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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Purcell Papers, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Purcell Papers
+       Volume I. (of III.)
+
+Author: Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
+
+Release Date: May 24, 2008 [EBook #509]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PURCELL PAPERS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Judith Boss and Charles Keller
+
+
+
+
+
+THE PURCELL PAPERS.
+
+BY THE LATE
+
+JOSEPH SHERIDAN LE FANU,
+
+AUTHOR OF 'UNCLE SILAS.'
+
+
+With a Memoir by
+
+ALFRED PERCEVAL GRAVES
+
+
+IN THREE VOLUMES.
+
+
+VOL. I.
+
+
+CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
+
+     MEMOIR OF JOSEPH SHERIDAN LE FANU
+     THE GHOST AND THE BONE-SETTER
+     THE FORTUNES OF SIR ROBERT ARDAGH
+     THE LAST HEIR OF CASTLE CONNOR
+     THE DRUNKARD'S DREAM
+
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIR OF JOSEPH SHERIDAN LE FANU.
+
+A noble Huguenot family, owning considerable property in Normandy, the
+Le Fanus of Caen, were, upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,
+deprived of their ancestral estates of Mandeville, Sequeville, and
+Cresseron; but, owing to their possessing influential relatives at the
+court of Louis the Fourteenth, were allowed to quit their country for
+England, unmolested, with their personal property. We meet with John Le
+Fanu de Sequeville and Charles Le Fanu de Cresseron, as cavalry officers
+in William the Third's army; Charles being so distinguished a member of
+the King's staff that he was presented with William's portrait from his
+master's own hand. He afterwards served as a major of dragoons under
+Marlborough.
+
+At the beginning of the eighteenth century, William Le Fanu was the sole
+survivor of his family. He married Henrietta Raboteau de Puggibaut,
+the last of another great and noble Huguenot family, whose escape
+from France, as a child, by the aid of a Roman Catholic uncle in high
+position at the French court, was effected after adventures of the most
+romantic danger.
+
+Joseph Le Fanu, the eldest of the sons of this marriage who left issue,
+held the office of Clerk of the Coast in Ireland. He married for the
+second time Alicia, daughter of Thomas Sheridan and sister of Richard
+Brinsley Sheridan; his brother, Captain Henry Le Fanu, of Leamington,
+being united to the only other sister of the great wit and orator.
+
+Dean Thomas Philip Le Fanu, the eldest son of Joseph Le Fanu, became by
+his wife Emma, daughter of Dr. Dobbin, F.T.C.D., the father of Joseph
+Sheridan Le Fanu, the subject of this memoir, whose name is so familiar
+to English and American readers as one of the greatest masters of the
+weird and the terrible amongst our modern novelists.
+
+Born in Dublin on the 28th of August, 1814, he did not begin to speak
+until he was more than two years of age; but when he had once started,
+the boy showed an unusual aptitude in acquiring fresh words, and using
+them correctly.
+
+The first evidence of literary taste which he gave was in his sixth
+year, when he made several little sketches with explanatory remarks
+written beneath them, after the manner of Du Maurier's, or Charles
+Keene's humorous illustrations in 'Punch.'
+
+One of these, preserved long afterwards by his mother, represented a
+balloon in mid-air, and two aeronauts, who had occupied it, falling
+headlong to earth, the disaster being explained by these words: 'See the
+effects of trying to go to Heaven.'
+
+As a mere child, he was a remarkably good actor, both in tragic and
+comic pieces, and was hardly twelve years old when he began to write
+verses of singular spirit for one so young. At fourteen, he produced
+a long Irish poem, which he never permitted anyone but his mother and
+brother to read. To that brother, Mr. William Le Fanu, Commissioner of
+Public Works, Ireland, to whom, as the suggester of Sheridan Le Fanu's
+'Phaudrig Croohore' and 'Shamus O'Brien,' Irish ballad literature owes
+a delightful debt, and whose richly humorous and passionately pathetic
+powers as a raconteur of these poems have only doubled that obligation
+in the hearts of those who have been happy enough to be his hearers--to
+Mr. William Le Fanu we are indebted for the following extracts from the
+first of his works, which the boy-author seems to have set any store by:
+
+     'Muse of Green Erin, break thine icy slumbers!
+        Strike once again thy wreathed lyre!
+      Burst forth once more and wake thy tuneful numbers!
+        Kindle again thy long-extinguished fire!
+
+     'Why should I bid thee, Muse of Erin, waken?
+        Why should I bid thee strike thy harp once more?
+      Better to leave thee silent and forsaken
+        Than wake thee but thy glories to deplore.
+
+     'How could I bid thee tell of Tara's Towers,
+        Where once thy sceptred Princes sate in state--
+      Where rose thy music, at the festive hours,
+        Through the proud halls where listening thousands
+             sate?
+
+     'Fallen are thy fair palaces, thy country's glory,
+        Thy tuneful bards were banished or were slain,
+      Some rest in glory on their deathbeds gory,
+        And some have lived to feel a foeman's chain.
+
+     'Yet for the sake of thy unhappy nation,
+        Yet for the sake of Freedom's spirit fled,
+      Let thy wild harpstrings, thrilled with indignation,
+        Peal a deep requiem o'er thy sons that bled.
+
+     'O yes! like the last breath of evening sighing,
+        Sweep thy cold hand the silent strings along,
+      Flash like the lamp beside the hero dying,
+        Then hushed for ever be thy plaintive song.'
+
+
+To Mr. William Le Fanu we are further indebted for the accompanying
+specimens of his brother's serious and humorous powers in verse, written
+when he was quite a lad, as valentines to a Miss G. K.:
+
+
+     'Life were too long for me to bear
+        If banished from thy view;
+      Life were too short, a thousand year,
+        If life were passed with you.
+
+     'Wise men have said "Man's lot on earth
+        Is grief and melancholy,"
+      But where thou art, there joyous mirth
+        Proves all their wisdom folly.
+
+     'If fate withhold thy love from me,
+        All else in vain were given;
+      Heaven were imperfect wanting thee,
+        And with thee earth were heaven.'
+
+     A few days after, he sent the following sequel:
+
+'My dear good Madam, You can't think how very sad I'm. I sent you, or
+I mistake myself foully, A very excellent imitation of the poet Cowley,
+Containing three very fair stanzas, Which number Longinus, a very
+critical man, says, And Aristotle, who was a critic ten times more
+caustic, To a nicety fits a valentine or an acrostic. And yet for all my
+pains to this moving epistle, I have got no answer, so I suppose I may
+go whistle. Perhaps you'd have preferred that like an old monk I
+had pattered on In the style and after the manner of the unfortunate
+Chatterton; Or that, unlike my reverend daddy's son, I had attempted the
+classicalities of the dull, though immortal Addison.
+
+     I can't endure this silence another week;
+     What shall I do in order to make you speak?
+                 Shall I give you a trope
+                 In the manner of Pope,
+     Or hammer my brains like an old smith
+     To get out something like Goldsmith?
+     Or shall I aspire on
+     To tune my poetic lyre on
+     The same key touched by Byron,
+     And laying my hand its wire on,
+     With its music your soul set fire on
+     By themes you ne'er could tire on?
+                 Or say,
+                 I pray,
+                 Would a lay
+                 Like Gay
+                 Be more in your way?
+            I leave it to you,
+            Which am I to do?
+            It plain on the surface is
+            That any metamorphosis,
+            To affect your study
+            You may work on my soul or body.
+     Your frown or your smile makes me Savage or Gay
+       In action, as well as in song;
+     And if 'tis decreed I at length become Gray,
+       Express but the word and I'm Young;
+     And if in the Church I should ever aspire
+       With friars and abbots to cope,
+     By a nod, if you please, you can make me a Prior--
+       By a word you render me Pope.
+     If you'd eat, I'm a Crab; if you'd cut, I'm your Steel,
+       As sharp as you'd get from the cutler;
+     I'm your Cotton whene'er you're in want of a reel,
+       And your livery carry, as Butler.
+                 I'll ever rest your debtor
+                 If you'll answer my first letter;
+                 Or must, alas, eternity
+                 Witness your taciturnity?
+                 Speak--and oh! speak quickly
+                 Or else I shall grow sickly,
+                           And pine,
+                           And whine,
+                 And grow yellow and brown
+                   As e'er was mahogany,
+                 And lie me down
+                   And die in agony.
+
+        P.S.--You'll allow I have the gift
+              To write like the immortal Swift.'
+
+
+But besides the poetical powers with which he was endowed, in common
+with the great Brinsley, Lady Dufferin, and the Hon. Mrs. Norton, young
+Sheridan Le Fanu also possessed an irresistible humour and oratorical
+gift that, as a student of Old Trinity, made him a formidable rival of
+the best of the young debaters of his time at the 'College Historical,'
+not a few of whom have since reached the highest eminence at the Irish
+Bar, after having long enlivened and charmed St. Stephen's by their wit
+and oratory.
+
+Amongst his compeers he was remarkable for his sudden fiery eloquence of
+attack, and ready and rapid powers of repartee when on his defence.
+But Le Fanu, whose understanding was elevated by a deep love of the
+classics, in which he took university honours, and further heightened by
+an admirable knowledge of our own great authors, was not to be tempted
+away by oratory from literature, his first and, as it proved, his last
+love.
+
+Very soon after leaving college, and just when he was called to the
+Bar, about the year 1838, he bought the 'Warder,' a Dublin newspaper,
+of which he was editor, and took what many of his best friends and
+admirers, looking to his high prospects as a barrister, regarded at the
+time as a fatal step in his career to fame.
+
+Just before this period, Le Fanu had taken to writing humorous Irish
+stories, afterwards published in the 'Dublin University Magazine,' such
+as the 'Quare Gander,' 'Jim Sulivan's Adventure,' 'The Ghost and the
+Bone-setter,' etc.
+
+These stories his brother William Le Fanu was in the habit of repeating
+for his friends' amusement, and about the year 1837, when he was about
+twenty-three years of age, Joseph Le Fanu said to him that he thought an
+Irish story in verse would tell well, and that if he would choose him
+a subject suitable for recitation, he would write him one. 'Write me an
+Irish "Young Lochinvar,"' said his brother; and in a few days he handed
+him 'Phaudrig Croohore'--Anglice, 'Patrick Crohore.'
+
+Of course this poem has the disadvantage not only of being written after
+'Young Lochinvar,' but also that of having been directly inspired by
+it; and yet, although wanting in the rare and graceful finish of the
+original, the Irish copy has, we feel, so much fire and feeling that it
+at least tempts us to regret that Scott's poem was not written in that
+heart-stirring Northern dialect without which the noblest of our British
+ballads would lose half their spirit. Indeed, we may safely say that
+some of Le Fanu's lines are finer than any in 'Young Lochinvar,' simply
+because they seem to speak straight from a people's heart, not to be the
+mere echoes of medieval romance.
+
+'Phaudrig Croohore' did not appear in print in the 'Dublin University
+Magazine' till 1844, twelve years after its composition, when it was
+included amongst the Purcell Papers.
+
+To return to the year 1837. Mr. William Le Fanu, the suggester of this
+ballad, who was from home at the time, now received daily instalments
+of the second and more remarkable of his brother's Irish poems--'Shamus
+O'Brien' (James O'Brien)--learning them by heart as they reached him,
+and, fortunately, never forgetting them, for his brother Joseph kept no
+copy of the ballad, and he had himself to write it out from memory ten
+years after, when the poem appeared in the 'University Magazine.'
+
+Few will deny that this poem contains passages most faithfully, if
+fearfully, picturesque, and that it is characterised throughout by
+a profound pathos, and an abundant though at times a too grotesquely
+incongruous humour. Can we wonder, then, at the immense popularity
+with which Samuel Lover recited it in the United States? For to Lover's
+admiration of the poem, and his addition of it to his entertainment,
+'Shamus O'Brien' owes its introduction into America, where it is now
+so popular. Lover added some lines of his own to the poem, made Shamus
+emigrate to the States, and set up a public-house. These added lines
+appeared in most of the published versions of the poem. But they are
+indifferent as verse, and certainly injure the dramatic effect of the
+poem.
+
+'Shamus O'Brien' is so generally attributed to Lover (indeed we remember
+seeing it advertised for recitation on the occasion of a benefit at a
+leading London theatre as 'by Samuel Lover') that it is a satisfaction
+to be able to reproduce the following letter upon the subject from Lover
+to William le Fanu:
+
+               'Astor House,
+                 'New York, U.S. America.
+                      'Sept. 30, 1846.
+
+  'My dear Le Fanu,
+
+'In reading over your brother's poem while I crossed the Atlantic,
+I became more and more impressed with its great beauty and dramatic
+effect--so much so that I determined to test its effect in public, and
+have done so here, on my first appearance, with the greatest success.
+Now I have no doubt there will be great praises of the poem, and people
+will suppose, most likely, that the composition is mine, and as you know
+(I take for granted) that I would not wish to wear a borrowed feather, I
+should be glad to give your brother's name as the author, should he not
+object to have it known; but as his writings are often of so different a
+tone, I would not speak without permission to do so. It is true that in
+my programme my name is attached to other pieces, and no name appended
+to the recitation; so far, you will see, I have done all I could to
+avoid "appropriating," the spirit of which I might have caught here,
+with Irish aptitude; but I would like to have the means of telling all
+whom it may concern the name of the author, to whose head and heart it
+does so much honour. Pray, my dear Le Fanu, inquire, and answer me here
+by next packet, or as soon as convenient. My success here has been quite
+triumphant.
+
+'Yours very truly,
+
+'SAMUEL LOVER.'
+
+
+We have heard it said (though without having inquired into the truth
+of the tradition) that 'Shamus O'Brien' was the result of a match at
+pseudo-national ballad writing made between Le Fanu and several of the
+most brilliant of his young literary confreres at T. C. D. But however
+this may be, Le Fanu undoubtedly was no young Irelander; indeed he did
+the stoutest service as a press writer in the Conservative interest, and
+was no doubt provoked as well as amused at the unexpected popularity
+to which his poem attained amongst the Irish Nationalists. And here
+it should be remembered that the ballad was written some eleven years
+before the outbreak of '48, and at a time when a '98 subject might
+fairly have been regarded as legitimate literary property amongst the
+most loyal.
+
+We left Le Fanu as editor of the 'Warder.' He afterwards purchased the
+'Dublin Evening Packet,' and much later the half-proprietorship of the
+'Dublin Evening Mail.' Eleven or twelve years ago he also became the
+owner and editor of the 'Dublin University Magazine,' in which his
+later as well as earlier Irish Stories appeared. He sold it about a year
+before his death in 1873, having previously parted with the 'Warder' and
+his share in the 'Evening Mail.'
+
+He had previously published in the 'Dublin University Magazine' a number
+of charming lyrics, generally anonymously, and it is to be feared that
+all clue to the identification of most of these is lost, except that of
+internal evidence.
+
+The following poem, undoubtedly his, should make general our regret at
+being unable to fix with certainty upon its fellows:
+
+
+     'One wild and distant bugle sound
+        Breathed o'er Killarney's magic shore
+      Will shed sweet floating echoes round
+        When that which made them is no more.
+
+     'So slumber in the human heart
+        Wild echoes, that will sweetly thrill
+      The words of kindness when the voice
+        That uttered them for aye is still.
+
+     'Oh! memory, though thy records tell
+        Full many a tale of grief and sorrow,
+      Of mad excess, of hope decayed,
+        Of dark and cheerless melancholy;
+
+     'Still, memory, to me thou art
+        The dearest of the gifts of mind,
+      For all the joys that touch my heart
+        Are joys that I have left behind.
+
+
+Le Fanu's literary life may be divided into three distinct periods.
+During the first of these, and till his thirtieth year, he was an Irish
+ballad, song, and story writer, his first published story being the
+'Adventures of Sir Robert Ardagh,' which appeared in the 'Dublin
+University Magazine' of 1838.
+
+In 1844 he was united to Miss Susan Bennett, the beautiful daughter of
+the late George Bennett, Q.C. From this time until her decease, in 1858,
+he devoted his energies almost entirely to press work, making, however,
+his first essays in novel writing during that period. The 'Cock and
+Anchor,' a chronicle of old Dublin city, his first and, in the opinion
+of competent critics, one of the best of his novels, seeing the light
+about the year 1850. This work, it is to be feared, is out of print,
+though there is now a cheap edition of 'Torlogh O'Brien,' its immediate
+successor. The comparative want of success of these novels seems to have
+deterred Le Fanu from using his pen, except as a press writer, until
+1863, when the 'House by the Churchyard' was published, and was soon
+followed by 'Uncle Silas' and his five other well-known novels.
+
+We have considered Le Fanu as a ballad writer and poet. As a press
+writer he is still most honourably remembered for his learning and
+brilliancy, and the power and point of his sarcasm, which long made the
+'Dublin Evening Mail' one of the most formidable of Irish press critics;
+but let us now pass to the consideration of him in the capacity of a
+novelist, and in particular as the author of 'Uncle Silas.'
+
+There are evidences in 'Shamus O'Brien,' and even in 'Phaudrig
+Croohore,' of a power over the mysterious, the grotesque, and the
+horrible, which so singularly distinguish him as a writer of prose
+fiction.
+
+'Uncle Silas,' the fairest as well as most familiar instance of this
+enthralling spell over his readers, is too well known a story to tell
+in detail. But how intensely and painfully distinct is the opening
+description of the silent, inflexible Austin Ruthyn of Knowl, and
+his shy, sweet daughter Maude, the one so resolutely confident in his
+brother's honour, the other so romantically and yet anxiously
+interested in her uncle--the sudden arrival of Dr. Bryerly, the strange
+Swedenborgian, followed by the equally unexpected apparition of Madame
+de la Rougiere, Austin Ruthyn's painful death, and the reading of his
+strange will consigning poor Maude to the protection of her unknown
+Uncle Silas--her cousin, good, bright devoted Monica Knollys, and her
+dreadful distrust of Silas--Bartram Haugh and its uncanny occupants, and
+foremost amongst them Uncle Silas.
+
+This is his portrait:
+
+'A face like marble, with a fearful monumental look, and for an old man,
+singularly vivid, strange eyes, the singularity of which rather grew
+upon me as I looked; for his eyebrows were still black, though his hair
+descended from his temples in long locks of the purest silver and fine
+as silk, nearly to his shoulders.
+
+'He rose, tall and slight, a little stooped, all in black, with an ample
+black velvet tunic, which was rather a gown than a coat....
+
+'I know I can't convey in words an idea of this apparition, drawn, as it
+seemed, in black and white, venerable, bloodless, fiery-eyed, with
+its singular look of power, and an expression so bewildering--was it
+derision, or anguish, or cruelty, or patience?
+
+'The wild eyes of this strange old man were fixed on me as he rose; an
+habitual contraction, which in certain lights took the character of
+a scowl, did not relax as he advanced towards me with a thin-lipped
+smile.'
+
+Old Dicken and his daughter Beauty, old L'Amour and Dudley Ruthyn, now
+enter upon the scene, each a fresh shadow to deepen its already sombre
+hue, while the gloom gathers in spite of the glimpse of sunshine shot
+through it by the visit to Elverston. Dudley's brutal encounter with
+Captain Oakley, and vile persecution of poor Maude till his love
+marriage comes to light, lead us on to the ghastly catastrophe, the
+hideous conspiracy of Silas and his son against the life of the innocent
+girl.
+
+It is interesting to know that the germ of Uncle Silas first appeared
+in the 'Dublin University Magazine' of 1837 or 1838, as the short tale,
+entitled, 'A Passage from the Secret History of an Irish Countess,'
+which is printed in this collection of Stories. It next was published as
+'The Murdered Cousin' in a collection of Christmas stories, and finally
+developed into the three-volume novel we have just noticed.
+
+There are about Le Fanu's narratives touches of nature which reconcile
+us to their always remarkable and often supernatural incidents. His
+characters are well conceived and distinctly drawn, and strong soliloquy
+and easy dialogue spring unaffectedly from their lips. He is a close
+observer of Nature, and reproduces her wilder effects of storm and gloom
+with singular vividness; while he is equally at home in his descriptions
+of still life, some of which remind us of the faithfully minute detail
+of old Dutch pictures.
+
+Mr. Wilkie Collins, amongst our living novelists, best compares with
+Le Fanu. Both of these writers are remarkable for the ingenious mystery
+with which they develop their plots, and for the absorbing, if often
+over-sensational, nature of their incidents; but whilst Mr. Collins
+excites and fascinates our attention by an intense power of realism
+which carries us with unreasoning haste from cover to cover of his
+works, Le Fanu is an idealist, full of high imagination, and an
+artist who devotes deep attention to the most delicate detail in his
+portraiture of men and women, and his descriptions of the outdoor and
+indoor worlds--a writer, therefore, through whose pages it would be
+often an indignity to hasten. And this more leisurely, and certainly
+more classical, conduct of his stories makes us remember them more fully
+and faithfully than those of the author of the 'Woman in White.' Mr.
+Collins is generally dramatic, and sometimes stagy, in his effects. Le
+Fanu, while less careful to arrange his plots, so as to admit of their
+being readily adapted for the stage, often surprises us by scenes of so
+much greater tragic intensity that we cannot but lament that he did
+not, as Mr. Collins has done, attempt the drama, and so furnish another
+ground of comparison with his fellow-countryman, Maturin (also, if we
+mistake not, of French origin), whom, in his writings, Le Fanu far
+more closely resembles than Mr. Collins, as a master of the darker and
+stronger emotions of human character. But, to institute a broader ground
+of comparison between Le Fanu and Mr. Collins, whilst the idiosyncrasies
+of the former's characters, however immaterial those characters may
+be, seem always to suggest the minutest detail of his story, the latter
+would appear to consider plot as the prime, character as a subsidiary
+element in the art of novel writing.
+
+Those who possessed the rare privilege of Le Fanu's friendship, and only
+they, can form any idea of the true character of the man; for after the
+death of his wife, to whom he was most deeply devoted, he quite forsook
+general society, in which his fine features, distinguished bearing, and
+charm of conversation marked him out as the beau-ideal of an Irish wit
+and scholar of the old school.
+
+From this society he vanished so entirely that Dublin, always ready with
+a nickname, dubbed him 'The Invisible Prince;' and indeed he was for
+long almost invisible, except to his family and most familiar friends,
+unless at odd hours of the evening, when he might occasionally be seen
+stealing, like the ghost of his former self, between his newspaper
+office and his home in Merrion Square; sometimes, too, he was to be
+encountered in an old out-of-the-way bookshop poring over some rare
+black letter Astrology or Demonology.
