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diff --git a/6489.txt b/6489.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c08db5c --- /dev/null +++ b/6489.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10362 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Book of Golden Deeds, by Charlotte M. Yonge + +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: A Book of Golden Deeds + +Author: Charlotte M. Yonge + +Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6489] +Last Updated: August 10, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BOOK OF GOLDEN DEEDS *** + + + + +Produced by Hanh Vu and Sandra Laythorpe + + + + + + +A BOOK OF GOLDEN DEEDS + +By Charlotte M. Yonge + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + What is a Golden Deed? + The Stories of Alcestis and Antigone + The Cup of Water + How One Man has saved a Host + The Pass of Thermopylae + The Rock of the Capitol + The Two Friends of Syracuse + The Devotion of the Decii + Regulus + The brave Brethren of Judah + The Chief of the Arverni + Withstanding the Monarch in his Wrath + The last Fight in the Coliseum + The Shepherd Girl of Nanterre + Leo the Slave + The Battle of the Blackwater + Guzman el Bueno + Faithful till Death + What is better than Slaying a Dragon + The Keys of Calais + The Battle of Sempach + The Constant Prince + The Carnival of Perth + The Crown of St. Stephen + George the Triller + Sir Thomas More's Daughter + Under Ivan the Terrible + Fort St. Elmo + The Voluntary Convict + The Housewives of Lowenburg + Fathers and Sons + The Soldiers in the Snow + Gunpowder Perils + Heroes of the Plague + The Second of September + The Vendeans + + + + +PREFACE + + +As the most striking lines of poetry are the most hackneyed, because +they have grown to be the common inheritance of all the world, so many +of the most noble deeds that earth can show have become the best known, +and enjoyed their full meed of fame. Therefore it may be feared that +many of the events here detailed, or alluded to, may seem trite to those +in search of novelty; but it is not for such that the collection has +been made. It is rather intended as a treasury for young people, where +they may find minuter particulars than their abridged histories usually +afford of the soul-stirring deeds that give life and glory to the record +of events; and where also other like actions, out of their ordinary +course of reading, may be placed before them, in the trust that example +may inspire the spirit of heroism and self-devotion. For surely it must +be a wholesome contemplation to look on actions, the very essence of +which is such entire absorption in others that self is forgotten; the +object of which is not to win promotion, wealth, or success, but simple +duty, mercy, and loving-kindness. These are the actions wrought, 'hoping +for nothing again', but which most surely have their reward. + +The authorities have not been given, as for the most [Page] part the +narratives lie on the surface of history. For the description of the +Coliseum, I have, however, been indebted to the Abbe Gerbet's Rome +Chretienne; for the Housewives of Lowenburg, and St. Stephen's Crown, +to Freytag's Sketches of German Life; and for the story of George the +Triller, to Mr. Mayhew's Germany. The Escape of Attalus is narrated +(from Gregory of Tours) in Thierry's 'Lettres sur l'Histoire de France;' +the Russian officer's adventures, and those of Prascovia Lopouloff +(<http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/yonge/deeds/pardon.html> Ed.), +the true Elisabeth of Siberia, are from M. le Maistre; the shipwrecks +chiefly from Gilly's 'Shipwrecks of the British Navy;' the Jersey Powder +Magazine from the Annual Registrer, and that at Ciudad Rodrigo, from the +traditions of the 52nd Regiment. + +There is a cloud of doubt resting on a few of the tales, which it may be +honest to mention, though they were far too beautiful not to tell. These +are the details of the Gallic occupation of Rome, the Legend of St. +Genevieve, the Letter of Gertrude von der Wart, the stories of the +Keys of Calais, of the Dragon of Rhodes, and we fear we must add, both +Nelson's plan of the Battle of the Nile, and likewise the exact form of +the heroism of young Casabianca, of which no two accounts agree. But +it was not possible to give up such stories as these, and the thread of +truth there must be in them has developed into such a beautiful tissue, +that even if unsubstantial when tested, it is surely delightful to +contemplate. + +Some stories have been passed over as too devoid of foundation, in +especial that of young Henri, Duke of Nemours, who, at ten years old, +was said to have been hung up with his little brother of eight in one of +Louis XI's cages at Loches, with orders that two of the children's teeth +should daily be pulled out and brought to the king. The elder child was +said to have insisted on giving the whole supply of teeth, so as to +save his brother; but though they were certainly imprisoned after +their father's execution, they were released after Louis's death in a +condition which disproves this atrocity. + +The Indian mutiny might likewise have supplied glorious instances of +Christian self-devotion, but want of materials has compelled us to stop +short of recording those noble deeds by which delicate women and light- +hearted young soldiers showed, that in the hour of need there was not +wanting to them the highest and deepest 'spirit of self-sacrifice.' + +At some risk of prolixity, enough of the surrounding events has in +general been given to make the situation comprehensible, even without +knowledge of the general history. This has been done in the hope that +these extracts may serve as a mother's storehouse for reading aloud to +her boys, or that they may be found useful for short readings to the +intelligent, though uneducated classes. + +NOVEMBER 17, 1864. + + + + +WHAT IS A GOLDEN DEED? + + +We all of us enjoy a story of battle and adventure. Some of us delight +in the anxiety and excitement with which we watch the various strange +predicaments, hairbreadth escapes, and ingenious contrivances that +are presented to us; and the mere imaginary dread of the dangers +thus depicted, stirs our feelings and makes us feel eager and full of +suspense. + +This taste, though it is the first step above the dullness that cannot +be interested in anything beyond its own immediate world, nor care for +what it neither sees, touches, tastes, nor puts to any present use, is +still the lowest form that such a liking can take. It may be no better +than a love of reading about murders in the newspaper, just for the +sake of a sort of startled sensation; and it is a taste that becomes +unwholesome when it absolutely delights in dwelling on horrors and +cruelties for their own sake; or upon shifty, cunning, dishonest +stratagems and devices. To learn to take interest in what is evil is +always mischievous. + +But there is an element in many of such scenes of woe and violence that +may well account for our interest in them. It is that which makes the +eye gleam and the heart throb, and bears us through the details of +suffering, bloodshed, and even barbarity--feeling our spirits moved +and elevated by contemplating the courage and endurance that they have +called forth. Nay, such is the charm of brilliant valor, that we often +are tempted to forget the injustice of the cause that may have called +forth the actions that delight us. And this enthusiasm is often united +with the utmost tenderness of heart, the very appreciation of suffering +only quickening the sense of the heroism that risked the utmost, till +the young and ardent learn absolutely to look upon danger as an occasion +for evincing the highest qualities. + + + 'O Life, without thy chequer'd scene + Of right and wrong, of weal and woe, + Success and failure, could a ground + For magnanimity be found?' + + +The true cause of such enjoyment is perhaps an inherent consciousness +that there is nothing so noble as forgetfulness of self. Therefore it +is that we are struck by hearing of the exposure of life and limb to +the utmost peril, in oblivion, or recklessness of personal safety, in +comparison with a higher object. + +That object is sometimes unworthy. In the lowest form of courage it is +only avoidance of disgrace; but even fear of shame is better than mere +love of bodily ease, and from that lowest motive the scale rises to the +most noble and precious actions of which human nature is capable--the +truly golden and priceless deeds that are the jewels of history, the +salt of life. + +And it is a chain of Golden Deeds that we seek to lay before our +readers; but, ere entering upon them, perhaps we had better clearly +understand what it is that to our mind constitutes a Golden Deed. + +It is not mere hardihood. There was plenty of hardihood in Pizarro when +he led his men through terrible hardships to attack the empire of Peru, +but he was actuated by mere greediness for gain, and all the perils +he so resolutely endured could not make his courage admirable. It was +nothing but insensibility to danger, when set against the wealth and +power that he coveted, and to which he sacrificed thousands of helpless +Peruvians. Daring for the sake of plunder has been found in every +robber, every pirate, and too often in all the lower grade of warriors, +from the savage plunderer of a besieged town up to the reckless monarch +making war to feed his own ambition. + +There is a courage that breaks out in bravado, the exuberance of high +spirits, delighting in defying peril for its own sake, not indeed +producing deeds which deserve to be called golden, but which, from +their heedless grace, their desperation, and absence of all base +motives--except perhaps vanity have an undeniable charm about them, even +when we doubt the right of exposing a life in mere gaiety of heart. + +Such was the gallantry of the Spanish knight who, while Fernando and +Isabel lay before the Moorish city of Granada, galloped out of the camp, +in full view of besiegers and besieged, and fastened to the gate of +the city with his dagger a copy of the Ave Maria. It was a wildly brave +action, and yet not without service in showing the dauntless spirit of +the Christian army. But the same can hardly be said of the daring shown +by the Emperor Maximilian when he displayed himself to the citizens of +Ulm upon the topmost pinnacle of their cathedral spire; or of Alonso +de Ojeda, who figured in like manner upon the tower of the Spanish +cathedral. The same daring afterwards carried him in the track of +Columbus, and there he stained his name with the usual blots of rapacity +and cruelty. These deeds, if not tinsel, were little better than gold +leaf. + +A Golden Deed must be something more than mere display of fearlessness. +Grave and resolute fulfillment of duty is required to give it the true +weight. Such duty kept the sentinel at his post at the gate of Pompeii, +even when the stifling dust of ashes came thicker and thicker from +the volcano, and the liquid mud streamed down, and the people fled and +struggled on, and still the sentry stood at his post, unflinching, +till death had stiffened his limbs; and his bones, in their helmet and +breastplate, with the hand still raised to keep the suffocating dust +from mouth and nose, have remained even till our own times to show how +a Roman soldier did his duty. In like manner the last of the old Spanish +infantry originally formed by the Great Captain, Gonzalo de Cordova, +were all cut off, standing fast to a man, at the battle of Rocroy, in +1643, not one man breaking his rank. The whole regiment was found lying +in regular order upon the field of battle, with their colonel, the old +Count de Fuentes, at their head, expiring in a chair, in which he had +been carried, because he was too infirm to walk, to this his twentieth +battle. The conqueror, the high-spirited young Duke d'Enghien, +afterwards Prince of Conde, exclaimed, 'Were I not a victor, I should +have wished thus to die!' and preserved the chair among the relics of +the bravest of his own fellow countrymen. + +Such obedience at all costs and all risks is, however, the very essence +of a soldier's life. An army could not exist without it, a ship could +not sail without it, and millions upon millions of those whose 'bones +are dust and good swords are rust' have shown such resolution. It is +the solid material, but it has hardly the exceptional brightness, of a +Golden Deed. + +And yet perhaps it is one of the most remarkable characteristics of a +Golden Deed that the doer of it is certain to feel it merely a duty; +'I have done that which it was my duty to do' is the natural answer of +those capable of such actions. They have been constrained to them by +duty, or by pity; have never even deemed it possible to act otherwise, +and did not once think of themselves in the matter at all. + +For the true metal of a Golden Deed is self-devotion. Selfishness is the +dross and alloy that gives the unsound ring to many an act that has been +called glorious. And, on the other hand, it is not only the valor, which +meets a thousand enemies upon the battlefield, or scales the walls in +a forlorn hope, that is of true gold. It may be, but often it is a mere +greed of fame, fear of shame, or lust of plunder. No, it is the spirit +that gives itself for others--the temper that for the sake of religion, +of country, of duty, of kindred, nay, of pity even to a stranger, will +dare all things, risk all things, endure all things, meet death in one +moment, or wear life away in slow, persevering tendance and suffering. + +Such a spirit was shown by Leaena, the Athenian woman at whose house +the overthrow of the tyranny of the Pisistratids was concerted, and who, +when seized and put to the torture that she might disclose the secrets +of the conspirators, fearing that the weakness of her frame might +overpower her resolution, actually bit off her tongue, that she might be +unable to betray the trust placed in her. The Athenians commemorated +her truly golden silence by raising in her honor the statue of a lioness +without a tongue, in allusion to her name, which signifies a lioness. + +Again, Rome had a tradition of a lady whose mother was in prison under +sentence of death by hunger, but who, at the peril of her own life, +visited her daily, and fed her from her own bosom, until even the stern +senate were moved with pity, and granted a pardon. The same story is +told of a Greek lady, called Euphrasia, who thus nourished her father; +and in Scotland, in 1401, when the unhappy heir of the kingdom, David, +Duke of Rothesay, had been thrown into the dungeon of Falkland Castle by +his barbarous uncle, the Duke of Albany, there to be starved to death, +his only helper was one poor peasant woman, who, undeterred by fear +of the savage men that guarded the castle, crept, at every safe +opportunity, to the grated window on a level with the ground, and +dropped cakes through it to the prisoner, while she allayed his thirst +from her own breast through a pipe. Alas! the visits were detected, and +the Christian prince had less mercy than the heathen senate. Another +woman, in 1450, when Sir Gilles of Brittany was savagely imprisoned and +starved in much the same manner by his brother, Duke Francois, sustained +him for several days by bringing wheat in her veil, and dropping it +through the grated window, and when poison had been used to hasten his +death, she brought a priest to the grating to enable him to make his +peace with Heaven. Tender pity made these women venture all things; and +surely their doings were full of the gold of love. + +So again two Swiss lads, whose father was dangerously ill, found that +they could by no means procure the needful medicine, except at a price +far beyond their means, and heard that an English traveler had offered a +large price for a pair of eaglets. The only eyrie was on a crag supposed +to be so inacessible, that no one ventured to attempt it, till these +boys, in their intense anxiety for their father, dared the fearful +danger, scaled the precipice, captured the birds, and safely conveyed +them to the traveler. Truly this was a deed of gold. + +Such was the action of the Russian servant whose master's carriage was +pursued by wolves, and who sprang out among the beasts, sacrificing his +own life willingly to slake their fury for a few minutes in order that +the horses might be untouched, and convey his master to a place of +safety. But his act of self-devotion has been so beautifully expanded +in the story of 'Eric's Grave', in 'Tales of Christian Heroism', that +we can only hint at it, as at that of the 'Helmsman of Lake Erie', who, +with the steamer on fire around him, held fast by the wheel in the very +jaws of the flame, so as to guide the vessel into harbour, and save +the many lives within her, at the cost of his own fearful agony, while +slowly scorched by the flames. + +Memorable, too, was the compassion that kept Dr. Thompson upon the +battlefield of the Alma, all alone throughout the night, striving +to alleviate the sufferings and attend to the wants, not of our own +wounded, but of the enemy, some of whom, if they were not sorely belied, +had been known to requite a friendly act of assistance with a pistol +shot. Thus to remain in the darkness, on a battlefield in an enemy's +country, among the enemy themselves, all for pity and mercy's sake, was +one of the noblest acts that history can show. Yet, it was paralleled +in the time of the Indian Mutiny, when every English man and woman +was flying from the rage of the Sepoys at Benares, and Dr. Hay alone +remained because he would not desert the patients in the hospital, whose +life depended on his care--many of them of those very native corps who +were advancing to massacre him. This was the Roman sentry's firmness, +more voluntary and more glorious. Nor may we pass by her to whom our +title page points as our living type of Golden Deeds--to her who first +showed how woman's ministrations of mercy may be carried on, not only +within the city, but on the borders of the camp itself--'the lady with +the lamp', whose health and strength were freely devoted to the holy +work of softening the after sufferings that render war so hideous; whose +very step and shadow carried gladness and healing to the sick soldier, +and who has opened a path of like shining light to many another woman +who only needed to be shown the way. Fitly, indeed, may the figure of +Florence Nightingale be shadowed forth at the opening of our roll of +Golden Deeds. + +Thanks be to God, there is enough of His own spirit of love abroad in +the earth to make Golden Deeds of no such rare occurrence, but that they +are of 'all time'. Even heathen days were not without them, and how much +more should they not abound after the words have been spoken, 'Greater +love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend', +and after the one Great Deed has been wrought that has consecrated all +other deeds of self-sacrifice. Of martyrdoms we have scarcely spoken. +They were truly deeds of the purest gold; but they are too numerous to +be dwelt on here: and even as soldiers deem it each man's simple duty +to face death unhesitatingly, so the 'glorious army of martyrs' had, for +the most part, joined the Church with the expectation that they should +have to confess the faith, and confront the extremity of death and +torture for it. + +What have been here brought together are chiefly cases of self-devotion +that stand out remarkably, either from their hopelessness, their +courage, or their patience, varying with the character of their age; but +with that one essential distinction in all, that the dross of self was +cast away. + +Among these we cannot forbear mentioning the poor American soldier, who, +grievously wounded, had just been laid in the middle bed, by far the +most comfortable of the three tiers of berths in the ship's cabin in +which the wounded were to be conveyed to New York. Still thrilling with +the suffering of being carried from the field, and lifted to his place, +he saw a comrade in even worse plight brought in, and thinking of the +pain it must cost his fellow soldier to be raised to the bed above him, +he surprised his kind lady nurses (daily scatterers of Golden Deeds) +by saying, 'Put me up there, I reckon I'll bear hoisting better than he +will'. + +And, even as we write, we hear of an American Railway collision that +befell a train on the way to Elmira with prisoners. The engineer, whose +name was William Ingram, might have leapt off and saved himself before +the shock; but he remained in order to reverse the engine, though with +certain death staring him in the face. He was buried in the wreck of the +meeting train, and when found, his back was against the boiler he was +jammed in, unable to move, and actually being burnt to death; but even +in that extremity of anguish he called out to those who came round +to help him to keep away, as he expected the boiler would burst. They +disregarded the generous cry, and used every effort to extricate him, +but could not succeed until after his sufferings had ended in death. + +While men and women still exist who will thus suffer and thus die, +losing themselves in the thought of others, surely the many forms of +woe and misery with which this earth is spread do but give occasions of +working out some of the highest and best qualities of which mankind are +capable. And oh, young readers, if your hearts burn within you as you +read of these various forms of the truest and deepest glory, and +you long for time and place to act in the like devoted way, bethink +yourselves that the alloy of such actions is to be constantly worked +away in daily life; and that if ever it be your lot to do a Golden +Deed, it will probably be in unconsciousness that you are doing anything +extraordinary, and that the whole impulse will consist in the having +absolutely forgotten self. + + + + +THE STORIES OF ALCESTIS AND ANTIGONE + + +It has been said, that even the heathens saw and knew the glory of self- +devotion; and the Greeks had two early instances so very beautiful that, +though they cannot in all particulars be true, they must not be passed +over. There must have been some foundation for them, though we cannot +now disentangle them from the fable that has adhered to them; and, at +any rate, the ancient Greeks believed them, and gathered strength and +nobleness from dwelling on such examples; since, as it has been truly +said, 'Every word, look or thought of sympathy with heroic action, helps +to make heroism'. Both tales were presented before them in their solemn +religious tragedies, and the noble poetry in which they were recounted +by the great Greek dramatists has been preserved to our time. + +Alcestis was the wife of Admetus, King of Pherae, who, according to the +legend, was assured that his life might be prolonged, provided father, +mother, or wife would die in his stead. It was Alcestis alone who was +willing freely to give her life to save that of her husband; and her +devotion is thus exquisitely described in the following translation, by +Professor Anstice, from the choric song in the tragedy by Euripides: + + + 'Be patient, for thy tears are vain + They may not wake the dead again: + E'en heroes, of immortal sire + And mortal mother born, expire. + Oh, she was dear + While she linger'd here; + She is dear now she rests below, + And thou mayst boast + That the bride thou hast lost + Was the noblest earth can show. + + 'We will not look on her burial sod + As the cell of sepulchral sleep, + It shall be as the shrine of a radiant god, + And the pilgrim shall visit that blest abode + To worship, and not to weep; + And as he turns his steps aside, + Thus shall he breathe his vow: + 'Here sleeps a self-devoted bride, + Of old to save her lord she died. + She is a spirit now. + + Hail, bright and blest one! grant to me + The smiles of glad prosperity.' + Thus shall he own her name divine, + Thus bend him at Alcestis' shrine.' + + +The story, however, bore that Hercules, descending in the course of one +of his labors into the realms of the dead, rescued Alcestis, and +brought her back; and Euripides gives a scene in which the rough, jovial +Hercules insists on the sorrowful Admetus marrying again a lady of his +own choice, and gives the veiled Alcestis back to him as the new bride. +Later Greeks tried to explain the story by saying that Alcestis nursed +her husband through an infectious fever, caught it herself, and had been +supposed to be dead, when a skilful physician restored her; but this is +probably only one of the many reasonable versions they tried to give of +the old tales that were founded on the decay and revival of nature in +winter and spring, and with a presage running through them of sacrifice, +death, and resurrection. Our own poet Chaucer was a great admirer of +Alcestis, and improved upon the legend by turning her into his favorite +flower-- + + + 'The daisie or els the eye of the daie, + The emprise and the floure of flouris all'. + + +Another Greek legend told of the maiden of Thebes, one of the most +self-devoted beings that could be conceived by a fancy untrained in the +knowledge of Divine Perfection. It cannot be known how much of her story +is true, but it was one that went deep into the hearts of Grecian men +and women, and encouraged them in some of their best feelings; and +assuredly the deeds imputed to her were golden. + +Antigone was the daughter of the old King Oedipus of Thebes. After a +time heavy troubles, the consequence of the sins of his youth, came upon +him, and he was driven away from his kingdom, and sent to wander forth +a blind old man, scorned and pointed at by all. Then it was that his +faithful daughter showed true affection for him. She might have remained +at Thebes with her brother Eteocles, who had been made king in her +father's room, but she chose instead to wander forth with the forlorn +old man, fallen from his kingly state, and absolutely begging his +bread. The great Athenian poet Sophocles began his tragedy of 'Oedipus +Coloneus' with showing the blind old king leaning on Antigone's arm, and +asking-- + + + 'Tell me, thou daughter of a blind old man, + Antigone, to what land are we come, + Or to what city? Who the inhabitants + Who with a slender pittance will relieve + Even for a day the wandering Oedipus?' + POTTER. + + +The place to which they had come was in Attica, hear the city of +Colonus. It was a lovely grove-- + + + 'All the haunts of Attic ground, + Where the matchless coursers bound, + Boast not, through their realms of bliss, + Other spot so fair as this. + Frequent down this greenwood dale + Mourns the warbling nightingale, + Nestling 'mid the thickest screen + Of the ivy's darksome green, + Or where each empurpled shoot + Drooping with its myriad fruit, + Curl'd in many a mazy twine, + Droops the never-trodden vine.' + ANSTICE. + + +This beautiful grove was sacred to the Eumenides, or avenging goddesses, +and it was therefore a sanctuary where no foot might tread; but near it +the exiled king was allowed to take up his abode, and was protected +by the great Athenian King, Theseus. There his other daughter, Ismene, +joined him, and, after a time, his elder son Polynices, arrived. + +Polynices had been expelled from Thebes by his brother Eteocles, and had +been wandering through Greece seeking aid to recover his rights. He had +collected an army, and was come to take leave of his father and sisters; +and at the same time to entreat his sisters to take care that, if he +should fall in the battle, they would prevent his corpse from being +left unburied; for the Greeks believed that till the funeral rites were +performed, the spirit went wandering restlessly up and down upon the +banks of a dark stream, unable to enter the home of the dead. Antigone +solemnly promised to him that he should not be left without these last +rites. Before long, old Oedipus was killed by lightning, and the two +sisters returned to Thebes. + +The united armies of the seven chiefs against Thebes came on, led by +Polynices. Eteocles sallied out to meet them, and there was a terrible +battle, ending in all the seven chiefs being slain, and the two +brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, were killed by one another in single +combat. Creon, the uncle, who thus became king, had always been on +the side of Eteocles, and therefore commanded that whilst this younger +brother was entombed with all due solemnities, the body of the elder +should be left upon the battlefield to be torn by dogs and vultures, and +that whosoever durst bury it should be treated as a rebel and a traitor +to the state. + +This was the time for the sister to remember her oath to her dead +brother. The more timid Ismene would have dissuaded her, but she +answered, + + + 'To me no sufferings have that hideous form + Which can affright me from a glorious death'. + + +And she crept forth by night, amid all the horrors of the deserted +field of battles, and herself covered with loose earth the corpse +of Polynices. The barbarous uncle caused it to be taken up and again +exposed, and a watch was set at some little distance. Again Antigone + + + 'Was seen, lamenting shrill with plaintive notes, + Like the poor bird that sees her lonely nest + Spoil'd of her young'. + + +Again she heaped dry dust with her own hands over the body, and poured +forth the libations of wine that formed an essential part of the +ceremony. She was seized by the guard, and led before Creon. She boldly +avowed her deed, and, in spite of the supplications of Ismene, she was +put to death, a sufferer for her noble and pious deeds; and with this +only comfort: + + + 'Glowing at my heart + I feel this hope, that to my father, dear + And dear to thee, my mother, dear to thee, + My brother, I shall go.' + POTTER. + + +Dim and beautiful indeed was the hope that upbore the grave and +beautiful Theban maiden; and we shall see her resolution equaled, though +hardly surpassed, by Christian Antigones of equal love and surer faith. + + + + +THE CUP OF WATER + + +No touch in the history of the minstrel king David gives us a more warm +and personal feeling towards him than his longing for the water of the +well of Bethlehem. Standing as the incident does in the summary of the +characters of his mighty men, it is apt to appear to us as if it had +taken place in his latter days; but such is not the case, it befell +while he was still under thirty, in the time of his persecution by Saul. + +It was when the last attempt at reconciliation with the king had been +made, when the affectionate parting with the generous and faithful +Jonathan had taken place, when Saul was hunting him like a partridge on +the mountains on the one side, and the Philistines had nearly taken his +life on the other, that David, outlawed, yet loyal at the heart, sent +his aged parents to the land of Moab for refuge, and himself took up his +abode in the caves of the wild limestone hills that had become familiar +to him when he was a shepherd. Brave captain and Heaven-destined king as +he was, his name attracted around him a motley group of those that +were in distress, or in debt, or discontented, and among them were the +'mighty men' whose brave deeds won them the foremost parts in that army +with which David was to fulfill the ancient promises to his people. +There were his three nephews, Joab, the ferocious and imperious, the +chivalrous Abishai, and Asahel the fleet of foot; there was the warlike +Levite Benaiah, who slew lions and lionlike men, and others who, like +David himself, had done battle with the gigantic sons of Anak. Yet even +these valiant men, so wild and lawless, could be kept in check by the +voice of their young captain; and, outlaws as they were, they spoiled no +peaceful villages, they lifted not their hands against the persecuting +monarch, and the neighboring farms lost not one lamb through their +violence. Some at least listened to the song of their warlike minstrel: + + + 'Come, ye children, and hearken to me, + I will teach you the fear of the Lord. + What man is he that lusteth to live, + And would fain see good days? + Let him refrain his tongue from evil + And his lips that they speak no guile, + Let him eschew evil and do good, + Let him seek peace and ensue it.' + + +With such strains as these, sung to his harp, the warrior gained the +hearts of his men to enthusiastic love, and gathered followers on all +sides, among them eleven fierce men of Gad, with faces like lions and +feet swift as roes, who swam the Jordan in time of flood, and fought +their way to him, putting all enemies in the valleys to flight. + +But the Eastern sun burnt on the bare rocks. A huge fissure, opening +in the mountain ridge, encumbered at the bottom with broken rocks, +with precipitous banks, scarcely affording a foothold for the wild +goats--such is the spot where, upon a cleft on the steep precipice, +still remain the foundations of the 'hold', or tower, believed to have +been the David's retreat, and near at hand is the low-browed entrance +of the galleried cave alternating between narrow passages and spacious +halls, but all oppressively hot and close. Waste and wild, without +a bush or a tree, in the feverish atmosphere of Palestine, it was a +desolate region, and at length the wanderer's heart fainted in him, as +he thought of his own home, with its rich and lovely terraced slopes, +green with wheat, trellised with vines, and clouded with grey olive, and +of the cool cisterns of living water by the gate of which he loved to +sing-- + + + 'He shall feed me in a green pasture, + And lead me forth beside the waters of comfort'. + + +His parched longing lips gave utterance to the sigh, 'Oh that one would +give me to drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem that is by the +gate?' + +Three of his brave men, apparently Abishai, Benaiah, and Eleazar, heard +the wish. Between their mountain fastness and the dearly loved spring +lay the host of the Philistines; but their love for their leader feared +no enemies. It was not only water that he longed for, but the water from +the fountain which he had loved in his childhood. They descended from +their chasm, broke through the midst of the enemy's army, and drew the +water from the favorite spring, bearing it back, once again through the +foe, to the tower upon the rock! Deeply moved was their chief at this +act of self-devotion--so much moved that the water seemed to him to be +too sacred to be put to his own use. 