graceful forest of fir-trees, which +surrounds the Village des Bois, and, this time, with a new kind of +pleasure; once more I beheld that little plain upon which the glaciers +every now and then make an in-road, above which the peaks of the Alps +rise so majestically, and which slopes so gently down to the picturesque +source of the Arveyron. How I enjoyed gazing upon its portico of azure +crystal, which every year wears a new aspect. On one occasion, when I +reached this spot, I had not proceeded very far, when I perceived that +Puck, my favorite dog, was not by my side. How could this have happened, +for he would not have been induced to leave his master, even for the +most dainty morsel? He did not answer to my call, and I began to feel +uneasy, when, suddenly, the pretty fellow made his appearance, looking +rather shy and uncomfortable, and yet with caressing confidence in my +affection; his body was slightly curved, his eyes were humid and +beseeching, he carried his head very low--so low, that his ears trailed +upon the ground, like those of Zadig's dog; Puck, too, was a spaniel. If +you had but seen Puck, in that posture, you would have found it +impossible to be angry with him. I did not attempt to scold him, but, +nevertheless, he continued to leave me, and return to me again; he +repeated this amusement several times; while I followed in his track +till I gradually came toward the point of his attraction; it appeared as +if a similar kind of sympathy drew me to the same spot. + +Upon a projection of a rock sat a young man, with a most touching and +pleasing countenance; he was dressed in a sort of blue blouse, in the +form of a tunic, and had a long stick of Cytisus in his hand; his whole +appearance reminded me strongly of Poussin's antique shepherds. His +light hair clustered in thick curls round his uncovered throat, and fell +over his shoulders, his features wore an expression of gravity, but not +of austerity, and he seemed sad, though not desponding. There was a +singular character about his eyes, the effect of which I could scarcely +define; they were large and liquid, but their light was quenched, and +they were fixed and unfathomable. The murmur of the wind had disguised +the sound of my footsteps, and I soon became aware that I was not +perceived. At length, I felt sure that the young man was blind. Puck had +closely studied the emotions which became visible in my face; but as +soon as he discovered that I was kindly disposed toward his new friend, +he jumped up to him. The young man stroked Puck's silky coat, and smiled +good-naturedly at him. + +"How is it that you appear to know me," said he, "for you do not belong +to the valley? I once had a dog as full of play as you, and, perhaps, as +pretty; but he was a French water-spaniel, with a coat of curly wool; he +has left me, like many others--my last friend, my poor Puck." + +"How curious! was your dog called Puck, too?" + +"Ah, pardon me, sir!" exclaimed the young man, rising, and supporting +himself on his stick. "My infirmity must excuse me." + +"Pray sit down, my good friend; you are blind, I fear?" + +"Yes, blind since my infancy." + +"Have you never been able to see?" + +"Ah, yes, but for so very short a time! yet, I have some recollection of +the sun, and when I lift up my eyes toward the point in the heavens +where it should be, I can almost fancy I see a globe, which reminds me +of its color. I have, too, a faint remembrance of the whiteness of the +snow, and the hue of our mountains." + +"Was it an accident which deprived you of your sight?" + +"Yes, an accident which was the least of my misfortunes. I was scarcely +more than two years old, when an avalanche fell down from the heights of +La Flegere, and crushed our little dwelling. My father, who was the +guide among these mountains, had spent the evening at the Priory; you +can easily picture to yourself his despair when he found his family +swallowed up by this horrible scourge. By the aid of his comrades, he +succeeded in making a hole in the snow, and was thus able to get into +our cottage, the roof which was still supported on its frail props. The +first thing which met his eyes was my cradle, he placed this at once in +safety, for the danger was rapidly increasing; the work of the miners +caused fresh masses of ice to crumble, and served rather to hasten the +overthrow of our fragile abode; he pushed forward to save my mother, who +had fainted, and he was afterward seen for a moment carrying her in his +arms, by the light of the torches which burnt outside; and then all gave +way. I was an orphan, and the next day it was discovered that my sight +had been destroyed." + +"Poor child! so you were left alone in the world, quite alone!" + +"In our valley, a person visited by misfortune is never quite alone, all +our good Chamouniers united in endeavoring to relieve my wretchedness; +Balmat give me shelter, Simon Coutet afforded me food, Gabriel Payot +clothed me; and a good widow who had lost her children, undertook the +care of me. She still performs a mother's part to me, and guides me to +this spot every day in summer." + +"And are these all the friends you have?" + +"I have had more," said the young man, while he placed his finger on his +lip in a mysterious manner; "but they are gone." + +"Will they never come back again?" + +"I should think not, from appearances; yet a few days ago I imagined +that Puck would return, that he had only strayed, but nobody strays +among our glaciers with impunity. I shall never feel him bound again at +my side, or hear him bark at the approach of travelers," and he brushed +away a tear. + +"What is your name?" + +"Gervais." + +"Listen, Gervais; you must tell me about these friends whom you have +lost;" at the same time I prepared to seat myself by his side, but he +sprang up eagerly, and took possession of the vacant place. + +"Not here, not here, sir; this is Eulalie's seat, and since her +departure nobody has occupied it." + +"Eulalie," replied I, seating myself in the place from which he had just +risen; "tell me about Eulalie, and yourself; your story interests me." + +Gervais proceeded: + +"I explained to you that my life had not been devoid of happiness, for +Heaven compensates bountifully to those in misfortune, by inspiring good +people with pity for their wretchedness. I lived in happy ignorance of +the extent of my deprivation; suddenly, however, a stranger came to +reside in the village des Bois, and formed the topic of conversation in +our valley. He was only known by the name of M. Robert, but the general +opinion was, that he was a person of distinction, who had met with great +losses, and much sorrow, and consequently had resolved to pass his +latter years in perfect solitude. He was said to have lost a wife, to +whom he was tenderly attached; the result of their union, a little girl, +had occasioned him much grief, for she was born blind. While the father +was held up as a model for his virtues, the goodness and charms of his +daughter were equally extolled. My want of sight prevented me from +judging of her beauty, but could I have beheld her she could not have +left a more lovely impression on my mind. I picture her to myself +sometimes as even more interesting than my mother." + +"She is dead, then?" inquired I. + +"Dead!" replied he, in an accent in which there was a strange mixture of +terror and wild joy! "dead! who told you so?" + +"Pardon me, Gervais, I did not know her; I was only endeavoring to find +out the reason of your separation." + +"She is alive," said he, smiling bitterly, and he remained silent for a +moment. "I do not know whether I told you that she was called Eulalie. +Yes, her name was Eulalie, and this was her place;" he broke off +abruptly. "Eulalie," repeated he, while he stretched out his hand as if +to find her by his side. Puck licked his fingers, and looked pityingly +at him: I would not have parted from Puck for a million. + +"Calm yourself, Gervais, and forgive me for opening a wound which is +scarcely yet healed. I can guess the rest of your story. The strange +similarity of Eulalie's and your misfortune awakened her father's +interest in you, and you became another child to him." + +"Yes, I became another child to him, and Eulalie was a sister to me; my +kind adopted mother and I went to take up our abode in the new house, +which is called the Chateau. Eulalie's masters were mine; together we +learned those divine strains of harmony which raise the soul to heaven, +and together, by means of pages printed in relief, we read with our +fingers the sublime thoughts of the philosophers, and the beautiful +creations of the poets. I endeavored to imitate some of their graceful +images, and to paint what I had not seen. Eulalie admired my verses, and +this was all I desired. Ah! if you had heard her sing, you would have +thought that an angel had descended to entrance the valley. Every day in +the fine season we were conducted to this rock, which is called by the +inhabitants of this part 'le Rocher des Aveugles;' here too the kindest +of fathers guided our steps, and bestowed on us numberless fond +attentions. Around us were tufts of rhododendrons, beneath us was a +carpet of violets and daisies, and when our touch had recognized, by its +short stalk and its velvety disk, the last-named flower, we amused +ourselves in stripping it of its petals, and repeated a hundred times +this innocent diversion, which served as a kind of interpretation to our +first avowal of love." + +As Gervais proceeded, his face acquired a mournful expression, a cloud +passed over his brow, and he became suddenly sad and silent; in his +emotion he trod unthinkingly upon an Alpine rose, which was, however, +already withered on its stalk; I gathered it without his being aware of +it, for I wished to preserve it in remembrance of him. Some minutes +elapsed before Gervais seemed inclined to proceed with his narrative, +and I did not like to speak to him; suddenly he passed his hand over his +eyes, as if to drive away a disagreeable dream, and then turning toward +me with an ingenuous smile, he continued. + +"Be charitable to my weakness, for I am young, and have not yet learned +to control the emotions of my heart; some day, perhaps, I shall be +wiser." + +"I fear, my good friend," said I, "that this conversation is too +fatiguing for you; do not recall to your mind circumstances which appear +so painful. I shall never forgive myself for occasioning you such an +hour of grief." + +"It is not you," replied Gervais, "who bring back these recollections, +for these thoughts are never absent from my mind, and I would rather +that it was annihilated than that they should ever cease to occupy it; +my very existence is mixed up with my sorrow." I had retained Gervais's +hand; he understood, therefore, that I was listening to him. + +"After all, my reminiscences are not entirely made up of bitterness; +sometimes I imagine that my present affliction is only a dream--that my +real life is full of the happiness which I have lost. I fancy that she +is still near me, only, perhaps, a little further off than usual--that +she is silent because she is plunged in deep meditation, of which our +mutual love forms a principal part. One day we were seated as usual on +this rock, and were enjoying the sweetness and serenity of the air, the +perfume of our violets, and the song of the birds; upon this occasion we +listened with a curious kind of pleasure to the masses of ice which, +being loosened by the sun, shot hissingly down from the peaks of the +mountain. We could distinguish the rushing of the waters of the +Arveyron. I do not know how it was, but we were both suddenly impressed +with a vague sensation of the uncertainty of happiness, and at the same +time with a feeling of terror and uneasiness; we threw ourselves into +each other's arms, and held each other tightly, as if somebody had +wished to separate us, and both of us exclaimed eagerly, 'Ah, yes! let +it be always thus, always thus.' I felt that Eulalie scarcely breathed, +and that her overwrought state of mind required to be soothed. 'Yes, +Eulalie, let us ever be thus to one another; the world believes that our +misfortune renders us objects only of pity, but how can it possibly +judge of the happiness that I enjoy in your tenderness, or that you find +in mine? How little does the turmoil and excitement of society affect +us; we may be regarded by many as imperfect beings, and this is quite +natural, for they have not yet discovered that the perfection of +happiness consists in loving and in being loved. It is not your beauty +which has captivated me, it is something which can not be described when +felt, nor forgotten when once experienced; it is a charm which belongs +to you alone--which I can discover in your voice, in your mind, in every +one of your actions. Oh! if ever I enjoyed sight, I would entreat God to +extinguish the light of my eyes in order that I might not gaze at other +women--that my thoughts might only dwell upon you. It is you who have +rendered study pleasing to me--who have inspired me with taste for art; +if the beauties of Rossini and Weber impressed me strongly, it was +because you sang their glorious ideas. I can well afford to dispense +with the superfluous luxuries of art, I who possess the treasure from +which it would derive its highest price; for surely thy heart is mine, +if not thou couldst not be happy.' + +"'I am happy,' replied Eulalie, 'the happiest of girls.' + +"'My dear children,' said M. Robert, while he joined our trembling +hands, 'I hope you will always be equally happy, for it is my desire +that you should never be separated.' + +"M. Robert was never long absent from us, he was ever bestowing upon us +marks of his tenderness. Upon this occasion he had reached the spot +where we were seated without our having been aware of his presence, and +he had heard us without intentionally listening. I did not feel that I +was in fault, and yet I was overwhelmed, embarrassed. Eulalie trembled. +M. Robert placed himself between us, for we had withdrawn a little from +each other. + +"'Why should it not be as you wish?' said he, as he threw his arms +around us, and pressed us close together, and embraced us with more than +usual warmth. 'Why not? Am I not sufficiently rich to procure you +servants and friends? You will have children who will replace your poor +old father; your infirmity is not hereditary. Receive my blessing, +Gervais, and you, my Eulalie. Thank God, and dream of to-morrow, for the +day which will shine upon us to-morrow will be beautiful even to the +blind.' + +"Eulalie embraced her father, and then threw her arms round me; for the +first time my lips touched hers. This happiness was too great to be +called happiness. I thought that my heart would burst; I wished to die +at that moment, but, alas! I did not die. I do not know how happiness +affects others, but mine was imperfect, for it was without hope or +calmness. I could not sleep, or rather I did not attempt to sleep, for +it seemed to me a waste of time, and that eternity would not be +sufficiently long to enjoy the felicity which was in store for me; I +almost regretted the past, which, though it lacked the delicious +intoxication of the present moment, was yet free from doubts and fears. +At length I heard the household stirring; I got up, dressed myself, +performed my morning devotions, and then went to my window, which looked +out upon the Arve. I opened it, stretched forth my head in the morning +mists to cool my burning brow. Suddenly my door opened, and I recognized +a man's footstep; it was not M. Robert; a hand took hold of mine--'M. +Maunoir!' exclaimed I. + +"It was a great many years since he had been to the Valley; but the +sound of his footstep, the touch of his hand, and something frank and +affectionate in his manner, brought him back to my remembrance. + +"'It is indeed he,' observed M. Maunoir, in a faltering voice, to some +one near him, 'It is indeed my poor Gervais. You remember what I said to +you about it at that time.' He then placed his fingers on my eyelids, +and kept them up for a few seconds. 'Ah,' said he, 'God's will be done! +You are happy at any rate, are you not Gervais?' + +"'Yes, very happy,' replied I. 'M. Robert considers that I have profited +by all his kindness; I assure you I can read as well as a person who is +gifted with sight; above all, Eulalie loves me.' + +"'She will love you, if possible, still more if she should one day be +able to see you.' + +"'If she sees me, did you say?' + +"I thought he alluded to that eternal home where the eyes of the blind +are opened, and darkness visits them no more. + +"My mother, as was her custom, brought me here, but Eulalie had not +arrived; she was later than usual. I began to wonder how this could have +happened. My poor little Puck went to meet her, but he returned to me +again without her. At length he began to bark violently, and to jump so +impatiently up and down on the bench, that I felt sure she must be near +me, though I could not hear her myself. I stretched myself forward in +the direction she would come, and presently my arms were clasped in +hers. M. Robert had not accompanied her as usual, and then I began at +once to feel sure that his absence, and Eulalie's delay in reaching our +accustomed place of rendezvous, was to be attributed to the presence of +strangers at the Chateau. You will think it very extraordinary when I +tell you that Eulalie's arrival, for which I had so ardently longed, +filled me with a restless sensation, which had hitherto been unknown to +me. I was not at ease with Eulalie as I had been the day before. Now +that we belonged to each other, I did not dare to make any claim on her +kindness; it seemed to me that her father, in bestowing her on me had +imposed a thousand restrictions; I felt as if I might not indulge in a +word or caress; I was conscious that she was more than ever mine, and +yet I did not venture to embrace her. Perhaps she experienced the same +feelings, for our conversation was at first restrained, like that of +persons who are not much acquainted with each other; however, this state +of things could not last long, the delicious happiness of the past day +was still fresh in our minds. I drew near to Eulalie, and sought her +eyes with my lips, but they met a bandage. + +"'You are hurt, Eulalie?' + +"'A little hurt,' replied she, 'but very slightly, since I am going to +spend the day with you, as I am in the habit of doing; and that the only +difference is, that there is a green ribbon between your mouth and my +eyes.' + +"'Green! green! Oh, God! what does that mean? What is a green ribbon?' + +"'I have seen,' said she, 'I can see,' and her hand trembled in mine, as +if she had apprised me of some fault or misfortune. + +"'You have seen,' exclaimed I, 'you will see! Oh! unfortunate creature +that I am! Yes, you will see, and the glass which has hitherto been to +you a cold and polished surface, will reflect your living image; its +language, though mute, will be animated; it will tell you each day that +you are beautiful! and when you return to me it will make you entertain +only one feeling toward me, that of pity for my misfortunes. Yet what do +I say? you will not return to me; for who is the beautiful girl who +would bestow her affection on a blind lover? Oh! unfortunate creature +that I am to be blind;' in my despair I fell to the earth; she wound her +arms round me, twined her fingers in my hair, and covered me with +kisses, while she sobbed like a child. + +"'No, no! I will never love any one but Gervais. You were happy +yesterday, in thinking we were blind, because our love would never be +likely to change. I will be blind again, if my recovery of sight makes +you unhappy. Shall I remove this bandage, and cause the light of my eyes +to be for ever extinguished? Horrible idea, I had actually thought of +it.' + +"'Stop, stop,' cried I, 'our language is that of madness, because we are +both unnerved and ill--you from excess of happiness, and I from despair. +Listen,' and I placed myself beside her, but my heart felt ready to +break. 'Listen,' continued I, 'it is a great blessing that you are +permitted to see, for now you are perfect; it matters not, if I do not +see, or if I die; I shall be abandoned, for this is the destiny which +God has reserved for me; but promise me that you will never see me, that +you will never attempt to see me; if you see me, you will, in spite of +yourself, compare me to others--to those whose soul, whose thoughts may +be read in their eyes, to those who set a woman fondly dreaming with a +single glance of fire. I would not let it be in your power to compare +me; I would be to you what I was in the mind of a little blind girl, as +if you saw me in a dream. I want you to promise me that you will never +come here without your green bandage; that you will visit me every week, +or every month, or at least once every year;--ah! promise me to come +back once more, without seeing me.' + +"'I promise to love you always,' said Eulalie, and she wept. + +"I was so overcome that my senses left me, and I fell at her feet. M. +Robert lifted me from the ground, bestowed many kind words and embraces +upon me, and placed me under the care of my adopted mother. Eulalie was +no longer there; she came the next day, and the day after, and several +days following, and each day my lips touched the green bandage which +kept up my delusion; I fancied I should continue to be the same to her +as long as she did not see me. I said to myself with an insane kind of +rapture, 'my Eulalie still visits me without seeing me; she will never +see me, and therefore I shall be always loved by her.' One day, a little +while after this, when she came to visit me, and my lips sought her eyes +as usual, they, in wandering about, encountered some long, silky +eye-lashes beneath her green bandage. + +"'Ah!' exclaimed I, 'if you were likely to see me.' + +"'I have seen you,' said she, laughingly; 'what would have been the good +of sight to me, if I had not looked upon you? Ah! vain fellow, who dares +set limits to a woman's curiosity, whose eyes are suddenly opened to the +light?' + +"'But it is impossible, Eulalie, for you promised me.' + +"'I did not promise you any thing, dearest, for when you asked me to +make you this promise, I had already seen you.' + +"'You had seen me, and yet you continued to come to me; that is well; +but whom did you see first?' + +"'M. Maunoir, my father, Julie, then this great world, with its trees +and mountains, the sky and the sun.' + +"'And whom have you seen since?' + +"'Gabriel Payot, old Balmat, the good Terraz, the giant Cachat, and +Marguerite.' + +"'And nobody else?' + +"'Nobody.' + +"'How balmy the air is this evening! take off your bandage, or you may +become blind again?' + +"'Would that grieve me so much? I tell you again and again, that the +chief happiness I have in seeing, is to be able to look at you, and to +love you through the medium of another sense. You were pictured in my +soul as you now are in my eyes. This faculty, which has been restored to +me, serves but as another link to bring me closer to your heart; and +this is why I value the gift of sight.' + +"These words I shall never forget. My days now flowed on calmly and +happily, for hope so easily seduces; our mode of life was considerably +changed, and Eulalie endeavored to make me prefer excitement and variety +of amusement, instead of the tranquil enjoyment which had formerly +charmed us. After some little time I thought I observed that the books +which she selected for reading to me were of a different character to +those she used to like; she seemed now to be more pleased with those +writers who painted the busy scenes of the world, she unconsciously +showed great interest in the description of a fete, in the numerous +details of a woman's toilet, and in the preparations for, and the pomps +of a ceremony. At first I did not imagine that she had forgotten that I +was blind, so that though this change chilled, it did not break my +heart. I attributed the alteration in her taste, in some measure, to the +new aspect things had assumed at the Chateau; for since M. Maunoir had +performed one of the miracles of his art upon Eulalie, M. Robert was +naturally much more inclined to enjoy society and the luxuries which +fortune had bestowed upon him; and as soon as his daughter was restored +to him in all the perfection of her organization, and the height of her +beauty, he sought to assemble, at the Chateau, the numerous travelers +that the short summer season brought to the neighborhood. + +"The winter came at length, and M. Robert told me, after slightly +preparing me, that he was going to leave me for a few days--for a few +days at the most--he assured me that he only required time to procure +and get settled in a house at Geneva, before he would send for me to +join them; he told me that Eulalie was to accompany him; and at length, +that he intended to pass the winter at Geneva; the winter which would +so soon be over, which had already begun. I remained mute with grief. +Eulalie wound her arms affectionately round my neck. I felt they were +cold and hung heavily on me; if my memory still serves me she bestowed +on me all kinds of endearing and touching appellations; but all this was +like a dream. After some hours I was restored to my senses, and then my +mother said, 'Gervais, they are gone, but we shall remain at the +Chateau.' From that time I have little or nothing to relate. + +"In the month of October she sent me a ribbon with some words printed in +relief, they were these: 'This ribbon is the green ribbon which I wore +over my eyes--it has never left me; I send it you.' In the month of +November, which was very beautiful, some servants of the house brought +me several presents from her father, but I did not inquire about them. +The snow sets in in December, and, oh! heavens, how long that winter +was! January, February, March, April, were centuries of calamities and +tempests. In the month of May the avalanches fell every where except on +me. When the sun peeped forth a little, I was guided, by my wish, to the +road which led to Bossons, for this was the way the muleteers came; at +length, one arrived, but with no news for me; and then another, and +after the third I gave up all hope of hearing from my absent friends; I +felt that the crisis of my fate was over. Eight days after, however, a +letter from Eulalie was read to me; she had spent the winter at Geneva, +and was going to pass the summer at Milan. My poor mother trembled for +me, but I smiled; it was exactly what I expected. And now, sir, you know +my story, it is simply this, that I believed myself loved by a woman, +and I have been loved by a dog. Poor Puck!" Puck jumped on the blind +man. + +"Ah!" said he, "You are not my Puck, but I love you because you love +me." + +"Poor fellow," cried I, "you will be loved by another, though not by +her, and you will love in return; but listen, Gervais, I must leave +Chamouny, and I shall go to Milan. I will see her. I will speak to +Eulalie, I swear to you, and then I will return to you. I, too, have +some sorrows which are not assuaged; some wounds which are not yet +healed." Gervais sought for my hand, and pressed it fervently. Sympathy +in misfortune is so quickly felt. "You will, at least, be comfortably +provided for; thanks to the care of your protector, your little portion +of land has become very fruitful, and the good Chamouniers rejoice in +your prosperity. Your prepossessing appearance will soon gain you a +mistress, and will enable you to find a friend." + +"And a dog?" replied Gervais. + +"Ah! I would not give mine for your valley or mountains if he had not +loved you, but now I give him to you." + +"Your dog!" exclaimed he. "Your dog ah! he can not be given away." + +"Adieu, Gervais!" + +I did not speak to Puck, or he would have followed me; as I was moving +on I saw Puck looked uneasy and ashamed; he drew back a step, stretched +out his paws, and bent down his head to the ground. I stroked his long +silky coat, and with a slight pang at my heart, in which there was no +feeling of anger, I said, so. He flew back to Gervais like an arrow. +Gervais will not be alone at any rate, thought I. + +A few days afterward I found myself at Milan. I was not in spirits for +enjoying society, yet I did not altogether avoid mixing in it; a crowded +room is, in its way, a vast solitude, unless you are so unfortunate a +person as to stumble upon one of those never-tiring tourists whom you +are in the habit of meeting occasionally on the Boulevards, at +Tortoni's, or with whom you have gaped away an hour at Favert's, one of +those dressed-up puppies with fashionable cravat and perfumed hair, who +stare through an eye-glass, with the most perfect assurance imaginable, +and talk at the highest pitch of their voice. + +"What! are you here?" cried Roberville. + +"Is it you?" replied I. He continued to chatter, but his words were +unheeded by me, for my eyes suddenly fixed upon a young girl of +extraordinary beauty; she was sitting alone, and leaning against a +pillar in a kind of melancholy reverie. + +"Ah! ah!" said Roberville, "I understand; your taste lies in that +direction. Well, well, really in my opinion you show considerable +judgment. I once thought of her myself, but now I have higher views." + +"Indeed," replied I, as I gazed at him from head to foot, "you do not +say so." + +"Come, come," said Roberville, "I perceive your heart is already +touched, you are occupied only with her; confess that it would have been +a sad pity if those glorious black eyes had never been opened to the +light." + +"What do you mean?" + +"What do I mean? why, that she was born blind. She is the daughter of a +rich merchant of Anvers, and his only child; he lost his wife very +young, and was plunged in consequence in the profoundest grief." + +"Do you believe it?" + +"I should think so, for he quitted Anvers, gave up his mercantile +pursuits, which had never been more profitable to him than at that time, +and, after making magnificent presents to those persons employed in his +service, and pensions to his servants, left his house and occupation." + +"And what became of him afterward?" said I, somewhat impatiently, for my +curiosity was gradually increasing. + +"Oh! it's a romance, a perfect romance. This good man retired to +Chamouny, where we have all been once in our life, for the sake of +saying that we have been, though, for my part, I can never understand +the charms of its melancholy grandeur, and there he remained several +years. Have you never heard him mentioned? let me see, it's a plebeian +name--M. Robert, that's it." + +"Well?" said I. + +"Well," continued he, "an occulist succeeded in restoring his daughter's +sight. Her father took her to Geneva, and at Geneva she fell in love +with an adventurer, who carried her off because her father would not +have him for a son-in-law." + +"Her father felt that he was unworthy of her," said I. + +"Yes, and he had formed a correct opinion of him, for no sooner had they +reached Milan than the adventurer disappeared, with all the gold and +diamonds of which he had been able to possess himself; it was asserted +that this gallant gentleman was already married, and that he had +incurred capital punishment at Padua, so that the law punished him." + +"And M. Robert?" + +"Oh, M. Robert died of grief; but this affair did not create a great +sensation, for he was a very singular man, who had some extraordinary +ideas; one of the absurd plans he had formed was, to marry his daughter +to a blind youth." + +"Oh, the poor girl!" + +"She is not so much to be pitied either, but look at her instead of +talking of her, and confess that she has many advantages, with two +hundred thousand francs a year, and such a pair of eyes!" + +"Eyes, eyes, curses rest upon her eyes, for they have been her ruin!" +There is a leaven of cruelty in my composition, and I like to make +those, who have caused others suffering, suffer in their turn. I fixed +one of those piercing looks upon Eulalie, which, when they do not +flatter a woman, make her heart sink within her; she raised herself from +the pillar, against which she was leaning, and stood motionless and +tremblingly before me. I went up to her slowly, and whispered Gervais. + +"Who?" + +"Gervais." + +"Ah, Gervais," replied she, while she placed her hand before her eyes. + +The scene was so singular that it would have shaken the nerves of the +most composed person, for my appearance there was altogether so sudden, +my acquaintance with her history so extraordinary. + +"Ah, Gervais," exclaimed I, vehemently seizing her at the same time by +the arm, "what have you done to him?" She sank to the ground in a swoon. +I never heard any more of her from that memorable night. + +I entered Savoy by Mount St. Bernard, and again found myself once more +in the valley of Chamouny. Again I sought the rock where Gervais was +accustomed to sit, but though it was his usual hour for sitting there, +he was not to be seen. I came up to the old spot, and discovered his +stick of Cytisus, and perceiving that it was ornamented with a piece of +green ribbon, on which were some words printed in relief, the +circumstance of his leaving this behind him made me feel very uneasy. I +called Gervais, loudly; a voice repeated Gervais; it seemed to me like +an echo; I turned round; and beheld Marguerite, leading a dog by a +chain. They stopped, and I recognized Puck, though he did not know me, +for he seemed occupied by some idea; he sniffed his nose in the air, +raised his ears, and stretched forth his paws, as if he was going to +start off. + +"Alas, sir," said Marguerite, "have you met with Gervais?" + +"Gervais," replied I, "where is he?" Puck looked at me as if he had +understood what I had said, he stretched himself toward me, as far as +his chain would permit; I stroked him with my hand, the poor thing +licked my fingers and then remained still. + +"I remember now, sir, that it was you who gave him this dog to console +him for one which he had lost, a little while before you came here; this +poor animal had not been eight days in the valley before he lost his +sight like his master." + +"I lifted up Puck's silky head, and discovered that he was indeed blind. +Puck licked my hand, and then howled. + +"It was because he was blind," said Marguerite, "that Gervais would not +take him with him yesterday." + +"Yesterday, Marguerite! what, has he not been home since yesterday?" + +"Ah, sir, that is exactly what astonishes us all so much. Only think on +Sunday, in the midst of a tremendous storm, a gentleman came to the +Valley; I could have declared he was an English milord; he wore a straw +hat, covered with ribbons." + +"Well, but what has all this to do with Gervais?" + +"While I was running to fetch some fagots to make a fire for drying M. +Roberville's clothes, he remained with Gervais. M. de Roberville! yes, +that was his name. I do not know what he said, but yesterday Gervais was +so melancholy; he, however, seemed more anxious than ever to go to the +rock; indeed he was in such a hurry that I had scarcely time to throw +his blue cloak over his shoulders; and I think I told you that the +evening before was very cold and damp. 'Mother,' said he, as we went +along, 'be so kind as to prevent Puck from following me, and take charge +of him; his restlessness inconveniences me sometimes, and if he should +pull his chain out of my hand, we should not be able to find each other +again perhaps.'" + +"Alas, Gervais!" cried I, "my poor Gervais!" + +"Oh, Gervais! Gervais, my son! my little Gervais!" sobbed the poor +woman. + +Puck gnawed his chain, and jumped impatiently about us. + +"If you were to set Puck at liberty, perhaps he might find Gervais," +said I. + +The chain was unfastened, and before I had time to see that Puck was +free, he had darted off, and the next moment I heard the sound of a +body falling into the depths of the Arveyron. "Puck! Puck!" shouted I; +but when I reached the spot, the little dog had disappeared, and all +that could be seen was a blue mantle floating on the surface of the +waters. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[9] From the French of Charles Nodier. + + + + +THE DAUGHTER OF BLOOD--A TALE OF SPANISH LIFE. + + +At Aranjuez, some twenty years ago, there lived a youth of the poorer +class, whose good nature and industry were the proverb of the village. +His name was Julio. His disposition was naturally indolent, morally I +mean rather than physically; and although he was by no means deficient +in understanding, he allowed himself to be guided by any person who, for +any purpose, thought fit to undertake the task. Julio delighted in doing +a kindness and, as his good-nature equalled his ductility, he granted +every request, whether it lay in his power or not. No one was more ready +to play at the village dance than Julio; and though he loved to dance +himself, he never thought of indulging in this predilection until his +companions, knowing his weakness, insisted on his allowing some one else +to take the guitar. It was to him always that damsels resorted who had +quarreled with their sweethearts, or youths who had fallen under the +displeasure of their Chloe; for, on behalf of the first, he was best +able to soften jealousy and extort promises of future amendment, and for +the latter, he would smooth matters by appropriate words, nay, often by +a small gift purchased by a sacrifice of part of his own scanty store, +and presented as though from the culprit. Great were this charming young +man's accomplishments; and not only were his companions, but the higher +class of inhabitants, grieved when his facile disposition brought him +into any scrape. It had always been supposed that Julio was attached to +a young girl, with whom he had been brought up. His patrimonial cottage +adjoined to that of her parents, and he had ever seemed to court her +society more than that of his other fair acquaintances. As for her, she +adored him. She was much of the same disposition as himself, and +undecided; but in her love for him, she had come out of herself; she +would have followed him to the scaffold, and would infinitely have +preferred a disagreeable death in his society, than the most agreeable +life without him. As yet he had scarcely sufficiently reciprocated her +attachment; he liked her society; he perhaps did not object to her +devotion! nay, he wished to marry her; but she had not inspired him with +the same absorbing love she herself felt; she had not sufficient command +over him to draw forth his passion in its full tide; and while that +passion was accumulating, pent up for some event, she was content with +his simmering affection. Her name was Faustina. + +But his love was soon to be proved, and poor Faustina's heart was to be +sorely tried. While she confidingly looked up to him who was virtually +her betrothed, she little thought how slight was the bond that attached +him to her. She knew his love did not reach one tithe of that she would +have wished, but she thought it infinitely more than what it eventually +appeared. + +An Italian family from Madrid came to reside during the spring months at +Aranjuez. In their retinue came Ursula, an Italian _femme-de-chambre_, a +woman whose name is never uttered in the _pueblo_ but with a curse. + +She was older than Julio, who became acquainted with her while employed +in the house in his trade as carpenter; but as she saw his pliable +disposition, and perhaps his nascent passion, her experience and +acuteness taught her to turn them to account; and in a short time she +obtained such an ascendency over him, that he became a perfect plaything +in her hands. He ruined himself in purchasing presents for the artful +woman; he furnished her with all she required; he gave her money; in +fact, had she requested his life, it would not have been considered an +exorbitant demand. Ursula was handsome, tall, dark, and fierce-looking +flashing eyes she had, with heavy arched brows; and considering these +advantages, folks wondered that she would condescend to turn her ideas +so humbly; but after inquiries showed that in her own land, and in +Madrid, her conduct had been so very profligate, that all was now fish +that came to her net, and that, to obtain the consummation of the wishes +of every woman, a husband and independence, she must stoop far below +what must have been her original expectations. + +Meanwhile poor Faustina wept and prayed, now scorned by Julio, but +pitied by the little world in which she had lived. She wept and prayed, +but tears seemed to afford no relief to the maiden in her anguish, and +prayers appeared to have lost their efficacy: they brought no success, +nay, worse, no comfort. Still Julio pursued his headlong career, +heedless of the past, the present, or the future. It was dreadful to see +the change in him: he seemed as one possessed. The reckless passion that +had been roused by the wily Italian, burst all bounds, knew no +restraint, no path; it was like a torrent that has been for some time +dammed up, which, when set free, acknowledges no demarkation, no rule of +banks or bed, but tears forward, involving in its impetuous rage the +verdure and bloom that are around it. + +Such was the state of affairs that occupied the attention of all the +Aranjovites, when one morning Ursula the Italian disappeared. Julio was +at work when the fact was communicated to him, which being done, he fell +to the ground, as though the intelligence had struck him dead; and when +he recovered from the swoon, he raved, frantic. He wandered to Madrid, +but could discover no intelligence of her; he visited all the +neighboring towns, he inquired of the police, but no trace of the woman +could be found, till at last the reaction of his spirits, after the +tense excitement, the grief, the balked passion, seemed to have +prostrated his senses; he walked as a spectre, taking heed of no +passer-by, callous to all changes, careless of remark and of appearance, +a noonday ghoul preying on his own misery. But now the prayers of the +poor girl who loved him so fondly seemed to her to have been granted. +She had not besought a return of his former lukewarm regard, only an +opportunity of proving her own devotion; and in his dull apathy she +indeed proved herself a loving woman. She followed him in his walks, she +arranged his cottage, sang to him the songs she thought he best loved; +nay, to cheer him, would endeavor to repeat the airs she had at times +heard from the lips of her Italian rival, though the attempt was but a +self-inflicted wound; and in the heat of the day, she would take him +often her own share of the domestic meal, or placing his unconscious +head on her bosom, would tend him like a child, as he lay half sleeping, +half senseless. + +Her constancy received a qualified reward--Count ----, an officer having +the chief authority in the royal demesnes, hearing the story, offered to +Julio a good appointment in the gardens, with the proviso that he should +espouse Faustina. To this Julio yielded without a sigh; poverty was +beginning to make itself felt, and having resigned all hope of happiness +he did not anticipate increased misery. His marriage did not alter his +late mode of life. Listless and stupid he wandered about the gardens, +inspecting, with an uninterested eye, the workmen over whom he had been +placed, and he would soon have lost his appointment had it not been for +his wife, who, "tender and true," in addition to her household duties, +executed those which had been committed to his charge, slaving night and +day for him she loved, careless of suffering and of labor, her only +object to win his approbation, and some, however slight, token of +returned affection: but she labored in vain; Julio did not see, or +affected not to see, these exertions; he would enter the house or leave +it, without uttering a syllable, while his wife continued her thankless +office, rewarded only by her conscience. And how disheartening a task it +is to practice self-denial unappreciated, to resign all for one who +deigns not even to bestow a word of kind approval. But thus Faustina +lived her life--one uninterrupted self-sacrifice. Alas! how often are +such lives passed by women in every rank of life! How little can a +stranger tell the heroism that occurs beneath the roofs of the noble or +on the cold hearth of the beggar; at odd times, at sudden epochs, the +world may hear of deeds practiced, that, of old, would have deified the +performer; but often, how often, will noble acts, such as these, receive +a thankless return; years passed as this, acknowledged only when too +late; their premium in life, perchance, may be harsh words or curses, or +transitory tears may moisten the grave when the gentle spirit passes +from its earthly frame. These observations may be just, but they are +somewhat trite. + +Thus they lived for five years, one pretty little girl being the only +fruit of this union; a child who, in her earliest days, was taught to +suffer, and who partook her mother's disposition, nay, even her mother's +character, as it appeared, tempered by the grief of womanhood; when one +day, to the horror and disgust of the township, Ursula, the _teterrima +causa_, reappeared at Aranjuez. She was grown much older in +appearance--years and evident care had worn furrows in her cheeks; but +the flashing eye of sin was not yet dimmed, her head not bent, nor the +determination that had of old gained such a baneful influence on the +mind of Julio. One morning Faustina, leaving her house, beheld her +husband in conversation with her rival. That day had sealed her doom. +Morning, noon, and night, Julio was at the side of Ursula, as before, +obeying her slightest command, groveling at her feet, like a slave; his +ancient energy of passion had returned, but only to brutalize his +nature; instead of cold looks to his wife, he now treated her with blows +at the rare interviews he held with her; the cold apathy was changed +into deep hate, and though no direct act of violence caused her death, +the shock, the harshness, added to neglect, soon broke her heart. Poor +Faustina died, blessing with her latest breath, the being who had by his +cruelty killed her, and deprecating even remorse to visit him, she left +the world, in which she had loved in vain. + +At her death, Julio found himself comparatively wealthy--wealthy by her +exertion; and ere another moon shone over his roof, his bride, the dark +Italian, beat his child on the spot where the mother had so lately died. + +Dark rumors soon spread over the village, a scowling Italian, given out +by Ursula as her brother, came and took up his abode in her +newly-acquired house; curious neighbors whispered tales how, peeping in +at night, they had beheld the three deal heavy blows to poor Faustina's +daughter; screams often were heard from the desecrated habitation, and +the child was never seen to leave the house. Julio had recovered, to a +certain extent, the use of his faculties, and was enabled now himself to +attend to his affairs, but his subordinates soon felt the loss of +Faustina's mild rule, and with the discrimination of the Spanish +peasantry, attributed their sufferings, not to the miserable tool, but +to the fiend-hearted woman. + + * * * * * + +Julio was walking in the garden alone, during the time usually devoted +to the mid-day sleep; his underlings were reclining beneath the shade of +the trees; and, at last, overcome by the heat, he himself gave way to +slumber; his dreams were troubled, but were not of long duration; for he +had not long laid himself on the sward, when he felt himself rudely +shaken, and, awaking, discovered an officer of justice standing near +him, who desired his society. The alguazil led him to his own abode, +and, on reaching it, what did he behold? His wife, who was then with +child, pinioned, between two villagers acting for the nonce as +constables, one of whom held in his hand a bloody _navaja_; the +brother(!), also pinioned, standing near her; and on the ground, +surrounded by a knot of peasants, glad at the vengeance that was to +overtake the guilty pair, he saw the child of Faustina, decapitated, +dismembered, discovered thus on the floor of the cottage, ere the +murderous couple had been enabled to conceal the mangled remains. A +workman, a near relation of Julio's first wife, who had, by chance, +heard a suppressed scream in passing, hastily summoning assistance, had +arrived in time only to apprehend the assassins, the shedders of +innocent blood. There was no flaw in the evidence, and, ere long, Ursula +and her paramour, for such was the true relative position in which she +stood with the stranger, were sentenced to the doom they so richly +deserved. I have not, however, ended, my narrative, but I will endeavor +to curtail the rest of my history, to me the strangest part of it. Julio +was not disenchanted; by extraordinary exertions to save the mother of a +child, shrewdly suspected not to be his own, he prevailed on his patron, +Count ----, to procure the commutation of his wife's sentence to a term +of imprisonment; and though the murderer forfeited his life, the +murderess escaped after some years' incarceration, having given birth to +a child shortly after her trial, who, innocent, bore on her brow the +mark of the instrument of her mother's crime; and, can it be +credited!