+
+To one of these old bookshops he was at one time a pretty frequent
+visitor, and the bookseller relates how he used to come in and ask with
+his peculiarly pleasant voice and smile, 'Any more ghost stories for me,
+Mr. -----?' and how, on a fresh one being handed to him, he would
+seldom leave the shop until he had looked it through. This taste for the
+supernatural seems to have grown upon him after his wife's death, and
+influenced him so deeply that, had he not been possessed of a deal of
+shrewd common sense, there might have been danger of his embracing some
+of the visionary doctrines in which he was so learned. But no! even
+Spiritualism, to which not a few of his brother novelists succumbed,
+whilst affording congenial material for our artist of the superhuman to
+work upon, did not escape his severest satire.
+
+Shortly after completing his last novel, strange to say, bearing the
+title 'Willing to Die,' Le Fanu breathed his last at his home No. 18,
+Merrion Square South, at the age of fifty-nine.
+
+'He was a man,' writes the author of a brief memoir of him in the
+'Dublin University Magazine,' 'who thought deeply, especially on
+religious subjects. To those who knew him he was very dear; they admired
+him for his learning, his sparkling wit, and pleasant conversation, and
+loved him for his manly virtues, for his noble and generous qualities,
+his gentleness, and his loving, affectionate nature.' And all who knew
+the man must feel how deeply deserved are these simple words of sincere
+regard for Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.
+
+Le Fanu's novels are accessible to all; but his Purcell Papers are now
+for the first time collected and published, by the permission of his
+eldest son (the late Mr. Philip Le Fanu), and very much owing to the
+friendly and active assistance of his brother, Mr. William Le Fanu.
+
+
+
+
+THE GHOST AND THE BONE SETTER.
+
+
+In looking over the papers of my late valued and respected friend,
+Francis Purcell, who for nearly fifty years discharged the arduous
+duties of a parish priest in the south of Ireland, I met with the
+following document. It is one of many such; for he was a curious and
+industrious collector of old local traditions--a commodity in which
+the quarter where he resided mightily abounded. The collection and
+arrangement of such legends was, as long as I can remember him, his
+hobby; but I had never learned that his love of the marvellous and
+whimsical had carried him so far as to prompt him to commit the results
+of his inquiries to writing, until, in the character of residuary
+legatee, his will put me in possession of all his manuscript papers.
+To such as may think the composing of such productions as these
+inconsistent with the character and habits of a country priest, it is
+necessary to observe, that there did exist a race of priests--those of
+the old school, a race now nearly extinct--whose education abroad tended
+to produce in them tastes more literary than have yet been evinced by
+the alumni of Maynooth.
+
+It is perhaps necessary to add that the superstition illustrated by the
+following story, namely, that the corpse last buried is obliged,
+during his juniority of interment, to supply his brother tenants of
+the churchyard in which he lies, with fresh water to allay the burning
+thirst of purgatory, is prevalent throughout the south of Ireland.
+
+The writer can vouch for a case in which a respectable and wealthy
+farmer, on the borders of Tipperary, in tenderness to the corns of his
+departed helpmate, enclosed in her coffin two pair of brogues, a light
+and a heavy, the one for dry, the other for sloppy weather; seeking thus
+to mitigate the fatigues of her inevitable perambulations in procuring
+water and administering it to the thirsty souls of purgatory. Fierce
+and desperate conflicts have ensued in the case of two funeral parties
+approaching the same churchyard together, each endeavouring to secure to
+his own dead priority of sepulture, and a consequent immunity from the
+tax levied upon the pedestrian powers of the last-comer. An instance not
+long since occurred, in which one of two such parties, through fear of
+losing to their deceased friend this inestimable advantage, made their
+way to the churchyard by a short cut, and, in violation of one of their
+strongest prejudices, actually threw the coffin over the wall, lest time
+should be lost in making their entrance through the gate. Innumerable
+instances of the same kind might be quoted, all tending to show
+how strongly among the peasantry of the south this superstition is
+entertained. However, I shall not detain the reader further by any
+prefatory remarks, but shall proceed to lay before him the following:
+
+Extract from the MS. Papers of the late Rev. Francis Purcell, of
+Drumcoolagh.
+
+
+I tell the following particulars, as nearly as I can recollect them, in
+the words of the narrator. It may be necessary to observe that he
+was what is termed a well-spoken man, having for a considerable time
+instructed the ingenious youth of his native parish in such of the
+liberal arts and sciences as he found it convenient to profess--a
+circumstance which may account for the occurrence of several big words
+in the course of this narrative, more distinguished for euphonious
+effect than for correctness of application. I proceed then, without
+further preface, to lay before you the wonderful adventures of Terry
+Neil.
+
+
+'Why, thin, 'tis a quare story, an' as thrue as you're sittin' there;
+and I'd make bould to say there isn't a boy in the seven parishes could
+tell it better nor crickther than myself, for 'twas my father himself it
+happened to, an' many's the time I heerd it out iv his own mouth; an' I
+can say, an' I'm proud av that same, my father's word was as incredible
+as any squire's oath in the counthry; and so signs an' if a poor man
+got into any unlucky throuble, he was the boy id go into the court an'
+prove; but that doesn't signify--he was as honest and as sober a man,
+barrin' he was a little bit too partial to the glass, as you'd find in a
+day's walk; an' there wasn't the likes of him in the counthry round for
+nate labourin' an' baan diggin'; and he was mighty handy entirely for
+carpenther's work, and men din' ould spudethrees, an' the likes i' that.
+An' so he tuk up with bone-settin', as was most nathural, for none of
+them could come up to him in mendin' the leg iv a stool or a table; an'
+sure, there never was a bone-setter got so much custom-man an' child,
+young an' ould--there never was such breakin' and mendin' of bones
+known in the memory of man. Well, Terry Neil--for that was my father's
+name--began to feel his heart growin' light, and his purse heavy; an'
+he took a bit iv a farm in Squire Phelim's ground, just undher the ould
+castle, an' a pleasant little spot it was; an' day an' mornin' poor
+crathurs not able to put a foot to the ground, with broken arms and
+broken legs, id be comin' ramblin' in from all quarters to have their
+bones spliced up. Well, yer honour, all this was as well as well could
+be; but it was customary when Sir Phelim id go anywhere out iv the
+country, for some iv the tinants to sit up to watch in the ould castle,
+just for a kind of compliment to the ould family--an' a mighty unplisant
+compliment it was for the tinants, for there wasn't a man of them but
+knew there was something quare about the ould castle. The neighbours
+had it, that the squire's ould grandfather, as good a gintlenlan--God
+be with him--as I heer'd, as ever stood in shoe-leather, used to keep
+walkin' about in the middle iv the night, ever sinst he bursted a blood
+vessel pullin' out a cork out iv a bottle, as you or I might be doin',
+and will too, plase God--but that doesn't signify. So, as I was sayin',
+the ould squire used to come down out of the frame, where his picthur
+was hung up, and to break the bottles and glasses--God be marciful to us
+all--an' dthrink all he could come at--an' small blame to him for that
+same; and then if any of the family id be comin' in, he id be up again
+in his place, looking as quite an' as innocent as if he didn't know
+anything about it--the mischievous ould chap.
+
+'Well, your honour, as I was sayin', one time the family up at the
+castle was stayin' in Dublin for a week or two; and so, as usual, some
+of the tinants had to sit up in the castle, and the third night it kem
+to my father's turn. "Oh, tare an' ouns!" says he unto himself, "an'
+must I sit up all night, and that ould vagabone of a sperit, glory be
+to God," says he, "serenadin' through the house, an' doin' all sorts iv
+mischief?" However, there was no gettin' aff, and so he put a bould
+face on it, an' he went up at nightfall with a bottle of pottieen, and
+another of holy wather.
+
+'It was rainin' smart enough, an' the evenin' was darksome and gloomy,
+when my father got in; and what with the rain he got, and the holy
+wather he sprinkled on himself, it wasn't long till he had to swally a
+cup iv the pottieen, to keep the cowld out iv his heart. It was the ould
+steward, Lawrence Connor, that opened the door--and he an' my father wor
+always very great. So when he seen who it was, an' my father tould him
+how it was his turn to watch in the castle, he offered to sit up along
+with him; and you may be sure my father wasn't sorry for that same. So
+says Larry:
+
+'"We'll have a bit iv fire in the parlour," says he.
+
+'"An' why not in the hall?" says my father, for he knew that the
+squire's picthur was hung in the parlour.
+
+'"No fire can be lit in the hall," says Lawrence, "for there's an ould
+jackdaw's nest in the chimney."
+
+'"Oh thin," says my father, "let us stop in the kitchen, for it's very
+unproper for the likes iv me to be sittin' in the parlour," says he.
+
+'"Oh, Terry, that can't be," says Lawrence; "if we keep up the ould
+custom at all, we may as well keep it up properly," says he.
+
+'"Divil sweep the ould custom!" says my father--to himself, do ye mind,
+for he didn't like to let Lawrence see that he was more afeard himself.
+
+'"Oh, very well," says he. "I'm agreeable, Lawrence," says he; and so
+down they both wint to the kitchen, until the fire id be lit in the
+parlour--an' that same wasn't long doin'.
+
+'Well, your honour, they soon wint up again, an' sat down mighty
+comfortable by the parlour fire, and they beginned to talk, an' to
+smoke, an' to dhrink a small taste iv the pottieen; and, moreover, they
+had a good rousin' fire o' bogwood and turf, to warm their shins over.
+
+'Well, sir, as I was sayin' they kep' convarsin' and smokin' together
+most agreeable, until Lawrence beginn'd to get sleepy, as was but
+nathural for him, for he was an ould sarvint man, and was used to a
+great dale iv sleep.
+
+'"Sure it's impossible," says my father, "it's gettin' sleepy you are?"
+
+'"Oh, divil a taste," says Larry; "I'm only shuttin' my eyes," says
+he, "to keep out the parfume o' the tibacky smoke, that's makin' them
+wather," says he. "So don't you mind other people's business," says
+he, stiff enough, for he had a mighty high stomach av his own (rest his
+sowl), "and go on," says he, "with your story, for I'm listenin'," says
+he, shuttin' down his eyes.
+
+'Well, when my father seen spakin' was no use, he went on with his
+story. By the same token, it was the story of Jim Soolivan and his ould
+goat he was tellin'--an' a plisant story it is--an' there was so much
+divarsion in it, that it was enough to waken a dormouse, let alone to
+pervint a Christian goin' asleep. But, faix, the way my father tould
+it, I believe there never was the likes heerd sinst nor before, for
+he bawled out every word av it, as if the life was fairly lavin' him,
+thrying to keep ould Larry awake; but, faix, it was no use, for the
+hoorsness came an him, an' before he kem to the end of his story Larry
+O'Connor beginned to snore like a bagpipes.
+
+'"Oh, blur an' agres," says my father, "isn't this a hard case," says
+he, "that ould villain, lettin' on to be my friend, and to go asleep
+this way, an' us both in the very room with a sperit," says he. "The
+crass o' Christ about us!" says he; and with that he was goin' to shake
+Lawrence to waken him, but he just remimbered if he roused him, that
+he'd surely go off to his bed, an' lave him complately alone, an' that
+id be by far worse.
+
+'"Oh thin," says my father, "I'll not disturb the poor boy. It id be
+neither friendly nor good-nathured," says he, "to tormint him while he
+is asleep," says he; "only I wish I was the same way, myself," says he.
+
+'An' with that he beginned to walk up an' down, an' sayin' his prayers,
+until he worked himself into a sweat, savin' your presence. But it was
+all no good; so he dthrunk about a pint of sperits, to compose his mind.
+
+'"Oh," says he, "I wish to the Lord I was as asy in my mind as Larry
+there. Maybe," says he, "if I thried I could go asleep;" an' with that
+he pulled a big arm-chair close beside Lawrence, an' settled himself in
+it as well as he could.
+
+'But there was one quare thing I forgot to tell you. He couldn't
+help, in spite av himself, lookin' now an' thin at the picthur, an' he
+immediately obsarved that the eyes av it was follyin' him about, an'
+starin' at him, an' winkin' at him, wheriver he wint. "Oh," says he,
+when he seen that, "it's a poor chance I have," says he; "an' bad luck
+was with me the day I kem into this unforthunate place," says he. "But
+any way there's no use in bein' freckened now," says he; "for if I am to
+die, I may as well parspire undaunted," says he.
+
+'Well, your honour, he thried to keep himself quite an' asy, an' he
+thought two or three times he might have wint asleep, but for the way
+the storm was groanin' and creakin' through the great heavy branches
+outside, an' whistlin' through the ould chimleys iv the castle. Well,
+afther one great roarin' blast iv the wind, you'd think the walls iv the
+castle was just goin' to fall, quite an' clane, with the shakin' iv it.
+All av a suddint the storm stopt, as silent an' as quite as if it was
+a July evenin'. Well, your honour, it wasn't stopped blowin' for
+three minnites, before he thought he hard a sort iv a noise over the
+chimley-piece; an' with that my father just opened his eyes the smallest
+taste in life, an' sure enough he seen the ould squire gettin' out iv
+the picthur, for all the world as if he was throwin' aff his ridin'
+coat, until he stept out clane an' complate, out av the chimley-piece,
+an' thrun himself down an the floor. Well, the slieveen ould chap--an'
+my father thought it was the dirtiest turn iv all--before he beginned
+to do anything out iv the way, he stopped for a while to listen wor they
+both asleep; an' as soon as he thought all was quite, he put out his
+hand and tuk hould iv the whisky bottle, an dhrank at laste a pint iv
+it. Well, your honour, when he tuk his turn out iv it, he settled it
+back mighty cute entirely, in the very same spot it was in before. An'
+he beginned to walk up an' down the room, lookin' as sober an' as solid
+as if he never done the likes at all. An' whinever he went apast my
+father, he thought he felt a great scent of brimstone, an' it was that
+that freckened him entirely; for he knew it was brimstone that was
+burned in hell, savin' your presence. At any rate, he often heerd it
+from Father Murphy, an' he had a right to know what belonged to it--he's
+dead since, God rest him. Well, your honour, my father was asy enough
+until the sperit kem past him; so close, God be marciful to us all, that
+the smell iv the sulphur tuk the breath clane out iv him; an' with that
+he tuk such a fit iv coughin', that it al-a-most shuk him out iv the
+chair he was sittin' in.
+
+'"Ho, ho!" says the squire, stoppin' short about two steps aff, and
+turnin' round facin' my father, "is it you that's in it?--an' how's all
+with you, Terry Neil?"
+
+'"At your honour's sarvice," says my father (as well as the fright id
+let him, for he was more dead than alive), "an' it's proud I am to see
+your honour to-night," says he.
+
+'"Terence," says the squire, "you're a respectable man" (an' it was
+thrue for him), "an industhrious, sober man, an' an example of inebriety
+to the whole parish," says he.
+
+'"Thank your honour," says my father, gettin' courage, "you were always
+a civil spoken gintleman, God rest your honour."
+
+'"REST my honour?" says the sperit (fairly gettin' red in the face with
+the madness), "Rest my honour?" says he. "Why, you ignorant spalpeen,"
+says he, "you mane, niggarly ignoramush," says he, "where did you lave
+your manners?" says he. "If I AM dead, it's no fault iv mine," says he;
+"an' it's not to be thrun in my teeth at every hand's turn, by the likes
+iv you," says he, stampin' his foot an the flure, that you'd think the
+boords id smash undther him.
+
+'"Oh," says my father, "I'm only a foolish, ignorant poor man," says he.
+
+'"You're nothing else," says the squire: "but any way," says he, "it's
+not to be listenin' to your gosther, nor convarsin' with the likes
+iv you, that I came UP--down I mane," says he--(an' as little as the
+mistake was, my father tuk notice iv it). "Listen to me now, Terence
+Neil," says he: "I was always a good masther to Pathrick Neil, your
+grandfather," says he.
+
+'"'Tis thrue for your honour," says my father.
+
+'"And, moreover, I think I was always a sober, riglar gintleman," says
+the squire.
+
+'"That's your name, sure enough," says my father (though it was a big
+lie for him, but he could not help it).
+
+'"Well," says the sperit, "although I was as sober as most men--at laste
+as most gintlemin," says he; "an' though I was at different pariods a
+most extempory Christian, and most charitable and inhuman to the poor,"
+says he; "for all that I'm not as asy where I am now," says he, "as I
+had a right to expect," says he.
+
+'"An' more's the pity," says my father. "Maybe your honour id wish to
+have a word with Father Murphy?"
+
+'"Hould your tongue, you misherable bliggard," says the squire; "it's
+not iv my sowl I'm thinkin'--an' I wondther you'd have the impitence to
+talk to a gintleman consarnin' his sowl; and when I want THAT fixed,"
+says he, slappin' his thigh, "I'll go to them that knows what belongs to
+the likes," says he. "It's not my sowl," says he, sittin' down opossite
+my father; "it's not my sowl that's annoyin' me most--I'm unasy on my
+right leg," says he, "that I bruk at Glenvarloch cover the day I killed
+black Barney."
+
+'My father found out afther, it was a favourite horse that fell undher
+him, afther leapin' the big fence that runs along by the glin.
+
+'"I hope," says my father, "your honour's not unasy about the killin' iv
+him?"
+
+'"Hould your tongue, ye fool," said the squire, "an' I'll tell you why
+I'm unasy on my leg," says he. "In the place, where I spend most iv my
+time," says he, "except the little leisure I have for lookin' about me
+here," says he, "I have to walk a great dale more than I was ever used
+to," says he, "and by far more than is good for me either," says he;
+"for I must tell you," says he, "the people where I am is ancommonly
+fond iv cowld wather, for there is nothin' betther to be had; an',
+moreover, the weather is hotter than is altogether plisant," says he;
+"and I'm appinted," says he, "to assist in carryin' the wather, an' gets
+a mighty poor share iv it myself," says he, "an' a mighty throublesome,
+wearin' job it is, I can tell you," says he; "for they're all iv them
+surprisinly dthry, an' dthrinks it as fast as my legs can carry it,"
+says he; "but what kills me intirely," says he, "is the wakeness in my
+leg," says he, "an' I want you to give it a pull or two to bring it to
+shape," says he, "and that's the long an' the short iv it," says he.
+
+'"Oh, plase your honour," says my father (for he didn't like to handle
+the sperit at all), "I wouldn't have the impidence to do the likes to
+your honour," says he; "it's only to poor crathurs like myself I'd do it
+to," says he.
+
+'"None iv your blarney," says the squire. "Here's my leg," says he,
+cockin' it up to him--"pull it for the bare life," says he; an'"if you
+don't, by the immortial powers I'll not lave a bone in your carcish I'll
+not powdher," says he.
+
+'When my father heerd that, he seen there was no use in purtendin',
+so he tuk hould iv the leg, an' he kep' pullin' an' pullin', till the
+sweat, God bless us, beginned to pour down his face.
+
+'"Pull, you divil!" says the squire.
+
+'"At your sarvice, your honour," says my father.
+
+"'Pull harder," says the squire.
+
+'My father pulled like the divil.
+
+'"I'll take a little sup," says the squire, rachin' over his hand to the
+bottle, "to keep up my courage," says he, lettin' an to be very wake in
+himself intirely. But, as cute as he was, he was out here, for he tuk
+the wrong one. "Here's to your good health, Terence," says he; "an' now
+pull like the very divil." An' with that he lifted the bottle of holy
+wather, but it was hardly to his mouth, whin he let a screech out, you'd
+think the room id fairly split with it, an' made one chuck that sent the
+leg clane aff his body in my father's hands. Down wint the squire over
+the table, an' bang wint my father half-way across the room on his back,
+upon the flure. Whin he kem to himself the cheerful mornin' sun was
+shinin' through the windy shutthers, an' he was lying flat an his back,
+with the leg iv one of the great ould chairs pulled clane out iv the
+socket an' tight in his hand, pintin' up to the ceilin', an' ould Larry
+fast asleep, an' snorin' as loud as ever. My father wint that mornin' to
+Father Murphy, an' from that to the day of his death, he never neglected
+confission nor mass, an' what he tould was betther believed that he
+spake av it but seldom. An', as for the squire, that is the sperit,
+whether it was that he did not like his liquor, or by rason iv the loss
+iv his leg, he was never known to walk agin.'
+
+
+
+
+THE FORTUNES OF SIR ROBERT ARDAGH.
+
+Being a second Extract from the Papers of the late Father Purcell.
+
+     'The earth hath bubbles as the water hath--
+       And these are of them.'
+
+In the south of Ireland, and on the borders of the county of Limerick,
+there lies a district of two or three miles in length, which is rendered
+interesting by the fact that it is one of the very few spots throughout
+this country, in which some vestiges of aboriginal forest still remain.
+It has little or none of the lordly character of the American forest,
+for the axe has felled its oldest and its grandest trees; but in the
+close wood which survives, live all the wild and pleasing peculiarities
+of nature: its complete irregularity, its vistas, in whose perspective
+the quiet cattle are peacefully browsing; its refreshing glades, where
+the grey rocks arise from amid the nodding fern; the silvery shafts of
+the old birch trees; the knotted trunks of the hoary oak, the grotesque
+but graceful branches which never shed their honours under the tyrant
+pruning-hook; the soft green sward; the chequered light and shade; the
+wild luxuriant weeds; the lichen and the moss--all, all are beautiful
+alike in the green freshness of spring, or in the sadness and sere of
+autumn. Their beauty is of that kind which makes the heart full with
+joy--appealing to the affections with a power which belongs to nature
+only. This wood runs up, from below the base, to the ridge of a long
+line of irregular hills, having perhaps, in primitive times, formed but
+the skirting of some mighty forest which occupied the level below.
+
+But now, alas! whither have we drifted? whither has the tide of
+civilisation borne us? It has passed over a land unprepared for
+it--it has left nakedness behind it; we have lost our forests, but our
+marauders remain; we have destroyed all that is picturesque, while we
+have retained everything that is revolting in barbarism. Through the
+midst of this woodland there runs a deep gully or glen, where
+the stillness of the scene is broken in upon by the brawling of a
+mountain-stream, which, however, in the winter season, swells into a
+rapid and formidable torrent.
+
+There is one point at which the glen becomes extremely deep and narrow;
+the sides descend to the depth of some hundred feet, and are so steep as
+to be nearly perpendicular. The wild trees which have taken root in the
+crannies and chasms of the rock have so intersected and entangled, that
+one can with difficulty catch a glimpse of the stream, which wheels,
+flashes, and foams below, as if exulting in the surrounding silence and
+solitude.
+
+This spot was not unwisely chosen, as a point of no ordinary strength,
+for the erection of a massive square tower or keep, one side of which
+rises as if in continuation of the precipitous cliff on which it is
+based. Originally, the only mode of ingress was by a narrow portal in
+the very wall which overtopped the precipice, opening upon a ledge
+of rock which afforded a precarious pathway, cautiously intersected,
+however, by a deep trench cut with great labour in the living rock; so
+that, in its original state, and before the introduction of artillery
+into the art of war, this tower might have been pronounced, and that not
+presumptuously, almost impregnable.