'May God forbid it me that I should +do this thing. Shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their +lives in jeopardy, for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought +it?' And as a hallowed and precious gift, he poured out unto the Lord +the water obtained at the price of such peril to his followers. + +In later times we meet with another hero, who by his personal qualities +inspired something of the same enthusiastic attachment as did David, and +who met with an adventure somewhat similar, showing the like nobleness +of mind on the part of both leader and followers. + +It was Alexander of Macedon, whose character as a man, with all its dark +shades of violence, rage, and profanity, has a nobleness and sweetness +that win our hearts, while his greatness rests on a far broader basis +than that of his conquests, though they are unrivalled. No one else so +gained the love of the conquered, had such wide and comprehensive views +for the amelioration of the world, or rose so superior to the prejudice +of race; nor have any ten years left so lasting a trace upon the history +of the world as those of his career. + +It is not, however, of his victories that we are here to speak, but of +his return march from the banks of the Indus, in BC 326, when he had +newly recovered from the severe wound which he had received under the +fig tree, within the mud wall of the city of the Malli. This expedition +was as much the expedition of a discoverer as the journey of a +conqueror: and, at the mouth of the Indus, he sent his ships to survey +the coasts of the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf, while he himself +marched along the shore of the province, then called Gedrosia, and now +Mekhran. It was a most dismal tract. Above towered mountains of reddish- +brown bare stone, treeless and without verdure, the scanty grass +produced in the summer being burnt up long before September, the month +of his march; and all the slope below was equally desolate slopes of +gravel. The few inhabitants were called by the Greeks fish-eaters and +turtle-eaters, because there was apparently, nothing else to eat; and +their huts were built of turtle shells. + +The recollections connected with the region were dismal. Semiramis +and Cyrus were each said to have lost an army there through hunger and +thirst; and these foes, the most fatal foes of the invader, began to +attack the Greek host. Nothing but the discipline and all-pervading +influence of Alexander could have borne his army through. Speed was +their sole chance; and through the burning sun, over the arid rock, +he stimulated their steps with his own high spirit of unshrinking +endurance, till he had dragged them through one of the most rapid and +extraordinary marches of his wonderful career. His own share in their +privations was fully and freely taken; and once when, like the rest, he +was faint with heat and deadly thirst, a small quantity of water, won +with great fatigue and difficulty, was brought to him, he esteemed it +too precious to be applied to his own refreshment, but poured it forth +as a libation, lest, he said, his warriors should thirst the more +when they saw him drink alone; and, no doubt, too, because he felt the +exceeding value of that which was purchased by loyal love. A like story +is told of Rodolf of Hapsburgh, the founder of the greatness of Austria, +and one of the most open-hearted of men. A flagon of water was brought +to him when his army was suffering from severe drought. 'I cannot,' +he said, 'drink alone, nor can all share so small a quantity. I do not +thirst for myself, but for my whole army.' + +Yet there have been thirsty lips that have made a still more trying +renunciation. Our own Sir Philip Sidney, riding back, with the mortal +hurt in his broken thigh, from the fight at Zutphen, and giving the +draught from his own lips to the dying man whose necessities were +greater than his own, has long been our proverb for the giver of that +self-denying cup of water that shall by no means lose its reward. + +A tradition of an act of somewhat the same character survived in a +Slesvig family, now extinct. It was during the wars that ranged from +1652 to 1660, between Frederick III of Denmark and Charles Gustavus of +Sweden, that, after a battle, in which the victory had remained with the +Danes, a stout burgher of Flensborg was about to refresh himself, ere +retiring to have his wounds dressed, with a draught of beer from a +wooden bottle, when an imploring cry from a wounded Swede, lying on the +field, made him turn, and, with the very words of Sidney, 'Thy need +is greater than mine,' he knelt down by the fallen enemy, to pour the +liquor into his mouth. His requital was a pistol shot in the shoulder +from the treacherous Swede. 'Rascal,' he cried, 'I would have befriended +you, and you would murder me in return! Now I will punish you. I would +have given you the whole bottle; but now you shall have only half.' +And drinking off half himself, he gave the rest to the Swede. The king, +hearing the story, sent for the burgher, and asked him how he came to +spare the life of such a rascal. + +'Sire,' said the honest burgher, 'I could never kill a wounded enemy.' + +'Thou meritest to be a noble,' the king said, and created him one +immediately, giving him as armorial bearings a wooden bottle pierced +with an arrow! The family only lately became extinct in the person of an +old maiden lady. + + + + +HOW ONE MAN HAS SAVED A HOST + +B.C. 507 + + +There have been times when the devotion of one man has been the saving +of an army. Such, according to old Roman story, was the feat of Horatius +Cocles. It was in the year B.C. 507, not long after the kings had been +expelled from Rome, when they were endeavoring to return by the aid of +the Etruscans. Lars Porsena, one of the great Etruscan chieftains, +had taken up the cause of the banished Tarquinius Superbus and his son +Sextus, and gathered all his forces together, to advance upon the city +of Rome. The great walls, of old Etrurian architecture, had probably +already risen round the growing town, and all the people came flocking +in from the country for shelter there; but the Tiber was the best +defense, and it was only crossed by one wooden bridge, and the farther +side of that was guarded by a fort, called the Janiculum. But the +vanguards of the overwhelming Etruscan army soon took the fort, and +then, in the gallant words of Lord Macaulay's ballad,-- + + + 'Thus in all the Senate + There was no heart so bold + But sore it ached, and fast it beat, + When that ill news was told. + Forthwith uprose the Consul, + Up rose the Fathers all, + In haste they girded up their gowns, + And hied them to the wall. + + 'They held a council standing + Before the River Gate: + Short time was there, ye well may guess, + For musing or debate. + Out spoke the Consul roundly, + 'The bridge must straight go down, + For, since Janiculum is lost, + Nought else can save the town.' + + 'Just then a scout came flying, + All wild with haste and fear: + 'To arms! To arms! Sir Consul, + Lars Porsena is here.' + On the low hills to westward + The Consul fixed his eye, + And saw the swarthy storm of dust + Rise fast along the sky. + + ................. + + 'But the Consul's brow was sad, + And the Consul's speech was low, + And darkly looked he at the wall, + And darkly at the foe. + 'Their van will be upon us + Before the bridge goes down; + And if they once may win the bridge + What hope to save the town?' + + 'Then out spoke brave Horatius, + The Captain of the Gate, + 'To every man upon this earth + Death cometh soon or late; + And how can man die better + Than facing fearful odds, + For the ashes of his fathers, + And the temples of his gods? + + 'And for the tender mother + Who dandled him to rest, + And for the wife who nurses + His baby at her breast? + And for the holy maidens + Who feed the eternal flame, + To save them from false Sextus, + That wrought the deed of shame? + + 'Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul, + With all the speed ye may, + I, with two more to help me, + Will hold the foe in play. + In yon strait path a thousand + May well be stopp'd by three: + Now who will stand on either hand, + And keep the bridge with me?' + + 'Then out spake Spurius Lartius, + A Ramnian proud was he, + 'Lo, I will stand at thy right hand, + And keep the bridge with thee.' + And out spake strong Herminius, + Of Titian blood was he, + 'I will abide on thy left side, + And keep the bridge with thee.' + + +So forth went these three brave men, Horatius, the Consul's nephew, +Spurius Lartius, and Titus Herminius, to guard the bridge at the farther +end, while all the rest of the warriors were breaking down the timbers +behind them. + + + 'And Fathers mixed with commons, + Seized hatchet, bar, and crow, + And smote upon the planks above, + And loosen'd them below. + 'Meanwhile the Tuscan army, + Right glorious to behold, + Came flashing back the noonday light, + Rank behind rank, like surges bright, + Of a broad sea of gold. + Four hundred trumpets sounded + A peal of warlike glee, + As that great host, with measured tread, + And spears advanced, and ensigns spread, + Roll'd slowly towards the bridge's head, + Where stood the dauntless three. + + 'The three stood calm and silent, + And look'd upon the foes, + And a great shout of laughter + From all the vanguard rose.' + + +They laughed to see three men standing to meet the whole army; but it +was so narrow a space, that no more than three enemies could attack them +at once, and it was not easy to match them. Foe after foe came forth +against them, and went down before their swords and spears, till at +last-- + + + 'Was none that would be foremost + To lead such dire attack; + But those behind cried 'Forward!' + And those before cried 'Back!' + +.................. + + +However, the supports of the bridge had been destroyed. + + + 'But meanwhile axe and lever + Have manfully been plied, + And now the bridge hangs tottering + Above the boiling tide. + 'Come back, come back, Horatius!' + Loud cried the Fathers all; + 'Back, Lartius! Back, Herminius! + Back, ere the ruin fall!' + + 'Back darted Spurius Lartius, + Herminius darted back; + And as they passed, beneath their feet + They felt the timbers crack; + But when they turn'd their faces, + And on the farther shore + Saw brave Horatius stand alone, + They would have cross'd once more. + + 'But with a crash like thunder + Fell every loosen'd beam, + And, like a dam, the mighty wreck + Lay right athwart the stream; + And a long shout of triumph + Rose from the walls of Rome, + As to the highest turret-tops + Was splashed the yellow foam.' + + +The one last champion, behind a rampart of dead enemies, remained till +the destruction was complete. + + + 'Alone stood brave Horatius, + But constant still in mind, + Thrice thirty thousand foes before + And the broad flood behind.' + + +A dart had put out one eye, he was wounded in the thigh, and his work +was done. He turned round, and-- + + + 'Saw on Palatinus, + The white porch of his home, + And he spake to the noble river + That rolls by the walls of Rome: + 'O Tiber! father Tiber! + To whom the Romans pray, + A Roman's life, a Roman's arms + Take thou in charge this day.' + + +And with this brief prayer he leapt into the foaming stream. Polybius +was told that he was there drowned; but Livy gives the version which the +ballad follows:-- + + + 'But fiercely ran the current, + Swollen high by months of rain, + And fast his blood was flowing, + And he was sore in pain, + And heavy with his armor, + And spent with changing blows, + And oft they thought him sinking, + But still again he rose. + + 'Never, I ween, did swimmer, + In such an evil case, + Struggle through such a raging flood + Safe to the landing place. + But his limbs were borne up bravely + By the brave heart within, + And our good father Tiber + Bare bravely up his chin. + + ................. + + 'And now he feels the bottom, + Now on dry earth he stands, + Now round him throng the Fathers, + To press his gory hands. + And now with shouts and clapping, + And noise of weeping loud, + He enters through the River Gate, + Borne by the joyous crowd. + + 'They gave him of the corn land, + That was of public right, + As much as two strong oxen + Could plough from morn to night. + And they made a molten image, + And set it up on high, + And there it stands unto this day, + To witness if I lie. + + 'It stands in the Comitium, + Plain for all folk to see, + Horatius in his harness, + Halting upon his knee: + And underneath is written, + In letters all of gold, + How valiantly he kept the bridge + In the brave days of old.' + + +Never was more honorable surname than his, of Cocles, or the one-eyed; +and though his lameness prevented him from ever being a Consul, or +leading an army, he was so much beloved and honored by his fellow +citizens, that in the time of a famine each Roman, to the number of +300,000, brought him a day's food, lest he should suffer want. The +statue was shown even in the time of Pliny, 600 years afterwards, and +was probably only destroyed when Rome was sacked by the barbarians. + +Nor was the Roman bridge the only one that has been defended by one man +against a host. In our own country, Stamford Bridge was, in like manner, +guarded by a single brave Northman, after the battle fought A.D. 1066, +when Earl Tostig, the son of Godwin, had persuaded the gallant sea king, +Harald Hardrada, to come and invade England. The chosen English king, +Harold, had marched at full speed from Sussex to Yorkshire, and met +the invaders marching at their ease, without expecting any enemy, and +wearing no defensive armor, as they went forth to receive the keys of +the city of York. The battle was fought by the Norsemen in the full +certainty that it must be lost. The banner, 'Landwaster', was planted +in the midst; and the king, chanting his last song, like the minstrel +warrior he had always been, stood, with his bravest men, in a death ring +around it. There he died, and his choicest warriors with him; but many +more fled back towards the ships, rushing over the few planks that were +the only way across the River Ouse. And here stood their defender, alone +upon the bridge, keeping back the whole pursuing English army, who could +only attack him one at a time; until, with shame be it spoken, he died +by a cowardly blow by an enemy, who had crept down the bank of the +river, and under the bridge, through the openings between the timbers +of which he thrust up his spear, and thus was able to hurl the brave +Northman into the river, mortally wounded, but not till great numbers +of his countrymen had reached their ships, their lives saved by his +gallantry. + +In like manner, Robert Bruce, in the time of his wanderings, during +the year 1306, saved his whole band by his sole exertions. He had been +defeated by the forces of Edward I. at Methven, and had lost many of +his friends. His little army went wandering among the hills, sometimes +encamping in the woods, sometimes crossing the lakes in small boats. +Many ladies were among them, and their summer life had some wild charms +of romance; as the knightly huntsmen brought in the salmon, the roe, and +the deer that formed their food, and the ladies gathered the flowering +heather, over which soft skins were laid for their bedding. Sir James +Douglas was the most courtly and graceful knight of all the party, and +ever kept them enlivened by his gay temper and ready wit; and the king +himself cherished a few precious romances, which he used to read aloud +to his followers as they rested in their mountain home. + +But their bitter foe, the Lord of Lorn, was always in pursuit of them, +and, near the head of the Tay, he came upon the small army of 300 men +with 1000 Highlanders, armed with Lochaber axes, at a place which is +still called Dalry, or the King's Field. Many of the horses were killed +by the axes; and James Douglas and Gilbert de la Haye were both wounded. +All would have been slain or fallen into the hand of the enemy, if +Robert Bruce had not sent them all on before him, up a narrow, steep +path, and placed himself, with his armor and heavy horse, full in the +path, protecting the retreat with his single arm. It was true, that so +tall and powerful a man, sheathed in armor and on horseback, had a great +advantage against the wild Highlanders, who only wore a shirt and a +plaid, with a round target upon the arm; but they were lithe, active, +light-footed men, able to climb like goats on the crags around him, and +holding their lives as cheaply as he did. + +Lorn, watching him from a distance, was struck with amazement, and +exclaimed, 'Methinks, Marthokson, he resembles Gol Mak Morn protecting +his followers from Fingal;' thus comparing him to one the most brilliant +champions a Highland imagination could conceive. At last, three men, +named M'Androsser, rushed forward, resolved to free their chief from +this formidable enemy. There was a lake on one side, and a precipice on +the other, and the king had hardly space to manage his horse, when all +three sprang on him at once. One snatched his bridle, one caught him by +the stirrup and leg, and a third leaped from a rising ground and seated +himself behind him on his horse. The first lost his arm by one sweep +of the king's sword; the second was overthrown and trampled on; and the +last, by a desperate struggle, was dashed down, and his skull cleft by +the king's sword; but his dying grasp was so tight upon the plaid that +Bruce was forced to unclasp the brooch that secured it, and leave both +in the dead man's hold. It was long preserved by the Macdougals of Lorn, +as a trophy of the narrow escape of their enemy. + +Nor must we leave Robert the Bruce without mentioning that other Golden +Deed, more truly noble because more full of mercy; namely, his halting +his little army in full retreat in Ireland in the face of the English +host under Roger Mortimer, that proper care and attendance might be +given to one sick and suffering washerwoman and her new-born babe. Well +may his old Scotch rhyming chronicler remark:-- + + + 'This was a full great courtesy + That swilk a king and so mighty, + Gert his men dwell on this manner, + But for a poor lavender.' + + +We have seen how the sturdy Roman fought for his city, the fierce +Northman died to guard his comrades' rush to their ships after the lost +battle, and how the mail-clad knightly Bruce periled himself to secure +the retreat of his friends. Here is one more instance, from far more +modern times, of a soldier, whose willing sacrifice of his own life +was the safety of a whole army. It was in the course of the long dismal +conflict between Frederick the Great of Prussia and Maria Theresa of +Austria, which was called the Seven Years' War. Louis XV. of France +had taken the part of Austria, and had sent an army into Germany in the +autumn of 1760. From this the Marquis de Castries had been dispatched, +with 25,000 men, towards Rheinberg, and had taken up a strong position +at Klostercamp. On the night of the 15th of October, a young officer, +called the Chevalier d'Assas, of the Auvergne regiment, was sent out +to reconnoitre, and advanced alone into a wood, at some little distance +from his men. Suddenly he found himself surrounded by a number of +soldiers, whose bayonets pricked his breast, and a voice whispered in +his ear, 'Make the slightest noise, and you are a dead man!' In one +moment he understood it all. The enemy were advancing, to surprise the +French army, and would be upon them when night was further advanced. +That moment decided his fate. He shouted, as loud as his voice would +carry the words, 'Here, Auvergne! Here are the enemy!' By the time the +cry reached the ears of his men, their captain was a senseless corpse; +but his death had saved the army; the surprise had failed, and the enemy +retreated. + +Louis XV was too mean-spirited and selfish to feel the beauty of this +brave action; but when, fourteen years later, Louis XVI came to the +throne, he decreed that a pension should be given to the family as long +as a male representative remained to bear the name of D'Assas. Poor +Louis XVI had not long the control of the treasure of France; but a +century of changes, wars, and revolutions has not blotted out the memory +of the self-devotion of the chevalier; for, among the new war-steamers +of the French fleet, there is one that bears the ever-honored name of +D'Assas. + + + + +THE PASS OF THERMOPYLAE + +B.C. 430 + + +There was trembling in Greece. 'The Great King', as the Greeks called +the chief potentate of the East, whose domains stretched from the +Indian Caucasus to the Aegaeus, from the Caspian to the Red Sea, was +marshalling his forces against the little free states that nestled amid +the rocks and gulfs of the Eastern Mediterranean. Already had his might +devoured the cherished colonies of the Greeks on the eastern shore of +the Archipelago, and every traitor to home institutions found a ready +asylum at that despotic court, and tried to revenge his own wrongs +by whispering incitements to invasion. 