--Julio took the woman to his home, his love unabated, his +subserviency undiminished! + +They now live in Aranjuez, and the child is left to wander about +unnoticed, except with punishment; my kind-hearted landlady alone feeds +the poor creature, whom all others shun: and even she feels +uncomfortable in the presence of one born under such auspices. Her +fellow-townsfolk, as they pass the scene of virtue and of crime, bless +the memory of Faustina, and curse the life of Ursula, praying for the +peace of the first one and of her child; and, while execrating the +latter, refuse shelter or relief to her innocent offspring, who, in the +universal spirit of poetry that reigns in Spain, is known far and near, +and pointed to the stranger as _La Hija de Sangre_, the Daughter of +Blood. + + + + +THE EXECUTION OF FIESCHI, MOREY, AND PEPIN. + + +About one o'clock on a cold winter night in 1835, a party of four +persons were seated in the coffee-room of the Hotel Meurice, at Paris. +It was chilly, sloppy, miserable weather; half-melted snow, mixed with +the Paris mud, and a driving, sleety rain hissed against the ill-fitting +windows. + +Our four convives were drinking--not the wines of sunny France, but +something much more appropriate and homely--a curiously-fine sample of +gin, artfully compounded into toddy, by Achille, the waiter. + +When the clock struck one, three of the party made a show of retiring; +but the fourth, a punchy gentleman from Wolverhampton, entreated that +the rest would not all desert him while he discussed one glass +more--nay, perhaps, would join him! But here Achille was inexorable: the +master was in bed, and had taken the keys. + +Our four friends have taken their candles, and are moving from the room, +when a cab drives rapidly to the door--there is a smart ring at the +bell, and a gentleman in full evening dress, and enveloped in a Spanish +cloak, hastily enters the room. + +"Who is inclined to see Fieschi's head chopped off?" said the stranger, +unfolding himself from the cloak. "The execution is to take place at +daylight--I had it from a peer of France, and the guillotine has been +sent off an hour ago." + +"Where?" + +Our informant could not tell. It was known only to the police--there was +an apprehension of some attempt at a rescue, and ten thousand troops +were to be on the ground. It will be either the Place St. Jaques, or the +Barriere du Trone--the first, most likely; let us try that to begin +with, and there will be plenty of time to go on to the other afterward: +but we must be early, to get a good place. + +We are not of those who make a practice of attending executions with a +morbid appetite for such horrors. Under any circumstances, the +deliberate cutting off a life is a melancholy spectacle. The mortal +agony, unrelieved by excitement, is painful in the extreme to witness, +but worse still is reckless bravado. Rarest of all is it to see the +inevitable fate met with calm dignity. Here, however, was a miscreant, +who, to gratify a political feeling--dignified, in his opinion, with the +name of patriotism--deliberately fired the contents of a battery of +gun-barrels into a mass of innocent persons, many of whom, it was quite +certain, would be killed, for the chance of striking down one man, and, +probably, some of his family. That this family, with their illustrious +father, should have escaped altogether, is an instance of good fortune +as remarkable as the attempt was flagitious. But the magnitude of the +crime invested the perpetrators with a terrible interest, which overcame +any lingering scruples, and the whole party decided upon setting out +forthwith. We made for the nearest coach-stand, which was that upon the +quay, near the Pont Neuf. + +In something more than half an hour, we jingled into the Place St. +Jaques, and, pausing at the corner, had the satisfaction to hear the +sounds of hammers busily plied upon a dark mass rising in the centre of +the square--it was the platform upon which to erect the guillotine. On +all sides of this, workmen were busily engaged, their labor quickened by +the exhortations of one who walked about, lantern in hand, upon the top. +This was the executioner, who, seen by the light he carried, bore a +remarkable resemblance to the great English comedian, the late Mr. +Liston. There was the same square form of the countenance, the small +nose, the long upper lip, the mirth-provoking gravity, and the same +rich, husky chuckle. This curious likeness was at once acknowledged by +all present, and an Englishman took the liberty of interrupting the +grave functionary with the information that he was the very image of _le +plus grand farceur que nous avons en Angleterre_, a piece of information +which the French scion of the House of Ketch received, after the manner +of Frenchmen, as a high compliment, being moved to bow and chuckle much +thereat. + +By this time, the hammering had roused the dwellers in the place, and +lights were seen rapidly moving about the windows. A cafe-keeper had +opened his saloon, arranged his little tables, and was bustling about +with his waiters attending to the wants of the guests already assembled. +An execution is a godsend to the Place St. Jaques at any time, but the +execution of three great state criminals, such as these, would go far to +pay the year's rent of the houses. As cabs and _fiacres_ began to +arrive, we thought it necessary to make arrangement for securing a room +from whence to see the execution, and chance conducted us to the corner +house, one side of which looked upon the square, directly opposite the +guillotine, from which it was scarcely fifty yards distance; and the +other side fronted the road by which the prisoners were to be conveyed +from their prison to the scaffold. + +We found the situation well adapted for our purpose, though only one +window looked into the square, the two others were easily made to +command a view of the scaffold, which was nearly in a line with that +side of the house. Our host had also with much propriety made the bed, +set the furniture to rights, raked up the ashes of the wood-fire, and +put on another block or two; and the fact of meeting with an open +fire-place instead of the eternal stove, made us feel at home at once. +The Wolverhampton man declared that it was dangerous to British lungs to +be out in these raw mornings in a foreign country without something warm +to qualify the air; so a bottle of brandy was sent for to the +neighboring _cafe_, and our hostess had busied herself in producing hot +water and tumblers, as if, through the frequenters of executions, she +had arrived at considerable knowledge of the national tastes. Our +ancient host, being accommodated with a cigar, narrated the particulars +of the many beheadings which had fallen under his observation since his +occupancy of the house. One may be mentioned as exhibiting a rare +instance of irresistible curiosity. The man had been guilty of an +atrocious murder, either of a wife or some near relative, and when his +neck was placed under the ax, he contrived to slue himself partly round +to see its descent, and had a part of his chin taken off in consequence. + +About two hours before day-light a body of mounted municipal guards +arrived, and formed round the scaffold. The object of this appeared to +be to hide the proceedings as much as possible from those on foot, who +could only hope for a very imperfect view between the bodies and the +bear-skins of these troops. Soon after the municipal guard the infantry +of the line began to arrive, and were formed in a circle four deep +outside the municipals, and nearly as far back as the houses of the +Place. A considerable crowd had also collected, though extremely orderly +and good-humored; in fact, to see the general hilarity, and listen to +the bursts of loud laughter, it would seem to be regarded in the light +of _fete_. There was certainly no appearance of sympathy with the +criminals. Finding the municipals so materially interfered with the +show, the people soon began to occupy the trees and lamp-posts, the +adjacent walls, and the roofs of the neighboring houses; while the +infantry, having piled arms, waltzed and danced to keep themselves warm. + +Soon after daylight the hammering ceased, and the preparations appeared +to be completed; and shortly afterward strong bodies of cavalry began to +take up their positions in all the streets leading into the Place. The +first care of the officer commanding these was to clear the square +entirely of all the people who had collected in rear of the infantry, +and to drive them out along the adjacent streets; an order was also +given to dislodge the people out of the trees, and from the walls and +lamp-posts, and this caused much grumbling and swearing of all +concerned. Some merriment, however, was excited by the discovery of some +women in the trees, and their descent, superintended by the dragoons +below, gave occasion for the exercise of much not over decent wit among +the troopers. It struck me that in their manner of dealing with the +crowd there was much unnecessary harshness on the part of the troops, an +irritability and fretfulness often exhibited by persons doubtful of +their own authority, and very unlike the calm, good-humored superiority +with which our own men are wont to handle the masses. + +Presently came two general officers with their staff, and each followed +by a mounted "jockey," lads dressed as English grooms, of whom one, as +well by his fair complexion and honest round face, the whiteness of his +tops and leathers, and the general superiority of his turn-out, as by +his firm and easy seat on horseback, was evidently a native of our own +country. + +About an hour after sun-rise three caleches came rapidly down the road, +passing our windows, each carriage containing three persons, the +condemned, and two police officers. The troops opened out, and the men +were landed at the foot of the platform. It may be well to describe the +general appearance of the scaffold. + +On a platform about twelve feet square, and seven feet above the ground, +are erected the two upright posts, between which is suspended the ax. +They somewhat resemble a narrow gallows, scarcely more than a foot +between the posts. The ax, which is not unlike a hay-knife, though much +heavier and broader, is drawn up to the top of the posts, between which +it runs in grooves, and is held suspended by a loop in the halyards, +passed over a button at the bottom. The edge of the ax, as it hangs +suspended, is not horizontal, or at a right angle with the post, but +diagonal, giving the instrument a fearful power, in conjunction with its +weight and long fall, of shearing through a resisting substance of many +times more opposing force than a human neck. On the centre of the +platform stands a frame, or large box, much resembling a soldier's +arm-chest, about six feet long by two and a half wide, and probably as +much high. One end of this abuts upon the upright posts, at the other +end is a small frame like a truck, connected about its centre with the +chest by hinges, and with a strap and buckle, to make it fast to the +man's body. + +The prisoners having dismounted, were placed in a line on the ground +facing the guillotine, their arms pinioned. They were very different in +appearance. Fieschi had a most sinister and ferocious expression of +face, rendered more so by the scars, scarcely healed apparently, +inflicted by the bursting of his gun-barrels. He was plainly dressed, +and appeared like a workman of the better class; his age about +thirty-five. Morey was a man advanced in life, perhaps seventy; his bald +head was partly covered with a black cap revealing the white hairs +behind, and at the sides: he was a corpulent large figure, dressed +completely in black, with a mild intelligent face, and altogether a very +gentlemanly air and manner. Pepin was a small, thin-faced, insignificant +man. + +Pepin was chosen first for execution. Having been deprived of his coat +and neck-handkerchief, and the collar of his shirt turned down, he was +led by the executioner up the steps of the platform. He ascended with an +air of considerable bravado, shook himself, and looked round with much +confidence, and spoke some words which we could not catch, and which the +executioner appeared disposed to cut short. Having advanced with his +breast against the truck, to which his body was rapidly strapped, he was +then tilted down, truck and all, upon his face; and the truck moving +upon small wheels or castors in grooves upon the chest, he was moved +rapidly forward, till his neck came directly under the chopper, when the +rope being unhooked from the button, the ax fell with a loud and awful +"chop!" the head rolling down upon the bare platform. After the +separation of the head, the body moved with much convulsive energy, and +had it not been made fast to what I have called the truck, and that also +connected with the raised platform, would probably have rolled down on +the lower stage. The executioner then held up the head to view for a +moment, and I suspect, from some laughter among the troops, made a +facetious remark. The lid of a large basket alongside the chest was then +raised, and the body rolled into it. + +Morey was the next victim. He ascended the steps feebly, and requiring +much assistance; he was also supported during the process of strapping +him. His bald head and venerable appearance made a favorable impression +upon the spectators, and elicited the only expressions of sympathy +observable throughout the executions. + +Fieschi came last, and was the most unnerved of the three. He appeared +throughout in a fainting condition, and hung his head in a pitiable +state of prostration. Very little consideration was shown him, or rather +he was pushed and thrust about in a way which was indecent, if not +disgusting, whatever might have been his crimes. Some little difficulty +occurred in placing his head conveniently under the ax, from a recoiling +motion of the prisoner. He was certainly the least brave of the three. +The executioner having rolled his body into the larger basket with the +others, took up that containing the three heads, which having emptied +upon the bodies, he gave the bottom of the basket a jocular tap, which, +being accompanied with a lifting of his foot behind, and probably some +funny and seasonable observation, created a good deal of merriment among +the spectators. + +The guillotine is apparently the most merciful, but certainly the most +terrible to witness, of any form of execution in civilized Europe. The +fatal chop, the raw neck, the spouting blood, are very shocking to the +feelings, and demoralizing; as such exhibitions can not fail to generate +a spirit of ferocity and a love of bloodshed among those who witness +them. It was not uncommon at this period in Paris to execute sheep and +calves with the guillotine; and fathers of families would pay a small +sum to obtain such a gratifying show for their children. In such a taste +may we not trace the old leaven of the first Revolution, and the germ of +future ones? + +The fate of poor Dr. Guillotin was a singular one. He lived to see the +machine which he had invented, from feelings of pure philanthropy, made +the instrument of the most horrible butcheries, the aptness of the +invention notoriously increasing the number of the victims who fell by +it; and he died in extreme old age, with the bitter reflection that his +name would be handed down to posterity, in connection with the most +detestable ferocities which have ever stained the annals of mankind. + + + + +PERSONAL HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE WALPOLES. + +BY ELIOT WARBURTON. + + +We are not disposed to consider the elder Horace Walpole a great +statesman, or claim for him the consideration accorded to his mere +celebrated brother; but he was superior in talent to many of his +contemporaries who attained a much higher eminence; and his honesty and +zeal would have rendered creditable a much less amount of political +accomplishments than he could boast of. Measured with the diplomatists +of a more modern period, Lord Walpole will probably fall below par; but +he had no genius for that fine subtlety which is now expected to pervade +every important negotiation, and knew nothing of that scientific game of +words, in which diplomatists of the new school are so eager to +distinguish themselves. + +In appearance he was more fitted to appear as a republican +representative, than as an embassador from a powerful sovereign to the +most polished court in Europe; his manners were so unpolished, his form +so inelegant, and his address so unrefined. He rendered valuable support +to the English monarchy, and won the confidence of the shrewd and +calculating Queen Caroline, as well as the esteem of the sagacious and +prudent States-general. A trustworthy authority has styled him "a great +master of the commercial and political interests of this country," and +accorded him the merits of unwearied zeal, industry, and capacity. With +such advantages, he might well confess, without much regret, that he had +never learned to dance, and could not pride himself on making a bow. + +Though blunt and unpolished, he was extremely agreeable in conversation; +abounding in pleasant anecdote, and entertaining reminiscences; fond of +society, affable to every one, sumptuous in his hospitality, and not +less estimable in his domestic than in his social relations. Though he +wrote, and printed, and spoke lessons of political wisdom, that met with +the fate of entire disregard, it is impossible not to admire the +unselfish zeal that would almost immediately afterward induce him to +write, print, and speak similar instructive lessons, to the same set of +negligent scholars. + +There is a statement which having found its way into such an authority +as "Chandler's Debates," has been incorporated in works pretending to +historical accuracy. On a debate arising out of the Bill for the +Encouragement and increase of Seamen, in 1740, Pitt is represented as +attacking Mr. Horace Walpole for having ventured on a reference to his +youth. The fact is, that these debates were imaginary or constructed on +a very slight foundation. Dr. Johnson, as is well known, before he had +obtained his colossal reputation, drew up fictitious reports of what +took place in the House of Commons. + +Mr. Walpole having in a discussion been severely handled by Pitt, +Lyttleton, and the Granvilles, all of whom were much his juniors, +lamented that though he had been so long in business, young men should +be found so much better informed in political matters than himself. He +added that he had at least one consolation in remembering that his own +son being twenty years of age, must be as much the superior of Pitt, +Lyttleton, and the Granvilles, as they were wiser than himself. Pitt +having his youth thus mercilessly flung in his face, got up in a rage, +commencing--"With the greatest reverence to the gray hairs of the +gentleman," but was stopped by Mr. Walpole pulling off his wig, and +disclosing a grizzled poll beneath. This excited very general laughter, +in which Pitt joined with such heartiness, as quite to forget his anger. + +The younger Walpole always preserved a delicacy of figure, approaching +effeminacy: his dress was simple: his manners studiously courteous: but +his features, though agreeable, were not handsome; the most expressive +portion being his eyes, which, when animated in conversation, flashed +with intelligence. A close observer has stated, that "his laugh was +forced and uncouth, and even his smile not the most pleasing." This may, +perhaps, be attributed to the pain he habitually suffered, since the age +of twenty-five, from the gout, which in the latter part of his life +attacked his hands and feet with great severity. During the last half of +his existence he was not only extremely abstemious, but his habits +indicated a constitution that could brave alterations of temperature, +from which much stronger men would shrink. + +His hour of rising was usually nine, and then, preceded by his favorite +little dog, which was sure to be as plump as idleness and good feeding +could render it, he entered the breakfast-room. The dog took his place +beside him on the sofa. From the silver tea-kettle, kept at an even +temperature by the lamp beneath, he poured into a cup of the rarest +Japan porcelain, the beverage "that cheers, but not inebriates." This +was replenished two or three times, while he broke his fast on the +finest bread, and the sweetest butter that could be obtained. He, at the +same time, fed his four-footed favorite, and then, mixing a basin of +bread and milk, he opened the window, and threw it out to the squirrels, +who instantly sprang from bough to bough in the neighboring trees, and +then bounded along the ground to their meal. + +At dinner, which was usually about four o'clock, he ate moderately of +the lightest food, quenching his thirst from a decanter of water that +stood in an ice-pail under the table. Coffee was served almost +immediately, to which he proceeded up stairs, as he dined in the small +parlor or large dining-room, according to the number of his guests. He +would take his seat on the sofa, and amuse the company with a current of +lively gossip and scandal, relieved with observations on books and art, +in illustration of objects brought from the library or any other portion +of the house--for the whole might be regarded as a museum. His +snuff-box, filled from a canister of _tabac d'etrennes_ from Fribourg's, +placed in a marble urn at one of the windows to keep it moist, was +handed round, and he frequently enjoyed its pungent fragrance till his +guests had departed--this was rarely till about two o'clock. If earlier, +Walpole was sure to be found with pen in hand, continuing whatever work +he might have in progress, or communicating to some of his numerous +friends the news and gossip of the day. + +The whole of the forenoon, till dinner-time, was often employed by him +in attending upon visitors, rambling about the grounds, or taking +excursions upon the river. He rarely wore a hat, his throat was +generally exposed, and he was quite regardless of the dew, replying, to +the earnest solicitude of his friends, "My back is the same with my +face, and my neck is like my nose." + +Sometimes of an evening he would go out to pay a visit to his neighbor, +Kitty Clive, and then the hours passed by in a rivalry of anecdote and +pleasantry; for Kitty, like himself had seen a great deal of the world, +and was full of its recollections. + + + + +AN INCIDENT OF INDIAN LIFE. + + +In the year 1848 I found myself traveling through the Mysorean country +of Seringapatam, so familiar to every reader of Indian history, for the +rapid rise of that crafty but talented Asiatic Hyder Ali. + +I had been reflecting as I passed through the country on the warlike +exploits and barbarous cruelties by which it has been disfigured, and on +the short space of time in which, from the first settlement by a few +enterprising merchants at Surat, in the year 1612, the English had, +either by force or diplomacy, possessed themselves of the entire +territory from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya mountains; and, by an +anomaly of which history furnishes no parallel, holding and enforcing +their authority in great measure by means of the very natives and troops +they have conquered, and who now lend themselves to enslave their own +country, and rivet the shackles of bondage on their fatherland. I asked +myself the question--was the time approaching when their fame, colonies, +and possessions would be among the things that were? would they in +process of development be swept away before some nation not yet cradled, +or only in its infancy; or--proving an exception to the whole experience +of ages--would they remain imperishably great and renowned till the +final dissolution of nature? + +Bewildered at last with these reflections, I left my palanquin; and, +walking forward, with a Manton across my shoulder, accompanied by a +Coolie carrying a double-barreled rifle, was soon busily engaged peering +into the thick grass and underwood that lay on each side of the path, +intent only on scattering destruction among some innocent and tender +little bipeds, with the laudable design of furnishing some trifling +addition to natural history, and a distant hope of perhaps securing a +shot among a herd of deer faintly discernible in the outline. + +In the incautious pursuit of a wild boar that had crossed my path, I at +length found myself in the midst of a dense jungle--not the most secure +position in the world, with only a single ebony gentleman at your +side--for on the least indication of danger, this representative of +Lucifer judiciously prefers present safety to future reputation, and +performs a retrograde movement with undignified rapidity, leaving you +alone to apologize for your intrusion to a brute that can not be +persuaded to adopt polite manners, but evinces an unmistakable desire to +exhibit his gratitude for your visit by a passionate and unceremonious +embrace. The tendency of long ages of lost liberty and slavish +superstition to produce national degradation is forcibly exemplified in +the lower castes of the natives, who may truthfully be said to have +acquired all the vices of their various conquerors, without any of their +redeeming qualities. + +To return:--tired at last with my exertions and the intensity of the +heat, I dispatched my sable attendant in quest of that peculiar Indian +luxury, the palanquin; and looking round for some sheltered spot to +await its coming up, perceived a wide-spreading banyan tree. Trusting to +its friendly shelter, I was soon stretched beneath a canopy of +densely-clustered foliage, sufficient to exclude all direct rays of the +solar star; and, lighting one of my best Indian pipes, resigned myself +to what brother Jonathan terms a "tarnation smoke." + +The scene before me was such as that which Johnson in one of his rich +and genial moods would delight to portray--the image of beauty reposing +in the lap of sublimity was never more aptly applied. The sun had +attained its culminating point, and was showering down its fervid rays +with a scorching influence; not a breath stirred the forest air: all was +hushed in repose, and silent as the last breathings of the departing +soul--while a foreboding sensation o'ershadowed the whole, as that +beautiful couplet in Campbell's "Lochiel" ominously crowded on my +memory, + + 'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore, + And coming events cast their shadows before. + +I could not account for the oppressive silence, for often before I had +reclined at the foot of some forest giant, and experienced widely +different feelings; all here seemed indescribably grand and ennobling. +The various tribes of baboons, monkeys, and apes, screeching, chattering +and grinning overhead, anon leaping from tree to tree, luxuriating in +all the enjoyment of freedom and revelry; while the jay, the parrot, the +peacock, with minor and sweeter minstrels in every splendid variety of +tropical plumage, might be seen soaring or darting amidst the foliage of +forest verdure, combined with the beauty and number of parasitical +plants and wild flowers. Such a scene of loveliness and life had often +enraptured me, till a second Eden seemed realized; when, as if its +aspect were too beautiful for sinful earth, the illusion was dissipated +on observing the slender and graceful form of a snake gliding swiftly in +mazy folds through the long grass--by that curious association of ideas, +suggesting at once the primal fall, and the probable vicinity of a cobra +couched on the branch of a tree overhead, whose color so closely +approximates its tinge, that it is almost impossible, without careful +scrutiny, to detect its presence, and if unconsciously disturbed in its +leafy cradle, the oscillation is resented by darting its poisoned fang +in the invader's face. These insidious foes, and the probability of a +struggle with some carnivorous denizen of the glen, suggest strong +doubts as to the security of your woodland abode, and damp the pleasure +the scene otherwise might afford. And thus surely do we find that, in +nature as in life, under the most lovely and entrancing aspects often +lurk the most seductive and deadly influences. The prospect loses +nothing at night, when effulgent with the pensive moonbeams, and the +myriads of fire-flies like living stars broke loose from the dominion of +old night, delighted with their new-found liberty, and dancing in a +perfect jubilee of joyous light through the embowering arcades, +illuminating every note of forest life; and on the one side is heard the +amorous roar of the antelope's midnight suitor, as pending to the +crashing march of the gregarious elephant; and on the other the nightly +concert of a pack of jackalls, resembling so closely the music of those +"delightful" babies, that it is only by continuous rehearsals the ear +can receive them with indifference--render the whole indescribably +magnificent, though rather trying to delicate nerves. + +All such sublimity and active life, however, were now absent; not a +living creature was to be seen, and actuated by some indefinable +impulse, I involuntarily clutched my rifle. Scarcely had I done so, when +an agonizing shriek re-echoed through the forest; rushing in the +direction, I encountered a sight that struck me with horror and +dismay--for a moment I stood paralyzed! + +A Brahmin, with his wife and only daughter, were making a pilgrimage to +the banks of the sacred Ganges. With the characteristic indifference of +their caste, they had incautiously halted in the midst of the jungle to +cook some rice. The little girl, while the mother was occupied in +preparing the frugal meal, had thoughtlessly wandered into the long +grass in quest of some gaudy insect flitting past: on a sudden the +father, who had thrown himself on the ground to snatch a few moments' +repose, was aroused by the screams of his child, and, regaining his +feet, perceived a full-grown cheetah in the act of springing on his +tender girl. To see, and rush to her rescue, armed only with a knife, +was the work of an instant; he arrived too late to arrest the tiger as +he made his rarely missing, and in this case fatal spring on the +beautiful and dark-bosomed maid. A terrible struggle now ensued, the +infuriated animal relaxed its grasp of the child, and fastened on the +father. The tender and loving wife, only now fully awakened to the +extent of the danger, forgetting her sex, insensible to aught but her +husband's peril, recklessly rushed forward; but ere she could reach the +spot to become a third victim to the insatiate monster, the providential +flight of a bullet from a stranger's rifle, penetrating the animal's +brain, stretched him dead at her feet. The brave husband, on approaching +the spot, lay extended on the grass in the last agonies of death, +dreadfully mangled, the brute having torn away the greater part of his +brain and face. The little girl had already expired. + +Never can I forget the calmness and apparently stoical indifference of +this Indian woman while her husband lay extended before her, gasping his +last. She supported his head, gently wiping the blood from his face and +lips; no sign of her feelings could be detected in her features. I gazed +upon her with astonishment; but no sooner was it evident that death had +effectually terminated the loved one's sufferings, than she gave way to +the most frantic and heart-rending expressions of grief. The anguish of +that woman death alone can obliterate from my memory--words can not +picture it. I see her before me as I write, alternately embracing the +lifeless and bloody bodies of her husband and child, lavishing over them +the most tender, endearing invocations of affection, then as suddenly +turning round and seizing the crimson knife of her heroic husband, +plunged it again and again into the body of the insensible animal, +uttering all the time the most fearful and violent imprecations of +despair and anguish. + +It was with the greatest difficulty she could at length be removed from +the tragic scene, and confided to the care of some neighboring +villagers. I had occasion to revisit the same scenes some few months +after, and found the bereaved wife, but, indeed, how changed! I could +hardly recognize her. Day and night, I was informed, she wandered about, +calling on her husband and child. A deep, settled gloom, beyond any +thing I ever witnessed, was upon her features; her eyes had a wandering, +restless expression. She knew me immediately, and talked in the most +pathetic strain of her hapless child and husband. Poor creature! I tried +to console her, but in vain. She said, her only wish was, as soon as the +monsoon, or rainy season abated, to prosecute her journey to the Ganges, +and die by its sacred stream. I remonstrated with her on this folly, +and, explained to her the divine truths of Christianity. All in vain! +She was fixed in her resolution; and when I pointed to the heavens, and +spoke of the mercies of God and His power, she replied, "that were He +powerful, He could not be merciful, or He would not have taken her +husband and child away without taking her also." All I could say made no +impression, nor seemed to abate her determination, and time would not +permit my stay, nor did I ever chance again to traverse the same scenes; +but I have no doubt, from my knowledge of Indian character, she +subsequently carried her resolution into effect. + + + + +COFFEE PLANTING IN CEYLON. + + +IN TWO CHAPTERS.--CHAPTER THE FIRST. + +In the month of September, 1840, I started from Kandy, the ancient +capital of Ceylon, to visit a friend who was in charge of one of the +many new coffee clearings then in progress. I was accompanied by a young +planter well acquainted with the country and the natives, and who had +offered to act as my guide. The clearing was distant about twenty-five +miles. The route we took has since become famous. Rebellion and martial +law have stalked over it; and concerning it, the largest blue books of +last session have been concocted. + +We mounted our horses a good hour before day-break, so as to insure +getting over the most exposed part of our journey before the sun should +have risen very high, an important matter for man and beast in tropical +countries. Toward noon, we pulled up at a little bazaar, or native shop, +and called for "_Hoppers and Coffee_." I felt that I could have eaten +almost any thing, and, truly, one needs such an appetite to get down the +dreadful black-draught which the Cingalese remorselessly administer to +travelers, under the name of coffee. + +The sun was high in the horizon when we found ourselves suddenly, at a +turn of the road, in the midst of a "clearing." This was quite a novelty +to me; so unlike any thing one meets with in the low country, or about +the vicinity of Kandy. The present clearing lay at an elevation of fully +three thousand feet above the sea-level, while the altitude of Kandy is +not more than sixteen hundred feet. I had never been on a Hill Estate, +and the only notions formed by me respecting a plantation of coffee, +were of continuous, undulating fields, and gentle slopes. Here it was +not difficult to imagine myself among the recesses of the Black Forest. +Pile on pile of heavy, dark jungle, rose before my astonished sight, +looking like grim fortresses defending some hidden city of giants. The +spot we had opened upon was at the entrance of a long valley of great +width, on one side of which lay the young estate we were bound to. +Before us were, as near as I could judge, fifty acres of felled jungle +in thickest disorder; just as the monsters of the forest had fallen, so +they lay, heap on heap, crushed and splintered into ten thousand +fragments. Fine brawny old fellows some of them; trees that had stood +many a storm and thunder-peal; trees that had sheltered the wild +elephant, the deer, and the buffalo, lay there prostrated by a few +inches of sharp steel. The "fall" had taken place a good week before, +and the trees would be left in this state until the end of October, by +which time they would be sufficiently dry for a good "burn." Struggling +from trunk to trunk, and leading our horses slowly over the huge rocks +that lay thickly around, we at last got through the "fall," and came to +a part of the forest where the heavy, quick click of many axes told us +there was a working-party busily employed. Before us, a short distance +in the jungle, were the swarthy, compact figures of some score or two of +low country Cingalese, plying their small axes with a rapidity and +precision that was truly marvelous. It made my eyes wink again, to see +how quickly their sharp tools flew about, and how near some of them went +to their neighbors' heads. + +In the midst of these busy people I found my planting friend, +superintending operations, in full jungle costume. A sort of wicker +helmet was on his head, covered with a long padded white cloth, which +hung far down his back, like a baby's quilt. A shooting-jacket and +trowsers of checked country cloth; immense leech-gaiters fitting close +inside the roomy canvas boots; and a Chinese-paper umbrella, made up his +curious outfit. + +To me it was a pretty, as well as a novel sight, to watch the felling +work in progress. Two ax-men to small trees; three, and sometimes four, +to larger ones; their little bright tools flung far back over their +shoulders with a proud flourish, and then, with a "whirr," dug deep in +the heart of the tree, with such exactitude and in such excellent time, +that the scores of axes flying about me seemed impelled by some +mechanical contrivance, and sounding but as one or two instruments. I +observed that in no instance were the trees cut through, but each one +was left with just sufficient of the heart to keep it upright; on +looking around, I saw that there were hundreds of them similarly +treated. The ground on which we were standing was extremely steep and +full of rocks, between which lay embedded rich veins of alluvial soil. +Where this is the case, the masses of stone are not an objection; on the +contrary, they serve to keep the roots of the young coffee plants cool +during the long dry season, and, in the like manner, prevent the light +soil from being washed down the hill-side by heavy rains. My +planter-friend assured me that, if the trees were to be at once cut +down, a few at a time, they would so encumber the place as to render it +impossible for the workmen to get access to the adjoining trees, so +thickly do they stand together, and so cumbersome are their heavy +branches. In reply to my inquiry as to the method of bringing all these +cut trees to the ground, I was desired to wait until the cutting on the +hill-side was completed, and then I should see the operation finished. + +The little axes rang out a merry chime--merrily to the planter's ear, +but the death-knell of many a fine old forest tree. In half an hour the +signal was made to halt, by blowing a conch shell; obeying the signal of +the superintendent, I hastened up the hill as fast as my legs would +carry me, over rocks and streams, halting at the top, as I saw the whole +party do. Then they were ranged in order, axes in hand, on the upper +side of the topmost row of cut trees. I got out of their way, watching +anxiously every movement. All being ready, the manager sounded the conch +sharply: two score voices raised a shout that made me start again; forty +bright axes gleamed high in air, then sank deeply into as many trees, +which at once yielded to the sharp steel, groaned heavily, waved their +huge branches to and fro, like drowning giants, then toppled over, and +fell with a stunning crash upon the trees below them. These having been +cut through previously, offered no resistance, but followed the example +of their upper neighbors, and fell booming on those beneath. In this way +the work of destruction went rapidly on from row to row. Nothing was +heard but groaning, crackling, crashing, and splintering; it was some +little time before I got the sounds well out of my ears. At the time it +appeared as though the whole of the forest-world about me was tumbling +to pieces; only those fell, however, which had been cut, and of such not +one was left standing. There they would lie until sufficiently dry for +the torch that would blacken their massive trunks, and calcine their +many branches into dusty heaps of alkali. By the time this was +completed, and the men put on to a fresh "cut," we were ready for our +mid-day meal, the planter's breakfast. Away we toiled toward the +_bungalow_. Passing through a few acres of standing forest, and over a +stream, we came to a small cleared space well sheltered from wind, and +quite snug in every respect. It was thickly sown with what I imagined to +be young lettuces, or, perhaps, very juvenile cabbage-plants, but I was +told this was the "Nursery," and those tiny green things were intended +to form the future Soolookande Estate. On learning that we had reached +the "Bungalow," I looked about me to discover its locality, but in vain; +there was no building to be seen; but presently my host pointed out to +me what I had not noticed before--a small, low-roofed, thatched place, +close under a projecting rock, and half hid by thorny creepers. I +imagined this to be his fowl-house, or, perhaps, a receptacle for tools; +but was not a little astonished when I saw my friend beckon me on, and +enter at the low, dark door. This miserable little cavern could not have +been more than twelve feet long by about six feet wide, and as high at +the walls. This small space was lessened by heaps of tools, coils of +string, for "lining" the ground before planting, sundry boxes and +baskets, an old rickety table, and one chair. At the farther end--if any +thing could be far in that hole--was a jungle bedstead, formed by +driving green stakes in the floor and walls, and stretching rope across +them. I could not help expressing astonishment at the miserable quarters +provided for one who had so important a charge, and such costly outlay +to make. My host, however, treated the matter very philosophically. +Every thing, he observed, is good or bad by comparison; and wretched as +the accommodation appeared to me, who had been accustomed to the large, +airy houses of Colombo, he seemed to be quite satisfied; indeed, he told +me, that when he had finished putting up this little crib, had moved in +his one table and chair, and was seated, cigar in mouth, inside the +still damp mud walls, he thought himself the happiest of mortals. I felt +somewhat curious to know where he had dwelt previous to the erection of +this unique building--whether he had perched up in the forest trees, or +in holes in the rocks, like the wild Veddahs of Bintenne. + +I was told that his first habitation, when commencing work up there, was +then suspended over my head. I looked up to the dark, dusty roof, and +perceived a bundle of what I conceived to be old dirty, brown paper, or +parchment-skin. Perceiving my utter ignorance of the arrangement, he +took down the roll, and spread it open outside the door. It turned out +to be a huge _talipot-leaf_, which he assured me was the only shelter he +had possessed for nearly two months, and that, too, during the rainy +season. It might have measured ten feet in length, and possibly six in +width; pretty well for a leaf; it was used by fastening a stout pole +lengthways to two stakes driven in the ground; the leaf was hung across +this ridgepole, midway, and the corners of it made fast by cords: common +mats being hung at each end, and under the leaf. + +The "Lines," a long row of mud huts for the coolies, appeared to be much +more comfortable than their master's dwelling. But this is necessarily +the case, for, unless they be well-cared for, they will not remain on a +remote estate, such as this one was then considered. The first thing a +good planter sees to is a roomy and dry set of "Lines" for the people: +then the "Nursery" of coffee plants; and, thirdly, a hut for himself. + +The superintendent assured me that none but those who had opened an +estate in a remote district, could form any idea of the difficulties and +privations encountered by the planter. "Folks may grumble as they like, +down in Colombo, or in England," said my friend, "about the high +salaries paid to managers, but if some of them had only a month of it up +here, in the rains, I suspect they'd change their notions." + +He had had the greatest difficulty at first in keeping but a dozen men +on the place to clear ground for lines and nurseries: so strong is the +objection felt by Malabars to new and distant plantations. On one +occasion he had been quite deserted: even his old cook ran away, and he +found himself with only a little Cingalese boy, and his rice, biscuit, +and dried fish, all but exhausted. As for meat, he had not tasted any +for many days. There was no help for it, he saw, but to send off the +little boy to the nearest village, with a rupee, to buy some food, and +try to persuade some of the village people to come up and assist him. +When evening came on, there was no boy back, and the lonely planter had +no fire to boil his rice. Night came on and still he was alone: hungry, +cold, and desolate. It was a Sabbath evening, and he pointed out to me +the large stone on which he had sat down to think of his friends in the +old country; the recollection of his distance from them, and of his then +desolate, Crusoe-like, position, came so sadly upon him that he wept +like a child. I almost fancied I saw a tear start to his large eye as he +related the circumstance. + +Ceylon planters are proverbially hospitable: the utmost stranger is at +all times sure of a hearty welcome for himself and his horse. On this +occasion, my jungle friend turned out the best cheer his small store +afforded. It is true we had but one chair among us, but that only served +to give us amusement in making seats of baskets, boxes, and old books. A +dish of rice, and curry, made of dry salt fish, two red herrings, and +the only fowl on the estate, formed our meal; and, poor as the repast +may appear to those who have never done a good day's journey in the +jungles of Ceylon, I can vouch for the keen relish with which we all +partook of it. + +In the afternoon we strolled out to inspect the first piece of planting +on the Soolookande estate. It was in extent about sixty acres, divided +into fields of ten acres by narrow belts of tall trees. This precaution +was adopted, I learnt, with a view to protect the young plants from the +violence of the wind, which at times rushes over the mountains with +terrific fury. Unless thus sheltered by belts or "staking," the young +plants get loosened, or are whirled round until the outer bark becomes +worn away, and then they sicken and die, or if they live, yield no +fruit. "Staking" is simply driving a stout peg in the ground, and +fastening the plant steadily to it; but it is an expensive process. The +young trees in these fields had been put out during the previous rains +of July, and though still very small, looked fresh and healthy. I had +always imagined planting out to be a very easy and rough operation; but +I now learnt that exceeding care and skill are required in the +operation. The holes to receive the young coffee-plant must be wide and +deep--they can scarcely be too large; the earth must be kept well about +the roots of the seedling in removing it; and care must be taken that +the _tap-root_ be neither bent, nor planted over any stone or other hard +substance; neglect of these important points is fatal to the prosperity +of the estate. The yellow drooping leaves, and stunted growth, soon tell +the proprietor that his superintendent has done his work carelessly; +but, alas! it is then too late to apply any remedy, save that of +re-planting the ground. + +I left this estate impressed with very different notions concerning the +life and trials of a planter in the far jungle, from those I had +contracted below from mere Colombo gossip; and I felt that +superintendents were not so much overpaid for their skill, patience, +privations, and hard work. + + +CHAPTER THE SECOND. + +Having seen almost the commencement of the Soolookande Coffee Estate, I +felt a strong desire toward the end of the year 1846, to pay it a second +visit, while in its full vigor. I wished to satisfy myself as to the +correctness of the many reports I had heard of its heavy crops, of its +fine condition, its excellent works, and, not least, of the good +management during crop-time. My old acquaintance was no longer in +charge; he had been supplanted by a stranger. However, I went armed with +a letter from the Colombo agents, which would insure more attention than +a bed and a meal. + +I journeyed this time by another and rather shorter route. Instead of +taking the Matelle road, I struck off to the right, past Davy's Tree, +celebrated as the scene of the massacre of a large body of British +officers and troops by the treacherous Kandians, and crossing the +Mahavilla Ganga, at Davy's Ferry, made the best of my way across the +beautiful vale of Dombera, and thence toward the long range of mountains +forming one flank of the Kallibokke Valley. At the period of my former +excursion this long tract of fertile country was one unbroken mass of +heavy jungle; now a dozen large estates, with bungalows and extensive +works, were to be seen, enlivening the journey, and affording a much +readier passage for the horseman; for wherever plantations are formed, +good jungle paths are sure to be made. The ride was a most interesting +one; mile upon mile of coffee lay before and around me, in various +stages of growth, from the young seedling just put out, to the +full-bearing bush, as heavily laden with red, ripe coffee berries as any +currant-bush in England with its fruit. + +It was then the middle of November, and the very height of the planter's +harvest. All appeared busy as I rode along, gathering on the old +properties; weeding and "supplying," or filling up failures on the young +estates. I halted but once for a cup of good, wholesome coffee, and +gladly pushed on, so as to reach my destination in good time for +breakfast. + +The many lovely prospects opening before me caused some little delay in +admiration; and, by the time I had ridden through the last piece of +jungle, and pulled up at the upper boundary of "Soolookande," it was not +far from mid-day. The sun was blazing high above me, but its rays were +tempered by a cool breeze that swept over from the neighboring +mountain-tops. The prospect from that lofty eminence was lovely in the +extreme: steep ridges of coffee extended in all directions, bounded by +piles of mossy forest; white spots, here and there, told of bungalows +and stores; a tiny cataract rushed down some cleft rock, on one side; on +the other, a rippling stream ran gently along, thickly studded with +water-cresses. Before me, in the far distance, lay outstretched, like a +picture-scroll, the Matelle district, with its paddy fields, its +villages, and its Vihares, skirted by a ridge of mountains and +terminated by the Cave Rocks of Dambool. At my feet, far below, lay the +estate, bungalow, and works, and to them I bent my way by a narrow and +very steep bridle-path. So precipitous was the land just here, that I +felt rather nervous on looking down at the white buildings. The pathway, +for a great length, was bordered by rose-bushes, or trees, in fullest +blossom, perfuming the air most fragrantly: as I approached the +bungalow, other flowering shrubs and plants were mingled with them, and +in such excellent order was every thing there that the place appeared to +me more like a magnified garden than an estate. How changed since my +former visit! I could scarcely recognize it as the same property. The +bungalow was an imposing-looking building, the very picture of neatness +and comfort. How different to the old talipot-leaf, and the dirty little +mud hut! The box of a place I had slept in six years before would have +stood, easily, on the dining-table in this bungalow. A wide verandah +surrounded the building, the white pillars of which were polished like +marble. The windows were more like doors; and, as for the doors, one may +speak of them as lawyers do of Acts of Parliament, it would be easy to +drive a coach-and-six through them. + +The superintendent was a most gentlemanly person, and so was his +Bengalee servant. The curry was delightfully hot; the water was +deliciously cool. The chairs were like sofas; and so exquisitely +comfortable, after my long ride, that, when my host rose and suggested a +walk down to the works, I regretted that I had said any thing about +them, and had half a mind to pretend to be poorly. + +The store was a zinc-roofed building, one hundred feet in length, by +twenty-five wide; it was boarded below, but the sides upward were merely +stout rails, for insuring a thorough circulation of air through the +interior. It presented a most busy appearance. Long strings of Malabar +coolies were flocking in, along narrow paths, from all sides, carrying +bags and baskets on their heads, filled with the ripe coffee. These had +to pass in at one particular door of the store, into the +receiving-floor, in the upper part of the building. A Canghany was +stationed there to see each man's gathering fairly measured; and to give +a little tin ticket for every bushel, on the production of which the +coolies were paid, at the end of the month. Many coolies, who had their +wives and children to assist them in the field, brought home very heavy +parcels of coffee. + +Passing on to the floor where the measuring was in progress, I saw +immense heaps of ripe, cherry-looking fruit, waiting to be passed below +to the pulpers. All this enormous pile must be disposed of before the +morning, or it will not be fit for operating on, and might be damaged. I +saw quantities of it already gliding downward, through little openings +in the floor, under which I could hear the noise of some machinery in +rapid motion, but giving out sounds like sausage-machines in full +"chop." Following my guide, I descended a ladder, between some +ugly-looking wheels and shafting, and landed safely on the floor of the +pulping-room. "Pulping" is the operation of removing the outer husk, or +"cherry," which incloses the parchment-looking husk containing the pair +of coffee beans. This is performed by a machine called a "pulper." It is +a stout wooden or iron frame, supporting a fly-wheel and barrel of wood, +covered with sheet copper, perforated coarsely outward, very like a huge +nutmeg-grater. This barrel is made to revolve rapidly, nearly in contact +with two chocks of wood. The coffee in the cherry being fed on to this +by a hopper, is forced between the perforated barrel and the chocks; +the projecting copper points tear off the soft cherry, while the coffee +beans, in their parchment case, fall through the chocks into a large +box. These pulpers (four in number) were worked by a water-wheel of +great power, and turned out in six hours as much coffee as was gathered +by three hundred men during the whole day. + +From the pulper-box the parchment coffee is shoveled to the +"cisterns"--enormous square wooden vats. In these the new coffee is +placed, just covered with water, in which state it is left for periods +varying from twelve to eighteen hours, according to the judgment of the +manager. The object of this soaking is to produce a slight fermentation +of the mucilaginous matter adhering to "the parchment," in order to +facilitate its removal, as otherwise it would harden the skin, and +render the coffee very difficult to peel or clean. When I inspected the +works on Soolookande, several cisterns of fermented coffee were being +turned out, to admit other parcels from the pulper, and also to enable +the soaked coffee to be washed. Coolies were busily employed shoveling +the berries from one cistern to another; others were letting on clean +water. Some were busy stirring the contents of the cisterns briskly +about; while some, again, were letting off the foul water; and a few +were engaged in raking the thoroughly-washed coffee from the washing +platforms to the barbecues. + +The barbecues on this property were very extensive: about twenty +thousand square feet, all gently sloped away from their centres, and +smooth as glass. They were of stone, coated over with lime well +polished, and so white, that it was with difficulty I could look at them +with the sun shining full upon their bright surfaces. Over these drying +grounds the coffee, when quite clean and white, is spread, at first +thickly, but gradually more thinly, until, on the last day, it is placed +only one bean thick. Four days' sunning are usually required, though +occasionally many more are necessary before the coffee can be heaped +away in the store without risk of spoiling. All that is required is to +dry it sufficiently for transport to Kandy, and thence to Colombo, where +it undergoes a final curing previous to having its parchment skin +removed, and the faulty and broken berries picked out. Scarcely any +estates are enabled to effectually dry their crops, owing to the long +continuance of wet weather on the hills. + +The "dry floor" of this store resembled very much the inside of a +malting-house. It was nicely boarded, and nearly half full of coffee, +white and in various stages of dryness. Some of it, at one end, was +being measured into two bushel bags, tied up, marked and entered in the +"packed" book, ready for dispatch to Kandy. Every thing was done on a +system; the bags were piled up in tens; and the loose coffee was kept in +heaps of fixed quantities as a check on the measuring. Bags, rakes, +measures, twine, had all their proper places allotted them. Each day's +work must be finished off-hand at once; no putting off until to-morrow +can be allowed, or confusion and loss will be the consequence. Any heaps +of half dried coffee, permitted to remain unturned in the store, or not +exposed on the "barbecue," will heat, and become discolored, and in that +condition is known among commercial men as "Country Damaged." + +The constant ventilation of a coffee store is of primary importance in +checking any tendency to fermentation in the uncured beans; an ingenious +planter has recently availed himself of this fact, and invented an +apparatus which forces an unbroken current of dry, warm air, through the +piles of damp coffee, thus continuing the curing process in the midst of +the most rainy weather. + +When a considerable portion of the gathering is completed, the manager +has to see to his means of transport before his store is too crowded. A +well conducted plantation will have its own cattle to assist in +conveying the crop to Kandy; it will have roomy and dry cattle-pens, +fields of guinea-grass, and pasture grounds attached, as well as a +manure-pit, into which all refuse and the husks of the coffee are +thrown, to be afterward turned to valuable account. + +The carriage of coffee into Kandy is performed by pack-bullocks, and +sometimes by the coolies, who carry it on their heads, but these latter +can seldom be employed away from picking during the crop time. By either +means, however, transport forms a serious item in the expenses of a good +many estates. From some of the distant hill-estates possessing no +cattle, and with indifferent jungle-paths, the conveyance of their crops +to Kandy will often cost fully six shillings the hundred weight of clean +coffee, equal to about three pence per mile. From Kandy to Colombo, by +the common bullock-cart of the country, the cost will amount to about +two or three shillings the clean hundred weight, in all, eight or nine +shillings the hundred weight from the plantation to the port of +shipment, being twice as much for conveying it less than a hundred +miles, as it costs for freight to England, about sixteen thousand miles. +One would imagine that it would not require much sagacity to discern +that, in such a country as this, a railroad would be an incalculable +benefit to the whole community. To make this apparent even to the +meanest Cingalese capacity, we may mention that, even at the present +time, transit is required from the interior of the island to its +seaports, for enough coffee for shipment to Great Britain alone, to +cause a railroad to be remunerative. The quantity of coffee imported +from British possessions abroad in 1850, was upward of forty millions of +pounds avoirdupois; and a very large proportion of this came from +Ceylon. What additional quantities are required for the especially +coffee-bibbing nations which lie between Ceylon and this country, +surpass all present calculation; enough, we should think, sails away +from this island in the course of every year, the transit of which to +its sea-board, would pay for a regular net-work of railways. + + + + +A BRETON WEDDING. + + +The customs and habits of the Bretons bear a close and striking +resemblance to those of their kindred race[10] in the principality of +Wales. + +When a marriage in Lower Brittany has been definitely resolved upon, the +bride makes choice of a bridesmaid, and the bridegroom of a groomsman. +These, accompanied by an inviter, or "bidder," as the personage is +called in Wales, bearing a long white wand, invite the members of their +respective families to the wedding. On so important and solemn an +occasion, no one is forgotten, however humble his condition in life may +happen to be; and in no country in the world are the ties of kindred so +strong as in Lower Brittany. + +These consequently include a very large circle; and it happens that the +task of "bidding" very frequently occupies many days. A thousand persons +have been known to assist at the wedding of a prosperous farmer. + +On the Sunday preceding the wedding-day, every one who has accepted the +invitation must send some present to the youthful pair, by one of their +farm servants, who has been very carefully dressed, in order to produce +a high idea of their consequence. These gifts are sometimes of +considerable value, but for the most part confined to some article of +domestic use, or of consumption on the wedding-day, which is usually +fixed for the following Tuesday. + +At an early hour of that day the young men assemble in a village near to +the residence of the bride, where the bridegroom meets them. As soon as +they are collected in sufficiently imposing numbers, they depart in +procession, preceded by the _basvalan_ (embassador of love), with a band +of music, of which the bagpipe is a conspicuous instrument, to take +possession of the bride. On arriving at the farm, every thing, save the +savage wolf-dogs, is in the most profound silence. The doors are closed, +and not a soul is to be seen; but on closely surveying the environs of +the homestead, there is sufficient indication of an approaching +festivity, chimneys and caldrons are smoking, and long tables ranged in +every available space. + +The _basvalan_ knocks loudly and repeatedly at the door, which at length +brings to the threshold the _brotaer_ (envoy of the bride's family), +who, with a branch of broom in his hand, replies in rhyme, and points +out to some neighboring chateau, where he assures the _basvalan_ such a +glorious train as his is sure to find welcome on account of its +unparalleled splendor and magnificence. This excuse having been +foreseen, the _basvalan_ answers his rival, verse for verse, compliment +for compliment, that they are in search of a jewel more brilliant than +the stars, and that it is hidden in that "palace." + +The _brotaer_ withdraws into the interior; but presently leads forth an +aged matron, and presents her as the only jewel which they possess. + +"Of a verity," retorts the _basvalan_, "a most respectable person; but +it appears to us that she is past her festal time; we do not deny the +merit of gray hair, especially when it is silvered by age and virtue; +but we seek something far more precious. The maiden we demand is at +least three times younger--try again--you can not fail to discover her +from the splendor which her unequaled beauty sheds around her." + +The _brotaer_ then brings forth, in succession, an infant in arms, a +widow, a married woman, and the bridesmaid; but the embassador always +rejects the candidates, though without wounding their feelings. At last +the dark-eyed blushing bride makes her appearance in her bridal attire. + +The party then enters the house, and the _brotaer_, falling on his +knees, slowly utters a _Pater_ for the living, and a _De Profundis_ for +the dead, and demands the blessing of the family upon the young maiden. +Then the scene, recently so joyous, assumes a more affecting character, +and the _brotaer_ is interrupted by sobs and tears. There is always some +sad episode in connection with all these rustic but poetic festivals in +Brittany. How many sympathies has not the following custom excited? At +the moment of proceeding to church, the mother severs the end of the +bride's sash, and addresses her: "The tie which has so long united us, +my child, is henceforward rent asunder, and I am compelled to yield to +another the authority which God gave me over thee. If thou art +happy--and may God ever grant it--this will be no longer thy home; but +should misfortune visit thee, a mother is still a mother, and her arms +ever open for her children. Like thee, I quitted my mother's side to +follow a husband. Thy children will leave thee in their turn. When the +birds are grown, the maternal nest can not hold them. May God bless +thee, my child, and grant thee as much consolation as he has granted +me!" The procession is then formed, and the cavalcade proceeds to the +parish church; but every moment it is interrupted in its progress by +groups of mendicants, who climb up the slopes bordering the roads--which +are extremely deep and narrow--to bar the passage by means of long +briars, well armed with prickly thorns, which they hold up before the +faces of the wedding party. The groomsman is the individual appointed to +lower these importunate barriers; which he does by casting among the +mendicants small pieces of money. He executes his commission with good +temper, and very frequently with liberality; but when the distance is +great, these fetters become so numerous that his duties grow exceedingly +wearisome and expensive. + +After the religious ceremony, comes the feast; which is one of the most +incredible things imaginable. Nothing can give an idea of the multitude +of guests, of all ages, and of each sex; they form a lively, variegated, +and confused picture. The tables having been laid out the previous day, +at the coppers, which are erected in the open air, all the neighbors, +and the invited, who have any pretension to the culinary art, are ready +with advice and assistance. It is curious to see them, in the blazing +atmosphere of the huge fires, watching enormous joints of meat and other +comestibles cooking in the numerous and vast utensils; nevertheless, +however zealous they may be, there are few who do not desert their post +when the firing of guns and the distant sound of the bagpipes announce +the return of the wedding procession. + +The newly married couple are at the head of the train, preceded by +pipers, and fiddlers, and single-stick players, who triumphantly lead +the way; the nearest relatives of the young pair next follow; then the +rest of the guests without order, rushing on helter-skelter, each in the +varied and picturesque costume of his district; some on foot, some on +horseback, most frequently two individuals on the same beast, the man +seated upon a stuffed pad which serves as a saddle, and the wife, with +arm around his waist, seated upon the crupper;--an every-day sight, not +many years ago, in the rural districts of England, when roads were bad, +and the gig and taxed-cart uninvented. The mendicants follow at their +heels by hundreds, to share the remnants of the feast. + +As soon as the confusion occasioned by the arrival of such a multitude +has subsided, the guests place themselves at the tables. These are +formed of rough and narrow planks, supported by stakes driven into the +ground, the benches constructed after the same fashion; and they are +raised in proportion to the height of the tables, so that you may have +your knees between your plate and yourself; if, in a real Breton +wedding, you happen to be supplied with such an article--for a luxury of +this description has not yet reached very far into Brittany: the soup is +eaten out of a wooden bowl, and the meat cut up and eaten in the hand, +or, as the phrase goes, "upon the thumb." Every individual, as a matter +of course, carries his own case or pocket knife; the liquids are served +in rude earthenware, and each drinks out of a cup apportioned to five or +six individuals. It is the height of civility to hand one's cup to a +neighbor, so that he may assist in emptying it; and a refusal would be +considered extremely rude and insolent. + +The husband and his immediate relatives are in waiting, and anticipate +every one's wants and wishes--pressing each to take care of himself: +they themselves share in no part of the entertainment, save the +compliments which are showered, and the cups of cider and wine which +civility obliges them to accept. After each course music strikes up, and +the whole assembly rise from the tables. One party gets up a +wrestling-match; the Bretons are as famous as their cousins in Cornwall +at this athletic game--or a match at single-stick; another a foot-race, +or a dance; while the dishes are collected together, and handed to the +hungry groups of mendicants who are seated in adjoining paddocks. From +the tables to rustic games, reels, gavottes, and jabadoos; then to the +tables again; and they continue in this manner till midnight announces +to the guests that it is time to retire. + +The company having diminished by degrees, at length leave the groomsman +and the bridesmaid the only strangers remaining, who are bound to +disappear the last, and put the bride and bridegroom, with due and +proper solemnity, to rest: they then retire singing "Veni Creator." In +some districts they are compelled, by custom, to watch during the whole +night in the bridal chamber; in others, they hold at the foot of the bed +a lighted candle, between the fingers, and do not withdraw until the +flame has descended to the palm of the hand. In another locality the +groom's-man is bound during the whole long night to throw nuts at the +husband, who cracks them, and gives the kernel to his bride to eat. The +festivity which a marriage occasions generally lasts three days, and, on +Friday, the youthful wife embraces the companions of her childhood and +bids them farewell, as if she never meant to return. Indeed, from the +period of marriage, a new life commences for the Breton, whose days of +single blessedness have been days of festivity and freedom; and it would +seem that when once the wedding-ring has been placed upon the finger, +her only business is the care of her household--her only delight, the +peace of her domestic hearth. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[10] Pitre-Chevalier says, in his "Brittany," ("_La Bretagne_") "We +Celts of Lower Brittany require nothing more to recognize as brothers +the primitive inhabitants of Wales, than the ability to salute them in +their maternal tongue, after a separation of more than a thousand +years." + + + + +[From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.] + +JOANNA BAILLIE. + + +Joanna Baillie was born in the year 1762, at the manse of Bothwell, in +Lanarkshire. Her father had just been translated from the parish of +Shotts to that of Bothwell; and on the very first day of the family's +removal into the new manse, while the furniture still lay tied up in +bundles on the floors, Mrs. Baillie was taken ill, probably from +over-fatigue, and was prematurely brought to bed of twin-daughters, one +of whom died in the birth, and the other, named Joanna--after her +maternal uncle, the celebrated John Hunter--lived for eighty-nine years, +and became the most celebrated of her race, and one of the most +celebrated women of her time. + +Those who like to trace the descent of fine qualities, will be +interested to know that Joanna's mother--herself a beautiful and +agreeable woman--was the only sister of those remarkable men, William +and John Hunter; and that her father, a clergyman of respectable +abilities, was of the same descent with that Baillie of Jarviswood who +nobly suffered for the religion and independence of his country. + +Although Mrs. Baillie was forty years of age when she married, she gave +birth to five children. Of these, three grew up: the eldest, Agnes who +still survives; the celebrated Matthew physician to George III.; and +Joanna. + +When Joanna was seven years old, her father removed to Hamilton. There +he was colleague to the Rev. Mr. Miller, father to the well-known +professor of law at Glasgow of that name, whose daughters were +throughout life among Joanna's most intimate and cherished friends. All +that is known of her before she quitted Bothwell seems to be, that she +was an active, sprightly child, fond of play, and very unfond of +lessons--the difficulty of fixing her attention long enough to enable +her to learn the alphabet having been in her case rather greater than it +is with ordinary children. At twelve years of age, though still no +scholar, she was a clever, lively, shrewd girl, and even then showed +something of the creative power for which she was afterward so +remarkable. Miss Miller well recollects being closeted with her and +other young companions for the purpose of hearing her narrate little +stories of her own invention, which she did in a graphic and amusing +manner. + +After being seven years at Hamilton, Mr. Baillie was promoted to the +chair of divinity in the University of Glasgow. There Joanna attended +Miss M'Intosh's boarding-school, and made some proficiency in the +accomplishments of music and drawing; for both of which she had a fine +taste, though it was never fully cultivated. A constant residence in the +crowded and smoky town of Glasgow would have proved very irksome to +those accustomed, like the Baillies, to the sweet, healthful seclusion +of a country manse; but they were never condemned to it. William Hunter, +then accoucheur to Queen Charlotte, and in good general practice as a +physician, was in possession of the little family property of Long +Calderwood in Lanarkshire; and being himself confined to London by his +professional duties, he invited his sister and her family to reside at +his house there during the summer months. Nothing could have been more +agreeable or beneficial to Joanna than this manner of life, had it +continued. Her father had now a sufficiently large income to enable him +to give his children the full advantage of the best teaching, and he was +most anxious that they should enjoy it. Unfortunately, he only survived +his removal to Glasgow two years; and by his premature death, his widow +and family were left not only entirely unprovided for, but in very +involved circumstances. The living at Hamilton had been too small to +admit of any thing being saved from it; and the expense of removing, the +purchase of furniture suitable to their new position, the repairing and +furnishing of the house at Long Calderwood, besides the increased cost +of living in a town, had in combination brought their family into an +expenditure which two years of an enlarged income were by no means +sufficient to meet. Dr. William Hunter came immediately to their +assistance. He was at that time fast acquiring the large fortune which +enabled him to leave behind him so noble a monument as the Hunterian +Museum in Glasgow. He generously settled an adequate income on his +sister and her family, and offered to relieve her mind by entirely +discharging her husband's liabilities. Here the widow and her +high-spirited young people had the opportunity of manifesting the true +delicacy and respectable pride which have ever distinguished the family. +They carefully avoided disclosing to their generous relative any thing +more than was unavoidable of these obligations, preferring, with noble +self-denial, and at the expense of being looked down upon as niggardly +and poor-spirited by neighbors who knew nothing of their motives, to pay +the remainder out of their moderate income. Such a trait as this is +surely well worth being recorded. + +Even after they were clear with the world, Mrs. Baillie and her +daughters continued to live in the strictest seclusion at Long +Calderwood. Soon after his father's death, young Matthew obtained a +Glasgow exhibition to Oxford; and having studied successfully there for +some years, joined his uncle William in London, for the purpose of +assisting him in his lectures. John Hunter, who had been originally +intended for a humbler occupation, had long before this time been called +to London by the successful William--had been brought forward by him in +the medical profession--and had, in a few months, acquired such a +knowledge of anatomy, as to be capable of demonstrating to the pupils in +the dissecting-room. His health having been impaired by intense study, +he had gone abroad for a year or two as staff-surgeon, and served in +Portugal. On his return to London, he had devoted his powerful energies +to the study of comparative anatomy, and before Matthew Baillie came to +London, had erected a menagerie at Brompton for carrying on that useful +branch of science. By his extraordinary genius, he subsequently rose to +be inspector-general of hospitals and surgeon-general, and became one of +the most famous men of his age. + +Agnes, the elder sister--Joanna's faithful and beloved companion through +a long life; and to whom, on entering her seventieth year, she addressed +the exquisite poem of the "Birthday"--which no one will ever read +unmoved--was very early an accomplished girl. Unlike Joanna, she had +always been a diligent, attentive scholar; and unlike her also, was +possessed of a remarkably retentive memory. In her companionship, and in +the entire leisure of her six years' seclusion among the picturesque +scenery of Long Calderwood, it may be supposed that Joanna's powerful +intellect would have been awakened, and her wonderfully fertile +imagination begun to assume some of those varied forms of truth and +beauty which have since impressed themselves so vividly on the hearts +and minds of her contemporaries. But like the graceful forms which the +eye of the young sculptor has only yet seen in vision, those divine +creations of her genius, before which the world was afterward to bow, +still slumbered in the marble. Her genius partook of the slow growth, as +well as the hardy vigor, of the pine-tree of her native rocks; but it +had inherent power to shoot its roots deep down in the human heart, and +to spread its branches toward the heavens in green and enduring beauty. +In these years (from her sixteenth to her twenty-second), the only +tendency she showed toward what afterward became the master-current of +her mind, was in being a fervent worshiper of Shakspeare. She carefully +studied select passages; delighted in getting her two favorite young +friends--Miss Miller, and the lively Miss Graham of Gairbraid--to take +different parts with her, and would so spout through a whole play with +infinite satisfaction. Still she was no general student; and we are +doubtful if at any time of her life she can be considered to have been a +_great_ reader. + +About a dozen years previous to his death, which took place in 1783, Dr. +William Hunter had completed his house in Great Windmill-street. He had +attached to it an anatomical theatre, apartments for lectures and +dissections, and a magnificent room as a museum. At his death, the use +of this valuable museum, which was destined ultimately to enrich the +city of Glasgow, was bequeathed for the term of twenty years to his +nephew Matthew, who had for some time past assisted him ably in his +anatomical lectures. Besides this valuable bequest, the small family +property of Long Calderwood was also left to Matthew Baillie, instead of +his uncle, John Hunter, who was the heir-at-law. William had taken +offense at his brother's marriage--not finding fault with his bride, who +was an estimable woman, the sister of Dr., afterward Sir Everard +Home--but, as it was whimsically said--disapproving of a philosopher +marrying at all! But, however this may have been, young Matthew, with +characteristic generosity, disliking to be enriched at the expense of +those among his kindred who seemed to him to have a nearer claim, +absolutely refused to take advantage of the bequest. The rejected little +property thus, after all, fell legally to John; and only on the death of +his son and daughter, a few years ago (without children), descended to +William, the only son of Dr. Matthew Baillie, as their heir. + +Soon after his uncle's death, Matthew, who had succeeded him as lecturer +on anatomy, and was rising fast in the esteem of his professional +brethren, prevailed on his mother and sisters to join him in London. +Their uncle had left them all a small independence, and there they lived +most happily with their brother in the house adjoining the museum, from +about the year 1784 to 1791, when he married Miss Denman, daughter of +Dr. Denman, and sister of Lord Denman, the late admirable lord +chief-justice. This marriage was productive of great happiness to +Joanna, as well as to her brother and the rest of the family. + +Throughout their lives the most tender affection subsisted among them +all. Mrs. Baillie and her daughters now retired to the country--at first +a little way up the Thames, then to Hythe, near Dover; but they did not +settle any where permanently till they located themselves in a pretty +cottage at Hampstead--that flowery, airy, charming retreat with which +Joanna's name has now been so long and so intimately associated. How +long she there courted the muses in secret is not known. Her reserved +nature and Scottish prudence at all events secured her from making any +display of their crude favors. Toward the end of the century she first +appears to have been quietly feeling her way toward the light. In +sending some books to Scotland, to her ever-dear friend Miss Graham, she +slipped into the parcel a small volume of poems, but without a hint as +to the authorship. The poems were chiefly of a light, unassuming, and +merry cast. They were read by Miss Graham, and others of her early +associates--freely discussed and criticised among them, and certainly +not much admired. Though light mirth and humor seem to have been more +the characteristics of her mind then than they were afterward, and +though Miss Graham remarked that there was a something in the little +poems that brought Joanna to her remembrance, still so improbable did it +seem, that no suspicion of their true origin suggested itself to any of +their thoughts. The authorship of this little volume was never claimed +by her; but some of the best poems and songs it contained, which were +afterward published in one of her works, at last disclosed the secret. + +In 1799, her thirty-eighth year, she gave to the world her first volume +of plays on the Passions. It contained her two great tragedies on love +and on hatred--"Basil" and "De Montfort;" and one comedy, also on +love--the "Tryal." They were prefaced by a long, plausible introductory +discourse, in which she explained that these formed but a small portion +of an extensive plan she had in view, hitherto unattempted in any +language, and for the accomplishment of which a lifetime would be +limited enough. Her project we must very shortly describe as a design to +write a series of plays, the chief object of which should be the +delineation of all the higher passions of the human breast--each play +exhibiting in the principal character some one great passion in all the +stages of its development, from its origin to its final catastrophe; and +in which, in order to produce the strongest moral effect, the aim should +be the expression and delineation of just sentiments and characteristic +truth, rather than of marvelous incident, novel situation, or beautiful +and sublime thought. + +Although published anonymously, this volume excited an immediate +sensation. In spite of theoretical limitations, it was found to be as +full of original power, and delicate poetical beauty, as of truth and +moral sentiment. Of course the authorship was keenly inquired into. As +the publication had been negotiated by the accomplished Mrs. John +Hunter--herself a follower of the muses, and the author of several +lyrical poems of great sweetness and beauty, which were set to music by +Haydn--the credit was at first naturally given to her. But Joanna's +incognito could not be long preserved; and the impression already made +was deepened by the discovery, that this skillful anatomist of the heart +of man, who had bodied forth creations bearing the stamp of lofty +intellect and most original power, was a woman still young, unlearned, +and so inexperienced in the world that it must have been chiefly to her +own imagination and feeling she owed the materials which, by the force +of her genius, she had thus so wonderfully combined into striking and +lifelike portraits. + +The band of distinguished persons--poets, wits, and philosophers--with +which the beginning of the century was enriched, now crowded eagerly to +welcome to their ranks this new and highly-gifted sister, and were +received by her with simple but dignified frankness. The gay and +fashionable also would fain have wooed her to lionize in their fevering +circles; but her well-balanced mind, and intuitive sense of what is +really best and most favorable to human happiness and progress, seem +from the first to have secured her youthful female heart from being +inflated by the incense offered to her on all sides. Though touched, and +deeply gratified by the warmly-expressed approbation of those among her +great contemporaries whose applause was fame, she could not be won from +the quiet healthful privacy of her life to join frequently even in the +brilliant society which now so gladly claimed her as one of its +brightest ornaments. Equally unspoiled and undistracted, she kept the +even tenor of her way. The tragedies contained in her first +volume--among the greatest efforts of her genius--were undoubtedly +written by her in the fond hope of their being acted. "To receive the +approbation of an audience of her countrymen," she confesses in the +preface, "would be more grateful to her than any other praise." +Believing that it is in the nature of man to delight in representations +of passion and character, she regarded the stage, when properly managed, +as an admirable organ for the instruction of the multitude; and that the +poetical teacher of morality and virtue could not better employ his high +powers than in supplying it with pieces the tendency of which would be, +while pleasing and amusing, to refine and elevate the mind. Mrs. Siddons +was then in the very zenith of her power; and it was a glimpse of that +splendid presence-- + + "So queenly, so commanding, and so noble"-- + +as it accidentally flashed upon her in turning the corner of a street, +to which Miss Baillie has always fondly ascribed her first conception of +the character of the pure, elevated, and noble Jane de Montfort. In +1800, the tragedy of "De Montfort" was adapted to the stage by John +Kemble, and brought out at Drury-lane theatre; and the gratification may +well be imagined with which the high-hearted poetess must have listened +to + + "Thoughts by the soul brought forth in silent joy-- + Words often muttered by the timid voice, + Tried by the nice ear delicate of choice;" + +as with their loftiest meanings heightened and spiritualized, she now +heard them poured forth in the deep eloquent tones of that incomparable +brother and sister! + +Her second volume of plays on the Passions appeared in 1802, and with +her name. It contained four plays: "The Election," a comedy upon hatred; +and two tragedies and a comedy on ambition--"Ethwald," in two parts, and +the "Second Marriage." Hitherto the fair authoress had received almost +unqualified praise. She was now to undergo the other ordeal of almost +unqualified censure. Since the publication of her first volume, the +"Edinburgh Review" had been established, and its brilliant young editor +had been suddenly, and almost by universal consent, promoted to the +chair, as the first of critics. Jeffrey's real gentleness of heart, and +lively sensibility to every form of literary beauty and excellence, are +now too generally admitted to require vindication here; but the lamblike +heart and kindly-indulgent feelings which in his middle and declining +years seemed to warm and brighten the very atmosphere in which he lived, +were at the beginning of his literary censorship carefully, and only too +successfully, concealed under the formidable beak and claws, as well as +the keen eye of the eagle. + +Starting with the idea that, above all things, it was his duty to guard +against false principles, the hymn of a seraph would probably have +jarred upon his ear if composed upon what he supposed to be mistaken +rules of art. He regarded Miss Baillie's project of confining the +interest of every piece to the development of a single passion as a +vicious system, by which her young and promising genius was likely to be +cabined and confined; and that if such fallacy in one so well calculated +to adorn the field of literature were met with indulgence, the result +might be to narrow and degrade it. It seemed to him little better than a +return to that barbarism which could unscrupulously extinguish the +eyesight, that the hearing might be more acute. His faith was too +catholic to brook the sectarian limitations which were involved in the +theory she had so boldly propounded. He therefore waged war against the +formidable heresy, cruelly, unsparingly; and if with something of the +heat and petulance of a boy, yet with an unerring dexterity of aim, and +a subtle poignancy of weapon, that could not fail to inflict both pain +and injury. Gentler practice would probably have been followed by a +better result. It is certain that Miss Baillie was hurt and offended by +the uncourteous castigation inflicted on her by her countryman, rather +than convinced by it that her notions were wrong. But the time happily +came when--with that clairvoyance which, though it may be denied for a +season, time and experience of life seldom fail to bestow in full +measure upon true genius--these two fine spirits were able to read each +other more clearly. + +A single volume of miscellaneous plays containing two tragedies and a +comedy by Miss Baillie's pen, appeared in 1804. These dramas--"Rayner," +"The Country Inn," and "Constantine Paleologus"--had been offered singly +to the theatres for representation, and been rejected. Though full of +eloquence, knowledge of human nature, and tragic power, they were found, +like all her plays, deficient in the lifelike movement and activity +indispensable to that perfectly successful theatrical effect which, +without an experimental acquaintance with the whole nature and artifices +of the stage has never been attained to even by the most gifted of pens. + +The first time Miss Baillie revisited her native country after her name +had become known to fame was in 1808. After exploring with a full heart +the often-recalled scenery of the Clyde, and the still dearer haunts of +the sweet Calder Water, she passed a couple of months in Edinburgh, +dividing her time between her old friends Miss Maxwell and Mrs. John +Thomson. She was somewhat changed since these friends had seen her last. +Her manner had become more silent and reserved. Mere acquaintances, or +strangers who had not the art of drawing forth the rich stream--ever +ready to flow if the rock were rightly struck--found her cold and +formidable. In external appearance the change was for the better. Her +early youth had neither bloomed with physical nor intellectual beauty; +but now, in her fine, healthy middle life, to the exquisite neatness of +form and limb, the powerful gray eye, and well-defined, noticeable +features she had always possessed, were added a graceful propriety of +movement, and a fine elevated, spiritual expression, which are far +beyond mere beauty. + +She had now the happiness of being personally made known to Sir Walter +Scott, who had always been an enthusiastic admirer of her genius, as she +of his. They had been too long congenial spirits not to become +immediately dear, personal friends. His noble poem of "Marmion," which +appeared during her stay, was read aloud by her for the first time to +her two friends Miss Miller and Miss Maxwell. In the introduction to the +third canto occurs that splendid tribute to her genius which, well-known +as it is, we can not resist quoting once more. The bard describes +himself as advised by a friend, since he will lend his hours to +thriftless rhyme, to + + "Restore the ancient tragic line, + And emulate the notes that rung + From the wild harp, which silent hung + By silver Avon's holy shore, + Till twice an hundred years rolled o'er; + When she, the bold enchantress, came, + With fearless hand and heart on flame! + From the pale willow snatch'd the treasure, + And swept it with a kinder measure, + Till Avon's swans, while rung the grove + With Montfort's hate and Basil's love, + Awakening at the inspired strain, + Deem'd their own Shakspeare lived again." + +Deeply gratified and touched as she must have been, the strong-minded +poetess was able to read these exquisite lines unfalteringly to the +end, and only lost her self-possession when one of her affectionate +friends rising, and throwing her arms round her, burst into tears of +delight. + +As she did not refuse to go into company, she could not be long in +Edinburgh without encountering Francis Jeffrey, the foremost man in the +bright train of _beaux-esprits_ which then adorned the society of the +Scottish capital. He would gladly have been presented to her; and if she +had permitted it, there is little doubt that in the eloquent flow of his +delightful and genial conversation, enough of the admiration he really +felt for her poetry must have been expressed, to have softened her into +listening at least with patience to his suggestions for her improvement. +But in vain did the friendly Mrs. Betty Hamilton (authoress of "The +Cottagers of Glenburnie") beg for leave to present him to her when they +met in her hospitable drawing-room; and equally in vain were the efforts +made by the good-natured Duchess of Gordon to bring about an +introduction which she knew was desired at least by one of the parties. +It was civilly but coldly declined by the poetess; and though the +dignified reason assigned was the propriety of leaving the critic more +entirely at liberty in his future strictures than an _acquaintance_ +might perhaps feel himself, there seems little reason to doubt that +soreness and natural resentment had something to do with the refusal. + +In 1809 her Highland play, the "Family Legend"--a tragedy founded on a +story of one of the M'Leans of Appin--was successfully produced in the +Edinburgh theatre. Sir Walter Scott, who took a lively interest in its +success, contributed the prologue, and Henry Mackenzie (the "Man of +Feeling") the epilogue. It was acted with great applause for fourteen +successive nights, and gave occasion for the passage of many pleasant +letters between Sir Walter and the authoress, afterward published by Mr. +Lockhart. In 1812 followed the third and last volume of her plays +illustrative of the higher passions of the mind. It contained four +plays--one in verse and one in prose on fear ("Orra" and the "Dream"); +the "Siege," a comedy on the same passion; and "The Beacon," a serious +musical drama--perhaps the most faultless of Miss Baillie's productions, +and generally allowed to be one of the most exquisite dramatic poems in +the English language. This fresh attempt, at the end of nine years, to +follow out, against all warning and advice, her narrow and objectionable +system of dramatic art, was certainly ill-judged. Of course it brought +upon the pertinacious theorist another tremendous broadside from the +provoked reviewer. But though we can sympathize in a considerable degree +with him in denouncing her whole scheme--and more bitterly than ever--as +perverse, fantastic, and utterly impracticable--it is not easy to +forgive the accusation so liberally added as to the execution--of +poverty of incident and diction, want of individual reality of +character, and the total absence of wit, humor, or any species of +brilliancy. That Miss Baillie's plays are better suited to the sober +perusal of the closet than the bustle and animation of the theatre must +at once be admitted; but we think nobody can read even a single volume +of these remarkable works, without finding in it, besides the good +sense, good feeling, and intelligent morality to which her formidable +critic is fretted into limiting her claims, abundant proof of that deep +and intuitive knowledge of the mystery of man's nature, which can alone +fit its possessor for the successful delineation of either wayward +passion or noble sacrifice--of skillful and original creative power--of +delicate discrimination of character--and of a command of simple, +forcible, and eloquent language, that has not often been equaled, and, +perhaps, never surpassed. + +But our limits forbid us to linger, and a mere enumeration of her +remaining productions is all they will permit. This is the less to be +regretted, that our object is rather to give a sketch, however slight +and imperfect, of her long and honored life, than to attempt a studied +analysis of works to which the world has long ago done justice. In 1821 +were published her "Metrical Legends of Exalted Character," the subjects +of which were--"Wallace, the Scottish Chief," "Columbus," and "Lady +Griseld Baillie." They are written in irregular verse, avowedly after +the manner of Scott, and are among the noblest of her productions. Some +fine ballads complete the volume. In 1823 appeared a volume of "Poetical +Miscellanies," which had been much talked of beforehand. It included, +besides some slight pieces by Mrs. Hemans and Miss Catherine Fanshaw, +Scott's fine dramatic sketch of "Macduff's Cross." "The Martyr," a +tragedy on religion, appeared in 1826. It was immediately translated +into the Cingalese language; and, flattered by the appropriation, Miss +Baillie, in 1828, published another tragedy--"The Bride," a story of +Ceylon, and dedicated in particular to the Cingalese. Of the three +volumes of dramas written many years before, but not published till +1836--though they were eagerly welcomed by the public, and greatly +admired as dramatic poems--only two, the tragedies of "Henriquez" and +"The Separation," have ever been acted. These, besides many charming +songs, sung by our greatest minstrels, and always listened to with +delight by the public, and a small volume of "Fugitive Verses," complete +the long catalogue of her successful labors. They were collected by +herself, and published, with many additions and corrections, in the +popular form of one monster volume, only a few weeks before her death. + +To return, for a brief space, to the course of her life. It was in the +autumn of 1820 that Miss Baillie paid her last visit to Scotland, and +passed those delightful days with Sir Walter Scott at Abbotsford, the +second of which is so pleasantly given in Mr. Lockhart's life of the +bard. Her friends again perceived a change in her manners. They had +become blander, and much more cordial. She had probably been now too +long admired and reverently looked up to, not to understand her own +position, and the encouragement which, essentially unassuming as she +was, would be necessary from her to reassure the timid and satisfy the +proud. She had magnanimously forgiven and lived down the unjust severity +of her Edinburgh critic, and now no longer refused to be made personally +known to him. He was presented to her by their mutual friend, the +amiable Dr. Morehead. They had much earnest and interesting talk +together, and from that hour to the end of their lives entertained for +each other a mutual and cordial esteem. After this Jeffrey seldom +visited London without indulging himself in a friendly pilgrimage to the +shrine of the secluded poetess; and it is pleasing to find him writing +of her in the following cordial way in later years: "_London, April_ 28, +1840.--I forgot to tell you that we have been twice out to Hampstead to +hunt out Joanna Baillie, and found her the other day as fresh, natural, +and amiable as ever--and as little like a Tragic Muse. Since old Mrs. +Brougham's death, I do not know so nice an old woman." And again, in +January 7, 1842--"We went to Hampstead, and paid a very pleasant visit +to Joanna Baillie, who is marvelous in health and spirits, and youthful +freshness and simplicity of feeling, and not a bit deaf, blind, or +torpid." + +About two years after her last visit to Scotland, Miss Baillie had the +grief of losing her brother and beloved friend, Dr. Matthew Baillie, +who, after a life of remarkable activity and usefulness, died full of +honors in 1823. He left, besides a widow, who long survived him, a son +and daughter, who with their families have been the source of much +delightful and affectionate interest to the declining years of the +retired sisters. In the composition and careful revisal of her numerous +and varied works--in receiving at her modest home the friends she most +loved and respected, a list of whom would include many of the best-known +names of her time for talent and genius--in the active exercise of +friendship, benevolence, and charity--ever contented with the lot +assigned to her, and as grateful for the enjoyment of God's blessings as +she was submissive to his painful trials--her unusually complete life +glided calmly on, and was peacefully closed on the 23d of February last. + +It will be easily believed, that in spite of all the natural modesty and +reserve of Miss Baillie's character, the impression made by the +appearance of one so highly gifted on those who had the happiness of +being admitted to her intimacy, was neither slight nor evanescent. +"Dear, venerable Joanna!" writes one of those, "I wish I could, for my +own or others' benefit, recall, and in any way fix, the features of your +countenance and mind! The ever-thoughtful brow--the eye that in old age +still dilated with expression, or was suffused with a tear. I never +felt afraid of her. How could I, having experienced nothing but the most +constant kindness and indulgence? I had heard of the 'awful stillness of +the Hampstead drawing-room;' and when I first saw her in her own quiet +home (she must have been then bordering on seventy, and I on twenty), I +remember likening myself to the devil in Milton. I felt 'how awful +goodness is--and virtue in her shape, how lovely!' One could not help +feeling a constant reverence for her worth, even more than an admiration +of her intellectual gifts. There was something, indeed, in her +appearance that quite contrasted with one's ideas of authorship, which +made one forget her works in her presence--nay, almost wonder if the +neat, precise old maid before one could really be the same person who +had painted the warm passion of a Basil, or soared to and sympathized +with the ambition of a Mohammed or a Paleologus." + +In a little tract, published about twenty years before her death, she +indicates her religious creed. After studying the Scriptures +carefully--examining the gospels and epistles, and comparing them with +one another, which she thinks is all the unlearned can do--she +faithfully sets down every passage relating to the divinity and mission +of Christ; and, looking to the bearing of the whole, is able to rest her +mind upon the Arian doctrine, which supposes Him to be "a most +highly-gifted Being, who was with God before the creation of the world, +and by whose agency it probably was created, by power derived from +Almighty God." That she was no bigoted sectarian in religion, whatever +she may once have been in poetry, is pleasingly shown by the following +sentences. They occur in a letter to her ever esteemed and admired +friend Mrs. Siddons, to whom she had sent a copy of this tract. They do +honor to both the ladies:--"You have treated my little book very +handsomely, and done all that I wish people to do in regard to it; for +you have read the passages from Scripture, I am sure, with attention, +and have considered them with candor. That after doing so, your +opinions, on the main point, should be different from mine, is no +presumption that either of us is in the wrong, or that our humble, +sincere faith, though different, will not be equally accepted by the +great father and master of us all. Indeed, this tract was less intended +for Christians, whose faith is already fixed, than for those who, +supposing certain doctrines to be taught in Scripture (which do not, +when taken in one general view, appear to be taught there), and which +they can not bring their minds to agree to, throw off revealed religion +altogether. No part of your note, my dear madam, has pleased me more +than that short parenthesis ('for I still hold fast my own faith without +wavering'), and long may this be the case! The fruits of that faith, in +the course of your much-tried and honorable life, are too good to allow +any one to find fault with it." + + + + +A VISIT AT MR. WEBSTER'S.[11] + + +We have been much charmed with our visit to Green Harbor, Marshfield, +the beautiful domain of Mr. Webster. It is a charming and particularly +enjoyable place, almost close to the sea. The beach here is something +marvelous, eight miles in breadth, and of splendid, hard, floor-like +sand, and when this is covered by the rolling Atlantic, the waves all +but come up to the neighboring green, grassy fields. Very high tides +cover them. + +This house is very prettily fitted up. It strikes me as being partly in +the English and partly in the French style, exceedingly comfortable, and +with a number of remarkably pretty drawing-rooms opening into one +another, which always is a judicious arrangement I think; it makes a +party agreeable and unformal. There are a variety of pictures and busts +by American artists, and some of them are exceedingly good. There is a +picture in the chief drawing-room of Mr. Webster's gallant son, who was +killed in the Mexican war. The two greatest of America's statesmen each +lost a son in that war, Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster. There is also a fine +picture of Mr. Webster himself, which, however, though a masterly +painting, does not do justice to the distinguished original. It was +executed some years ago; but I really think it is not so handsome as the +great statesman is now, with his Olympus-like brow, on which are throned +such divinities of thought, and with that wonderful countenance of might +and majesty. + +The dining-room here is a charming apartment, with all its windows +opening to the ground, looking on the garden; and it is deliciously +cool, protected from the sun by the overshadowing masses of foliage of +the most magnificent weeping (American) elms. These colossal trees stand +just before the house, and are pre-eminently beautiful: they seem to +unite in their own gigantic persons the exquisite and exceeding grace of +the weeping willow, with the strength and grandeur of the towering elm. +I was told a curious fact last night. Every where, through the length +and breadth of the States, the sycamore trees this year are blighted and +dying. + +The walls of the dining-room are adorned chiefly with English +engravings, among which there is one of my father. My bed-room is +profusely decorated with prints of different English country houses and +castles. The utmost good taste and refinement are perceptible in the +arrangements of the house, and a most enchanting place of residence it +is. All the domestics of the house are colored persons, which is very +seldom indeed the case in this part of the United States. Mr. Webster +tells me he considers them the best possible servants, much attached, +contented, and grateful, and he added, he would "fearlessly trust them +with _untold gold_." They certainly must be good ones, to judge by the +exquisite neatness and order of every thing in the establishment. + +Mr. Webster's farm here consists of one thousand five hundred acres: he +has a hundred head of cattle. + +Mr. F. Webster has been a good deal in India, and he was mentioning the +other evening that he was struck, in several of the English schools in +that country, by the tone of some political lessons that were taught +there. For instance, with regard to freedom and representation of the +people, &c.; the natives were forcibly reminded of their own +unrepresented state, by questions bearing on the subject--the United +States being instanced as an example of almost universal suffrage; Great +Britain itself of a less extensive elective franchise; France, of +whatever France was then; and Hindostan _especially_ pointed out as +having nothing of the kind, as if they really wished to make the poor +Hindoos discontented with their present state. To be sure they might as +well go to Persia and Turkey for their examples. Mr. F. Webster seemed +to think the Hindoos were beginning a little to turn their thoughts to +such political subjects. + +While we were at dinner a day or two ago, a new guest, who had arrived +rather late from New York, walked in, being announced as a general. He +was a very military-looking man, indeed, with a formidable pair of +mustaches. Some turn in the conversation reminding me of the Mexican +war, I asked if General ---- had served in Mexico. Mr. ---- laughed, and +told me he was in the militia, and had never smelt powder in his life. + +What enterprising travelers American ladies sometimes are! My +Atlantic-crossing performances seem very little in comparison with some +of their expeditions. It would not surprise me that any who have ever +gone to settle in the far-off portions of the country, and been doomed +to undergo such rugged experiences as those described in the American +work (by a lady) called "A New Home, Who'll Follow?" should laugh at +hardships and discomforts which might reasonably deter less seasoned and +experienced travelers; but it must be a very different case with those +habituated only to refinements and luxuries. Mr. Webster had told me he +had expected for some little time past the arrival of a lady, a relative +of his, who had lately left China for the United States; she was to +leave her husband in the Celestial flowery land, her intention being, I +believe, to see her relatives and friends at home, and then to rejoin +him in the course of some months in China. + +Like the gallant chieftain spoken of before, he arrived late, and during +dinner the doors were thrown open and "Mrs. P----, from China," was +announced. She came in, and met her relatives and friends, as quietly as +if she had merely made a "petite promenade de quinze jours" (as the +French boasted they should do when they went to besiege Antwerp). She +seated herself at table, when a few questions were asked relative to her +voyage. + +"Had you a good passage?" + +"Very--altogether." + +"How long?" + +"About one hundred and three days" (I think this is correct, but I can +not answer to a day). + +"Pleasant companions?" + +"Very much so, and with books the time passed very agreeably." + +All this was as quietly discussed as if the passage had been from Dover +to Boulogne, and the length of the time of absence a fortnight. + +Mr. Webster was good enough to drive me out yesterday, and a most +splendid drive we had. At one part, from a rather high eminence, we had +a glorious panoramic view: it was really sublime: ocean, forest, hill, +valley, promontory, river, field, glade, and hollow, were spread before +us; altogether they formed a truly magnificent prospect. One almost +seemed to be looking into boundless space. We paused at this spot a +little while to admire the beautiful scene. How meet a companion the +giant Atlantic seemed for that mighty mind, to some of whose noble +sentiments I had just been listening with delight and veneration, and +yet how far beyond the widest sweep of ocean, is the endless expanse of +the immortal intellect--time-overcoming--creation-compelling! + +However, while I was thus up in the clouds, they (condescendingly +determining, I suppose, to return my call) suddenly came down upon us, +and unmercifully. St. Swithin! what a rain it was! The Atlantic +is a beautiful object to look at, but when either he, or some +cousin-german above, takes it into his head to act the part of +shower-bath-extraordinary to you, it is not so pleasant. My thoughts +immediately fled away from ocean (except the _descending_ one), forest, +hill, dale, and all the circumjacent scenery, to centre ignominiously on +my bonnet, to say nothing of the tip of my nose, which was drenched and +drowned completely in a half second. My vail--humble defense against the +fury of the elements!--accommodated its dripping self to the features of +my face, like the black mask of some desperate burglar, driven against +it, also, by the wind, that blew a "few," I can assure the reader. + +How Mr. Webster contrived to drive, I know not, but drive he did, at a +good pace too, for "after us," indeed, was "the deluge;" I could +scarcely see him; a wall of water separated us, but ever and anon I +heard faintly, through the hissing, and splashing, and lashing, and +pattering of the big rain, his deep, sonorous voice, recommending me to +keep my cloak well about me, which no mortal cloak of any spirit will +ever allow you to do at such needful moments--not it! "My kingdom for a +pin." + +When we arrived at Green Harbour, we found Mrs. Webster very anxious for +the poor rain-beaten wayfarers. She took every kind care of me, and, +except a very slight _soupcon_ of a cold, the next morning, I did not +suffer any inconvenience. Mr. Webster had complained of not being very +well before (I think a slight attack of hay-asthma), but I was glad to +meet him soon afterward at dinner, not at all the worse for the +tempestuous drive; and for my part, I could most cordially thank him for +the glorious panorama he had shown me, and the splendid drive through +what seemed almost interminable woods: and (since we had got safely +through it), I was not sorry to have witnessed the very excellent +imitation of the Flood which had been presented before (and some of it +into) my astonished eyes. Mr. Webster told me the drive through the +woods would have been extended, but for the rain, ten miles! + +I can not describe to you the almost adoration with which Mr. Webster is +regarded in New England. The newspapers chronicle his every movement, +and constantly contain anecdotes respecting him, and he invariably is +treated with the greatest respect by everybody, and, in fact, his +intellectual greatness seems all but worshiped. Massachusetts boasts, +with a commendable pride and exultation, that he is one of her children. +A rather curious anecdote has been going the round of the papers lately. +It appears Mr. Webster was at Martha's Vineyard a short time ago, and he +drove up to the door of the principal hotel, at Edgartown, the capital, +accompanied by some of his family, and attended, as usual, by his +colored servants. Now, it must be observed that Mr. Webster has a +swarthy, almost South-Spanish complexion, and when he put his head out +of the window and inquired for apartments, the keeper of the hotel, +casting dismayed glances, first at the domestics of different shades of +sable and mahogany, and then at the fine dark face of Mr. Webster, +excused himself from providing them with accommodation, declaring he +made it a rule never to receive any _colored persons_. (This in New +England, if the tale be true!). The great statesman and his family were +about to seek for accommodation elsewhere--thinking the hotel-keeper +alluded to his servants--when the magical name of "glorious Dan" +becoming known, mine host, penitent and abashed, after profuse +apologies, intreated him to honor his house with his presence. "All's +well that ends well." + +One can not wonder at the Americans' extreme admiration of the genius +and the statesman-like qualities of their distinguished countryman, his +glorious and electrifying eloquence, his great powers of ratiocination, +his solid judgment, his stores of knowledge, and his large and +comprehensive mind--a mind of that real expansion and breadth which, +heaven knows, too few public men can boast of. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[11] From Lady Emeline Stuart Wortley's "Travels in the United States in +1849-50," in the press of Harper and Brothers. + + + + +THE JEWELED WATCH. + + +Among the many officers who, at the close of the Peninsular war, retired +on half-pay, was Captain Dutton of the --th regiment. He had lately +married the pretty, portionless daughter of a deceased brother officer; +and filled with romantic visions of rural bliss and "love in a cottage," +the pair, who were equally unskilled in the practical details of +housekeeping, fancied they could live in affluence, and enjoy all the +luxuries of life, on the half-pay which formed their sole income. + +They took up their abode near a pleasant town in the south of England, +and for a time got on pretty well; but when at the end of the first year +a sweet little boy made his appearance, and at the end of the second an +equally sweet little girl, they found that nursemaids, baby-linen, +doctors, and all the etceteras appertaining to the introduction and +support of these baby-visitors, formed a serious item in their yearly +expenditure. + +For a while they struggled on without falling into debt; but at length +their giddy feet slipped into that vortex which has engulfed so many, +and their affairs began to assume a very gloomy aspect. About this time +an adventurer named Smith, with whom Captain Dutton became casually +acquainted, and whose plausible manners and appearance completely +imposed on the frank, unsuspecting soldier, proposed to him a plan for +insuring, as he represented it, a large and rapid fortune. This was to +be effected by embarking considerable capital in the manufacture of some +new kind of spirit-lamps, which Smith assured the captain would, when +once known, supersede the use of candles and oil-lamps throughout the +kingdom. + +To hear him descant on the marvelous virtues and money-making qualities +of his lamp, one would be inclined to take him for the lineal descendant +of Aladdin, and inheritor of that scampish individual's precious +heirloom. Our modern magician, however, candidly confessed that he still +wanted the "slave of the lamp," or, in other words, ready money, to set +the invention a-going; and he at length succeeded in persuading the +unlucky captain to sell out of the army, and invest the price of his +commission in this luminous venture. If Captain Dutton had refused to +pay the money until he should be able to pronounce correctly the name of +the invention, he would have saved his cash, at the expense probably of +a semi-dislocation of his jaws; for the lamp rejoiced in an eight +syllabled title, of which each vocable belonged to a different +tongue--the first being Greek, the fourth Syriac, and the last taken +from the aboriginal language of New Zealand; the intervening sounds +believed to be respectively akin to Latin, German, Sanscrit, and Malay. +Notwithstanding, however, this _prestige_ of a name, the lamp was a +decided failure: its light was brilliant enough; but the odor it exhaled +in burning was so overpowering, so suggestive of an evil origin, so +every way abominable, that those adventurous purchasers who tried it +once, seldom submitted their olfactory nerves to a second ordeal. The +sale and manufacture of the lamp and its accompanying spirit were +carried on by Mr. Smith alone in one of the chief commercial cities of +England, he having kindly arranged to take all the trouble off his +partner's hands, and only requiring him to furnish the necessary funds. +For some time the accounts of the business transmitted to Captain Dutton +were most flourishing, and he and his gentle wife fondly thought they +were about to realize a splendid fortune for their little ones; but at +length they began to feel anxious for the arrival of the cent.