+
+The progress of improvement and the increasing security of the times
+had, however, tempted its successive proprietors, if not to adorn, at
+least to enlarge their premises, and at about the middle of the last
+century, when the castle was last inhabited, the original square tower
+formed but a small part of the edifice.
+
+The castle, and a wide tract of the surrounding country, had from time
+immemorial belonged to a family which, for distinctness, we shall call
+by the name of Ardagh; and owing to the associations which, in Ireland,
+almost always attach to scenes which have long witnessed alike the
+exercise of stern feudal authority, and of that savage hospitality which
+distinguished the good old times, this building has become the subject
+and the scene of many wild and extraordinary traditions. One of them I
+have been enabled, by a personal acquaintance with an eye-witness of the
+events, to trace to its origin; and yet it is hard to say whether the
+events which I am about to record appear more strange or improbable as
+seen through the distorting medium of tradition, or in the appalling
+dimness of uncertainty which surrounds the reality.
+
+Tradition says that, sometime in the last century, Sir Robert Ardagh, a
+young man, and the last heir of that family, went abroad and served
+in foreign armies; and that, having acquired considerable honour and
+emolument, he settled at Castle Ardagh, the building we have just now
+attempted to describe. He was what the country people call a DARK man;
+that is, he was considered morose, reserved, and ill-tempered; and, as
+it was supposed from the utter solitude of his life, was upon no terms
+of cordiality with the other members of his family.
+
+The only occasion upon which he broke through the solitary monotony
+of his life was during the continuance of the racing season, and
+immediately subsequent to it; at which time he was to be seen among
+the busiest upon the course, betting deeply and unhesitatingly, and
+invariably with success. Sir Robert was, however, too well known as a
+man of honour, and of too high a family, to be suspected of any unfair
+dealing. He was, moreover, a soldier, and a man of an intrepid as well
+as of a haughty character; and no one cared to hazard a surmise, the
+consequences of which would be felt most probably by its originator
+only.
+
+Gossip, however, was not silent; it was remarked that Sir Robert never
+appeared at the race-ground, which was the only place of public resort
+which he frequented, except in company with a certain strange-looking
+person, who was never seen elsewhere, or under other circumstances. It
+was remarked, too, that this man, whose relation to Sir Robert was never
+distinctly ascertained, was the only person to whom he seemed to speak
+unnecessarily; it was observed that while with the country gentry
+he exchanged no further communication than what was unavoidable in
+arranging his sporting transactions, with this person he would converse
+earnestly and frequently. Tradition asserts that, to enhance the
+curiosity which this unaccountable and exclusive preference excited, the
+stranger possessed some striking and unpleasant peculiarities of person
+and of garb--she does not say, however, what these were--but they, in
+conjunction with Sir Robert's secluded habits and extraordinary run of
+luck--a success which was supposed to result from the suggestions and
+immediate advice of the unknown--were sufficient to warrant report in
+pronouncing that there was something QUEER in the wind, and in surmising
+that Sir Robert was playing a fearful and a hazardous game, and that, in
+short, his strange companion was little better than the devil himself.
+
+Years, however, rolled quietly away, and nothing novel occurred in the
+arrangements of Castle Ardagh, excepting that Sir Robert parted with his
+odd companion, but as nobody could tell whence he came, so nobody could
+say whither he had gone. Sir Robert's habits, however, underwent no
+consequent change; he continued regularly to frequent the race
+meetings, without mixing at all in the convivialities of the gentry,
+and immediately afterwards to relapse into the secluded monotony of his
+ordinary life.
+
+It was said that he had accumulated vast sums of money--and, as his bets
+were always successful, and always large, such must have been the case.
+He did not suffer the acquisition of wealth, however, to influence his
+hospitality or his housekeeping--he neither purchased land, nor extended
+his establishment; and his mode of enjoying his money must have been
+altogether that of the miser--consisting merely in the pleasure of
+touching and telling his gold, and in the consciousness of wealth.
+
+Sir Robert's temper, so far from improving, became more than ever gloomy
+and morose. He sometimes carried the indulgence of his evil dispositions
+to such a height that it bordered upon insanity. During these paroxysms
+he would neither eat, drink, nor sleep. On such occasions he insisted on
+perfect privacy, even from the intrusion of his most trusted servants;
+his voice was frequently heard, sometimes in earnest supplication,
+sometime as if in loud and angry altercation with some unknown visitant;
+sometimes he would, for hours together, walk to and fro throughout the
+long oak wainscoted apartment, which he generally occupied, with wild
+gesticulations and agitated pace, in the manner of one who has been
+roused to a state of unnatural excitement by some sudden and appalling
+intimation.
+
+These paroxysms of apparent lunacy were so frightful, that during
+their continuance even his oldest and most-faithful domestics dared not
+approach him; consequently, his hours of agony were never intruded upon,
+and the mysterious causes of his sufferings appeared likely to remain
+hidden for ever.
+
+On one occasion a fit of this kind continued for an unusual time, the
+ordinary term of their duration--about two days--had been long past,
+and the old servant who generally waited upon Sir Robert after these
+visitations, having in vain listened for the well-known tinkle of his
+master's hand-bell, began to feel extremely anxious; he feared that his
+master might have died from sheer exhaustion, or perhaps put an end to
+his own existence during his miserable depression. These fears at length
+became so strong, that having in vain urged some of his brother servants
+to accompany him, he determined to go up alone, and himself see whether
+any accident had befallen Sir Robert.
+
+He traversed the several passages which conducted from the new to the
+more ancient parts of the mansion, and having arrived in the old hall of
+the castle, the utter silence of the hour, for it was very late in the
+night, the idea of the nature of the enterprise in which he was
+engaging himself, a sensation of remoteness from anything like human
+companionship, but, more than all, the vivid but undefined anticipation
+of something horrible, came upon him with such oppressive weight that
+he hesitated as to whether he should proceed. Real uneasiness, however,
+respecting the fate of his master, for whom he felt that kind of
+attachment which the force of habitual intercourse not unfrequently
+engenders respecting objects not in themselves amiable, and also a
+latent unwillingness to expose his weakness to the ridicule of his
+fellow-servants, combined to overcome his reluctance; and he had just
+placed his foot upon the first step of the staircase which conducted
+to his master's chamber, when his attention was arrested by a low but
+distinct knocking at the hall-door. Not, perhaps, very sorry at finding
+thus an excuse even for deferring his intended expedition, he placed
+the candle upon a stone block which lay in the hall, and approached the
+door, uncertain whether his ears had not deceived him. This doubt was
+justified by the circumstance that the hall entrance had been for nearly
+fifty years disused as a mode of ingress to the castle. The situation
+of this gate also, which we have endeavoured to describe, opening upon
+a narrow ledge of rock which overhangs a perilous cliff, rendered it
+at all times, but particularly at night, a dangerous entrance. This
+shelving platform of rock, which formed the only avenue to the door, was
+divided, as I have already stated, by a broad chasm, the planks across
+which had long disappeared by decay or otherwise, so that it seemed at
+least highly improbable that any man could have found his way across the
+passage in safety to the door, more particularly on a night like that,
+of singular darkness. The old man, therefore, listened attentively, to
+ascertain whether the first application should be followed by another.
+He had not long to wait; the same low but singularly distinct knocking
+was repeated; so low that it seemed as if the applicant had employed no
+harder or heavier instrument than his hand, and yet, despite the immense
+thickness of the door, with such strength that the sound was distinctly
+audible.
+
+The knock was repeated a third time, without any increase of loudness;
+and the old man, obeying an impulse for which to his dying hour he could
+never account, proceeded to remove, one by one, the three great oaken
+bars which secured the door. Time and damp had effectually corroded the
+iron chambers of the lock, so that it afforded little resistance. With
+some effort, as he believed, assisted from without, the old servant
+succeeded in opening the door; and a low, square-built figure,
+apparently that of a man wrapped in a large black cloak, entered
+the hall. The servant could not see much of this visitant with any
+distinctness; his dress appeared foreign, the skirt of his ample cloak
+was thrown over one shoulder; he wore a large felt hat, with a very
+heavy leaf, from under which escaped what appeared to be a mass of long
+sooty-black hair; his feet were cased in heavy riding-boots. Such were
+the few particulars which the servant had time and light to observe. The
+stranger desired him to let his master know instantly that a friend
+had come, by appointment, to settle some business with him. The servant
+hesitated, but a slight motion on the part of his visitor, as if to
+possess himself of the candle, determined him; so, taking it in his
+hand, he ascended the castle stairs, leaving his guest in the hall.
+
+On reaching the apartment which opened upon the oak-chamber he was
+surprised to observe the door of that room partly open, and the room
+itself lit up. He paused, but there was no sound; he looked in, and
+saw Sir Robert, his head and the upper part of his body reclining on
+a table, upon which burned a lamp; his arms were stretched forward on
+either side, and perfectly motionless; it appeared that, having been
+sitting at the table, he had thus sunk forward, either dead or in a
+swoon. There was no sound of breathing; all was silent, except the sharp
+ticking of a watch, which lay beside the lamp. The servant coughed
+twice or thrice, but with no effect; his fears now almost amounted to
+certainty, and he was approaching the table on which his master partly
+lay, to satisfy himself of his death, when Sir Robert slowly raised
+his head, and throwing himself back in his chair, fixed his eyes in a
+ghastly and uncertain gaze upon his attendant. At length he said, slowly
+and painfully, as if he dreaded the answer:
+
+'In God's name, what are you?'
+
+'Sir,' said the servant, 'a strange gentleman wants to see you below.'
+
+At this intimation Sir Robert, starting on his feet and tossing his arms
+wildly upwards, uttered a shriek of such appalling and despairing terror
+that it was almost too fearful for human endurance; and long after
+the sound had ceased it seemed to the terrified imagination of the old
+servant to roll through the deserted passages in bursts of unnatural
+laughter. After a few moments Sir Robert said:
+
+'Can't you send him away? Why does he come so soon? O God! O God! let
+him leave me for an hour; a little time. I can't see him now; try to
+get him away. You see I can't go down now; I have not strength. O God!
+O God! let him come back in an hour; it is not long to wait. He cannot
+lose anything by it; nothing, nothing, nothing. Tell him that; say
+anything to him.'
+
+The servant went down. In his own words, he did not feel the stairs
+under him till he got to the hall. The figure stood exactly as he had
+left it. He delivered his master's message as coherently as he could.
+The stranger replied in a careless tone:
+
+'If Sir Robert will not come down to me, I must go up to him.'
+
+The man returned, and to his surprise he found his master much more
+composed in manner. He listened to the message, and though the cold
+perspiration rose in drops upon his forehead faster than he could wipe
+it away, his manner had lost the dreadful agitation which had marked
+it before. He rose feebly, and casting a last look of agony behind him,
+passed from the room to the lobby, where he signed to his attendant not
+to follow him. The man moved as far as the head of the staircase,
+from whence he had a tolerably distinct view of the hall, which was
+imperfectly lighted by the candle he had left there.
+
+He saw his master reel, rather than walk down the stairs, clinging all
+the way to the banisters. He walked on, as if about to sink every moment
+from weakness. The figure advanced as if to meet him, and in passing
+struck down the light. The servant could see no more; but there was
+a sound of struggling, renewed at intervals with silent but fearful
+energy. It was evident, however, that the parties were approaching the
+door, for he heard the solid oak sound twice or thrice, as the feet of
+the combatants, in shuffling hither and thither over the floor, struck
+upon it. After a slight pause he heard the door thrown open with such
+violence that the leaf seemed to strike the side-wall of the hall, for
+it was so dark without that this could only be surmised by the sound.
+The struggle was renewed with an agony and intenseness of energy
+that betrayed itself in deep-drawn gasps. One desperate effort, which
+terminated in the breaking of some part of the door, producing a sound
+as if the door-post was wrenched from its position, was followed by
+another wrestle, evidently upon the narrow ledge which ran outside the
+door, overtopping the precipice. This proved to be the final struggle,
+for it was followed by a crashing sound as if some heavy body had fallen
+over, and was rushing down the precipice, through the light boughs that
+crossed near the top. All then became still as the grave, except when
+the moan of the night wind sighed up the wooded glen.
+
+The old servant had not nerve to return through the hall, and to him the
+darkness seemed all but endless; but morning at length came, and with
+it the disclosure of the events of the night. Near the door, upon the
+ground, lay Sir Robert's sword-belt, which had given way in the scuffle.
+A huge splinter from the massive door-post had been wrenched off by
+an almost superhuman effort--one which nothing but the gripe of a
+despairing man could have severed--and on the rock outside were left the
+marks of the slipping and sliding of feet.
+
+At the foot of the precipice, not immediately under the castle, but
+dragged some way up the glen, were found the remains of Sir Robert, with
+hardly a vestige of a limb or feature left distinguishable. The right
+hand, however, was uninjured, and in its fingers were clutched, with the
+fixedness of death, a long lock of coarse sooty hair--the only direct
+circumstantial evidence of the presence of a second person. So says
+tradition.
+
+This story, as I have mentioned, was current among the dealers in such
+lore; but the original facts are so dissimilar in all but the name of
+the principal person mentioned and his mode of life, and the fact that
+his death was accompanied with circumstances of extraordinary mystery,
+that the two narratives are totally irreconcilable (even allowing the
+utmost for the exaggerating influence of tradition), except by supposing
+report to have combined and blended together the fabulous histories
+of several distinct bearers of the family name. However this may be, I
+shall lay before the reader a distinct recital of the events from which
+the foregoing tradition arose. With respect to these there can be no
+mistake; they are authenticated as fully as anything can be by human
+testimony; and I state them principally upon the evidence of a lady who
+herself bore a prominent part in the strange events which she related,
+and which I now record as being among the few well-attested tales of the
+marvellous which it has been my fate to hear. I shall, as far as I am
+able, arrange in one combined narrative the evidence of several distinct
+persons who were eye-witnesses of what they related, and with the truth
+of whose testimony I am solemnly and deeply impressed.
+
+Sir Robert Ardagh, as we choose to call him, was the heir and
+representative of the family whose name he bore; but owing to the
+prodigality of his father, the estates descended to him in a very
+impaired condition. Urged by the restless spirit of youth, or more
+probably by a feeling of pride which could not submit to witness, in
+the paternal mansion, what he considered a humiliating alteration in
+the style and hospitality which up to that time had distinguished
+his family, Sir Robert left Ireland and went abroad. How he occupied
+himself, or what countries he visited during his absence, was never
+known, nor did he afterwards make any allusion or encourage any
+inquiries touching his foreign sojourn. He left Ireland in the year
+1742, being then just of age, and was not heard of until the year
+1760--about eighteen years afterwards--at which time he returned. His
+personal appearance was, as might have been expected, very greatly
+altered, more altered, indeed, than the time of his absence might
+have warranted one in supposing likely. But to counterbalance the
+unfavourable change which time had wrought in his form and features, he
+had acquired all the advantages of polish of manner and refinement of
+taste which foreign travel is supposed to bestow. But what was truly
+surprising was that it soon became evident that Sir Robert was very
+wealthy--wealthy to an extraordinary and unaccountable degree; and this
+fact was made manifest, not only by his expensive style of living,
+but by his proceeding to disembarrass his property, and to purchase
+extensive estates in addition. Moreover, there could be nothing
+deceptive in these appearances, for he paid ready money for everything,
+from the most important purchase to the most trifling.
+
+Sir Robert was a remarkably agreeable man, and possessing the combined
+advantages of birth and property, he was, as a matter of course, gladly
+received into the highest society which the metropolis then commanded.
+It was thus that he became acquainted with the two beautiful Miss
+F----ds, then among the brightest ornaments of the highest circle of
+Dublin fashion. Their family was in more than one direction allied to
+nobility; and Lady D----, their elder sister by many years, and sometime
+married to a once well-known nobleman, was now their protectress. These
+considerations, beside the fact that the young ladies were what is
+usually termed heiresses, though not to a very great amount, secured to
+them a high position in the best society which Ireland then produced.
+The two young ladies differed strongly, alike in appearance and in
+character. The elder of the two, Emily, was generally considered the
+handsomer--for her beauty was of that impressive kind which never
+failed to strike even at the first glance, possessing as it did all the
+advantages of a fine person and a commanding carriage. The beauty of her
+features strikingly assorted in character with that of her figure and
+deportment. Her hair was raven-black and richly luxuriant, beautifully
+contrasting with the perfect whiteness of her forehead--her finely
+pencilled brows were black as the ringlets that clustered near them--and
+her blue eyes, full, lustrous, and animated, possessed all the power and
+brilliancy of brown ones, with more than their softness and variety of
+expression. She was not, however, merely the tragedy queen. When she
+smiled, and that was not seldom, the dimpling of cheek and chin, the
+laughing display of the small and beautiful teeth--but, more than all,
+the roguish archness of her deep, bright eye, showed that nature had not
+neglected in her the lighter and the softer characteristics of woman.
+
+Her younger sister Mary was, as I believe not unfrequently occurs in
+the case of sisters, quite in the opposite style of beauty. She was
+light-haired, had more colour, had nearly equal grace, with much more
+liveliness of manner. Her eyes were of that dark grey which poets so
+much admire--full of expression and vivacity. She was altogether a very
+beautiful and animated girl--though as unlike her sister as the presence
+of those two qualities would permit her to be. Their dissimilarity did
+not stop here--it was deeper than mere appearance--the character of
+their minds differed almost as strikingly as did their complexion.
+The fair-haired beauty had a large proportion of that softness and
+pliability of temper which physiognomists assign as the characteristics
+of such complexions. She was much more the creature of impulse than of
+feeling, and consequently more the victim of extrinsic circumstances
+than was her sister. Emily, on the contrary, possessed considerable
+firmness and decision. She was less excitable, but when excited her
+feelings were more intense and enduring. She wanted much of the gaiety,
+but with it the volatility of her younger sister. Her opinions
+were adopted, and her friendships formed more reflectively, and
+her affections seemed to move, as it were, more slowly, but more
+determinedly. This firmness of character did not amount to anything
+masculine, and did not at all impair the feminine grace of her manners.
+
+Sir Robert Ardagh was for a long time apparently equally attentive to
+the two sisters, and many were the conjectures and the surmises as to
+which would be the lady of his choice. At length, however, these doubts
+were determined; he proposed for and was accepted by the dark beauty,
+Emily F----d.
+
+The bridals were celebrated in a manner becoming the wealth and
+connections of the parties; and Sir Robert and Lady Ardagh left Dublin
+to pass the honeymoon at the family mansion, Castle Ardagh, which had
+lately been fitted up in a style bordering upon magnificent. Whether
+in compliance with the wishes of his lady, or owing to some whim of his
+own, his habits were henceforward strikingly altered; and from having
+moved among the gayest if not the most profligate of the votaries
+of fashion, he suddenly settled down into a quiet, domestic, country
+gentleman, and seldom, if ever, visited the capital, and then his
+sojourns were as brief as the nature of his business would permit.
+
+Lady Ardagh, however, did not suffer from this change further than in
+being secluded from general society; for Sir Robert's wealth, and the
+hospitality which he had established in the family mansion, commanded
+that of such of his lady's friends and relatives as had leisure or
+inclination to visit the castle; and as their style of living was very
+handsome, and its internal resources of amusement considerable, few
+invitations from Sir Robert or his lady were neglected.
+
+Many years passed quietly away, during which Sir Robert's and Lady
+Ardagh's hopes of issue were several times disappointed. In the lapse of
+all this time there occurred but one event worth recording. Sir Robert
+had brought with him from abroad a valet, who sometimes professed
+himself to be French, at others Italian, and at others again German. He
+spoke all these languages with equal fluency, and seemed to take a kind
+of pleasure in puzzling the sagacity and balking the curiosity of such
+of the visitors at the castle as at any time happened to enter into
+conversation with him, or who, struck by his singularities, became
+inquisitive respecting his country and origin. Sir Robert called him by
+the French name, JACQUE, and among the lower orders he was familiarly
+known by the title of 'Jack, the devil,' an appellation which originated
+in a supposed malignity of disposition and a real reluctance to mix in
+the society of those who were believed to be his equals. This morose
+reserve, coupled with the mystery which enveloped all about him,
+rendered him an object of suspicion and inquiry to his fellow-servants,
+amongst whom it was whispered that this man in secret governed the
+actions of Sir Robert with a despotic dictation, and that, as if to
+indemnify himself for his public and apparent servitude and self-denial,
+he in private exacted a degree of respectful homage from his so-called
+master, totally inconsistent with the relation generally supposed to
+exist between them.
+
+This man's personal appearance was, to say the least of it, extremely
+odd; he was low in stature; and this defect was enhanced by a distortion
+of the spine, so considerable as almost to amount to a hunch; his
+features, too, had all that sharpness and sickliness of hue which
+generally accompany deformity; he wore his hair, which was black as
+soot, in heavy neglected ringlets about his shoulders, and always
+without powder--a peculiarity in those days. There was something
+unpleasant, too, in the circumstance that he never raised his eyes to
+meet those of another; this fact was often cited as a proof of his being
+something not quite right, and said to result not from the timidity
+which is supposed in most cases to induce this habit, but from a
+consciousness that his eye possessed a power which, if exhibited, would
+betray a supernatural origin. Once, and once only, had he violated this
+sinister observance: it was on the occasion of Sir Robert's hopes having
+been most bitterly disappointed; his lady, after a severe and dangerous
+confinement, gave birth to a dead child. Immediately after the
+intelligence had been made known, a servant, having upon some business
+passed outside the gate of the castle-yard, was met by Jacque, who,
+contrary to his wont, accosted him, observing, 'So, after all the
+pother, the son and heir is still-born.' This remark was accompanied
+by a chuckling laugh, the only approach to merriment which he was ever
+known to exhibit. The servant, who was really disappointed, having hoped
+for holiday times, feasting and debauchery with impunity during the
+rejoicings which would have accompanied a christening, turned tartly
+upon the little valet, telling him that he should let Sir Robert know
+how he had received the tidings which should have filled any faithful
+servant with sorrow; and having once broken the ice, he was proceeding
+with increasing fluency, when his harangue was cut short and his
+temerity punished, by the little man raising his head and treating him
+to a scowl so fearful, half-demoniac, half-insane, that it haunted his
+imagination in nightmares and nervous tremors for months after.
+
+To this man Lady Ardagh had, at first sight, conceived an antipathy
+amounting to horror, a mixture of loathing and dread so very powerful
+that she had made it a particular and urgent request to Sir Robert, that
+he would dismiss him, offering herself, from that property which Sir
+Robert had by the marriage settlements left at her own disposal, to
+provide handsomely for him, provided only she might be relieved from
+the continual anxiety and discomfort which the fear of encountering him
+induced.