'All people, nations, and +languages,' was the commencement of the decrees of that monarch's court; +and it was scarcely a vain boast, for his satraps ruled over subject +kingdoms, and among his tributary nations he counted the Chaldean, +with his learning and old civilization, the wise and steadfast Jew, the +skilful Phoenician, the learned Egyptian, the wild, free-booting Arab +of the desert, the dark-skinned Ethiopian, and over all these ruled the +keen-witted, active native Persian race, the conquerors of all the +rest, and led by a chosen band proudly called the Immortal. His many +capitals--Babylon the great, Susa, Persepolis, and the like--were names +of dreamy splendor to the Greeks, described now and then by Ionians from +Asia Minor who had carried their tribute to the king's own feet, or +by courtier slaves who had escaped with difficulty from being all too +serviceable at the tyrannic court. And the lord of this enormous empire +was about to launch his countless host against the little cluster of +states, the whole of which together would hardly equal one province of +the huge Asiatic realm! Moreover, it was a war not only on the men but +on their gods. The Persians were zealous adorers of the sun and of fire, +they abhorred the idol worship of the Greeks, and defiled and plundered +every temple that fell in their way. Death and desolation were almost +the best that could be looked for at such hands--slavery and torture +from cruelly barbarous masters would only too surely be the lot of +numbers, should their land fall a prey to the conquerors. + +True it was that ten years back the former Great King had sent his best +troops to be signally defeated upon the coast of Attica; but the losses +at Marathon had but stimulated the Persian lust of conquest, and the new +King Xerxes was gathering together such myriads of men as should crush +down the Greeks and overrun their country by mere force of numbers. + +The muster place was at Sardis, and there Greek spies had seen the +multitudes assembling and the state and magnificence of the king's +attendants. Envoys had come from him to demand earth and water from each +state in Greece, as emblems that land and sea were his, but each state +was resolved to be free, and only Thessaly, that which lay first in his +path, consented to yield the token of subjugation. A council was held at +the Isthmus of Corinth, and attended by deputies from all the states of +Greece to consider of the best means of defense. The ships of the enemy +would coast round the shores of the Aegean sea, the land army would +cross the Hellespont on a bridge of boats lashed together, and march +southwards into Greece. The only hope of averting the danger lay in +defending such passages as, from the nature of the ground, were so +narrow that only a few persons could fight hand to hand at once, so that +courage would be of more avail than numbers. + +The first of all these passes was called Tempe, and a body of troops was +sent to guard it; but they found that this was useless and impossible, +and came back again. The next was at Thermopylae. Look in your map of +the Archipelago, or Aegean Sea, as it was then called, for the great +island of Negropont, or by its old name, Euboea. It looks like a piece +broken off from the coast, and to the north is shaped like the head of +a bird, with the beak running into a gulf, that would fit over it, upon +the main land, and between the island and the coast is an exceedingly +narrow strait. The Persian army would have to march round the edge of +the gulf. They could not cut straight across the country, because the +ridge of mountains called Ceta rose up and barred their way. Indeed, the +woods, rocks, and precipices came down so near the seashore, that in two +places there was only room for one single wheel track between the steeps +and the impassable morass that formed the border of the gulf on its +south side. These two very narrow places were called the gates of the +pass, and were about a mile apart. There was a little more width left +in the intervening space; but in this there were a number of springs of +warm mineral water, salt and sulphurous, which were used for the sick to +bathe in, and thus the place was called Thermopylae, or the Hot Gates. A +wall had once been built across the western-most of these narrow places, +when the Thessalians and Phocians, who lived on either side of it, had +been at war with one another; but it had been allowed to go to decay, +since the Phocians had found out that there was a very steep narrow +mountain path along the bed of a torrent, by which it was possible to +cross from one territory to the other without going round this marshy +coast road. + +This was, therefore, an excellent place to defend. The Greek ships +were all drawn up on the farther side of Euboea to prevent the Persian +vessels from getting into the strait and landing men beyond the pass, +and a division of the army was sent off to guard the Hot Gates. The +council at the Isthmus did not know of the mountain pathway, and thought +that all would be safe as long as the Persians were kept out of the +coast path. + +The troops sent for this purpose were from different cities, and +amounted to about 4,000, who were to keep the pass against two millions. +The leader of them was Leonidas, who had newly become one of the two +kings of Sparta, the city that above all in Greece trained its sons to +be hardy soldiers, dreading death infinitely less than shame. Leonidas +had already made up his mind that the expedition would probably be his +death, perhaps because a prophecy had been given at the Temple of Delphi +that Sparta should be saved by the death of one of her kings of the race +of Hercules. He was allowed by law to take with him 300 men, and these +he chose most carefully, not merely for their strength and courage, +but selecting those who had sons, so that no family might be altogether +destroyed. These Spartans, with their helots or slaves, made up his own +share of the numbers, but all the army was under his generalship. It is +even said that the 300 celebrated their own funeral rites before they +set out, lest they should be deprived of them by the enemy, since, as we +have already seen, it was the Greek belief that the spirits of the dead +found no rest till their obsequies had been performed. Such preparations +did not daunt the spirits of Leonidas and his men, and his wife, Gorgo, +who was not a woman to be faint-hearted or hold him back. Long before, +when she was a very little girl, a word of hers had saved her father +from listening to a traitorous message from the King of Persia; and +every Spartan lady was bred up to be able to say to those she best loved +that they must come home from battle 'with the shield or on it'--either +carrying it victoriously or borne upon it as a corpse. + +When Leonidas came to Thermopylae, the Phocians told him of the mountain +path through the chestnut woods of Mount Ceta, and begged to have +the privilege of guarding it on a spot high up on the mountain side, +assuring him that it was very hard to find at the other end, and that +there was every probability that the enemy would never discover it. He +consented, and encamping around the warm springs, caused the broken wall +to be repaired, and made ready to meet the foe. + +The Persian army were seen covering the whole country like locusts, and +the hearts of some of the southern Greeks in the pass began to sink. +Their homes in the Peloponnesus were comparatively secure--had they +not better fall back and reserve themselves to defend the Isthmus of +Corinth? But Leonidas, though Sparta was safe below the Isthmus, had +no intention of abandoning his northern allies, and kept the other +Peloponnesians to their posts, only sending messengers for further help. + +Presently a Persian on horseback rode up to reconnoitre the pass. He +could not see over the wall, but in front of it, and on the ramparts, he +saw the Spartans, some of them engaged in active sports, and others in +combing their long hair. He rode back to the king, and told him what he +had seen. Now, Xerxes had in his camp an exiled Spartan Prince, named +Demaratus, who had become a traitor to his country, and was serving +as counsellor to the enemy. Xerxes sent for him, and asked whether his +countrymen were mad to be thus employed instead of fleeing away; but +Demaratus made answer that a hard fight was no doubt in preparation, and +that it was the custom of the Spartans to array their hair with special +care when they were about to enter upon any great peril. Xerxes would, +however, not believe that so petty a force could intend to resist him, +and waited four days, probably expecting his fleet to assist him, but as +it did not appear, the attack was made. + +The Greeks, stronger men and more heavily armed, were far better able to +fight to advantage than the Persians, with their short spears and wicker +shields, and beat them off with great ease. It is said that Xerxes three +times leapt off his throne in despair at the sight of his troops being +driven backwards; and thus for two days it seemed as easy to force a +way through the Spartans as through the rocks themselves. Nay, how +could slavish troops, dragged from home to spread the victories of an +ambitious king, fight like freemen who felt that their strokes were to +defend their homes and children! + +But on that evening a wretched man, named Ephialtes, crept into the +Persian camp, and offered, for a great sum of money, to show the +mountain path that would enable the enemy to take the brave defenders in +the rear! A Persian general, named Hydarnes, was sent off at nightfall +with a detachment to secure this passage, and was guided through the +thick forests that clothed the hillside. In the stillness of the air, at +daybreak, the Phocian guards of the path were startled by the crackling +of the chestnut leaves under the tread of many feet. They started up, +but a shower of arrows was discharged on them, and forgetting all save +the present alarm, they fled to a higher part of the mountain, and the +enemy, without waiting to pursue them, began to descend. + +As day dawned, morning light showed the watchers of the Grecian camp +below a glittering and shimmering in the torrent bed where the shaggy +forests opened; but it was not the sparkle of water, but the shine +of gilded helmets and the gleaming of silvered spears! Moreover, a +Cimmerian crept over to the wall from the Persian camp with tidings that +the path had been betrayed, that the enemy were climbing it, and +would come down beyond the Eastern Gate. Still, the way was rugged and +circuitous, the Persians would hardly descend before midday, and there +was ample time for the Greeks to escape before they could be shut in by +the enemy. + +There was a short council held over the morning sacrifice. Megistias, +the seer, on inspecting the entrails of the slain victim, declared, +as well he might, that their appearance boded disaster. Him Leonidas +ordered to retire, but he refused, though he sent home his only son. +There was no disgrace to an ordinary tone of mind in leaving a post that +could not be held, and Leonidas recommended all the allied troops under +his command to march away while yet the way was open. As to himself and +his Spartans, they had made up their minds to die at their post, and +there could be no doubt that the example of such a resolution would do +more to save Greece than their best efforts could ever do if they were +careful to reserve themselves for another occasion. + +All the allies consented to retreat, except the eighty men who came from +Mycenae and the 700 Thespians, who declared that they would not desert +Leonidas. There were also 400 Thebans who remained; and thus the whole +number that stayed with Leonidas to confront two million of enemies were +fourteen hundred warriors, besides the helots or attendants on the 300 +Spartans, whose number is not known, but there was probably at least one +to each. Leonidas had two kinsmen in the camp, like himself, claiming +the blood of Hercules, and he tried to save them by giving them letters +and messages to Sparta; but one answered that 'he had come to fight, not +to carry letters'; and the other, that 'his deeds would tell all that +Sparta wished to know'. Another Spartan, named Dienices, when told that +the enemy's archers were so numerous that their arrows darkened the sun, +replied, 'So much the better, we shall fight in the shade.' Two of the +300 had been sent to a neighboring village, suffering severely from a +complaint in the eyes. One of them, called Eurytus, put on his armor, +and commanded his helot to lead him to his place in the ranks; the +other, called Aristodemus, was so overpowered with illness that he +allowed himself to be carried away with the retreating allies. It was +still early in the day when all were gone, and Leonidas gave the word to +his men to take their last meal. 'To-night,' he said, 'we shall sup with +Pluto.' + +Hitherto, he had stood on the defensive, and had husbanded the lives of +his men; but he now desired to make as great a slaughter as possible, +so as to inspire the enemy with dread of the Grecian name. He therefore +marched out beyond the wall, without waiting to be attacked, and the +battle began. The Persian captains went behind their wretched troops +and scourged them on to the fight with whips! Poor wretches, they were +driven on to be slaughtered, pierced with the Greek spears, hurled into +the sea, or trampled into the mud of the morass; but their inexhaustible +numbers told at length. The spears of the Greeks broke under hard +service, and their swords alone remained; they began to fall, and +Leonidas himself was among the first of the slain. Hotter than ever was +the fight over his corpse, and two Persian princes, brothers of Xerxes, +were there killed; but at length word was brought that Hydarnes was +over the pass, and that the few remaining men were thus enclosed on all +sides. The Spartans and Thespians made their way to a little hillock +within the wall, resolved to let this be the place of their last stand; +but the hearts of the Thebans failed them, and they came towards the +Persians holding out their hands in entreaty for mercy. Quarter was +given to them, but they were all branded with the king's mark as +untrustworthy deserters. The helots probably at this time escaped into +the mountains; while the small desperate band stood side by side on the +hill still fighting to the last, some with swords, others with daggers, +others even with their hands and teeth, till not one living man remained +amongst them when the sun went down. There was only a mound of slain, +bristled over with arrows. + +Twenty thousand Persians had died before that handful of men! Xerxes +asked Demaratus if there were many more at Sparta like these, and was +told there were 8,000. It must have been with a somewhat failing heart +that he invited his courtiers from the fleet to see what he had done +to the men who dared to oppose him! and showed them the head and arm of +Leonidas set up upon a cross; but he took care that all his own slain, +except 1,000, should first be put out of sight. The body of the brave +king was buried where he fell, as were those of the other dead. Much +envied were they by the unhappy Aristodemus, who found himself called by +no name but the 'Coward', and was shunned by all his fellow-citizens. +No one would give him fire or water, and after a year of misery, he +redeemed his honor by perishing in the forefront of the battle of +Plataea, which was the last blow that drove the Persians ingloriously +from Greece. + +The Greeks then united in doing honor to the brave warriors who, had +they been better supported, might have saved the whole country from +invasion. The poet Simonides wrote the inscriptions that were engraved +upon the pillars that were set up in the pass to commemorate this great +action. One was outside the wall, where most of the fighting had been. +It seems to have been in honor of the whole number who had for two days +resisted-- + + + 'Here did four thousand men from Pelops' land + Against three hundred myriads bravely stand'. + + +In honor of the Spartans was another column-- + + + 'Go, traveler, to Sparta tell + That here, obeying her, we fell'. + + +On the little hillock of the last resistance was placed the figure of +a stone lion, in memory of Leonidas, so fitly named the lion-like, and +Simonides, at his own expense, erected a pillar to his friend, the seer +Megistias-- + + + 'The great Megistias' tomb you here may view, + Who slew the Medes, fresh from Spercheius fords; + Well the wise seer the coming death foreknew, + Yet scorn'd he to forsake his Spartan lords'. + + +The names of the 300 were likewise engraven on a pillar at Sparta. + +Lions, pillars, and inscriptions have all long since passed away, even +the very spot itself has changed; new soil has been formed, and there +are miles of solid ground between Mount Ceta and the gulf, so that the +Hot Gates no longer exist. But more enduring than stone or brass--nay, +than the very battlefield itself--has been the name of Leonidas. Two +thousand three hundred years have sped since he braced himself to perish +for his country's sake in that narrow, marshy coast road, under the brow +of the wooded crags, with the sea by his side. Since that time how many +hearts have glowed, how many arms have been nerved at the remembrance of +the Pass of Thermopylae, and the defeat that was worth so much more than +a victory! + + + + +THE ROCK OF THE CAPITOL + +B.C. 389 + + +The city of Rome was gradually rising on the banks of the Tiber, and +every year was adding to its temples and public buildings. + +Every citizen loved his city and her greatness above all else. There was +as yet little wealth among them; the richest owned little more than +a few acres, which they cultivated themselves by the help of their +families, and sometimes of a few slaves, and the beautiful Campagna di +Roma, girt in by hills looking like amethysts in the distance, had not +then become almost uninhabitable from pestilential air, but was rich and +fertile, full of highly cultivated small farms, where corn was raised in +furrows made by a small hand plough, and herds of sheep, goats, and oxen +browsed in the pasture lands. The owners of these lands would on public +days take off their rude working dress and broad-brimmed straw hat, and +putting on the white toga with a purple hem, would enter the city, and +go to the valley called the Forum or Marketplace to give their votes for +the officers of state who were elected every year; especially the two +consuls, who were like kings all but the crown, wore purple togas richly +embroidered, sat on ivory chairs, and were followed by lictors carrying +an axe in a bundle of rods for the execution of justice. In their own +chamber sat the Senate, the great council composed of the patricians, or +citizens of highest birth, and of those who had formerly been consuls. +They decided on peace or war, and made the laws, and were the real +governors of the State, and their grave dignity made a great impression +on all who came near them. Above the buildings of the city rose steep +and high the Capitoline Hill, with the Temple of Jupiter on its summit, +and the strong wall in which was the chief stronghold and citadel of +Rome, the Capitol, the very centre of her strength and resolution. When +a war was decided on, every citizen capable of bearing arms was called +into the Forum, bringing his helmet, breast plate, short sword, and +heavy spear, and the officers called tribunes, chose out a sufficient +number, who were formed into bodies called legions, and marched to +battle under the command of one of the consuls. Many little States or +Italian tribes, who had nearly the same customs as Rome, surrounded the +Campagna, and so many disputes arose that every year, as soon as the +crops were saved, the armies marched out, the flocks were driven to +folds on the hills, the women and children were placed in the walled +cities, and a battle was fought, sometimes followed up by the siege of +the city of the defeated. The Romans did not always obtain the victory, +but there was a staunchness about them that was sure to prevail in the +long run; if beaten one year, they came back to the charge the next, and +thus they gradually mastered one of their neighbors after another, and +spread their dominion over the central part of Italy. + +They were well used to Italian and Etruscan ways of making war, but +after nearly 400 years of this kind of fighting, a stranger and wilder +enemy came upon them. These were the Gauls, a tall strong, brave people, +long limbed and red-haired, of the same race as the highlanders of +Scotland. They had gradually spread themselves over the middle of +Europe, and had for some generations past lived among the Alpine +mountains, whence they used to come down upon the rich plans of northern +Italy for forays, in which they slew and burnt, and drove off cattle, +and now and then, when a country was quite depopulated, would settle +themselves in it. And thus, the Gauls conquering from the north and the +Romans from the south, these two fierce nations at length came against +one another. + +The old Roman story is that it happened thus: The Gauls had an unusually +able leader, whom Latin historians call Brennus, but whose real name was +most likely Bran, and who is said to have come out of Britain. He had +brought a great host of Gauls to attack Clusium, a Tuscan city, and the +inhabitants sent to Rome to entreat succor. Three ambassadors, brothers +of the noble old family of Fabius, were sent from Rome to intercede for +the Clusians. They asked Brennus what harm the men of Clusium had done +the Gauls, that they thus made war on them, and, according to Plutarch's +account, Brennus made answer that the injury was that the Clusians +possessed land that the Gauls wanted, remarking that it was exactly +the way in which the Romans themselves treated their neighbors, adding, +however, that this was neither cruel nor unjust, but according-- + + + 'To the good old plan +That they should take who have the power And they should keep who can.' + + + [Footnote: These lines of Wordsworth on Rob Roy's grave + almost literally translate the speech Plutarch gives the + first Kelt of history, Brennus.] + +The Fabii, on receiving this answer, were so foolish as to transgress +the rule, owned by the savage Gauls, that an ambassador should neither +fight nor be fought with; they joined the Clusians, and one brother, +named Quintus, killed a remarkably large and tall Gallic chief in single +combat. Brennus was justly enraged, and sent messengers to Rome to +demand that the brothers should be given up to him for punishment. The +priests and many of the Senate held that the rash young men had deserved +death as covenant-breakers; but their father made strong interest for +them, and prevailed not only to have them spared, but even chosen as +tribunes to lead the legions in the war that was expected. [Footnote: +These events happened during an experiment made by the Romans of having +six military tribunes instead of two consuls.] Thus he persuaded the +whole nation to take on itself the guilt of his sons, a want of true +self-devotion uncommon among the old Romans, and which was severely +punished. + +The Gauls were much enraged, and hurried southwards, not waiting for +plunder by the way, but declaring that they were friends to every State +save Rome. The Romans on their side collected their troops in haste, but +with a lurking sense of having transgressed; and since they had gainsaid +the counsel of their priests, they durst not have recourse to the +sacrifices and ceremonies by which they usually sought to gain the favor +of their gods. Even among heathens, the saying has often been verified, +'a sinful heart makes failing hand', and the battle on the banks of the +River Allia, about eleven miles from Rome, was not so much a fight as +a rout. The Roman soldiers were ill drawn up, and were at once broken. +Some fled to Veii and other towns, many were drowned in crossing the +Tiber, and it was but a few who showed in Rome their shame-stricken +faces, and brought word that the Gauls were upon them. + +Had the Gauls been really in pursuit, the Roman name and nation would +have perished under their swords; but they spent three day in feasting +and sharing their plunder, and thus gave the Romans time to take +measures for the safety of such as could yet escape. There seems to have +been no notion of defending the city, the soldiers had been too much +dispersed; but all who still remained and could call up something of +their ordinary courage, carried all the provisions they could collect +into the stronghold of the Capitol, and resolved to hold out there till +the last, in hopes that the scattered army might muster again, or that +the Gauls might retreat, after having revenged themselves on the city. +Everyone who could not fight, took flight, taking with them all they +could carry, and among them went the white-clad troop of vestal virgins, +carrying with them their censer of fire, which was esteemed sacred, and +never allowed to be extinguished. A man named Albinus, who saw these +sacred women footsore, weary, and weighted down with the treasures of +their temple, removed his own family and goods from his cart and seated +them in it--an act of reverence for which he was much esteemed--and thus +they reached the city of Cumae. The only persons left in Rome outside +the Capitol were eighty of the oldest senators and some of the priests. +Some were too feeble to fly, and would not come into the Capitol to +consume the food that might maintain fighting men; but most of them were +filled with a deep, solemn thought that, by offering themselves to the +weapons of the barbarians, they might atone for the sin sanctioned by +the Republic, and that their death might be the saving of the nation. +This notion that the death of a ruler would expiate a country's guilt +was one of the strange presages abroad in the heathen world of that +which alone takes away the sin of all mankind. + +On came the Gauls at last. The gates stood open, the streets were +silent, the houses' low-browed doors showed no one in the paved courts. +No living man was to be seen, till at last, hurrying down the steep +empty streets, they reached the great open space of the Forum, and there +they stood still in amazement, for ranged along a gallery were a row of +ivory chairs, and in each chair sat the figure of a white-haired, white- +bearded man, with arms and legs bare, and robes either of snowy white, +white bordered with purple, or purple richly embroidered, ivory staves +in their hands, and majestic, unmoved countenances. So motionless were +they, that the Gauls stood still, not knowing whether they beheld men or +statues. A wondrous scene it must have been, as the brawny, red-haired +Gauls, with freckled visage, keen little eyes, long broad sword, and +wide plaid garment, fashioned into loose trousers, came curiously down +into the marketplace, one after another; and each stood silent and +transfixed at the spectacle of those grand figures, still unmoving, save +that their large full liquid dark eyes showed them to be living beings. +Surely these Gauls deemed themselves in the presence of that council of +kings who were sometimes supposed to govern Rome, nay, if they were not +before the gods themselves. At last, one Gaul, ruder, or more curious +than the rest, came up to one of the venerable figures, and, to make +proof whether he were flesh and blood, stroked his beard. Such an insult +from an uncouth barbarian was more than Roman blood could brook, and the +Gaul soon had his doubt satisfied by a sharp blow on the head from the +ivory staff. All reverence was dispelled by that stroke; it was at once +returned by a death thrust, and the fury of the savages wakening in +proportion to the awe that had at first struck them, they rushed on the +old senators, and slew each one in his curule chair. + +Then they dispersed through the city, burning, plundering, and +destroying. To take the Capitol they soon found to be beyond their +power, but they hoped to starve the defenders out; and in the meantime +they spent their time in pulling down the outer walls, and such houses +and temples as had resisted the fire, till the defenders of the Capitol +looked down from their height on nothing but desolate black burnt +ground, with a few heaps of ruins in the midst, and the barbarians +roaming about in it, and driving in the cattle that their foraging +parties collected from the country round. There was much earnest faith +in their own religion among the Romans: they took all this ruin as the +just reward of their shelter of the Fabii, and even in their extremity +were resolved not to transgress any sacred rule. Though food daily +became more scarce and starvation was fast approaching, not one of the +sacred geese that were kept in Juno's Temple was touched; and one Fabius +Dorso, who believed that the household gods of his family required +yearly a sacrifice on their own festival day on the Quirinal Hill, +arrayed himself in the white robes of a sacrificer, took his sacred +images in his arms, and went out of the Capitol, through the midst +of the enemy, through the ruins to the accustomed alter, and there +preformed the regular rites. The Gauls, seeing that it was a religious +ceremony, let him pass through them untouched, and he returned in +safety; but Brennus was resolved on completing his conquest, and while +half his forces went out to plunder, he remained with the other half, +watching the moment to effect an entrance into the Capitol; and how +were the defenders, worn out with hunger, to resist without relief from +without? And who was there to bring relief to them, who were themselves +the Roman State and government? + +Now there was a citizen, named Marcus Furius Camillus, who was, without +question, at that time, the first soldier of Rome, and had taken several +of the chief Italian cities, especially that of Veii, which had long +been a most dangerous enemy. But he was a proud, haughty man, and had +brought on himself much dislike; until, at last, a false accusation was +brought against him, that he had taken an unfair share of the plunder +of Veii. He was too proud to stand a trial; and leaving the city, was +immediately fined a considerable sum. He had taken up his abode at the +city of Ardea, and was there living when the plundering half of Brennus' +army was reported to be coming thither. Camillus immediately offered the +magistrates to undertake their defense; and getting together all the men +who could bear arms, he led them out, fell upon the Gauls as they all +lay asleep and unguarded in the dead of night, made a great slaughter +of them, and saved Ardea. All this was heard by the many Romans who had +been living dispersed since the rout of Allia; and they began to recover +heart and spirit, and to think that if Camillus would be their leader, +they might yet do something to redeem the honor of Rome, and save their +friends in the Capitol. An entreaty was sent to him to take the command +of them; but, like a proud, stern man as he was, he made answer, that he +was a mere exile, and could not take upon himself to lead Romans without +a decree from the Senate giving him authority. The Senate was--all that +remained of it--shut up in the Capitol; the Gauls were spread all round; +how was that decree to be obtained? + +A young man, named Pontius Cominius, undertook the desperate mission. He +put on a peasant dress, and hid some corks under it, supposing that he +should find no passage by the bridge over the Tiber. Traveling all day +on foot, he came at night to the bank, and saw the guard at the bridge; +then, having waited for darkness, he rolled his one thin light garment, +with the corks wrapped up in it, round his head, and trusted himself to +the stream of Father Tiber, like 'good Horatius' before him; and he was +safely borne along to the foot of the Capitoline Hill. He crept along, +avoiding every place where he saw lights or heard noise, till he came +to a rugged precipice, which he suspected would not be watched by the +enemy, who would suppose it too steep to be climbed from above or below. +But the resolute man did not fear the giddy dangerous ascent, even in +the darkness; he swung himself up by the stems and boughs of the vines +and climbing plants, his naked feet clung to the rocks and tufts of +grass, and at length he stood on the top of the rampart, calling out his +name to the soldiers who came in haste around him, not knowing whether +he were friend or foe. A joyful sound must his Latin speech have been to +the long-tried, half starved garrison, who had not seen a fresh face for +six long months! The few who represented the Senate and people of Rome +were hastily awakened from their sleep, and gathered together to hear +the tidings brought them at so much risk. Pontius told them of the +victory at Ardea, and that Camillus and the Romans collected at Veii +were only waiting to march to their succor till they should give him +lawful power to take the command. There was little debate. The vote was +passed at once to make Camillus Dictator, an office to which Romans +were elected upon great emergencies, and which gave them, for the time, +absolute kingly control; and then Pontius, bearing the appointment, set +off once again upon his mission, still under shelter of night, clambered +down the rock, and crossed the Gallic camp before the barbarians were +yet awake. + +There was hope in the little garrison; but danger was not over. The +sharp-eyed Gauls observed that the shrubs and creepers were broken, the +moss frayed, and fresh stones and earth rolled down at the crag of the +Capitol: they were sure that the rock had been climbed, and, therefore, +that it might be climbed again. Should they, who were used to the snowy +peaks, dark abysses, and huge glaciers of the Alps, be afraid to climb +where a soft dweller in a tame Italian town could venture a passage? +Brennus chose out the hardiest of his mountaineers, and directed them to +climb up in the dead of night, one by one, in perfect silence, and thus +to surprise the Romans, and complete the slaughter and victory, before +the forces assembling at Veii would come to their rescue. + +Silently the Gauls climbed, so stilly that not even a dog heard them; +and the sentinel nearest to the post, who had fallen into a dead sleep +of exhaustion from hunger, never awoke. But the fatal stillness was +suddenly broken by loud gabbling, cackling, and flapping of heavy wings. +The sacred geese of Juno, which had been so religiously spared in the +famine, were frightened by the rustling beneath, and proclaimed their +terror in their own noisy fashion. The first to take the alarm was +Marcus Manlius, who started forward just in time to meet the foremost +climbers as they set foot on the rampart. One, who raised an axe to +strike, lost his arm by one stroke of Manlius' short Roman sword; the +next was by main strength hurled backwards over the precipice, and +Manlius stood along on the top, for a few moments, ready to strike the +next who should struggle up. The whole of the garrison were in a few +moments on the alert, and the attack was entirely repulsed; the sleeping +sentry was cast headlong down the rock; and Manlius was brought, by each +grateful soldier, that which was then most valuable to all, a little +meal and a small measure of wine. Still, the condition of the Capitol +was lamentable; there was no certainty that Pontius had ever reached +Camillus in safety; and, indeed, the discovery of his path by the enemy +would rather have led to the supposition that he had been seized and +detected. The best hope lay in wearying out the besiegers; and there +seemed to be more chance of this since the Gauls often could be seen +from the heights, burying the corpses of their dead; their tall, bony +forms looked gaunt and drooping, and, here and there, unburied carcasses +lay amongst the ruins. Nor were the flocks and herds any longer driven +in from the country. Either all must have been exhausted, or else +Camillus and his friends must be near, and preventing their raids. +At any rate, it appeared as if the enemy was quite as ill off as to +provisions as the garrison, and in worse condition as to health. In +effect, this was the first example of the famous saying, that Rome +destroys her conquerors. In this state of things one of the Romans had a +dream that Jupiter, the special god of the Capitol, appeared to him, and +gave the strange advice that all the remaining flour should be baked, +and the loaves thrown down into the enemy's camp. Telling the dream, +which may, perhaps, have been the shaping of his own thoughts, that this +apparent waste would persuade the barbarians that the garrison could not +soon be starved out, this person obtained the consent of the rest of the +besieged. Some approved the stratagem, and no one chose to act contrary +to Jupiter's supposed advice; so the bread was baked, and tossed down by +the hungry men. + +After a time, there was a report from the outer guards that the Gallic +watch had been telling them that their leader would be willing to +speak with some of the Roman chiefs. Accordingly, Sulpitius, one of the +tribunes, went out, and had a conference with Brennus, who declared that +he would depart, provided the Romans would lay down a ransom, for their +Capital and their own lives, of a thousand pounds' weight of gold. +To this Sulpitius agreed, and returning to the Capitol, the gold was +collected from the treasury, and carried down to meet the Gauls, who +brought their own weights. The weights did not meet the amount of gold +ornaments that had been contributed for the purpose, and no doubt the +Gauls were resolved to have all that they beheld; for when Sulpitius was +about to try to arrange the balance, Brennus insultingly threw his sword +into his own scale, exclaiming, Voe victis! 