-per-cent. +profits which had been promised, but which never came; and Mr. Smith's +letters suddenly ceasing, his partner one morning set off to inspect the +scene of operations. + +Arrived at L----, he repaired to the street where the manufactory was +situated, and found it shut up! Mr. Smith had gone off to America, +considerably in debt to those who had been foolish enough to trust him; +and leaving more rent due on the premises than the remaining stock in +trade of the unpronounceable lamp would pay. As to the poor ex-captain, +he returned to his family a ruined man. + +But strength is often found in the depths of adversity, courage in +despair; and both our hero and his wife set resolutely to work to +support themselves and their children. Happily they owed no debts. On +selling out, Captain Dutton had honorably paid every farthing he owed in +the world before intrusting the remainder of his capital to the +unprincipled Smith; and now this upright conduct was its own reward. + +He wrote a beautiful hand, and while seeking some permanent employment, +earned a trifle occasionally by copying manuscripts, and engrossing in +an attorney's office. His wife worked diligently with her needle; but +the care of a young family, and the necessity of dispensing with a +servant, hindered her from adding much to their resources. +Notwithstanding their extreme poverty, they managed to preserve a decent +appearance, and to prevent even their neighbors from knowing the straits +to which they were often reduced. Their little cottage was always +exquisitely clean and neat; and the children, despite of scanty +clothing, and often insufficient food, looked as they were, the sons and +daughters of a gentleman. + +It was Mrs. Dutton's pride to preserve the respectable appearance of her +husband's wardrobe; and often did she work till midnight at turning his +coat and darning his linen, that he might appear as usual among his +equals. She often urged him to visit his former acquaintances, who had +power to befriend him, and solicit their interest in obtaining some +permanent employment; but the soldier, who was as brave as a lion when +facing the enemy, shrank with the timidity of a girl from exposing +himself to the humiliation of a refusal, and could not bear to confess +his urgent need. He had too much delicacy to press his claims; he was +too proud to be importunate; and so others succeeded where he failed. + +It happened that the general under whom he had served, and who had lost +sight of him since his retirement from the service, came to spend a few +months at the watering-place near which the Duttons resided, and hired +for the season a handsome furnished house. Walking one morning on the +sands, in a disconsolate mood, our hero saw, with surprise, his former +commander approaching; and with a sudden feeling of false shame, he +tried to avoid a recognition. But the quick eye of General Vernon was +not to be eluded, and intercepting him with an outstretched hand, he +exclaimed--"What, Dutton! is that you? It seems an age since we met. +Living in this neighborhood, eh?" + +"Yes, general; I have been living here since I retired from the +service." + +"And you sold out, I think--to please the mistress, I suppose, Dutton? +Ah! these ladies have a great deal to answer for. Tell Mrs. Dutton I +shall call on her some morning, and read her a lecture for taking you +from us." + +Poor Dutton's look of confusion, as he pictured the general's visit +surprising his wife in the performance of her menial labors, rather +surprised the veteran; but its true cause did not occur to him. He had +had a great regard for Dutton, considering him one of the best and +bravest officers under his command, and was sincerely pleased at meeting +him again; so, after a ten minutes' colloquy, during the progress of +which the ex-soldier, like a war-horse who pricks up his ears at the +sound of the trumpet, became gay and animated, as old associations of +the camp and field came back on him, the general shook him heartily by +the hand, and said--"You'll dine with me to-morrow, Dutton, and meet a +few of your old friends? Come, I'll take no excuse; you must not turn +hermit on our hands." + +At first Dutton was going to refuse, but on second thoughts accepted the +invitation, not having, indeed, any good reason to offer for declining +it. Having taken leave of the general, therefore, he proceeded toward +home, and announced their rencontre to his wife. She, poor woman, +immediately took out his well-saved suit, and occupied herself in +repairing, as best she might, the cruel ravages of time; as well as in +starching and ironing an already snowy shirt to the highest degree of +perfection. + +Next day, in due time, he arrived at General Vernon's handsome temporary +dwelling, and received a cordial welcome. A dozen guests, civilians as +well as soldiers, sat down to a splendid banquet. After dinner, the +conversation happened to turn on the recent improvements in arts and +manufactures; and comparisons were drawn between the relative talent for +invention displayed by artists of different countries. Watch-making +happening to be mentioned as one of the arts which had during late years +been wonderfully improved, the host desired his valet to fetch a most +beautiful little watch, a perfect _chef-d'oeuvre_ of workmanship, which +he had lately purchased in Paris; and which was less valuable for its +richly jeweled case, than for the exquisite perfection of the mechanism +it enshrined. The trinket passed from hand to hand, and was greatly +admired by the guests; then the conversation turned on other topics, +and many subjects were discussed, until they adjourned to the +drawing-room to take coffee. + +After sitting there a while, the general suddenly recollected his watch, +and ringing for his valet, desired him to take it from the dining-room +table, where it had been left, and restore it to its proper place. In a +few moments the servant returned, looking somewhat frightened: he could +not find the watch. General Vernon, surprised, went himself to search, +but was not more fortunate. + +"Perhaps, sir, you or one of the company may have carried it by mistake +into the drawing-room?" + +"I think not; but we will try." + +Another search, in which all the guests joined, but without avail. + +"What I fear," said the general, "is that some one by chance may tread +upon and break it." + +General Vernon was a widower, and this costly trinket was intended as a +present to his only child, a daughter, who had lately married a wealthy +baronet. + +"We will none of us leave this room until it is found!" exclaimed one of +the gentlemen with ominous emphasis. + +"That decision," said a young man, who was engaged that night to a ball, +"might quarter us on our host for an indefinite time. I propose a much +more speedy and satisfactory expedient: let us all be searched." + +This suggestion was received with laughter and acclamations; and the +young man, presenting himself as the first victim, was searched by the +valet, who, for the nonce, enacted the part of custom-house officer. The +general, who at first opposed this piece of practical pleasantry, ended +by laughing at it; and each new inspection of pockets produced fresh +bursts of mirth. Captain Dutton alone took no share in what was going +on: his hand trembled, his brow darkened, and he stood as much apart as +possible. At length his turn came; the other guests had all displayed +the contents of their pockets, so with one accord, and amid renewed +laughter, they surrounded him, exclaiming that he must be the guilty +one, as he was the last. The captain, pale and agitated, muttered some +excuses, unheard amid the uproar. + +"Now for it, Johnson!" cried one to the valet. + +"Johnson, we're watching you!" said another; "produce the culprit." + +The servant advanced; but Dutton crossing his arms on his breast, +declared in an agitated voice, that, except by violence, no one should +lay a hand on him. A very awkward silence ensued, which the general +broke by saying: "Captain Dutton is right; this child's play has lasted +long enough. I claim exemption for him and for myself." + +Dutton, trembling and unable to speak, thanked his kind host by a +grateful look, and then took an early opportunity of withdrawing; +General Vernon did not make the slightest remark on his departure, and +the remaining guests, through politeness, imitated his reserve; but the +mirth of the evening was gone, every face looked anxious, and the host +himself seemed grave and thoughtful. + +Captain Dutton spent some time in wandering restlessly on the sands +before he returned home. It was late when he entered the cottage, and +his wife could not repress an exclamation of affright when she saw his +pale and troubled countenance. + +"What has happened?" cried she. + +"Nothing," replied her husband, throwing himself on a chair, and laying +a small packet on the table. "You have cost me very dear," he said, +addressing it. In vain did his wife try to soothe him, and obtain an +explanation. "Not now, Jane," he said; "to-morrow we shall see. +To-morrow I will tell you all." + +Early next morning he went to General Vernon's house. Although he walked +resolutely, his mind was sadly troubled. How could he present himself? +In what way would he be received? How could he speak to the general +without risking the reception of some look or word which he could never +pardon? The very meeting with Johnson was to be dreaded. + +He knocked; another servant opened the door, and instantly gave him +admission. "_This_ man, at all events," he thought, "knows nothing of +what has passed." Will the general receive him? Yes; he is ushered into +his dressing-room. Without daring to raise his eyes, the poor man began +to speak in a low hurried voice. + +"General Vernon, you thought my conduct strange last night; and painful +and humiliating as its explanation will be, I feel it due to you and to +myself to make it--" + +His auditor tried to speak, but Dutton went on, without heeding the +interruption. "My misery is at its height: that is my only excuse. My +wife and our four little ones are actually starving!" + +"My friend!" cried the general with emotion. But Dutton proceeded. + +"I can not describe my feelings yesterday while seated at your luxurious +table. I thought of my poor Jane, depriving herself of a morsel of bread +to give it to her baby; of my little pale thin Annie, whose delicate +appetite rejects the coarse food which is all we can give her; and in an +evil hour I transferred two _pates_ from my plate to my pocket, thinking +they would tempt my little darling to eat. I should have died of shame +had these things been produced from my pocket, and your guests and +servant made witnesses of my cruel poverty. Now, general, you know all; +and but for the fear of being suspected by you of a crime, my distress +should never have been known!" + +"A life of unblemished honor," replied his friend, "has placed you above +the reach of suspicion; besides, look here!" And he showed the missing +watch. "It is I," continued he, "who must ask pardon of you all. In a +fit of absence I had dropped it into my waistcoat pocket, where, in +Johnson's presence, I discovered it while undressing." + +"If I had only known!" murmured poor Dutton. + +"Don't regret what has occurred," said the general, pressing his hand +kindly. "It has been the means of acquainting me with what you should +never have concealed from an old friend, who, please God, will find some +means to serve you." + +In a few days Captain Dutton received another invitation to dine with +the general. All the former guests were assembled, and their host, with +ready tact, took occasion to apologize for his strange forgetfulness +about the watch. Captain Dutton found a paper within the folds of his +napkin: it was his nomination to an honorable and lucrative post, which +insured competence and comfort to himself and his family. + + + + +NEW PROOF OF THE EARTH'S ROTATION. + + +"The earth does move notwithstanding," whispered Galileo, leaving the +dungeon of the Inquisition: by which he meant his friends to understand, +that if the earth did move, the fact would remain so in spite of his +punishment. But a less orthodox assembly than the conclave of Cardinals +might have been staggered by the novelty of the new philosophy. +According to Laplace, the apparent diurnal phenomena of the heavens +would be the same either from the revolution of the sun or the earth; +and more than one reason made strongly in favor of the prevalent opinion +that the earth, not the sun, was stationary. First, it was most +agreeable to the impression of the senses; and next, to disbelieve in +the fixity of the solid globe, was not only to eject from its pride of +place our little planet, but to disturb the long-cherished sentiment +that we ourselves are the centre--the be-all and end-all of the +universe. However, the truth will out; and this is its great distinction +from error, that while every new discovery adds to its strength, +falsehood is weakened and at last driven from the field. + +That the earth revolves round the sun, and rotates on its polar axis, +have long been the settled canons of our system. But the rotation of the +earth has been rendered _visible_ by a practical demonstration, which +has drawn much attention in Paris, and is beginning to excite interest +in this country. The inventor is M. Foucault; and the following +description has been given of the mode of proof: + +"At the centre of the dome of the Pantheon a fine wire is attached, from +which a sphere of metal, four or five inches in diameter, is suspended +so as to hang near the floor of the building. This apparatus is put in +vibration after the manner of a pendulum. Under and concentrical with +it, is placed a circular table, some twenty feet in diameter, the +circumference of which is divided into degrees, minutes, &c., and the +divisions numbered. Now, supposing the earth to have the diurnal motion +imputed to it, and which explains the phenomena of day and night, the +plane in which this pendulum vibrates will not be affected by this +motion, but the table over which the pendulum is suspended will +continually change its position in virtue of the diurnal motion, so as +to make a complete revolution round its centre. Since, then, the table +thus revolves, and the pendulum which vibrates over it does not revolve, +the consequence is, that a line traced upon the table by a point +projecting from the bottom of the ball will change its direction +relatively to the table from minute to minute and from hour to hour, so +that if such point were a pencil, and that paper were spread upon the +table, the course formed by this pencil would form a system of lines +radiating from the centre of the table. The practiced eye of a correct +observer, especially if aided by a proper optical instrument, may +actually see the motion which the table has in common with the earth +under the pendulum between two successive vibrations. It is, in fact, +apparent that the ball, or rather the point attached to the bottom of +the ball, does not return precisely to the same point of the +circumference of the table after two successive vibrations. Thus is +rendered visible the motion which the table has in common with the +earth." + +Crowds are said to flock daily to the Pantheon to witness this +interesting experiment. It has been successfully repeated at the Russell +Institution, and preparations are being made in some private houses for +the purpose. A lofty staircase or room twelve or fourteen feet high +would suffice; but the dome of St. Paul's, or, as suggested by Mr. +Sylvestre in the _Times_, the transept of the Crystal Palace, offers the +most eligible site. The table would make its revolution at the rate of +15 deg. per hour. Explanations, however, will be necessary from lecturers +and others who give imitations of M. Foucault's ingenuity, to render it +intelligible to those unacquainted with mathematics, or with the laws of +gravity and spherical motion. For instance, it will not be readily +understood by every one why the pendulum should vibrate in the same +plane, and not partake of the earth's rotation in common with the table; +but this could be _shown_ with a bullet suspended by a silk-worm's +thread. Next, the apparent horizontal revolution of the table round its +centre will be incomprehensible to many, as representative of its own +and the earth's motion round its axis. Perhaps Mr. Wyld's colossal globe +will afford opportunities for simplifying these perplexities to the +unlearned. + +The pendulum is indeed an extraordinary instrument, and has been a +useful handmaid to science. We are familiar with it as the +time-regulator of our clocks, and the ease with which they may be made +to go faster or slower by adjusting its length. But neither this nor the +Pantheon elucidation constitutes its sole application. By it the +latitude maybe approximately ascertained, the density of the earth's +strata in different places, and its elliptical eccentricity of figure. +The noble Florentine already quoted was its inventor; and it is related +of Galileo, while a boy, that he was the first to observe how the height +of the vaulted roof of a church might be measured by the times of the +vibration of the chandeliers suspended at different altitudes. Were the +earth perforated from London to our antipodes, and the air exhausted, a +ball dropped through would at the centre acquire a velocity sufficient +to carry it to the opposite side, whence it would again descend, and so +oscillate forward and backward from one side of the globe's surface to +the other in the manner of a pendulum. Very likely the Cardinals of the +Vatican would deem this heresy, or "flat blasphemy." + +To clearly appreciate the following popular explanation, it will be +necessary for the reader to convince himself of one property of the +pendulum, viz., that of constantly vibrating in the same plane. Let it +be imagined that a pendulum is suspended over a common table, _the parts +bearing the pendulum being also attached to the table_. Suppose, also, +that the table can move freely on its centre like a music-stool: the +pendulum being put in motion will continue to move in the same plane +between the eye and any object on the walls of the room, although the +table is made to revolve, and during one revolution will have _radiated_ +through the whole circumference. A few moments' reflection are only +necessary to prove this. + +[Illustration: FIGURE 1. Rotation of the earth--Diagram 1] + +The above figure represents a plane or table on the top of a globe, or +at the north pole of the earth. To this table are fixed two rods, from +which is suspended a pendulum, moving freely in any direction. The +pendulum is made to vibrate in the path _a b_; it will continue to +vibrate in this line, and have no apparent circular or angular motion +until the globe revolves, when it will appear to have vibrated through +the entire circle, _to an object fixed on the table and moving with it_. +It is scarcely necessary to say the circular motion of the pendulum is +only apparent, since it is the table that revolves--the apparent motion +of the pendulum in a circle being the same as the apparent motion of the +land to a person on board ship, or the recession of the earth to a +person in a balloon. The pendulum vibrates always in the same plane at +the pole, and in planes parallel to each other at any intermediate +point. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2. Rotation of the earth--Diagram 2] + +Fig. 2 represents the earth or a globe revolving once in twenty-four +hours on its axis (S N). It is divided, on its upper half, by lines +parallel to each other, representing the latitudes 60 degrees, 30 +degrees, and the equator, where the latitude is nothing. The lines _a +b_, at 90, 60, 30, and 0 represent the planes of those latitudes; or, in +more familiar terms, tables, over which a pendulum is supposed to +vibrate, and moving with them in their revolutions round the axis (S N). +This being clearly understood, the next object is to show how the +pendulum moves round the tables, for each of the latitudes; also to show +the gradual diminution of its circular motion as it approaches the +equator (E E), where, as was before observed, the latitude is nothing. + +A pendulum vibrating over the plane, or table (_a b_), on the top of the +globe, has been already shown (by Fig. 1) to go round the entire circle +in twenty-four hours; or to have an angular velocity of 90, or quarter +of a circle, in six hours. The plane (_a b_), at 60, has an inclination +to the axis (S N), which will cause a pendulum vibrating over it to move +through its circumference at a diminished rate. This will be shown by +reference to the figure. The globe is revolving in the direction from +left to right; the pendulum is vibrating over the line _a b_, which, at +all times during its course, is parallel with the first path of +vibration. The plane may now be supposed to have moved during six hours, +or to have gone through a quarter of an entire revolution, equal to 90; +but the pendulum has only moved from _c_ to _a_, considerably less than +90. Again, if the plane is carried another six hours, making together +180, the Figure shows the pendulum to have moved only from _c_ to _a_, +considerably less than 180. The same remarks apply to the lower latitude +of 30, where, it will be seen, the circular, or angular motion of the +pendulum, is considerably slower than in the latitude of 60, continuing +to diminish, until it becomes nothing at the equator, where it is +clearly shown by the Figure to be always parallel to itself, and +constant over its path of vibration through the entire circle. + + + + +ADVENTURE WITH A GRIZZLY BEAR.[12] + + +I now took a long farewell of the horses, and turned northward, +selecting a line close in by the base of the hills, going along at an +improved pace, with a view of reaching the trading-post the same night; +but stopping in a gully to look for water, I found a little pool, +evidently scratched out by a bear, as there were foot-prints and +claw-marks about it; and I was aware instinct prompts that brute where +water is nearest the surface, when he scratches until he comes to it. +This was one of very large size, the foot-mark behind the toes being +full nine inches; and although I had my misgivings about the prudence of +a _tete-a-tete_ with a great grizzly bear, still the "better part of +valor" was overcome, as it often is, by the anticipated honor and glory +of a single combat, and conquest of such a ferocious beast. I was well +armed, too, with my favorite rifle, a Colt's revolver, that never +disappointed me, and a non-descript weapon, a sort of cross betwixt a +claymore and a bowie-knife; so, after capping afresh, hanging the bridle +on the horn of the saddle, and, staking my mule, I followed the trail up +a gully, and much sooner than I expected came within view and good +shooting distance of Bruin, who was seated erect, with his side toward +me, in front of a manzanita bush, making a repast on his favorite berry. + +The sharp click of the cock causing him to turn quickly round, left +little time for deliberation; so, taking a ready good aim at the region +of the heart, I let drive, the ball (as I subsequently found) glancing +along the ribs, entering the armpit, and shattering smartly some of the +shoulder bones. I exulted as I saw him stagger and come to his side; the +next glance, however, revealed him, to my dismay, on all fours, in +direct pursuit, but going lame; so I bolted for the mule, sadly +encumbered with a huge pair of Mexican spurs, the nervous noise of the +crushing brush close in my rear convincing me he was fast gaining on me; +I therefore dropped my rifle, putting on fresh steam, and reaching the +rope, pulled up the picket-pin, and springing into the saddle with +merely a hold of the lariat, plunged the spurs into the mule, which, +much to my affright produced a kick and a retrograde movement; but in +the exertion having got a glimpse of my pursuer, uttering; snort of +terror, he went off at a pace I did not think him capable of, soon +widening the distance betwixt us and the bear; but having no means of +guiding his motions, he brought me violently in contact with the arm of +a tree, which unhorsed and stunned me exceedingly. Scrambling to my feet +as well as I could, I saw my relentless enemy close at hand, leaving me +the only alternative of ascending a tree; but, in my hurried and nervous +efforts, I had scarcely my feet above his reach, when he was right +under, evidently enfeebled by the loss of blood, as the exertion made it +well out copiously. After a moment's pause, and a fierce glare upward +from his blood-shot eyes, he clasped the trunk; but I saw his endeavors +to climb were crippled by the wounded shoulder. However, by the aid of +his jaws, he just succeeded in reaching the first branch with his sound +arm, and was working convulsively to bring up the body, when, with a +well-directed blow from my cutlass, I completely severed the tendons of +the foot, and he instantly fell with a dreadful souse and horrific +growl, the blood spouting up as if impelled from a jet; he rose again +somewhat tardily, and limping round the tree with upturned eyes, kept +tearing off the bark with his tusks. However, watching my opportunity, +and leaning downward, I sent a ball from my revolver with such good +effect immediately behind the head, that he dropped; and my nerves being +now rather more composed, I leisurely distributed the remaining five +balls in the most vulnerable parts of his carcase. + +By this time I saw the muscular system totally relaxed, so I descended +with confidence, and found him quite dead, and myself not a little +enervated with the excitement and the effects of my wound, which bled +profusely from the temple; so much so, that I thought an artery was +ruptured. I bound up my head as well as I could, loaded my revolver +anew, and returned for my rifle; but as evening was approaching, and my +mule gone, I had little time to survey the dimensions of my fallen foe, +and no means of packing much of his flesh. I therefore hastily hacked +off a few steaks from his thigh, and hewing off one of his hind feet as +a sure trophy of victory, I set out toward the trading-post, which I +reached about midnight, my friend and my truant mule being there before +me, but no horses. + +I exhibited the foot of my fallen foe in great triumph, and described +the conflict with due emphasis and effect to the company, who arose to +listen; after which I made a transfer of the flesh to the traders, on +condition that there was not to be any charge for the hotel or the use +of the mule. There was an old experienced French trapper of the party, +who, judging from the size of the foot, set down the weight of the bear +at 1500 lbs., which, he said they frequently over-run, he himself, as +well as Colonel Fremont's exploring party, having killed several that +came to 2000 lbs. He advised me, should I again be pursued by a bear, +and have no other means of escape, to ascend a small-girthed tree, which +they can not get up, for, not having any central joint in the fore-legs, +they can not climb any with a branchless stem that does not fully fill +their embrace; and in the event of not being able to accomplish the +ascent before my pursuer overtook me, to place my back against it, when, +if it and I did not constitute a bulk capable of filling his hug, I +might have time to rip out his entrails before he could kill me, being +in a most favorable posture for the operation. They do not generally use +their mouth in the destruction of their victims, but, hugging them +closely, lift one of the hind-feet, which are armed with tremendous +claws, and tear out the bowels. The Frenchman's advice reads rationally +enough, and is a feasible theory on the art of evading unbearable +compression; but, unfortunately, in the haunts of that animal those slim +juvenile saplings are rarely met with, and a person closely confronted +with such a grizzly _vis-a-vis_ is not exactly in a tone of nerve for +surgical operations. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[12] From Kelly's "Excursion to California." + + + + +A VISIT TO THE NORTH CAPE. + + +Having hired an open boat and a crew of three hands, I left Hammerfest +at nine P.M., July 2, 1850, to visit the celebrated Nordkap. The boat +was one of the peculiar Nordland build--very long, narrow, sharp, but +strongly built, with both ends shaped alike, and excellently adapted +either for rowing or sailing. We had a strong head-wind from northeast +at starting, and rowed across the harbor to the spot where the house of +the British consul, Mr. Robertson, a Scotchman, is situated, near to the +little battery (_faestning_) which was erected to defend the approach to +Hammerfest, subsequently to the atrocious seizure of the place by two +English ships during the last war. Mr. Robertson kindly lent me a number +of reindeer skins to lie on at the bottom of the boat; and spreading +them on the rough stones we carried for ballast, I was thus provided +with an excellent bed. I have slept for a fortnight at a time on +reindeer skins, and prefer them to any feather bed. Mr. Robertson warned +me that I should find it bitterly cold at sea, and expressed surprise at +my light clothing; but I smiled, and assured him that my hardy wandering +life had habituated me to bear exposure of every kind with perfect +impunity. By an ingenious contrivance of a very long tiller, the pilot +steered with one hand and rowed with the other, and we speedily cleared +the harbor, and crept round the coast of Qual Oe (Whale-Island), on +which Hammerfest is situated. About midnight, when the sun was shining a +considerable way above the horizon, the view of a solitary little rock, +in the ocean ahead, bathed in a flood of crimson glory, was most +impressive. We proceeded with a tolerable wind until six in the morning, +when heavy squalls of wind and torrents of rain began to beat upon us, +forcing us to run, about two hours afterward, into Havoesund; a very +narrow strait between the island of Havoee and the mainland of Finmark. +As it was impossible to proceed in such a tempest, we ran the boat to a +landing-place in front of the summer residence of Herr Ulich, a great +magnate in Finmark. This is undoubtedly the most northern gentleman's +house in the world. It is a large, handsome, wooden building, painted +white, and quite equal in appearance to the better class of villas in +the North. The family only reside there during the three summer months; +and extensive warehouses for the trade in dried cod or stockfish, &c. +are attached. My crew obtained shelter in an outbuilding, and I +unhesitatingly sought the hospitality of the mansion. Herr Ulich +himself was absent, being at his house at Hammerfest, but his amiable +lady, and her son and two daughters, received me with a frank cordiality +as great as though I were an old friend; and in a few minutes I was +thoroughly at home. Here I found a highly accomplished family, +surrounded with the luxuries and refinements of civilization, dwelling +amid the wildest solitudes, and so near the North Cape, that it can be +distinctly seen from their house in clear weather. Madame Ulich and her +daughters spoke nothing but Norwegian; but the son, a very intelligent +young man of about nineteen, spoke English very well. He had recently +returned from a two years' residence at Archangel, where the merchants +of Finmark send their sons to learn the Russian language, as it is of +vital importance for their trading interests--the greater portion of the +trade of Finmark being with the White-Sea districts, which supply them +with meal and other necessaries in exchange for stockfish, &c. Near as +they were to the North Cape, it was a singular fact that Herr Ulich and +his son had only once visited it; and the former had resided ten years +at Havoesund--not more than twenty-five miles distant--ere that visit +took place! They said that very few travelers visited the Cape; and, +strange to say, the majority are French and Italians. + +I declined to avail myself of the pressing offer of a bed, and spent the +morning in conversation with this very interesting family. They had a +handsome drawing-room, containing a grand colossal bust in bronze of +Louis-Philippe, King of the French. The ex-king, about fifty-five years +ago, when a wandering exile (under the assumed name of Mueller) visited +the North Cape. He experienced hospitality from many residents in +Finmark, and he had slept in this very room; but the house itself then +stood on Maas Island, a few miles further north. Many years ago, the +present proprietor removed the entire structure to Havoee; and his son +assured me the room itself was preserved almost exactly as it was when +Louis Philippe used it, though considerable additions and improvements +have been made to other parts of the house. About sixteen years ago, +Paul Garnard, the president of the commission shortly afterward sent by +the French government to explore Greenland and Iceland, called on Herr +Ulich, and said he was instructed by the king to ask what present he +would prefer from his majesty as a memorial of his visit to the North. A +year afterward, the corvette of war, _La Recherche_, on its way to +Iceland, &c. put into Havoesund, and left the bust in question, as the +express gift of the king. It is a grand work of art, executed in the +finest style, and is intrinsically very valuable, although of course the +circumstances under which it became Herr Ulich's property add +inestimably to its worth in his eyes. The latter gentleman is himself a +remarkable specimen of the highly-educated Norwegian. He has traveled +over all Europe, and speaks, more or less, most civilized languages. On +my return to Hammerfest I enjoyed the pleasure of his society, and his +eager hospitality; and he favored me with an introduction for the +Norwegian states minister at Stockholm. I merely mention these things to +show the warm-hearted kindness which even an unintroduced, unknown +traveler may experience in the far North. Herr Ulich has resided +twenty-five years at Havoesund; and he says he thinks that not more than +six English travelers have visited the North Cape within twenty +years--that is to say, by way of Hammerfest; but parties of English +gentlemen occasionally proceed direct in their yachts. + +Fain would my new friends have delayed my departure; but, wind and tide +serving, I resumed my voyage at noon, promising to call on my return. In +sailing through the sound, I noticed a neat little wooden church, the +most northern in Finmark. A minister preaches in it to the Fins and Laps +at intervals, which depend much on the state of the weather; but I +believe once a month in summer. The congregation come from a circle of +immense extent. If I do not err, Mr. Robert Chambers mentions in his +tour having met with the clergyman of this wild parish. + +Passing Maas Oe, we sailed across an open arm of the sea, and reached +the coast of Mager Oe, the island on which the North Cape is situated. +Mager Oe is perhaps twenty miles long by a dozen broad, and is separated +from the extreme northern mainland of Finmark by Mageroesund. Although a +favorable wind blew, my crew persisted in running into a harbor here, +where there is a very extensive fish-curing establishment, called +Gjesvohr, belonging to Messrs Agaard of Hammerfest. There are several +houses, sheds, &c. and immense tiers of the split stockfish drying +across horizontal poles. At this time about two hundred people were +employed, and one or two of the singular three-masted White-Sea ships +were in the harbor, with many Finmark fishing-boats. The water was +literally black with droves of young cod, which might have been killed +by dozens as they basked near the surface. My men loitered hour after +hour; but as I was most anxious to visit the North Cape when the +midnight sun illumined it, I induced them to proceed. + +On resuming our voyage, we coasted along the shore, which was one mass +of savage, precipitous rock, until the black massive Cape loomed very +distinctly in the horizon. I landed at a bluff headland called Tunoes, +and collected a few flowers growing in crevices in the rock. A little +beyond that, in Sandbugt, a fragment of wreck was discernible, and I +ordered the boat to be pulled toward it. It proved to be a portion of +the keel of a large ship, about fifty feet long, and much worn. It had +evidently been hauled on the reefs by some fishermen, and the fortunate +salvors had placed their rude marks upon it. I mused over this fragment +of wreck, which was mutely eloquent with melancholy suggestiveness. How +many prayers had gone forth with the unknown ship! how many fathers, +brothers, sisters, lovers, and unconscious widows and orphans, might at +that moment be hoping against hope for her return! To what port did she +belong? In what remote ocean had she met her doom? Perchance this keel +had been borne by wind and tide from some region of thick-ribbed ice, +and was the only relic to tell of the dark fate of a gallant bark and +brave crew! Alas, what a thrilling history might that weed-tangled piece +of wood be linked with, and what food did it supply for the wanderer's +imagination! + +Resuming the voyage, we came to a long promontory of solid rock, +stretching far into the sea, where it tapers down to the level of the +water. It is called Kniuskjoerodden; and I particularly draw attention +to it for the following reason: at Hammerfest the consul favored me with +an inspection of the charts recently published by the Norwegian +government, from express surveys by scientific officers of their navy. +The instant I cast my eye over the one containing Mager Oe, I perceived +that Kniuskjoerodden was set down _further north than the North Cape +itself_! The consul said that such was the actual fact, though he will +not consent to its disputing the legitimacy of the ancient fame which +the Cape worthily enjoys; since it is merely a low, narrow projection, +of altogether insignificant character. I walked to its extremity, and +narrowly escaped being washed by the roaring breakers into the deep +transparent sea. + +Rounding Kniuskjoerodden, the North Cape burst in all its sunlit +grandeur on my delighted view. It was now a dead calm, and my vikings +pulled very slowly across the grand bay of Kniusvoerig, to afford me an +opportunity of sketching the object, which is one enormous mass of solid +rock, upward of a thousand feet in elevation. I can compare it to +nothing more fitly than the keep of a castle of a tremendous size; for +it very gently tapers upward from the base, and presents a surface +marvelously resembling time-worn masonry. The front approaches the +perpendicular, and so does much of the western side also. The color of +this mighty rock is a dark, shining, speckled gray, relieved by dazzling +masses of snow lying in the gigantic fissures, which seem to have been +riven by some dread convulsion. The impression I felt as the boat glided +beneath its shadow was one of thrilling awe; for its magnificent stern +proportions--its colossal magnitude--its position as the lonely, +unchanging sentinel of nature, which for countless ages has stood forth +as the termination of the European continent, frowning defiance to the +maddening fury of the mystic Arctic Queen--all combine to invest it with +associations and attributes of overpowering majesty. My ideas of its +sublimity were more than realized; and as I landed on its base, in the +blaze of the midnight sun, I felt an emotion of proud joy, that my +long-feasted hope of gazing upon it at such an hour, and under such +circumstances, was literally fulfilled. + +The only place where a landing can be effected is on the western side, +about a mile and a half from the head of the Cape; and it is usual for +those who ascend it to go many miles round from this starting-place to +gain the summit, because a direct upward ascent is considered +impracticable. But having much confidence in my climbing capabilities, I +resolved to adventure the latter feat; and although burdened with my +sea-cloak and other things, I instantly commenced the task, leaving the +crew to slumber in the boat until my return. I found the whole of the +western side, opposite the landing-place, clothed with the most +luxuriant vegetation to the height of about a hundred yards. There were +myriads of flowers, including exquisite white violets with hairy stems; +purple, red, and white star-flowers; the beautiful large yellow +cup-flower, growing on stems two feet high, and called by the Norwegians +_knap-sul-len-oeie-blomster_ (literally, button-sun-eye-flower); and many +other varieties of species unknown to me. There were also several kinds +of dwarf shrubs, including the juniper, then in green berry. Butterflies +and insects flitted gayly from flower to flower. After resting on a +ledge of rock to take breath, and look down on the glassy waters and the +boat at my feet--now dwindled to a speck--I resumed my clambering; but +to my extreme mortification, when I had ascended two-thirds of the way, +at no small risk to my bones, I was mastered by overhanging masses of +rock, all trickling with slimy moisture from the congealed snow above. +Here I had a narrow escape from being killed by a fragment of loose rock +giving way beneath me, and drawing down other pieces after it; but I +clung tenaciously to a firm part, and the heavy stones bounded +harmlessly over my head. I descended with difficulty; and after +carefully surveying the face of the rocks, tried at a more favorable +place, and even then I was above an hour in gaining the summit. I +understand that I am the first adventurer who has scaled the Cape at +that place; and I certainly was thankful when I could throw my weary +frame down, and eat some frugal fare, slaking my thirst with a handful +of snow from the solid patch by my side. Though I had been more than +forty-eight hours without rest, bodily fatigue was little felt. I could +behold from my airy elevation many miles of the surface of the island. +The higher peaks and the sheltered hollows were clothed with snow, +glittering in the midnight sun, and several dark lakes nestled amid the +frowning rocks. + +Resuming my progress, I passed over the surface of the Cape. It is +covered with slaty _debris_, and, what struck me as very remarkable, +quantities of a substance resembling coarse white marble, totally +different from the Cape itself. The only vegetation on the summit is a +species of moss, which bears most beautiful flowers, generally of a +purple hue, blooming in hundreds and thousands together. These dumb +witnesses of nature's benevolent handiwork filled my soul with +pleasing, grateful thoughts, and uplifted it to the Divine Being who +maketh flowers to bloom and waters to gush in the most desolate regions +of the earth. In the bed of a ravine, crossed in my way toward the end +of the Cape, I found a rapid stream of the purest water, which proved +deliciously refreshing. I wandered along; and, after skirting much of +the western precipice, drew nigh the bourne of my pilgrimage. The Cape +terminates in a shape approaching a semicircle, but the most northern +part swells out in a clear appreciable point. About a hundred yards from +the latter I came upon a circle of stones, piled nearly breast high, +inclosing a space some dozen feet in diameter. This had evidently been +erected by a party of visitors as a shelter from the winds. Not far +distant, a block of black rock rises above the level, which is otherwise +smooth as a bowling-green, and covered with minute fragments of rock. +Within two or three yards of the extreme point is a small pole, +sustained in the centre of a pile of stones. I found several initials +and dates cut on this very perishable register, and added my own. I +believe it was set up by the government expedition three or four years +ago as a signal-post for their trigonometrical survey. + +I can not adequately describe the tide of emotion which filled my soul +as I walked up to the dizzy verge. I only know that, after standing a +moment with folded arms, beating heart, and tear-dimmed eye, I knelt, +and with lowly-bowed head, returned thanks to God for permitting me to +thus realize one darling dream of my boyhood! + +Despite the wind, which here blew violently, I sat down by the side of +the pole, and wrapping my cloak around me, long contemplated the grand +spectacle of nature in one of her sublimest aspects. I was truly alone. +Not a living being was in sight: far beneath was the boundless expanse +of ocean, with a sail or two on its bosom, at an immense distance; above +was the canopy of heaven, flecked with snowy cloudlets; the sun was +gleaming through a broad belt of blood-red horizon; the only sounds were +the whistling of the wind, and the occasional plaintive scream of +hovering sea-fowl. My pervading feeling was a calm though deep sense of +intellectual enjoyment and triumph--very natural to an enthusiastic +young wanderer upon achieving one of the long-cherished enterprises of +his life. + +With reluctant and wildly-devious steps, I bade what is probably an +eternal adieu to the wondrous Cape, and effected a comparatively easy +descent to the place whence I had started. My men had dropped grapnel a +considerable distance from the rock; and being unwilling to disturb +their slumber, I spent some further time in exploring the western base. +There is a very curious cavernous range of rock washed out by the +terrific beating of wintry storms, so as to form a species of arcade. +The sides are of immense thickness, but the sea has worn them open at +the top. The water here, as along the whole coast of Norway and Finmark, +is marvelously transparent. Weeds and fish may be seen at a prodigious +depth clearly as in a mirror. + +On the return voyage, we ran into a creek near Sandbugt, and the crew +went ashore to a Lap _gamme_ (hut) to sleep; but as I had no desire to +furnish a dainty fresh meal to the vermin with which every gamme swarms, +I slept soundly on my reindeer skins in the boat, although it was now +rainy and intensely cold. After the lapse of a few hours I joined them +at the gamme, and bought a fine _poesk_ or tunic of reindeer skin from +an old Lap; and learning that his herd of reins was in the vicinity, I +had a long ramble in search of them, but without avail; for they had +wandered far away, influenced by that remarkable instinct which impels +reindeer to invariably run _against_ the wind. I gathered some fine +specimens of sponge in marshy hollows. In the course of our subsequent +voyage, I made another pause of a few hours at Giesvohr, where I +examined the works for curing the fish and extracting the oil, but +declined taking any repose. Next morning, being favored with a powerful +wind, our little craft fairly leaped over the waves; and I noted her +dextrous management with the eye of an amateur receiving a valuable +lesson. The old pilot kept the sheet of the lug-sail constantly ready to +slip, and another hand stood by the greased halyard to let all go by the +run; for there are frequent eddies and squalls of wind along this very +dangerous coast, which would upset a boat in an instant, were not great +tact and unremitting vigilance exercised. The sea ran exceedingly high, +and we shipped water from stem to stern every time we settled in its +trough, in such a way that the baling never ceased. Safely, however, did +we run into Havoesund once more at about eight o'clock. + +Young Ulich welcomed my unexpectedly early return at the landing-place, +and I was delighted to again become the eagerly-welcomed guest of his +house. Happily, and only too quickly, did the time speed. I chatted in +my sadly-broken Norwegian--the first to laugh at my own comical +blunders; and the eldest young lady sweetly sang to me several of the +most ancient and popular of her native ballads, accompanying them on her +guitar--the fashionable instrument of music in the North, where many +things which have fallen into desuetude with us universally flourish. As +she could understand no other language, I in return did my best to chant +the celebrated national Danish song, _Den tappre Landsoldat_, the fame +of which has penetrated to the far North. So popular is this song in +Denmark, that its author and composer have both recently received an +order of knighthood for it. In the library were translations of Marryat, +and other English novelists; and they showed me a copy of--Cruikshank's +_Bottle_! I thought that if that gifted artist could have thus beheld +how his fame and a genuine copy of his greatest work has penetrated, and +is highly appreciated in the vicinity of the North Cape, he would have +experienced a glow of enviable, and not undeserved satisfaction. The +only teetotaller, by the way, whom I ever met with in Scandinavia, was +one of the crew of the boat with me. He invariably declined the +_braendiviin_, as I passed it round from time to time, and assured me he +drank only water and milk. + +The young ladies had about a score of pretty tame pigeons; and to my +extreme regret a couple were killed, to give me an additional treat at a +dinner served in a style which I should rather have expected to meet +with in an English hotel than at a solitary house on an arctic island. +They afterward conducted me to their--garden! Yes, a veritable garden, +the fame of which has extended far and wide in Finmark; for there is +nothing to compare to it for at least four hundred miles southward. It +is of considerable size, inclosed by high wooden walls, painted black to +attract the sun's rays, which are very fervid in the latter end of +summer. Potatoes, peas, and other table vegetables, were in a thriving +state, but only come to maturity in favorable seasons. I had some +radishes at dinner, and excellent they were. Glazed frames protected +cucumber and other plants, and many very beautiful and delicate flowers +bloomed in the open air. The young ladies gathered some of the finest +specimens of these, including large blue forget-me-nots, and placed them +within the leaves of my Bible. Highly do I treasure them, for they will +ever vividly recall a host of pleasant and romantic associations. + +Most pressing were they all to induce me to stay some days with them, +and gladly indeed would I have complied had circumstances permitted; but +I felt compelled to hasten back to Hammerfest. In the afternoon, +therefore, I bade adieu to a family which had shown me a degree of +engaging kindness greater than any I had experienced since I left my +warmly-attached Danish friends. + +The remainder of our return voyage was wet and tempestuous. We sailed +and rowed all night, and reached Hammerfest at eight A.M. on July 5, +much to the astonishment of the good folks there, who had not +anticipated seeing us again in less than a week or ten days. The consul +and many others assured me that my voyage had been performed with +unprecedented speed, the whole time occupied being not quite three and a +half days. + + + + +A CONVERSATION IN A KENTUCKY STAGE COACH.[13] + + +I can not refrain from giving a conversation which I heard as we came by +the coach to Louisville. One of the speakers was a very agreeable and +apparently well-informed gentleman, who seemed to have seen a great deal +of the world. When he first entered the "stage," it would seem it was +with the benignant intention of giving a sort of _converzatione_ in the +coach, in which, after a few preliminary interrogatories to the various +passengers (as if to take the size and measure of their capacities), he +sustained all the active part, not calling upon them for the slightest +exercise of their conversational powers. He varied the entertainment +occasionally, by soliloquizing and monopolyguizing; and ever and anon it +appeared as if he addressed the human race generally, or was speaking +for posterity in a very elevated tone indeed, and seemingly oblivious of +that fraction of the contemporaneous generation who were then largely +benefiting by his really most animated and amusing discourse--for he was +thoroughly original and very shrewd and entertaining. + +Where had he not been? What had he not seen? what not met, tried, +suffered, sought, found, dared, done, won, lost, said? The last we could +give the most implicit credence to, no matter how large the demand. Now +he told us, or the ceiling of the coach, how he had been eighteen months +in the prairies (which keep very open house for all visitors), shooting +herds of buffaloes, and with his cloak for his only castle, and all his +household furniture, and how he had been all this time without bed or +bread: and he described the longing for the last, much in the way Mr. +Ruxton does in his account of prairie excursions; and now--but I will +not attempt to follow him in all his wondrous adventures. + +Suffice it to say, Robinson Crusoe, placed in juxtaposition with him, +was a mere fire-side stay-at-home sort of personage, one who had never +left his own comfortable arm-chair, in comparison. In short, the +adventures were marvelous and manifold, and all told in the same +agreeable, lively, Scheherezade-like sort of a manner--so agreeable, +indeed, that I am sure had Judge Lynch himself had any little account to +settle with him, he would have postponed--_a la_ Sultan of the +Indies--any trifling beheading or strangling, or unpleasant little +operation of the sort, to hear the end of the tale. + +After these narratives and amusing lectures had been poured forth +continuously for a length of time, it chanced that a quiet +countryman-like person got into the coach, bundle and stick in hand. +After a few questions to this rustic wayfarer, our eloquent orator left +off his historic and other tales, and devoted himself to drawing out, +and "squeezing the orange of the brains" of this apparently +simple-minded and unlettered man. The discourse that ensued was a +singular one--to take place, too, in the United States between +Americans. + +The new-comer was a Kentuckian by birth, who had not very long ago gone +to settle in Indiana. He called himself a mechanic--these facts came out +in answer to the queries put to him by our unwearied talker--but he had, +as I have said, much more the appearance of a respectable country +farming man--and, indeed, I believe, mechanic means here, in a general +sense, a laborer. He seemed a fine, honest-hearted, straight-forward, +noble-spirited son of the plow; and his lofty, earnest, generous +sentiments were spoken in somewhat unpolished but energetic and good +language; and what particularly struck me was a really beautiful and +almost child-like simplicity of mind and manner, that was combined with +the most uncompromising firmness and unflinching adherence in argument, +to what he conceived to be right. + +His features were decidedly plain, but the countenance was very fine, +chiefly characterized by great ingenuousness, commingled with gentleness +and benevolence; and yet bearing evident traces of strength, +determination, and energetic resolution. It was rather a complicated +countenance, so to say, notwithstanding its great openness and +expression of downright truth and goodness. + +After opening the conversation with him, as you would an oyster, by the +introduction of a pretty keen knife of inquisitorial questions, the +chief speaker began to hold forth, capriciously enough, on the +essentials and distinguishing attributes of a gentleman. He declared, +emphatically, that one qualification alone was necessary, and that money +only made a gentleman, according to the world, and, above all, in the +United States (quite a mistake is this, I fully believe). "Let a man," +said he, "be dressed here in every thing of the best, with splendid +rings on his fingers, and plenty of money to spend at the ends of them, +and he may go where he will, and be received as a gentleman; ay, though +he may be a gambler, a rogue, or a swindler, and you, now, _you_ may be +a good honest mechanic; but _he_ will at once get into the best society +in these parts, which you would never dream even of attempting to +accomplish--" + +"But he would not be a gentleman," broke in the Kentuckian, indignantly. +"No, sir; nor will I ever allow that money only makes the gentleman: it +is the principle, sir, and the inner feeling, and the mind--and no fine +clothes can ever make it; and no rough ones unmake it, that's a fact. +And, sir, there's many a better gentleman following the plow in these +parts than there is among the richer classes: I mean those poor men +who're contented with their lot, and work hard and try no mean shifts +and methods to get on an' up in the world; for there's little some 'ill +stick at to get at money; and such means a true gentleman (what _I_ call +a gentleman) will avoid like poison, and scorn utterly." + +"Now, that's all very well for you to talk so here just now; but you +know yourself, I don't doubt, that _your own_ object, as well as all the +world's around you, is to make money. It is with that object that you +work hard and save up: you do not work only to live, or make yourself +more comfortable, but to get money: and money is the be-all and end-all +of all and every body; and that only commands consideration and +respect." + +"That _only_, sir, would never command _mine_, and--" + +"Why, how you talk now! if you meet a fine dressed-out gentleman in one +of these stages, you look on him as one directly--you don't ask him did +he _make_ or _take_ his money--what's that to you?