+
+Sir Robert, however, would not hear of it; the request seemed at first
+to agitate and distress him; but when still urged in defiance of his
+peremptory refusal, he burst into a violent fit of fury; he spoke
+darkly of great sacrifices which he had made, and threatened that if the
+request were at any time renewed he would leave both her and the country
+for ever. This was, however, a solitary instance of violence; his
+general conduct towards Lady Ardagh, though at no time uxorious, was
+certainly kind and respectful, and he was more than repaid in the
+fervent attachment which she bore him in return.
+
+Some short time after this strange interview between Sir Robert and
+Lady Ardagh; one night after the family had retired to bed, and when
+everything had been quiet for some time, the bell of Sir Robert's
+dressing-room rang suddenly and violently; the ringing was repeated
+again and again at still shorter intervals, and with increasing
+violence, as if the person who pulled the bell was agitated by the
+presence of some terrifying and imminent danger. A servant named Donovan
+was the first to answer it; he threw on his clothes, and hurried to the
+room.
+
+Sir Robert had selected for his private room an apartment remote from
+the bed-chambers of the castle, most of which lay in the more modern
+parts of the mansion, and secured at its entrance by a double door. As
+the servant opened the first of these, Sir Robert's bell again sounded
+with a longer and louder peal; the inner door resisted his efforts to
+open it; but after a few violent struggles, not having been perfectly
+secured, or owing to the inadequacy of the bolt itself, it gave way, and
+the servant rushed into the apartment, advancing several paces before
+he could recover himself. As he entered, he heard Sir Robert's
+voice exclaiming loudly--'Wait without, do not come in yet;' but the
+prohibition came too late. Near a low truckle-bed, upon which Sir Robert
+sometimes slept, for he was a whimsical man, in a large armchair, sat,
+or rather lounged, the form of the valet Jacque, his arms folded, and
+his heels stretched forward on the floor, so as fully to exhibit his
+misshapen legs, his head thrown back, and his eyes fixed upon his master
+with a look of indescribable defiance and derision, while, as if to add
+to the strange insolence of his attitude and expression, he had placed
+upon his head the black cloth cap which it was his habit to wear.
+
+Sir Robert was standing before him, at the distance of several yards,
+in a posture expressive of despair, terror, and what might be called an
+agony of humility. He waved his hand twice or thrice, as if to dismiss
+the servant, who, however, remained fixed on the spot where he had first
+stood; and then, as if forgetting everything but the agony within him,
+he pressed his clenched hands on his cold damp brow, and dashed away the
+heavy drops that gathered chill and thickly there.
+
+Jacque broke the silence.
+
+'Donovan,' said he, 'shake up that drone and drunkard, Carlton; tell
+him that his master directs that the travelling carriage shall be at the
+door within half-an-hour.'
+
+The servant paused, as if in doubt as to what he should do; but his
+scruples were resolved by Sir Robert's saying hurriedly, 'Go--go, do
+whatever he directs; his commands are mine; tell Carlton the same.'
+
+The servant hurried to obey, and in about half-an-hour the carriage
+was at the door, and Jacque, having directed the coachman to drive to
+B----n, a small town at about the distance of twelve miles--the nearest
+point, however, at which post-horses could be obtained--stepped into the
+vehicle, which accordingly quitted the castle immediately.
+
+Although it was a fine moonlight night, the carriage made its way but
+very slowly, and after the lapse of two hours the travellers had arrived
+at a point about eight miles from the castle, at which the road strikes
+through a desolate and heathy flat, sloping up distantly at either side
+into bleak undulatory hills, in whose monotonous sweep the imagination
+beholds the heaving of some dark sluggish sea, arrested in its first
+commotion by some preternatural power. It is a gloomy and divested spot;
+there is neither tree nor habitation near it; its monotony is unbroken,
+except by here and there the grey front of a rock peering above the
+heath, and the effect is rendered yet more dreary and spectral by the
+exaggerated and misty shadows which the moon casts along the sloping
+sides of the hills.
+
+When they had gained about the centre of this tract, Carlton, the
+coachman, was surprised to see a figure standing at some distance in
+advance, immediately beside the road, and still more so when, on coming
+up, he observed that it was no other than Jacque whom he believed to be
+at that moment quietly seated in the carriage; the coachman drew up, and
+nodding to him, the little valet exclaimed:
+
+'Carlton, I have got the start of you; the roads are heavy, so I shall
+even take care of myself the rest of the way. Do you make your way back
+as best you can, and I shall follow my own nose.'
+
+So saying, he chucked a purse into the lap of the coachman, and turning
+off at a right angle with the road, he began to move rapidly away in the
+direction of the dark ridge that lowered in the distance.
+
+The servant watched him until he was lost in the shadowy haze of night;
+and neither he nor any of the inmates of the castle saw Jacque again.
+His disappearance, as might have been expected, did not cause any regret
+among the servants and dependants at the castle; and Lady Ardagh did
+not attempt to conceal her delight; but with Sir Robert matters were
+different, for two or three days subsequent to this event he confined
+himself to his room, and when he did return to his ordinary occupations,
+it was with a gloomy indifference, which showed that he did so more
+from habit than from any interest he felt in them. He appeared from that
+moment unaccountably and strikingly changed, and thenceforward walked
+through life as a thing from which he could derive neither profit nor
+pleasure. His temper, however, so far from growing wayward or morose,
+became, though gloomy, very--almost unnaturally--placid and cold; but
+his spirits totally failed, and he grew silent and abstracted.
+
+These sombre habits of mind, as might have been anticipated, very
+materially affected the gay house-keeping of the castle; and the dark
+and melancholy spirit of its master seemed to have communicated itself
+to the very domestics, almost to the very walls of the mansion.
+
+Several years rolled on in this way, and the sounds of mirth and wassail
+had long been strangers to the castle, when Sir Robert requested his
+lady, to her great astonishment, to invite some twenty or thirty of
+their friends to spend the Christmas, which was fast approaching, at
+the castle. Lady Ardagh gladly complied, and her sister Mary, who still
+continued unmarried, and Lady D---- were of course included in the
+invitations. Lady Ardagh had requested her sisters to set forward as
+early as possible, in order that she might enjoy a little of their
+society before the arrival of the other guests; and in compliance with
+this request they left Dublin almost immediately upon receiving the
+invitation, a little more than a week before the arrival of the festival
+which was to be the period at which the whole party were to muster.
+
+For expedition's sake it was arranged that they should post, while Lady
+D----'s groom was to follow with her horses, she taking with herself
+her own maid and one male servant. They left the city when the day was
+considerably spent, and consequently made but three stages in the first
+day; upon the second, at about eight in the evening, they had reached
+the town of K----k, distant about fifteen miles from Castle Ardagh.
+Here, owing to Miss F----d's great fatigue, she having been for a
+considerable time in a very delicate state of health, it was determined
+to put up for the night. They, accordingly, took possession of the best
+sitting-room which the inn commanded, and Lady D----remained in it
+to direct and urge the preparations for some refreshment, which the
+fatigues of the day had rendered necessary, while her younger sister
+retired to her bed-chamber to rest there for a little time, as the
+parlour commanded no such luxury as a sofa.
+
+Miss F----d was, as I have already stated, at this time in very delicate
+health; and upon this occasion the exhaustion of fatigue, and the dreary
+badness of the weather, combined to depress her spirits. Lady D----
+had not been left long to herself, when the door communicating with the
+passage was abruptly opened, and her sister Mary entered in a state of
+great agitation; she sat down pale and trembling upon one of the chairs,
+and it was not until a copious flood of tears had relieved her, that
+she became sufficiently calm to relate the cause of her excitement and
+distress. It was simply this. Almost immediately upon lying down upon
+the bed she sank into a feverish and unrefreshing slumber; images of all
+grotesque shapes and startling colours flitted before her sleeping fancy
+with all the rapidity and variety of the changes in a kaleidoscope. At
+length, as she described it, a mist seemed to interpose itself between
+her sight and the ever-shifting scenery which sported before her
+imagination, and out of this cloudy shadow gradually emerged a figure
+whose back seemed turned towards the sleeper; it was that of a lady,
+who, in perfect silence, was expressing as far as pantomimic gesture
+could, by wringing her hands, and throwing her head from side to side,
+in the manner of one who is exhausted by the over indulgence, by the
+very sickness and impatience of grief; the extremity of misery. For
+a long time she sought in vain to catch a glimpse of the face of the
+apparition, who thus seemed to stir and live before her. But at length
+the figure seemed to move with an air of authority, as if about to give
+directions to some inferior, and in doing so, it turned its head so as
+to display, with a ghastly distinctness, the features of Lady Ardagh,
+pale as death, with her dark hair all dishevelled, and her eyes dim
+and sunken with weeping. The revulsion of feeling which Miss
+F----d experienced at this disclosure--for up to that point she had
+contemplated the appearance rather with a sense of curiosity and of
+interest, than of anything deeper--was so horrible, that the shock awoke
+her perfectly. She sat up in the bed, and looked fearfully around the
+room, which was imperfectly lighted by a single candle burning dimly, as
+if she almost expected to see the reality of her dreadful vision lurking
+in some corner of the chamber. Her fears were, however, verified, though
+not in the way she expected; yet in a manner sufficiently horrible--for
+she had hardly time to breathe and to collect her thoughts, when she
+heard, or thought she heard, the voice of her sister, Lady Ardagh,
+sometimes sobbing violently, and sometimes almost shrieking as if in
+terror, and calling upon her and Lady D----, with the most imploring
+earnestness of despair, for God's sake to lose no time in coming to her.
+All this was so horribly distinct, that it seemed as if the mourner
+was standing within a few yards of the spot where Miss F----d lay. She
+sprang from the bed, and leaving the candle in the room behind her, she
+made her way in the dark through the passage, the voice still following
+her, until as she arrived at the door of the sitting-room it seemed to
+die away in low sobbing.
+
+As soon as Miss F----d was tolerably recovered, she declared her
+determination to proceed directly, and without further loss of time,
+to Castle Ardagh. It was not without much difficulty that Lady D----
+at length prevailed upon her to consent to remain where they then were,
+until morning should arrive, when it was to be expected that the young
+lady would be much refreshed by at least remaining quiet for the night,
+even though sleep were out of the question. Lady D---- was convinced,
+from the nervous and feverish symptoms which her sister exhibited, that
+she had already done too much, and was more than ever satisfied of the
+necessity of prosecuting the journey no further upon that day. After
+some time she persuaded her sister to return to her room, where she
+remained with her until she had gone to bed, and appeared comparatively
+composed. Lady D---- then returned to the parlour, and not finding
+herself sleepy, she remained sitting by the fire. Her solitude was
+a second time broken in upon, by the entrance of her sister, who now
+appeared, if possible, more agitated than before. She said that Lady
+D---- had not long left the room, when she was roused by a repetition of
+the same wailing and lamentations, accompanied by the wildest and most
+agonized supplications that no time should be lost in coming to Castle
+Ardagh, and all in her sister's voice, and uttered at the same proximity
+as before. This time the voice had followed her to the very door of the
+sitting-room, and until she closed it, seemed to pour forth its cries
+and sobs at the very threshold.
+
+Miss F----d now most positively declared that nothing should prevent her
+proceeding instantly to the castle, adding that if Lady D---- would not
+accompany her, she would go on by herself. Superstitious feelings are at
+all times more or less contagious, and the last century afforded a soil
+much more congenial to their growth than the present. Lady D---- was so
+far affected by her sister's terrors, that she became, at least, uneasy;
+and seeing that her sister was immovably determined upon setting forward
+immediately, she consented to accompany her forthwith. After a slight
+delay, fresh horses were procured, and the two ladies and their
+attendants renewed their journey, with strong injunctions to the driver
+to quicken their rate of travelling as much as possible, and promises of
+reward in case of his doing so.
+
+Roads were then in much worse condition throughout the south, even than
+they now are; and the fifteen miles which modern posting would have
+passed in little more than an hour and a half, were not completed even
+with every possible exertion in twice the time. Miss F----d had been
+nervously restless during the journey. Her head had been constantly
+out of the carriage window; and as they approached the entrance to the
+castle demesne, which lay about a mile from the building, her anxiety
+began to communicate itself to her sister. The postillion had just
+dismounted, and was endeavouring to open the gate--at that time a
+necessary trouble; for in the middle of the last century porter's lodges
+were not common in the south of Ireland, and locks and keys almost
+unknown. He had just succeeded in rolling back the heavy oaken gate so
+as to admit the vehicle, when a mounted servant rode rapidly down the
+avenue, and drawing up at the carriage, asked of the postillion who the
+party were; and on hearing, he rode round to the carriage window and
+handed in a note, which Lady D---- received. By the assistance of one
+of the coach-lamps they succeeded in deciphering it. It was scrawled in
+great agitation, and ran thus:
+
+
+'MY DEAR SISTER--MY DEAR SISTERS BOTH,--In God's name lose no time, I am
+frightened and miserable; I cannot explain all till you come. I am too
+much terrified to write coherently; but understand me--hasten--do not
+waste a minute. I am afraid you will come too late.
+
+'E. A.'
+
+
+The servant could tell nothing more than that the castle was in great
+confusion, and that Lady Ardagh had been crying bitterly all the night.
+Sir Robert was perfectly well. Altogether at a loss as to the cause
+of Lady Ardagh's great distress, they urged their way up the steep and
+broken avenue which wound through the crowding trees, whose wild and
+grotesque branches, now left stripped and naked by the blasts of winter,
+stretched drearily across the road. As the carriage drew up in the area
+before the door, the anxiety of the ladies almost amounted to agony; and
+scarcely waiting for the assistance of their attendant, they sprang to
+the ground, and in an instant stood at the castle door. From within
+were distinctly audible the sounds of lamentation and weeping, and
+the suppressed hum of voices as if of those endeavouring to soothe the
+mourner. The door was speedily opened, and when the ladies entered, the
+first object which met their view was their sister, Lady Ardagh, sitting
+on a form in the hall, weeping and wringing her hands in deep agony.
+Beside her stood two old, withered crones, who were each endeavouring in
+their own way to administer consolation, without even knowing or caring
+what the subject of her grief might be.
+
+Immediately on Lady Ardagh's seeing her sisters, she started up, fell on
+their necks, and kissed them again and again without speaking, and then
+taking them each by a hand, still weeping bitterly, she led them into
+a small room adjoining the hall, in which burned a light, and, having
+closed the door, she sat down between them. After thanking them for the
+haste they had made, she proceeded to tell them, in words incoherent
+from agitation, that Sir Robert had in private, and in the most solemn
+manner, told her that he should die upon that night, and that he
+had occupied himself during the evening in giving minute directions
+respecting the arrangements of his funeral. Lady D---- here suggested
+the possibility of his labouring under the hallucinations of a fever;
+but to this Lady Ardagh quickly replied:
+
+'Oh! no, no! Would to God I could think it. Oh! no, no! Wait till you
+have seen him. There is a frightful calmness about all he says and
+does; and his directions are all so clear, and his mind so perfectly
+collected, it is impossible, quite impossible.' And she wept yet more
+bitterly.
+
+At that moment Sir Robert's voice was heard in issuing some directions,
+as he came downstairs; and Lady Ardagh exclaimed, hurriedly:
+
+'Go now and see him yourself. He is in the hall.'
+
+Lady D---- accordingly went out into the hall, where Sir Robert met her;
+and, saluting her with kind politeness, he said, after a pause:
+
+'You are come upon a melancholy mission--the house is in great
+confusion, and some of its inmates in considerable grief.' He took her
+hand, and looking fixedly in her face, continued: 'I shall not live to
+see to-morrow's sun shine.'
+
+'You are ill, sir, I have no doubt,' replied she; 'but I am very
+certain we shall see you much better to-morrow, and still better the day
+following.'
+
+'I am NOT ill, sister,' replied he. 'Feel my temples, they are cool; lay
+your finger to my pulse, its throb is slow and temperate. I never was
+more perfectly in health, and yet do I know that ere three hours be
+past, I shall be no more.'
+
+'Sir, sir,' said she, a good deal startled, but wishing to conceal
+the impression which the calm solemnity of his manner had, in her own
+despite, made upon her, 'Sir, you should not jest; you should not even
+speak lightly upon such subjects. You trifle with what is sacred--you
+are sporting with the best affections of your wife----'
+
+'Stay, my good lady,' said he; 'if when this clock shall strike the hour
+of three, I shall be anything but a helpless clod, then upbraid me. Pray
+return now to your sister. Lady Ardagh is, indeed, much to be pitied;
+but what is past cannot now be helped. I have now a few papers to
+arrange, and some to destroy. I shall see you and Lady Ardagh before my
+death; try to compose her--her sufferings distress me much; but what is
+past cannot now be mended.'
+
+Thus saying, he went upstairs, and Lady D---- returned to the room where
+her sisters were sitting.
+
+'Well,' exclaimed Lady Ardagh, as she re-entered, 'is it not so?--do you
+still doubt?--do you think there is any hope?'
+
+Lady D---- was silent.
+
+'Oh! none, none, none,' continued she; 'I see, I see you are convinced.'
+And she wrung her hands in bitter agony.
+
+'My dear sister,' said Lady D----, 'there is, no doubt, something
+strange in all that has appeared in this matter; but still I cannot but
+hope that there may be something deceptive in all the apparent calmness
+of Sir Robert. I still must believe that some latent fever has affected
+his mind, or that, owing to the state of nervous depression into which
+he has been sinking, some trivial occurrence has been converted, in
+his disordered imagination, into an augury foreboding his immediate
+dissolution.'
+
+In such suggestions, unsatisfactory even to those who originated them,
+and doubly so to her whom they were intended to comfort, more than two
+hours passed; and Lady D---- was beginning to hope that the fated term
+might elapse without the occurrence of any tragical event, when Sir
+Robert entered the room. On coming in, he placed his finger with a
+warning gesture upon his lips, as if to enjoin silence; and then having
+successively pressed the hands of his two sisters-in-law, he stooped
+sadly over the fainting form of his lady, and twice pressed her cold,
+pale forehead, with his lips, and then passed silently out of the room.
+
+Lady D----, starting up, followed to the door, and saw him take a
+candle in the hall, and walk deliberately up the stairs. Stimulated by
+a feeling of horrible curiosity, she continued to follow him at a
+distance. She saw him enter his own private room, and heard him close
+and lock the door after him. Continuing to follow him as far as she
+could, she placed herself at the door of the chamber, as noiselessly as
+possible, where after a little time she was joined by her two sisters,
+Lady Ardagh and Miss F----d. In breathless silence they listened to what
+should pass within. They distinctly heard Sir Robert pacing up and down
+the room for some time; and then, after a pause, a sound as if some
+one had thrown himself heavily upon the bed. At this moment Lady D----,
+forgetting that the door had been secured within, turned the handle for
+the purpose of entering; when some one from the inside, close to the
+door, said, 'Hush! hush!' The same lady, now much alarmed, knocked
+violently at the door; there was no answer. She knocked again more
+violently, with no further success. Lady Ardagh, now uttering a piercing
+shriek, sank in a swoon upon the floor. Three or four servants,
+alarmed by the noise, now hurried upstairs, and Lady Ardagh was carried
+apparently lifeless to her own chamber. They then, after having knocked
+long and loudly in vain, applied themselves to forcing an entrance into
+Sir Robert's room. After resisting some violent efforts, the door at
+length gave way, and all entered the room nearly together. There was a
+single candle burning upon a table at the far end of the apartment; and
+stretched upon the bed lay Sir Robert Ardagh. He was a corpse--the eyes
+were open--no convulsion had passed over the features, or distorted
+the limbs--it seemed as if the soul had sped from the body without a
+struggle to remain there. On touching the body it was found to be cold
+as clay--all lingering of the vital heat had left it. They closed the
+ghastly eyes of the corpse, and leaving it to the care of those who
+seem to consider it a privilege of their age and sex to gloat over the
+revolting spectacle of death in all its stages, they returned to
+Lady Ardagh, now a widow. The party assembled at the castle, but the
+atmosphere was tainted with death. Grief there was not much, but awe and
+panic were expressed in every face. The guests talked in whispers, and
+the servants walked on tiptoe, as if afraid of the very noise of their
+own footsteps.
+
+The funeral was conducted almost with splendour. The body, having been
+conveyed, in compliance with Sir Robert's last directions, to Dublin,
+was there laid within the ancient walls of St. Audoen's Church--where I
+have read the epitaph, telling the age and titles of the departed dust.
+Neither painted escutcheon, nor marble slab, have served to rescue from
+oblivion the story of the dead, whose very name will ere long moulder
+from their tracery,
+
+          'Et sunt sua fata sepulchris.'(1)
+
+
+     (1) This prophecy has since been realised; for the aisle in
+     which Sir Robert's remains were laid has been suffered to
+     fall completely to decay; and the tomb which marked his
+     grave, and other monuments more curious, form now one
+     indistinguishable mass of rubbish.
+
+
+The events which I have recorded are not imaginary. They are FACTS;
+and there lives one whose authority none would venture to question, who
+could vindicate the accuracy of every statement which I have set down,
+and that, too, with all the circumstantiality of an eye-witness.(2)
+
+
+     (2) This paper, from a memorandum, I find to have been
+     written in 1803. The lady to whom allusion is made, I
+     believe to be Miss Mary F----d. She never married, and
+     survived both her sisters, living to a very advanced age.
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST HEIR OF CASTLE CONNOR.
+
+Being a third Extract from the legacy of the late Francis Purcell, P. P.
+of Drumcoolagh.
+
+There is something in the decay of ancient grandeur to interest even the
+most unconcerned spectator--the evidences of greatness, of power, and of
+pride that survive the wreck of time, proving, in mournful contrast with
+present desolation and decay, what WAS in other days, appeal, with a
+resistless power, to the sympathies of our nature. And when, as we gaze
+on the scion of some ruined family, the first impulse of nature that
+bids us regard his fate with interest and respect is justified by the
+recollection of great exertions and self-devotion and sacrifices in
+the cause of a lost country and of a despised religion--sacrifices and
+efforts made with all the motives of faithfulness and of honour, and
+terminating in ruin--in such a case respect becomes veneration, and the
+interest we feel amounts almost to a passion.
+
+It is this feeling which has thrown the magic veil of romance over every
+roofless castle and ruined turret throughout our country; it is this
+feeling that, so long as a tower remains above the level of the soil, so
+long as one scion of a prostrate and impoverished family survives,
+will never suffer Ireland to yield to the stranger more than the 'mouth
+honour' which fear compels.(3) I who have conversed viva voce et propria
+persona with those whose recollections could run back so far as the
+times previous to the confiscations which followed the Revolution of
+1688--whose memory could repeople halls long roofless and desolate, and
+point out the places where greatness once had been, may feel all this
+more strongly, and with a more vivid interest, than can those whose
+sympathies are awakened by the feebler influence of what may be called
+the PICTURESQUE effects of ruin and decay.