'Woe to the conquered!' The +Roman was not yet fallen so low as not to remonstrate, and the dispute +was waxing sharp, when there was a confused outcry in the Gallic camp, +a shout from the heights of the Capitol, and into the midst of the open +space rode a band of Roman patricians and knights in armor, with the +Dictator Camillus at their head. + +He no sooner saw what was passing, than he commanded the treasure to be +taken back, and, turning to Brennus, said, 'It is with iron, not gold, +that the Romans guard their country.' + +Brennus declared that the treaty had been sworn to, and that it would +be a breach of faith to deprive him of the ransom; to which Camillus +replied, that he himself was Dictator, and no one had the power to make +a treaty in his absence. The dispute was so hot, that they drew their +swords against one another, and there was a skirmish among the ruins; +but the Gauls soon fell back, and retreated to their camp, when they saw +the main body of Camillus' army marching upon them. It was no less than +40,000 in number; and Brennus knew he could not withstand them with +his broken, sickly army. He drew off early the next morning: but was +followed by Camillus, and routed, with great slaughter, about eight +miles from Rome; and very few of the Gauls lived to return home, for +those who were not slain in battle were cut off in their flight by the +country people, whom they had plundered. + +In reward for their conduct on this occasion, Camillus was termed +Romulus, Father of his Country, and Second Founder of Rome; Marcus +Manlius received the honorable surname of Capitolinus; and even the +geese were honored by having a golden image raised to their honor in +Juno's temple, and a live goose was yearly carried in triumph, upon a +soft litter, in a golden cage, as long as any heathen festivals lasted. +The reward of Pontius Cominius does not appear; but surely he, and the +old senators who died for their country's sake, deserved to be for ever +remembered for their brave contempt of life when a service could be done +to the State. + +The truth of the whole narrative is greatly doubted, and it is suspected +that the Gallic conquest was more complete than the Romans ever chose to +avow. Their history is far from clear up to this very epoch, when it +is said that all their records were destroyed; but even when place and +period are misty, great names and the main outline of their actions loom +through the cloud, perhaps exaggerated, but still with some reality; and +if the magnificent romance of the sack of Rome be not fact, yet it is +certainly history, and well worthy of note and remembrance, as one of +the finest extant traditions of a whole chain of Golden Deeds. + + + + +THE TWO FRIENDS OF SYRACUSE + +B.C. 380 (CIRCA) + + +Most of the best and noblest of the Greeks held what was called the +Pythagorean philosophy. This was one of the many systems framed by the +great men of heathenism, when by the feeble light of nature they were, +as St. Paul says, 'seeking after God, if haply they might feel after +Him', like men groping in the darkness. Pythagoras lived before the time +of history, and almost nothing is known about him, though his teaching +and his name were never lost. There is a belief that he had traveled in +the East, and in Egypt, and as he lived about the time of the dispersion +of the Israelites, it is possible that some of his purest and best +teaching might have been crumbs gathered from their fuller instruction +through the Law and the Prophets. One thing is plain, that even in +dealing with heathenism the Divine rule holds good, 'By their fruits +ye shall know them'. Golden Deeds are only to be found among men whose +belief is earnest and sincere, and in something really high and noble. +Where there was nothing worshiped but savage or impure power, and the +very form of adoration was cruel and unclean, as among the Canaanites +and Carthaginians, there we find no true self-devotion. The great deeds +of the heathen world were all done by early Greeks and Romans before yet +the last gleams of purer light had faded out of their belief, and while +their moral sense still nerved them to energy; or else by such later +Greeks as had embraced the deeper and more earnest yearnings of the +minds that had become a 'law unto themselves'. + +The Pythagoreans were bound together in a brotherhood, the members of +which had rules that are not now understood, but which linked them so as +to form a sort of club, with common religious observances and pursuits +of science, especially mathematics and music. And they were taught to +restrain their passions, especially that of anger, and to endure with +patience all kinds of suffering; believing that such self-restraint +brought them nearer to the gods, and that death would set them free from +the prison of the body. The souls of evil-doers would, they thought, +pass into the lower and more degraded animals, while those of good +men would be gradually purified, and rise to a higher existence. This, +though lamentably deficient, and false in some points, was a real +religion, inasmuch as it gave a rule of life, with a motive for striving +for wisdom and virtue. Two friends of this Pythagorean sect lived at +Syracuse, in the end of the fourth century before the Christian era. +Syracuse was a great Greek city, built in Sicily, and full of all kinds +of Greek art and learning; but it was a place of danger in their time, +for it had fallen under the tyranny of a man of strange and capricious +temper, though of great abilities, namely Dionysius. He is said to have +been originally only a clerk in a public office, but his talents raised +him to continually higher situations, and at length, in a great war with +the Carthaginians, who had many settlements in Sicily, he became general +of the army, and then found it easy to establish his power over the +city. + +This power was not according to the laws, for Syracuse, like most other +cities, ought to have been governed by a council of magistrates; but +Dionysius was an exceedingly able man, and made the city much more rich +and powerful, he defeated the Carthaginians, and rendered Syracuse by +far the chief city in the island, and he contrived to make everyone so +much afraid of him that no one durst attempt to overthrow his power. +He was a good scholar, and very fond of philosophy and poetry, and +he delighted to have learned men around him, and he had naturally a +generous spirit; but the sense that he was in a position that did not +belong to him, and that everyone hated him for assuming it, made him +very harsh and suspicious. It is of him that the story is told, that +he had a chamber hollowed in the rock near his state prison, and +constructed with galleries to conduct sounds like an ear, so that he +might overhear the conversation of his captives; and of him, too, is +told that famous anecdote which has become a proverb, that on hearing +a friend, named Damocles, express a wish to be in his situation for a +single day, he took him at his word, and Damocles found himself at a +banquet with everything that could delight his senses, delicious food, +costly wine, flowers, perfumes, music; but with a sword with the point +almost touching his head, and hanging by a single horsehair! This was to +show the condition in which a usurper lived! + +Thus Dionysius was in constant dread. He had a wide trench round his +bedroom, with a drawbridge that he drew up and put down with his own +hands; and he put one barber to death for boasting that he held a razor +to the tyrant's throat every morning. After this he made his young +daughters shave him; but by and by he would not trust them with a razor, +and caused them to singe of his beard with hot nutshells! He was said to +have put a man named Antiphon to death for answering him, when he asked +what was the best kind of brass, 'That of which the statues of Harmodius +and Aristogeiton were made.' These were the two Athenians who had killed +the sons of Pisistratus the tyrant, so that the jest was most offensive, +but its boldness might have gained forgiveness for it. One philosopher, +named Philoxenus, he sent to a dungeon for finding fault with his +poetry, but he afterwards composed another piece, which he thought so +superior, that he could not be content without sending for this adverse +critic to hear it. When he had finished reading it, he looked to +Philoxenus for a compliment; but the philosopher only turned round +to the guards, and said dryly, 'Carry me back to prison.' This time +Dionysius had the sense to laugh, and forgive his honesty. + +All these stories may not be true; but that they should have been +current in the ancient world shows what was the character of the man +of whom they were told, how stern and terrible was his anger, and how +easily it was incurred. Among those who came under it was a Pythagorean +called Pythias, who was sentenced to death, according to the usual fate +of those who fell under his suspicion. + +Pythias had lands and relations in Greece, and he entreated as a favor +to be allowed to return thither and arrange his affairs, engaging to +return within a specified time to suffer death. The tyrant laughed his +request to scorn. Once safe out of Sicily, who would answer for his +return? Pythias made reply that he had a friend, who would become +security for his return; and while Dionysius, the miserable man +who trusted nobody, was ready to scoff at his simplicity, another +Pythagorean, by name of Damon, came forward, and offered to become +surety for his friend, engaging, if Pythias did not return according to +promise, to suffer death in his stead. + +Dionysius, much astonished, consented to let Pythias go, marveling +what would be the issue of the affair. Time went on and Pythias did not +appear. The Syracusans watched Damon, but he showed no uneasiness. He +said he was secure of his friend's truth and honor, and that if any +accident had cause the delay of his return, he should rejoice in dying +to save the life of one so dear to him. + +Even to the last day Damon continued serene and content, however it +might fall out; nay even when the very hour drew nigh and still no +Pythias. His trust was so perfect, that he did not even grieve at having +to die for a faithless friend who had left him to the fate to which +he had unwarily pledged himself. It was not Pythias' own will, but the +winds and waves, so he still declared, when the decree was brought +and the instruments of death made ready. The hour had come, and a few +moments more would have ended Damon's life, when Pythias duly presented +himself, embraced his friend, and stood forward himself to receive his +sentence, calm, resolute, and rejoiced that he had come in time. + +Even the dim hope they owned of a future state was enough to make +these two brave men keep their word, and confront death for one another +without quailing. Dionysius looked on more struck than ever. He felt +that neither of such men must die. He reversed the sentence of Pythias, +and calling the two to his judgment seat, he entreated them to admit him +as a third in their friendship. Yet all the time he must have known it +was a mockery that he should ever be such as they were to each other--he +who had lost the very power of trusting, and constantly sacrificed +others to secure his own life, whilst they counted not their lives dear +to them in comparison with their truth to their word, and love to one +another. No wonder that Damon and Pythias have become such a byword that +they seem too well known to have their story told here, except that a +name in everyone's mouth sometimes seems to be mentioned by those who +have forgotten or never heard the tale attached to it. + + + + +THE DEVOTION OF THE DECII + +B.C. 339 + + +The spirit of self-devotion is so beautiful and noble, that even when +the act is performed in obedience to the dictates of a false religion, +it is impossible not to be struck with admiration and almost reverence +for the unconscious type of the one great act that has hallowed every +other sacrifice. Thus it was that Codrus, the Athenian king, has ever +since been honored for the tradition that he gave his own life to secure +the safety of his people; and there is a touching story, with neither +name nor place, of a heathen monarch who was bidden by his priests to +appease the supposed wrath of his gods by the sacrifice of the being +dearest to him. His young son had been seized on as his most beloved, +when his wife rushed between and declared that her son must live, and +not by his death rob her of her right to fall, as her husband's dearest. +The priest looked at the father; the face that had been sternly composed +before was full of uncontrolled anguish as he sprang forward to save +the wife rather than the child. That impulse was an answer, like the +entreaty of the mother before Solomon; the priest struck the fatal blow +ere the king's hand could withhold him, and the mother died with a last +look of exceeding joy at her husband's love and her son's safety. Human +sacrifices are of course accursed, and even the better sort of heathens +viewed them with horror; but the voluntary confronting of death, even at +the call of a distorted presage of future atonement, required qualities +that were perhaps the highest that could be exercised among those who +were devoid of the light of truth. + +In the year 339 there was a remarkable instance of such devotion. The +Romans were at war with the Latins, a nation dwelling to the south of +them, and almost exactly resembling themselves in language, habits, +government, and fashions of fighting. Indeed the city of Rome itself +was but an offshoot from the old Latin kingdom; and there was not much +difference between the two nations even in courage and perseverance. The +two consuls of the year were Titus Manlius Torquatus and Publius Decius +Mus. They were both very distinguished men. Manlius was a patrician, or +one of the high ancient nobles of Rome, and had in early youth fought a +single combat with a gigantic Gaul, who offered himself, like Goliath, +as a champion of his tribe; had slain him, and taken from him a gold +torque, or collar, whence his surname Torquatus. Decius was a plebeian; +one of the free though not noble citizens who had votes, but only within +a few years had been capable of being chosen to the higher offices +of state, and who looked upon every election to the consulship as a +victory. Three years previously, when a tribune in command of a +legion, Decius had saved the consul, Cornelius Cossus, from a dangerous +situation, and enabled him to gain a great victory; and this exploit was +remembered, and led to the choice of this well-experienced soldier as +the colleague of Manlius. + +The two consuls both went out together in command of the forces, each +having a separate army, and intending to act in concert. They marched +to the beautiful country at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, which was then +a harmless mountain clothed with chestnut woods, with spaces opening +between, where farms and vineyards rejoiced in the sunshine and the +fresh breezes of the lovely blue bay that lay stretched beneath. Those +who climbed to the summit might indeed find beds of ashes and the jagged +edge of a huge basin or gulf; the houses and walls were built of dark- +red and black material that once had flowed from the crater in boiling +torrents: but these had long since cooled, and so long was it since a +column of smoke had been seen to rise from the mountain top, that it +only remained as a matter of tradition that this region was one of +mysterious fire, and that the dark cool lake Avernus, near the mountain +skirts, was the very entrance to the shadowy realms beneath, that were +supposed to be inhabited by the spirits of the dead. + +It might be that the neighborhood of this lake, with the dread +imaginations connected with it by pagan fancy, influenced even the stout +hearts of the consuls; for, the night after they came in sight of the +enemy, each dreamt the same dream, namely, that he beheld a mighty +form of gigantic height and stature, who told him 'that the victory was +decreed to that army of the two whose leader should devote himself to +the Dii Manes,' that is, to the deities who watched over the shades +of the dead. Probably these older Romans held the old Etruscan belief, +which took these 'gods beneath' to be winged beings, who bore away the +departing soul, weighted its merits and demerits, and placed it in a +region of peace or of woe, according to its deserts. This was part of +the grave and earnest faith that gave the earlier Romans such truth +and resolution; but latterly they so corrupted it with the Greek myths, +that, in after times, they did not even know who the gods of Decius +were. + +At daybreak the two consuls sought one another out, and told their +dreams; and they agreed that they would join their armies in one, Decius +leading the right and Manlius the left wing; and that whichever found +his troops giving way, should at once rush into the enemy's columns and +die, to secure the victory to his colleague. At the same time strict +commands were given that no Roman should come out of his rank to fight +in single combat with the enemy; a necessary regulation, as the Latins +were so like, in every respect, to the Romans, that there would have +been fatal confusion had there been any mingling together before the +battle. Just as this command had been given out, young Titus Manlius, +the son of the consul, met a Latin leader, who called him by name and +challenged him to fight hand to hand. The youth was emulous of the honor +his father had gained by his own combat at the same age with the Gaul, +but forgot both the present edict and that his father had scrupulously +asked permission before accepting the challenge. He at once came +forward, and after a brave conflict, slew his adversary, and taking his +armor, presented himself at his father's tent and laid the spoils at his +feet. + +But old Manlius turned aside sadly, and collected his troops to hear his +address to his son: 'You have transgressed,' he said, 'the discipline +which has been the support of the Roman people, and reduced me to the +hard necessity of either forgetting myself and mine, or else the regard +I owe to the general safety. Rome must not suffer by one fault. We must +expiate it ourselves. A sad example shall we be, but a wholesome one +to the Roman youth. For me, both the natural love of a father, and that +specimen thou hast given of thy valor move me exceedingly; but since +either the consular authority must be established by thy death, or +destroyed by thy impunity, I cannot think, if thou be a true Manlius, +that thou wilt be backward to repair the breach thou hast made in +military discipline by undergoing the just meed of thine offence. He +then placed the wreath of leaves, the reward of a victor, upon his son's +head, and gave the command to the lictor to bind the young man to a +stake, and strike off his head. The troops stood round as men stunned, +no one durst utter a word; the son submitted without one complaint, +since his death was for the good of Rome: and the father, trusting that +the doom of the Dii Manes was about to overtake him, beheld the brave +but rash young head fall, then watched the corpse covered with the +trophies won from the Latins, and made no hindrance to the glorious +obsequies with which the whole army honored this untimely death. Strict +discipline was indeed established, and no one again durst break his +rank; but the younger men greatly hated Manlius for his severity, and +gave him no credit for the agony he had concealed while giving up his +gallant son to the wellbeing of Rome. + +A few days after, the expected battle took place, and after some little +time the front rank of Decius' men began to fall back upon the line in +their rear. This was the token he had waited for. He called to Valerius, +the chief priest of Rome, to consecrate him, and was directed to put +on his chief robe of office, the beautiful toga proetexta, to cover +his head, and standing on his javelin, call aloud to the 'nine gods' to +accept his devotion, to save the Roman legions, and strike terror into +his enemies. This done, he commanded his lictors to carry word to his +colleague that the sacrifice was accomplished, and then girding his robe +round him in the manner adopted in sacrificing to the gods, he mounted +his white horse, and rushed like lightning into the thickest of the +Latins. At first they fell away on all sides as if some heavenly +apparition had come down on them; then, as some recognized him, they +closed in on him, and pierced his breast with their weapons; but even +as he fell the superstition that a devoted leader was sure to win the +field, came full on their minds, they broke and fled. Meanwhile the +message came to Manlius, and drew from him a burst of tears--tears that +he had not shed for his son--his hope of himself meeting the doom and +ending his sorrow was gone; but none the less he nerved himself to +complete the advantage gained by Decius' death. Only one wing of the +Latins had fled, the other fought long and bravely, and when at last it +was defeated, and cut down on the field of battle, both conqueror and +conquered declared that, if Manlius had been the leader of the Latins, +they would have had the victory. Manlius afterwards completely subdued +the Latins, who became incorporated with the Romans; but bravely as he +had borne up, his health gave way under his sorrow, and before the end +of the year he was unable to take the field. + +Forty-five years later, in the year 294, another Decius was consul. He +was the son of the first devoted Decius, and had shown himself worthy of +his name, both as a citizen and soldier. His first consulate had been in +conjunction with one of the most high-spirited and famous Roman nobles, +Quintus Fabius, surnamed Maximus, or the Greatest, and at three years' +end they were again chosen together, when the Romans had been brought +into considerable peril by an alliance between the Gauls and the +Samnites, their chief enemies in Italy. + +One being a patrician and the other a plebeian, there was every attempt +made at Rome to stir up jealousies and dissensions between them; but +both were much too noble and generous to be thus set one against the +other; and when Fabius found how serious was the state of affairs in +Etruria, he sent to Rome to entreat that Decius would come and act with +him. 