--there he is, and it +is not for you to busy or bother yourself to find out all the private +particulars of his history; and if you find him, as I say, well dressed +in superfine, and he acts the gentleman to you, he may be the greatest +rogue in existence, but he will be treated by you like a gentleman--yes, +even by you." + +"Yes, sir, that maybe while I know nothing of him--while, as you say, he +acts the gentleman to me; but let me _once find out_ what he is, and I +would never show him respect more--no! though he had all the gold of +California." + +"Ah, California! just look at _that_ now--look at people by scores and +thousands, leaving their families, and friends, and homes--and what for +but for gold? people with a comfortable competence already; but it's +fine talking. Why, what are _you_ taking this very journey for?--why, I +can answer for you--for gold, I doubt not; and every other action of +your life is for that object: confess the real truth now." + +"I will, sir--I am come here from Indiana, for though I'm a Kentucky +man, I live in the Hoosier State. I'm come here to see a dear brother; +and instead of _gaining_ money I'm _spending_ it in these stages to get +to see him and 'old Kentuck' agin. So you see, Sir, I love my brother--I +do, more than money, poor man as I am; ay, and that I do, too." + +"Well, I dare say you do; but come now, just tell me--haven't you a +little bit of a _speculation_, now, here, that you're come after, as +well as your brother--some trifle of a speculation afoot? You know you +have now. You _must_ have. Some horse, perhaps--" + +It was quite delightful to see and hear the indignant burst of eager +denial which this elicited from the ingenuous Kentuckian. + +"No, sir! _no_, I have _not_--none whatever, indeed I have not:" his +voice quivered with emotion; the earnest expression of his countenance +was more than eloquent. If his interrogator had accused him of a serious +crime he could hardly more anxiously and more earnestly have disclaimed +it. To him, I thought the bare suspicion seemed like a coarse +desecration of his real motives, a kind of undervaluing even of his +"dear brother," to suppose he must have had a "little speculation on +hand" to make it worth his while to go to see _him_. + +He went on in an agitated, eager tone: + +"And look ye here; I am _leaving off_ my work and money-making for some +days on purpose--only for that, and spending money at it, too!" + +His somewhat case-hardened antagonist looked the least in the world +discomfited; for that angry denial was a magnificent burst, and uttered +in a tone that actually seemed to give an additional jolt to the rough +coach; and I might say it had really a splendid theatrical effect, but +that I should hesitate to use that expression with reference to one of +the most beautiful natural exhibitions of deep feeling and generous +sentiment I ever witnessed. + +"Where are you going to?" at last inquired the other, apparently about +to commence a little cross-examination. + +"About twenty miles beyond Munsfordville," replied Kentucky, in his +simple direct manner, "to"--I forget the name. + +"Why, you're come by the wrong stage, then," exclaimed the other, "you +should have waited till to-morrow, and then taken the stage to ----, and +then you would have gone direct." + +"Well, yes, sir; it's true enough, sir; but you see--in short, I +couldn't _wait_--no, that I couldn't. I was so anxious, and I felt so +like seeing my brother; and I was in such a mortal hurry to get to him." + +"Hurry, man! why how will you see him any sooner by this? Why, you might +as well have walked up and down Main-street till to-morrow; it would +have advanced you just as much on your journey." + +"You're right, sir, I know that; but I really _couldn't_ wait: I wanted +to feel I was going ahead, and getting _nearer_ my brother at any rate; +I got so impatient-like. No, sir; I couldn't have staid till the morning +any how you could fix it." + +"You'll have to walk for your folly, for you'll get no conveyance this +way, I tell you." + +"I'll have to walk the twenty miles to-night, I suppose," said Kentucky, +with the most imperturbable smiling composure; "but never mind that! I +shall be getting near my brother, then. Ha," he said, after a pause, +"you see I _do_ love my brother, sir, and I don't regard trouble for +him. I'll have to walk the twenty miles to-night with my bundle, I dare +say, and spending money at that, too, perhaps, for a bit of food; but I +couldn't have _waited_--no! not another hour at Louisville--I felt so +like getting _nearer_ to my brother." + +At the end of the argument about money-making being the all in all, one +or two of us signified briefly that we thought Kentucky was right. You +never saw any body so surprised. He had evidently entertained a deep +conviction that all in the stage-coach were opposed to his opinions, and +that he stood alone in his view on the matter. He replied he was glad +any body thought as he did, and reiterated with strong emphasis to his +opponent: + +"I'm sure, sir, I'm right; it is the principle, and the manners, and the +mind, and _not_ money that makes a gentleman. No, no; money can never +make half a one." + +I shall feel a respect for "old Kentucky" forever after for his sake. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[13] From Lady Emeline Stuart Wortley's "Travels in the United States in +1849-50," in the press of Harper and Brothers. + + + + +ANECDOTES OF JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN.[14] + + +CURRAN'S START IN LIFE. + +After toiling for a very inadequate recompense at the sessions of Cork, +and wearing, as he said himself, his teeth almost to their stumps, +Curran proceeded to the metropolis, taking for his wife and young +children a miserable lodging upon _Hay Hill_. Term after term, without +either profit or professional reputation, he paced the hall of the Four +Courts. Among those who had the discrimination to appreciate, and the +heart to feel for him, luckily for Curran, was Mr. Arthur Wolfe, +afterward the unfortunate but respected Lord Kilwarden. The first fee of +any consequence which he received was through his recommendation; and +his recital of the incident can not be without its interest to the young +professional aspirant whom a temporary neglect may have sunk into +dejection. "I then lived," said he, "upon Hay Hill; my wife and children +were the chief furniture of my apartments; and as to my rent, it stood +pretty much the same chance of liquidation with the national debt. Mrs. +Curran, however, was a barrister's lady, and what she wanted in wealth +she was well determined should be supplied by dignity. The landlady, on +the other hand, had no idea of any gradation except that of pounds, +shillings, and pence. I walked out one morning to avoid the perpetual +altercations on the subject, with my mind, you may imagine, in no very +enviable temperament. I fell into the gloom to which, from my infancy, I +had been occasionally subject. I had a family for whom I had no dinner, +and a landlady for whom I had no rent. I had gone abroad in +despondence--I returned home almost in desperation. When I opened the +door of my study, where _Lavater_ alone could have found a library, the +first object which presented itself was an immense folio of a brief, +twenty golden guineas wrapped up beside it, and the name of _Old Bob +Lyons_ marked upon the back of it. I paid my landlady--bought a good +dinner--gave Bob Lyons a share of it--and that dinner was the date of my +prosperity." Such was his own exact account of his professional +advancement. + + +SINGULAR ATTEMPT UPON CURRAN'S LIFE. + +In one of Curran's professional excursions, a very singular circumstance +had almost rendered this the termination of his biography. He was on a +temporary visit to the neighboring town of Sligo, and was one morning +standing at his bedroom window, which overlooked the street, occupied, +as he told me, in arranging his portmanteau, when he was stunned by the +report of a blunderbuss in the very chamber with him, and the panes +above his head were all shivered into atoms. He looked suddenly around +in the greatest consternation. The room was full of smoke, the +blunderbuss on the floor just discharged, the door closed, and no human +being but himself discoverable in the apartment! If this had happened +in his rural retreat, it could readily have been reconciled through the +medium of some offended spirit of the village mythology; but, as it was, +he was in a populous town, in a civilized family, among Christian +doctrines, where the fairies had no power, and their gambols no +currency; and, to crown all, a poor cobbler, into whose stall on the +opposite side of the street the slugs had penetrated, hinted in no very +equivocal terms that the whole affair was a conspiracy against his life. +It was by no means a pleasant addition to the chances of assassination +to be loudly declaimed against by a crazed mechanic as an assassin +himself. Day after day passed away without any solution of the mystery; +when one evening, as the servants of the family were conversing round +the fire on so miraculous an escape, a little urchin, not ten years old, +was heard so to wonder how _such an aim_ was missed, that a universal +suspicion was immediately excited. He was alternately flogged and coaxed +into a confession, which disclosed as much precocious and malignant +premeditation as perhaps ever marked the annals of juvenile depravity. +This little miscreant had received a box on the ear from Mr. Curran for +some alleged misconduct a few days before; the Moor's blow did not sink +into a mind more furious for revenge, or more predisposed by nature for +such deadly impressions. He was in the bedroom by mere chance when Mr. +Curran entered; he immediately hid himself in the curtains till he +observed him too busy with his portmanteau for observation; he then +leveled at him the old blunderbuss, which lay charged in the corner, the +stiffness of whose trigger, too strong for his infant fingers, alone +prevented the aim which he confessed he had taken, and which had so +nearly terminated the occupations of the cobbler. The door was ajar, +and, mid the smoke and terror, he easily slipped out without discovery. +I had the story verbatim a few months ago from Mr. Curran's lips, whose +impressions on the subject it was no wonder that forty years had not +obliterated. + + +CURRAN AS A CROSS-EXAMINER. + +At cross-examination, the most difficult and by far the most hazardous +part of a barrister's profession, Curran was quite inimitable. There was +no plan which he did not detect, no web which he did not disentangle; +and the unfortunate wretch, who commenced with all the confidence of +preconcerted perjury, never failed to retreat before him in all the +confusion of exposure. Indeed, it was almost impossible for the guilty +to offer a successful resistance. He argued, he cajoled, he ridiculed, +he mimicked, he played off the various artillery of his talent upon the +witness; he would affect earnestness upon trifles, and levity upon +subjects of the most serious import, until at length he succeeded in +creating a security that was fatal, or a sullenness that produced all +the consequences of prevarication. No matter how unfair the topic, he +never failed to avail himself of it; acting upon the principle that, in +law as well as in war, every stratagem was admissible. If he was hard +pressed, there was no peculiarity of person, no singularity of name, no +eccentricity of profession at which he would not grasp, trying to +confound the self-possession of the witness by the, no matter how +excited, ridicule of the audience. To a witness of the name of +_Halfpenny_ he once began: "Halfpenny, I see you're a _rap_, and for +that reason you shall be nailed to the counter." "Halfpenny is +_sterling_," exclaimed the opposite counsel. "No, no," said he, "he's +exactly like his own conscience--only _copper washed_." This phrase +alluded to an expression previously used on the trial. + +To _Lundy Foot_, the celebrated tobacconist, once hesitating on the +table: "Lundy, Lundy--that's a poser--_a devil of a pinch_." This +gentleman applied to Curran for a motto when he first established his +carriage. "Give me one, my dear Curran," said he, "of a serious cast, +because I am afraid the people will laugh at a tobacconist setting up a +carriage, and, _for the scholarship's sake_, let it be in Latin." "I +have just hit on it," said Curran; "it is only two words, and it will at +once explain your profession, your elevation, and your contempt for +their ridicule, and it has the advantage of being in two languages, +Latin or English, just as the reader chooses. Put up '_Quid rides_' upon +your carriage." + +Inquiring his master's age from a horse-jockey's servant, he found it +almost impossible to extract an answer. "Come, come, friend, has he not +lost his teeth?" "Do you think," retorted the fellow, "that I know his +age, as he does his horse's, by _the mark of mouth_?" The laugh was +against Curran, but he instantly recovered: "You were very right not to +try, friend, for you know your master's a _great bite_." + +Having one day a violent argument with a country schoolmaster on some +classical subject, the pedagogue, who had the worst of it, said, in a +towering passion, that he would lose no more time, and must go back to +his scholars. "Do, my dear doctor," said Curran, "but _don't indorse my +sins upon their backs_." + +Curran was told that a very stingy and slovenly barrister had started +for the Continent with a shirt and a guinea: "He'll not change either +till he comes back," said he. + +It was well known that Curran entertained a dislike and a contempt for +Downes. "Bushe," said he, "came up to me one day with a very knowing +look, and said, 'Do you know, Curran, I have just left the pleasantest +fellow I ever met?' 'Indeed! who is he?' 'The chief justice,' was the +answer. My reply was compendious and witty. I looked into his eye, and +said '_hum_.' It required all his oil to keep his countenance smooth." + +A very stupid foreman once asked a judge how they were to ignore a bill. +"Why, sir," said Curran, "when you mean to find a _true_ one, just write +_Ignoramus_ for self and fellows on the back of it." + +A gentleman just called to the bar took up a pauper case. It was +remarked upon. "The man's right," said Curran; "a barber begins on a +beggar, that when he arrives at the dignity he may know how to shave a +duchess." + +He was just rising to cross-examine a witness before a judge who could +not comprehend any jest that was not written in _black letter_. Before +he said a single word, the witness began to laugh. "What are you +laughing at, friend--what are you laughing at? Let me tell you that a +laugh without a joke is like--is like--" "Like what, Mr. Curran?" asked +the judge, imagining he was nonplused. "Just exactly, my lord, like a +_contingent remainder_ without any particular _estate_ to support it." I +am afraid that none but my legal readers will understand the admirable +felicity of the similitude, but it was quite to his lordship's fancy, +and rivaled with him all "the wit that Rabelais ever scattered." + +Examining a country squire who disputed a collier's bill: "Did he not +give you the _coals_, friend?" "He did, sir, but--" "But what? On your +oath, wasn't your payments _slack_?" + +It was thus that, in some way or other, he contrived to throw the +witnesses off their centre, and he took care they seldom should recover +it. "My lard, my lard!" vociferated a peasant witness, writhing under +this mental excruciation, "I can't answer yon little gentleman, _he's +putting me in such a doldrum_." "A doldrum! Mr. Curran, what does he +mean by a doldrum!" exclaimed Lord Avonmore. "Oh! my lord, it's a very +common complaint with persons of this description: it's merely a +_confusion of the head arising from the corruption of the heart_." + +To the bench he was at times quite as unceremonious; and if he thought +himself reflected on or interfered with, had instant recourse either to +ridicule or invective. There is a celebrated reply in circulation of Mr. +Dunning to a remark of Lord Mansfield, who curtly exclaimed at one of +his legal positions, "O! if that be law, Mr. Dunning, I may _burn_ my +law-books!" "Better _read_ them, my lord," was the sarcastic and +appropriate rejoinder. In a different spirit, but with similar effect, +was Mr. Curran's retort upon an Irish judge, quite as remarkable for his +good-humor and raillery as for his legal researches. He was addressing a +jury on one of the state trials in 1803, with his usual animation. The +judge, whose political bias, if any judge can have one, was certainly +supposed not to be favorable to the prisoner, _shook his head_ in doubt +or denial of one of the advocate's arguments. "I see, gentlemen," said +Mr. Curran, "I see the motion of his lordship's head; common observers +might imagine that implied a difference of opinion, but they would be +mistaken: it is merely accidental. Believe me, gentlemen, if you remain +here many days, you will, yourselves perceive that, when his lordship +_shakes his head_, there's _nothing in it_!" + + +PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND HABITS OF GRATTAN. + +Grattan was short in stature, and unprepossessing in appearance. His +arms were disproportionably long. His walk was a stride. With a person +swaying like a pendulum, and an abstracted air, he seemed always in +thought, and each thought provoked an attendant gesticulation. Such was +the outward and visible form of one whom the passenger would stop to +stare at as a droll, and the philosopher to contemplate as a study. How +strange it seems that a mind so replete with grace and symmetry, and +power and splendor, should have been allotted such a dwelling for its +residence. Yet so it was; and so also was it one of his highest +attributes, that his genius, by its "excessive light," blinded the +hearer to his physical imperfections. It was the victory of mind over +matter. The man was forgotten in the orator. Mr. Grattan, whose father +represented the city of Dublin in Parliament, and was also its recorder, +was born in the year 1746. He entered the Middle Temple in 1767 and was +called to the Irish bar in 1772. In the University of Dublin he was +eminently distinguished, sharing its honors, in _then_ amicable +contention, with Fitzgibbon--not merely the antagonist, but the enemy, +and the bitter one of an after day. We have a record, more authentic +than usual, of his pursuits while at the Temple. The study of the law +occupied but little of his attention. He never relished it, and soon +abandoned the profession altogether. Of the theatre he was very +fond--little wonder in the zenith of Garrick--and it was a taste he +indulged in to the last. I well remember, somewhere about the year 1813, +being in Crow-street when he entered with Catalani leaning on his arm. +The house was crowded, and he was hailed with acclamations. In vain he +modestly consigned them to the lovely siren his companion. His name rang +wildly through the theatre. I think I still hear the shouts when his +person was recognized, and still behold his venerable figure bowing its +awkward gratitude. No one knew better the true value of that bubble +tribute. Another of his amusements, if indeed it was not something more, +when he was at the Temple, seems to have been a frequent attendance in +both houses of Parliament. He sketched the debates and the speakers by +whom he was most attracted. + + +O'CONNELL'S DUEL. + +Living, as he did, in constant turmoil, and careless, as he was, to whom +he gave offense, O'Connell of course had a multitude of enemies. Of +this, himself the cause, he had no right to complain; but he had a right +to complain of the calumnies they circulated. Most rife of these was a +charge of want of courage--in Ireland a rare and very detrimental +accusation. O'Connell, during his latter years, declined dueling, and +publicly avowed his determination. The reason given, and given in the +House of Commons, was, that having "blood upon his hands, he had +registered a vow in heaven." To this there could have been no possible +objection had he included in the registry a vow not to offend. The real +charge to which he made himself amenable was his perseverance at once in +insult and irresponsibility. The truth is, O'Connell's want of courage +consisted in his fighting the duel in which the vow originated. The +facts of the case are few and simple. In one of his many mob speeches he +called the corporation of Dublin a "beggarly corporation." A gentleman +named D'Esterre affected to feel this as a personal affront, he being +one of that very numerous body, and accordingly fastened a quarrel on +the offender. It is quite true that O'Connell endeavored to avoid the +encounter. He did not do enough. He should have summoned D'Esterre +before the tribunals of the country, after failing to appease him by a +repeated declaration that he meant him no personal offense, and could +not, he being a total stranger to him. However, in an evil hour, he +countenanced a savage and anti-Christian custom--the unfortunate +D'Esterre paid for his perverseness with his life, and the still more +unfortunate O'Connell expiated his moral timidity with much mental +anguish to the day of his death. The perpetration of a duel appears to +me no proof whatever of personal courage; the refusal, in the then state +of society, would have shown much more. However, on the occasion in +question he showed a total absence of what is vulgarly called fear; +indeed, his frigid determination was remarkable. Let those who read the +following anecdote remember that he most reluctantly engaged in the +combat; that he was then the father of seven children; and that it was +an alternative of life or death with him, D'Esterre being reputed an +unerring marksman. Being one of those who accompanied O'Connell, he +beckoned me aside to a distant portion of the very large field, which +had a slight covering of snow. "Phillips," said he, "this seems to me +not a personal, but a political affair. I am obnoxious to a party, and +they adopt a false pretense to cut me off. I shall not submit to it. +They have reckoned without their host, I promise you. I am one of the +best shots in Ireland at a mark, having, as a public man, considered it +a duty to prepare, for my own protection, against such unprovoked +aggression as the present. Now, remember what I say to you. I may be +struck myself, and then skill is out of the question; but if I am not, +my antagonist may have cause to regret his having forced me into this +conflict." The parties were then very soon, placed on the ground, at, I +think, twelve paces distance, _each_ having a case of pistols, with +directions to fire when they chose after a given signal. D'Esterre +rather agitated himself by making a short speech, disclaiming all +hostility to his Roman Catholic countrymen, and took his ground, +somewhat theatrically crossing his pistols upon his bosom. They fired +almost together, and instantly on the signal. D'Esterre fell, mortally +wounded. There was the greatest self-possession displayed by both. It +seemed to me a duty to narrate these details in O'Connell's lifetime +wherever I heard his courage questioned, and justice to his memory now +prompts me to record them here. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[14] From "Curran and his Contemporaries" by CHARLES PHILLIPS, just +published by Harper and Brothers. + + + + +MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE.[15] + + +BOOK V.--INITIAL CHAPTER. + +"I hope, Pisistratus," said my father, "that you do not intend to be +dull!" + +"Heaven forbid, sir! what could make you ask such a question? _Intend!_ +No! if I am dull it is from innocence." + +"A very long Discourse upon Knowledge!" said my father; "very long. I +should cut it out!" + +I looked upon my father as a Byzantian sage might have looked on a +Vandal. "Cut it out!" + +"Stops the action, sir!" said my father, dogmatically. + +"Action! But a novel is not a drama." + +"No, it is a great deal longer--twenty times as long, I dare say," +replied Mr. Caxton, with a sigh. + +"Well, sir--well! I think my Discourse upon Knowledge has much to do +with the subject--is vitally essential to the subject; does not stop the +action--only explains and elucidates the action. And I am astonished, +sir, that you, a scholar, and a cultivator of knowledge--" + +"There--there!" cried my father, deprecatingly. "I yield--I yield. What +better could I expect when I set up for a critic! What author ever lived +that did not fly into a passion--even with his own father, if his father +presumed to say--'Cut out!' _Pacem imploro_--" + +MRS. CAXTON.--"My dear Austin, I am sure Pisistratus did not mean to +offend you, and I have no doubt he will take your--" + +PISISTRATUS (hastily).--"Advice _for the future_, certainly. I will +quicken the action, and--" + +"Go on with the Novel," whispered Roland, looking up from his eternal +account-book. "We have lost L200 by our barley!" + +Therewith I plunged my pen into the ink, and my thoughts into the "Fair +Shadowland." + + +CHAPTER II. + +"Halt!" cried a voice; and not a little surprised was Leonard when the +stranger who had accosted him the preceding evening got into the chaise. + +"Well," said Richard, "I am not the sort of man you expected, eh? Take +time to recover yourself." And with these words Richard drew forth a +book from his pocket, threw himself back, and began to read. Leonard +stole many a glance at the acute, hardy, handsome face of his companion, +and gradually recognized a family likeness to poor John, in whom, +despite age and infirmity, the traces of no common share of physical +beauty were still evident. And with that quick link in ideas which +mathematical aptitude bestows, the young student at once conjectured +that he saw before him his uncle Richard. He had the discretion, +however, to leave that gentleman free to choose his own time for +introducing himself, and silently revolved the new thoughts produced by +the novelty of his situation. Mr. Richard read with notable +quickness--sometimes cutting the leaves of the book with his penknife, +sometimes tearing them open with his forefinger, sometimes skipping +whole pages altogether. Thus he galloped to the end of the volume--flung +it aside--lighted his cigar, and began to talk. + +He put many questions to Leonard relative to his rearing, and especially +to the mode by which he had acquired his education; and Leonard, +confirmed in the idea that he was replying to a kinsman, answered +frankly. + +Richard did not think it strange that Leonard should have acquired so +much instruction with so little direct tuition. Richard Avenel himself +had been tutor to himself. He had lived too long with our go-ahead +brethren, who stride the world on the other side the Atlantic with the +seven-leagued boots of the Giant-killer, not to have caught their +glorious fever for reading. But it was for a reading wholly different +from that which was familiar to Leonard. The books he read must be new; +to read old books would have seemed to him going back in the world. He +fancied that new books necessarily contained new ideas--a common +mistake--and our lucky adventurer was the man of his day. + +Tired with talking, he at length chucked the book he had run through to +Leonard, and, taking out a pocket-book and pencil, amused himself with +calculations on some detail of his business, after which he fell into an +absorbed train of thought--part pecuniary, part ambitious. + +Leonard found the book interesting; it was one of the numerous works, +half-statistic, half-declamatory, relating to the condition of the +working classes, which peculiarly distinguish our century, and ought to +bind together rich and poor, by proving the grave attention which modern +society bestows upon all that can affect the welfare of the last. + +"Dull stuff--theory--claptrap," said Richard, rousing himself from his +reverie at last: "it can't interest you." + +"All books interest me, I think," said Leonard, "and this especially; +for it relates to the working class, and I am one of them." + +"You were yesterday, but you mayn't be to-morrow," answered Richard, +good-humoredly, and patting him on the shoulder. "You see, my lad, that +it is the middle class which ought to govern the country. What the book +says about the ignorance of country magistrates is very good; but the +man writes pretty considerable trash when he wants to regulate the +number of hours a free-born boy should work at a factory--only ten hours +a day--pooh! and so lose two to the nation! Labor is wealth: and if we +could get men to work twenty-four hours a day, we should be just twice +as rich. If the march of civilization is to proceed," continued Richard, +loftily, "men, and boys, too, must not lie a-bed doing nothing _all +night_, sir." Then with a complacent tone--"We shall get to the +twenty-four hours at last; and, by gad, we must, or we shan't flog the +Europeans as we do now." + +On arriving at the inn at which Richard had first made acquaintance with +Mr. Dale, the coach by which he had intended to perform the rest of the +journey was found to be full. Richard continued to perform the journey +in post-chaises, not without some grumbling at the expense, and +incessant orders to the post-boys to make the best of the way. "Slow +country this, in spite of all its brag," said he--"very slow. Time is +money--they know that in the States; for why, they are all men of +business there. Always slow in a country where a parcel of lazy, idle +lords, and dukes, and baronets, seem to think 'time is pleasure.'" + +Toward evening the chaise approached the confines of a very large town, +and Richard began to grow fidgety. His easy cavalier air was abandoned. +He withdrew his legs from the window, out of which they had been +luxuriously dangling; pulled down his waistcoat; buckled more tightly +his stock: it was clear that he was resuming the decorous dignity that +belongs to state. He was like a monarch who, after traveling happy and +incognito, returns to his capital. Leonard divined at once that they +were nearing their journey's end. + +Humble foot-passengers now looked at the chaise, and touched their hats. +Richard returned the salutation with a nod--a nod less gracious than +condescending. The chaise turned rapidly to the left, and stopped before +a smart lodge, very new, very white, adorned with two Doric columns in +stucco, and flanked by a large pair of gates. "Hollo!" cried the +post-boy, and cracked his whip. + +Two children were playing before the lodge, and some clothes were +hanging out to dry on the shrubs and pales round the neat little +building. + +"Hang those brats! they are actually playing," growled Dick. "As I live, +the jade has been washing again! Stop, boy." During this soliloquy, a +good-looking young woman had rushed from the door--slapped the children +as, catching sight of the chaise, they ran toward the house--opened the +gates, and, dropping a courtesy to the ground, seemed to wish that she +could drop into it altogether, so frightened and so trembling seemed she +to shrink from the wrathful face which the master now put out of the +window. + +"Did I tell you, or did I not," said Dick, "that I would not have these +horrid disreputable cubs of yours playing just before my lodge gates?" + +"Please, sir--" + +"Don't answer me. And did I tell you, or did I not, that the next time I +saw you making a drying-ground of my lilacs, you should go out, neck +and crop--" + +"Oh, please, sir--" + +"You leave my lodge next Saturday: drive on, boy. The ingratitude and +insolence of those common people are disgraceful to human nature," +muttered Richard, with an accent of the bitterest misanthropy. + +The chaise wheeled along the smoothest and freshest of gravel roads, and +through fields of the finest land, in the highest state of cultivation. +Rapid as was Leonard's survey, his rural eye detected the signs of a +master in the art agranomial. Hitherto he had considered the Squire's +model farm as the nearest approach to good husbandry he had seen: for +Jackeymo's finer skill was developed rather on the minute scale of +market-gardening than what can fairly be called husbandry. But the +Squire's farm was degraded by many old-fashioned notions, and +concessions to the whim of the eye, which would not be found in model +farms nowadays--large tangled hedgerows, which, though they constitute +one of the beauties most picturesque in old England, make sad deductions +from produce; great trees, overshadowing the corn, and harboring the +birds; little patches of rough sward left to waste; and angles of +woodland running into fields, exposing them to rabbits, and blocking out +the sun. These and suchlike blots on a gentleman farmer's agriculture, +common-sense and Giacomo had made clear to the acute comprehension of +Leonard. No such faults were perceptible in Richard Avenel's domain. The +fields lay in broad divisions, the hedges were clipped and narrowed into +their proper destination of mere boundaries. Not a blade of wheat +withered under the cold shade of a tree: not a yard of land lay waste; +not a weed was to be seen, not a thistle to waft its baleful seed +through the air: some young plantations were placed, not where the +artist would put them, but just where the farmer wanted a fence from the +wind. Was there no beauty in this? Yes, there was beauty of its +kind--beauty at once recognizable to the initiated--beauty of use and +profit--beauty that could bear a monstrous high rent. And Leonard +uttered a cry of admiration which thrilled through the heart of Richard +Avenel. + +"This _is_ farming!" said the villager. + +"Well, I guess it is," answered Richard, all his ill-humor vanishing. +"You should have seen the land when I bought it. But we new men, as they +call us--(damn their impertinence)--are the new blood of this country." + +Richard Avenel never said any thing more true. Long may the new blood +circulate through the veins of the mighty giantess; but let the grand +heart be the same as it has beat for proud ages. + +The chaise, now passed through a pretty shrubbery, and the house came +into gradual view--a house with a portico--all the offices carefully +thrust out of sight. + +The post-boy dismounted and rang the bell. + +"I almost think they are going to keep me waiting," said Mr. Richard, +well-nigh in the very words of Louis XIV. + +But that fear was not realized--the door opened; a well-fed servant out +of livery presented himself. There was no hearty welcoming smile on his +face, but he opened the chaise-door with demure and taciturn respect. + +"Where's George? why does not he come to the door?" asked Richard, +descending from the chaise slowly, and leaning on the servant's +outstretched arm with as much precaution as if he had had the gout. + +Fortunately, George here came into sight, settling himself hastily into +his livery coat. + +"See to the things, both of you," said Richard, as he paid the post-boy. + +Leonard stood on the gravel sweep, gazing at the square white house. + +"Handsome elevation--classical, I take it--eh?" said Richard, joining +him. "But you should see the offices." + +He then, with familiar kindness, took Leonard by the arm, and drew him +within. He showed him the hall, with a carved mahogany stand for hats; +he showed him the drawing-room, and pointed out its beauties--though it +was summer the drawing-room looked cold, as will look rooms newly +furnished, with walls newly papered, in houses newly built. The +furniture was handsome, and suited to the rank of a rich trader. There +was no pretense about it, and therefore no vulgarity, which is more than +can be said for the houses of many an honorable Mrs. Somebody in +Mayfair, with rooms twelve feet square, chokeful of buhl, that would +have had its proper place in the Tuileries. Then Richard showed him the +library, with mahogany book-cases and plate glass, and the fashionable +authors handsomely bound. Your new men are much better friends to living +authors than your old families who live in the country, and at most +subscribe to a book-club. Then Richard took him up-stairs, and led him +through the bedrooms--all very clean and comfortable, and with every +modern convenience; and, pausing in a very pretty single gentleman's +chamber, said, "This is your den. And now, can you guess who I am?" + +"No one but my Uncle Richard could be so kind," answered Leonard. + +But the compliment did not flatter Richard. He was extremely +disconcerted and disappointed. He had hoped that he should be taken for +a lord at least, forgetful of all that he had said in disparagement of +lords. + +"Pish!" said he at last, biting his lip--"so you don't think that I look +like a gentleman! Come, now, speak honestly." + +Leonard wonderingly saw he had given pain, and with the good breeding +which comes instinctively from good-nature, replied--"I judged you by +your heart, sir, and your likeness to my grandfather--otherwise I should +never have presumed to fancy we could be relations." + +"Hum!" answered Richard. "You can just wash your hands, and then come +down to dinner; you will hear the gong in ten minutes. There's the bell; +ring for what you want." + +With that, he turned on his heel; and descending the stairs, gave a look +into the dining-room, and admired the plated salver on the sideboard, +and the king's pattern spoons and forks on the table. Then he walked to +the looking-glass over the mantle-piece; and wishing to survey the whole +effect of his form, mounted a chair. He was just getting into an +attitude which he thought imposing, when the butler entered, and being +London bred, had the discretion to try to escape unseen; but Richard +caught sight of him in the looking-glass, and colored up to the temples. + +"Jarvis," said he mildly, "Jarvis, put me in mind to have these +inexpressibles altered." + + +CHAPTER III. + +Apropos of the inexpressibles, Mr. Richard did not forget to provide his +nephew with a much larger wardrobe than could have been thrust into Dr. +Riccabocca's knapsack. There was a very good tailor in the town, and the +clothes were very well made. And, but for an air more ingenuous, and a +cheek that, despite study and night vigils, retained much of the +sunburnt bloom of the rustic, Leonard Fairfield might now have almost +passed, without disparaging comment, by the bow-window at White's. +Richard burst into an immoderate fit of laughter when he first saw the +watch which the poor Italian had bestowed upon Leonard; but, to atone +for the laughter, he made him a present of a very pretty substitute, and +bade him "lock up his turnip." Leonard was more hurt by the jeer at his +old patron's gift than pleased by his uncle's. But Richard Avenel had no +conception of sentiment. It was not for many days that Leonard could +reconcile himself to his uncle's manner. Not that the peasant could +pretend to judge of its mere conventional defects; but there is an ill +breeding to which, whatever our rank and nurture, we are almost equally +sensitive--the ill breeding that comes from want of consideration for +others. Now, the Squire was as homely in his way as Richard Avenel, but +the Squire's bluntness rarely hurt the feelings: and when it did so, the +Squire perceived and hastened to repair his blunder. But Mr. Richard, +whether kind or cross, was always wounding you in some little delicate +fibre--not from malice, but from the absence of any little delicate +fibres of his own. He was really, in many respects, a most excellent man +and certainly a very valuable, citizen. But his merits wanted the fine +tints and fluent curves that constitute beauty of character. He was +honest, but sharp in his practice, and with a keen eye to his interests. +He was just, but as a matter of business. He made no allowances, and did +not leave to his justice the large margin of tenderness and mercy. He +was generous, but rather from an idea of what was due to himself than +with much thought of the pleasure he gave to others; and he even +regarded generosity as capital put out to interest. He expected a great +deal of gratitude in return, and, when he obliged a man, considered that +he had bought a slave. Every needy voter knew where to come, if he +wanted relief or a loan; but woe to him if he had ventured to express +hesitation when Mr. Avenel told him how he must vote. + +In this town Richard had settled after his return from America, in which +country he had enriched himself--first, by spirit and industry--lastly, +by bold speculation and good luck. He invested his fortune in +business--became a partner in a large brewery--soon bought out his +associates--and then took a principal share in a flourishing corn-mill. +He prospered rapidly--bought a property of some two or three hundred +acres, built a house, and resolved to enjoy himself, and make a figure. +He had now become the leading man of the town, and the boast to Audley +Egerton that he could return one of the members, perhaps both, was by no +means an exaggerated estimate of his power. Nor was his proposition, +according to his own views, so unprincipled as it appeared to the +statesman. He had taken a great dislike to both the sitting members--a +dislike natural to a sensible man of modern politics, who had something +to lose. For Mr. Slappe, the active member--who was head-over-ears in +debt--was one of the furious democrats rare before the Reform Bill--and +whose opinions were held dangerous even by the mass of a Liberal +constituency; while Mr. Sleekie, the gentleman member, who laid by L5000 +every year from his dividends in the Funds, was one of those men whom +Richard justly pronounced to be "humbugs"--men who curry favor with the +extreme party by voting for measures sure not to be carried; while, if +there were the least probability of coming to a decision that would +lower the money-market, Mr. Sleekie was seized with a well-timed +influenza. Those politicians are common enough now. Propose to march to +the Millennium, and they are your men. Ask them to march a quarter of a +mile, and they fall to feeling their pockets, and trembling for fear of +the foot-pads. They are never so joyful as when there is no chance of a +victory. Did they beat the Minister, they would be carried out of the +house in a fit. + +Richard Avenel--despising both these gentlemen, and not taking kindly to +the Whigs since the great Whig leaders were Lords--looked with a +friendly eye to the Government as it then existed, and especially to +Audley Egerton, the enlightened representative of commerce. But in +giving Audley and his colleagues the benefit of his influence, through +conscience, he thought it all fair and right to have a _quid pro quo_, +and, as he had so frankly confessed, it was his whim to rise up "Sir +Richard." For this worthy citizen abused the aristocracy much on the +same principle as the fair Olivia depreciated Squire Thornhill--he had a +sneaking affection for what he abused. The society of Screwstown was +like most provincial capitals, composed of two classes--the commercial +and the exclusive. These last dwelt chiefly apart, around the ruins of +an old abbey; they affected its antiquity in their pedigrees, and had +much of its ruin in their finances. Widows of rural thanes in the +neighborhood--genteel spinsters--officers retired on half-pay--younger +sons of rich squires, who had now become old bachelors--in short, a very +respectable, proud, aristocratic set--who thought more of themselves +than do all the Gowers and Howards, Courtenays and Seymours, put +together. It had early been the ambition of Richard Avenel to be +admitted into this sublime coterie, and, strange to say, he had +partially succeeded. He was never more happy than when he was asked to +their card-parties, and never more unhappy than when he was actually +there. Various circumstances combined to raise Mr. Avenel into this +elevated society. First, he was unmarried, still very handsome, and in +that society there was a large proportion of unwedded females. Secondly, +he was the only rich trader in Screwstown who kept a good cook, and +professed to give dinners, and the half-pay captains and colonels +swallowed the host for the sake of the venison. Thirdly, and +principally, all these exclusives abhorred the two sitting members, and +"idem nolle idem velle de republica, ea firma amicitia est;" that is, +congeniality in politics pieces porcelain and crockery together better +than the best diamond cement. The sturdy Richard Avenel--who valued +himself on American independence--held these ladies and gentlemen in an +awe that was truly Brahminical. Whether it was that in England, all +notions, even of liberty, are mixed up historically, traditionally, +socially, with that fine and subtle element of aristocracy which, like +the press, is the air we breathe; or whether Richard imagined that he +really became magnetically imbued with the virtues of these silver +pennies and gold seven-shilling pieces, distinct from the vulgar coinage +in popular use, it is hard to say. But the truth must be told--Richard +Avenel was a notable tuft-hunter. He had a great longing to marry out of +this society; but he had not yet seen any one sufficiently high-born and +high-bred to satisfy his aspirations. In the mean while, he had +convinced himself that his way would be smooth could he offer to make +his ultimate choice "My Lady;" and he felt that it would be a proud hour +in his life when he could walk before stiff Colonel Pompley to the sound +of "Sir Richard." Still, however disappointed at the ill-success of his +bluff diplomacy with Mr. Egerton, and however yet cherishing the most +vindictive resentment against that individual--he did not, as many would +have done, throw up his political convictions out of personal spite. He +resolved still to favor the ungrateful and undeserving Administration; +and as Audley Egerton had acted on the representations of the mayor and +deputies, and shaped his bill to meet their views, so Avenel and the +Government rose together in the popular estimation of the citizens of +Screwstown. + +But duly to appreciate the value of Richard Avenel, and in just +counterpoise to all his foibles, one ought to have seen what he had +effected for the town. Well might he boast of "new blood;" he had done +as much for the town as he had for his fields. His energy, his quick +comprehension of public utility, backed by his wealth, and bold, +bullying, imperious character, had sped the work of civilization as if +with the celerity and force of a steam-engine. + +If the town were so well paved and so well lighted--if half-a-dozen +squalid lanes had been transformed into a stately street--if half the +town no longer depended on tanks for their water--if the poor-rates were +reduced one-third--praise to the brisk new blood which Richard Avenel +had infused into vestry and corporation. And his example itself was so +contagious! "There was not a plate-glass window in the town when I came +into it," said Richard Avenel; "and now look down the High-street!" He +took the credit to himself, and justly; for, though his own business did +not require windows of plate-glass, he had awakened the spirit of +enterprise which adorns a whole city. + +Mr. Avenel did not present Leonard to his friends for more than a +fortnight. He allowed him to wear off his rust. He then gave a grand +dinner, at which his nephew was formally introduced, and, to his great +wrath and disappointment, never opened his lips. How could he, poor +youth, when Miss Clarina Mowbray only talked upon high life, till proud +Colonel Pompley went in state through the history of the siege of +Seringapatam. + + +CHAPTER IV + +While Leonard accustoms himself gradually to the splendors that surround +him, and often turns with a sigh to the remembrance of his mother's +cottage and the sparkling fount in the Italian's flowery garden, we will +make with thee, O reader, a rapid flight to the metropolis, and drop +ourselves amidst the gay groups that loiter along the dusty ground, or +loll over the roadside palings of Hyde Park. The season is still at its +height; but the short day of fashionable London life, which commences +two hours after noon, is in its decline. The crowd in Rotten-row begins +to thin. Near the statue of Achilles, and apart from all other loungers, +a gentleman, with one hand thrust into his waistcoat, and the other +resting on his cane, gazed listlessly on the horsemen and carriages in +the brilliant ring. He was still in the prime of life, at the age when +man is usually the most social--when the acquaintances of youth have +ripened into friendship, and a personage of some rank and fortune has +become a well-known feature in the mobile face of society. But though, +when his contemporaries were boys scarce at college, this gentleman had +blazed foremost among the princes of fashion, and though he had all the +qualities of nature and circumstance which either retain fashion to the +last, or exchange its false celebrity for a graver repute, he stood as a +stranger in that throng of his countrymen. Beauties whirled by to the +toilet--statesmen passed on to the senate--dandies took flight to the +clubs; and neither nods, nor becks, nor wreathed smiles, said to the +solitary spectator, "Follow us--thou art one of our set." Now and then, +some middle-aged beau, nearing the post of the loiterer, turned round to +look again; but the second glance seemed to dissipate the recognition of +the first, and the beau silently continued his way. + +"By the tombs of my fathers!" said the solitary to himself, "I know now +what a dead man might feel if he came to life again, and took a peep at +the living." + +Time passed on--the evening shades descended fast. Our stranger in +London had well-nigh the Park to himself. He seemed to breathe more +freely as he saw that the space was so clear. + +"There's oxygen in the atmosphere now," said he, half aloud; "and I can +walk without breathing in the gaseous fumes of the multitude. O those +chemists--what dolts they are! They tell us crowds taint the air, but +they never guess why! Pah! it is not the lungs that poison the +element--it is the reek of bad hearts. When a periwig-pated fellow +breathes on me, I swallow a mouthful of care. _Allons!_ my friend Nero; +now for a stroll." He touched with his cane a large Newfoundland dog, +who lay stretched near his feet; a dog and man went slow through the +growing twilight, and over the brown dry turf. At length our solitary +paused, and threw himself on a bench under a tree. "Half-past eight!" +said he, looking at his watch--"one may smoke one's cigar without +shocking the world." + +He took out his cigar-case, struck a light, and in another moment, +reclined at length on the bench, seemed absorbed in regarding the smoke, +that scarce colored ere it vanished into air. + +"It is the most barefaced lie in the world, my Nero," said he, +addressing his dog--"this boasted liberty of man! Now, here am I, a +freeborn Englishman, a citizen of the world, caring--I often say to +myself--caring not a jot for Kaisar or Mob; and yet I no more dare smoke +this cigar in the Park at half-past six, when all the world is abroad, +than I dare pick my Lord Chancellor's pocket, or hit the Archbishop of +Canterbury a thump on the nose. Yet no law in England forbids me my +cigar, Nero! What is law at half-past eight, was not crime at six and a +half! Britannia says, 'Man, thou art free,' and she lies like a +commonplace woman. O Nero, Nero! you enviable dog!--you serve but from +liking. No thought of the world costs you one wag of the tail. Your big +heart and true instinct suffice you for reason and law. You would want +nothing to your felicity, if in these moments of ennui you would but +smoke a cigar. Try it, Nero!--try it!" And, rising from his incumbent +posture, he sought to force the end of the weed between the teeth of the +dog. + +While thus gravely engaged, two figures had approached the place. The +one was a man who seemed weak and sickly. His threadbare coat was +buttoned to the chin, but hung large on his shrunken breast. The other +was a girl of about fourteen, on whose arm he leant heavily. Her cheek +was wan, and there was a patient sad look on her face, which seemed so +settled that you would think she could never have known the mirthfulness +of childhood. + +"Pray rest here, papa," said the child softly; and she pointed to the +bench, without taking heed of its pre-occupant, who now, indeed, +confined to one corner of the seat, was almost hidden by the shadow of a +tree. + +The man sate down, with a feeble sigh; and then, observing the stranger, +raised his hat, and said, in that tone of voice which betrays the usages +of polished society, "Forgive me, if I intrude on you, sir." + +The stranger looked up from his dog, and seeing that the girl was +standing, rose at once as if to make room for her on the bench. + +But still the girl did not heed him. She hung over her father, and wiped +his brow tenderly with a little kerchief which she took from her own +neck for the purpose. + +Nero, delighted to escape the cigar, had taken to some unwieldy curvets +and gambols, to vent the excitement into which he had been thrown; and +now returning, approached the bench with a low look of surprise, and +sniffed at the intruders on his master's privacy. + +"Come here, sir," said the master. "You need not fear him," he added, +addressing himself to the girl. + +But the girl, without turning round to him, cried in a voice rather of +anguish than alarm, "He has fainted! Father! father!" + +The stranger kicked aside his dog, which was in the way, and loosened +the poor man's stiff military stock. While thus charitably engaged, the +moon broke out, and the light fell full on the pale care-worn face of +the unconscious sufferer. + +"This face seems not unfamiliar to me, though sadly changed," said the +stranger to himself; and bending toward the girl, who had sunk on her +knees and was chafing her father's hands, he asked, "My child, what is +your father's name?" + +The child continued her task, too absorbed to answer. + +The stranger put his hand on her shoulder, and repeated the question. + +"Digby," answered the child, almost unconsciously; and as she spoke the +man's senses began to return. In a few minutes more he had sufficiently +recovered to falter forth his thanks to the stranger. But the last took +his hand, and said, in a voice at once tremulous and soothing, "Is it +possible that I see once more an old brother in arms? Algernon Digby, I +do not forget you; but it seems England has forgotten?" + +A hectic flush spread over the soldier's face, and he looked away from +the speaker as he answered-- + +"My name is Digby, it is true, sir; but I do not think we have met +before. Come, Helen, I am well now--we will go home." + +"Try and play with that great dog, my child," said the stranger--"I want +to talk with your father." + +The child bowed her submissive head, and moved away; but she did not +play with the dog. + +"I must re-introduce myself, formally, I see," quoth the stranger. "You +were in the same regiment with myself, and my name is L'Estrange." + +"My lord," said the soldier, rising, "forgive me that--" + +"I don't think that it was the fashion to call me 'my lord' at the +mess-table. Come, what has happened to you?