+
+
+     (3) This passage serves (mirabile dictu) to corroborate a
+     statement of Mr. O'Connell's, which occurs in his evidence
+     given before the House of Commons, wherein he affirms that
+     the principles of the Irish priesthood 'ARE democratic, and
+     were those of Jacobinism.'--See digest of the evidence upon
+     the state of Ireland, given before the House of Commons.
+
+
+There do, indeed, still exist some fragments of the ancient Catholic
+families of Ireland; but, alas! what VERY fragments! They linger like
+the remnants of her aboriginal forests, reft indeed of their strength
+and greatness, but proud even in decay. Every winter thins their ranks,
+and strews the ground with the wreck of their loftiest branches; they
+are at best but tolerated in the land which gave them birth--objects of
+curiosity, perhaps of pity, to one class, but of veneration to another.
+
+The O'Connors, of Castle Connor, were an ancient Irish family. The name
+recurs frequently in our history, and is generally to be found in a
+prominent place whenever periods of tumult or of peril called forth
+the courage and the enterprise of this country. After the accession of
+William III., the storm of confiscation which swept over the land
+made woeful havoc in their broad domains. Some fragments of property,
+however, did remain to them, and with it the building which had for ages
+formed the family residence.
+
+About the year 17--, my uncle, a Catholic priest, became acquainted with
+the inmates of Castle Connor, and after a time introduced me, then a lad
+of about fifteen, full of spirits, and little dreaming that a profession
+so grave as his should ever become mine.
+
+The family at that time consisted of but two members, a widow lady and
+her only son, a young man aged about eighteen. In our early days the
+progress from acquaintance to intimacy, and from intimacy to friendship
+is proverbially rapid; and young O'Connor and I became, in less than a
+month, close and confidential companions--an intercourse which ripened
+gradually into an attachment ardent, deep, and devoted--such as I
+believe young hearts only are capable of forming.
+
+He had been left early fatherless, and the representative and heir of
+his family. His mother's affection for him was intense in proportion as
+there existed no other object to divide it--indeed--such love as that
+she bore him I have never seen elsewhere. Her love was better bestowed
+than that of mothers generally is, for young O'Connor, not without some
+of the faults, had certainly many of the most engaging qualities of
+youth. He had all the frankness and gaiety which attract, and the
+generosity of heart which confirms friendship; indeed, I never saw a
+person so universally popular; his very faults seemed to recommend
+him; he was wild, extravagant, thoughtless, and fearlessly
+adventurous--defects of character which, among the peasantry of Ireland,
+are honoured as virtues. The combination of these qualities, and the
+position which O'Connor occupied as representative of an ancient Irish
+Catholic family--a peculiarly interesting one to me, one of the old
+faith--endeared him to me so much that I have never felt the pangs of
+parting more keenly than when it became necessary, for the finishing of
+his education, that he should go abroad.
+
+Three years had passed away before I saw him again. During the interval,
+however, I had frequently heard from him, so that absence had not abated
+the warmth of our attachment. Who could tell of the rejoicings that
+marked the evening of his return? The horses were removed from the
+chaise at the distance of a mile from the castle, while it and its
+contents were borne rapidly onward almost by the pressure of the
+multitude, like a log upon a torrent. Bonfires blared far and
+near--bagpipes roared and fiddles squeaked; and, amid the thundering
+shouts of thousands, the carriage drew up before the castle.
+
+In an instant young O'Connor was upon the ground, crying, 'Thank you,
+boys--thank you, boys;' while a thousand hands were stretched out from
+all sides to grasp even a finger of his. Still, amid shouts of 'God
+bless your honour--long may you reign!' and 'Make room there, boys!
+clear the road for the masther!' he reached the threshold of the castle,
+where stood his mother weeping for joy.
+
+Oh! who could describe that embrace, or the enthusiasm with which it was
+witnessed? 'God bless him to you, my lady--glory to ye both!' and 'Oh,
+but he is a fine young gentleman, God bless him!' resounded on all
+sides, while hats flew up in volleys that darkened the moon; and when at
+length, amid the broad delighted grins of the thronging domestics, whose
+sense of decorum precluded any more boisterous evidence of joy, they
+reached the parlour, then giving way to the fulness of her joy the
+widowed mother kissed and blessed him and wept in turn. Well might
+any parent be proud to claim as son the handsome stripling who now
+represented the Castle Connor family; but to her his beauty had a
+peculiar charm, for it bore a striking resemblance to that of her
+husband, the last O'Connor.
+
+I know not whether partiality blinded me, or that I did no more than
+justice to my friend in believing that I had never seen so handsome a
+young man. I am inclined to think the latter. He was rather tall,
+very slightly and elegantly made; his face was oval, and his features
+decidedly Spanish in cast and complexion, but with far more vivacity
+of expression than generally belongs to the beauty of that nation.
+The extreme delicacy of his features and the varied animation of his
+countenance made him appear even younger than his years--an illusion
+which the total absence of everything studied in his manners seemed
+to confirm. Time had wrought no small change in me, alike in mind and
+spirits; but in the case of O'Connor it seemed to have lost its power to
+alter. His gaiety was undamped, his generosity unchilled; and though
+the space which had intervened between our parting and reunion was
+but brief, yet at the period of life at which we were, even a shorter
+interval than that of three years has frequently served to form or
+DEform a character.
+
+Weeks had passed away since the return of O'Connor, and scarce a day had
+elapsed without my seeing him, when the neighbourhood was thrown into
+an unusual state of excitement by the announcement of a race-ball to be
+celebrated at the assembly-room of the town of T----, distant scarcely
+two miles from Castle Connor.
+
+Young O'Connor, as I had expected, determined at once to attend it; and
+having directed in vain all the powers of his rhetoric to persuade his
+mother to accompany him, he turned the whole battery of his logic upon
+me, who, at that time, felt a reluctance stronger than that of mere
+apathy to mixing in any of these scenes of noisy pleasure for which for
+many reasons I felt myself unfitted. He was so urgent and persevering,
+however, that I could not refuse; and I found myself reluctantly
+obliged to make up my mind to attend him upon the important night to the
+spacious but ill-finished building, which the fashion and beauty of the
+county were pleased to term an assembly-room.
+
+When we entered the apartment, we found a select few, surrounded by a
+crowd of spectators, busily performing a minuet, with all the congees
+and flourishes which belonged to that courtly dance; and my companion,
+infected by the contagion of example, was soon, as I had anticipated,
+waving his chapeau bras, and gracefully bowing before one of the
+prettiest girls in the room. I had neither skill nor spirits to qualify
+me to follow his example; and as the fulness of the room rendered it
+easy to do so without its appearing singular, I determined to be merely
+a spectator of the scene which surrounded me, without taking an active
+part in its amusements.
+
+The room was indeed very much crowded, so that its various groups,
+formed as design or accident had thrown the parties together, afforded
+no small fund of entertainment to the contemplative observer. There were
+the dancers, all gaiety and good-humour; a little further off were the
+tables at which sat the card-players, some plying their vocation with
+deep and silent anxiety--for in those days gaming often ran very high in
+such places--and others disputing with all the vociferous pertinacity
+of undisguised ill-temper. There, again, were the sallow, blue-nosed,
+grey-eyed dealers in whispered scandal; and, in short, there is scarcely
+a group or combination to be met with in the court of kings which might
+not have found a humble parallel in the assembly-room of T----.
+
+I was allowed to indulge in undisturbed contemplation, for I suppose I
+was not known to more than five or six in the room. I thus had leisure
+not only to observe the different classes into which the company had
+divided itself, but to amuse myself by speculating as to the rank and
+character of many of the individual actors in the drama.
+
+Among many who have long since passed from my memory, one person for
+some time engaged my attention, and that person, for many reasons, I
+shall not soon forget. He was a tall, square-shouldered man, who stood
+in a careless attitude, leaning with his back to the wall; he seemed to
+have secluded himself from the busy multitudes which moved noisily and
+gaily around him, and nobody seemed to observe or to converse with him.
+He was fashionably dressed, but perhaps rather extravagantly; his face
+was full and heavy, expressive of sullenness and stupidity, and marked
+with the lines of strong vulgarity; his age might be somewhere between
+forty and fifty. Such as I have endeavoured to describe him, he remained
+motionless, his arms doggedly folded across his broad chest, and turning
+his sullen eyes from corner to corner of the room, as if eager to detect
+some object on which to vent his ill-humour.
+
+It is strange, and yet it is true, that one sometimes finds even in the
+most commonplace countenance an undefinable something, which fascinates
+the attention, and forces it to recur again and again, while it is
+impossible to tell whether the peculiarity which thus attracts us lies
+in feature or in expression, or in both combined, and why it is that our
+observation should be engrossed by an object which, when analysed, seems
+to possess no claim to interest or even to notice. This unaccountable
+feeling I have often experienced, and I believe I am not singular.
+but never in so remarkable a degree as upon this occasion. My friend
+O'Connor, having disposed of his fair partner, was crossing the room
+for the purpose of joining me, in doing which I was surprised to see him
+exchange a familiar, almost a cordial, greeting with the object of
+my curiosity. I say I was surprised, for independent of his very
+questionable appearance, it struck me as strange that though so
+constantly associated with O'Connor, and, as I thought, personally
+acquainted with all his intimates, I had never before even seen this
+individual. I did not fail immediately to ask him who this gentleman
+was. I thought he seemed slightly embarrassed, but after a moment's
+pause he laughingly said that his friend over the way was too mysterious
+a personage to have his name announced in so giddy a scene as the
+present; but that on the morrow he would furnish me with all the
+information which I could desire. There was, I thought, in his affected
+jocularity a real awkwardness which appeared to me unaccountable, and
+consequently increased my curiosity; its gratification, however, I was
+obliged to defer. At length, wearied with witnessing amusements in which
+I could not sympathise, I left the room, and did not see O'Connor until
+late in the next day.
+
+I had ridden down towards the castle for the purpose of visiting the
+O'Connors, and had nearly reached the avenue leading to the mansion,
+when I met my friend. He was also mounted; and having answered my
+inquiries respecting his mother, he easily persuaded me to accompany
+him in his ramble. We had chatted as usual for some time, when, after a
+pause, O'Connor said:
+
+'By the way, Purcell, you expressed some curiosity respecting the tall,
+handsome fellow to whom I spoke last night.'
+
+'I certainly did question you about a TALL gentleman, but was not aware
+of his claims to beauty,' replied I.
+
+'Well, that is as it may be,' said he; 'the ladies think him handsome,
+and their opinion upon that score is more valuable than yours or mine.
+Do you know,' he continued, 'I sometimes feel half sorry that I ever
+made the fellow's acquaintance: he is quite a marked man here, and they
+tell stories of him that are anything but reputable, though I am sure
+without foundation. I think I know enough about him to warrant me in
+saying so.'
+
+'May I ask his name?' inquired I.
+
+'Oh! did not I tell you his name?' rejoined he. 'You should have heard
+that first; he and his name are equally well known. You will recognise
+the individual at once when I tell you that his name is--Fitzgerald.'
+
+'Fitzgerald!' I repeated. 'Fitzgerald!--can it be Fitzgerald the
+duellist?'
+
+'Upon my word you have hit it,' replied he, laughing; 'but you have
+accompanied the discovery with a look of horror more tragic than
+appropriate. He is not the monster you take him for--he has a good deal
+of old Irish pride; his temper is hasty, and he has been unfortunately
+thrown in the way of men who have not made allowance for these things.
+I am convinced that in every case in which Fitzgerald has fought, if the
+truth could be discovered, he would be found to have acted throughout
+upon the defensive. No man is mad enough to risk his own life, except
+when the doing so is an alternative to submitting tamely to what he
+considers an insult. I am certain that no man ever engaged in a duel
+under the consciousness that he had acted an intentionally aggressive
+part.'
+
+'When did you make his acquaintance?' said I.
+
+'About two years ago,' he replied. 'I met him in France, and you know
+when one is abroad it is an ungracious task to reject the advances
+of one's countryman, otherwise I think I should have avoided
+his society--less upon my own account than because I am sure the
+acquaintance would be a source of continual though groundless uneasiness
+to my mother. I know, therefore, that you will not unnecessarily mention
+its existence to her.'
+
+I gave him the desired assurance, and added:
+
+'May I ask you. O'Connor, if, indeed, it be a fair question, whether
+this Fitzgerald at any time attempted to engage you in anything like
+gaming?'
+
+This question was suggested by my having frequently heard Fitzgerald
+mentioned as a noted gambler, and sometimes even as a blackleg. O'Connor
+seemed, I thought, slightly embarrassed. He answered:
+
+'No, no--I cannot say that he ever attempted anything of the kind. I
+certainly have played with him, but never lost to any serious amount;
+nor can I recollect that he ever solicited me--indeed he knows that I
+have a strong objection to deep play. YOU must be aware that my finances
+could not bear much pruning down. I never lost more to him at a sitting
+than about five pounds, which you know is nothing. No, you wrong him if
+you imagine that he attached himself to me merely for the sake of such
+contemptible winnings as those which a broken-down Irish gentleman could
+afford him. Come, Purcell, you are too hard upon him--you judge only by
+report; you must see him, and decide for yourself.--Suppose we call upon
+him now; he is at the inn, in the High Street, not a mile off.'
+
+I declined the proposal drily.
+
+'Your caution is too easily alarmed,' said he. 'I do not wish you to
+make this man your bosom friend: I merely desire that you should see and
+speak to him, and if you form any acquaintance with him, it must be of
+that slight nature which can be dropped or continued at pleasure.'
+
+From the time that O'Connor had announced the fact that his friend
+was no other than the notorious Fitzgerald, a foreboding of something
+calamitous had come upon me, and it now occurred to me that if any
+unpleasantness were to be feared as likely to result to O'Connor
+from their connection, I might find my attempts to extricate him much
+facilitated by my being acquainted, however slightly, with Fitzgerald. I
+know not whether the idea was reasonable--it was certainly natural; and
+I told O'Connor that upon second thoughts I would ride down with him to
+the town, and wait upon Mr. Fitzgerald.
+
+We found him at home; and chatted with him for a considerable time. To
+my surprise his manners were perfectly those of a gentleman, and his
+conversation, if not peculiarly engaging, was certainly amusing. The
+politeness of his demeanour, and the easy fluency with which he told his
+stories and his anecdotes, many of them curious, and all more or less
+entertaining, accounted to my mind at once for the facility with which
+he had improved his acquaintance with O'Connor; and when he pressed
+upon us an invitation to sup with him that night, I had almost joined
+O'Connor in accepting it. I determined, however, against doing so, for
+I had no wish to be on terms of familiarity with Mr. Fitzgerald; and
+I knew that one evening spent together as he proposed would go further
+towards establishing an intimacy between us than fifty morning visits
+could do. When I arose to depart, it was with feelings almost favourable
+to Fitzgerald; indeed I was more than half ashamed to acknowledge to my
+companion how complete a revolution in my opinion respecting his
+friend half an hour's conversation with him had wrought. His appearance
+certainly WAS against him; but then, under the influence of his manner,
+one lost sight of much of its ungainliness, and of nearly all its
+vulgarity; and, on the whole, I felt convinced that report had done
+him grievous wrong, inasmuch as anybody, by an observance of the common
+courtesies of society, might easily avoid coming into personal collision
+with a gentleman so studiously polite as Fitzgerald. At parting,
+O'Connor requested me to call upon him the next day, as he intended to
+make trial of the merits of a pair of greyhounds, which he had thoughts
+of purchasing; adding, that if he could escape in anything like
+tolerable time from Fitzgerald's supper-party, he would take the field
+soon after ten on the next morning. At the appointed hour, or perhaps a
+little later, I dismounted at Castle Connor; and, on entering the
+hall, I observed a gentleman issuing from O'Connor's private room. I
+recognised him, as he approached, as a Mr. M'Donough, and, being but
+slightly acquainted with him, was about to pass him with a bow, when he
+stopped me. There was something in his manner which struck me as odd;
+he seemed a good deal flurried if not agitated, and said, in a hurried
+tone:
+
+'This is a very foolish business, Mr. Purcell. You have some influence
+with my friend O'Connor; I hope you can induce him to adopt some more
+moderate line of conduct than that he has decided upon. If you will
+allow me, I will return for a moment with you, and talk over the matter
+again with O'Connor.'
+
+As M'Donough uttered these words, I felt that sudden sinking of the
+heart which accompanies the immediate anticipation of something dreaded
+and dreadful. I was instantly convinced that O'Connor had quarrelled
+with Fitzgerald, and I knew that if such were the case, nothing short
+of a miracle could extricate him from the consequences. I signed to
+M'Donough to lead the way, and we entered the little study together.
+O'Connor was standing with his back to the fire; on the table lay the
+breakfast-things in the disorder in which a hurried meal had left them;
+and on another smaller table, placed near the hearth, lay pen, ink,
+and paper. As soon as O'Connor saw me, he came forward and shook me
+cordially by the hand.
+
+'My dear Purcell,' said he, 'you are the very man I wanted. I have got
+into an ugly scrape, and I trust to my friends to get me out of it.'
+
+'You have had no dispute with that man--that Fitzgerald, I hope,' said
+I, giving utterance to the conjecture whose truth I most dreaded.
+
+'Faith, I cannot say exactly what passed between us,' said he, 'inasmuch
+as I was at the time nearly half seas over; but of this much I am
+certain, that we exchanged angry words last night. I lost my temper most
+confoundedly; but, as well as I can recollect, he appeared perfectly
+cool and collected. What he said was, therefore, deliberately said, and
+on that account must be resented.'
+
+'My dear O'Connor, are you mad?' I exclaimed. 'Why will you seek to
+drive to a deadly issue a few hasty words, uttered under the influence
+of wine, and forgotten almost as soon as uttered? A quarrel with
+Fitzgerald it is twenty chances to one would terminate fatally to you.'
+
+'It is exactly because Fitzgerald IS such an accomplished shot,'
+said he, 'that I become liable to the most injurious and intolerable
+suspicions if I submit to anything from him which could be construed
+into an affront; and for that reason Fitzgerald is the very last man to
+whom I would concede an inch in a case of honour.'
+
+'I do not require you to make any, the slightest sacrifice of what
+you term your honour,' I replied; 'but if you have actually written a
+challenge to Fitzgerald, as I suspect you have done, I conjure you to
+reconsider the matter before you despatch it. From all that I have heard
+you say, Fitzgerald has more to complain of in the altercation which has
+taken place than you. You owe it to your only surviving parent not to
+thrust yourself thus wantonly upon--I will say it, the most appalling
+danger. Nobody, my dear O'Connor, can have a doubt of your courage; and
+if at any time, which God forbid, you shall be called upon thus to risk
+your life, you should have it in your power to enter the field under the
+consciousness that you have acted throughout temperately and like a man,
+and not, as I fear you now would do, having rashly and most causelessly
+endangered your own life and that of your friend.'
+
+'I believe, Purcell, your are right,' said he. 'I believe I HAVE viewed
+the matter in too decided a light; my note, I think, scarcely allows
+him an honourable alternative, and that is certainly going a step too
+far--further than I intended. Mr. M'Donough, I'll thank you to hand me
+the note.'
+
+He broke the seal, and, casting his eye hastily over it, he continued:
+
+'It is, indeed, a monument of folly. I am very glad, Purcell, you
+happened to come in, otherwise it would have reached its destination by
+this time.'
+
+He threw it into the fire; and, after a moment's pause, resumed:
+
+'You must not mistake me, however. I am perfectly satisfied as to the
+propriety, nay, the necessity, of communicating with Fitzgerald. The
+difficulty is in what tone I should address him. I cannot say that the
+man directly affronted me--I cannot recollect any one expression which
+I could lay hold upon as offensive--but his language was ambiguous, and
+admitted frequently of the most insulting construction, and his manner
+throughout was insupportably domineering. I know it impressed me with
+the idea that he presumed upon his reputation as a DEAD SHOT, and that
+would be utterly unendurable.'
+
+'I would now recommend, as I have already done,' said M'Donough, 'that
+if you write to Fitzgerald, it should be in such a strain as to leave
+him at perfect liberty, without a compromise of honour, in a friendly
+way, to satisfy your doubts as to his conduct.'
+
+I seconded the proposal warmly, and O'Connor, in a few minutes, finished
+a note, which he desired us to read. It was to this effect:
+
+
+'O'Connor, of Castle Connor, feeling that some expressions employed by
+Mr. Fitzgerald upon last night, admitted of a construction offensive
+to him, and injurious to his character, requests to know whether Mr.
+Fitzgerald intended to convey such a meaning.
+
+'Castle Connor, Thursday morning.'
+
+
+This note was consigned to the care of Mr. M'Donough, who forthwith
+departed to execute his mission. The sound of his horse's hoofs, as
+he rode rapidly away, struck heavily at my heart; but I found some
+satisfaction in the reflection that M'Donough appeared as averse from
+extreme measures as I was myself, for I well knew, with respect to the
+final result of the affair, that as much depended upon the tone adopted
+by the SECOND, as upon the nature of the written communication.
+
+I have seldom passed a more anxious hour than that which intervened
+between the departure and the return of that gentleman. Every instant I
+imagined I heard the tramp of a horse approaching, and every time that
+a door opened I fancied it was to give entrance to the eagerly expected
+courier. At length I did hear the hollow and rapid tread of a horse's
+hoof upon the avenue. It approached--it stopped--a hurried step
+traversed the hall--the room door opened, and M'Donough entered.
+
+'You have made great haste,' said O'Connor; 'did you find him at home?'
+
+'I did,' replied M'Donough, 'and made the greater haste as Fitzgerald
+did not let me know the contents of his reply.'
+
+At the same time he handed a note to O'Connor, who instantly broke the
+seal. The words were as follow:
+
+
+'Mr. Fitzgerald regrets that anything which has fallen from him should
+have appeared to Mr. O'Connor to be intended to convey a reflection upon
+his honour (none such having been meant), and begs leave to disavow any
+wish to quarrel unnecessarily with Mr. O'Connor.
+
+'T---- Inn, Thursday morning.'
+
+
+I cannot describe how much I felt relieved on reading the above
+communication. I took O'Connor's hand and pressed it warmly, but my
+emotions were deeper and stronger than I cared to show, for I was
+convinced that he had escaped a most imminent danger. Nobody whose
+notions upon the subject are derived from the duelling of modern times,
+in which matters are conducted without any very sanguinary determination
+upon either side, and with equal want of skill and coolness by both
+parties, can form a just estimate of the danger incurred by one who
+ventured to encounter a duellist of the old school. Perfect coolness
+in the field, and a steadiness and accuracy (which to the unpractised
+appeared almost miraculous) in the use of the pistol, formed the
+characteristics of this class; and in addition to this there generally
+existed a kind of professional pride, which prompted the duellist, in
+default of any more malignant feeling, from motives of mere vanity,
+to seek the life of his antagonist. Fitzgerald's career had been a
+remarkably successful one, and I knew that out of thirteen duels which
+he had fought in Ireland, in nine cases he had KILLED his man. In
+those days one never heard of the parties leaving the field, as not
+unfrequently now occurs, without blood having been spilt; and the
+odds were, of course, in all cases tremendously against a young and
+unpractised man, when matched with an experienced antagonist. My
+impression respecting the magnitude of the danger which my friend had
+incurred was therefore by no means unwarranted.