'With him I shall never want forces, nor have too many enemies to +deal with.' + +The Gauls, since the time of Brennus, had so entirely settled in +northern Italy, that it had acquired the name of Cisalpine Gaul, and +they were as warlike as ever, while better armed and trained. The united +armies of Gauls, Samnites, and their allies, together, are said to have +amounted to 143,330 foot and 46,000 horse, and the Roman army consisted +of four legions, 24,000 in all, with an unspecified number of horse. The +place of battle was at Sentinum, and here for the first time the Gauls +brought armed chariots into use,--probably the wicker chariots, with +scythes in the midst of the clumsy wooden wheels, which were used by the +Kelts in Britain two centuries later. It was the first time the Romans +had encountered these barbarous vehicles; they were taken by surprise, +the horses started, and could not be brought back to the charge, and the +legions were mowed down like corn where the furious Gaul impelled his +scythe. Decius shouted in vain, and tried to gather his men and lead +them back; but the terror at this new mode of warfare had so mastered +them, that they paid no attention to his call. Then, half in policy, +half in superstition, he resolved to follow his father in his death. +He called the chief priest, Marcus Livius, and standing on his javelin, +went through the same formula of self-dedication, and in the like manner +threw himself, alone and unarmed, in the midst of the enemy, among whom +he soon fell, under many a savage stroke. The priest, himself a gallant +soldier, called to the troops that their victory was now secured, and +thoroughly believing him, they let him lead them back to the charge, and +routed the Gauls; whilst Fabius so well did his part against the other +nations, that the victory was complete, and 25,000 enemies were slain. +So covered was the body of Decius by the corpses of his enemies, that +all that day it could not be found; but on the next it was discovered, +and Fabius, with a full heart, pronounced the funeral oration of the +second Decius, who had willingly offered himself to turn the tide +of battle in favor of his country. It was the last of such acts of +dedication--the Romans became more learned and philosophical, and +perhaps more reasonable; and yet, mistaken as was the object, it seems +a falling off that, 200 years later, Cicero should not know who were the +'nine gods' of the Decii, and should regard their sacrifice as 'heroic +indeed, but unworthy of men of understanding'. + + + + +REGULUS + +B.C. 249 + + +The first wars that the Romans engaged in beyond the bounds of Italy, +were with the Carthaginians. This race came from Tyre and Zidon; and +were descended from some of the Phoenicians, or Zidonians, who were such +dangerous foes, or more dangerous friends, to the Israelites. Carthage +had, as some say, been first founded by some of the Canaanites who fled +when Joshua conquered the Promised Land; and whether this were so or +not, the inhabitants were in all their ways the same as the Tyrians +and Zidonians, of whom so much is said in the prophecies of Isaiah +and Ezekiel. Like them, they worshipped Baal and Ashtoreth, and the +frightful Moloch, with foul and cruel rites; and, like them, they were +excellent sailors and great merchants trading with every known country, +and living in great riches and splendor at their grand city on the +southern shore of the Mediterranean. That they were a wicked and cruel +race is also certain; the Romans used to call deceit Punic faith, that +is, Phoenician faith, and though no doubt Roman writers show them up +in their worst colours, yet, after the time of Hiram, Solomon's ally at +Tyre, it is plain from Holy Scripture that their crimes were great. + +The first dispute between Rome and Carthage was about their possession +in the island of Sicily; and the war thus begun had lasted eight years +when it was resolved to send an army to fight the Carthaginians on their +own shores. The army and fleet were placed under the command of the two +consuls, Lucius Manlius and Marcus Attilius Regulus. On the way, there +was a great sea fight with the Carthaginian fleet, and this was the +first naval battle that the Romans ever gained. It made the way to +Africa free; but the soldiers, who had never been so far from home +before, murmured, for they expected to meet not only human enemies, but +monstrous serpents, lions, elephants, asses with horns, and dog-headed +monsters, to have a scorching sun overhead, and a noisome marsh under +their feet. However, Regulus sternly put a stop to all murmurs, by +making it known that disaffection would be punished by death, and the +army safely landed, and set up a fortification at Clypea, and plundered +the whole country round. Orders here came from Rome that Manlius should +return thither, but that Regulus should remain to carry on the war. This +was a great grief to him. He was a very poor man, with nothing of +his own but a little farm of seven acres, and the person whom he had +employed to cultivate it had died in his absence; a hired laborer had +undertaken the care of it, but had been unfaithful, and had run away +with his tools and his cattle; so that he was afraid that, unless he +could return quickly, his wife and children would starve. However, +the Senate engaged to provide for his family, and he remained, making +expeditions into the country round, in the course of which the Romans +really did fall in with a serpent as monstrous as their imagination had +depicted. It was said to be 120 feet long, and dwelt upon the banks of +the River Bagrada, where it used to devour the Roman soldiers as they +went to fetch water. It had such tough scales that they were obliged to +attack it with their engines meant for battering city walls, and only +succeeded with much difficulty in destroying it. + +The country was most beautiful, covered with fertile cornfields and full +of rich fruit trees, and all the rich Carthaginians had country houses +and gardens, which were made delicious with fountains, trees, and +flowers. The Roman soldiers, plain, hardy, fierce, and pitiless, did, it +must be feared, cruel damage among these peaceful scenes; they boasted +of having sacked 300 villages, and mercy was not yet known to them. The +Carthaginian army, though strong in horsemen and in elephants, kept +upon the hills and did nothing to save the country, and the wild desert +tribes of Numidians came rushing in to plunder what the Romans had left. +The Carthaginians sent to offer terms of peace; but Regulus, who had +become uplifted by his conquests, made such demands that the messengers +remonstrated. He answered, 'Men who are good for anything should either +conquer or submit to their betters;' and he sent them rudely away, like +a stern old Roman as he was. His merit was that he had no more mercy on +himself than on others. + +The Carthaginians were driven to extremity, and made horrible offerings +to Moloch, giving the little children of the noblest families to be +dropped into the fire between the brazen hands of his statue, and grown- +up people of the noblest families rushed in of their own accord, hoping +thus to propitiate their gods, and obtain safety for their country. +Their time was not yet fully come, and a respite was granted to them. +They had sent, in their distress, to hire soldiers in Greece, and among +these came a Spartan, named Xanthippus, who at once took the command, +and led the army out to battle, with a long line of elephants ranged in +front of them, and with clouds of horsemen hovering on the wings. The +Romans had not yet learnt the best mode of fighting with elephants, +namely, to leave lanes in their columns where these huge beasts might +advance harmlessly; instead of which, the ranks were thrust and trampled +down by the creatures' bulk, and they suffered a terrible defeat; +Regulus himself was seized by the horsemen, and dragged into Carthage, +where the victors feasted and rejoiced through half the night, and +testified their thanks to Moloch by offering in his fires the bravest of +their captives. + +Regulus himself was not, however, one of these victims. He was kept a +close prisoner for two years, pining and sickening in his loneliness, +while in the meantime the war continued, and at last a victory so +decisive was gained by the Romans, that the people of Carthage were +discouraged, and resolved to ask terms of peace. They thought that +no one would be so readily listened to at Rome as Regulus, and they +therefore sent him there with their envoys, having first made him swear +that he would come back to his prison if there should neither be peace +nor an exchange of prisoners. They little knew how much more a true- +hearted Roman cared for his city than for himself--for his word than for +his life. + +Worn and dejected, the captive warrior came to the outside of the gates +of his own city, and there paused, refusing to enter. 'I am no longer a +Roman citizen,' he said; 'I am but the barbarian's slave, and the Senate +may not give audience to strangers within the walls.' + +His wife Marcia ran out to greet him, with his two sons, but he did not +look up, and received their caresses as one beneath their notice, as +a mere slave, and he continued, in spite of all entreaty, to remain +outside the city, and would not even go to the little farm he had loved +so well. + +The Roman Senate, as he would not come in to them, came out to hold +their meeting in the Campagna. + +The ambassadors spoke first, then Regulus, standing up, said, as +one repeating a task, 'Conscript fathers, being a slave to the +Carthaginians, I come on the part of my masters to treat with you +concerning peace, and an exchange of prisoners.' He then turned to go +away with the ambassadors, as a stranger might not be present at the +deliberations of the Senate. His old friends pressed him to stay and +give his opinion as a senator who had twice been consul; but he refused +to degrade that dignity by claiming it, slave as he was. But, at the +command of his Carthaginian masters, he remained, though not taking his +seat. + +Then he spoke. He told the senators to persevere in the war. He said he +had seen the distress of Carthage, and that a peace would only be to her +advantage, not to that of Rome, and therefore he strongly advised that +the war should continue. Then, as to the exchange of prisoners, the +Carthaginian generals, who were in the hands of the Romans, were in full +health and strength, whilst he himself was too much broken down to be +fit for service again, and indeed he believed that his enemies had given +him a slow poison, and that he could not live long. Thus he insisted +that no exchange of prisoners should be made. + +It was wonderful, even to Romans, to hear a man thus pleading against +himself, and their chief priest came forward, and declared that, as his +oath had been wrested from him by force, he was not bound to return to +his captivity. But Regulus was too noble to listen to this for a moment. +'Have you resolved to dishonor me?' he said. 'I am not ignorant that +death and the extremest tortures are preparing for me; but what are +these to the shame of an infamous action, or the wounds of a guilty +mind? Slave as I am to Carthage, I have still the spirit of a Roman. I +have sworn to return. It is my duty to go; let the gods take care of the +rest.' + +The Senate decided to follow the advice of Regulus, though they bitterly +regretted his sacrifice. His wife wept and entreated in vain that they +would detain him; they could merely repeat their permission to him to +remain; but nothing could prevail with him to break his word, and he +turned back to the chains and death he expected so calmly as if he had +been returning to his home. This was in the year B.C. 249. + +'Let the gods take care of the rest,' said the Roman; the gods whom +alone he knew, and through whom he ignorantly worshipped the true God, +whose Light was shining out even in this heathen's truth and constancy. +How his trust was fulfilled is not known. The Senate, after the next +victory, gave two Carthaginian generals to his wife and sons to hold as +pledges for his good treatment; but when tidings arrived that Regulus +was dead, Marcia began to treat them both with savage cruelty, though +one of them assured her that he had been careful to have her husband +well used. Horrible stories were told that Regulus had been put out in +the sun with his eyelids cut off, rolled down a hill in a barrel with +spikes, killed by being constantly kept awake, or else crucified. Marcia +seems to have set about, and perhaps believed in these horrors, and +avenged them on her unhappy captives till one had died, and the Senate +sent for her sons and severely reprimanded them. They declared it was +their mother's doing, not theirs, and thenceforth were careful of the +comfort of the remaining prisoner. + +It may thus be hoped that the frightful tale of Regulus' sufferings was +but formed by report acting on the fancy of a vindictive woman, and that +Regulus was permitted to die in peace of the disease brought on far more +probably by the climate and imprisonment, than by the poison to which +he ascribed it. It is not the tortures he may have endured that make him +one of the noblest characters of history, but the resolution that would +neither let him save himself at the risk of his country's prosperity, +nor forfeit the word that he had pledged. + + + + +THE BRAVE BRETHREN OF JUDAH + +B.C. 180 + + +It was about 180 years before the Christian era. The Jews had long since +come home from Babylon, and built up their city and Temple at Jerusalem. +But they were not free as they had been before. Their country belonged +to some greater power, they had a foreign governor over them, and had to +pay tribute to the king who was their master. + +At the time we are going to speak of, this king was Antiochus Epiphanes, +King of Syria. He was descended from one of those generals who, upon the +death of Alexander the Great, had shared the East between them, and he +reigned over all the country from the Mediterranean Sea even into Persia +and the borders of India. He spoke Greek, and believed in both the Greek +and Roman gods, for he had spent some time at Rome in his youth; but +in his Eastern kingdom he had learnt all the self-indulgent and violent +habits to which people in those hot countries are especially tempted. + +He was so fierce and passionate, that he was often called the 'Madman', +and he was very cruel to all who offended him. One of his greatest +desires was, that the Jews should leave their true faith in one God, +and do like the Greeks and Syrians, his other subjects, worship the same +idols, and hold drunken feasts in their honor. Sad to say, a great many +of the Jews had grown ashamed of their own true religion and the strict +ways of their law, and thought them old-fashioned. They joined in the +Greek sports, played games naked in the theatre, joined in riotous +processions, carrying ivy in honor of Bacchus, the god of wine, and +offered incense to the idols; and the worst of all these was the false +high priest, Menelaus, who led the King Antiochus into the Temple +itself, even into the Holy of Holies, and told him all that would most +desecrate it and grieve the Jews. So a little altar to the Roman +god Jupiter was set up on the top of the great brazen altar of burnt +offerings, a hog was offered up, and broth of its flesh sprinkled +everywhere in the Temple; then all the precious vessels were seized, the +shewbread table of gold, the candlesticks, and the whole treasury, and +carried away by the king; the walls were thrown down, and the place made +desolate. + +Some Jews were still faithful to their God, but they were horribly +punished and tortured to death before the eyes of the king; and when at +last he went away to his own country, taking with him the wicked high +priest Menelaus, he left behind him a governor and an army of soldiers +stationed in the tower of Acra, which overlooked the Temple hill, and +sent for an old man from Athens to teach the people the heathen rites +and ceremonies. Any person who observed the Sabbath day, or any other +ordinance of the law of Moses, was put to death in a most cruel manner; +all the books of the Old Testament Scripture that could be found were +either burnt or defiled, by having pictures of Greek gods painted upon +them; and the heathen priests went from place to place, with a little +brazen altar and image and a guard of soldiers, who were to kill every +person who refused to burn incense before the idol. It was the very +saddest time that the Jews had ever known, and there seemed no help near +or far off; they could have no hope, except in the promises that God +would never fail His people, or forsake His inheritance, and in the +prophecies that bad times should come, but good ones after them. + +The Greeks, in going through the towns to enforce the idol worship, came +to a little city called Modin, somewhere on the hills on the coast +of the Mediterranean Sea, not far from Joppa. There they sent out, +as usual, orders to all the men of the town to meet them in the +marketplace; but they were told beforehand, that the chief person in the +place was an old man named Mattathias, of a priestly family, and so much +respected, that all the other inhabitants of the place were sure to do +whatever he might lead them in. So the Greeks sent for him first of all, +and he came at their summons, a grand and noble old man, followed by +his five sons, Johanan, Simon, Judas, Jonathan, and Eleazar. The Greek +priest tried to talk him over. He told him that the high priest had +forsaken the Jewish superstition, that the Temple was in ruins, and that +resistance was in vain; and exhorted him to obtain gratitude and honor +for himself, by leading his countrymen in thus adoring the deities +of the king's choice, promising him rewards and treasures if he would +comply. + +But the old man spoke out with a loud and fearless voice: 'Though all +the nations that are under the king's dominion obey him, and fall away +every one from the religion of their fathers, and give consent to +his commandments; yet will I and my sons and my brethren walk in the +covenant of our fathers. God forbid that we should forsake the law and +the ordinances! We will not hearken to the king's words, to go from our +religion, either on the right hand or the left!' + +As he spoke, up came an apostate Jew to do sacrifice at the heathen +altar. Mattathias trembled at the sight, and his zeal broke forth. He +slew the offender, and his brave sons gathering round him, they attacked +the Syrian soldiers, killed the commissioner, and threw down the altar. +Then, as they knew that they could not there hold out against the king's +power, Mattathias proclaimed throughout the city: 'Whosoever is zealous +of the law, and maintaineth the covenant, let him follow me!' With that, +he and his five sons, with their families, left their houses and lands, +and drove their cattle with them up into the wild hills and caves, where +David had once made his home; and all the Jews who wished to be +still faithful, gathered around them, to worship God and keep His +commandments. + +There they were, a handful of brave men in the mountains, and all the +heathen world and apostate Jews against them. They used to come down +into the villages, remind the people of the law, promise their help, +and throw down any idol altars that they found, and the enemy never were +able to follow them into their rocky strongholds. But the old Mattathias +could not long bear the rude wild life in the cold mountains, and he +soon died. First he called all his five sons, and bade them to 'be +zealous for the law, and give their lives for the covenant of their +fathers'; and he reminded them of all the many brave men who had before +served God, and been aided in their extremity. He appointed his son +Judas, as the strongest and mightiest, to lead his brethren to battle, +and Simon, as the wisest, to be their counsellor; then he blessed them +and died; and his sons were able to bury him in the tomb of his fathers +at Modin. + +Judas was one of the bravest men who ever lived; never dreading the +numbers that came against him. He was surnamed Maccabeus, which some +people say meant the hammerer; but others think it was made up of the +first letters of the words he carried on his banner, which meant 'Who +is like unto Thee, among the gods, O Lord?' Altogether he had about six +thousand men round him when the Greek governor, Apollonius, came out +to fight with him. The Jews gained here their first victory, and Judas +killed Apollonius, took his sword, and fought all his other battles with +it. Next came a captain called Seron, who went out to the hills to lay +hold of the bold rebels that dared to rise against the King of Syria. +The place where Judas met him was one to make the Jews' hearts leap with +hope and trust. It was on the steep stony broken hillside of Beth-horon, +the very place where Joshua had conquered the five kings of the +Amorites, in the first battle on the coming in of the children of Israel +to Palestine. There was the rugged path where Joshua had stood and +called out to the sun to stand still in Gibeon, and the moon in the +valley of Ajalon. Miracles were over, and Judas looked for no wonder to +help him; but when he came up the mountain road from Joppa, his heart +was full of the same trust as Joshua's, and he won another great +victory. + +By this time King Antiochus began to think the rising of the Jews a +serious matter, but he could not come himself against them, because his +provinces in Armenia and Persia had refused their tribute, and he had +to go in person to reduce them. He appointed, however, a governor, named +Lysias, to chastise the Jews, giving him an army of 40,000 foot and 7000 +horse. Half of these Lysias sent on before him, with two captains, named +Nicanor and Gorgias, thinking that these would be more than enough to +hunt down and crush the little handful that were lurking in the hills. +And with them came a great number of slave merchants, who had bargained +with Nicanor that they should have ninety Jews for one talent, to sell +to the Greeks and Romans, by whom Jewish slaves were much esteemed. + +There was great terror in Palestine at these tidings, and many of the +weaker-minded fell away from Judas; but he called all the faithful +together at Mizpeh, the same place where, 1000 years before, Samuel had +collected the Israelites, and, after prayer and fasting, had sent them +forth to free their country from the Philistines. Shiloh, the sanctuary, +was then lying desolate, just as Jerusalem now lay in ruins; and yet +better times had come. But very mournful was that fast day at Mizpeh, as +the Jews looked along the hillside to their own holy mountain crowned +by no white marble and gold Temple flashing back the sunbeams, but only +with the tall castle of their enemies towering over the precipice. +They could not sacrifice, because a sacrifice could only be made at +Jerusalem, and the only book of the Scriptures that they had to read +from was painted over with the hateful idol figures of the Greeks. And +the huge army of enemies was ever coming nearer! The whole assembly +wept, and put on sackcloth and prayed aloud for help, and then there was +a loud sounding of trumpets, and Judas stood forth before them. And he +made the old proclamation that Moses had long ago decreed, that no +one should go out to battle who was building a house, or planting a +vineyard, or had just betrothed a wife, or who was fearful and faint- +hearted. All these were to go home again. Judas had 6,000 followers when +he made this proclamation. He had only 3,000 at the end of the day, and +they were but poorly armed. He told them of the former aid that had come +to their fathers in extremity, and made them bold with his noble words. +Then he gave them for their watchword 'the help of God', and divided +the leadership of the band between himself and his brothers, appointing +Eleazar, the youngest, to read the Holy Book. + +With these valiant men, Judas set up his camp; but tidings were soon +brought him that Gorgias, with 5000 foot and 1000 horse, had left the +main body to fall on his little camp by night. He therefore secretly +left the place in the twilight; so that when the enemy attacked his +camp, they found it deserted, and supposing them to be hid in the +mountains, proceeded hither in pursuit of them. + +But in the early morning Judas and his 3,000 men were all in battle +array in the plains, and marching full upon the enemy's camp with +trumpet sound, took them by surprise in the absence of Gorgias and his +choice troops, and utterly defeated and put them to flight, but without +pursuing them, since the fight with Gorgias and his 5,000 might be yet +to come. Even as Judas was reminding his men of this, Gorgias's troops +were seen looking down from the mountains where they had been wandering +all night; but seeing their own camp all smoke and flame, they turned +and fled away. Nine thousand of the invaders had been slain, and the +whole camp, full of arms and treasures, was in the hands of Judas, who +there rested for a Sabbath of glad thanksgiving, and the next day parted +the spoil, first putting out the share for the widows and orphans and +the wounded, and then dividing the rest among his warriors. As to the +slave merchants, they were all made prisoners, and instead of giving a +talent for ninety Jews, were sold themselves. + +The next year Lysias came himself, but was driven back and defeated +at Bethshur, four or five miles south of Bethlehem. And now came the +saddest, yet the greatest, day of Judas's life, when he ventured to go +back into the holy city and take possession of the Temple again. The +strong tower of Acra, which stood on a ridge of Mount Moriah looking +down on the Temple rock, was still held by the Syrians, and he had no +means of taking it; but he and his men loved the sanctuary too well to +keep away from it, and again they marched up the steps and slopes that +led up the holy hill. They went up to find the walls broken, the gates +burnt, the cloisters and priests' chambers pulled down, and the courts +thickly grown with grass and shrubs, the altar of their one true God +with the false idol Jupiter's altar in the middle of it. These warriors, +who had turned three armies to flight, could not bear the sight. They +fell down on their faces, threw dust on their heads, and wept aloud for +the desolation of their holy place. But in the midst Judas caused the +trumpets to sound an alarm. They were to do something besides grieving. +The bravest of them were set to keep watch and ward against the Syrians +in the tower, while he chose out the most faithful priests to cleanse +out the sanctuary, and renew all that could be renewed, making new holy +vessels from the spoil taken in Nicanor's camp, and setting the stones +of the profaned altar apart while a new one was raised. On the third +anniversary of the great profanation, the Temple was newly dedicated, +with songs and hymns of rejoicing, and a festival day was appointed, +which has been observed by the Jews ever since. The Temple rock and city +were again fortified so as to be able to hold out against their enemies, +and this year and the next were the most prosperous of the life of the +loyal-hearted Maccabee. + +The great enemy of the Jews, Antiochus Epiphanes, was in the meantime +dying in great agony in Persia, and his son Antiochus Eupator was set +on the throne by Lysias, who brought him with an enormous army to reduce +the rising in Judea. The fight was again at Bethshur, where Judas had +built a strong fort on a point of rock that guarded the road to Hebron. +Lysias tried to take this fort, and Judas came to the rescue with his +little army, to meet the far mightier Syrian force, which was made more +terrific by possessing thirty war elephants imported from the Indian +frontier. Each of these creatures carried a tower containing thirty-two +men armed with darts and javelins, and an Indian driver on his neck; and +they had 1000 foot and 500 horse attached to the special following of +the beast, who, gentle as he was by nature, often produced a fearful +effect on the enemy; not so much by his huge bulk as by the terror he +inspired among men, and far more among horses. The whole host was spread +over the mountains and the valleys so that it is said that their bright +armor and gold and silver shields made the mountains glisten like lamps +of fire. + +Still Judas pressed on to the attack, and his brother Eleazar, +perceiving that one of the elephants was more adorned than the rest, +thought it might be carrying the king, and devoted himself for his +country. He fought his way to the monster, crept under it, and stabbed +it from beneath, so that the mighty weight sank down on him and crushed +him to death in his fall. He gained a 'perpetual name' for valor and +self-devotion; but the king was not upon the elephant, and after a hard- +fought battle, Judas was obliged to draw off and leave Bethshur to be +taken by the enemy, and to shut himself up in Jerusalem. + +There, want of provisions had brought him to great distress, when +tidings came that another son of Antiochus Epiphanes had claimed the +throne, and Lysias made peace in haste with Judas, promising him full +liberty of worship, and left Palestine in peace. + +This did not, however, last long. Lysias and his young master were slain +by the new king, Demetrius, who again sent an army for the subjection of +Judas, and further appointed a high priest, named Alcimus, of the family +of Aaron, but inclined to favor the new heathen fashions. + +This was the most fatal thing that had happened to Judas. Though of +the priestly line, he was so much of a warrior, that he seems to have +thought it would be profane to offer sacrifice himself; and many of the +Jews were so glad of another high priest, that they let Alcimus into the +Temple, and Jerusalem was again lost to Judas. One more battle was won +by him at Beth-horon, and then finding how hard it was to make head +against the Syrians, he sent to ask the aid of the great Roman power. +But long before the answer could come, a huge Syrian army had marched +in on the Holy Land, 20,000 men, and Judas had again no more than 3000. +Some had gone over to Alcimus, some were offended at his seeking Roman +alliance, and when at Eleasah he came in sight of the host, his men's +hearts failed more than they ever had done before, and, out of the 3000 +at first collected, only 800 stood with him, and they would fain have +persuaded him to retreat. + +'God forbid that I should do this thing,' he said, 'and flee away from +them. If our time be come, let us die manfully for our brethren, and let +us not stain our honor.' + +Sore was the battle, as sore as that waged by the 800 at Thermopylae, +and the end was the same. Judas and his 800 were not driven from the +field, but lay dead upon it. But their work was done. What is called the +moral effect of such a defeat goes further than many a victory. Those +lives, sold so dearly, were the price of freedom for Judea. + +Judas's brothers Jonathan and Simon laid him in his father's tomb, and +then ended the work that he had begun; and when Simon died, the Jews, +once so trodden on, were the most prosperous race in the East. The +Temple was raised from its ruins, and the exploits of the Maccabees had +nerved the whole people to do or die in defense of the holy faith of +their fathers. + + + + +THE CHIEF OF THE ARVERNI + +B.C. 52 + + +We have seen the Gauls in the heart of Rome, we have now to see them +showing the last courage of despair, defending their native lands +against the greatest of all the conquerors that Rome ever sent forth. + +These lands, where they had dwelt for so many years as justly to regard +them as their inheritance, were Gaul. There the Celtic race had had +their abode ever since history has spoken clearly, and had become, in +Gaul especially, slightly more civilized from intercourse with the Greek +colony at Massilia, or Marseilles. But they had become borderers upon +the Roman dominions, and there was little chance that they would not be +absorbed; the tribes of Provence, the first Roman province, were already +conquered, others were in alliance with Rome, and some had called in +the Romans to help them fight their battles. There is no occasion to +describe the seven years' war by which Julius Caesar added Gaul to the +provinces claimed by Rome, and when he visited Britain; such conquests +are far from being Golden Deeds, but are far worthier of the iron age. +It is the stand made by the losing party, and the true patriotism of one +young chieftain, that we would wish here to dwell upon. + +In the sixth year of the war the conquest seemed to have been made, and +the Roman legions were guarding the north and west, while Caesar himself +had crossed the Alps. Subjection pressed heavily on the Gauls, some of +their chiefs had been put to death, and the high spirit of the nation +was stirred. Meetings took place between the warriors of the various +tribes, and an oath was taken by those who inhabited the centre of the +country, that if they once revolted, they would stand by one another +to the last. These Gauls were probably not tall, bony giants, like the +pillagers of Rome; their appearance and character would be more like +that of the modern Welsh, or of their own French descendants, small, +alert, and dark-eyed, full of fire, but, though fierce at the first +onset, soon rebuffed, yet with much perseverance in the long run. Their +worship was conducted by Druids, like that of the Britons, and their +dress was of checked material, formed into a loose coat and wide +trousers. The superior chiefs, who had had any dealings with Rome, would +speak a little Latin, and have a few Roman weapons as great improvements +upon their own. Their fortifications were wonderfully strong. Trunks of +trees were laid on the ground at two feet apart, so that the depth of +the wall was their full length. Over these another tier of beams was +laid crosswise, and the space between was filled up with earth, and