--on half-pay?" + +Mr. Digby shook his head mournfully. + +"Digby, old fellow, can you lend me L100?" said Lord L'Estrange, +clapping his _ci-devant_ brother officer on the shoulder, and in a tone +of voice that seemed like a boy's--so impudent was it, and +devil-me-carish. "No! Well, that's lucky, for I can lend it to you." + +Mr. Digby burst into tears. + +Lord L'Estrange did not seem to observe the emotion. "We were both sad +extravagant fellows in our day," said he, "and I dare say I borrowed of +you pretty freely." + +"Me! Oh, Lord L'Estrange?" + +"You have married since then, and reformed, I suppose. Tell me, old +friend, all about it." + +Mr. Digby, who by this time had succeeded in restoring some calm to his +shattered nerves, now rose, and said in brief sentences, but clear firm +tones, + +"My Lord, it is idle to talk of me--useless to help me. I am fast dying. +But, my child there, my only child (he paused an instant, and went on +rapidly). I have relations in a distant country, if I could but get to +them--I think they would at least provide for her. This has been for +weeks my hope, my dream, my prayer. I can not afford the journey except +by your help. I have begged without shame for myself; shall I be +ashamed, then, to beg for her?" + +"Digby," said L'Estrange, with some grave alteration of manner, "talk +neither of dying, nor begging. You were nearer death when the balls +whistled round you at Waterloo. If soldier meets soldier and says, +'Friend, thy purse,' it is not begging, but brotherhood. Ashamed! By the +soul of Belisarius! if I needed money, I would stand at a crossing with +my Waterloo medal over my breast, and say to each sleek citizen I had +helped to save from the sword of the Frenchman, 'It is your shame if I +starve.' Now, lean upon me; I see you should be at home--which way?" + +The poor soldier pointed his hand toward Oxford-street, and reluctantly +accepted the proffered arm. + +"And when you return from your relations, you will call on me? +What!--hesitate? Come, promise." + +"I will." + +"On your honor." + +"If I live, on my honor." + +"I am staying at present at Knightsbridge, with my father; but you will +always hear of my address at No. -- Grosvenor-square, Mr. Egerton's. +So you have a long journey before you?" + +"Very long." + +"Do not fatigue yourself--travel slowly. Ho, you foolish child!--I see +you are jealous of me. Your father has another arm to spare you." + +Thus talking, and getting but short answers, Lord L'Estrange continued +to exhibit those whimsical peculiarities of character, which had +obtained for him the repute of heartlessness in the world. Perhaps the +reader may think the world was not in the right. But if ever the world +does judge rightly of the character of a man who does not live for the +world, nor talk for the world, nor feel with the world, it will be +centuries after the soul of Harley L'Estrange has done with this planet. + + +CHAPTER V. + +Lord L'Estrange parted company with Mr. Digby at the entrance of +Oxford-street. The father and child there took a cabriolet. Mr. Digby +directed the driver to go down the Edgeware-road. He refused to tell +L'Estrange his address, and this with such evident pain, from the sores +of pride, that L'Estrange could not press the point. Reminding the +soldier of his promise to call, Harley thrust a pocket-book into his +hand, and walked off hastily toward Grosvenor-square. + +He reached Audley Egerton's door just as that gentleman was getting out +of his carriage; and the two friends entered the house together. + +"Does the nation take a nap to-night?" asked L'Estrange. "Poor old lady! +She hears so much of her affairs, that she may well boast of her +constitution: it must be of iron." + +"The House is still sitting," answered Audley seriously, and with small +heed of his friend's witticism. "But it is not a Government motion, and +the division will be late, so I came home; and if I had not found you +here, I should have gone into the Park to look for you." + +"Yes--one always knows where to find me at this hour. 9 o'clock +P.M.--cigar--Hyde Park. There is not a man in England so regular in his +habits." + +Here the friends reached a drawing-room in which the Member of +Parliament seldom sat, for his private apartments were all on the ground +floor. + +"But it is the strangest whim of yours, Harley," said he. + +"What?" + +"To affect detestation of ground-floors." + +"Affect! O sophisticated man, of the earth, earthy! Affect!--nothing +less natural to the human soul than a ground-floor. We are quite far +enough from heaven, mount as many stairs as we will, without groveling +by preference." + +"According to that symbolical view of the case," said Audley, "you +should lodge in an attic." + +"So I would, but that I abhor new slippers. As for hair-brushes, I am +indifferent!" + +"What have slippers and hair-brushes to do with attics?" + +"Try! Make your bed in an attic, and the next morning you will have +neither slippers nor hair-brushes!" + +"What shall I have done with them?" + +"Shied them at the cats!" + +"What odd things you do say, Harley!" + +"Odd! By Apollo and his nine spinsters! there is no human being who has +so little imagination as a distinguished Member of Parliament. Answer me +this, thou solemn right honorable--Hast thou climbed to the heights of +august contemplation? Hast thou gazed on the stars with the rapt eye of +song? Hast thou dreamed of a love known to the angels, or sought to +seize in the Infinite the mystery of life?" + +"Not I indeed, my poor Harley." + +"Then no wonder, poor Audley, that you can not conjecture why he who +makes his bed in an attic, disturbed by base catterwauls, shies his +slippers at cats. Bring a chair into the balcony. Nero spoiled my cigar +to-night. I am going to smoke now. You never smoke. You can look on the +shrubs in the square." + +Audley slightly shrugged his shoulders, but he followed his friend's +counsel and example, and brought his chair into the balcony. Nero came +too, but at sight and smell of the cigar prudently retreated, and took +refuge under the table. + +"Audley Egerton, I want something from Government." + +"I am delighted to hear it." + +"There was a cornet in my regiment, who would have done better not to +have come into it. We were, for the most part of us, puppies and fops." + +"You all fought well, however." + +"Puppies and fops do fight well. Vanity and valor generally go together. +Caesar, who scratched his head with due care of his scanty curls, and, +even in dying, thought of the folds in his toga; Walter Raleigh, who +could not walk twenty yards, because of the gems in his shoes; +Alcibiades, who lounged into the Agora with doves in his bosom, and an +apple in his hand; Murat, bedizened in gold-lace and furs; and +Demetrius, the City-Taker, who made himself up like a French +_Marquise_--were all pretty good fellows at fighting. A slovenly hero +like Cromwell is a paradox in nature, and a marvel in history. But to +return to my cornet. We were rich; he was poor. When the pot of clay +swims down the stream with the brass-pots, it is sure of a smash. Men +said Digby was stingy; I saw he was extravagant. But every one, I fear, +would be rather thought stingy than poor. _Bref._--I left the army, and +saw him no more till to-night. There was never shabby poor gentleman on +the stage more awfully shabby, more pathetically gentleman. But, look +ye, this man has fought for England. It was no child's play at Waterloo, +let me tell you, Mr. Egerton; and, but for such men, you would be at +best a _sous-prefet_, and your Parliament a Provincial Assembly. You +must do something for Digby. What shall it be?" + +"Why, really, my dear Harley, this man was no great friend of +yours--eh?" + +"If he were, he would not want the Government to help him--he would not +be ashamed of taking money from me." + +"That is all very fine, Harley; but there are so many poor officers, and +so little to give. It is the most difficult thing in the world that +which you ask me. Indeed, I know nothing can be done; he has his +half-pay." + +"I think not; or, if he has it, no doubt it all goes on his debts. +That's nothing to us: the man and his child are starving." + +"But if it is his own fault--if he has been imprudent?" + +"Ah--well, well; where the devil is Nero?" + +"I am so sorry I can't oblige you. If it were any thing else--" + +"There is something else. My valet--I can't turn him adrift--excellent +fellow, but gets drunk now and then. Will you find him a place in the +Stamp Office?" + +"With pleasure." + +"No, now I think of it--the man knows my ways: I must keep him. But my +old wine-merchant--civil man, never dunned--is a bankrupt. I am under +great obligations to him, and he has a very pretty daughter. Do you +think you could thrust him into some small place in the colonies, or +make him a king's messenger, or something of the sort?" + +"If you very much wish it, no doubt I can." + +"My dear Audley, I am but feeling my way: the fact is, I want something +for myself." + +"Ah, that indeed gives me pleasure!" cried Egerton, with animation. + +"The mission to Florence will soon be vacant--I know it privately. The +place would quite suit me. Pleasant city; the best figs in Italy--very +little to do. You could sound Lord ---- on the subject." + +"I will answer beforehand. Lord ---- would be enchanted to secure to the +public service a man so accomplished as yourself, and the son of a peer +like Lord Lansmere." + +Harley L'Estrange sprang to his feet, and flung his cigar in the face of +a stately policeman, who was looking up at the balcony. + +"Infamous and bloodless official!" cried Harley L'Estrange; "so you +could provide for a pimpled-nosed lackey--for a wine-merchant who has +been poisoning the king's subjects with white lead or sloe-juice--for an +idle sybarite, who would complain of a crumpled rose-leaf; and nothing +in all the vast patronage of England for a broken down soldier, whose +dauntless breast was her rampart." + +"Harley," said the Member of Parliament, with his calm, sensible smile, +"this would be very good clap-trap at a small theatre; but there is +nothing in which Parliament demands such rigid economy as the military +branch of the public service; and no man for whom it is so hard to +effect what we must plainly call a job, as a subaltern officer, who has +done nothing more than his duty--and all military men do that. Still, as +you take it so earnestly, I will use what interest I can at the War +Office, and get him, perhaps, the mastership of a barrack." + +"You had better; for, if you do not, I swear I will turn radical, and +come down to your own city to oppose you, with Hunt and Cobbett to +canvass for me." + +"I should be very glad to see you come into parliament, even as a +radical, and at my expense," said Audley, with great kindness. "But the +air is growing cold, and you are not accustomed to our climate. Nay, if +you are too poetic for catarrhs and rheums, I'm not--come in." + + +CHAPTER VI. + +Lord L'Estrange threw himself on a sofa, and leaned his cheek on his +hand thoughtfully. Audley Egerton sat near him, with his arms folded, +and gazed on his friend's face with a soft expression of aspect, which +was very unusual to the firm outline of his handsome features. The two +men were as dissimilar in person as the reader will have divined that +they were in character. All about Egerton was so rigid, all about +L'Estrange so easy. In every posture of Harley's there was the +unconscious grace of a child. The very fashion of his garments showed +his abhorrence of restraint. His clothes were wide and loose; his +neckcloth, tied carelessly, left his throat half bare. You could see +that he had lived much in warm and southern lands, and contracted a +contempt for conventionalities; there was as little in his dress as in +his talk of the formal precision of the north. He was three or four +years younger then Audley, but he looked at least twelve years +younger. In fact, he was one of those men to whom old age seems +impossible--voice, look, figure, had all the charm of youth; and, +perhaps it was from this gracious youthfulness--at all events, it was +characteristic of the kind of love he inspired--that neither his +parents, nor the few friends admitted into his intimacy, ever called +him, in their habitual intercourse, by the name of his title. He was not +L'Estrange with them, he was Harley; and by that familiar baptismal I +will usually designate him. He was not one of those men whom author or +reader wish to view at a distance, and remember as "my Lord"--it was so +rarely that he remembered it himself. For the rest, it had been said of +him by a shrewd wit--"He is so natural that every one calls him +affected." Harley L'Estrange was not so critically handsome as Audley +Egerton; to a commonplace observer he was, at best, rather good-looking +than otherwise. But women said that he had "a beautiful countenance," +and they were not wrong. He wore his hair, which was of a fair chestnut, +long, and in loose curls; and instead of the Englishman's whiskers, +indulged in the foreigner's mustache. His complexion was delicate, +though not effeminate; it was rather the delicacy of a student, than of +a woman. But in his clear gray eye there was wonderful vigor of life. A +skillful physiologist, looking only into that eye, would have recognized +rare stamina of constitution--a nature so rich that, while easily +disturbed, it would require all the effects of time, or all the fell +combinations of passion and grief, to exhaust it. Even now, though so +thoughtful, and even so sad, the rays of that eye were as concentred and +steadfast as the light of the diamond. + +"You were only, then, in jest," said Audley, after a long silence, "when +you spoke of this mission to Florence. You have still no idea of +entering into public life." + +"None." + +"I had hoped better things when I got your promise to pass one season in +London. But, indeed, you have kept your promise to the ear to break it +to the spirit. I could not presuppose that you would shun all society, +and be as much of a hermit here as under the vines of Como." + +"I have sate in the Strangers' Gallery, and heard your great speakers; I +have been in the pit of the Opera, and seen your fine ladies; I have +walked your streets, I have lounged in your parks, and I say that I +can't fall in love with a faded dowager, because she fills up her +wrinkless with rouge." + +"Of what dowager do you speak?" asked the matter-of-fact Audley. + +"She has a great many titles. Some people call her fashion, you busy +men, politics: it is all one--tricked out and artificial. I mean London +life. No, I can't fall in love with her, fawning old harridan!" + +"I wish you could fall in love with something." + +"I wish I could, with all my heart." + +"But you are so _blase_." + +"On the contrary, I am so fresh. Look out of the window--what do you +see?" + +"Nothing!" + +"Nothing--" + +"Nothing but houses and dusty lilacs, my coachman dozing on his box, and +two women in pattens crossing the kennel." + +"I see none of that where I lie on the sofa. I see but the stars. And I +feel for them as I did when I was a schoolboy at Eton. It is you who are +_blase_, not I--enough of this. You do not forget my commission, with +respect to the exile who has married into your brother's family?" + +"No; but here you set me a task more difficult than that of saddling +your cornet on the War Office." + +"I know it is difficult, for the counter influence is vigilant and +strong; but on the other hand, the enemy is so damnable a traitor that +one must have the Fates and the household gods on one's side." + +"Nevertheless," said the practical Audley, bending over a book on the +table, "I think that the best plan would be to attempt a compromise with +the traitor." + +"To judge of others by myself," answered Harley with spirit, "it were +less bitter to put up with wrong than to palter with it for +compensation. And such wrong! Compromise with the open foe--that may be +done with honor; but with the perjured friend--that were to forgive the +perjury!" + +"You are too vindictive," said Egerton; "there may be excuses for the +friend, which palliate even--" + +"Hush! Audley, hush! or I shall think the world has indeed corrupted +you. Excuse for the friend who deceives, who betrays! No, such is the +true outlaw of Humanity; and the Furies surround him even while he +sleeps in the temple." + +The man of the world lifted his eye slowly on the animated face of one +still natural enough for the passions. He then once more returned to his +book, and said, after a pause, "It is time you should marry, Harley." + +"No," answered L'Estrange, with a smile at this sudden turn in the +conversation--"not time yet; for my chief objection to that change in +life is, that all the women nowadays are too old for me, or I am too +young for them; a few, indeed, are so infantine that one is ashamed to +be their toy; but most are so knowing that one is a fool to be their +dupe. The first, if they condescend to love you, love you as the biggest +doll they have yet dandled, and for a doll's good qualities--your pretty +blue eyes, and your exquisite millinery. The last, if they prudently +accept you, do so on algebraical principles; you are but the X or the Y +that represents a certain aggregate of goods matrimonial--pedigree, +title, rent-roll, diamonds, pin-money, opera-box. They cast you up with +the help of mamma, and you wake some morning to find that _plus_ wife +_minus_ affection equals--the Devil!" + +"Nonsense," said Audley, with his quiet grave laugh. "I grant that it is +often the misfortune of a man in your station to be married rather for +what he has, than for what he is; but you are tolerably penetrating, and +not likely to be deceived in the character of the woman you court." + +"Of the woman I _court_?--No! But of the woman I _marry_, very likely +indeed. Woman is a changeable thing, as our Virgil informed us at +school; but her change _par excellence_ is from the fairy you woo to the +brownie you wed. It is not that she has been a hypocrite, it is that she +is a transmigration. You marry a girl for her accomplishments. She +paints charmingly, or plays like St. Cecilia. Clap a ring on her finger, +and she never draws again--except perhaps your caricature on the back of +a letter, and never opens a piano after the honeymoon. You marry her for +her sweet temper; and next year, her nerves are so shattered that you +can't contradict her but you are whirled into a storm of hysterics. You +marry her because she declares she hates balls and likes quiet; and ten +to one but what she becomes a patroness at Almacks, or a lady in +waiting." + +"Yet most men marry, and most men survive the operation." + +"If it were only necessary to live, that would be a consolatory and +encouraging reflection. But to live with peace, to live with dignity, to +live with freedom, to live in harmony with your thoughts, your habits, +your aspirations--and this in the perpetual companionship of a person to +whom you have given the power to wound your peace, to assail your +dignity, to cripple your freedom, to jar on each thought and each habit, +and bring you down to the meanest details of earth, when you invite her, +poor soul, to soar to the spheres--that makes the to be, or not to be, +which is the question." + +"If I were you, Harley, I would do as I have heard the author of +_Sandford and Merton_ did--choose out a child and educate her yourself +after your own heart." + +"You have hit it," answered Harley, seriously. "That has long been my +idea--a very vague one, I confess. But I fear I shall be an old man +before I find even the child." + +"Ah," he continued, yet more earnestly, while the whole character of his +varying countenance changed again--"ah! if indeed I could discover what +I seek--one who with the heart of a child has the mind of a woman; one +who beholds in nature the variety, the charm, the never feverish, ever +healthful excitement that others vainly seek in the bastard +sentimentalities of a life false with artificial forms; one who can +comprehend, as by intuition, the rich poetry with which creation is +clothed--poetry so clear to the child when enraptured with the flower, +or when wondering at the star! If on me such exquisite companionship +were bestowed--why, then"--he paused, sighed deeply, and, covering his +face with his hand, resumed in faltering accents, + +"But once--but once only, did such visions of the Beautiful made human +rise before me--amidst 'golden exhalations of the dawn.' It beggared my +life in vanishing. You know only--you only--how--how--" + +He bowed his head, and the tears forced themselves through his clenched +fingers. + +"So long ago!" said Audley, sharing his friend's emotion. "Years so long +and so weary, yet still thus tenacious of a mere boyish memory." + +"Away with it, then!" cried Harley, springing to his feet, and with a +laugh of strange merriment. "Your carriage still waits; set me home +before you go to the House." + +Then laying his hand lightly on his friend's shoulder, he said, "Is it +for you, Audley Egerton, to speak sneeringly of boyish memories? What +else is it that binds us together? What else warms my heart when I meet +you? What else draws your thoughts from blue-books and beer-bills, to +waste them on a vagrant like me? Shake hands. Oh, friend of my boyhood! +recollect the oars that we plied and the bats that we wielded in the old +time, or the murmured talk on the moss-grown bank, as we sate together, +building in the summer air castles mightier than Windsor. Ah! they are +strong ties, those boyish memories, believe me! I remember as if it were +yesterday my translation of that lovely passage in Persius, +beginning--let me see--ah!-- + + "Quum primum pavido custos mihi purpura cessit," + +that passage on friendship which gushes out so livingly from the stern +heart of the satirist. And when old ---- complimented me on my verses, +my eye sought yours. Verily, I now say as then, + + "Nescio quod, certe est quod me tibi temperet astrum."[16] + +Audley turned away his head as he returned the grasp of his friend's +hand; and while Harley, with his light elastic footstep, descended the +stairs, Egerton lingered behind, and there was no trace of the worldly +man upon his countenance when he took his place in the carriage by his +companion's side. + +Two hours afterward, weary cries of "Question, question!" "Divide, +divide!" sank into reluctant silence as Audley Egerton rose to conclude +the debate--the man of men to speak late at night, and to impatient +benches: a man who would be heard; whom a Bedlam broke loose would not +have roared down; with a voice clear and sound as a bell, and a form as +firmly set on the ground as a church-tower. And while, on the dullest of +dull questions, Audley Egerton thus, not too lively himself, enforced +attention, where was Harley L'Estrange? Standing alone by the river at +Richmond, and murmuring low fantastic thoughts as he gazed on the +moonlit tide. + +When Audley left him at home, he had joined his parents, made them gay +with his careless gayety, seen the old-fashioned folks retire to rest, +and then--while they, perhaps, deemed him once more the hero of +ball-rooms and the cynosure of clubs--he drove slowly through the soft +summer night, amidst the perfumes of many a garden and many a gleaming +chestnut grove, with no other aim before him than to reach the loveliest +margin of England's loveliest river, at the hour the moon was fullest +and the song of the nightingale most sweet. And so eccentric a humorist +was this man, that I believe, as be there loitered--no one near to cry +"How affected!" or "How romantic!"--he enjoyed himself more than if he +had been exchanging the politest "how-d'ye-do's" in the hottest of +London drawing-rooms, or betting his hundreds on the odd trick with Lord +De R---- for his partner. + +(TO BE CONTINUED.) + +FOOTNOTES: + +[15] Continued from the May Number. + +[16] "What was the star I know not, but certainly some star it was that +attuned me unto thee." + + + + +MARY KINGSFORD. + +RECOLLECTIONS OF A POLICE-OFFICER. + + +Toward the close of the year 1836, I was hurriedly dispatched to +Liverpool for the purpose of securing the person of one Charles James +Marshall, a collecting clerk, who, it was suddenly discovered, had +absconded with a considerable sum of money belonging to his employers. I +was too late--Charles James Marshall having sailed in one of the +American liners the day before my arrival in the northern commercial +capital. This fact well ascertained, I immediately set out on my return +to London. Winter had come upon us unusually early; the weather was +bitterly cold; and a piercing wind caused the snow, which had been +falling heavily for several hours, to gyrate in fierce, blinding eddies, +and heaped it up here and there into large and dangerous drifts. The +obstruction offered by the rapidly-congealing snow greatly delayed our +progress between Liverpool and Birmingham; and at a few miles only +distant from the latter city, the leading engine ran off the line. +Fortunately, the rate at which we were traveling was a very slow one, +and no accident of moment occurred. Having no luggage to care for, I +walked on to Birmingham, where I found the parliamentary train just on +the point of starting, and with some hesitation, on account of the +severity of the weather, I took my seat in one of the then very much +exposed and uncomfortable carriages. We traveled steadily and safely, +though slowly along, and reached Rugby Station in the afternoon, where +we were to remain, the guard told us, till a fast down-train had passed. +All of us hurried as quickly as we could to the large room at this +station, where blazing fires and other appliances soon thawed the +half-frozen bodies, and loosened the tongues of the numerous and motley +passengers. After recovering the use of my benumbed limbs and faculties, +I had leisure to look around and survey the miscellaneous assemblage +about me. + +Two persons had traveled in the same compartment with me from +Birmingham, whose exterior, as disclosed by the dim light of the railway +carriage, created some surprise that such finely-attired, fashionable +gentlemen should stoop to journey by the plebeian penny-a-mile train. I +could now observe them in a clearer light, and surprise at their +apparent condescension vanished at once. To an eye less experienced than +mine in the artifices and expedients familiar to a certain class of +"swells," they might perhaps have passed muster for what they assumed to +be, especially amidst the varied crowd of a "parliamentary;" but their +copper finery could not for a moment impose upon me. The watch-chains +were, I saw, mosaic; the watches, so frequently displayed, gilt; +eye-glasses the same; the coats, fur-collared and cuffed, were +ill-fitting and second-hand; ditto of the varnished boots and renovated +velvet waistcoats; while the luxuriant mustaches and whiskers, and +flowing wigs, were unmistakably mere _pieces d'occasion_--assumed and +diversified at pleasure. They were both apparently about fifty years of +age; one of them perhaps one or two years less than that. I watched them +narrowly, the more so from their making themselves ostentatiously +attentive to a young woman--girl rather she seemed--of a remarkably +graceful figure, but whose face I had not yet obtained a glimpse of. +They made boisterous way for her to the fire, and were profuse and noisy +in their offers of refreshment--all of which, I observed, were +peremptorily declined. She was dressed in deep, unexpensive mourning; +and from her timid gestures and averted head, whenever either of the +fellows addressed her, was, it was evident, terrified as well as annoyed +by their rude and insolent notice. I quietly drew near to the side of +the fire-place at which she stood, and with some difficulty obtained a +sight of her features. I was struck with extreme surprise--not so much +at her singular beauty, as from an instantaneous conviction that she was +known to me, or at least that I had seen her frequently before, but +where or when I could not at all call to mind. Again I looked, and my +first impression was confirmed. At this moment the elder of the two men +I have partially described placed his hand, with a rude familiarity, +upon the girl's shoulder, proffering at the same time a glass of hot +brandy-and-water for her acceptance. She turned sharply and indignantly +away from the fellow; and looking round as if for protection, caught my +eagerly-fixed gaze. + +"Mr. Waters!" she impulsively ejaculated. "Oh, I am so glad!" + +"Yes," I answered, "that is certainly my name; but I scarcely +remember--Stand back, fellow!" I angrily continued, as her tormentor, +emboldened by the spirits he had drunk, pressed with a jeering grin upon +his face, toward her, still tendering the brandy and water. "Stand +back!" He replied by a curse and a threat. The next moment his flowing +wig was whirling across the room, and he standing with his bullet-head +bare but for a few locks of iron-gray, in an attitude of speechless rage +and confusion, increased by the peals of laughter which greeted his +ludicrous, unwigged aspect. He quickly put himself in a fighting +attitude, and, backed by his companion, challenged me to battle. This +was quite out of the question; and I was somewhat at a loss how to +proceed, when the bell announcing the instant departure of the train +rang out, my furious antagonist gathered up and adjusted his wig, and +we all sallied forth to take our places--the young woman holding fast by +my arm, and in a low, nervous voice, begging me not to leave her. I +watched the two fellows take their seats, and then led her to the +hind-most carriage, which we had to ourselves as far as the next +station. + +"Are Mrs. Waters and Emily quite well?" said the young woman, coloring, +and lowering her eyes beneath my earnest gaze, which she seemed for a +moment to misinterpret. + +"Quite--entirely so," I almost stammered. "You know us then?" + +"Surely I do," she replied, reassured by my manner. "But you, it seems," +she presently added, with a winning smile, "have quite forgotten little +Mary Kingsford." + +"Mary Kingsford!" I exclaimed, almost with a shout. "Why, so it is! But +what a transformation a few years have effected!" + +"Do you think so? Not _pretty_ Mary Kingsford now, then, I suppose?" she +added, with a light, pleasant laugh. + +"You know what I mean, you vain puss you!" I replied, quite gleefully, +for I was overjoyed at meeting with the gentle, well remembered playmate +of my own eldest girl. We were old familiar friends--almost father and +daughter--in an instant. + +Little Mary Kingsford, I should state, was, when I left Yorkshire, one +of the prettiest, most engaging children I had ever seen; and a petted +favorite not only with us, but of every other family in the +neighborhood. She was the only child of Philip and Mary Kingsford--a +humble, worthy, and much respected couple. The father was gardener to +Sir Pyott Dalzell, and her mother eked out his wages to a respectable +maintenance by keeping a cheap children's school. The change which a few +years had wrought in the beautiful child was quite sufficient to account +for my imperfect recognition of her; but the instant her name was +mentioned, I at once recognized the rare comeliness which had charmed us +all in her childhood. The soft brown eyes were the same, though now +revealing profounder depths, and emitting a more pensive expression; the +hair, though deepened in color, was still golden; her complexion, lit up +as it now was by a sweet blush, was brilliant as ever; while her +child-person had become matured and developed into womanly symmetry and +grace. The brilliancy of color vanished from her cheek as I glanced +meaningly at her mourning dress. + +"Yes," she murmured, in a sad, quivering voice--"yes, father is gone! It +will be six months come next Thursday that he died! Mother is well," she +continued more cheerfully, after a pause, "in health, but poorly off; +and I--and I," she added, with a faint effort at a smile, "am going to +London to seek my fortune!" + +"To seek your fortune!" + +"Yes; you know my cousin, Sophy Clarke? In one of her letters, she said +she often saw you." + +I nodded without speaking. I knew little of Sophia Clarke, except that +she was the somewhat gay, coquettish shopwoman of a highly respectable +confectioner in the Strand, whom I shall call by the name of Morris. + +"I am to be Sophy's fellow shop-assistant," continued Mary Kingsford; +"not, of course, at first at such good wages as she gets. So lucky for +me, is it not, since I must go to service? And so kind, too, of Sophy, +to interest herself for me!" + +"Well, it may be so. But surely I have heard--my wife at least has--that +you and Richard Westlake were engaged?--Excuse me, Mary, I was not aware +the subject was a painful or unpleasant one." + +"Richard's father," she replied with some spirit, "has higher views for +his son. It is all off between us now," she added; "and perhaps it is +for the best that it should be so." + +I could have rightly interpreted these words without the aid of the +partially-expressed sigh which followed them. The perilous position of +so attractive, so inexperienced, so guileless a young creature, amidst +the temptations and vanities of London, so painfully impressed and +preoccupied me, that I scarcely uttered another word till the +rapidly-diminishing rate of the train announced that we neared a +station, after which it was probable we should have no further +opportunity for private converse. + +"Those men--those fellows at Rugby--where did you meet with them?" I +inquired. + +"About thirty or forty miles below Birmingham, where they entered the +carriage in which I was seated. At Birmingham I managed to avoid them." + +Little more passed between us till we reached London. Sophia Clarke +received her cousin at the Euston station, and was profuse of +felicitations and compliments upon her arrival and personal appearance. +After receiving a promise from Mary Kingsford to call and take tea with +my wife and her old playmate on the following Sunday, I handed the two +young women into a cab in waiting, and they drove off. I had not moved +away from the spot when a voice a few paces behind me, which I thought I +recognized, called out, "Quick, coachee, or you'll lose sight of them!" +As I turned quickly round, another cab drove smartly off, which I +followed at a run. I found, on reaching Lower Seymour-street, that I was +not mistaken as to the owner of the voice, nor of his purpose. The +fellow I had unwigged at Rugby thrust his body half out of the cab +window, and, pointing to the vehicle which contained the two girls, +called out to the driver "to mind and make no mistake." The man nodded +intelligence, and lashed his horse into a faster pace. Nothing that I +might do could prevent the fellows from ascertaining Mary Kingsford's +place of abode; and as that was all that, for the present at least, need +be apprehended, I desisted from pursuit, and bent my steps homeward. + +Mary Kingsford kept her appointment on the Sunday, and in reply to our +questioning, said she liked her situation very well. Mr. and Mrs. Morris +were exceedingly kind to her; so was Sophia. "Her cousin," she added in +reply to a look which I could not repress, "was perhaps a little gay +and free of manner, but the best-hearted creature in the world." The +two fellows who had followed them had, I found, already twice visited +the shop; but their attentions appeared now to be exclusively directed +toward Sophia Clarke, whose vanity they not a little gratified. The +names they gave were Hartley and Simpson. So entirely guileless and +unsophisticated was the gentle country maiden, that I saw she scarcely +comprehended the hints and warnings which I threw out. At parting, +however, she made me a serious promise that she would instantly apply to +me should any difficulty or perplexity overtake her. + +I often called in at the confectioner's, and was gratified to find that +Mary's modest propriety of behavior, in a somewhat difficult position, +had gained her the goodwill of her employers, who invariably spoke of +her with kindness and respect. Nevertheless, the cark and care of a +London life, with its incessant employment and late hours, soon, I +perceived, began to tell upon her health and spirits; and it was +consequently with a strong emotion of pleasure I heard from my wife that +she had seen a passage in a letter from Mary's mother, to the effect +that the elder Westlake was betraying symptoms of yielding to the angry +and passionate expostulations of his only son, relative to the enforced +breaking off of his engagement with Mary Kingsford. The blush with which +she presented the letter was, I was told, very eloquent. + +One evening, on passing Morris's shop, I observed Hartley and Simpson +there. They were swallowing custards and other confectionary with much +gusto; and, from their new and costly habiliments, seemed to be in +surprisingly good case. They were smirking and smiling at the cousins +with rude confidence; and Sophia Clarke, I was grieved to see, repaid +their insulting impertinence by her most elaborate smiles and graces. I +passed on; and presently meeting with a brother-detective, who, it +struck me, might know something of the two gentlemen, I turned back with +him, and pointed them out. A glance sufficed him. + +"Hartley and Simpson you say?" he remarked after we had walked away to +some distance: "those are only two of their numerous _aliases_. I can +not, however, say that I am as yet on very familiar terms with them; but +as I am especially directed to cultivate their acquaintance, there is no +doubt we shall be more intimate with each other before long. Gamblers, +blacklegs, swindlers I already know them to be; and I would take odds +they are not unfrequently something more, especially when fortune and +the bones run cross with them." "They appear to be in high feather just +now," I remarked. + +"Yes: they are connected, I suspect, with the gang who cleaned out young +Garslade last week in Jermyn-street. I'd lay a trifle," added my friend, +as I turned to leave him, "that one or both of them will wear the +Queen's livery, gray turned up with yellow, before many weeks are past. +Good-by." + +About a fortnight after this conversation, I and my wife paid a visit to +Astley's, for the gratification of our youngsters, who had long been +promised a sight of the equestrian marvels exhibited at that celebrated +amphitheatre. It was the latter end of February; and when we came out of +the theatre, we found the weather had changed to dark and sleety, with a +sharp, nipping wind. I had to call at Scotland-yard; my wife and +children consequently proceeded home in a cab without me; and after +assisting to quell a slight disturbance originating in a gin-palace +close by, I went on my way over Westminster Bridge. The inclement +weather had cleared the streets and thoroughfares in a surprisingly +short time; so that, excepting myself, no foot-passenger was visible on +the bridge till I had about half-crossed it, when a female figure, +closely muffled up about the head, and sobbing bitterly, passed rapidly +by on the opposite side. I turned and gazed after the retreating figure: +it was a youthful, symmetrical one; and after a few moments' hesitation, +I determined to follow at a distance, and as unobservedly as I could. On +the woman sped, without pause or hesitation, till she reached Astley's, +where I observed her stop suddenly, and toss her arms in the air with a +gesture of desperation. I quickened my steps, which she observing, +uttered a slight scream, and darted swiftly off again, moaning and +sobbing as she ran. The slight momentary glimpse I had obtained of her +features beneath the gas-lamp opposite Astley's, suggested a frightful +apprehension, and I followed at my utmost speed. She turned at the first +cross-street, and I should soon have overtaken her, but that in darting +round the corner where she disappeared, I ran full butt against a stout, +elderly gentleman, who was hurrying smartly along out of the weather. +What with the suddenness of the shock and the slipperiness of the +pavement, down we both reeled; and by the time we had regained our feet, +and growled savagely at each other, the young woman, whoever she was, +had disappeared, and more than half an hour's eager search after her +proved fruitless. At last I bethought me of hiding at one corner of +Westminster Bridge. I had watched impatiently for about twenty minutes, +when I observed the object of my pursuit stealing timidly and furtively +toward the bridge on the opposite side of the way. As she came nearly +abreast of where I stood, I darted forward; she saw, without recognizing +me, and uttering an exclamation of terror, flew down toward the river, +where a number of pieces of balk and other timber were fastened +together, forming a kind of loose raft. I followed with desperate haste, +for I saw that it was indeed Mary Kingsford, and loudly called to her by +name to stop. She did not appear to hear me, and in a few moments the +unhappy girl had gained the end of the timber-raft. One instant she +paused with clasped hands upon the brink, and in another had thrown +herself into the dark and moaning river. On reaching the spot where she +had disappeared, I could not at first see her, in consequence of the +dark mourning dress she had on. Presently I caught sight of her, still +upborne by her spread clothes, but already carried by the swift current +beyond my reach. The only chance was to crawl along a piece of round +timber which projected farther into the river and by the end of which +she must pass. This I effected with some difficulty; and laying myself +out at full length, vainly endeavored, with outstretched, straining +arms, to grasp her dress. There was nothing left for it but to plunge in +after her. I will confess that I hesitated to do so. I was encumbered +with a heavy dress, which there was no time to put off, and moreover, +like most inland men, I was but an indifferent swimmer. My indecision +quickly vanished. The wretched girl, though gradually sinking, had not +yet uttered a cry, or appeared to struggle; but when the chilling waters +reached her lips, she seemed to suddenly revive to a consciousness of +the horror of her fate: she fought wildly with the engulphing tide, and +shrieked piteously for help. Before one could count ten, I had grasped +her by the arm, and lifted her head above the surface of the river. As I +did so, I felt as if suddenly encased and weighed down by leaden +garments, so quickly had my thick clothing and high boots sucked in the +water. Vainly, thus burdened and impeded, did I endeavor to regain the +raft; the strong tide bore us outward, and I glared round, in +inexpressible dismay, for some means of extrication from the frightful +peril in which I found myself involved. Happily, right in the direction +the tide was drifting us, a large barge lay moored by a chain-cable. +Eagerly I seized and twined one arm firmly round it, and thus partially +secure, hallooed with renewed power for assistance. It soon came: a +passer-by had witnessed the flight of the girl and my pursuit, and was +already hastening with others to our assistance. A wherry was unmoored: +guided by my voice, they soon reached us; and but a brief interval +elapsed before we were safely housed in an adjoining tavern. + +A change of dress, with which the landlord kindly supplied me, a blazing +fire, and a couple of glasses of hot brandy and water, soon restored +warmth and vigor to my chilled and partially-benumbed limbs; but more +than two hours elapsed before Mary, who had swallowed a good deal of +water, was in a condition to be removed. I had just sent for a cab, when +two police-officers, well known to me, entered the room with official +briskness. Mary screamed, staggered toward me, and clinging to my arm, +besought me with frantic earnestness to save her. + +"What _is_ the meaning of this?" I exclaimed, addressing one of the +police-officers. + +"Merely," said he, "that the young woman that's clinging so tight to you +has been committing an audacious robbery--" + +"No--no--no!" broke in the terrified girl. + +"Oh! of course you'll say so," continued the officer. "All I know is, +that the diamond brooch was found snugly hid away in her own box. But +come, we have been after you for the last three hours; so you had better +come along at once." + +"Save me! save me!" sobbed poor Mary, as she tightened her grasp upon my +arm and looked with beseeching agony in my face. + +"Be comforted," I whispered; "you shall go home with me. Calm yourself, +Miss Kingsford," I added in a louder tone: "I no more believe you have +stolen a diamond brooch than that I have." "Bless you! bless you!" she +gasped in the intervals of her convulsive sobs. + +"There is some wretched misapprehension in this business, I am quite +sure," I continued; "but at all events I shall bail her--for this night +at least." + +"Bail her! That is hardly regular." + +"No; but you will tell the superintendent that Mary Kingsford is in my +custody, and that I answer for her appearance to-morrow." + +The men hesitated, but I stood too well at head-quarters for them to do +more than hesitate; and the cab I had ordered being just then announced, +I passed with Mary out of the room as quickly as I could, for I feared +her senses were again leaving her. The air revived her somewhat, and I +lifted her into the cab, placing myself beside her. She appeared to +listen in fearful doubt whether I should be allowed to take her with me; +and it was not till the wheels had made a score of revolutions that her +fears vanished; then throwing herself upon my neck in an ecstasy of +gratitude, she burst into a flood of tears, and continued till we +reached home sobbing on my bosom like a broken-hearted child. She had, I +found, been there about ten o'clock to seek me, and being told that I +was gone to Astley's, had started off to find me there. + +Mary still slept, or at least she had not risen, when I left home the +following morning to endeavor to get at the bottom of the strange +accusation preferred against her. I first saw the superintendent, who, +after hearing what I had to say, quite approved of all that I had done, +and intrusted the case entirely to my care. I next saw Mr. and Mrs. +Morris and Sophia Clarke, and then waited upon the prosecutor, a +youngish gentleman of the name of Saville, lodging in Essex Street, +Strand. One or two things I heard necessitated a visit to other officers +of police, incidentally, as I found, mixed up with the affair. By the +time all this was done, and an effectual watch had been placed upon Mr. +Augustus Saville's movements, evening had fallen, and I wended my way +homeward, both to obtain a little rest, and hear Mary Kingsford's +version of the strange story. + +The result of my inquiries may be thus briefly summed up. Ten days +before, Sophia Clarke told her cousin that she had orders for +Covent-Garden Theatre; and as it was not one of their busy nights, she +thought they might obtain leave to go. Mary expressed her doubt of this, +as both Mr. and Mrs. Morris, who were strict, and somewhat fanatical +Dissenters, disapproved of play-going, especially for young women. +Nevertheless Sophia asked, informed Mary that the required permission +had been readily accorded, and off they went in high spirits; Mary +especially, who had never been to a theatre in her life before. When +there, they were joined by Hartley and Simpson, much to Mary's annoyance +and vexation, especially as she saw that her cousin expected them. She +had, in fact, accepted the orders from them. At the conclusion of the +entertainments, they all four came out together when suddenly there +arose a hustling and confusion, accompanied with loud outcries, and a +violent swaying to and fro of the crowd. The disturbance was, however, +soon quelled; and Mary and her cousin had reached the outer-door, when +two police-officers seized Hartley and his friend, and insisted upon +their going with them. A scuffle ensued; but other officers being at +hand, the two men were secured, and carried off. The cousins, terribly +frightened, called a coach, and were very glad to find themselves safe +at home again. And now it came out that Mr. and Mrs. Morris had been +told that they were going to spend the evening at _my_ house, and had no +idea they were going to the play! Vexed as Mary was at the deception, +she was too kindly-tempered to refuse to keep her cousin's secret; +especially knowing as she did that the discovery of the deceit Sophia +had practiced would in all probability be followed by her immediate +discharge. Hartley and his friend swaggered on the following afternoon +into the shop, and whispered to Sophia that their arrest by the police +had arisen from a strange mistake, for which the most ample apologies +had been offered and accepted. After this, matters went on as usual, +except that Mary perceived a growing insolence and familiarity in +Hartley's manner toward her. His language was frequently quite +unintelligible, and once he asked her plainly "if she did not mean that +he should go _shares_ in the prize she had lately found?" Upon Mary +replying that she did not comprehend him, his look became absolutely +ferocious, and he exclaimed, "Oh, that's your game, is it? But don't try +it on with me, my good girl, I advise you!" So violent did he become, +that Mr. Morris was attracted by the noise, and ultimately bundled him, +neck and heels, out of the shop. She had not seen either him or his +companion since. + +On the evening of the previous day, a gentleman whom she never +remembered to have seen before, entered the shop, took a seat, and +helped himself to a tart. She observed that after awhile he looked at +her very earnestly, and, at length, approaching quite close, said, "You +were at Covent-Garden Theatre last Tuesday evening week." Mary was +struck, as she said, all of a heap, for both Mr. and Mrs. Morris were in +the shop, and heard the question. + +"Oh, no, no! you mistake," she said, hurriedly, and feeling at the same +time her cheeks kindle into flame. + +"Nay, but you were, though," rejoined the gentleman. And then, lowering +his voice to a whisper, he said, "And let me advise you, if you would +avoid exposure and condign punishment, to restore me the diamond brooch +you robbed me of on that evening." + +Mary screamed with terror, and a regular scene ensued. She was obliged +to confess she had told a falsehood in denying she was at the theatre on +the night in question, and Mr. Morris after that seemed inclined to +believe any thing of her. The gentleman persisted in his charge; but at +the same time vehemently iterating his assurance that all he wanted was +his property; and it was ultimately decided that Mary's boxes, as well +as her person, should be searched. This was done; and, to her utter +consternation, the brooch was found concealed, they said, in a +black-silk reticule. Denials, asseverations, were vain. Mr. Saville +identified the brooch, but once more offered to be content with its +restoration. This Mr. Morris, a just, stern man, would not consent to, +and he went out to summon a police-officer. Before he returned, Mary, by +the advice of both her cousin and Mrs. Morris, had fled the house, and +hurried, in a state of distraction, to find me, with what result the +reader already knows. + +"It is a wretched business," I observed to my wife, as soon as Mary +Kingsford had retired to rest, at about nine o'clock in the evening. +"Like you, I have no doubt of the poor girl's perfect innocence; but how +to establish it by satisfactory evidence is another matter. I must take +her to Bow-street the day after to-morrow." + +"Good God, how dreadful! Can nothing be done? What does the prosecutor +say the brooch is worth?" + +"His uncle," he says, "gave a hundred and twenty guineas for it. But +that signifies little; for were its worth only a hundred and twenty +farthings, compromise is out of the question." + +"I did not mean that. Can you show it me? I am a pretty good judge of +the value of jewels." + +"Yes, you can see it." I took it out of the desk in which I had locked +it up, and placed it before her. It was a splendid emerald, encircled by +large brilliants. + +My wife twisted and turned it about, holding it in all sorts of lights, +and at last said--"I do not believe that either the emerald or the +brilliants are real--that the brooch is, in fact, worth twenty shillings +intrinsically." + +"Do you say so?" I exclaimed as I jumped up from my chair, for my wife's +words gave color and consistence to a dim and faint suspicion which had +crossed my mind. "Then this Saville is a manifest liar; and perhaps +confederate with--But give me my hat; I will ascertain this point at +once." + +I hurried to a jeweler's shop, and found that my wife's opinion was +correct; apart from the workmanship, which was very fine, the brooch was +valueless. Conjectures, suspicions, hopes, fears, chased each other with +bewildering rapidity through my brain; and in order to collect and +arrange my thoughts, I stepped out of the whirl of the streets into +Dolly's Chop-house, and decided, over a quiet glass of negus, upon my +plan of operations. + +The next morning there appeared at the top of the second column of the +'Times' an earnest appeal, worded with careful obscurity, so that only +the person to whom it was addressed should easily understand it, to the +individual who had lost or been robbed of a false stone and brilliants +at the theatre, to communicate with a certain person--whose address I +gave--without delay, in order to save the reputation, perhaps the life, +of an innocent person. + +I was at the address I had given by nine o'clock. Several hours passed +without bringing any one, and I was beginning to despair, when a +gentleman of the name of Bagshawe was announced: I fairly leaped for +joy, for this was beyond my hopes. + +A gentleman presently entered, of about thirty years of age, of a +distinguished, though somewhat dissipated aspect. + +"This brooch is yours?" said I, exhibiting it without delay or preface. + +"It is; and I am here to know what your singular advertisement means?" + +I briefly explained the situation of affairs. + +"The rascals!" he broke in almost before I had finished; "I will briefly +explain it all. A fellow of the name of Hartley, at least that was the +name he gave, robbed me, I was pretty sure, of this brooch. I pointed +him out to the police, and he was taken into custody; but nothing being +found upon him, he was discharged." + +"Not entirely, Mr. Bagshawe, on that account. You refused, when arrived +at the station-house, to state what you had been robbed of; and you, +moreover, said, in presence of the culprit, that you were to embark with +your regiment for India the next day. That regiment, I have ascertained, +did embark, as you said it would." + +"True; but I had leave of absence, and shall take the Overland route. +The truth is, that during the walk to the station-house, I had leisure +to reflect that if I made a formal charge, it would lead to awkward +disclosures. This brooch is an imitation of one presented to me by a +valued relative. Losses at play--since, for this unfortunate young +woman's sake, I _must_ out with it--obliged me to part with the +original; and I wore this, in order to conceal the fact from my +relative's knowledge." + +"This will, sir," I replied, "prove, with a little management, quite +sufficient for all purposes. You have no objection to accompany me to +the superintendent?" + +"Not in the least: only I wish the devil had the brooch as well as the +fellow that stole it." + +About half-past five o'clock on the same evening, the street door was +quietly opened by the landlord of the house in which Mr. Saville lodged, +and I walked into the front-room on the first floor, where I found the +gentleman I sought languidly reclining on a sofa. He gathered himself +smartly up at my appearance, and looked keenly in my face. He did not +appear to like what he read there. + +"I did not expect to see you to-day," he said at last. + +"No, perhaps not: but I have news for you. Mr. Bagshawe, the owner of +the hundred-and-twenty guinea brooch your deceased uncle gave you, did +_not_ sail for India, and--" + +The wretched cur, before I could conclude, was on his knees begging for +mercy with disgusting abjectness. I could have spurned the scoundrel +where he crawled. + +"Come, sir!" I cried, "let us have no sniveling or humbug: mercy is not +in my power, as you ought to know. Strive to deserve it. We want Hartley +and Simpson, and can not find them: you must aid us." + +"Oh, yes; to be sure I will!" eagerly rejoined the rascal. "I will go +for them at once," he added, with a kind of hesitating assurance. + +"Nonsense! _Send_ for them, you mean. Do so, and I will wait their +arrival." + +His note was dispatched by a sure hand; and meanwhile I arranged the +details of the expected meeting. I, and a friend, whom I momently +expected, would ensconce ourselves behind a large screen in the room, +while Mr. Augustus Saville would run playfully over the charming plot +with his two friends, so that we might be able to fully appreciate its +merits. Mr. Saville agreed. I rang the bell, an officer appeared, and we +took our posts in readiness. We had scarcely done so, when the +street-bell rang, and Saville announced the arrival of his confederates. +There was a twinkle in the fellow's green eyes which I thought I +understood. "Do not try that on, Mr. Augustus Saville," I quietly +remarked; "we are but two here certainly, but there are half-a-dozen in +waiting below." + +No more was said, and in another minute the friends met. It was a +boisterously-jolly meeting, as far as shaking hands and mutual +felicitations on each other's good looks and health went. Saville was, I +thought, the most obstreperously gay of all three. + +"And yet now I look at you, Saville, closely," said Hartley, "you don't +look quite the thing. Have you seen a ghost?" + +"No; but this cursed brooch affair worries me." + +"Nonsense!