+
+I now questioned O'Connor more accurately respecting the circumstances
+of his quarrel with Fitzgerald. It arose from some dispute respecting
+the application of a rule of piquet, at which game they had been
+playing, each interpreting it favourably to himself, and O'Connor,
+having lost considerably, was in no mood to conduct an argument with
+temper--an altercation ensued, and that of rather a pungent nature,
+and the result was that he left Fitzgerald's room rather abruptly,
+determined to demand an explanation in the most peremptory tone. For
+this purpose he had sent for M'Donough, and had commissioned him to
+deliver the note, which my arrival had fortunately intercepted.
+
+As it was now past noon, O'Connor made me promise to remain with him
+to dinner; and we sat down a party of three, all in high spirits at
+the termination of our anxieties. It is necessary to mention, for the
+purpose of accounting for what follows, that Mrs. O'Connor, or, as she
+was more euphoniously styled, the lady of Castle Connor, was precluded
+by ill-health from taking her place at the dinner-table, and, indeed,
+seldom left her room before four o'clock.(4) We were sitting after
+dinner sipping our claret, and talking, and laughing, and enjoying
+ourselves exceedingly, when a servant, stepping into the room, informed
+his master that a gentleman wanted to speak with him.
+
+
+     (4) It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader, that at
+     the period spoken of, the important hour of dinner occurred
+     very nearly at noon.
+
+
+'Request him, with my compliments, to walk in,' said O'Connor; and in a
+few moments a gentleman entered the room.
+
+His appearance was anything but prepossessing. He was a little above the
+middle size, spare, and raw-boned; his face very red, his features sharp
+and bluish, and his age might be about sixty. His attire savoured a good
+deal of the SHABBY-GENTEEL; his clothes, which had much of tarnished
+and faded pretension about them, did not fit him, and had not improbably
+fluttered in the stalls of Plunket Street. We had risen on his entrance,
+and O'Connor had twice requested of him to take a chair at the table,
+without his hearing, or at least noticing, the invitation; while with
+a slow pace, and with an air of mingled importance and effrontery, he
+advanced into the centre of the apartment, and regarding our small party
+with a supercilious air, he said:
+
+'I take the liberty of introducing myself--I am Captain M'Creagh,
+formerly of the--infantry. My business here is with a Mr. O'Connor, and
+the sooner it is despatched the better.'
+
+'I am the gentleman you name,' said O'Connor; 'and as you appear
+impatient, we had better proceed to your commission without delay.'
+
+'Then, Mr. O'Connor, you will please to read that note,' said the
+captain, placing a sealed paper in his hand.
+
+O'Connor read it through, and then observed:
+
+'This is very extraordinary indeed. This note appears to me perfectly
+unaccountable.'
+
+'You are very young, Mr. O'Connor,' said the captain, with vulgar
+familiarity; 'but, without much experience in these matters, I think
+you might have anticipated something like this. You know the old saying,
+"Second thoughts are best;" and so they are like to prove, by G--!'
+
+'You will have no objection, Captain M'Creagh, on the part of your
+friend, to my reading this note to these gentlemen; they are both
+confidential friends of mine, and one of them has already acted for me
+in this business.'
+
+'I can have no objection,' replied the captain, 'to your doing what you
+please with your own. I have nothing more to do with that note once I
+put it safe into your hand; and when that is once done, it is all one to
+me, if you read it to half the world--that's YOUR concern, and no affair
+of mine.'
+
+O'Connor then read the following:
+
+
+'Mr. Fitzgerald begs leave to state, that upon re-perusing Mr.
+O'Connor's communication of this morning carefully, with an experienced
+friend, he is forced to consider himself as challenged. His friend,
+Captain M'Creagh, has been empowered by him to make all the necessary
+arrangements.
+
+'T---- Inn, Thursday.'
+
+
+I can hardly describe the astonishment with which I heard this note. I
+turned to the captain, and said:
+
+'Surely, sir, there is some mistake in all this?'
+
+'Not the slightest, I'll assure you, sir.' said he, coolly; 'the case is
+a very clear one, and I think my friend has pretty well made up his mind
+upon it. May I request your answer?' he continued, turning to O'Connor;
+'time is precious, you know.'
+
+O'Connor expressed his willingness to comply with the suggestion, and in
+a few minutes had folded and directed the following rejoinder:
+
+
+'Mr. O'Connor having received a satisfactory explanation from Mr.
+Fitzgerald, of the language used by that gentleman, feels that there no
+longer exists any grounds for misunderstanding, and wishes further to
+state, that the note of which Mr. Fitzgerald speaks was not intended as
+a challenge.'
+
+
+With this note the captain departed; and as we did not doubt that the
+message which he had delivered had been suggested by some unintentional
+misconstruction of O'Connor's first billet, we felt assured that the
+conclusion of his last note would set the matter at rest. In this
+belief, however, we were mistaken; before we had left the table, and in
+an incredibly short time, the captain returned. He entered the room
+with a countenance evidently tasked to avoid expressing the satisfaction
+which a consciousness of the nature of his mission had conferred; but
+in spite of all his efforts to look gravely unconcerned, there was a
+twinkle in the small grey eye, and an almost imperceptible motion in the
+corner of the mouth, which sufficiently betrayed his internal glee, as
+he placed a note in the hand of O'Connor. As the young man cast his eye
+over it, he coloured deeply, and turning to M'Donough, he said:
+
+'You will have the goodness to make all the necessary arrangements for
+a meeting. Something has occurred to render one between me and Mr.
+Fitzgerald inevitable. Understand me literally, when I say that it is
+now totally impossible that this affair should be amicably arranged.
+You will have the goodness, M'Donough, to let me know as soon as all
+the particulars are arranged. Purcell,' he continued, 'will you have
+the kindness to accompany me?' and having bowed to M'Creagh, we left the
+room.
+
+As I closed the door after me, I heard the captain laugh, and thought I
+could distinguish the words--'By ---- I knew Fitzgerald would bring him
+to his way of thinking before he stopped.'
+
+I followed O'Connor into his study, and on entering, the door being
+closed, he showed me the communication which had determined him upon
+hostilities. Its language was grossly impertinent, and it concluded by
+actually threatening to 'POST' him, in case he further attempted 'to
+be OFF.' I cannot describe the agony of indignation in which O'Connor
+writhed under this insult. He said repeatedly that 'he was a degraded
+and dishohoured man,' that 'he was dragged into the field,' that 'there
+was ignominy in the very thought that such a letter should have
+been directed to him.' It was in vain that I reasoned against this
+impression; the conviction that he had been disgraced had taken
+possession of his mind. He said again and again that nothing but his
+DEATH could remove the stain which his indecision had cast upon the
+name of his family. I hurried to the hall, on hearing M'Donough and the
+captain passing, and reached the door just in time to hear the latter
+say, as he mounted his horse:
+
+'All the rest can be arranged on the spot; and so farewell, Mr.
+M'Donough--we'll meet at Philippi, you know;' and with this classical
+allusion, which was accompanied with a grin and a bow, and probably
+served many such occasions, the captain took his departure.
+
+M'Donough briefly stated the few particulars which had been arranged.
+The parties were to meet at the stand-house, in the race-ground, which
+lay at about an equal distance between Castle Connor and the town of
+T----. The hour appointed was half-past five on the next morning, at
+which time the twilight would be sufficiently advanced to afford a
+distinct view; and the weapons to be employed were PISTOLS--M'Creagh
+having claimed, on the part of his friend, all the advantages of the
+CHALLENGED party, and having, consequently, insisted upon the choice of
+'TOOLS,' as he expressed himself; and it was further stipulated that the
+utmost secrecy should be observed, as Fitzgerald would incur great risk
+from the violence of the peasantry, in case the affair took wind. These
+conditions were, of course, agreed upon by O'Connor, and M'Donough left
+the castle, having appointed four o'clock upon the next morning as the
+hour of his return, by which time it would be his business to provide
+everything necessary for the meeting. On his departure, O'Connor
+requested me to remain with him upon that evening, saying that 'he
+could not bear to be alone with his mother.' It was to me a most painful
+request, but at the same time one which I could not think of refusing.
+I felt, however, that the difficulty at least of the task which I had
+to perform would be in some measure mitigated by the arrival of two
+relations of O'Connor upon that evening.
+
+'It is very fortunate,' said O'Connor, whose thoughts had been running
+upon the same subject, 'that the O'Gradys will be with us to-night;
+their gaiety and good-humour will relieve us from a heavy task. I trust
+that nothing may occur to prevent their coming.' Fervently concurring in
+the same wish, I accompanied O'Connor into the parlour, there to await
+the arrival of his mother.
+
+God grant that I may never spend such another evening! The O'Gradys DID
+come, but their high and noisy spirits, so far from relieving me, did
+but give additional gloom to the despondency, I might say the despair,
+which filled my heart with misery--the terrible forebodings which I
+could not for an instant silence, turned their laughter into discord,
+and seemed to mock the smiles and jests of the unconscious party. When
+I turned my eyes upon the mother, I thought I never had seen her look so
+proudly and so lovingly upon her son before--it cut me to the heart--oh,
+how cruelly I was deceiving her! I was a hundred times on the very point
+of starting up, and, at all hazards, declaring to her how matters
+were; but other feelings subdued my better emotions. Oh, what monsters
+are we made of by the fashions of the world! how are our kindlier and
+nobler feelings warped or destroyed by their baleful influences! I felt
+that it would not be HONOURABLE, that it would not be ETIQUETTE, to
+betray O'Connor's secret. I sacrificed a higher and a nobler duty than I
+have since been called upon to perform, to the dastardly fear of bearing
+the unmerited censure of a world from which I was about to retire. O
+Fashion! thou gaudy idol, whose feet are red with the blood of human
+sacrifice, would I had always felt towards thee as I now do!
+
+O'Connor was not dejected; on the contrary, he joined with loud and
+lively alacrity in the hilarity of the little party; but I could see in
+the flush of his cheek, and in the unusual brightness of his eye, all
+the excitement of fever--he was making an effort almost beyond his
+strength, but he succeeded--and when his mother rose to leave the
+room, it was with the impression that her son was the gayest and most
+light-hearted of the company. Twice or thrice she had risen with the
+intention of retiring, but O'Connor, with an eagerness which I alone
+could understand, had persuaded her to remain until the usual hour of
+her departure had long passed; and when at length she arose, declaring
+that she could not possibly stay longer, I alone could comprehend the
+desolate change which passed over his manner; and when I saw them part,
+it was with the sickening conviction that those two beings, so dear to
+one another, so loved, so cherished, should meet no more.
+
+O'Connor briefly informed his cousins of the position in which he was
+placed, requesting them at the same time to accompany him to the field,
+and this having been settled, we separated, each to his own apartment.
+I had wished to sit up with O'Connor, who had matters to arrange
+sufficient to employ him until the hour appointed for M'Donough's visit;
+but he would not hear of it, and I was forced, though sorely against
+my will, to leave him without a companion. I went to my room, and, in
+a state of excitement which I cannot describe, I paced for hours up and
+down its narrow precincts. I could not--who could?--analyse the strange,
+contradictory, torturing feelings which, while I recoiled in shrinking
+horror from the scene which the morning was to bring, yet forced me to
+wish the intervening time annihilated; each hour that the clock told
+seemed to vibrate and tinkle through every nerve; my agitation was
+dreadful; fancy conjured up the forms of those who filled my thoughts
+with more than the vividness of reality; things seemed to glide through
+the dusky shadows of the room. I saw the dreaded form of Fitzgerald--I
+heard the hated laugh of the captain--and again the features of O'Connor
+would appear before me, with ghastly distinctness, pale and writhed in
+death, the gouts of gore clotted in the mouth, and the eye-balls
+glared and staring. Scared with the visions which seemed to throng with
+unceasing rapidity and vividness, I threw open the window and looked out
+upon the quiet scene around. I turned my eyes in the direction of the
+town; a heavy cloud was lowering darkly about it, and I, in impious
+frenzy, prayed to God that it might burst in avenging fires upon the
+murderous wretch who lay beneath. At length, sick and giddy with excess
+of excitement, I threw myself upon the bed without removing my clothes,
+and endeavoured to compose myself so far as to remain quiet until the
+hour for our assembling should arrive.
+
+A few minutes before four o'clock I stole noiselessly downstairs, and
+made my way to the small study already mentioned. A candle was burning
+within; and, when I opened the door, O'Connor was reading a book, which,
+on seeing me, he hastily closed, colouring slightly as he did so. We
+exchanged a cordial but mournful greeting; and after a slight pause he
+said, laying his hand upon the volume which he had shut a moment before:
+
+'Purcell, I feel perfectly calm, though I cannot say that I have much
+hope as to the issue of this morning's rencounter. I shall avoid half
+the danger. If I must fall, I am determined I shall not go down to
+the grave with his blood upon my hands. I have resolved not to fire at
+Fitzgerald--that is, to fire in such a direction as to assure myself
+against hitting him. Do not say a word of this to the O'Gradys. Your
+doing so would only produce fruitless altercation; they could not
+understand my motives. I feel convinced that I shall not leave the
+field alive. If I must die to-day, I shall avoid an awful aggravation
+of wretchedness. Purcell,' he continued, after a little space, 'I was so
+weak as to feel almost ashamed of the manner in which I was occupied as
+you entered the room. Yes, _I--I_ who will be, before this evening,
+a cold and lifeless clod, was ashamed to have spent my last moment of
+reflection in prayer. God pardon me! God pardon me!' he repeated.
+
+I took his hand and pressed it, but I could not speak. I sought for
+words of comfort, but they would not come. To have uttered one cheering
+sentence I must have contradicted every impression of my own mind. I
+felt too much awed to attempt it. Shortly afterwards, M'Donough arrived.
+No wretched patient ever underwent a more thrilling revulsion at the
+first sight of the case of surgical instruments under which he had to
+suffer, than did I upon beholding a certain oblong flat mahogany box,
+bound with brass, and of about two feet in length, laid upon the table
+in the hall. O'Connor, thanking him for his punctuality, requested
+him to come into his study for a moment, when, with a melancholy
+collectedness, he proceeded to make arrangements for our witnessing
+his will. The document was a brief one, and the whole matter was just
+arranged, when the two O'Gradys crept softly into the room.
+
+'So! last will and testament,' said the elder. 'Why, you have a very
+BLUE notion of these matters. I tell you, you need not be uneasy.
+I remember very well, when young Ryan of Ballykealey met M'Neil the
+duellist, bets ran twenty to one against him. I stole away from school,
+and had a peep at the fun as well as the best of them. They fired
+together. Ryan received the ball through the collar of his coat, and
+M'Neil in the temple; he spun like a top: it was a most unexpected
+thing, and disappointed his friends damnably. It was admitted, however,
+to have been very pretty shooting upon both sides. To be sure,' he
+continued, pointing to the will, 'you are in the right to keep upon the
+safe side of fortune; but then, there is no occasion to be altogether so
+devilish down in the mouth as you appear to be.'
+
+'You will allow,' said O'Connor, 'that the chances are heavily against
+me.'
+
+'Why, let me see,' he replied, 'not so hollow a thin, either. Let me
+see, we'll say about four to one against you; you may chance to throw
+doublets like him I told you of, and then what becomes of the odds I'd
+like to know? But let things go as they will, I'll give and take four to
+one, in pounds and tens of pounds. There, M'Donough, there's a GET
+for you; b--t me, if it is not. Poh! the fellow is stolen away,' he
+continued, observing that the object of his proposal had left the room;
+'but d---- it, Purcell, you are fond of a SOFT THING, too, in a quiet
+way--I'm sure you are--so curse me if I do not make you the same
+offer-is it a go?'
+
+I was too much disgusted to make any reply, but I believe my looks
+expressed my feelings sufficiently, for in a moment he said:
+
+'Well, I see there is nothing to be done, so we may as well be stirring.
+M'Donough, myself, and my brother will saddle the horses in a jiffy,
+while you and Purcell settle anything which remains to be arranged.'
+
+So saying, he left the room with as much alacrity as if it were to
+prepare for a foxhunt. Selfish, heartless fool! I have often since heard
+him spoken of as A CURSED GOOD-NATURED DOG and a D---- GOOD FELLOW; but
+such eulogies as these are not calculated to mitigate the abhorrence
+with which his conduct upon that morning inspired me.
+
+The chill mists of night were still hovering on the landscape as our
+party left the castle. It was a raw, comfortless morning--a kind of
+drizzling fog hung heavily over the scene, dimming the light of the
+sun, which had now risen, into a pale and even a grey glimmer. As the
+appointed hour was fast approaching, it was proposed that we should
+enter the race-ground at a point close to the stand-house--a measure
+which would save us a ride of nearly two miles, over a broken road; at
+which distance there was an open entrance into the race-ground. Here,
+accordingly, we dismounted, and leaving our horses in the care of
+a country fellow who happened to be stirring at that early hour, we
+proceeded up a narrow lane, over a side wall of which we were to climb
+into the open ground where stood the now deserted building, under which
+the meeting was to take place. Our progress was intercepted by the
+unexpected appearance of an old woman, who, in the scarlet cloak which
+is the picturesque characteristic of the female peasantry of the south,
+was moving slowly down the avenue to meet us, uttering that peculiarly
+wild and piteous lamentation well known by the name of 'the Irish cry,'
+accompanied throughout by all the customary gesticulation of
+passionate grief. This rencounter was more awkward than we had at first
+anticipated; for, upon a nearer approach, the person proved to be no
+other than an old attached dependent of the family, and who had herself
+nursed O'Connor. She quickened her pace as we advanced almost to a run;
+and, throwing her arms round O'Connor's neck, she poured forth such a
+torrent of lamentation, reproach, and endearment, as showed that she was
+aware of the nature of our purpose, whence and by what means I knew not.
+It was in vain that he sought to satisfy her by evasion, and gently
+to extricate himself from her embrace. She knelt upon the ground, and
+clasped her arms round his legs, uttering all the while such touching
+supplications, such cutting and passionate expressions of woe, as went
+to my very heart.
+
+At length, with much difficulty, we passed this most painful
+interruption; and, crossing the boundary wall, were placed beyond her
+reach. The O'Gradys damned her for a troublesome hag, and passed on
+with O'Connor, but I remained behind for a moment. The poor woman looked
+hopelessly at the high wall which separated her from him she had loved
+from infancy, and to be with whom at that minute she would have given
+worlds, she took her seat upon a solitary stone under the opposite wall,
+and there, in a low, subdued key, she continued to utter her sorrow in
+words so desolate, yet expressing such a tenderness of devotion as wrung
+my heart.
+
+'My poor woman,' I said, laying my hand gently upon her shoulder, 'you
+will make yourself ill; the morning is very cold, and your cloak is but
+a thin defence against the damp and chill. Pray return home and take
+this; it may be useful to you.'
+
+So saying, I dropped a purse, with what money I had about me, into her
+lap, but it lay there unheeded; she did not hear me.
+
+'Oh I my child, my child, my darlin',' she sobbed, 'are you gone from
+me? are you gone from me? Ah, mavourneen, mavourneen, you'll never come
+back alive to me again. The crathur that slept on my bosom--the lovin'
+crathur that I was so proud of--they'll kill him, they'll kill him. Oh,
+voh! voh!'
+
+The affecting tone, the feeling, the abandonment with which all this was
+uttered, none can conceive who have not heard the lamentations of the
+Irish peasantry. It brought tears to my eyes. I saw that no consolation
+of mine could soothe her grief, so I turned and departed; but as I
+rapidly traversed the level sward which separated me from my companions,
+now considerably in advance, I could still hear the wailings of the
+solitary mourner.
+
+As we approached the stand-house, it was evident that our antagonists
+had already arrived. Our path lay by the side of a high fence
+constructed of loose stones, and on turning a sharp angle at its
+extremity, we found ourselves close to the appointed spot, and within
+a few yards of a crowd of persons, some mounted and some on foot,
+evidently awaiting our arrival. The affair had unaccountably taken wind,
+as the number of the expectants clearly showed; but for this there was
+now no remedy.
+
+As our little party advanced we were met and saluted by several
+acquaintances, whom curiosity, if no deeper feeling, had brought to the
+place. Fitzgerald and the Captain had arrived, and having dismounted,
+were standing upon the sod. The former, as we approached, bowed slightly
+and sullenly--while the latter, evidently in high good humour, made his
+most courteous obeisance. No time was to be lost; and the two seconds
+immediately withdrew to a slight distance, for the purpose of completing
+the last minute arrangements. It was a brief but horrible interval--each
+returned to his principal to communicate the result, which was soon
+caught up and repeated from mouth to mouth throughout the crowd. I
+felt a strange and insurmountable reluctance to hear the sickening
+particulars detailed; and as I stood irresolute at some distance from
+the principal parties, a top-booted squireen, with a hunting whip in his
+hand, bustling up to a companion of his, exclaimed:
+
+'Not fire together!--did you ever hear the like? If Fitzgerald gets the
+first shot all is over. M'Donough sold the pass, by----, and that is the
+long and the short of it.'
+
+The parties now moved down a little to a small level space, suited to
+the purpose; and the captain, addressing M'Donough, said:
+
+'Mr. M'Donough, you'll now have the goodness to toss for choice of
+ground; as the light comes from the east the line must of course run
+north and south. Will you be so obliging as to toss up a crown-piece,
+while I call?'
+
+A coin was instantly chucked into the air. The captain cried, 'Harp.'
+The HEAD was uppermost, and M'Donough immediately made choice of the
+southern point at which to place his friend--a position which it will
+be easily seen had the advantage of turning his back upon the light--no
+trifling superiority of location. The captain turned with a kind of
+laugh, and said:
+
+'By ----, sir, you are as cunning as a dead pig; but you forgot one
+thing. My friend is a left-handed gunner, though never a bit the worse
+for that; so you see there is no odds as far as the choice of light
+goes.'
+
+He then proceeded to measure nine paces in a direction running north and
+south, and the principals took their ground.
+
+'I must be troublesome to you once again, Mr. M'Donough. One toss more,
+and everything is complete. We must settle who is to have the FIRST
+SLAP.'