the +outside faced with large stones; the building of earth and stone was +carried up to some height, then came another tier of timbers, crossed as +before, and this was repeated again to a considerable height, the inner +ends of the beams being fastened to a planking within the wall, so that +the whole was of immense compactness. Fire could not damage the mineral +part of the construction, nor the battering ram hurt the wood, and the +Romans had been often placed in great difficulties by these rude but +admirable constructions, within which the Gauls placed their families +and cattle, building huts for present shelter. Of late, some attempts +had been made at copying the regular streets and houses built round +courts that were in use among the Romans, and Roman colonies had been +established in various places, where veteran soldiers had received +grants of land on condition of keeping the natives in check. A growing +taste for arts and civilization was leading to Romans of inferior +classes settling themselves in other Gallic cities. + +The first rising of the Gauls began by a quarrel at the city we now call +Orleans, ending in a massacre of all the Romans there. The tidings were +spread through all the country by loud shouts, repeated from one to the +other by men stationed on every hill, and thus, what had been done at +Orleans at sunrise was known by nine at night 160 miles off among the +mountains, which were then the homes of a tribe called by the Romans the +Arverni, who have left their name to the province of Auvergne. + +Here dwelt a young chieftain, probably really called Fearcuincedorigh, +or Man who is chief of a hundred heads, known to us by Caesar's version +of his name, as Vercingetorix, a high-spirited youth, who keenly felt +the servitude of his country, and who, on receiving these tidings, +instantly called on his friends to endeavor to shake off the yoke. His +uncle, who feared to provoke Roman vengeance, expelled him from the +chief city, Gergovia, the remains of which may be traced on the mountain +still called Gergoie, about six miles from Clermont; but he collected +all the younger and more high-spirited men, forced a way into the city, +and was proclaimed chief of his tribe. All the neighboring tribes joined +in the league against the common enemy, and tidings were brought to +Caesar that the whole country round the Loire was in a state of revolt. + +In the heart of winter he hurried back, and took the Gauls by surprise +by crossing the snows that lay thick on the wild waste of the Cebenna, +which the Arverni had always considered as their impenetrable barrier +throughout the winter. The towns quickly fell into his hands, and he was +rapidly recovering all he had lost, when Vercingetorix, collecting his +chief supporters, represented to them that their best hope would be +in burning all the inhabited places themselves and driving off all the +cattle, then lying in wait to cut off all the convoys of provisions that +should be sent to the enemy, and thus starving them into a retreat. He +said that burning houses were indeed a grievous sight, but it would be +more grievous to see their wives and children dragged into captivity. To +this all the allies agreed, and twenty towns in one district were burnt +in a single day; but when they came to the city of Avaricum, now called +Bourges, the tribe of Bituriges, to whom it belonged, entreated on +their knees not to be obliged to destroy the most beautiful city in the +country, representing that, as it had a river on one side, and a morass +everywhere else, except at a very narrow entrance, it might be easily +held out against the enemy, and to their entreaties Vercingetorix +yielded, though much against his own judgment. + +Caesar laid siege to the place, but his army suffered severely from +cold and hunger; they had no bread at all, and lived only on the cattle +driven in from distant villages, while Vercingetorix hovered round, +cutting off their supplies. They however labored diligently to raise a +mount against a wall of the town; but as fast as they worked, the higher +did the Gauls within raise the stages of their rampart, and for twenty- +five days there was a most brave defense; but at last the Romans made +their entrance, and slaughtered all they found there, except 800, who +escaped to the camp of Vercingetorix. He was not disconcerted by this +loss, which he had always expected, but sheltered and clothed the +fugitives, and raised a great body of archers and of horsemen, with whom +he returned to his own territory in Auvergne. There was much fighting +around the city of Gergovia; but at length, owing to the revolt of +the Aedui, another Gallic tribe, Caesar was forced to retreat over the +Loire; and the wild peaks of volcanic Auvergne were free again. + +But no gallant resolution could long prevail against the ever-advancing +power of Rome, and at length the Gauls were driven into their fortified +camp at Alesia, now called Alise [footnote: In Burgundy, between Semur +and Dijon.], a city standing on a high hill, with two rivers flowing +round its base, and a plain in front about three miles wide. Everywhere +else it was circled in by high hills, and here Caesar resolved to shut +these brave men in and bring them to bay. He caused his men to begin +that mighty system of earthworks by which the Romans carried on their +attacks, compassing their victim round on every side with a deadly +slowness and sureness, by those broad ditches and terraced ramparts that +everywhere mark where their foot of iron was trod. Eleven miles round +did this huge rampart extend, strengthened by three-and-twenty redoubts, +or places of defense, where a watch was continually kept. Before the +lines were complete, Vercingetorix brought out his cavalry, and gave +battle, at one time with a hope of success; but the enemy were too +strong for him, and his horsemen were driven into the camp. He then +resolved to send home all of these, since they could be of no use in the +camp, and had better escape before the ditch should have shut them in on +every side. He charged them to go to their several tribes and endeavor +to assemble all the fighting men to come to his rescue; for, if he were +not speedily succored, he and 80,000 of the bravest of the Gauls must +fall into the hands of the Romans, since he had only corn for thirty +days, even with the utmost saving. + +Having thus exhorted them, he took leave of them, and sent them away +at nine at night, so that they might escape in the dark where the Roman +trench had not yet extended. Then he distributed the cattle among his +men, but retained the corn himself, serving it out with the utmost +caution. The Romans outside fortified their camp with a double ditch, +one of them full of water, behind which was a bank twelve feet high, +with stakes forked like the horns of a stag. The space between the +ditches was filled with pits, and scattered with iron caltrops or hooked +spikes. All this was against the garrison, to prevent them from breaking +out; and outside the camp he made another line of ditches and ramparts +against the Gauls who might be coming to the rescue. + +The other tribes were not deaf to the summons of their friends, but +assembled in large numbers, and just as the besieged had exhausted +their provisions, an army was seen on the hills beyond the camp. Their +commander was Vergosillaunus (most probably Fearsaighan, the Man of the +Standard), a near kinsman of Vercingetorix; and all that bravery could +do, they did to break through the defenses of the camp from outside, +while within, Vercingetorix and his 80,000 tried to fill up the ditches, +and force their way out to meet their friends. But Caesar himself +commanded the Romans, who were confident in his fortunes, and raised a +shout of ecstasy wherever they beheld his thin, marked, eagle face and +purple robe, rushing on the enemy with a confidence of victory that did +in fact render them invincible. The Gauls gave way, lost seventy-four of +their standards, and Vergosillaunus himself was taken a prisoner; and as +for the brave garrison within Alesia, they were but like so many flies +struggling in vain within the enormous web that had been woven around +them. Hope was gone, but the chief of the Arverni could yet do one thing +for his countrymen--he could offer up himself in order to obtain better +terms for them. + +The next day he convened his companions in arms, and told them that +he had only fought for the freedom of their country, not to secure his +private interest; and that now, since yield they must, he freely offered +himself to become a victim for their safety, whether they should judge +it best for themselves to appease the anger of the conqueror by putting +him to death themselves, or whether they preferred giving him up alive. + +It was a piteous necessity to have to sacrifice their noblest and +bravest, who had led them so gallantly during the long war; but they had +little choice, and could only send messengers to the camp to offer to +yield Vercingetorix as the price of their safety. Caesar made it known +that he was willing to accept their submission, and drawing up his +troops in battle array, with the Eagle standards around him, he watched +the whole Gallic army march past him. First, Vercingetorix was placed as +a prisoner in his hands, and then each man lay down sword, javelin, or +bow and arrows, helmet, buckler and breastplate, in one mournful heap, +and proceeded on his way, scarcely thankful that the generosity of their +chieftain had purchased for them subjection rather than death. + +Vercingetorix himself had become the property of the great man from whom +alone we know of his deeds; who could perceive his generous spirit and +high qualities as a general, nay, who honored the self-devotion by which +he endeavored to save his countrymen. He remained in captivity--six long +years sped by--while Caesar passed the Rubicon, fought out his struggle +for power at Rome, and subdued Egypt, Pontus, and Northern Africa--and +all the time the brave Gaul remained closely watched and guarded, and +with no hope of seeing the jagged peaks and wild valleys of his own +beautiful Auvergne. For well did he, like every other marked foe of +Rome, know for what he was reserved, and no doubt he yielded himself in +the full expectation of that fate which many a man, as brave as he, had +escaped by self-destruction. + +The day came at last. In July, B.C. 45, the victorious Caesar had +leisure to celebrate his victories in four grand triumphs, all in one +month, and that in honor of the conquest of Gaul came the first. The +triumphal gate of Rome was thrown wide open, every house was decked with +hangings of silk and tapestry, the household images of every family, +dressed with fresh flowers, were placed in their porches, those of the +gods stood on the steps of the temples, and in marched the procession, +the magistrates first in their robes of office, and then the trumpeters. +Next came the tokens of the victory--figures of the supposed gods of the +two great rivers, Rhine and Rhone, and even of the captive Ocean, +made in gold, were carried along, with pictures framed in citron wood, +showing the scenes of victory--the wild waste of the Cevennes, the steep +peaks of Auvergne, the mighty camp of Alesia; nay, there too would be +the white cliffs of Dover, and the struggle with the Britons on the +beach. Models in wood and ivory showed the fortifications of Avaricum, +and of many another city; and here too were carried specimens of the +olives and vines, and other curious plants of the newly won land; here +was the breastplate of British pearls that Caesar dedicated to Venus. A +band of flute-players followed, and then came the white oxen that were +to be sacrificed, their horns gilded and flowers hung round them, the +sacrificing priests with wreathed heads marching with them. Specimens +of bears and wolves from the woods and mountains came next in order, +and after them waved for the last time the national ensigns of the many +tribes of Gaul. Once more Vercingetorix and Vergosillaunus saw their +own Arvernian standard, and marched behind it with the noblest of their +clan: once more they wore their native dress and well-tried armor. But +chains were on their hands and feet, and the men who had fought so long +and well for freedom, were the captive gazing-stock of Rome. Long, long +was the line of chained Gauls of every tribe, before the four white +horses appeared, all abreast, drawing the gilded car, in which stood +a slight form in a purple robe, with the bald head and narrow temples +encircled with a wreath of bay, the thin cheeks tinted with vermilion, +the eager aquiline face and narrow lips gravely composed to Roman +dignity, and the quick eye searching out what impression the display +was making on the people. Over his head a slave held a golden crown, but +whispered, 'Remember that thou too art a man.' And in following that old +custom, how little did the victor know that, bay-crowned like himself, +there followed close behind, in one of the chariots of the officers, the +man whose dagger-thrust would, two years later, be answered by his +dying word of reproach! The horsemen of the army followed, and then the +legions, every spear wreathed, every head crowned with bay, so that an +evergreen grove might have seemed marching through the Roman streets, +but for the war songs, and the wild jests, and ribald ballads that +custom allowed the soldiers to shout out, often in pretended mockery of +their own victorious general, the Imperator. + +The victor climbed the Capitol steps, and laid his wreath of bay on +Jupiter's knees, the white oxen were sacrificed, and the feast began +by torchlight. Where was the vanquished? He was led to the dark prison +vault in the side of Capitoline hill, and there one sharp sword-thrust +ended the gallant life and long captivity. + +It was no special cruelty in Julius Caesar. Every Roman triumph was +stained by the slaughter of the most distinguished captives, after the +degradation of walking in chains had been undergone. He had spirit to +appreciate Vercingetorix, but had not nobleness to spare him from the +ordinary fate. Yet we may doubt which, in true moral greatness, was the +superior in that hour of triumph, the conqueror who trod down all that +he might minister to his own glory, or the conquered, who, when no +resistance had availed, had voluntarily confronted shame and death in +hopes to win pardon and safety for his comrades. + + + + +WITHSTANDING THE MONARCH IN HIS WRATH + +A.D. 389 + + +When a monarch's power is unchecked by his people, there is only One +to whom he believes himself accountable; and if he have forgotten the +dagger of Damocles, or if he be too high-spirited to regard it, then +that Higher One alone can restrain his actions. And there have been +times when princes have so broken the bounds of right, that no hope +remains of recalling them to their duty save by the voice of the +ministers of God upon Earth. But as these ministers bear no charmed +life, and are subjects themselves of the prince, such rebukes have been +given at the utmost risk of liberty and life. + +Thus it was that though Nathan, unharmed, showed David his sin, and +Elijah, the wondrous prophet of Gilead, was protected from Jezebel's +fury, when he denounced her and her husband Ahab for the idolatry of +Baal and the murder of Naboth; yet no Divine hand interposed to shield +Zachariah, the son of Jehoiada, the high priest, when he rebuked the +apostasy of his cousin, Jehoash, King of Judah, and was stoned to +death by the ungrateful king's command in that very temple court where +Jehoiada and his armed Levites had encountered the savage usurping +Athaliah, and won back the kingdom for the child Jehoash. And when 'in +the spirit and power of Elijah', St. John the Baptist denounced the +sin of Herod Antipas in marrying his brother Philip's wife, he bore the +consequences to the utmost, when thrown into prison and then beheaded to +gratify the rage of the vindictive woman. + +Since Scripture Saints in the age of miracles were not always shielded +from the wrath of kings, Christian bishops could expect no special +interposition in their favor, when they stood forth to stop the way +of the sovereign's passions, and to proclaim that the cause of mercy, +purity, and truth is the cause of God. + +The first of these Christian bishops was Ambrose, the sainted prelate of +Milan. It was indeed a Christian Emperor whom he opposed, no other than +the great Theodosius, but it was a new and unheard-of thing for any +voice to rebuke an Emperor of Rome, and Theodosius had proved himself a +man of violent passions. + +The fourth century was a time when races and all sorts of shows were +the fashion, nay, literally the rage; for furious quarrels used to +arise among the spectators who took the part of one or other of the +competitors, and would call themselves after their colours, the Blues or +the Greens. A favorite chariot driver, who had excelled in these +races at Thessalonica, was thrown into prison for some misdemeanor +by Botheric, the Governor of Illyria, and his absence so enraged +the Thessalonican mob, that they rose in tumult, and demanded his +restoration. On being refused, they threw such a hail of stones that the +governor himself and some of his officers were slain. + +Theodosius might well be displeased, but his rage passed all bounds. He +was at Milan at the time, and at first Ambrose so worked on his feelings +as to make him promise to temper justice with mercy; but afterwards +fresh accounts of the murder, together with the representations of +his courtier Rufinus, made him resolve not to relent, and he sent off +messengers commanding that there should be a general slaughter of +all the race-going Thessalonicans, since all were equally guilty of +Botheric's death. He took care that his horrible command should be kept +a secret from Ambrose, and the first that the Bishop heard of it was the +tidings that 7,000 persons had been killed in the theatre, in a massacre +lasting three hours! + +There was no saving these lives, but Ambrose felt it his duty to make +the Emperor feel his sin, in hopes of saving others. Besides, it was not +consistent with the honor of God to receive at his altar a man reeking +with innocent blood. The Bishop, however, took time to consider; he +went into the country for a few days, and thence wrote a letter to +the Emperor, telling him that thus stained with crime, he could not +be admitted to the Holy Communion, nor received into church. Still the +Emperor does not seem to have believed he could be really withstood by +any subject, and on Ambrose's return, he found the imperial procession, +lictors, guards, and all, escorting the Emperor as usual to the Basilica +or Justice Hall, that had been turned into a church. Then to the door +came the Bishop and stood in the way, forbidding the entrance, and +announcing that there, at least, sacrilege should not be added to +murder. + +'Nay,' said the Emperor, 'did not holy King David commit both murder and +adultery, yet was he not received again?' + +'If you have sinned like him, repent like him,' answered Ambrose. + +Theodosius turned away, troubled. He was great enough not to turn his +anger against the Bishop; he felt that he had sinned, and that the +chastisement was merited, and he went back to his palace weeping, and +there spent eight months, attending to his duties of state, but too +proud to go through the tokens of penitence that the discipline of the +Church had prescribed before a great sinner could be received back +into the congregation of the faithful. Easter was the usual time for +reconciling penitents, and Ambrose was not inclined to show any respect +of persons, or to excuse the Emperor from a penance he would have +imposed on any offender. However, Rufinus could not believe in such +disregard, and thought all would give way to the Emperor's will. +Christmas had come, but for one man at Milan there were no hymns, no +shouts of 'glad tidings!' no midnight festival, no rejoicing that 'to us +a Child is born; to us a Son is given'. The Basilica was thronged with +worshippers and rang with their Amens, resounding like thunder, and +their echoing song--the Te Deum--then their newest hymn of praise. But +the lord of all those multitudes was alone in his palace. He had not +shown good will to man; he had not learnt mercy and peace from the +Prince of Peace; and the door was shut upon him. He was a resolute +Spanish Roman, a well-tried soldier, a man advancing in years, but he +wept, and wept bitterly. Rufinus found him thus weeping. It must have +been strange to the courtier that his master did not send his lictors to +carry the offending bishop to a dungeon, and give all his court favor +to the heretics, like the last empress who had reigned at Milan. Nay, +he might even, like Julian the Apostate, have altogether renounced that +Christian faith which could humble an emperor below the poorest of his +subjects. + +But Rufinus contented himself with urging the Emperor not to remain +at home lamenting, but to endeavor again to obtain admission into the +church, assuring him that the Bishop would give way. Theodosius replied +that he did not expect it, but yielded to the persuasions, and Rufinus +hastened on before to warn the Bishop of his coming, and represented how +inexpedient it was to offend him. + +'I warn you,' replied Ambrose, 'that I shall oppose his entrance, but +if he chooses to turn his power into tyranny, I shall willingly let him +slay me.' + +The Emperor did not try to enter the church, but sought Ambrose in an +adjoining building, where he entreated to be absolved from his sin. + +'Beware,' returned the Bishop, 'of trampling on the laws of God.' 'I +respect them,' said the Emperor, 'therefore I have not set foot in the +church, but I pray thee to deliver me from these bonds, and not to close +against me the door that the Lord hath opened to all who truly repent.' + +'What repentance have you shown for such a sin?' asked Ambrose. + +'Appoint my penance,' said the Emperor, entirely subdued. + +And Ambrose caused him at once to sign a decree that thirty days should +always elapse between a sentence of death and its execution. After this, +Theodosius was allowed to come into the church, but only to the corner +he had shunned all these eight months, till the 'dull hard stone within +him' had 'melted', to the spot appointed for the penitents. There, +without his crown, his purple robe, and buskins, worked with golden +eagles, all laid aside, he lay prostrate on the stones, repeating the +verse, 'My soul cleaveth unto the dust; quicken me, O Lord, according to +thy word.' This was the place that penitents always occupied, and there +fasts and other discipline were also appointed. When the due course had +been gone through, probably at the next Easter, Ambrose, in his Master's +name, pronounced the forgiveness of Theodosius, and received him back to +the full privileges of a Christian. When we look at the course of many +another emperor, and see how easily, where the power was irresponsible, +justice became severity, and severity, bloodthirstiness, we see what +Ambrose dared to meet, and from what he spared Theodosius and all the +civilized world under his sway. Who can tell how many innocent lives +have been saved by that thirty days' respite? + +Pass over nearly 700 years, and again we find a church door barred +against a monarch. This time it is not under the bright Italian sky, +but under the grey fogs of the Baltic sea. It is not the stately marble +gateway of the Milanese Basilica, but the low-arched, rough stone portal +of the newly built cathedral of Roskilde, in Zealand, where, if a zigzag +surrounds the arch, it is a great effort of genius. The Danish king +Swend, the nephew of the well-known Knut, stands before it; a stern and +powerful man, fierce and passionate, and with many a Danish axe at his +command. Nay, only lately for a few rude jests, he caused some of his +chief jarls to be slain without a trial. Half the country is still +pagan, and though the king himself is baptized, there is no certainty +that, if the Christian faith do not suit his taste, he may not join the +heathen party and return to the worship of Thor and Tyr, where deeds +of blood would be not blameworthy, but a passport to the rude joys of +Valhall. Nevertheless there is a pastoral staff across the doorway, +barring the way of the king, and that staff is held against him by +an Englishman, William, Bishop of Roskilde, the missionary who had +converted a great part of Zealand, but who will not accept Christians +who have not laid aside their sins. + +He confronts the king who has never been opposed before. 'Go back,' he +says, 'nor dare approach the alter of God--thou who art not a king but a +murderer.' + +Some of the jarls seized their swords and axes, and were about to strike +the bishop away from the threshold, but he, without removing his staff, +bent his head, and bade them strike, saying he was ready to die in the +cause of God. But the king came to a better frame of mind, he called +the jarls away, and returning humbly to his palace, took off his royal +robes, and came again barefoot and in sackcloth to the church door, +where Bishop William met him, took him by the hand, gave him the kiss +of peace, and led him to the penitents' place. After three days he was +absolved, and for the rest of his life, the bishop and the king lived in +the closest friendship, so much so that William always prayed that +even in death he might not be divided from his friend. The prayer was +granted. The two died almost at the same time, and were buried together +in the cathedral at Roskilde, where the one had taught and other learnt +the great lesson of mercy. + + + + +THE LAST FIGHT IN THE COLISEUM + +A.D. 404 + + +As the Romans grew prouder and more fond of pleasure, no one could hope +to please them who did not give them sports and entertainments. When +any person wished to be elected to any public office, it was a matter of +course that he should compliment his fellow citizens by exhibitions of +the kind they loved, and when the common people were discontented, their +cry was that they wanted panem ac Circenses, 'bread and sports', the +only things they cared for. In most places where there has been a +large Roman colony, remains can be seen of the amphitheatres, where the +citizens were wont to assemble for these diversions. Sometimes these are +stages of circular galleries of seats hewn out of the hillside, where +rows of spectators might sit one above the other, all looking down on +a broad, flat space in the centre, under their feet, where the +representations took place. Sometimes, when the country was flat, or it +was easier to build than to excavate, the amphitheatre was raised above +ground, rising up to a considerable height. + +The grandest and most renowned of all these amphitheatres is the +Coliseum at Rome. It was built by Vespasian and his son Titus, the +conquerors of Jerusalem, in a valley in the midst of the seven hills of +Rome. The captive Jews were forced to labour at it; and the materials, +granite outside, and softer travertine stone within, are so solid and +so admirably built, that still at the end of eighteen centuries it has +scarcely even become a ruin, but remains one of the greatest wonders of +Rome. + +Five acres of ground were enclosed within the oval of its outer wall, +which outside rises perpendicularly in tiers of arches one above the +other. Within, the galleries of seats projected forwards, each tier +coming out far beyond the one above it, so that between the lowest and +the outer wall there was room for a great space of chambers, passages, +and vaults around the central space, called the arena, from the arena, +or sand, with which it was strewn. + +When the Roman Emperors grew very vain and luxurious, they used to have +this sand made ornamental with metallic filings, vermilion, and even +powdered precious stones; but it was thought better taste to use the +scrapings of a soft white stone, which, when thickly strewn, made the +whole arena look as if covered with untrodden snow. Around the border +of this space flowed a stream of fresh water. Then came a straight wall, +rising to a considerable height, and surmounted by a broad platform, on +which stood a throne for the Emperor, curule chairs of ivory and +gold for the chief magistrates and senators, and seats for the vestal +virgins. Next above were galleries for the equestrian order, the great +mass of those who considered themselves as of gentle station, though not +of the highest rank; farther up, and therefore farther back, were +the galleries belonging to the freemen of Rome; and these were again +surmounted by another plain wall with a platform on the top, where were +places for the ladies, who were not (except the vestal virgins) allowed +to look on nearer, because of the unclothed state of some of the +performers in the arena. Between the ladies' boxes, benches were +squeezed in where the lowest people could seat themselves; and some of +these likewise found room in the two uppermost tiers of porticoes, where +sailors, mechanics, and persons in the service of the Coliseum had their +post. Altogether, when full, this huge building held no less than 87,000 +spectators. It had no roof; but when there was rain, or if the sun was +too hot, the sailors in the porticoes unfurled awnings that ran along +upon ropes, and formed a covering of silk and gold tissue over the +whole. Purple was the favorite color for this velamen, or veil; because, +when the sun shone through it, it cast such beautiful rosy tints on the +snowy arena and the white purple-edged togas of the Roman citizens. + +Long days were spent from morning till evening upon those galleries. The +multitude who poured in early would watch the great dignitaries arrive +and take their seats, greeting them either with shouts of applause or +hootings of dislike, according as they were favorites or otherwise; and +when the Emperor came in to take his place under his canopy, there +was one loud acclamation, 'Joy to thee, master of all, first of all, +happiest of all. Victory to thee for ever!' + +When the Emperor had seated himself and given the signal, the sports +began. Sometimes a rope-dancing elephant would begin the entertainment, +by mounting even to the summit of the building and descending by a cord. +Then a bear, dressed up as a Roman matron, would be carried along in +a chair between porters, as ladies were wont to go abroad, and another +bear, in a lawyer's robe, would stand on his hind legs and go through +the motions of pleading a case. Or a lion came forth with a jeweled +crown on his head, a diamond necklace round his neck, his mane plaited +with gold, and his claws gilded, and played a hundred pretty gentle +antics with a little hare that danced fearlessly within his grasp. Then +in would come twelve elephants, six males in togas, six females with +the veil and pallium; they took their places on couches around an ivory +table, dined with great decorum, playfully sprinkled a little rosewater +over the nearest spectators, and then received more guests of their +unwieldy kind, who arrived in ball dresses, scattered flowers, and +performed a dance. + +Sometimes water was let into the arena, a ship sailed in, and falling +to pieces in the midst, sent a crowd of strange animals swimming in +all directions. Sometimes the ground opened, and trees came growing up +through it, bearing golden fruit. Or the beautiful old tale of Orpheus +was acted; these trees would follow the harp and song of the musician; +but--to make the whole part complete--it was no mere play, but real +earnest, that the Orpheus of the piece fell a prey to live bears. + +For the Coliseum had not been built for such harmless spectacles as +those first described. The fierce Romans wanted to be excited and feel +themselves strongly stirred; and, presently, the doors of the pits and +dens round the arena were thrown open, and absolutely savage beasts were +let loose upon one another--rhinoceroses and tigers, bulls and lions, +leopards and wild boars--while the people watched with savage curiosity +to see the various kinds of attack and defense; or, if the animals were +cowed or sullen, their rage would be worked up--red would be shown to +the bulls, white to boars, red-hot goads would be driven into some, +whips would be lashed at others, till the work of slaughter was fairly +commenced, and gazed on with greedy eyes and ears delighted, instead +of horror-struck, by the roars and howls of the noble creatures whose +courage was thus misused. Sometimes indeed, when some especially strong +or ferocious animal had slain a whole heap of victims, the cries of the +people would decree that it should be turned loose in its native forest, +and, amid shouts of 'A triumph! a triumph!' the beast would prowl round +the arena, upon the carcasses of the slain victims. Almost incredible +numbers of animals were imported for these cruel sports, and the +governors of distant provinces made it a duty to collect troops of +lions, elephants, ostriches, leopards--the fiercer or the newer the +creature the better--to be thus tortured to frenzy, to make sport in +the amphitheatre. However, there was daintiness joined with cruelty: the +Romans did not like the smell of blood, though they enjoyed the sight +of it, and all the solid stonework was pierced with tubes, through which +was conducted the stream of spices and saffron, boiled in wine, that the +perfume might overpower the scent of slaughter below. + +Wild beasts tearing each other to pieces might, one would think, satisfy +any taste of horror; but the spectators needed even nobler game to be +set before their favorite monsters--men were brought forward to confront +them. Some of these were at first in full armor, and fought hard, +generally with success; and there was a revolving machine, something +like a squirrel's cage, in which the bear was always climbing after his +enemy, and then rolling over by his own weight. Or hunters came, almost +unarmed, and gaining the victory by swiftness and dexterity, throwing a +piece of cloth over a lion's head, or disconcerting him by putting their +fist down his throat. But it was not only skill, but death, that the +Romans loved to see; and condemned criminals and deserters were reserved +to feast the lions, and to entertain the populace with their various +kinds of death. Among these condemned was many a Christian martyr, who +witnessed a good confession before the savage-eyed multitude around the +arena, and 'met the lion's gory mane' with a calm resolution and hopeful +joy that the lookers-on could not understand. To see a Christian die, +with upward gaze and hymns of joy on his tongue, was the most strange +unaccountable sight the Coliseum could offer, and it was therefore the +choicest, and reserved for the last part of the spectacles in which the +brute creation had a part. + +The carcasses were dragged off with hooks, and bloodstained sand was +covered with a fresh clean layer, the perfume wafted in stronger clouds, +and a procession came forward--tall, well-made men, in the prime of +their strength. Some carried a sword and a lasso, others a trident and +a net; some were in light armor, others in the full heavy equipment of a +soldier; some on horseback, some in chariots, some on foot. They marched +in, and made their obeisance to the Emperor; and with one voice, +their greeting sounded through the building, Ave, Caesar, morituri te +salutant! 'Hail, Caesar, those about to die salute thee!' + +They were the gladiators--the swordsmen trained to fight to the death to +amuse the populace. They were usually slaves placed in schools of arms +under the care of a master; but sometimes persons would voluntarily hire +themselves out to fight by way of a profession: and both these, and such +slave gladiators as did not die in the arena, would sometimes retire, +and spend an old age of quiet; but there was little hope of this, for +the Romans were not apt to have mercy on the fallen. + +Fights of all sorts took place--the light-armed soldier and the +netsman--the lasso and the javelin--the two heavy-armed warriors--all +combinations of single combat, and sometimes a general melee. When +a gladiator wounded his adversary, he shouted to the spectators, Hoc +habet! 'He has it!' and looked up to know whether he should kill or +spare. If the people held up their thumbs, the conquered was left to +recover, if he could; if they turned them down, he was to die: and if he +showed any reluctance to present his throat for the deathblow, there was +a scornful shout, Recipe ferrum! 'Receive the steel!' Many of us must +have seen casts of the most touching statue of the wounded man, that +called forth the noble lines of indignant pity which, though so often +repeated, cannot be passed over here: + + + 'I see before me the Gladiator lie; + He leans upon his hand--his manly brow + Consents to death, but conquers agony. + And his droop'd head sinks gradually low, + And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow + From the red gash, fall heavy one by one, + Like the first of a thunder shower; and now + The arena swims around him--he is gone + Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won. + + 'He heard it, but he heeded no--this eyes + Were with his heart, and that was far away. + He reck'd not of the life he lost, nor prize, + But where his rude hut by the Danube lay, + There were his young barbarians all at play, + There was their Dacian mother--he their sire, + Butcher'd to make a Roman holiday. + All this rush'd with his blood--Shall he expire, + And unavenged? Arise ye Goths and glut your ire.' + + +Sacred vestals, tender mothers, fat, good-humored senators, all thought +it fair play, and were equally pitiless in the strange frenzy for +exciting scenes to which they gave themselves up, when they mounted the +stone stairs of the Coliseum. Privileged persons would even descend +into the arena, examine the death agonies, and taste the blood of some +specially brave victim ere the corpse was drawn forth at the death gate, +that the frightful game might continue undisturbed and unencumbered. +Gladiator shows were the great passion of Rome, and popular favor could +hardly be gained except by ministering to it. Even when the barbarians +were beginning to close in on the Empire, hosts of brave men were still +kept for this slavish mimic warfare--sport to the beholders, but sad +earnest to the actors. + +Christianity worked its way upwards, and at least was professed by the +Emperor on his throne. Persecution came to an end, and no more martyrs +fed the beasts in the Coliseum. The Christian emperors endeavored to +prevent any more shows where cruelty and death formed the chief interest +and no truly religious person could endure the spectacle; but custom and +love of excitement prevailed even against the Emperor. Mere tricks of +beasts, horse and chariot races, or bloodless contests, were tame and +dull, according to the diseased taste of Rome; it was thought weak and +sentimental to object to looking on at a death scene; the Emperors were +generally absent at Constantinople, and no one could get elected to any +office unless he treated the citizens to such a show as they best liked, +with a little bloodshed and death to stir their feelings; and thus +it went on for full a hundred years after Rome had, in name, become +a Christian city, and the same custom prevailed wherever there was an +amphitheatre and pleasure-loving people. + +Meantime the enemies of Rome were coming nearer and nearer, and Alaric, +the great chief of the Goths, led his forces into Italy, and threatened +the city itself. Honorius, the Emperor, was a cowardly, almost +idiotical, boy; but his brave general, Stilicho, assembled his forces, +met the Goths at Pollentia (about twenty-five miles from where Turin now +stands), and gave them a complete defeat on the Easter Day of the year +403. He pursued them into the mountains, and for that time saved Rome. +In the joy of the victory the Roman senate invited the conqueror and his +ward Honorius to enter the city in triumph, at the opening of the new +year, with the white steeds, purple robes, and vermilion cheeks with +which, of old, victorious generals were welcomed at Rome. The churches +were visited instead of the Temple of Jupiter, and there was no murder +of the captives; but Roman bloodthirstiness was not yet allayed, +and, after all the procession had been completed, the Coliseum shows +commenced, innocently at first, with races on foot, on horseback, and +in chariots; then followed a grand hunting of beasts turned loose in +the arena; and next a sword dance. But after the sword dance came the +arraying of swordsmen, with no blunted weapons, but with sharp spears +and swords--a gladiator combat in full earnest. The people, enchanted, +applauded with shouts of ecstasy this gratification of their savage +tastes. Suddenly, however, there was an interruption. A rude, roughly +robed man, bareheaded and barefooted, had sprung into the arena, and, +signing back the gladiators, began to call aloud upon the people to +cease from the shedding of innocent blood, and not to requite God's +mercy in turning away the sword of the enemy by encouraging murder. +Shouts, howls, cries, broke in upon his words; this was no place for +preachings--the old customs of Rome should be observed 'Back, old man!' +'On, gladiators!' The gladiators thrust aside the meddler, and rushed to +the attack. He still stood between, holding them apart, striving in vain +to be heard. 'Sedition! Sedition!' 'Down with him!' was the cry; and +the man in authority, Alypius, the prefect, himself added his voice. The +gladiators, enraged at interference with their vocation, cut him down. +Stones, or whatever came to hand, rained down upon him from the furious +people, and he perished in the midst of the arena! He lay dead, and then +came the feeling of what had been done. + +His dress showed that he was one of the hermits who vowed themselves to +a holy life of prayer and self-denial, and who were greatly reverenced, +even by the most thoughtless. The few who had previously seen him, told +that he had come from the wilds of Asia on pilgrimage, to visit the +shrines and keep his Christmas at Rome--they knew he was a holy man--no +more, and it is not even certain whether his name was Alymachus or +Telemachus. His spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands +flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted +zeal he had resolved to stop the cruelty or die. He had died, but not +in vain. His work was done. The shock of such a death before their eyes +turned the hearts of the people; they saw the wickedness and cruelty to +which they had blindly surrendered themselves; and from the day when +the hermit died in the Coliseum there was never another fight of the +Gladiators. Not merely at Rome, but in every province of the Empire, the +custom was utterly abolished; and one habitual crime at least was wiped +from the earth by the self-devotion of one humble, obscure, almost +nameless man. + + + + +THE SHEPHERD GIRL OF NANTERRE + +A.D. 438 + + +Four hundred years of the Roman dominion had entirely tamed the once +wild and independent Gauls. Everywhere, except in the moorlands of +Brittany, they had become as much like Romans themselves as they could +accomplish; they had Latin names, spoke the Latin tongue, all their +personages of higher rank were enrolled as Roman citizens, their chief +cities were colonies where the laws were administered by magistrates in +the Roman fashion, and the houses, dress, and amusements were the same +as those of Italy. The greater part of the towns had been converted +to Christianity, though some Paganism still lurked in the more remote +villages and mountainous districts. + +It was upon these civilized Gauls that the terrible attacks came from +the wild nations who poured out of the centre and east of Europe. The +Franks came over the Rhine and its dependent rivers, and made furious +attacks upon the peaceful plains, where the Gauls had long lived in +security, and reports were everywhere heard of villages harried by wild +horsemen, with short double-headed battleaxes, and a horrible short +pike, covered with iron and with several large hooks, like a gigantic +artificial minnow, and like it fastened to a long rope, so that the prey +which it had grappled might be pulled up to the owner. Walled cities +usually stopped them, but every farm or villa outside was stripped of +its valuables, set on fire, the cattle driven off, and the more healthy +inhabitants seized for slaves. + +It was during this state of things that a girl was born to a wealthy +peasant at the village now called Nanterre, about two miles from +Lutetia, which was already a prosperous city, though not as yet so +entirely the capital as it was destined to become under the name of +Paris. She was christened by an old Gallic name, probably Gwenfrewi, +or White Stream, in Latin Genovefa, but she is best known by the late +French form of Genevieve. When she was about seven years old, two +celebrated bishops passed through the village, Germanus, of Auxerre, and +Lupus, of Troyes, who had been invited to Britain to dispute the false +doctrine of Pelagius. All the inhabitants flocked into the church to +see them, pray with them, and receive their blessing; and here the sweet +childish devotion of Genevieve so struck Germanus, that he called her to +him, talked to her, made her sit beside him at the feast, gave her his +special blessing, and presented her with a copper medal with a cross +engraven upon it. From that time the little maiden always deemed herself +especially consecrated to the service of Heaven, but she still remained +at home, daily keeping her father's sheep, and spinning their wool as +she sat under the trees watching them, but always with a heart full of +prayer. + +After this St. Germanus proceeded to Britain, and there encouraged his +converts to meet the heathen Picts at Maes Garmon, in Flintshire, where +the exulting shout of the white-robed catechumens turned to flight the +wild superstitious savages of the north,--and the Hallelujah victory was +gained without a drop of bloodshed. He never lost sight of Genevieve, +the little maid whom he had so early distinguished for her piety. + +After she lost her parents she went to live with her godmother, and +continued the same simple habits, leading a life of sincere devotion +and strict self-denial, constant prayer, and much charity to her poorer +neighbors. + +In the year 451 the whole of Gaul was in the most dreadful state of +terror at the advance of Attila, the savage chief of the Huns, who came +from the banks of the Danube with a host of savages of hideous features, +scarred and disfigured to render them more frightful. The old enemies, +the Goths and the Franks, seemed like friends compared with these +formidable beings whose cruelties were said to be intolerable, and of +whom every exaggerated story was told that could add to the horrors +of the miserable people who lay in their path. Tidings came that this +'Scourge of God', as Attila called himself, had passed the Rhine, +destroyed Tongres and Metz, and was in full march for Paris. The whole +country was in the utmost terror. Everyone seized their most valuable +possessions, and would have fled; but Genevieve placed herself on the +only bridge across the Seine, and argued with them, assuring them in a +strain that was afterwards thought of as prophetic, that, if they would +pray, repent, and defend instead of abandoning their homes, God would +protect them. They were at first almost ready to stone her for thus +withstanding their panic, but just then a priest arrived from Auxerre, +with a present for Genevieve from St. Germanus, and they were thus +reminded of the high estimation in which he held her; they became +ashamed of their violence, and she held them back to pray and to arm +themselves. In a few days they heard that Attila had paused to besiege +Orleans, and that Aetius, the Roman general, hurrying from Italy, had +united his troops with those of the Goths and Franks, and given Attila +so terrible a defeat at Chalons that the Huns were fairly driven out of +Gaul. And here it must be mentioned that when the next year, 452, +Attila with his murderous host came down into Italy, and after horrible +devastation of all the northern provinces, came to the gates of Rome, no +one dared to meet him but one venerable Bishop, Leo, the Pope, who, when +his flock were in transports of despair, went forth only accompanied by +one magistrate to meet the invader, and endeavor to turn his wrath side. +The savage Huns were struck with awe by the fearless majesty of the +unarmed old man. They conducted him safely to Attila, who listened +to him with respect, and promised not to lead his people into Rome, +provided a tribute should be paid to him. He then retreated, and, to the +joy of all Europe, died on his way back to his native dominions. + +But with the Huns the danger and suffering of Europe did not end. The +happy state described in the Prophets as 'dwelling safely, with none +to make them afraid', was utterly unknown in Europe throughout the long +break-up of the Roman Empire; and in a few more years the Franks were +overrunning the banks of the Seine, and actually venturing to lay siege +to the Roman walls of Paris itself. The fortifications were strong +enough, but hunger began to do the work of the besiegers, and the +garrison, unwarlike and untrained, began to despair. But Genevieve's +courage and trust never failed; and finding no warriors willing to run +the risk of going beyond the walls to obtain food for the women and +children who were perishing around them, this brave shepherdess embarked +alone in a little boat, and guiding it down the stream, landed beyond +the Frankish camp, and repairing to the different Gallic cities, she +implored them to send succor to the famished brethren. She obtained +complete success. Probably the Franks had no means of obstructing the +passage of the river, so that a convoy of boats could easily penetrate +into the town, and at any rate they looked upon Genevieve as something +sacred and inspired whom they durst not touch; probably as one of the +battle maids in whom their own myths taught them to believe. One account +indeed says that, instead of going alone to obtain help, Genevieve +placed herself at the head of a forage party, and that the mere sight +of her inspired bearing caused them to be allowed to enter and return +in safety; but the boat version seems the more probable, since a single +boat on a broad river would more easily elude the enemy than a troop of +Gauls pass through their army. + +But a city where all the valor resided in one woman could not long +hold out, and in another inroad, when Genevieve was absent, Paris was +actually seized by the Franks. Their leader, Hilperik, was absolutely +afraid of what the mysteriously brave maiden might do to him, and +commanded the gates of the city to be carefully guarded lest she +should enter; but Geneviere learnt that some of the chief citizens were +imprisoned, and that Hilperik intended their death, and nothing could +withhold her from making an effort in their behalf. The Franks had made +up their minds to settle, and not to destroy. They were not burning and +slaying indiscriminately, but while despising the Romans, as they +called the Gauls, for their cowardice, they were in awe of the superior +civilization and the knowledge of arts. The country people had free +access to the city, and Genevieve in her homely gown and veil passed by +Hilperik's guards without being suspected of being more than an ordinary +Gaulish village maid; and thus she fearlessly made her way, even to the +old Roman halls, where the long-haired Hilperik was holding his wild +carousal. Would that we knew more of that interview--one of the most +striking that ever took place! We can only picture to ourselves the +Roman tessellated pavement bestrewn with wine, bones, and fragments of +the barbarous revelry. There were untamed Franks, their sun-burnt hair +tied up in a knot at the top of their heads, and falling down like +a horse's tail, their faces close shaven, except two moustaches, and +dressed in tight leather garments, with swords at their wide belts. Some +slept, some feasted, some greased their long locks, some shouted out +their favorite war songs around the table which was covered with +the spoils of churches, and at their heads sat the wild, long-haired +chieftain, who was a few years later driven away by his own followers +for his excesses, the whole scene was all that was abhorrent to a pure, +devout, and faithful nature, most full of terror to a woman. Yet, there, +in her strength, stood the peasant maiden, her heart full of trust and +pity, her looks full of the power that is given by fearlessness of them +that can kill the body. What she said we do not know--we only know +that the barbarous Hilperik was overawed; he trembled before the +expostulations of the brave woman, and granted all she asked--the safety +of his prisoners, and mercy to the terrified inhabitants. No wonder that +the people of Paris have ever since looked back to Genevieve as their +protectress, and that in after ages she has grown to be the patron saint +of the city. + +She lived to see the son of Hilperik, Chlodweh, or, as he was more +commonly called, Clovis, marry a Christian wife, Clotilda, and after +a time became a Christian. She saw the foundation of the Cathedral +of Notre-Dame, and of the two famous churches of St. Denys and of +St. Martin of Tours, and gave her full share to the first efforts for +bringing the rude and bloodthirsty conquerors to some knowledge of +Christian faith, mercy, and purity. After a life of constant prayer and +charity she died, three months after King Clovis, in the year 512, the +eighty-ninth of her age. + + [Footnote: Perhaps the exploits of the Maid of Orleans were + the most like those of Genevieve, but they are not here + added to our collection of 'Golden Deeds,' because the + Maid's belief that she was directly inspired removes them + from the ordinary class. Alas! the English did not treat her + as Hilperik treated Genevieve.] + + + + +LEO THE SLAVE + +A.D. 533 + + +The Franks had fully gained possession of all the north of Gaul, except +Brittany. Chlodweh had made them Christians in name, but they still +remained horribly savage--and the life of the Gauls under them was +wretched. The Burgundians and Visigoths who had peopled the southern and +eastern provinces were far from being equally violent. They had entered +on their settlements on friendly terms, and even showed considerable +respect for the Roman-Gallic senators, magistrates, and higher clergy, +who all remained unmolested in their dignities and riches. Thus it +was that Gregory, Bishop of Langres, was a man of high rank and +consideration in the Burgundian kingdom, whence the Christian Queen +Clotilda had come; and even after the Burgundians had been subdued by +the four sons of Chlodweh, he continued a rich and prosperous man. + +After one of the many quarrels and reconciliations between these fierce +brethren, there was an exchange of hostages for the observance of the +terms of the treaty. These were not taken from among the Franks, who +were too proud to submit to captivity, but from among the Gaulish +nobles, a much more convenient arrangement to the Frankish kings, who +cared for the life of a 'Roman' infinitely less than even for the life +of a Frank. Thus many young men of senatorial families were exchanged +between the domains of Theodrik to the south, and of Hildebert to the +northward, and quartered among Frankish chiefs, with whom at first they +had nothing more to endure than the discomfort of living as guests with +such rude and coarse barbarians. But ere long fresh quarrels broke out +between Theodrik and Hildebert, and the unfortunate hostages were at +once turned into slaves. Some of them ran away if they were near the +frontier, but Bishop Gregory was in the utmost anxiety about his young +nephew Attalus, who had been last heard of as being placed under the +charge of a Frank who lived between Treves and Metz. The Bishop sent +emissaries to make secret enquiries, and they brought word that the +unfortunate youth had indeed been reduced to slavery, and was made to +keep his master's herds of horses. Upon this the uncle again sent off +his messengers with presents for the ransom of Attalus, but the Frank +rejected them, saying, 'One of such high race can only be redeemed for +ten pounds' weight of gold.' + +This was beyond the Bishop's means, and while he was considering how to +raise the sum, the slaves were all lamenting for their young lord, to +whom they were much attached, till one of them, named Leo, the cook to +the household, came to the Bishop, saying to him, 'If thou wilt give me +leave to go, I will deliver him from captivity.' The Bishop replied that +he gave free permission, and the slave set off for Treves, and there +watched anxiously for an opportunity of gaining access to Attalus; +but though the poor young man--no longer daintily dressed, bathed, and +perfumed, but ragged and squalid--might be seen following his herds of +horses, he was too well watched for any communication to be held with +him. Then Leo went to a person, probably of Gallic birth, and said, +'Come with me to this barbarian's house, and there sell me for a slave. +Thou shalt have the money, I only ask thee to help me thus far.' + +Both repaired to the Frank's abode, the chief among a confused +collection of clay and timber huts intended for shelter during eating +and sleeping. The Frank looked at the slave, and asked him what he could +do. + +'I can dress whatever is eaten at lordly tables,' replied Leo. 'I am +afraid of no rival; I only tell thee the truth when I say that if thou +wouldst give a feast to the king, I would send it up in the neatest +manner.' + +'Ha!' said the barbarian, 'the Sun's day is coming--I shall invite my +kinsmen and friends. Cook me such a dinner as may amaze them, and make +then say, 'We saw nothing better in the king's house.' 'Let me have +plenty of poultry, and I will do according to my master's bidding,' +returned Leo. + +Accordingly, he was purchased for twelve gold pieces, and on the Sunday +(as Bishop Gregory of Tours, who tells the story, explains that the +barbarians called the Lord's day) he produced a banquet after the most +approved Roman fashion, much to the surprise and delight of the Franks, +who had never tasted such delicacies before, and complimented their host +upon them all the evening. Leo gradually became a great favorite, and +was placed in authority over the other slaves, to whom he gave out their +daily portions of broth and meat; but from the first he had not shown +any recognition of Attalus, and had signed to him that they must be +strangers to one another. A whole year had passed away in this manner, +when one day Leo wandered, as if for pastime, into the plain where +Attalus was watching the horses, and sitting down on the ground at some +paces off, and with his back towards his young master, so that they +might not be seen together, he said, 'This is the time for thoughts of +home! When thou hast led the horses to the stable to-night, sleep not. +Be ready at the first call!' + +That day the Frank lord was entertaining a large number of guests, among +them his daughter's husband, a jovial young man, given to jesting. On +going to rest he fancied he should be thirsty at night and called Leo +to set a pitcher of hydromel by his bedside. As the slave was setting it +down, the Frank looked slyly from under his eyelids, and said in joke, +'Tell me, my father-in-law's trusty man, wilt not thou some night take +one of those horses, and run away to thine own home?' + +'Please God, it is what I mean to do this very night,' answered the +Gaul, so undauntedly that the Frank took it as a jest, and answered, 'I +shall look out that thou dost not carry off anything of mine,' and then +Leo left him, both laughing. + +All were soon asleep, and the cook crept out to the stable, where +Attalus usually slept among the horses. He was broad awake now, and +ready to saddle the two swiftest; but he had no weapon except a small +lance, so Leo boldly went back to his master's sleeping hut, and took +down his sword and shield, but not without awaking him enough to ask who +was moving. 