--humbug!--it's all right; we are all embarked in the same +boat. It's a regular three handed game. I prigged it; Simmy here whipped +it into pretty Mary's reticule, which she, I suppose, never looked into +till the row came; and _you_ claimed it--a regular merry-go-round, ain't +it, eh? Ha! ha! ha!--ha!" + +"Quite so, Mr. Hartley," said I, suddenly facing him, and at the same +time stamping on the floor; "as you say, a delightful merry-go-round; +and here, you perceive," I added, as the officers entered the room, "are +more gentlemen to join in it." + +I must not stain the paper with the curses, imprecations, blasphemies, +which for a brief space resounded through the apartment. The rascals +were safely and separately locked up a quarter of an hour afterward; and +before a month had passed away, all three were transported. It is +scarcely necessary to remark, that they believed the brooch to be +genuine, and of great value. + +Mary Kingsford did not need to return to her employ. Westlake the elder +withdrew his veto upon his son's choice, and the wedding was celebrated +in the following May with great rejoicing; Mary's old playmate +officiating as bride-maid, and I as bride's-father. The still young +couple have now a rather numerous family, and a home blessed with +affection, peace, and competence. It was some time, however, before Mary +recovered from the shock of her London adventure; and I am pretty sure +that the disagreeable reminiscences inseparably connected in her mind +with the metropolis will prevent at least _one_ person from being +present at the World's Great Fair.--_Chambers's Journal._ + + + + +Monthly Record of Current Events. + + +POLITICAL AND GENERAL NEWS. + +UNITED STATES. + +Reports of the same general tendency, although somewhat vague and +contradictory in details, indicate that plans are on foot to organize +another expedition for a descent upon Cuba. New Orleans, Savannah, and +various places on the coast of Florida, would appear to be the centres +to which the parties tend. It is supposed that funds to a large amount +have been furnished from Cuba. The design seems to be to proceed in +separate parties to some point beyond the jurisdiction of the United +States before effecting any formal organization. The President, under +date of April 25, issued his proclamation, attributing the project +mainly to foreigners, "who have dared to make our shores the scenes of +guilty and hostile preparations against a friendly power." These +expeditions, he says, can only be regarded as adventures for plunder and +robbery, undertaken in violation alike of the law of nations and of this +country; by the latter of which they are punishable by fine and +imprisonment. He warns all citizens of the United States who connect +themselves with such expeditions, that they thereby "forfeit all claims +to the protection of this Government, or any interference on their +behalf, no matter to what extremities they may be reduced in consequence +of their illegal conduct;" and calls upon every civil and military +officer of the Government to use his efforts for the arrest of all who +thus offend against the laws of their country. + +In New York, information was given to the United States Marshal that a +vessel had been chartered by persons concerned in the proposed +expedition, and was anchored in the Bay, provided with munitions of war, +and waiting for the arrival of a large number of men. On searching the +harbor, no vessel answering this description was found, but a steamboat +lying at a pier on the North River fell under suspicion, and was seized +by the United States authorities. This was the Cleopatra, a large boat, +formerly employed on Long Island Sound, and now in such a decayed +condition as to be nearly unfit for service, having been built upward of +fourteen years. Nothing was found on board to indicate the purpose for +which she was destined. The forward hold and boiler room were filled +with coal, of which a large quantity also covered the forward deck. She +had on board a great number of empty water casks, but no firearms or +gunpowder were discovered. She was placed in charge of a guard of +marines from the Navy Yard, and no communication was permitted with +persons on shore. The final disposition of the steamer has not yet been +determined, but orders have been given by the Government to deliver her +cargo to any claimant who could show evidence of proprietorship. + +Soon after the seizure of the Cleopatra, the collector of this port +received notice that a vessel engaged for the transportation of +emigrants from South Amboy to Sandy Hook, was lying at her wharf, in the +former place, under suspicious circumstances. Officers were immediately +dispatched to the spot; the vessel was seized and ordered to anchor at +Perth Amboy; and intelligence was obtained which resulted in the arrest +of five persons, who were held to bail in the sum of $3000 each to +appear for examination. These were John L. O'Sullivan, formerly editor +of the _Democratic Review_, Captain Lewis, formerly of the steamer +Creole, Pedro Sanches, a Spanish resident of New York, Dr. D.H. Burnett, +and Major Louis Schlesinger of the Hungarian patriots. The offense with +which they were charged was the violation of the Neutrality Act of April +20, 1818, in preparing the means for a military expedition against Cuba. + +In consequence of various rumors which prevailed in the City of +Savannah, concerning the invasion of Cuba, the United States Marshal +chartered a steamboat for an exploring trip to the South. He proceeded +as far as Jacksonville, Florida, and returned after a cruise of three or +four days. Throughout the whole line of his route, he was met with +accounts of encampments of armed men, but they proved to be without +foundation, and no discoveries, pointing to any overt acts, were made. +It was the general belief, among all with whom he conversed, that a +movement of importance had been projected against the island of Cuba, +but that from causes which have not transpired, the organization had +been broken up, and the men connected with it had entirely dispersed. +Between Savannah and Jacksonville, public opinion was found to be +decidedly favorable to the expedition, the great majority of the people +sympathizing with the Cubans, and ready to aid them in a struggle for +independence. + +The session of the Legislature of New York came to a sudden and +unexpected close on the 17th of April, two days after the conclusion of +our last Monthly Record. It being apparent that the bill for the +enlargement of the Erie Canal, which had already passed the House by a +large majority, would likewise pass the Senate, twelve of the fifteen +Democratic Senators resigned their seats. One other Senator announced +his intention to resign if the proposed measure were pressed; in which +case there would be only nineteen members remaining; the Constitution +requiring three-fifths of the whole, or twenty Senators, to form a +quorum. When the bill came up for a third reading, there were 17 votes +in its favor, and 2 against it. No quorum being present, the bill was +laid upon the table. The Senate thereupon voted to adjourn _sine die_; +in which resolution the House concurred. On the same day the Democratic +members of the Legislature, comprising fifteen Senators and forty +Representatives, issued an address to the Democratic Republican Electors +of the State, in justification of their procedure. They bring severe +charges against their opponents of mal-administration of the financial +affairs of the State; and denounce the proposed measure as a palpable +violation of the express provisions of the Constitution, and as an +expedient to secure to their opponents the political supremacy in the +State. The Whig members also issued a long address to the People of the +State of New York, in which they denounce the conduct of the resigning +Senators as a willful violation of the Constitution which they had sworn +to support and as an outrage upon the fundamental principle of a +republican government--the right of the majority to rule. They defend +the course of adjournment adopted by the majority, on the ground that +two-fifths of the State was unrepresented in the Senate; that for +various important purposes for which the assent of two-thirds of the +members elected is requisite, there was virtually no Senate at all; that +it was in the power of a single member of that body, by a threat of +resignation, to dictate upon any legislative question; and that one +member had threatened, unless the order of business fixed by the Senate +should be laid aside, that he would vacate his seat, and thus render any +legislation impossible. They proceed to argue at great length the +constitutionality and expediency of the bill. The Governor has issued +his proclamation, convoking an extra session of the Legislature on the +10th June, and appointing an election to be held on the 27th of May, to +fill the vacancies occasioned by the resignations of the Senators. +Contrary opinions as to the constitutionality of the bill in question +have been furnished by the ablest counsel. Among others Mr. CHATFIELD, +the Attorney General of the State, pronounces it to be unconstitutional; +while Mr. WEBSTER argues in favor of the opposite opinion. + +The steamer Pacific, which sailed from Liverpool April 10, accomplished +the passage to New York in 9 days and 20 hours, being the shortest +westerly passage ever made. The greatest distance run in a single day +was 328, the least 302 miles. The shortest westerly passage previously +made was by the same vessel, which was 10 days 4 hours. The shortest +similar passage by a Cunarder was by the Asia, 10 days and 22 hours. + +The number of passengers from foreign countries who arrived at the port +of New York within the four months ending May 1, was above 60,000, being +an increase of more than 30,000 over the arrivals of last year. During +the month of April the arrivals were 27,779, of which 15,968 were from +Ireland, 6372 from Germany, and 2679 from England. + +The anniversaries of the principal religious and benevolent societies +were celebrated as usual in New York in the early part of May. The +occasion drew together a large attendance of persons from every section +of the country. _The Seaman's Friend's Society_ maintains chaplains in +the Sandwich Islands, South America, California, the West Indies, +France, and Sweden. At the Sailor's Home in New York, there have been, +during the year, 2525 sailor boarders. A single bank has upon deposit, +bearing interest, more than a million of dollars belonging to seamen. +The receipts of the Society for the year were $20,399 21; the +expenditures $20,446 27.--_The American and Foreign Christian Union_ has +for its object opposition to Romanism, by acting upon both Catholics and +Protestants at home and abroad. It has during the past year employed at +home, for greater or less portions of time, 78 missionaries, of whom the +greater number are foreigners, preaching in seven different languages, +and belonging to almost all the branches of the Protestant Church. It +also employs 30 missionaries in foreign countries. The Society received +during the year $56,265 20, and expended $55,169 12.--_The American +Tract Society_ has issued during the year 886,692 volumes, 7,837,692 +publications; of its Almanacs have been circulated 310,000 copies; of +the _American Messenger_ 186,000, and of the _German Messenger_ 18,000 +copies are published monthly. It has employed 569 colporteurs, of whom +135 are students in colleges and seminaries. The receipts of the +Society exceed those of any other kindred institution in the country. +For the past year they were $310,728 32, of which $200,720 33 were the +proceeds of the sales of publications, the remainder being donations. +The expenditures were, for publishing, $179,984 48; for colportage, +$73,278 23; donations to foreign countries, $20,000; miscellaneous +expenses, $37,356 59, in all, $310,616 30.--_The American Home +Missionary Society_ has had in its service during the year 1065 +ministers, who have performed an amount of labor equal to 853 years; +these have been employed in twenty-six States and Territories: in New +England, 311; in the Middle States, 224; in the Western States and +Territories, 515; in the Southern States, 15. The resources of the +Society for the year were $166,493 94; the liabilities, $163,457 +18.--_The American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society_ presented at its +anniversary no statistics of its operations.--_The American Anti-Slavery +Society_ (known as the Garrison Society), whose meetings last year were +violently interrupted, was unable to procure a place of meeting in this +city. Its anniversary was accordingly held in Syracuse.--_The American +Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions_ have received for nine +months of the current year $186,500, being an increase above the +receipts of last year, of $17,384.--_The_ ("Old School") _Presbyterian +Board of Missions_ have sent out during the past year 25 laborers. The +operations of this Board are carried on mainly among the Indians and +Jews of our country, in Western Africa, Northern India, Siam, China, and +Catholic Europe. The Board has received and expended a trifle more than +$140,000 during the year.--_The American Bible Society_ has issued +during the year 592,432 Bibles and Testaments, making a total, since the +formation of the Society, of 7,572,967 copies. In addition to new +editions of the English Scriptures, they have issued the Testament in +Swedish and English in parallel columns, and have in preparation a +similar Testament in French and English. They have also prepared a +Spanish Bible, conformed to the Hebrew and Greek originals. A +translation executed by Rev. Mr. Payne, a missionary to Western Africa, +of the books of Genesis and Acts into the Grebo language, has been +published at the Society's house. The receipts of the Society for the +year past have been $276,882 52, which is somewhat less than those of +the preceding year, when they were swelled by unusually large amounts +given by way of legacy.--The anniversaries of those noble charities the +_Institution for the Deaf and Dumb_ and the _New York Institution for +the Blind_ were, as usual, of the utmost interest, and attracted large +and delighted audiences. In the former of these are 247 pupils, of whom +163 are supported by the State, 30 by their friends or by other States, +and 16 are maintained by the Institution. The Institution for the Blind +contains 105 pupils, of whom 52 are males and 53 females; there are +besides connected with it 39 other blind persons, in various +capacities.--The meetings of several of the minor associations presented +some interesting features. Among these we specify that of the New York +Colonization Society, at which a letter was read from Hon. EDWARD +EVERETT, describing the great benefits conferred by the colonization of +Africa, in introducing civilization, and suppressing the +slave-trade.--The total receipts of eleven of the principal religious +societies of the country for the past year were $1,237,875 17, exceeding +those of the preceding year by about $15,000. + +The Erie Railroad is now completed, from the Hudson River to Dunkirk, +470 miles from New York. A train having on board the Directors of the +road, went over the whole distance on the 28th and 29th of April. At the +commencement of the enterprise, the State loaned to the road its bonds +to the amount of three millions of dollars. Subsequently, an act was +passed relieving the Company from the lien imposed by these bonds, on +condition that a single track was completed, and engines passed over it, +from the Hudson to Lake Erie, before the middle of May. On the day, +therefore, in which the first train passed over the road, the earnings +of the Company were three millions of dollars. The formal celebration of +the opening of the Road took place on the 14th of May, and was attended +by the President of the United States and a portion of the Cabinet, as +will be seen by a somewhat detailed account in another page of our +Magazine. + +In Massachusetts, the Hon. CHARLES SUMNER has at length been elected to +the United States Senate, for the full term of six years. He has taken +no prominent part in politics, but is widely known as a scholar and +philanthropist.--Soon after the decision of an exciting Fugitive Slave +case in Boston, a number of citizens who had invited Mr. Webster to +address them on the political condition of the country, petitioned the +Board of Aldermen for the use of Faneuil Hall on that occasion. A +similar petition having been previously denied to the opponents of the +Fugitive Slave Law, that of the friends of Mr. Webster was not granted. +The Board subsequently reconsidered their action, and passed a vote +concurring with the Common Council in raising a joint committee to +invite an address from Mr. Webster, and tendering the use of the Hall +for the purpose. The invitation was not accepted.--A violent storm +commenced on the 15th of April, and raged for more than a week along the +whole extent of the Atlantic coast. During the night of the 17th, the +light-house on Minot's Ledge, near Cohasset, was swept away; two +assistant keepers who were in the structure were lost.--The +secret-ballot law has passed both branches of the Legislature. It +provides that the ballots of voters shall be inclosed in envelopes +previously to being deposited in the ballot boxes. + +In Connecticut there was no choice by the people of State officers at +the late election. Hon. THOMAS H. SEYMOUR, the Democratic candidate, has +been re-elected as Governor by the Legislature. The Democratic +candidates for Secretary and Comptroller, and the Whig candidates for +Lieutenant-Governor and Treasurer, were elected by the Legislature. In +his Message the Governor represents the finances of the State to be in a +prosperous condition; recommends the passage of general corporation and +banking laws; and of a law limiting the hours of labor, to contain a +provision making it a misdemeanor to work children under fourteen years +of age more than eight hours a day. He speaks in favor of the Compromise +measures, which he says must be supported in good faith, or we can not +hope to see this form of Government continue. "Whatever action then," he +adds, "the Legislature may feel called upon to take, upon any of the +questions to which reference has been made, I feel at liberty to indulge +the hope that its course will be such as to place the State of +Connecticut on patriotic and dignified ground in the presence of sister +States and the nation, and the world." + +A Convention of the Southern Rights Association assembled at Charleston, +May 5. There were between three and four hundred members in attendance. +Ex-Governor J.P. RICHARDSON acted as President. In his address upon +taking the chair, he said that the question was simply as to the time +and manner of resistance. He spoke strongly of the want of affinity +between the two sections of the country, and declared that no one should +join together those whom God and nature have put asunder. A letter from +Hon. LANGDON CHEVES was read, deprecating separate action on the part of +South Carolina, which ought to wait awhile longer for the action of +other States. An address and resolutions advocating the right and +expediency of secession, were adopted. Mr. RHETT, one of the United +States Senators from this State, has developed what he supposes to be +the results of the policy of secession. Free trade would be proclaimed +with all States south and west of the Potomac, and a duty of ten per +cent. levied upon goods from the other States and from foreign +countries. The result would be that goods would be twenty per cent. +cheaper in Charleston than in New York. The trade of Georgia and North +Carolina would be carried on with South Carolina; and it would not be in +the power of the General Government to prevent it, by a line of +custom-houses along the frontier. He declared the idea of a blockade of +the ports of South Carolina to be ridiculous. Blockade was war, and +Congress alone could declare war; and Congress must either let them go +peaceably out of the Union or fight; and fight they would in defense of +their rights, liberties, and institutions; and even if South Carolina +should be subdued, the Union was not preserved; other Southern States +would join in the contest. Should that State secede and remain for five +years an independent State, a Southern Confederacy must be the result, +or the South would have enforced the guarantees to which she is +entitled. "I have been battling," he says, "in this cause for +twenty-five years, and have now but a few more years to give to your +service. As a citizen of South Carolina, I demand that she make me free. +My counsel is, secede from the union of these United States. At every +hazard, and to the last extremity secede. If I was about to draw my last +breath, with that breath I would exhort you to secede." + +In the Virginia Constitutional Convention some votes have been taken, +which afford indications that the mixed basis proposition in a somewhat +modified form, will prevail. The motion to strike out the proposition +apportioning representation on the basis of the white population was +carried by a vote of 65 to 56. Four Eastern men, among whom was Hon. +HENRY A. WISE, voted with the West. One of the mixed basis propositions +failed by a single vote. + +From the mining region of Lake Superior, the latest intelligence is +highly favorable; large quantities of copper are preparing for +market.--The President has directed that the lands occupied by the +Hungarian Exiles in Iowa shall not be offered for sale previous to the +meeting of Congress, when a petition will be presented for the grant of +them to the exiles.--A riot occurred lately at Milwaukie upon occasion +of a lecture upon Catholicism by Mr. Leahy, who claims to have once been +a Trappist monk. More than a score of persons were seriously injured, +and considerable damage was done to the Methodist church in which the +lecture was given. The principal Catholic laity and the clergy published +a card in which they express their unqualified condemnation of the +conduct of the rioters, and engage to make good the pecuniary injury +inflicted.--The Central Railroad of Michigan has for some time been +annoyed by a gang, which has at length been brought to light. Their +detection was effected by an agent of the Railroad, who in order to +secure their confidence undertook to set fire to the depot; after, +however, taking precautions to prevent any serious injury. Nearly fifty +persons have been arrested and indicted; among whom are a judge, +justices of the peace, constables, and professional men. The trial will +come on in June.--The Legislature of Wisconsin have passed a bill for +the protection of Seventh Day Baptists. It provides that any civil +process issued against a person who habitually observes the seventh day +as a day of rest, which is made returnable on that day, may be laid over +until the Monday following, as though that were the return-day of the +writ.--The small pox is raging with fearful violence among the Sioux +Indians upon the Upper Missouri. It is also extending down the river, +among the Sacs and Foxes. Several hundred are reported to have already +died. + +The Governor of Texas has issued an order for the arrest of the members +of the Boundary Commission who took part in the recent summary +executions of the desperadoes at Socorro. They are probably beyond the +jurisdiction of Texas. Severe charges are in circulation against the +officers at the head of the Commission; public opinion will, however, +remain undecided until both sides are heard.--The population of New +Mexico, according to the recent census, is 61,574, of whom 850 are +Americans. Of the Mexican population above the age of twenty, only one +in 103 is able to read.--A treaty has been concluded with the Apache +Chief Chacon, who binds himself to keep the peace, under penalty of +forfeiting his life.--An attempt is to be made to diminish the enormous +expense of the military occupation of New Mexico. Colonel Sumner, the +new commander, will take out with him seed, grains, stock, and farming +utensils, and every effort will be made to develop the agricultural +resources of the Territory. The head-quarters of the army will probably +be removed from Santa Fe to Los Vegos. + +From California the most striking feature of intelligence is the +unexampled frequency of extra-judicial punishment for crime. The +newspapers are filled with accounts of summary executions, not only for +murder but for robbery and theft. Under the peculiar state of things +occasioned by the great temptations to crime, and the utter want of all +the ordinary apparatus of justice, during the earlier periods of the +settlement of California, this was unavoidable. But instances of this +sort, instead of becoming more unfrequent, seem to be rapidly +increasing. A bill has passed the Legislature, and become a law, +inflicting the punishment of death, at the discretion of the jury, upon +the crime of grand larceny. This measure was insisted upon by the mining +counties on the ground that, owing to the unexampled influx of +desperadoes and criminals from all parts of the world, thefts and +robberies had become so frequent, while prisons and places of detention +were so few, that the only possible punishment was death; and the people +had become so exasperated that the punishment would and must be +inflicted, either by or against the law. The law imposing a tax upon +foreign miners has been repealed, having been found to work most +disastrously. It drove out of the country many thousands of the most +industrious miners, especially Mexicans and Chilians, whose labors the +State could ill spare. Indian hostilities have nearly ceased. A number +of the tribes have signified a willingness to accept of fixed +localities, and to enter into a treaty. The Legislature having granted +to the Governor authority to call out 500 men to repress Indian +hostilities in the Mariposa region, he made a tour of inspection, and +came to the conclusion that the force was unnecessary. The population of +the State is estimated at 314,000, of whom about 100,000 are supposed to +be engaged in mining; and the whole amount of gold produced in the +course of last year is estimated at about one hundred millions of +dollars, giving about three and one-third dollars a day to each +individual. It is anticipated that the amount produced the ensuing year +will not fall short of one hundred and fifty millions. The recent +accounts of the lately discovered gold bluffs are encouraging, and +promise a large amount of gold from that source. A mine of quicksilver, +stated to be the richest in the world, has been discovered about twelve +miles from San Jose. In the case of a slave brought into the State by +his master, it has been decided that he can not be removed against his +will. A vessel has arrived at San Francisco having on board seventeen +Japanese, who were picked up at sea from a wreck. It is supposed that +they will be conveyed to their native country in a government vessel. +They are thought to be the first Japanese who have ever set foot upon +the American continent. A rich coal mine is stated to have been +discovered about eight miles from Benicia. The quantity of land under +cultivation has greatly increased. Professor FORREST SHEPARD, of New +Haven, has made some remarkable discoveries of thermal action. In one +place, where there was nothing on the surface to excite attention, on +digging down the heat increased so rapidly that at the depth of two feet +he could not bear his hand in the earth, and the thermometer indicated a +temperature of 130 degrees. At another place, after wandering for four +days through dense thickets, he came upon a chasm a thousand feet deep, +through which followed a stream, the banks of which, on the 8th of +February, were covered with vegetation. Following up the stream, the +earth grew so hot as to burn the feet through the boots. There was no +appearance of lava, and the rocks were being dissolved by a powerful +_catalytic_ action. From innumerable orifices steam was forced to the +height of two hundred feet. The number of spouting geysers and boiling +springs, on a half mile square, exceeded two hundred. The Professor, in +the course of a lecture on the mineral resources of California, +delivered in the Senate Chamber at San Jose, said that he did not doubt +that silver, lead, and iron abounded in California. + + +SOUTHERN AMERICA. + +In MEXICO the finances are in a most deplorable condition. The revenue +had fallen to about eight and a half millions of dollars, while the +expenses exceed twelve millions. The indemnity paid by our government +can afford only temporary relief in the face of so alarming a +deficiency. The Minister of Finance has resigned his post, and has +prepared a memoir on the condition of the department. The Government has +made a formal complaint against that of the United States for failure in +carrying out the provisions of the treaty in relation to the suppression +of Indian depredations on the frontier; and assigns this failure as a +ground for refusing to ratify the Tehuantepec treaty. The Commissioners +of Public Works have been directed to ascertain the names, employment, +and places of nativity of foreigners residing in the city. Several +projects for a change of government are entertained. One party are +desirous of returning to the dominion of Spain; another is in favor of +annexation to the United States; the return of Santa Anna is desired by +another. The Northern States are still harassed by Indian depredations. +The hostilities in Yucatan are supposed to be nearly at an end. The +municipality of the capital have petitioned for the suppression of +bull-fights throughout the state. + +Hostilities are brooding between Brazil and the Argentine Republic; but +it is hoped that war may be averted. The dissentions in the latter state +are favorable to the recognition of the claims of Brazil. Government is +endeavoring to suppress the slave-trade, and its efforts meet with some +success. + +In Peru the eligibility of Echenique for the Presidency is disputed, on +the ground that he is not a native of that republic. An especial +congress has been summoned to decide the question, but so violent is +party spirit between his partisans and those of Vivanco, that +apprehensions of a civil war are entertained. + +CUBA is in a state of intense excitement in regard to the anticipated +invasion. The flower of the Spanish army, to the number, as it is said, +of 40,000 men, are concentrated on the island, which is encircled by the +entire disposable naval forces of Spain. The steamer Georgia, on her +late trip, had the misfortune to run aground at the mouth of the +Mississippi, by which she suffered a considerable detention. It was +reported and believed at Havana that she was lying off for the purpose +of taking on board the marauding expedition. On the day of her arrival, +a man was executed for having endeavored to procure pilots for Lopez. He +had been previously subjected to torture, in order to extort a +confession. This is the first public execution that has taken place for +political offenses. + +From HAYTI we have the particulars of a conspiracy against the Emperor +Soulouque, in which a number of officers of the Government were +implicated. Many arrests and some executions have taken place in +consequence. The attempt of the American Commissioner and the French and +English Consuls to settle the controversy between the Haytians and +Dominicans, is supposed to have been unsuccessful. The Government has +declined to pay the claims of certain American merchants to which our +Government has repeatedly called its attention. + + +GREAT BRITAIN. + +The event of the month has been the opening of the Great Exhibition. As +if to concentrate attention upon it, all other affairs of interest have +been withdrawn from the stage. No little surprise and indignation were +aroused by the announcement made on the 15th of April, that the Queen +would open the Exhibition in person, but that the holders of tickets and +exhibitors would be excluded from the ceremony. Those who had purchased +tickets for the express purpose of being present at the opening, were +naturally indignant at losing the most interesting part of the show. The +press was unanimous in condemnation of the contemplated exclusion. It +was denounced as an unworthy insinuation that the person of the Queen +would not be secure in public; and as giving countenance to certain +absurd rumors of a projected insurrection. The opposition was so general +that the offensive announcement was withdrawn, and a new programme +substituted, in accordance with which holders of season tickets were +allowed to be present. The rush for these was so great, that the +Commissioners immediately raised the price another guinea. The Queen +proved a greater attraction than Jenny Lind had ever been. We can only +glance at the opening ceremonies. Early in the morning the exhibitors +took their places at their stands; and the spectators came trooping in. +At half-past eleven the Commissioners, foreign and domestic, stationed +themselves in front of a platform of state, under the arch of the +transept. Upon the platform were the Archbishop of Canterbury, the +Ministers and great Officers of State, the Embassadors and Ministers +from foreign Powers, in full dress. At high noon, the royal cortege +entered the Crystal Palace, the choir upraising the national anthem of +"God save the Queen." Then came addresses to the Queen from the +Commissioners and the foreign Embassadors, to which the Queen read +answers handed to her by the Secretary of State; then followed a prayer +pronounced by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and an anthem; a marching in +procession along the nave; a return to the platform, and the +announcement by the Queen that the Exhibition was opened, proclaimed to +the thousands without by a flourish of trumpets and a royal salute from +the park. + +Among the visitors to the Crystal Palace during the preparations, was +the Duke of Wellington. Once as he entered the French department, the +workmen uncovered two small silver statuettes of the duke himself and +his great rival Napoleon. The bearded foreigners raised their hats to +the conqueror of Waterloo, who, returning a military salute, passed on. + +The proceedings of Parliament are not wholly destitute of interest. A +motion was offered by Mr. Disraeli to the effect, that in the +re-adjustment of taxation, due regard should be had to the distressed +condition of the agricultural classes. This was looked upon as a covert +attack upon the principle of free-trade and upon the Ministers. The +Ministers had a majority of only 13 in a house of 513.--The income-tax +has been renewed for the third time, by a vote of 278 to 230.--Mr. Locke +King's bill for extending the franchise, upon the first reading of +which, in February, the Ministers suffered the defeat which led to their +resignation, came up for a second reading, April 2. It was lost by an +overwhelming majority--299 to 83.--Lord John Russell introduced a motion +that the House should resolve itself into a committee to consider the +mode of administering the oath of abjuration to persons professing the +Jewish religion. It was a simple question whether religious belief +should disqualify men for the exercise of civil rights and political +power. The proposed alteration consists merely in omitting from the +oath, when tendered to Jews, the words, "on the true faith of a +Christian." The motion was vehemently opposed by one or two ultra +members. Sir Robert Inglis took occasion to remind the House that "the +Jews regarded him whom we regarded as our Redeemer, as a crucified +impostor." Mr. Newdegate thought that the Pope might well think it safe +to adopt the course he had recently pursued, when he saw the British +Government and one branch of the Legislature ready to put an end to the +last remnant which distinguished it as a Christian assembly. The motion +prevailed by a vote of 166 to 98. It will pass the Commons, but be lost +in the House of Peers; and Baron Rothschild be as far as ever from his +seat in Parliament.--Lord Ashley proposed a bill to encourage the +establishment of lodging-houses for the laboring classes. It empowers +the authorities of cities and towns to erect buildings for this purpose +and to levy a small tax to defray the cost. When the sum expended shall +have been met by the proceeds of the rents, the surplus rental, after +defraying expenses and the cost of repairs, is to be applied in aid of +the poor rates of the place. Startling statistics are presented, setting +forth the condition of the laboring classes in this respect, and the +consequent disease and immorality.--The subject of the management of the +colonies excites no small interest. A most elaborate speech has been +made on this subject in the House of Commons by Sir William Molesworth. +He proposes that all the colonies, with the exception of those which +possess a peculiar value as military stations, such as Gibraltar and St. +Helena, and the penal colonies, should be made to pay the expense of +their own government and protection; and that ample powers of +self-government should be given them. The speech, which discussed all +the details of the subject, was listened to with great attention. Lord +John Russell, in reply, contended that difference in race would of +itself prevent the colonies from profiting by free constitutions; and if +the national troops were withdrawn, the colonies would fall into hands +hostile to the mother country. + +Lord Torrington, whose course as Governor of Ceylon, had been brought +into question in the Commons, defended himself in the House of Peers in +a labored speech. His conduct in declaring and enforcing rigid martial +law, during a native insurrection, was defended by Earl Grey, who +referred to the Duke of Wellington as having been obliged, under similar +circumstances, to adopt measures of great severity. The "Iron Duke" +sharply protested against being brought into comparison, and denied that +he had ever been placed in similar circumstances; as he had never been +suspected of acting as Lord Torrington was charged with having done. To +govern by martial law was to do so by the sole authority of the military +commander; but in such circumstances he had always acted on the +principle, that the government should be conducted in accordance with +the laws of the country itself. + +The election of Member from Aylesbury, to fill the vacancy occasioned by +the death of the late Lord Nugent, the biographer of Hampden, has been +declared void, on account of bribery by Mr. Calvert, the successful +candidate. A new election was ordered. + +A dinner has been given to Lord Stanley by a large number of Members of +Parliament, in the course of which he made a speech which derives some +importance from the great probability that he will in a few months be +placed at the head of the Government. The gist of the speech was the +assertion of the principle of "moderate duties on foreign imports, at +once to afford a certain check to the unlimited importation of foreign +articles, and at the same time to obtain from foreigners, in imitation +of all other nations, a contribution toward the revenue of the State, +and enable us to take off other taxes." This points to a renewal of the +corn-laws. He also criticised the conduct of Government in relation to +the "Papal Aggression," ridiculing the bill proposed as a "little +microscopic measure." + +There is rather more trouble than usual in the Established Church. More +secessions to Rome are announced, some of them being men of rank. One +clergyman falls into an unseemly dispute at the font with the nurse and +parents of an infant brought for baptism, as to whether the child's cap +shall be removed. Neither will yield, and the ceremony is left +unfinished. Another is suspended for addressing Cardinal Wiseman as +"Your Eminence." Another will not read the burial service over the +corpse of a dissenter. The vigilant Bishop of Exeter in a Pastoral +Letter charges the Archbishop of York with a multiplicity of heretical +statements; and summons the clergy of his diocese to express or refuse +their concurrence with him in a declaration of adherence to the article +of the creed respecting baptism, which, he says, was virtually denied in +the decision of the Gorham case, and more than hints at secession from +the Established Church. The Archbishops and twenty two of the Bishops +have issued a letter to their clergy, exhorting them to peace and unity +on the subject of ritual observances, deprecating all innovations, and +recommending them in case of doubt to have resort to the decision of +their bishop. + +The general opinion is that the Kaffir war will be protracted and +costly. The savages have committed the most frightful ravages in the +colony. The Governor has issued a second proclamation, demanding a levy +_en masse_. He declares that unless the well-affected and able-bodied +men between the ages of 18 and 25, turn out as before called upon, the +rebellion can not be checked, and if allowed to extend itself, will be +the means of occasioning the most serious evils. Whenever an action can +be brought about the Kaffirs are invariably worsted; but these actions +are so little decisive, that the policy pursued by the United States in +the case of the Seminoles in Florida, of ravaging their country, and +destroying the crops, seems likely to be adopted. The colonists are +debating the question whether they must defray the expenses of the war; +they deny that they are liable, as they had no voice in the policy which +occasioned the outbreak. + +The Chartists have issued a new manifesto setting forth their doctrines +and principles. They affirm that the soil is the inalienable inheritance +of all mankind, and the monopoly of it repugnant to the laws of God and +nature, and its nationalization the true source of national prosperity. +They propose a scheme by which the state shall gradually assume +possession of the soil, for the purpose of locating upon it the surplus +population. Of taxation and the national debt they say: "Taxation on +industry represses the production of wealth; on luxuries, encourages +Government in fostering excess; on necessary commodities, acts +injuriously on the people's health and comfort. All taxes, therefore, +ought to be levied on land and accumulated property." "The National Debt +having been incurred by a class government, for class purposes, can not +be considered as legally contracted by the people. It is, moreover, +absurd that future generations should be mortgaged to eternity for the +follies or misfortunes of their ancestors, and the debt be thus repaid +several times over. The National Debt, therefore, ought to be liquidated +by the money now annually paid as interest, applied as repayment of the +capital, until such payment is completed." + +The papers are filled with notices of the great increase of emigration, +especially to America. The emigrants are uniformly of a better class +than those who have hitherto decided to leave their country. From +Ireland especially, emigration is almost an epidemic, in the case of +those who have any thing to lose. + +A singular instance of legal nicety occurred in a recent trial of a man +charged with threatening to burn the house and ricks of a neighbor. He +wrote, "Perhaps you may have read of Samson and the Philistines. If no +foxes are to be bought there may be something instead." In defence it +was urged that in the passage from the Book of Judges referred to, it is +said that Samson "burnt up the shocks and also the standing corn;" but +no allusion was made to houses or stacks. The prisoner could only have +intended to do what Samson did. Now it was no offense under the statute +to set fire to standing corn; and so an acquittal was demanded. The +judge decided that the plea was valid, and directed the jury to bring in +a verdict of acquittal. They being less perspicacious than the judge, +hesitated for a while, but finally complied. + + +FRANCE. + +Affairs continue to present a critical aspect. It is difficult to see +how Bonaparte can be removed from the Presidency; and still more +difficult to see how he can be continued. The Constitution forbids his +re-election until after an interval of four years from the expiration of +his term. A revisal of the Constitution can be legally effected only by +a Constituant Assembly called by three-fourths of the present +Legislative Assembly; and a bill summoning a Constituant Assembly can +only pass after three readings, with three months intervening between +the readings; and then does not go into effect until two months after +the last reading. Eleven months is therefore the shortest period in +which the alteration can be effected, supposing not a day were lost in +deliberation. In eleven months the election must take place. Meanwhile a +new Ministry has been formed to take the place of the avowedly +provisional one which has carried on the government for some months. It +is composed as follows: Foreign Affairs, M. Baroche; Justice, M. Rouher; +Finances, M. Fould; Interior, M. Leon Faucher; Commerce and Agriculture, +M. Buffet; Marine, M. Chasseloup-Laubat; Public Instruction, M. de +Crousseillies; War, General Randon; Public Works, M. Magne. The last two +were members of the Transition Ministry just displaced. MM. Baroche, +Rouher, Fould, and Buffet, belonged to the Ministry which was broken up +by the Assembly during the Changarnier difficulties. M. Leon Faucher was +Minister of the Interior for a short time, in 1849, but resigned in +consequence of a vote of censure from the Assembly. The other two are +new men. What measures this Ministry proposes nobody is able to say. M. +Leon Faucher, who has the reputation of firmness and ability and who +seems to be the master spirit of the Ministry, presented the official +programme to the Assembly. It only stated that the new cabinet would +defend order, would endeavor to unite the fractions of the majority, and +hoped to be able to calm the public mind, restore confidence, and +promote commerce and manufactures. M. de Saint Beauve, proposed a vote +of want of confidence in the Ministry, which was lost by 327 to 275, +showing a ministerial majority of 52. A reconciliation between the +President and General Changarnier is thought to be probable. + +Leading political men are endeavoring to secure the control of a +newspaper to advocate their views. M. Guizot assumes the direction of +the _Assemblee Nationale_, in which he advocates the cause of Bourbon +and Orleans; the fusion of whose interests is by no means abandoned. +Lamartine has added to his multifarious avocations the editorship in +chief of _La Pays_, in which he urges a strict adherence to the +Constitution. Cavaignac has attached himself to _La Siecle_, to uphold +Republicanism. The _Constitutionnel_, the acknowledged organ of the +Bonapartists, suggests that lists should be opened in the several +departments for consulting the wishes of the citizens as to an immediate +revision of the Constitution; each citizen to attach to his signature a +simple _yes_ or _no_; and the lists to be verified by the municipal +authorities. + +The five departments of which Lyons is the centre, are the most unquiet +of any in the country. The malcontents are organized into secret +societies, and take occasion of the funerals of any of their +confederates to parade in great numbers. On some occasions from 10,000 +to 20,000 have been present. The military commandant has forbidden the +assemblage of more than 300 persons at any funeral. This has called +forth a general expression of indignation from the Republican press. + +The students of the University of Paris have made some demonstrations of +sympathy in favor of M. Michelet. One of their meetings was dispersed by +the police, and a number of the students were arrested and thrown into +prison. The printer and publisher of the report of a banquet of the +French refugees in London have been sentenced to a fine of 1000 francs +each, and imprisonment for three and six months. The editor of the +_Courrier de la Somme_ has been tried for publishing an article, +expressing a wish that France, by a signal act of her sovereign will, +"should efface from her brow the lowest stigma, the name of Republic;" +and predicting that the time would come when the inhabitants would offer +up thanks to God upon the grave of the Republic. He was acquitted.--A +Society has been formed in Paris, under the patronage of the Archbishop, +for the purpose of supplying the poor with bread below the cost +price.--A public dinner has been given by the Polish refugees to +Dembinski and Chryzanowski, who have recently arrived, the former from +Turkey, the latter from Italy. Toasts were drank to the Sclavic +fraternity and to the memory of Bem. Warm gratitude was expressed to the +Sultan Abdul Medjid, to whose firmness it was owing that Dembinski was +not then immured in a dungeon.--At the celebration of Holy Week various +sacred relics were exposed to view in the Cathedral of Notre Dame; among +them, if tradition is to be believed, are several fragments of the true +cross, portions of the crown of thorns, and portions of the nails used +at the crucifixion.--An engagement took place on the 10th of April at +Oued-Sahel, in Algeria, between the French troops and a body of natives; +a number of the latter were killed, and the remainder put to flight. The +victors set fire to and destroyed the village of Selloum. The French had +eleven men killed, and thirty-seven wounded.