+
+A piece of money was again thrown into the air; again the captain lost
+the toss and M'Donough proceeded to load the pistols. I happened to
+stand near Fitzgerald, and I overheard the captain, with a chuckle, say
+something to him in which the word 'cravat' was repeated. It instantly
+occurred to me that the captain's attention was directed to a
+bright-coloured muffler which O'Connor wore round his neck, and which
+would afford his antagonist a distinct and favourable mark. I instantly
+urged him to remove it, and at length, with difficulty, succeeded.
+He seemed perfectly careless as to any precaution. Everything was now
+ready; the pistol was placed in O'Connor's hand, and he only awaited the
+word from the captain.
+
+M'Creagh then said:
+
+'Mr. M'Donough, is your principal ready?'
+
+M'Donough replied in the affirmative; and, after a slight pause, the
+captain, as had been arranged, uttered the words:
+
+'Ready--fire.'
+
+O'Connor fired, but so wide of the mark that some one in the crowd
+exclaimed:
+
+'Fired in the air.'
+
+'Who says he fired in the air?' thundered Fitzgerald. 'By ---- he lies,
+whoever he is.' There was a silence. 'But even if he was fool enough to
+fire in the air, it is not in HIS power to put an end to the quarrel by
+THAT. D---- my soul, if I am come here to be played with like a child,
+and by the Almighty ---- you shall hear more of this, each and everyone
+of you, before I'm satisfied.'
+
+A kind of low murmur, or rather groan, was now raised, and a slight
+motion was observable in the crowd, as if to intercept Fitzgerald's
+passage to his horse. M'Creagh, drawing the horse close to the spot
+where Fitzgerald stood, threatened, with the most awful imprecations,
+'to blow the brains out of the first man who should dare to press on
+them.'
+
+O'Connor now interfered, requesting the crowd to forbear, and some
+degree of order was restored. He then said, 'that in firing as he
+did, he had no intention whatever of waiving his right of firing upon
+Fitzgerald, and of depriving that gentleman of his right of prosecuting
+the affair to the utmost--that if any person present imagined that he
+intended to fire in the air, he begged to set him right; since, so far
+from seeking to exort an unwilling reconciliation, he was determined
+that no power on earth should induce him to concede one inch of ground
+to Mr. Fitzgerald.'
+
+This announcement was received with a shout by the crowd, who now
+resumed their places at either side of the plot of ground which had
+been measured. The principals took their places once more, and M'Creagh
+proceeded, with the nicest and most anxious care, to load the pistols;
+and this task being accomplished, Fitzgerald whispered something in the
+Captain's ear, who instantly drew his friend's horse so as to place
+him within a step of his rider, and then tightened the girths. This
+accomplished, Fitzgerald proceeded deliberately to remove his coat,
+which he threw across his horse in front of the saddle; and then,
+with the assistance of M'Creagh, he rolled the shirt sleeve up to the
+shoulder, so as to leave the whole of his muscular arm perfectly naked.
+A cry of 'Coward, coward! butcher, butcher!' arose from the crowd.
+Fitzgerald paused.
+
+'Do you object, Mr. M'Donough? and upon what grounds, if you please?'
+said he.
+
+'Certainly he does not,' replied O'Connor; and, turning to M'Donough, he
+added, 'pray let there be no unnecessary delay.'
+
+'There is no objection, then,' said Fitzgerald.
+
+'_I_ object,' said the younger of the O'Gradys, 'if nobody else will.'
+
+' And who the devil are you, that DARES to object?' shouted Fitzgerald;
+'and what d--d presumption prompts you to DARE to wag your tongue here?'
+
+'I am Mr. O'Grady, of Castle Blake,' replied the young man, now much
+enraged; 'and by ----, you shall answer for your language to me.'
+
+'Shall I, by ----? Shall I?' cried he, with a laugh of brutal scorn;
+'the more the merrier, d--n the doubt of it--so now hold your tongue,
+for I promise you you shall have business enough of your own to think
+about, and that before long.'
+
+There was an appalling ferocity in his tone and manner which no
+words could convey. He seemed transformed; he was actually like a man
+possessed. Was it possible, I thought, that I beheld the courteous
+gentleman, the gay, good-humoured retailer of amusing anecdote with
+whom, scarce two days ago, I had laughed and chatted, in the blasphemous
+and murderous ruffian who glared and stormed before me!
+
+O'Connor interposed, and requested that time should not be unnecessarily
+lost.
+
+'You have not got a second coat on?' inquired the Captain. 'I beg
+pardon, but my duty to my friend requires that I should ascertain the
+point.'
+
+O'Connor replied in the negative. The Captain expressed himself as
+satisfied, adding, in what he meant to be a complimentary strain, 'that
+he knew Mr. O'Connor would scorn to employ padding or any unfair mode of
+protection.'
+
+There was now a breathless silence. O'Connor stood perfectly motionless;
+and, excepting the death-like paleness of his features, he exhibited
+no sign of agitation. His eye was steady--his lip did not tremble--his
+attitude was calm. The Captain, having re-examined the priming of
+the pistols, placed one of them in the hand of Fitzgerald.--M'Donough
+inquired whether the parties were prepared, and having been answered
+in the affirmative, he proceeded to give the word, 'Ready.' Fitzgerald
+raised his hand, but almost instantly lowered it again. The crowd had
+pressed too much forward as it appeared, and his eye had been unsteadied
+by the flapping of the skirt of a frieze riding-coat worn by one of the
+spectators.
+
+'In the name of my principal,' said the Captain, 'I must and do insist
+upon these gentlemen moving back a little. We ask but little; fair play,
+and no favour.'
+
+The crowd moved as requested. M'Donough repeated his former question,
+and was answered as before. There was a breathless silence. Fitzgerald
+fixed his eye upon O'Connor. The appointed signal, 'Ready, fire!' was
+given. There was a pause while one might slowly reckon three--Fitzgerald
+fired--and O'Connor fell helplessly upon the ground.
+
+'There is no time to be lost,' said M'Creagrh; 'for, by ----, you have
+done for him.'
+
+So saying, he threw himself upon his horse, and was instantly followed
+at a hard gallop by Fitzgerald.
+
+'Cold-blooded murder, if ever murder was committed,' said O'Grady. 'He
+shall hang for it; d--n me, but he shall.'
+
+A hopeless attempt was made to overtake the fugitives; but they were
+better mounted than any of their pursuers, and escaped with ease.
+Curses and actual yells of execration followed their course; and as,
+in crossing the brow of a neighbouring hill, they turned round in
+the saddle to observe if they were pursued, every gesture which could
+express fury and defiance was exhausted by the enraged and defeated
+multitude.
+
+'Clear the way, boys,' said young O'Grady, who with me was kneeling
+beside O'Connor, while we supported him in our arms; 'do not press so
+close, and be d--d; can't you let the fresh air to him; don't you see
+he's dying?'
+
+On opening his waistcoat we easily detected the wound: it was a little
+below the chest--a small blue mark, from which oozed a single heavy drop
+of blood.
+
+'He is bleeding but little--that is a comfort at all events,' said one
+of the gentlemen who surrounded the wounded man.
+
+Another suggested the expediency of his being removed homeward with as
+little delay as possible, and recommended, for this purpose, that a
+door should be removed from its hinges, and the patient, laid upon this,
+should be conveyed from the field. Upon this rude bier my poor friend
+was carried from that fatal ground towards Castle Connor. I walked close
+by his side, and observed every motion of his. He seldom opened his
+eyes, and was perfectly still, excepting a nervous WORKING of the
+fingers, and a slight, almost imperceptible twitching of the features,
+which took place, however, only at intervals. The first word he uttered
+was spoken as we approached the entrance of the castle itself, when
+he said; repeatedly, 'The back way, the back way.' He feared lest his
+mother should meet him abruptly and without preparation; but although
+this fear was groundless, since she never left her room until late
+in the day, yet it was thought advisable, and, indeed, necessary, to
+caution all the servants most strongly against breathing a hint to their
+mistress of the events which had befallen.
+
+Two or three gentlemen had ridden from the field one after another,
+promising that they should overtake our party before it reached the
+castle, bringing with them medical aid from one quarter or another;
+and we determined that Mrs. O'Connor should not know anything of the
+occurrence until the opinion of some professional man should have
+determined the extent of the injury which her son had sustained--a
+course of conduct which would at least have the effect of relieving her
+from the horrors of suspense. When O'Connor found himself in his own
+room, and laid upon his own bed, he appeared much revived--so much so,
+that I could not help admitting a strong hope that all might yet be
+well.
+
+'After all, Purcell,' said he, with a melancholy smile, and speaking
+with evident difficulty, 'I believe I have got off with a trifling
+wound. I am sure it cannot be fatal I feel so little pain--almost none.'
+
+I cautioned him against fatiguing himself by endeavouring to speak; and
+he remained quiet for a little time. At length he said:
+
+'Purcell, I trust this lesson shall not have been given in vain. God has
+been very merciful to me; I feel--I have an internal confidence that I
+am not wounded mortally. Had I been fatally wounded--had I been killed
+upon the spot, only think on it'--and he closed his eyes as if the very
+thought made him dizzy--'struck down into the grave, unprepared as I
+am, in the very blossom of my sins, without a moment of repentance or of
+reflection; I must have been lost--lost for ever and ever.'
+
+I prevailed upon him, with some difficulty, to abstain from such
+agitating reflections, and at length induced him to court such repose as
+his condition admitted of, by remaining perfectly silent, and as much as
+possible without motion.
+
+O'Connor and I only were in the room; he had lain for some time in
+tolerable quiet, when I thought I distinguished the bustle attendant
+upon the arrival of some one at the castle, and went eagerly to the
+window, believing, or at least hoping, that the sounds might announce
+the approach of the medical man, whom we all longed most impatiently to
+see.
+
+My conjecture was right; I had the satisfaction of seeing him dismount
+and prepare to enter the castle, when my observations were interrupted,
+and my attention was attracted by a smothered, gurgling sound proceeding
+from the bed in which lay the wounded man. I instantly turned round, and
+in doing so the spectacle which met my eyes was sufficiently shocking.
+
+I had left O'Connor lying in the bed, supported by pillows, perfectly
+calm, and with his eyes closed: he was now lying nearly in the same
+position, his eyes open and almost starting from their sockets, with
+every feature pale and distorted as death, and vomiting blood in
+quantities that were frightful. I rushed to the door and called for
+assistance; the paroxysm, though violent, was brief, and O'Connor sank
+into a swoon so deep and death-like, that I feared he should waken no
+more.
+
+The surgeon, a little, fussy man, but I believe with some skill to
+justify his pretensions, now entered the room, carrying his case of
+instruments, and followed by servants bearing basins and water and
+bandages of linen. He relieved our doubts by instantly assuring us
+that 'the patient' was still living; and at the same time professed his
+determination to take advantage of the muscular relaxation which the
+faint had induced to examine the wound--adding that a patient was more
+easily 'handled' when in a swoon than under other circumstances.
+
+After examining the wound in front where the ball had entered, he passed
+his hand round beneath the shoulder, and after a little pause he shook
+his head, observing that he feared very much that one of the vertebrae
+was fatally injured, but that he could not say decidedly until his
+patient should revive a little. 'Though his language was very technical,
+and consequently to me nearly unintelligible, I could perceive plainly
+by his manner that he considered the case as almost hopeless.
+
+O'Connor gradually gave some signs of returning animation, and at length
+was so far restored as to be enabled to speak. After some few general
+questions as to how he felt affected, etc., etc., the surgeon, placing
+his hand upon his leg and pressing it slightly, asked him if he felt any
+pressure upon the limb? O'Connor answered in the negative--he pressed
+harder, and repeated the question; still the answer was the same, till
+at length, by repeated experiments, he ascertained that all that part
+of the body which lay behind the wound was paralysed, proving that the
+spine must have received some fatal injury.
+
+'Well, doctor,' said O'Connor, after the examination of the wound was
+over; 'well, I shall do, shan't I?'
+
+The physician was silent for a moment, and then, as if with an effort,
+he replied:
+
+'Indeed, my dear sir, it would not be honest to flatter you with much
+hope.'
+
+'Eh?' said O'Connor with more alacrity than I had seen him exhibit
+since the morning; 'surely I did not hear you aright; I spoke of my
+recovery--surely there is no doubt; there can be none--speak frankly,
+doctor, for God's sake--am I dying?'
+
+The surgeon was evidently no stoic, and his manner had extinguished in
+me every hope, even before he had uttered a word in reply.
+
+'You are--you are indeed dying. There is no hope; I should but deceive
+you if I held out any.'
+
+As the surgeon uttered these terrible words, the hands which O'Connor
+had stretched towards him while awaiting his reply fell powerless by
+his side; his head sank forward; it seemed as if horror and despair
+had unstrung every nerve and sinew; he appeared to collapse and shrink
+together as a plant might under the influence of a withering spell.
+
+It has often been my fate, since then, to visit the chambers of death
+and of suffering; I have witnessed fearful agonies of body and of
+soul; the mysterious shudderings of the departing spirit, and the
+heart-rending desolation of the survivors; the severing of the tenderest
+ties, the piteous yearnings of unavailing love--of all these things
+the sad duties of my profession have made me a witness. But, generally
+speaking, I have observed in such scenes some thing to mitigate, if not
+the sorrows, at least the terrors, of death; the dying man seldom
+seems to feel the reality of his situation; a dull consciousness of
+approaching dissolution, a dim anticipation of unconsciousness and
+insensibility, are the feelings which most nearly border upon an
+appreciation of his state; the film of death seems to have overspread
+the mind's eye, objects lose their distinctness, and float cloudily
+before it, and the apathy and apparent indifference with which men
+recognise the sure advances of immediate death, rob that awful hour
+of much of its terrors, and the death-bed of its otherwise inevitable
+agonies.
+
+This is a merciful dispensation; but the rule has its exceptions--its
+terrible exceptions. When a man is brought in an instant, by some sudden
+accident, to the very verge of the fathomless pit of death, with all
+his recollections awake, and his perceptions keenly and vividly alive,
+without previous illness to subdue the tone of the mind as to dull its
+apprehensions--then, and then only, the death-bed is truly terrible.
+
+Oh, what a contrast did O'Connor afford as he lay in all the abject
+helplessness of undisguised terror upon his death-bed, to the proud
+composure with which he had taken the field that morning. I had always
+before thought of death as of a quiet sleep stealing gradually upon
+exhausted nature, made welcome by suffering, or, at least, softened by
+resignation; I had never before stood by the side of one upon whom the
+hand of death had been thus suddenly laid; I had never seen the tyrant
+arrayed in his terror till then. Never before or since have I seen
+horror so intensely depicted. It seemed actually as if O'Connor's mind
+had been unsettled by the shock; the few words he uttered were marked
+with all the incoherence of distraction; but it was not words that
+marked his despair most strongly, the appalling and heart-sickening
+groans that came from the terror-stricken and dying man must haunt me
+while I live; the expression, too, of hopeless, imploring agony with
+which he turned his eyes from object to object, I can never forget. At
+length, appearing suddenly to recollect himself, he said, with startling
+alertness, but in a voice so altered that I scarce could recognise the
+tones:
+
+'Purcell, Purcell, go and tell my poor mother; she must know all, and
+then, quick, quick, quick, call your uncle, bring him here; I must have
+a chance.' He made a violent but fruitless effort to rise, and after
+a slight pause continued, with deep and urgent solemnity: 'Doctor, how
+long shall I live? Don't flatter me. Compliments at a death-bed are out
+of place; doctor, for God's sake, as you would not have my soul perish
+with my body, do not mock a dying man; have I an hour to live?'
+
+'Certainly,' replied the surgeon; 'if you will but endeavour to keep
+yourself tranquil; otherwise I cannot answer for a moment.'
+
+'Well, doctor,' said the patient, 'I will obey you; now, Purcell, my
+first and dearest friend, will you inform my poor mother of--of what you
+see, and return with your uncle; I know you will.'
+
+I took the dear fellow's hand and kissed it, it was the only answer
+I could give, and left the room. I asked the first female servant I
+chanced to meet, if her mistress were yet up, and was answered in the
+affirmative. Without giving myself time to hesitate, I requested her
+to lead me to her lady's room, which she accordingly did; she entered
+first, I supposed to announce my name, and I followed closely; the poor
+mother said something, and held out her hands to welcome me; I strove
+for words; I could not speak, but nature found expression; I threw
+myself at her feet and covered her hands with kisses and tears. My
+manner was enough; with a quickness almost preternatural she understood
+it all; she simply said the words: 'O'Connor is killed;' she uttered no
+more.
+
+How I left the room I know not; I rode madly to my uncle's residence,
+and brought him back with me--all the rest is a blank. I remember
+standing by O'Connor's bedside, and kissing the cold pallid forehead
+again and again; I remember the pale serenity of the beautiful features;
+I remember that I looked upon the dead face of my friend, and I remember
+no more.
+
+For many months I lay writhing and raving in the frenzy of brain fever;
+a hundred times I stood tottering at the brink of death, and long
+after my restoration to bodily health was assured, it appeared doubtful
+whether I should ever be restored to reason. But God dealt very
+mercifully with me; His mighty hand rescued me from death and from
+madness when one or other appeared inevitable. As soon as I was
+permitted pen and ink, I wrote to the bereaved mother in a tone
+bordering upon frenzy. I accused myself of having made her childless; I
+called myself a murderer; I believed myself accursed; I could not find
+terms strong enough to express my abhorrence of my own conduct. But,
+oh! what an answer I received, so mild, so sweet, from the
+desolate, childless mother! its words spoke all that is beautiful in
+Christianity--it was forgiveness--it was resignation. I am convinced
+that to that letter, operating as it did upon a mind already
+predisposed, is owing my final determination to devote myself to that
+profession in which, for more than half a century, I have been a humble
+minister.
+
+Years roll away, and we count them not as they pass, but their influence
+is not the less certain that it is silent; the deepest wounds are
+gradually healed, the keenest griefs are mitigated, and we, in
+character, feelings, tastes, and pursuits, become such altered beings,
+that but for some few indelible marks which past events must leave
+behind them, which time may soften, but can never efface; our very
+identity would be dubious. Who has not felt all this at one time or
+other? Who has not mournfully felt it? This trite, but natural train of
+reflection filled my mind as I approached the domain of Castle Connor
+some ten years after the occurrence of the events above narrated.
+Everything looked the same as when I had left it; the old trees stood
+as graceful and as grand as ever; no plough had violated the soft green
+sward; no utilitarian hand had constrained the wanderings of the clear
+and sportive stream, or disturbed the lichen-covered rocks through
+which it gushed, or the wild coppice that over-shadowed its sequestered
+nooks--but the eye that looked upon these things was altered, and memory
+was busy with other days, shrouding in sadness every beauty that met my
+sight.
+
+As I approached the castle my emotions became so acutely painful that
+I had almost returned the way I came, without accomplishing the purpose
+for which I had gone thus far; and nothing but the conviction that my
+having been in the neighbourhood of Castle Connor without visiting its
+desolate mistress would render me justly liable to the severest censure,
+could overcome my reluctance to encountering the heavy task which was
+before me. I recognised the old servant who opened the door, but he did
+not know me. I was completely changed; suffering of body and mind had
+altered me in feature and in bearing, as much as in character. I asked
+the man whether his mistress ever saw visitors. He answered:
+
+'But seldom; perhaps, however, if she knew that an old friend wished to
+see her for a few minutes, she would gratify him so far.'
+
+At the same time I placed my card in his hand, and requested him to
+deliver it to his mistress. He returned in a few moments, saying that
+his lady would be happy to see me in the parlour, and I accordingly
+followed him to the door, which he opened. I entered the room, and was
+in a moment at the side of my early friend and benefactress. I was too
+much agitated to speak; I could only hold the hands which she gave me,
+while, spite of every effort, the tears flowed fast and bitterly.
+
+'It was kind, very, very kind of you to come to see me,' she said,
+with far more composure than I could have commanded; 'I see it is very
+painful to you.'
+
+I endeavoured to compose myself, and for a little time we remained
+silent; she was the first to speak:
+
+'You will be surprised, Mr. Purcell, when you observe the calmness with
+which I can speak of him who was dearest to me, who is gone; but my
+thoughts are always with him, and the recollections of his love'--her
+voice faltered a little--'and the hope of meeting him hereafter enables
+me to bear existence.'
+
+I said I know not what; something about resignation, I believe.
+
+'I hope I am resigned; God made me more: so,' she said. 'Oh, Mr.
+Purcell, I have often thought I loved my lost child TOO well. It was
+natural--he was my only child--he was----' She could not proceed for a
+few moments: 'It was very natural that I should love him as I did; but
+it may have been sinful; I have often thought so. I doated upon him--I
+idolised him--I thought too little of other holier affections; and God
+may have taken him from me, only to teach me, by this severe lesson,
+that I owed to heaven a larger share of my heart than to anything
+earthly. I cannot think of him now without more solemn feelings than if
+he were with me. There is something holy in our thoughts of the dead; I
+feel it so.' After a pause, she continued--'Mr. Purcell, do you remember
+his features well? they were very beautiful.' I assured her that I did.
+'Then you can tell me if you think this a faithful likeness.' She took
+from a drawer a case in which lay a miniature. I took it reverently from
+her hands; it was indeed very like--touchingly like. I told her so; and
+she seemed gratified.
+
+As the evening was wearing fast, and I had far to go, I hastened to
+terminate my visit, as I had intended, by placing in her hand a letter
+from her son to me, written during his sojourn upon the Continent. I
+requested her to keep it; it was one in which he spoke much of her, and
+in terms of the tenderest affection. As she read its contents the heavy
+tears gathered in her eyes, and fell, one by one, upon the page; she
+wiped them away, but they still flowed fast and silently. It was in
+vain that she tried to read it; her eyes were filled with tears: so she
+folded the letter, and placed it in her bosom. I rose to depart, and she
+also rose.
+
+'I will not ask you to delay your departure,' said she; 'your visit here
+must have been a painful one to you. I cannot find words to thank you
+for the letter as I would wish, or for all your kindness. It has given
+me a pleasure greater than I thought could have fallen to the lot of a
+creature so very desolate as I am; may God bless you for it!' And thus
+we parted; I never saw Castle Connor or its solitary inmate more.
+
+
+
+
+THE DRUNKARD'S DREAM.
+
+Being a Fourth Extract from the Legacy of the late F. Purcell, P. P. of
+Drumcoolagh.
+
+     'All this HE told with some confusion and
+     Dismay, the usual consequence of dreams
+     Of the unpleasant kind, with none at hand
+     To expound their vain and visionary gleams,
+     I've known some odd ones which seemed really planned
+     Prophetically, as that which one deems
+     "A strange coincidence," to use a phrase
+     By which such things are settled nowadays.'
+                                            BYRON.