--The Marquis of +Londonderry, who once made a similar attempt in favor of Louis Napoleon +when a prisoner at Ham, has addressed a letter to the President to +induce him to use his influence for the liberation of Abd-el-Kader, or +at least to grant him a personal audience. The ex-prisoner of Ham +replies that the captivity of the Arab chief weighs upon his heart, and +that he is studying the means to effect his liberation. He would be most +happy to see the Emir, but could only do so to announce good news; and +can not therefore accede to the request for an interview until that +period arrives. + + +GERMANY. + +It seems to be settled, if we may speak with confidence of any thing in +the present state of German politics, that the old Frankfort Diet is to +be resuscitated. All that has been attempted during the last three +years, is to be set aside. The Frankfort Parliaments, Erfurt Congresses, +and Dresden Conferences have shown that people and princes are alike +incapable of accomplishing anything; and so they fall back upon the +system formed five-and-thirty years ago by the Holy Alliance. Prussia, +who not six months ago brought half a million soldiers into the field +rather than concede to the recognition of the Diet, is now the first to +demand its restoration. Austria, who was in arms to enforce the decrees +of the Diet, at first coyly hesitated; but by the latest intelligence, +does not seem inclined to oppose it. It still remains doubtful whether +she will persist in the claim for the incorporation of her Sclavic and +Italian possessions into the German Confederation, in spite of the +remonstrances of England and France, who maintain that as the German +Confederation was established, and its limits defined by the Powers of +Europe, for the express purpose of settling the balance of power, the +extending of the limits of the Confederation is properly a European +question. Austria, that seemed two years ago on the point of +dissolution, has gained new vigor, and presents a front apparently +stronger than ever. The Democratic journals of Europe, however, maintain +that all the appearance of prosperity is unreal; that discontent is +growing deeper and deeper throughout her vast and heterogeneous +population; that her immense armies are maintained at a cost far beyond +the means of the Empire to defray; and that national and individual +bankruptcy is impending over her. The minor German States have no choice +but to follow the lead of the two great powers, and from them we have +accounts of petty quarrels between princes and people, but they are +hardly worth the trouble of chronicling. The German refugees, in +imitation of Mazzini and the Italians, have issued notes by way of +raising a loan; the name of Kinkel heads the committee. + + +SOUTHERN EUROPE. + +In PORTUGAL an insurrection has broken out, the result of which is still +undecided. The Marquis of Saldanha took up arms for the overthrow of the +ministry of the Count of Thomar. His attempt met at first with so little +success, that the marquis was on the point of abandoning it, and taking +refuge in England. Subsequently, however, the garrison of Oporto +declared in his favor, and he was recalled. The inhabitants of Oporto +likewise declared for the insurgents. + +From SPAIN we hear of Ministerial crises and changes, dissolution of +Cortes, and political movements of various kinds, all growing out of the +impossibility of making the revenues of the Kingdom meet the +expenditures. A royal decree has been issued appointing commissioners to +examine and report on the railroads of France, Germany, Belgium, and +England, with a view to the introduction of similar works in the +Peninsula. + +In ITALY the States of the Church have been relieved from one great +annoyance by the death of _Il Passatore_, the leader of a band half +brigands half revolutionists, who was surprised and shot by the +soldiery. The list of prohibited books has received a few recent +additions, among which are D'Harmonville's Dictionary of Dates, +Whately's Logic, and Seymour's Pilgrimage to Rome. On the 29th of March, +the young Emperor of Austria reached Venice, on a tour through his +dominions, when he immediately gave orders, at the instance of Radetsky, +it is said, for the restoration of the freedom of the port of that city. +The 23d of March, the anniversary of the battle of Novara, so fatal to +the dreams of Italian Unity, has been solemnized in various parts of +Italy under the very eyes of the Austrians, by chanting the _De +Profundis_ and other funeral ceremonies. Some students have suffered +punishment for taking part in the solemnities. + + +THE EAST. + +In TURKEY a series of insurrectionary movements has taken place in the +wild districts along the Russian and Austrian frontiers. The latest +intelligence indicates the subjection of the insurgents. Austria is +suspected of complicity in the outbreak, which has no tendency to render +the Porte more contented with the task of acting as jailer to the +remainder of the Hungarian exiles. Austria and Russia seem determined to +push their imperial justice to the utmost, and insist that the refugees +shall be detained two years longer; within which time it is supposed +that death must intervene, to spare any further discussion. The Sultan +is inclined to refuse their demand, and throw himself upon the +protection of France and England. Severe shocks of an earthquake +occurred in various parts of the empire, from February 28, to March 7. +At Macri, in Anatolia, the upper part of the castle was thrown down, +overwhelming the offices of the Austrian Lloyd Steam Navigation Company. +The fortifications and houses likewise suffered great damage. Fissures +were opened in the streets from which poured forth bituminous gases; +springs were stopped up, and new ones opened. A number of towns are +mentioned as having been destroyed. Livessy, containing some 1500 +houses, was utterly overthrown, not a dwelling being left standing, and +600 of the inhabitants were buried under the ruins. + +From EGYPT we learn that a railroad across the Isthmus of Suez is to be +commenced forthwith, apparently to be constructed mainly by English +capital and engineers. A revolt had broken out in the district of +Senaar. Troops were to be dispatched from Cairo to the scene of +insurrection; but the efforts of the Pacha were seriously shackled by +the exhausted condition of the country, and the apprehended difficulties +with the Porte. + +In INDIA, the frontiers of the Company's possessions are infested with +the incursions of the hill robbers, who commit their depredations almost +within gun-shot of the British camps. It is difficult to devise +effectual means of dealing with these plunderers. Regular military +operations are altogether useless, for the robbers will not risk a +contest, except in rare cases. It has been proposed to make the head man +of each village responsible for all outrages committed within its +limits. A number of railroads are in course of construction in different +parts of the country. A plot has been frustrated in Nepaul for the +destruction of Jung Bahadoor, the Nepaulese Embassador, who excited so +much attention in England a few months ago; he acted with most +un-Asiatic decision and promptitude in the suppression of the +conspiracy. The Embassador has refused admittance into Nepaul of a +scientific expedition, having discovered that the entrance of English +travelers and explorers is often followed in India by the appearance of +troops. + +Disturbances have recommenced in CHINA. The insurgents were assembled at +late dates at a distance of about sixty miles from Canton, with the +avowed object of overthrowing the present dynasty. The _Friend of China_ +says, "His Imperial Majesty's continued possession of the throne, is +quite a matter of uncertainty." + + +LITERATURE, SCIENCE, ART, PERSONAL MOVEMENTS, ETC. + +The PRESIDENT of the United States accompanied by Secretaries WEBSTER, +and GRAHAM, Attorney-General CRITTENDEN, and Postmaster-General HALL, +are at the time when we are obliged to close our Record for the month, +upon a tour to the North. The main reason of this journey is to take +part in the ceremonies which celebrated the successful completion of the +New York and Erie Railroad--the second of those great links which bind +the interior with the seaboard, the great Lakes and the West with the +Atlantic and the East. They left Washington on the morning of May 12; +the affairs of Government being temporarily committed to the charge of +the Secretaries of the Interior, of the Treasury, and of War. At various +places on the route they were welcomed with appropriate ceremonies, and +reached Philadelphia in the afternoon of the same day. Here Mr. Fillmore +briefly addressed the crowd from the piazza of his hotel; and Mr. +Webster, yielding to repeated calls, made a speech in which he spoke of +the influences that surrounded him in the State where the Declaration of +Independence was pronounced, and the Constitution framed. The Union +which was then formed, he said, would last until it had spread from the +Pole to the Equator; and notwithstanding the dangers through which it +had passed, it was now safe. On the morning of the 13th, the President +and Cabinet set out for New York. At Amboy, they were received by the +President and Directors of the Erie Railroad Company, in whose name +CHARLES M. LEUPP, Esq., delivered an appropriate address welcoming the +Chief Magistrate of the nation, to an examination of the great work +which would so largely develop the resources of the country, and +continue to bind still more closely distant portions of the Union. Mr. +Fillmore, in reply, spoke of the work on the completion of which he +hoped soon to congratulate his native State, as one of the most +important enterprises in the world. Passing up the magnificent harbor, +the President and suite were received at Castle Garden as the guests of +the City, by the authorities of New York; the Mayor in his address +alluding to the fact that this was the first moment that the President +had trod the soil of his native State as the Chief Magistrate of the +nation. From Castle Garden a procession was formed, passing up Broadway +and down the Bowery to the City Hall, amid the warmest demonstrations of +welcome. The nature of the occasion deprived the celebration of all +partisan character; the General Committees of the two great political +parties occupied prominent parts of the procession. At one time there +were not less than a hundred thousand spectators between the Battery and +the Park. On the 14th, in company with 480 invited guests, among whom +were Senator Fish, Ex-Governor Marcy, and a large number of the members +of the Legislature, the President and suite left the City by a special +train. All along the route, the utmost enthusiasm was displayed. At +Elmira, where the train arrived at 7 P.M., the night was spent; and the +following day they proceeded to Dunkirk, the terminus of the road, where +extraordinary preparations had been made to celebrate the event which +must result in building a large and flourishing town upon that spot. + +At the annual meeting of the _St. George's Society_, the British +Embassador, Mr. BULWER was the principal speaker. In the course of one +of his speeches he alluded to a forgery published in the _American +Celt_, a paper published at Boston, purporting to be a copy of an +intercepted dispatch from him to his Government. He used certain +expressions which a portion of the residents of this City, of Celtic +origin, construed into an insult to themselves and their race; whereupon +they held a public meeting, and prepared a request to be transmitted to +the President, asking him to procure the recall of the offending +minister. + +WM. L. MACKENZIE, who took a very prominent part in the Canadian +rebellion of 1837, and subsequently resided for some years as an exile +in this city, has been elected a member of the Canadian Parliament, +beating the candidate supported by Government. + +The American Association for the Advancement of Science held during the +past month a very interesting meeting at Cincinnati. Among the papers +read was one upon the "Azoic System of Lake Superior," by Messrs. FOSTER +and WHITNEY, United States Geologists. This system derives its name from +the entire absence in its structure of organic remains, and comprises +the most ancient of the strata constituting the crust of the globe. +Professor AGASSIZ characterized these investigations as conclusive +evidence that we had reached the commencement of animal life, and had a +starting-point from which to proceed. The only event of higher interest +would be the discovery of the skeleton of the first man. Col. WHITTLESEY +presented two skulls found in a bed of marl in Ohio. They are +characterized by great deficiency in the development of the intellectual +organs. The age of the skulls is calculated, from indications +surrounding them, at two thousand years; thus establishing the fact of +the peopling of America at a period much earlier than that usually +assigned. Professor PIERCE read a paper on "the Constitution of Saturn's +Rings," in which he argued that these were not solid but liquid; and +that no irregularities, or combination of irregularities, consistent +with an actual ring, would permit a solid ring to be permanently +maintained by the primary planet; and that a fluid ring could not be +retained by the direct action of its primary. Saturn's rings are +maintained by the constant disturbing force of its satellites; and no +planet can have a ring unless, like Saturn, it have a sufficient number +of properly arranged satellites. One of the most interesting papers read +was the report of the committee upon Professor MITCHEL'S system of +observing Declinations and Right Ascensions. The statements of the +distinguished Western Astronomer, made last year at New Haven, were +received with considerable doubt by the members of the Association. +Among the foremost of the doubters was Professor Pierce, who, at the +solicitation of Mr. Mitchel, was appointed Chairman of the Investigating +Committee. This Committee, composed of the leading names in astronomical +science, after examining his methods and apparatus, made a partial +report, in which the highest and most unqualified approbation is +bestowed upon the entire system adopted by Professor Mitchel. This +triumph was honorable alike to the Professor and his late opponents; and +the victor bore his honors with the modesty appropriate to a lover of +science for its own sake. Professor AGASSIZ read a paper upon the coral +reefs of Florida, embodying the results of recent investigations made by +him, under the auspices of the United States Coast Survey. + +Professor MORSE has received from the Prussian Government the "Prussian +Gold Medal of Scientific Merit," as a testimonial for his improvements +in the Magnetic Telegraph. According to the report of the Prussian +commissioner charged with the construction of telegraphic lines, Morse's +telegraph has been found most efficient for great distances. + +JENNY LIND has returned to New York after a Southern and Western tour of +unexampled success. So meekly has she borne her honors, that even Envy +would not wish them less. Castle Garden, the scene of her earliest +Transatlantic triumphs, is thronged at each successive concert by +appreciative audiences. + +The Gallery of the ART-UNION is now open. Subscribers for the ensuing +year will receive a large engraving from WOODVILLE'S picture of _Mexican +News_, and the second part of the _Gallery of American Art_, comprising +engravings after CROPSEY'S _Harvesting_, KENSETT'S _Mount Washington_, +WOODVILLE'S _Old Seventy-six and Young Forty-eight_, RANNEY'S _Marion +Crossing the Pedee_, and MOUNT'S _Bargaining for a Horse_. The +_Bulletin_ of the Union, to which members are also entitled, in addition +to much valuable information on matters relating to art, will contain +original etchings and wood-cuts. The number for April is embellished +with a cut from Cropsey's _Temple of the Sibyl_, drawn on wood by C.E. +DOePLER, to whom we are indebted for the drawings illustrative of the +Novelty Works in our last Number. It also contains one of Darley's +spirited outlines, illustrative of a scene from Cooper's Prairie. + +LEUTZE has nearly completed his second picture of _Washington Crossing +the Delaware_, the original of which was destroyed by fire last January. +It has been purchased by Goupil and Vibert, of Paris, for about $6000. +It will be exhibited in Europe and the United States, and will also be +engraved by Francois, who has so admirably rendered some of the works of +Delaroche. The picture in its unfinished state has been warmly praised +by German critics. + +We transfer from the Art-Union _Bulletin_ a notice of the _Game of +Chess_, a picture of great merit, recently painted by Woodville in +Paris. It has been purchased by the Union, and is now in its Gallery. +"This is an exquisitely finished cabinet-piece, which in technical +qualities is probably superior to any thing he has done excepting the +_Old Captain_. It represents the interior of the sitting-room of a noble +mansion in the days of the Tudors. On the right rises the immense +fire-place, with its frontispiece of variegated marbles, supported by +statues and richly carved in the style of the Rennaissance. On the right +of this, in the immediate fore-ground, is a lecturn, upon which rests a +book and a lady's 'kerchief. Standing with his back to the fire, before +the chimney, is a portly gentleman--probably the father of the family +about going forth for a ride, as he has his cap on his head, wears high +boots of buff leather, with spurs, and an outer-coat of velvet trimmed +with fur. He stands with his hands behind him in an easy attitude, +overlooking a game of chess which a visitor is playing with the daughter +of the house. The visitor is on the left of the picture, and sits with +his back to the spectator; and in front is a table which supports the +chess-board. On the other side is the young lady, whose eyes are fixed +upon the game, while the cavalier is lifting a piece with his hand and +looking toward the father as if for approbation of his move. The mother, +and a page, complete the group. This is a tranquil, pleasant picture, in +which the characters of the personages are very nicely indicated. It +places the spectator in the very midst of the domestic life of the times +it portrays. It is, however, in the distribution of light and shadow, +and the wonderful fidelity of its imitations, that the work is most +remarkable. The effect of the light upon the carved marble is done with +wonderful skill, and the representation of violet, fur, satin, and +metals, worthy of a Micris or a Metzu." + +POWERS, writing from Florence, thus describes the statue of California, +upon which he is engaged: "I am now making a statue of 'La Dorado,' or +California, an Indian figure surrounded with pearls and precious stones. +A kirtle surrounds her waist, and falls with a feather fringe down to +just above the knees. The kirtle is ornamented with Indian embroidery, +with tracings of gold, and her sandals are tied with golden strings. At +her side stands an inverted cornucopia, from which is issuing at her +feet lumps and grains of native gold, to which she points with her left +hand, which holds the divining rod. With her right hand she conceals +behind her a cluster of thorns. She stands in an undecided +posture--making it doubtful whether she intends to advance or +retire--while her expression is mystical. The gold about her figure must +be represented, of course, by the color as well as the form. She is to +be the Genius of California." + +Mr. WHITNEY, the projector of the railroad to the Pacific is now in +London to urge upon Government to undertake the construction of the road +through the British possessions. + +Mr. GILBERT, Member of Congress from California, himself a printer, has +presented to the Typographical Society of New York a double number of +the _Alta California_ newspaper, printed upon white satin in letters of +gold. + +The _Philadelphia Art Union_ has contracted for an original painting by +Rothermel, which is to be engraved for distribution to its subscribers +the present year. It has likewise provided a portfolio of sketches from +which subjects for commissions may be selected. The plan of this +Association differs from that of the Art Union of this city, in that it +distributes prizes, not pictures, allowing those who draw the prizes to +select their own subjects. + +CHILLY MCINTOSH, head war-chief of the Choctaw nation, has been ordained +as a clergyman, and is now preaching in connection with the Baptist +Board. + +Sir CHARLES LYELL has delivered a Lecture before the Royal Institution +on Impressions of Rain drops in Ancient and Modern Strata. These +impressions were first observed in 1828, by Dr. Buckland. A close +analogy was discovered between the impressions on the rocks, and those +made by showers of rain upon soft mud. In conclusion, the lecturer +remarked on the important inferences deducible from the discovery of +rain-prints in rocks of remote antiquity. They confirm the ideas +entertained of the humid climate of the carboniferous period, the +forests of which we know were continuous over areas several miles in +diameter. The average dimensions of the drops indicate showers of +ordinary force, and show that the atmosphere corresponded in density, as +well as in the varying temperature of its different currents, with that +which now invests the globe. The triassic hail (indicated by +indentations deeper than those made by rain-drops) implies that some +regions of the atmosphere were at this period intensely cold; and, +coupled with footprints, worm-tracks, and casts of cracks formed by the +drying of mud, which were often found upon the same slabs, these +impressions of rain clearly point to the existence of sea-beaches where +tides rose and fell, and therefore lead us to presume the joint +influence of the moon and the sun. Hence we are lead on to infer that at +this ancient era, the earth with its attendant satellite was revolving +as now around the sun, as the centre of our system, which probably +belonged then as now to one of those countless clusters of stars with +which space is filled. + +JOHN CHAPMAN, Manager of the Peninsular Railway Company in India, has +published a pamphlet on the supply of cotton which India may be made to +furnish, in which he undertakes to show, that cotton of a quality which +can be used for three fourths of the manufactures of England, such as +is worth there from three to five pence a pound, can be produced in any +required quantity for from one and one-fourth to one and three-fourths +of a penny per pound. He says it is the difficulty of transportation +which prevents the extensive culture of cotton in India. + +M. EOELMEN, the director of the National Porcelain Manufactory of +Sevres, has succeeded in producing crystalized minerals, resembling very +closely those produced by nature--chiefly precious and rare stones +employed by jewelers. To obtain this result, he has dissolved, in boric +acid, alum, zinc, magnesia, oxydes of iron, and chrome, and then +subjecting the solution to evaporation during three days, has obtained +crystals of a mineral substance, equaling in hardness, and in beauty, +and clearness of color, the natural stones. With chrome M. Eoelmen has +made most brilliant rubies, from two to three millimetres in length, and +about as thick as a grain of corn. If rubies can be artificially made, +secrets which the old alchymists pursued can not be far off. + + +OBITUARIES. + +PHILIP HONE for many years an eminent merchant and prominent citizen of +New York, died May 8, in the 71st year of his age. Having at an +unusually early period accumulated what he regarded as a competent +fortune, he withdrew from the distinguished mercantile house of which he +was one of the founders, and devoted his time and means to intellectual +pursuits, dignified and generous hospitality, and the promotion of all +enterprises designed to benefit and honor the city, of which he was +proud to be a citizen. Possessed of a warm and social disposition, a +ready wit, great intelligence, and no ordinary acquirements he gathered +around him a fine library and beautiful works of art, without ever +withdrawing his interest from public affairs. In 1825-6 he was chosen +mayor of New York, and discharged the duties of that post with a +decision, energy, and promptitude which have rarely been equaled. But +his most useful services to the community were in connection with +various associations formed for the public good. He was president of the +first Bank for Savings, and one of the original Board of Trustees, of +which there are now only three surviving members; and one of the +earliest and most efficient friends of the Mercantile Library +Association. A marble bust of him, which adorns the library of that +noble institution, sculptured at the request of the members, testifies +to their appreciation of his character and services. Some few years +since his fortune was considerably impaired by pecuniary reverses, which +befell a near relative; and, although Mr. Hone was not legally +responsible for his obligations, his high sense of mercantile honor +impelled him to discharge them in full. At the accession of General +Taylor, Mr. Hone was appointed Naval Officer of the port of New York, +which office he held at the time when, beloved, prized, and honored by +all who knew him, having honorably maintained through life the character +of an high-minded American merchant, he sank to rest calmly and in full +possession of his faculties. + +Commodore JAMES BARRON, Senior Officer in the United States Navy, died +at Norfolk, Virginia, April 21, at the age of 83 years. He commenced his +naval career under the auspices of his father, who commanded the naval +forces of the Commonwealth of Virginia during the Revolutionary War. In +1798 young Barron entered the navy of the United States, with the rank +of lieutenant, and served in the brief war with France. In the year +following he received his commission of captain, and was ordered to the +Mediterranean. In 1807, going out as commander of the Mediterranean +squadron, he was on board the frigate Chesapeake, when she was +treacherously attacked, in a time of profound peace, in our own waters, +by a British vessel of superior force. He was acquitted by a court +martial, from all blame in the affair. His subsequent services were +rendered on shore, mostly at Philadelphia and Norfolk. He early acquired +the reputation of one of the most accomplished and efficient officers in +the service. He originated the first code of signals introduced into the +American navy. + +DAVID DAGGETT, LL.D., late Chief Justice of Connecticut, died April 12, +aged 86 years. He was born in Attleboro, Mass., on the last day of the +year, 1764. After graduating at Yale College, he studied law, and was +admitted to the bar in 1786. In 1791 he was elected to the House of +Representatives of the State, of which he was chosen Speaker in 1794, at +the early age of 29. He continued a member of one of the Legislative +Houses almost constantly till 1813, when he was elected to the Senate of +the United States. In 1824 he was chosen Kent Professor of Law in Yale +College, which post he continued to occupy until the infirmities of age +compelled him to resign. In 1826 he was appointed Associate Judge of the +Superior Court of the State by a Legislature, a majority of whom were +opposed to him in politics. Six years after he was made Chief Justice of +the Supreme Court. This office he held until December, 1834, when, +having reached the age of 70 years, he vacated it in accordance with the +provisions of the Constitution. Thus for forty years, from the close of +his 26th to the completion of his 70th year, was Mr. Daggett almost +continually engaged in public service. + +Hon. WILLIAM STEELE died at Big Flats, Steuben County, N.Y., on the 4th +of April. He was born at New York in 1762, and was actively engaged +during the closing years of the Revolution. In 1780 he was on board the +gun-ship Aurora, which was captured by the British brig Iris, bearing +the news of the surrender of Charleston to the British. On this occasion +he was severely wounded, and detained a prisoner of war for some months. +In 1785 he was appointed clerk in the Treasury Board. In 1794 he +commanded a troop of horse which took part in the suppression of the +Pennsylvania Insurrection. He resided in New Jersey till 1819, when he +removed to the western part of the State of New York. + +Gen. HUGH BRADY, one of the oldest officers in the army of the United +States, was killed at Detroit by a fall from his carriage, at the age of +80 years. He was born in Northumberland County, Penn., and entered the +army in 1792, as an ensign. In 1812 he was appointed Colonel of the 22d +Infantry. At battle of Chippewa his regiment was almost annihilated and +he himself severely wounded. He received the rank of brevet +Brigadier-General in 1822. During the disturbances in Canada he did much +to preserve the peace of the frontier. A few years ago his native State +presented him with a splendid sword, as an acknowledgment of his +character and services. + + + + +LITERARY NOTICES + + +_The Philosophy of Mathematics_ (published by Harper and Brothers), is a +translation by Professor W.H. GILLESPIE, of Union College, of that +portion of COMTE'S "Course of Positive Philosophy" which treats of the +theory of the higher Mathematics. The treatise, in the original, forms +about two-thirds of the first volume of his great work, the whole of +which extends to six large octavo volumes, of six or seven hundred pages +each. The magnitude of this work is alone sufficient to account for the +slow progress which it has made among American mathematical students, to +many of whom it is probably known only by name. In the present form, it +is made accessible to every reader. Its publication will constitute a +new epoch in the mathematical culture of this country, as the original +has done in the development of European science. The opinion of its +merits, expressed by the translator, is by no means extravagant. +"Clearness and depth, comprehensiveness and precision have never, +perhaps, been so remarkably united as in Auguste Comte. He views his +subject from an elevation which gives to each part of the complex whole +its true position and value, while his telescopic glance loses none of +the needful details, and not only itself pierces to the heart of the +matter, but converts its opaqueness into such transparent crystal, that +other eyes are enabled to see as deeply into it as his own." The opinion +of the translator is supported by the emphatic testimonials of several +competent English authorities. Mill, in his "Logic," calls the work of +M. Comte, "by far the greatest yet produced on the Philosophy of the +Sciences," and adds, "of this admirable work, one of the most admirable +portions is that in which he may truly be said to have created the +Philosophy of the higher Mathematics." Moreil, in his "Speculative +Philosophy of Europe," remarks that, "the classification given of the +sciences at large, and their regular order of development is +unquestionably a master-piece of scientific thinking, as simple as it is +comprehensive." Lewes, in his "Biographical History of Philosophy," +speaks of Comte as "the Bacon of the Nineteenth Century," and adds, "I +unhesitatingly record my conviction that this is the greatest work of +our age." + +With his remarkable profoundness and lucidity of thought, M. Comte does +not combine a mastery of language in equal proportion. His style is +never flowing, and often harsh and complicated. It is difficult to +render his peculiar phraseology in an adequate translation. Prof. +Gillespie has evidently performed his task with conscientious diligence, +and has succeeded as well as the nature of the case permits, in doing +justice to his author. He has conferred an important benefit on the +cause of science by the reproduction of this great master-piece of +philosophical discussion, and will, no doubt, receive a grateful +appreciation from his scientific countrymen. + +Charles Scribner has published an original _Life of Algernon Sidney_, by +G. VAN SANTVOORD, including copious sketches of several of the +distinguished republicans who were his fellow-laborers in the cause of +political freedom. Among the biographical portraits introduced by the +author, are those of Cromwell, Milton, Sir Henry Vane, Bradshaw, Marten, +Scot, and others. They are drawn with considerable spirit, and evident +historical fidelity. The character of Sidney is described in terms of +warm appreciation, though the partialities of the author have not +clouded the fairness of his judgment. Devoted with enthusiastic +admiration to the memory of the English martyrs for freedom, in the +investigation of their history, he has not neglected the sound +principles of critical research. His volume hears internal marks of +authenticity; its opinions are expressed with discretion and gravity; +its tone partakes of the dignity of its subject; and its style, though +not sparkling with the adornments of rhetoric, is sincere and forcible, +and presents occasional specimens of chaste beauty. + +The first American edition of _The Journal and Letters of the Rev. Henry +Martyn_, edited by Rev. S. WILBERFORCE, has been published by M.W. Dodd, +containing a variety of interesting matter, which now appears for the +first time in this country. The original English edition is reduced by +the omission of certain portions, which seemed to be of less value to +the general reader, but no change has been made in the passages +retained, which are a faithful transcript of the language which fell +from the pen of the author. They were written in moments of intimate +self-communion, or in the freedom of familiar correspondence, revealing +the hidden experience of the heart, with the most child-like simplicity; +while every expression betrays the intensity of humiliation and the +yearnings after holiness, which were so deeply inwrought into the +character of the distinguished missionary. With an acute and cultivated +intellect, which enabled him to bear away the highest University honors, +Henry Martyn combined a fervor of devotion, an unworldly forgetfulness +of self, and a passion for the spiritual welfare of his fellow-men, +which in another age would not have failed to win him the canonization +of a saint. The transparent confessions of such a man, describing the +struggles and triumphs of the interior life, must be welcomed by every +religious reader. Nor are they less valuable as an illustration of the +workings of human nature, when under the influence of the strong +emotions engendered by the austere and sublime faith with which the +subject identified his conceptions of Christianity. The American editor +appropriately commends the work to young men in our colleges and +seminaries of learning, with the remark that "Martyn was a scholar of +varied and profound attainments, but he counted it his highest honor to +lay his laurels at his Saviour's feet, and could all the young men in +our colleges go forth in his spirit, the strongholds of error and sin +would be speedily shaken." + +_The Water Witch_ forms the last volume of J. FENIMORE COOPER'S +Collective Works, in Geo. P. Putnam's tasteful and convenient edition. +The opinion of the author on the comparative merits of this novel is +briefly stated in the Preface. "The book has proved a comparative +failure. The facts of this country are all so recent and so familiar, +that every innovation on them, by means of the imagination is coldly +received, if it be not absolutely frowned upon. Nevertheless this is +probably the most imaginative book ever written by the author. Its fault +is in blending too much of the real with the purely ideal. Halfway +measures will not do in matters of this sort; and it is always safer to +preserve the identity of a book by a fixed and determinate character, +than to make the effort to steer between the true and the false." In +another passage, Mr. Cooper gives utterance to the fears which haunt his +imagination, in regard to the innovating tendencies of the present day. +"As for the Patroons of Kinderbook, the genus seems about to expire +among us. Not only are we to have no more patroons, but the decree has +gone forth from the virtuous and infallible voters that there are to be +no more estates. + + 'All the realm shall be in common, and in Cheapside shall my + palfrey go to grass.' + +The collected wisdom of the State has decided that it is true policy to +prevent the affluent from converting their money into land. The curse of +mediocrity weighs upon us, and its blunders can be repaired only through +the hard lessons of experience." Mr. Cooper alludes to the great number +of typographical errors which are found in the former editions of this +work. It was written in Italy and first printed in Germany. The American +compositor, conceiving that he had a right to correct the blunders of a +foreigner, took the law into his own hands, and exercised a sovereign +power over the author's orthography. He has endeavored to do himself +justice in this particular, and accordingly claims a greater degree of +improvement for the Water Witch in the present edition, than for any +other work which has passed through his hands. + +The serial publication of _London Labor_, by HENRY MAYHEW, from the +press of Harper and Brothers, has reached its fifth number, and thus +far, we discover no diminution of interest in its contents. Mr. Mayhew +has plunged into the thick of what he appropriately styles the nomadic +life of London, and brings up its startling revelations to the light of +day, without the slightest disguise or embellishment. His work contains +the stuff for many novels of real life, which, in the hands of a master, +would rival the creations of Dickens or Thackeray. Some of the most +interesting scenes, which he describes, are related in the words of the +parties concerned, with whom the author appears to have had a perfectly +good understanding. As a contribution to the history of social +development in the nineteenth century, we regard this work as one of the +most important of the day. + +_The Fruit Garden_, by P. BARRY (published by Charles Scribner), is a +practical treatise on the cultivation of fruit-trees, with over one +hundred and fifty illustrations, representing the different parts of +trees, all practical operations, designs for plantations, and other +important points in this branch of arboriculture. The extent and variety +of information which it presents, with the clearness of its practical +directions, and its adaptation to American cultivation, will make it a +standard work of reference with intelligent fruit growers. + +_The Female Jesuit_ (published by M.W. Dodd), is the title of a +narrative, purporting to be the history of a religious impostor, who, +after a complicated career of intrigue and duplicity in England, was at +length detected in her plots, although no light is thrown on their +origin and purposes. The work is issued with the conviction on the part +of the English editors, that she was the agent of some great system in +the Catholic interest, that may have been brought into action far more +widely than Protestants are aware. In the absence of positive proof, +they hesitate to charge her deception on the Jesuits, but they are +evidently of opinion that the suspicion is warranted by the facts in the +case. The volume, it must be confessed has too much the air of a +romance to command implicit reliance. We should have greater confidence +in it as a history, if it did not show such a studious concealment of +responsible names, with the omission of other circumstances that are +essential to authentic investigation. + +_The Wife's Sister; or, The Forbidden Marriage_ is the title of a novel +by Mrs. HUBBACK, niece of Miss Austen (published by Harper and +Brothers), written with more than common graphic power, and unfolding a +plot of great intensity of passion. It was written previously to the +great agitation on the question of the Law of Marriage in England, and +was published without reference to that much debated subject, although +it presents a vivid illustration of the possible effects of the +enactment alluded to, both in its social and personal bearings. Apart +from these considerations, however, it is a story of remarkable +interest, and is well worth perusal by all who have an appetite for a +good novel. + +A new volume of _Poems_, by Mrs. E.H. EVANS, has been published by +Lippincott, Grambo, and Co., with an Introduction by her brother, the +distinguished pulpit orator, Rev. T.H. Stockton. The volume consists +principally of effusions marked by a strong religious spirit, and a vein +of modest and tender domestic sentiment. Many of them indicate a true +poetic imagination, but without sufficient affluence or aptness of +diction to do it justice in expression. + +_Dealings with the Inquisition_, by Dr. GIACINTO ACHILLI (published by +Harper and Brothers), is a work that has attracted great attention in +England, on account of its relation to the Roman Catholic controversy, +and for the same reason, will find many readers in this country. Falling +under the suspicion of heresy, the author was subjected to the power of +the Inquisition, which, though kept in the back-ground, appears, from +his statements, to have lost none of its vitality with the lapse of +ages. His book is full of curious disclosures, which are apparently +sustained by competent authority. + +Geo. P. Putnam has issued _A Treatise on Political Economy_, by GEORGE +OPDYKE, in which the author undertakes to present a system in perfect +harmony with the other portions of our political edifice--a system +grounded on the broad principles of justice and equality, and in all its +doctrines and legislative applications solely designed to illustrate and +enforce those principles. Maintaining the policy of freedom in its +broadest sense--freedom of industry, freedom of trade, and freedom of +political institutions, the volume has been especially prompted by the +desire of the author to disseminate his peculiar views on the subject of +Money. He claims to have discovered a plan for furnishing a paper +currency, which, although irredeemable, and therefore free from the cost +of production, he believes will perform the offices of money much better +than either bank-notes or coin. He sustains his theories with +considerable force of argument, and in a lucid and compact style; but he +has not succeeded in freeing them from difficulties, which must +embarrass their reception by cautious thinkers on the complicated +science to which his work is devoted. + +_Harper's New York and Erie Railroad Guide_, by WILLIAM MACLEOD, is a +seasonable publication, which will form an indispensable appendage to +the preparations of the pleasure-hunter, who is about to view, for the +first time, the magnificent scenery on this great public avenue. It +contains nearly a hundred and fifty engravings, from original sketches +made expressly for the work, and executed in the usual admirable style +of Lossing and Barritt. The letter-press descriptions are written in a +lively and pleasing style, and furnish a great amount of geographical +and local information, with regard to the interior of the Empire State. +Every traveler on this route, which is destined to be the favorite +choice of the lover of the grand and imposing in American scenery, no +less than of the hurried business-man with whom time is money, will find +the enjoyment of his tour greatly enhanced by the cheerful and +instructive companionship of this agreeable volume. + +Lindsay and Blakiston have published a second series of _Characteristics +of Literature_, by HENRY T. TUCKERMAN, containing essays on Manzoni, +Steele, Humboldt, Madame de Sevigne, Horne Tooke, Wilson, Talfourd, +Beckford, Hazlitt, Everett, and Godwin. They are written in the style of +polished elegance and graceful facility which has given the author such +a high reputation with most cultivated readers. Free from extravagance +of conception or diction, pervaded with a tone of natural and manly +feeling, and thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the best literary +productions, they claim a favorable reception from the public on the +ground of their purity of taste, their refinement of expression, and +their genial and appreciative principles of criticism. The essays on +Humboldt and Horne Tooke, in particular, are, in a high degree, original +and suggestive, and present a very favorable specimen of a kind of +discussion in which the author excels. + +_The Gold-Worshipers_ (published by Harper and Brothers), is the title +of a brilliant satirical novel illustrating the mania for speculation, +and the extravagance of fashionable life, which have recently exhibited +such remarkable developments in the highest English society. The +characters are drawn with amusing life-likeness, and must have been +copied from well-known originals. A more spirited and sparkling +commentary on the times has not been issued by the London press. + +Robert Carter and Brothers have issued a new volume by Mrs. L.H. +SIGOURNEY, entitled _Letters to my Pupils_, comprising a selection from +her correspondence with the young ladies of her different classes, +during their course of instruction at her private seminary in +Connecticut. They are filled with valuable counsels, marked with the +good sense, affectionate feeling, and practical tendency which are +conspicuous features of the author's mind. In addition to the letters, +the volume contains some pleasing reminiscences of Mrs. Sigourney's +experience as a teacher, with sketches of the character and personal +history of several of her more distinguished pupils, now deceased. The +work will be found to offer a variety of attractive and useful matter +for family reading. + +_Maurice Tiernay_, by CHARLES LEVER, has been issued by Harper and +Brothers in their Library of Select Novels. The readers of this Magazine +will no doubt welcome in a permanent shape this favorite story, which +has formed such an agreeable feature in our pages. + +Charles Scribner has published a new volume by N.P. WILLIS, with the +characteristic title of _Hurry-Graphs_, containing sketches of scenery, +celebrities, and society, taken from life. It is marked with the nice, +microscopic observation of character and manners which, in the +department of natural science, would make the fortune of an +entomologist, and which, as employed by the author, has given him an +unrivaled reputation as the delineator of the minutest phases of +society. The verbal felicity of his expositions is no less remarkable +than the subtlety of his insight, and so gracefully does he trample on +the received usages of language, that the most obstinate adherent to the +dictionary can not grudge him the words, which he combines in such +bright and fanciful forms in his unlicensed kaleidoscope. In the present +volume, which is filled with all sorts of enticements, we prefer the +descriptions of nature to the sketches of character. Even the dusty +road-side grows delightful under the touches of Willis's +blossom-dropping pen, and when we come to the mountain and lake, it is +like reveling in all the fragrant odors of Paradise. Here the author +feels genially at home, and abandons himself to the natural, joyous, +unreflective impulses of the scene; while, in his portraitures of +character, which are usually more elaborate, he betrays the +consciousness of an obligation to say something, which, if not original, +shall at least astonish the reader with its appearance of novelty. His +judgments, however, are often strikingly acute, and show his ready +perception of individual life, no less than of the motley aspects of +society. In this work they are singularly free from any tincture of +bitterness, the result of a catholic appreciation of character, rather +than of any milky sweetness of temperament. + +_Eastbury_ is the title of a recent English novel (published by Harper +and Brothers), which even the opponents of fictitious literature must +commend for its elevated moral tendency, and its pure religious spirit. +It is free from the exaggerated views of life, and the morbid, inflated +sentiment which form the staple of so many fashionable novels. With its +reserved and quiet tone, it may at first disappoint the reader +accustomed to a higher stimulus, but its cool domestic pictures, its +fine illustrations of character, and its truthfulness and beauty of +feeling will win the admiration of the most intelligent judges. + +One of the most beautiful books of the season has been issued by J.S. +Redfield, entitled _Episodes of Insect Life_, with copious engravings +illustrative of the department of natural history to which it is +devoted. The anonymous author is a passionate lover of nature, and +describes the results of personal observation in glowing and picturesque +language. Since the elaborate work of Kirby and Spence, nothing has +proceeded from the English press more eminently adapted to inspire a +taste for entomological researches, or treating the curious phenomena of +insect economy with more animation and beauty of style. The fruits of +accurate investigation are embellished with the charm of a lively fancy, +making a volume no less delightful than instructive. + +Lippincott, Grambo, and Co. have commenced a new serial publication, +entitled _Arthur's Library for the Household_, consisting of original +tales and sketches by T.S. ARTHUR. The two volumes already published +contain _Woman's Trials_ and _Married Life_. They will speedily be +followed by other volumes, to the number of twelve, printed in uniform +style, and with great typographical neatness. The chaste and elevated +tone of Mr. Arthur's writings, with his uncommon skill in describing the +scenes of real life, has deservedly made him a favorite with a large +class of readers, and will, we have no doubt, guarantee a wide success +to the present publication. + +A cheap edition of ARTHUR'S _Works_ is now passing through the press of +T.B. Peterson, Phil., and commands an extensive circulation. The last +volume issued is _The Banker's Wife_, a tale illustrative of American +society, and conveying an admirable moral. + + + + +A Leaf from Punch. + + +[Illustration: TIRED OF THE WORLD. + +_Grandmamma._--"Why what's the matter with my Pet?" + +_Child._--"Why, Grandma, after giving the subject every consideration, I +have come to the conclusion that--the World is Hollow, and my Doll is +stuffed with Sawdust, so--I--should--like--if you please, to be a Nun?"] + + * * * * * + +PLEASURE TRIP OF MESSRS. ROBINSON AND JONES. + +[Illustration: It is cold on deck, and they think it would be better to +lie down below. Robinson and Jones are here represented at the moment of +entering the cabin. It is inconveniently full already, and every body is +snoring.] + +[Illustration: ROBINSON BEFORE AND AFTER A SEA VOYAGE.] + +[Illustration: Robinson returns to the deck, and, in despair, seats +himself upon what he considers a pile of cable, coats, canvas, luggage, +&c. How is he to know that it is a lady and gentleman?] + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: A PERFECT WRETCH. + +_Wife._--"Why, dear me, William; how Time flies! I declare we have been +married Ten Years to-day." + +_Wretch._--"Have we, love? I am sure I thought it had been a great deal +longer."] + + + + +Fashions for Early Summer. + + +[Illustration: Fig. 1.--VISITING AND CARRIAGE COSTUMES.] + +The early days of June often exhibit the coyness of her sister, May; and +while the leaves are broadly expanding, and the buds are every where +bursting into blossom, in full exuberance, cool breezes from the North, +or chilling vapors from the East, sometimes remind those who are riding +or walking, of the breath of Winter. It is not safe permanently to +employ the thin dress fabrics of flowing summer before the middle of the +month. Silks form the most suitable material for out-of-door costume, +and mantelets are more in vogue than the gossamer-like shawls of July. + +MANTELETS.--Those composed of _glace_ silks are greatly in favor, being +of moderate size, loose, and rather short; they have, nevertheless, a +novel appearance, the variety in their style depending greatly upon +their trimmings. The waist and shoulders are gracefully marked. The +principal trimmings consist of frillings, or flounces, cut _falbalas_ +and _passamenteries arachnees_. These decorations are intended +principally for morning or demi-toilets, those of a more full-dress +description being trimmed with a very deep fall of black lace, or two or +three frillings equally deep and ample. + +DRESSES.--Plain bodies, slightly stiffened, are much in fashion. Those +intended for pelisses are of the waistcoat form, cut in the Amazonian +shape, somewhat like that seen in Figure 2 of our first illustration. +Among other elegant styles, is a _robe a la myon_ of gray taffeta, +having the corsage formed of narrow plaits, in style resembling that in +Figure 1 of the above illustration. It forms a kind of fan back; in +front, the folds are made deep upon the top, and descend in a straight +line toward the lower part of the waist. + +FIGURE 1 in our first illustration represents an elegant style of +VISITING DRESS. It is of light blue silk; the skirt trimmed with three +rather narrow flounces, waved at the edge, and caught up in a point up +the centre of the front, where they are each confined with a small +_noeud_ of ribbon, the same color of the dress. The high, close-fitting +corsage is entirely formed of narrow folds placed close together; the +opening up the front being concealed by a fluting of ribbon, gradually +narrowing toward the lower part of the waist. Long plain sleeves, +ornamented round the top with a puffing of silk, forming an epaulette. +The sleeves are open up the front of the arm as far as the bend, and +caught across at regular intervals, so as to admit of the under full +white sleeves showing through and forming puffings. Bonnet of white silk +or satin: the exterior decorated with two white ostrich feathers, and +the interior with a wreath of white rose-buds. + +FIGURE 2 in our first picture, represents a beautiful CARRIAGE COSTUME. +Plain high dress of violet silk; the body fitting tight has a small +jacket trimmed round with a narrow _ruche_. The body opens in the front +and has a fulling of white lace to give the appearance of the frill of +the habit shirt. The sleeves are not very wide, and are three-quarters +length. They have cuffs cut in points, turned back, and edges with a +narrow _ruche_. The skirt is long and fall, trimmed with rosettes of +ribbon, from which hang two small tassels. _Mantilla_ of rich silk, +trimmed with broad black lace, lined with white silk. Bonnet of _paille +de riz_, decorated with splendid drooping flowers on the right, of a +primrose color. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--EVENING DRESS.] + +FIGURE 2 represents an EVENING COSTUME. Dress of pink _crepe_: the +corsage low; the waist pointed, and of a moderate length. The cape +pointed in the front, falls deep on the shoulders, entirely covering the +plain short sleeves. The cape and the front of the skirt, are trimmed +with white _tulle_ and roses. The skirt is long and full, the trimming, +_en tabliere_, corresponds with the cape. Jupe of rich white silk is +worn underneath. Shoes of pink satin. + +[Illustration: FIG. 3.--HEAD-DRESS.] + +FIGURE 3 shows a neat style of head-dress for a MORNING COSTUME, which +is composed of folds of ribbon, partly covering a braid of hair on one +side. The dress is high, edged with a lace collar, with a ribbon hanging +in loops in front. The sleeves in morning costumes are generally very +wide from the elbow, three-quarters length, and trimmed to correspond. +The skirt is long and full, bias on each side, the front breadth turned +back; trimmed with _guimpe_. + +[Illustration: FIG. 4.--BONNET.] + +BONNETS are generally of white silk, formed in various designs, +decorated with different sorts of violets and lilacs of the most +opposite shades. They are very gay, yet very simple. They are generally +somewhat small, having the front rather open at the sides, allowing the +hair to be arranged in full bands, with becoming and fanciful ears in +the interior. Figure 4 represents a bonnet of white satin, covered with +two rows of white lace, divided with a double row of fancy light green +ribbon, and decorated with white daisies in the interior. Bonnets +composed of _crepe_ and _paille_, are decorated with bunches of flowers +composed of the wild violet, with grass and delicate herbs. A very +elegant style of bonnet is composed partly of blonde and fillings of +light green _velours epingle_, ornamented in a fanciful manner with +marabouts. + +CAPS are extremely pretty and light in appearance. Some formed of inlet, +relieved with drawings, through which is passed a narrow satin ribbon, +and decorated with _coques_, placed sidewise, are very pretty. A very +charming style of morning caps are those formed of muslin, surmounted +with four small _torsades_ of lilac silk drooping over the forehead, and +encircling the ears. Upon each side is placed a very large _noeud_ of +silk, and at the back two _rachons_ of embroidered muslin, headed with +_torsades_ of ribbon. Another style forms upon the summit of the head, +advancing a little in front, "a la Marie Stuart," having three papillons +of Brussels point lace, divided with pink ribbons. On the sides tufts of +lace, and black and pink ribbons in corkscrews, hanging low. + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Words surrounded by _ are italicized. + +Letters preceded by ^ are superscripts. + +Obvious punctuation errors have been repaired, other punctuations have +been left as printed in the paper book. + +Titles added to Table of Content and List of Illustrations. + +Erroneous page numbers in Table of Content corrected. + +Captions added to captionless illustrations. + +Obvious printer's errors have been repaired, other inconsistent +spellings have been kept, including: +- use of hyphen (e.g. "clap-trap" and "claptrap"); +- accents (e.g. "chateau" and "chateau"); +- any other inconsistent spellings (e.g. "diversion" and "divarsion"). + +Following proper names have been corrected: +- In the Table of Content: + "Novarra" corrected to be "Novara" (battle of Novara), + "Paginini" corrected to be "Paganini" (Anecdotes of Paganini), + "Waterwitch" corrected to be "Water Witch" (Cooper's "Water Witch"); +- Pg 16, "Penmaen Mawr" corrected to be "Penmaenmawr" (Of Penmaenmawr); +- Pg 43, "Gunnell" corrected to be "Gunnel" (To Mr. Gunnel); +- Pg 129, "Fanueil" corrected to be "Faneuil" (Faneuil Hall). + +Pg 4, word "the" removed (Attacks the <the> nightly thief). + +Pg 5, word "a" removed (As if <a> upon). + +Pg 66, word "him" removed (have made him <him> a martyr). + +Pg 125, word "to" added (whispered to Sophia). + +Pg 134, word "April" corrected to "February" (from February 28). + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Harper's Magazine, Vol III, June 1851, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S MAGAZINE, VOL III *** + +***** This file should be named 38787.txt or 38787.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/7/8/38787/ + +Produced by Judith Wirawan, David Kline, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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