+
+
+Dreams! What age, or what country of the world, has not and acknowledged
+the mystery of their origin and end? I have thought not a little upon
+the subject, seeing it is one which has been often forced upon my
+attention, and sometimes strangely enough; and yet I have never arrived
+at anything which at all appeared a satisfactory conclusion. It does
+appear that a mental phenomenon so extraordinary cannot be wholly
+without its use. We know, indeed, that in the olden times it has been
+made the organ of communication between the Deity and His creatures; and
+when, as I have seen, a dream produces upon a mind, to all appearance
+hopelessly reprobate and depraved, an effect so powerful and so lasting
+as to break down the inveterate habits, and to reform the life of an
+abandoned sinner, we see in the result, in the reformation of morals
+which appeared incorrigible, in the reclamation of a human soul which
+seemed to be irretrievably lost, something more than could be produced
+by a mere chimera of the slumbering fancy, something more than could
+arise from the capricious images of a terrified imagination; but once
+presented, we behold in all these things, and in their tremendous and
+mysterious results, the operation of the hand of God. And while Reason
+rejects as absurd the superstition which will read a prophecy in every
+dream, she may, without violence to herself, recognise, even in
+the wildest and most incongruous of the wanderings of a slumbering
+intellect, the evidences and the fragments of a language which may be
+spoken, which HAS been spoken, to terrify, to warn, and to command. We
+have reason to believe too, by the promptness of action which in the
+age of the prophets followed all intimations of this kind, and by the
+strength of conviction and strange permanence of the effects resulting
+from certain dreams in latter times, which effects we ourselves may have
+witnessed, that when this medium of communication has been employed
+by the Deity, the evidences of His presence have been unequivocal. My
+thoughts were directed to this subject, in a manner to leave a lasting
+impression upon my mind, by the events which I shall now relate, the
+statement of which, however extraordinary, is nevertheless ACCURATELY
+CORRECT.
+
+About the year 17--, having been appointed to the living of C---h, I
+rented a small house in the town, which bears the same name: one morning
+in the month of November, I was awakened before my usual time by my
+servant, who bustled into my bedroom for the purpose of announcing a
+sick call. As the Catholic Church holds her last rites to be totally
+indispensable to the safety of the departing sinner, no conscientious
+clergyman can afford a moment's unnecessary delay, and in little more
+than five minutes I stood ready cloaked and booted for the road, in the
+small front parlour, in which the messenger, who was to act as my guide,
+awaited my coming. I found a poor little girl crying piteously near the
+door, and after some slight difficulty I ascertained that her father was
+either dead or just dying.
+
+'And what may be your father's name, my poor child?' said I. She held
+down her head, as if ashamed. I repeated the question, and the wretched
+little creature burst into floods of tears still more bitter than she
+had shed before. At length, almost provoked by conduct which appeared to
+me so unreasonable, I began to lose patience, spite of the pity which I
+could not help feeling towards her, and I said rather harshly:
+
+'If you will not tell me the name of the person to whom you would lead
+me, your silence can arise from no good motive, and I might be justified
+in refusing to go with you at all.'
+
+'Oh, don't say that--don't say that!' cried she. 'Oh, sir, it was that
+I was afeard of when I would not tell you--I was afeard, when you
+heard his name, you would not come with me; but it is no use hidin' it
+now--it's Pat Connell, the carpenter, your honour.'
+
+She looked in my face with the most earnest anxiety, as if her very
+existence depended upon what she should read there; but I relieved her
+at once. The name, indeed, was most unpleasantly familiar to me; but,
+however fruitless my visits and advice might have been at another time,
+the present was too fearful an occasion to suffer my doubts of their
+utility or my reluctance to re-attempting what appeared a hopeless task
+to weigh even against the lightest chance that a consciousness of
+his imminent danger might produce in him a more docile and tractable
+disposition. Accordingly I told the child to lead the way, and followed
+her in silence. She hurried rapidly through the long narrow street which
+forms the great thoroughfare of the town. The darkness of the hour,
+rendered still deeper by the close approach of the old-fashioned houses,
+which lowered in tall obscurity on either side of the way; the damp,
+dreary chill which renders the advance of morning peculiarly cheerless,
+combined with the object of my walk, to visit the death-bed of a
+presumptuous sinner, to endeavour, almost against my own conviction, to
+infuse a hope into the heart of a dying reprobate--a drunkard but
+too probably perishing under the consequences of some mad fit of
+intoxication; all these circumstances united served to enhance the gloom
+and solemnity of my feelings, as I silently followed my little guide,
+who with quick steps traversed the uneven pavement of the main street.
+After a walk of about five minutes she turned off into a narrow lane,
+of that obscure and comfortless class which is to be found in almost all
+small oldfashioned towns, chill, without ventilation, reeking with all
+manner of offensive effluviae, and lined by dingy, smoky, sickly and
+pent-up buildings, frequently not only in a wretched but in a dangerous
+condition.
+
+'Your father has changed his abode since I last visited him, and, I am
+afraid, much for the worse,' said I.
+
+'Indeed he has, sir; but we must not complain,' replied she. 'We have to
+thank God that we have lodging and food, though it's poor enough, it is,
+your honour.'
+
+Poor child! thought I, how many an older head might learn wisdom from
+thee--how many a luxurious philosopher, who is skilled to preach but not
+to suffer, might not thy patient words put to the blush! The manner
+and language of this child were alike above her years and station;
+and, indeed, in all cases in which the cares and sorrows of life have
+anticipated their usual date, and have fallen, as they sometimes do,
+with melancholy prematurity to the lot of childhood, I have observed the
+result to have proved uniformly the same. A young mind, to which joy and
+indulgence have been strangers, and to which suffering and self-denial
+have been familiarised from the first, acquires a solidity and an
+elevation which no other discipline could have bestowed, and which, in
+the present case, communicated a striking but mournful peculiarity to
+the manners, even to the voice, of the child. We paused before a narrow,
+crazy door, which she opened by means of a latch, and we forthwith began
+to ascend the steep and broken stairs which led upwards to the sick
+man's room.
+
+As we mounted flight after flight towards the garret-floor, I heard more
+and more distinctly the hurried talking of many voices. I could also
+distinguish the low sobbing of a female. On arriving upon the uppermost
+lobby these sounds became fully audible.
+
+'This way, your honour,' said my little conductress; at the same time,
+pushing open a door of patched and half-rotten plank, she admitted me
+into the squalid chamber of death and misery. But one candle, held in
+the fingers of a scared and haggard-looking child, was burning in the
+room, and that so dim that all was twilight or darkness except within
+its immediate influence. The general obscurity, however, served to throw
+into prominent and startling relief the death-bed and its occupant. The
+light was nearly approximated to, and fell with horrible clearness
+upon, the blue and swollen features of the drunkard. I did not think it
+possible that a human countenance could look so terrific. The lips were
+black and drawn apart; the teeth were firmly set; the eyes a little
+unclosed, and nothing but the whites appearing. Every feature was fixed
+and livid, and the whole face wore a ghastly and rigid expression of
+despairing terror such as I never saw equalled. His hands were crossed
+upon his breast, and firmly clenched; while, as if to add to the
+corpse-like effect of the whole, some white cloths, dipped in water,
+were wound about the forehead and temples.
+
+As soon as I could remove my eyes from this horrible spectacle, I
+observed my friend Dr. D----, one of the most humane of a humane
+profession, standing by the bedside. He had been attempting, but
+unsuccessfully, to bleed the patient, and had now applied his finger to
+the pulse.
+
+'Is there any hope?' I inquired in a whisper.
+
+A shake of the head was the reply. There was a pause while he continued
+to hold the wrist; but he waited in vain for the throb of life--it was
+not there: and when he let go the hand, it fell stiffly back into its
+former position upon the other.
+
+'The man is dead,' said the physician, as he turned from the bed where
+the terrible figure lay.
+
+Dead! thought I, scarcely venturing to look upon the tremendous and
+revolting spectacle. Dead! without an hour for repentance, even a moment
+for reflection; dead I without the rites which even the best should
+have. Is there a hope for him? The glaring eyeball, the grinning mouth,
+the distorted brow--that unutterable look in which a painter would have
+sought to embody the fixed despair of the nethermost hell. These were my
+answer.
+
+The poor wife sat at a little distance, crying as if her heart would
+break--the younger children clustered round the bed, looking with
+wondering curiosity upon the form of death never seen before.
+
+When the first tumult of uncontrollable sorrow had passed away, availing
+myself of the solemnity and impressiveness of the scene, I desired the
+heart-stricken family to accompany me in prayer, and all knelt down
+while I solemnly and fervently repeated some of those prayers which
+appeared most applicable to the occasion. I employed myself thus in a
+manner which, I trusted, was not unprofitable, at least to the living,
+for about ten minutes; and having accomplished my task, I was the first
+to arise.
+
+I looked upon the poor, sobbing, helpless creatures who knelt so humbly
+around me, and my heart bled for them. With a natural transition I
+turned my eyes from them to the bed in which the body lay; and, great
+God! what was the revulsion, the horror which I experienced on seeing
+the corpse-like terrific thing seated half upright before me; the white
+cloths which had been wound about the head had now partly slipped from
+their position, and were hanging in grotesque festoons about the face
+and shoulders, while the distorted eyes leered from amid them--
+
+          'A sight to dream of, not to tell.'
+
+I stood actually riveted to the spot. The figure nodded its head and
+lifted its arm, I thought, with a menacing gesture. A thousand confused
+and horrible thoughts at once rushed upon my mind. I had often read
+that the body of a presumptuous sinner, who, during life, had been the
+willing creature of every satanic impulse, after the human tenant had
+deserted it, had been known to become the horrible sport of demoniac
+possession.
+
+I was roused from the stupefaction of terror in which I stood, by the
+piercing scream of the mother, who now, for the first time, perceived
+the change which had taken place. She rushed towards the bed, but
+stunned by the shock, and overcome by the conflict of violent emotions,
+before she reached it she fell prostrate upon the floor.
+
+I am perfectly convinced that had I not been startled from the torpidity
+of horror in which I was bound by some powerful and arousing stimulant,
+I should have gazed upon this unearthly apparition until I had fairly
+lost my senses. As it was, however, the spell was broken--superstition
+gave way to reason: the man whom all believed to have been actually dead
+was living!
+
+Dr. D---- was instantly standing by the bedside, and upon examination he
+found that a sudden and copious flow of blood had taken place from the
+wound which the lancet had left; and this, no doubt, had effected his
+sudden and almost preternatural restoration to an existence from which
+all thought he had been for ever removed. The man was still speechless,
+but he seemed to understand the physician when he forbid his repeating
+the painful and fruitless attempts which he made to articulate, and he
+at once resigned himself quietly into his hands.
+
+I left the patient with leeches upon his temples, and bleeding freely,
+apparently with little of the drowsiness which accompanies apoplexy;
+indeed, Dr. D---- told me that he had never before witnessed a seizure
+which seemed to combine the symptoms of so many kinds, and yet which
+belonged to none of the recognised classes; it certainly was not
+apoplexy, catalepsy, nor delirium tremens, and yet it seemed, in
+some degree, to partake of the properties of all. It was strange, but
+stranger things are coming.
+
+During two or three days Dr. D---- would not allow his patient to
+converse in a manner which could excite or exhaust him, with anyone;
+he suffered him merely as briefly as possible to express his immediate
+wants. And it was not until the fourth day after my early visit, the
+particulars of which I have just detailed, that it was thought expedient
+that I should see him, and then only because it appeared that his
+extreme importunity and impatience to meet me were likely to retard
+his recovery more than the mere exhaustion attendant upon a short
+conversation could possibly do; perhaps, too, my friend entertained some
+hope that if by holy confession his patient's bosom were eased of the
+perilous stuff which no doubt oppressed it, his recovery would be more
+assured and rapid. It was then, as I have said, upon the fourth day
+after my first professional call, that I found myself once more in the
+dreary chamber of want and sickness.
+
+The man was in bed, and appeared low and restless. On my entering the
+room he raised himself in the bed, and muttered, twice or thrice:
+
+'Thank God! thank God!'
+
+I signed to those of his family who stood by to leave the room, and
+took a chair beside the bed. So soon as we were alone, he said, rather
+doggedly:
+
+'There's no use in telling me of the sinfulness of bad ways--I know it
+all. I know where they lead to--I seen everything about it with my own
+eyesight, as plain as I see you.' He rolled himself in the bed, as if
+to hide his face in the clothes; and then suddenly raising himself,
+he exclaimed with startling vehemence: 'Look, sir! there is no use in
+mincing the matter: I'm blasted with the fires of hell; I have been in
+hell. What do you think of that? In hell--I'm lost for ever--I have not
+a chance. I am damned already--damned--damned!'
+
+The end of this sentence he actually shouted. His vehemence was
+perfectly terrific; he threw himself back, and laughed, and sobbed
+hysterically. I poured some water into a tea-cup, and gave it to him.
+After he had swallowed it, I told him if he had anything to communicate,
+to do so as briefly as he could, and in a manner as little agitating
+to himself as possible; threatening at the same time, though I had no
+intention of doing so, to leave him at once, in case he again gave way
+to such passionate excitement.
+
+'It's only foolishness,' he continued, 'for me to try to thank you for
+coming to such a villain as myself at all. It's no use for me to wish
+good to you, or to bless you; for such as me has no blessings to give.'
+
+I told him that I had but done my duty, and urged him to proceed to the
+matter which weighed upon his mind. He then spoke nearly as follows:
+
+'I came in drunk on Friday night last, and got to my bed here; I don't
+remember how. Sometime in the night it seemed to me I wakened, and
+feeling unasy in myself, I got up out of the bed. I wanted the fresh
+air; but I would not make a noise to open the window, for fear I'd waken
+the crathurs. It was very dark and throublesome to find the door; but
+at last I did get it, and I groped my way out, and went down as asy as I
+could. I felt quite sober, and I counted the steps one after another, as
+I was going down, that I might not stumble at the bottom.
+
+'When I came to the first landing-place--God be about us always!--the
+floor of it sunk under me, and I went down--down--down, till the senses
+almost left me. I do not know how long I was falling, but it seemed to
+me a great while. When I came rightly to myself at last, I was sitting
+near the top of a great table; and I could not see the end of it, if it
+had any, it was so far off. And there was men beyond reckoning, sitting
+down all along by it, at each side, as far as I could see at all. I
+did not know at first was it in the open air; but there was a close
+smothering feel in it that was not natural. And there was a kind of
+light that my eyesight never saw before, red and unsteady; and I did not
+see for a long time where it was coming from, until I looked straight
+up, and then I seen that it came from great balls of blood-coloured
+fire that were rolling high over head with a sort of rushing, trembling
+sound, and I perceived that they shone on the ribs of a great roof of
+rock that was arched overhead instead of the sky. When I seen this,
+scarce knowing what I did, I got up, and I said, "I have no right to
+be here; I must go." And the man that was sitting at my left hand only
+smiled, and said, "Sit down again; you can NEVER leave this place." And
+his voice was weaker than any child's voice I ever heerd; and when he
+was done speaking he smiled again.
+
+'Then I spoke out very loud and bold, and I said, "In the name of God,
+let me out of this bad place." And there was a great man that I did not
+see before, sitting at the end of the table that I was near; and he was
+taller than twelve men, and his face was very proud and terrible to look
+at. And he stood up and stretched out his hand before him; and when he
+stood up, all that was there, great and small, bowed down with a sighing
+sound, and a dread came on my heart, and he looked at me, and I could
+not speak. I felt I was his own, to do what he liked with, for I knew at
+once who he was; and he said, "If you promise to return, you may depart
+for a season;" and the voice he spoke with was terrible and mournful,
+and the echoes of it went rolling and swelling down the endless cave,
+and mixing with the trembling of the fire overhead; so that when he
+sat down there was a sound after him, all through the place, like
+the roaring of a furnace, and I said, with all the strength I had, "I
+promise to come back--in God's name let me go!"
+
+'And with that I lost the sight and the hearing of all that was there,
+and when my senses came to me again, I was sitting in the bed with the
+blood all over me, and you and the rest praying around the room.'
+
+Here he paused and wiped away the chill drops of horror which hung upon
+his forehead.
+
+I remained silent for some moments. The vision which he had just
+described struck my imagination not a little, for this was long
+before Vathek and the 'Hall of Eblis' had delighted the world; and the
+description which he gave had, as I received it, all the attractions of
+novelty beside the impressiveness which always belongs to the narration
+of an EYE-WITNESS, whether in the body or in the spirit, of the scenes
+which he describes. There was something, too, in the stern horror
+with which the man related these things, and in the incongruity of his
+description, with the vulgarly received notions of the great place of
+punishment, and of its presiding spirit, which struck my mind with awe,
+almost with fear. At length he said, with an expression of horrible,
+imploring earnestness, which I shall never forget--'Well, sir, is
+there any hope; is there any chance at all? or, is my soul pledged and
+promised away for ever? is it gone out of my power? must I go back to
+the place?'
+
+In answering him, I had no easy task to perform; for however clear
+might be my internal conviction of the groundlessness of his tears,
+and however strong my scepticism respecting the reality of what he had
+described, I nevertheless felt that his impression to the contrary, and
+his humility and terror resulting from it, might be made available as
+no mean engines in the work of his conversion from prodigacy, and of his
+restoration to decent habits, and to religious feeling.
+
+I therefore told him that he was to regard his dream rather in the light
+of a warning than in that of a prophecy; that our salvation depended not
+upon the word or deed of a moment, but upon the habits of a life; that,
+in fine, if he at once discarded his idle companions and evil habits,
+and firmly adhered to a sober, industrious, and religious course of
+life, the powers of darkness might claim his soul in vain, for that
+there were higher and firmer pledges than human tongue could utter,
+which promised salvation to him who should repent and lead a new life.
+
+I left him much comforted, and with a promise to return upon the next
+day. I did so, and found him much more cheerful and without any remains
+of the dogged sullenness which I suppose had arisen from his despair.
+His promises of amendment were given in that tone of deliberate
+earnestness, which belongs to deep and solemn determination; and it was
+with no small delight that I observed, after repeated visits, that his
+good resolutions, so far from failing, did but gather strength by time;
+and when I saw that man shake off the idle and debauched companions,
+whose society had for years formed alike his amusement and his ruin, and
+revive his long discarded habits of industry and sobriety, I said within
+myself, there is something more in all this than the operation of an
+idle dream.
+
+One day, sometime after his perfect restoration to health, I was
+surprised on ascending the stairs, for the purpose of visiting this
+man, to find him busily employed in nailing down some planks upon the
+landing-place, through which, at the commencement of his mysterious
+vision, it seemed to him that he had sunk. I perceived at once that he
+was strengthening the floor with a view to securing himself against such
+a catastrophe, and could scarcely forbear a smile as I bid 'God bless
+his work.'
+
+He perceived my thoughts, I suppose, for he immediately said:
+
+'I can never pass over that floor without trembling. I'd leave this
+house if I could, but I can't find another lodging in the town so cheap,
+and I'll not take a better till I've paid off all my debts, please God;
+but I could not be asy in my mind till I made it as safe as I could.
+You'll hardly believe me, your honour, that while I'm working, maybe a
+mile away, my heart is in a flutter the whole way back, with the bare
+thoughts of the two little steps I have to walk upon this bit of a
+floor. So it's no wonder, sir, I'd thry to make it sound and firm with
+any idle timber I have.'
+
+I applauded his resolution to pay off his debts, and the steadiness with
+which he perused his plans of conscientious economy, and passed on.
+
+Many months elapsed, and still there appeared no alteration in his
+resolutions of amendment. He was a good workman, and with his better
+habits he recovered his former extensive and profitable employment.
+Everything seemed to promise comfort and respectability. I have little
+more to add, and that shall be told quickly. I had one evening met Pat
+Connell, as he returned from his work, and as usual, after a mutual, and
+on his side respectful salutation, I spoke a few words of encouragement
+and approval. I left him industrious, active, healthy--when next I saw
+him, not three days after, he was a corpse.
+
+The circumstances which marked the event of his death were somewhat
+strange--I might say fearful. The unfortunate man had accidentally met
+an early friend just returned, after a long absence, and in a moment of
+excitement, forgetting everything in the warmth of his joy, he yielded
+to his urgent invitation to accompany him into a public-house, which lay
+close by the spot where the encounter had taken place. Connell, however,
+previously to entering the room, had announced his determination to take
+nothing more than the strictest temperance would warrant.
+
+But oh! who can describe the inveterate tenacity with which a drunkard's
+habits cling to him through life? He may repent--he may reform--he may
+look with actual abhorrence upon his past profligacy; but amid all this
+reformation and compunction, who can tell the moment in which the
+base and ruinous propensity may not recur, triumphing over resolution,
+remorse, shame, everything, and prostrating its victim once more in all
+that is destructive and revolting in that fatal vice?
+
+The wretched man left the place in a state of utter intoxication. He was
+brought home nearly insensible, and placed in his bed, where he lay in
+the deep calm lethargy of drunkenness. The younger part of the family
+retired to rest much after their usual hour; but the poor wife remained
+up sitting by the fire, too much grieved and shocked at the occurrence
+of what she had so little expected, to settle to rest; fatigue, however,
+at length overcame her, and she sank gradually into an uneasy slumber.
+She could not tell how long she had remained in this state, when she
+awakened, and immediately on opening her eyes, she perceived by the
+faint red light of the smouldering turf embers, two persons, one of whom
+she recognised as her husband, noiselessly gliding out of the room.
+
+'Pat, darling, where are you going?' said she. There was no answer--the
+door closed after them; but in a moment she was startled and terrified
+by a loud and heavy crash, as if some ponderous body had been hurled
+down the stair. Much alarmed, she started up, and going to the head of
+the staircase, she called repeatedly upon her husband, but in vain. She
+returned to the room, and with the assistance of her daughter, whom I
+had occasion to mention before, she succeeded in finding and lighting a
+candle, with which she hurried again to the head of the staircase.
+
+At the bottom lay what seemed to be a bundle of clothes, heaped
+together, motionless, lifeless--it was her husband. In going down the
+stair, for what purpose can never now be known, he had fallen helplessly
+and violently to the bottom, and coming head foremost, the spine at
+the neck had been dislocated by the shock, and instant death must have
+ensued. The body lay upon that landing-place to which his dream had
+referred. It is scarcely worth endeavouring to clear up a single point
+in a narrative where all is mystery; yet I could not help suspecting
+that the second figure which had been seen in the room by Connell's wife
+on the night of his death, might have been no other than his own shadow.
+I suggested this solution of the difficulty; but she told me that the
+unknown person had been considerably in advance of the other, and on
+reaching the door, had turned back as if to communicate something to his
+companion. It was then a mystery.
+
+Was the dream verified?--whither had the disembodied spirit sped?--who
+can say? We know not. But I left the house of death that day in a state
+of horror which I could not describe. It seemed to me that I was scarce
+awake. I heard and saw everything as if under the spell of a night-mare.
+The coincidence was terrible.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Purcell Papers, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
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