'It is I--Leo,' was the answer, 'I have been to call Attalus +to take out the horses early. He sleeps as hard as a drunkard.' The +Frank went to sleep again, quite satisfied, and Leo, carrying out the +weapons, soon made Attalus feel like a free man and a noble once more. +They passed unseen out of the enclosure, mounted their horses, and rode +along the great Roman road from Treves as far as the Meuse, but they +found the bridge guarded, and were obliged to wait till night, when they +cast their horses loose and swam the river, supporting themselves on +boards that they found on the bank. They had as yet had no food since +the supper at their master's, and were thankful to find a plum tree in +the wood, with fruit, to refresh them in some degree, before they lay +down for the night. The next morning they went on in the direction of +Rheims, carefully listening whether there were any sounds behind, until, +on the broad hard-paved causeway, they actually heard the trampling of +horses. Happily a bush was near, behind which they crept, with their +naked swords before them, and here the riders actually halted for a few +moments to arrange their harness. Men and horses were both those they +feared, and they trembled at hearing one say, 'Woe is me that those +rogues have made off, and have not been caught! On my salvation, if I +catch them, I will have one hung and the other chopped into bits!' It +was no small comfort to hear the trot of the horses resumed, and soon +dying away in the distance. That same night the two faint, hungry, weary +travelers, footsore and exhausted, came stumbling into Rheims, looking +about for some person still awake to tell them the way to the house of +the Priest Paul, a friend of Attalus' uncle. They found it just as the +church bell was ringing for matins, a sound that must have seemed very +like home to these members of an episcopal household. They knocked, +and in the morning twilight met the Priest going to his earliest Sunday +morning service. + +Leo told his young master's name, and how they had escaped, and the +Priest's first exclamation was a strange one: 'My dream is true. This +very night I saw two doves, one white and one black, who came and +perched on my hand.' + +The good man was overjoyed, but he scrupled to give them any food, as +it was contrary to the Church's rules for the fast to be broken before +mass; but the travelers were half dead with hunger, and could only say, +'The good Lord pardon us, for, saving the respect due to His day, we +must eat something, since this is the forth day since we have touched +bread or meat.' The Priest upon this gave them some bread and wine, and +after hiding them carefully, went to church, hoping to avert suspicion; +but their master was already at Rheims, making strict search for them, +and learning that Paul the Priest was a friend of the Bishop of Langres, +he went to church, and there questioned him closely. But the Priest +succeeded in guarding his secret, and though he incurred much danger, as +the Salic law was very severe against concealers of runaway slaves, he +kept Attalus and Leo for two days till the search was blown over, and +their strength was restored, so that they could proceed to Langres. +There they were welcomed like men risen from the dead; the Bishop wept +on the neck of Attalus, and was ready to receive Leo as a slave no more, +but a friend and deliverer. + +A few days after Leo was solemnly led to the church. Every door was +set open as a sign that he might henceforth go whithersoever he +would. Bishop Gregorus took him by the hand, and, standing before the +Archdeacon, declared that for the sake of the good services rendered by +his slave, Leo, he set him free, and created him a Roman citizen. + +Then the Archdeacon read a writing of manumission. 'Whatever is done +according to the Roman law is irrevocable. According to the constitution +of the Emperor Constantine, of happy memory, and the edict that declares +that whosoever is manumitted in church, in the presence of the bishops, +priests, and deacons, shall become a Roman citizen under the protection +of the Church: from this day Leo becomes a member of the city, free to +go and come where he will as if he had been born of free parents. From +this day forward, he is exempt from all subjection of servitude, of all +duty of a freed-man, all bond of client-ship. He is and shall be free, +with full and entire freedom, and shall never cease to belong to the +body of Roman citizens.' + +At the same time Leo was endowed with lands, which raised him to the +rank of what the Franks called a Roman proprietor--the highest reward +in the Bishop's power for the faithful devotion that had incurred such +dangers in order to rescue the young Attalus from his miserable bondage. + +Somewhat of the same kind of faithfulness was shown early in the +nineteenth century by Ivan Simonoff, a soldier servant belonging to +Major Kascambo, an officer in the Russian army, who was made prisoner +by one of the wild tribes of the Caucasus. But though the soldier's +attachment to his master was quite as brave and disinterested as that +of the Gallic slave, yet he was far from being equally blameless in the +means he employed, and if his were a golden deed at all, it was mixed +with much of iron. + +Major Kascambo, with a guard of fifty Cossacks, was going to take the +command of the Russian outpost of Lars, one of the forts by which the +Russian Czars have slowly been carrying on the aggressive warfare that +has nearly absorbed into their vast dominions all the mountains between +the Caspian and Black seas. On his way he was set upon by seven hundred +horsemen of the savage and independent tribe of Tchetchenges. There was +a sharp fight, more than half his men were killed, and he with the rest +made a rampart of the carcasses of their horses, over which they were +about to fire their last shots, when the Tchetchenges made a Russian +deserter call out to the Cossacks that they would let them all escape +provided they would give up their officer. Kascambo on this came forward +and delivered himself into their hands; while the remainder of the +troops galloped off. His servant, Ivan, with a mule carrying his +baggage, had been hidden in a ravine, and now, instead of retreating +with the Cossacks, came to join his master. All the baggage was, +however, instantly seized and divided among the Tchetchenges; nothing +was left but a guitar, which they threw scornfully to the Major. He +would have let it lie, but Ivan picked it up, and insisted on keeping +it. 'Why be dispirited?' he said; 'the God of the Russians is great, it +is the interest of the robbers to save you, they will do you no harm.' + +Scouts brought word that the Russian outposts were alarmed, and that +troops were assembling to rescue the officer. Upon this the seven +hundred broke up into small parties, leaving only ten men on foot to +conduct the prisoners, whom they forced to take off their iron-shod +boots and walk barefoot over stones and thorns, till the Major was so +exhausted that they were obliged to drag him by cords fastened to his +belt. + +After a terrible journey, the prisoners were placed in a remote village, +where the Major had heavy chains fastened to his hands and feet, and +another to his neck, with a huge block of oak as a clog at the other +end; they half-starved him, and made him sleep on the bare ground of the +hut in which he lodged. The hut belonged to a huge, fierce old man of +sixty named Ibrahim, whose son had been killed in a skirmish with the +Russians. This man, together with his son's widow, were continually +trying to revenge themselves on their captive. The only person who +showed him any kindness was his little grandson, a child of seven years +old, called Mamet, who often caressed him, and brought him food by +stealth. Ivan was also in the same hut, but less heavily ironed than +his master, and able to attempt a few alleviations for his wretched +condition. An interpreter brought the Major a sheet of paper and a reed +pen, and commanded him to write to his friends that he might be ransomed +for 10,000 roubles, but that, if the whole sum were not paid, he would +be put to death. He obeyed, but he knew that his friends could not +possibly raise such a sum, and his only hope was in the government, +which had once ransomed a colonel who had fallen into the hands of the +same tribe. + +These Tchetchenges professed to be Mahometans, but their religion sat +very loose upon them, and they were utter barbarians. One piece of +respect they paid the Major's superior education was curious--they made +him judge in all the disputes that arose. The houses in the village were +hollowed out underground, and the walls only raised three or four +feet, and then covered by a flat roof, formed of beaten clay, where the +inhabitants spent much of their time. Kascambo was every now and then +brought, in all his chains, to the roof of the hut, which served as a +tribunal whence he was expected to dispense justice. For instance, a +man had commissioned his neighbour to pay five roubles to a person in +another valley, but the messenger's horse having died by the way, +a claim was set up to the roubles to make up for it. Both parties +collected all their friends, and a bloody quarrel was about to take +place, when they agreed to refer the question to the prisoner, who was +accordingly set upon his judgment seat. + +'Pray,' said he, 'if, instead of giving you five roubles, your comrade +had desired you to carry his greetings to his creditor, would not your +horse have died all the same?' + +'Most likely.' + +'Then what should you have done with the greetings? Should you have +kept them in compensation? My sentence is that you should give back the +roubles, and that your comrade gives you a greeting.' + +The whole assembly approved the decision, and the man only grumbled out, +as he gave back the money, 'I knew I should lose it, if that dog of a +Christian meddled with it.' + +All this respect, however, did not avail to procure any better usage +for the unfortunate judge, whose health was suffering severely under his +privations. Ivan, however, had recommended himself in the same way +as Leo, by his perfections as a cook, and moreover he was a capital +buffoon. His fetters were sometimes taken off that he might divert the +villagers by his dances and strange antics while his master played the +guitar. Sometimes they sang Russian songs together to the instrument, +and on these occasions the Major's hands were released that he might +play on it; but one day he was unfortunately heard playing in his chains +for his own amusement, and from that time he was never released from his +fetters. + +In the course of a year, three urgent letters had been sent; but no +notice was taken of them, and Ivan began to despair of aid from home, +and set himself to work. His first step was to profess himself a +Mahometan. He durst not tell his master till the deed was done, and then +Kascambo was infinitely shocked; but the act did not procure Ivan so +much freedom as he had hoped. He was, indeed, no longer in chains, but +he was evidently distrusted, and was so closely watched, that the only +way in which he could communicate with his master was when they were +set to sing together, when they chanted out question and answer in Russ, +unsuspected, to the tune of their national airs. He was taken on +an expedition against the Russians, and very nearly killed by the +suspicious Tchetchenges on one side, and by the Cossacks on the other, +as a deserter. He saved a young man of the tribe from drowning; but +though he thus earned the friendship of the family, the rest of the +villagers hated and dreaded him all the more, since he had not been able +to help proving himself a man of courage, instead of the feeble buffoon +he had tried to appear. + +Three months after this expedition, another took place; but Ivan was not +allowed even to know of it. He saw preparations making, but nothing was +said to him; only one morning he found the village entirely deserted by +all the young men, and as he wandered round it, the aged ones would not +speak to him. A child told him that his father had meant to kill him, +and on the roof of her house stood the sister of the man he had saved, +making signals of great terror, and pointing towards Russia. Home he +went and found that, besides old Ibrahim, his master was watched by a +warrior, who had been prevented by an intermitting fever from +joining the expedition. He was convinced that if the tribe returned +unsuccessful, the murder of both himself and his master was certain; but +he resolved not to fly alone, and as he busied himself in preparing the +meal, he sung the burden of a Russian ballad, intermingled with words of +encouragement for his master: + + + The time is come; + Hai Luli! + The time is come, Hai Luli! + Our woe is at an end, Hai Luli! + Or we die at once! Hai Luli! + To-morrow, to-morrow, Hai Luli! + We are off for a town, Hai Luli! + For a fine, fine town, Hai Luli! + But I name no names, Hai Luli! + Courage, courage, master dear, Hai Luli! + Never, never, despair, Hai Luli! + For the God of the Russians is great, Hai Luli! + + +Poor Kascambo, broken down, sick, and despairing, only muttered, 'Do as +you please, only hold your peace!' + +Ivan's cookery incited the additional guard to eat so much supper, that +he brought on a severe attack of his fever, and was obliged to go home; +but old Ibrahim, instead of going to bed, sat down on a log of wood +opposite the prisoner, and seemed resolved to watch him all night. The +woman and child went to bed in the inner room, and Ivan signed to his +master to take the guitar, and began to dance. The old man's axe was in +an open cupboard at the other end of the room, and after many gambols +and contortions, during which the Major could hardly control his fingers +to touch the strings, Ivan succeeded in laying his hands upon it, just +when the old man was bending over the fire to mend it. Then, as Ibrahim +desired that the music should cease, he cut him down with a single blow, +on his own hearth. And the daughter-in-law coming out to see what had +happened, he slew her with the same weapon. And then, alas! in spite of +the commands, entreaties, and cries of his master, he dashed into the +inner room, and killed the sleeping child, lest it should give the +alarm. Kascambo, utterly helpless to save, fell almost fainting upon the +bloody floor, and did not cease to reproach Ivan, who was searching the +old man's pockets for the key of the fetters, but it was not there, nor +anywhere else in the hut, and the irons were so heavy that escape was +impossible in them. Ivan at last knocked off the clog and the chains +on the wrist with the axe, but he could not break the chains round the +legs, and could only fasten them as close as he could to hinder them +clanking. Then securing all the provisions he could carry, and putting +his master into his military cloak, obtaining also a pistol and dagger, +they crept out, but not on the direct road. It was February, and the +ground was covered with snow. All night they walked easily, but at noon +the sun so softened it that they sank in at every step, and the Major's +chains rendered each motion terrible labour. It was only on the second +night that Ivan, with his axe, succeeded in breaking through the +fastenings, and by that time the Major's legs were so swollen and +stiffened that he could not move without extreme pain. However, he was +dragged on through the wild mountain paths, and then over the plains for +several days more, till they were on the confines of another tribe of +Tchetchenges, who were overawed by Russia, and in a sort of unwilling +alliance. Here, however, a sharp storm, and a fall into the water, +completely finished Kascambo's strength, and he sank down on the snow, +telling Ivan to go home and explain his fate, and give his last message +to his mother. + +'If you perish here,' said Ivan, 'trust me, neither your mother nor mine +will ever see me again.' + +He covered his master with his cloak, gave him the pistol, and walked on +to a hut, where he found a Tchetchenge man, and told him that here was a +means of obtaining two hundred roubles. He had only to shelter the major +as a guest for three days, whilst Ivan himself went on to Mosdok, to +procure the money, and bring back help for his master. The man was full +of suspicion, but Ivan prevailed, and Kascambo was carried into the +village nearly dying, and was very ill all the time of his servant's +absence. Ivan set off for the nearest Russian station, where he found +some of the Cossacks who had been present when the major was taken. All +eagerly subscribed to raise the two hundred roubles, but the Colonel +would not let Ivan go back alone, as he had engaged to do, and sent a +guard of Cossacks. This had nearly been fatal to the Major, for as soon +as his host saw the lances, he suspected treachery, and dragging his +poor sick guest to the roof of the house, he tied him up to a stake, and +stood over him with a pistol, shouting to Ivan, 'If you come nearer, +I shall blow his brains out, and I have fifty cartridges more for my +enemies, and the traitor who leads them.' + +'No traitor!' cried Ivan. 'Here are the roubles. I have kept my word!' + +'Let the Cossacks go back, or I shall fire.' + +Kascambo himself begged the officer to retire, and Ivan went back with +the detachment, and returned alone. Even then the suspicious host made +him count out the roubles at a hundred paces from the house, and at once +ordered him out of sight; but then went up to the roof, and asked the +Major's pardon for all this rough usage. + +'I shall only recollect that you were my host, and kept your word,' said +Kascambo. + +In a few hours more, Kascambo was in safety among his brother officers. +Ivan was made a non-commissioned officer, and some months after was seen +by the traveler who told the story, whistling the air of Hai Luli at his +former master's wedding feast. He was even then scarcely twenty years +old, and peculiarly quiet and soft in manners. + + + + +THE BATTLE OF THE BLACKWATER + +991 + + +In the evil days of King Ethelred the Unready, when the teaching of good +King Alfred was fast fading away from the minds of his descendants, and +self-indulgence was ruining the bold and hardy habits of the English, +the fleet was allowed to fall into decay, and Danish ships again +ventured to appear on the English coasts. + +The first Northmen who had ravaged England came eager for blood and +plunder, and hating the sight of a Christian church as an insult to +their gods, Thor and Odin; but the lapse of a hundred years had in some +degree changed the temper of the North; and though almost every young +man thought it due to his fame to have sailed forth as a sea rover, yet +the attacks of these marauders might be bought off, and provided they +had treasure to show for their voyage, they were willing to spare the +lives and lands of the people of the coasts they visited. + +King Ethelred and his cowardly, selfish Court were well satisfied with +this expedient, and the tax called Danegeld was laid upon the people, in +order to raise a fund for buying off the enemy. But there were still in +England men of bolder and truer hearts, who held that bribery was false +policy, merely inviting the enemy to come again and again, and that the +only wise course would be in driving them back by English valor, and +keeping the fleet in a condition to repel the 'Long Serpent' ships +before the foe could set foot upon the coast. + +Among those who held this opinion was Brythnoth, Earl of Essex. He was +of partly Danish descent himself, but had become a thorough Englishman, +and had long and faithfully served the King and his father. He was a +friend to the clergy, a founder of churches and convents, and his +manor house of Hadleigh was a home of hospitality and charity. It would +probably be a sort of huge farmyard, full of great barn-like buildings +and sheds, all one story high; some of them serving for storehouses, +and others for living-rooms and places of entertainment for his numerous +servants and retainers, and for the guests of all degrees who gathered +round him as the chief dispenser of justice in his East-Saxon earldom. +When he heard the advice given and accepted that the Danes should be +bribed, instead of being fought with, he made up his mind that he, at +least, would try to raise up a nobler spirit, and, at the sacrifice of +his own life, would show the effect of making a manful stand against +them. + +He made his will, and placed it in the hands of the Archbishop of +Canterbury; and then, retiring to Hadleigh, he provided horses and arms, +and caused all the young men in his earldom to be trained in warlike +exercises, according to the good old English law, that every man should +be provided with weapons and know the use of them. + +The Danes sailed forth, in the year 991, with ninety-three vessels, the +terrible 'Long Serpents', carved with snakes' heads at the prow, and +the stern finished as the gilded tail of the reptile; and many a lesser +ship, meant for carrying plunder. The Sea King, Olaf (or Anlaff), was +the leader; and as tidings came that their sails had been seen upon the +North Sea, more earnest than ever rang out the petition in the Litany, +'From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord, deliver us'. + +Sandwich and Ipswich made no defense, and were plundered; and the fleet +then sailed into the mouth of the River Blackwater, as far as Maldon, +where the ravagers landed, and began to collect spoil. When, however, +they came back to their ships, they found that the tide would not yet +serve them to re-embark; and upon the farther bank of the river bristled +the spears of a body of warriors, drawn up in battle array, but in +numbers far inferior to their own. + +Anlaff sent a messenger, over the wooden bridge that crossed the river, +to the Earl, who, he understood, commanded this small army. The brave +old man, his grey hair hanging down beneath his helmet, stood, sword in +hand, at the head of his warriors. + +'Lord Earl,' said the messenger, 'I come to bid thee to yield to us thy +treasure, for thy safety. Buy off the fight, and we will ratify a peace +with gold.' + +'Hear, O thou sailor!' was Brythnoth's answer, 'the reply of this +people. Instead of Danegeld, thou shalt have from them the edge of the +sword, and the point of the spear. Here stands an English Earl, who will +defend his earldom and the lands of his King. Point and edge shall judge +between us.' + +Back went the Dane with his message to Anlaff, and the fight began +around the bridge, where the Danes long strove to force their way +across, but were always driven back by the gallant East-Saxons. The tide +had risen, and for some time the two armies only shot at one another +with bows and arrows; but when it ebbed, leaving the salt-marches dry, +the stout old Earl's love of fair play overpowered his prudence, and he +sent to offer the enemy a free passage, and an open field in which to +measure their strength. + +The numbers were too unequal; but the battle was long and bloody before +the English could be overpowered. Brythnoth slew one of the chief Danish +leaders with his own hand, but not without receiving a wound. He was +still able to fight on, though with ebbing strength and failing numbers. +His hand was pierced by a dart; but a young boy at his side instantly +withdrew it, and, launching it back again, slew the foe who had aimed +it. Another Dane, seeing the Earl faint and sinking, advanced to plunder +him of his ring and jeweled weapons; but he still had strength to lay +the spoiler low with his battleaxe. This was his last blow; he gathered +his strength for one last cheer to his brave men, and then, sinking on +the ground, he looked up to heaven, exclaiming: 'I thank thee, Lord of +nations, for all the joys I have known on earth. Now, O mild Creator! +have I the utmost need that Thou shouldst grant grace unto my soul, that +my spirit may speed to Thee with peace, O King of angels! to pass into +thy keeping. I sue to Thee that Thou suffer not the rebel spirits of +hell to vex my parting soul!' + +With these words he died; but an aged follower, of like spirit, stood +over his corpse, and exhorted his fellows. 'Our spirit shall be the +hardier, and our soul the greater, the fewer our numbers become!' he +cried. 'Here lies our chief, the brave, the good, the much-loved lord, +who has blessed us with many a gift. Old as I am, I will not yield, but +avenge his death, or lay me at his side. Shame befall him that thinks to +fly from such a field as this!' + +Nor did the English warriors fly. Night came down, at last, upon the +battlefield, and saved the lives of the few survivors; but they were +forced to leave the body of their lord, and the Danes bore away with +them his head as a trophy, and with it, alas! ten thousand pounds of +silver from the King, who, in his sluggishness and weakness had left +Brythnoth to fight and die unaided for the cause of the whole nation. +One of the retainers, a minstrel in the happy old days of Hadleigh, who +had done his part manfully in the battle, had heard these last goodly +sayings of his master, and, living on to peaceful days, loved to +rehearse them to the sound of his harp, and dwell on the glories of one +who could die, but not be defeated. + +Ere those better days had come, another faithful-hearted Englishman had +given his life for his people. In the year 1012, a huge army, called +from their leader, 'Thorkill's Host', were overrunning Kent, and +besieging Canterbury. The Archbishop Aelfeg was earnestly entreated to +leave the city while yet there was time to escape; but he replied, +'None but a hireling would leave his flock in time of danger;' and he +supported the resolution of the inhabitants, so that they held out +the city for twenty days; and as the wild Danes had very little chance +against a well-walled town, they would probably have saved it, had not +the gates been secretly opened to them by the traitorous Abbot Aelfman, +whom Aelfeg had once himself saved, when accused of treason before the +King. + +The Danes slaughtered all whom they found in the streets, and the +Archbishop's friends tried to keep him in the church, lest he should +run upon his fate; but he broke from them, and, confronting the enemy, +cried: 'Spare the guiltless! Is there glory in shedding such blood? Turn +your wrath on me! It is I who have denounced your cruelty, have ransomed +and re-clad your captive.' The Danes seized upon him, and, after he had +seen his cathedral burnt and his clergy slain, they threw him into a +dungeon, whence he was told he could only come forth upon the payment of +a heavy ransom. + +His flock loved him, and would have striven to raise the sum; but, +miserably used as they were by the enemy, and stripped by the exactions +of the Danes, he would not consent that they should be asked for a +further contribution on his account. After seven months' patience in his +captivity, the Danish chiefs, who were then at Greenwich desired him +to be brought into their camp, where they had just been holding a great +feast. It was Easter Eve, and the quiet of that day of calm waiting +was disturbed with their songs, and shouts of drunken revelry, as the +chained Archbishop was led to the open space where the warriors sat and +lay amid the remains of their rude repast. The leader then told him that +they had agreed to let him off for his own share with a much smaller +payment than had been demanded, provided he would obtain a largesse for +them from the King, his master. + +'I am not the man,' he answered, 'to provide Christian flesh for Pagan +wolves;' and when again they repeated the demand, 'Gold I have none to +offer you, save the true wisdom of the knowledge of the living God.' And +he began, as he stood in the midst, to 'reason to them of righteousness, +temperance, and judgment to come.' + +They were mad with rage and drink. The old man's voice was drowned with +shouts of 'Gold, Bishop--give us gold!' The bones and cups that lay +around were hurled at him, and he fell to the ground, with the cry, 'O +Chief Shepherd, guard Thine own children!' As he partly raised himself, +axes were thrown at him; and, at last, a Dane, who had begun to love and +listen to him in his captivity, deemed it mercy to give him a deathblow +with an axe. The English maintained that Aelfeg had died to save his +flock from cruel extortion, and held him as a saint and martyr, keeping +his death day (the 19th of April) as a holiday; and when the Italian +Archbishop of Canterbury (Lanfranc) disputed his right to be so +esteemed, there was strong opposition and discontent. Indeed, our +own Prayer Book still retains his name, under the altered form of St. +Alphege; and surely no one better merits to be remembered, for having +loved his people far better than himself. + + + + +GUZMAN EL BUENO + +1293 + + +In the early times of Spanish history, before the Moors had been +expelled from the peninsula, or the blight of Western gold had enervated +the nation, the old honor and loyalty of the Gothic race were high and +pure, fostered by constant combats with a generous enemy. The Spanish +Arabs were indeed the flower of the Mahometan races, endowed with +the vigor and honor of the desert tribes, yet capable of culture and +civilization, excelling all other nations of their time in science and +art, and almost the equals of their Christian foes in the attributes +of chivalry. Wars with them were a constant crusade, consecrated in the +minds of the Spaniards as being in the cause of religion, and yet in +some degree freed from savagery and cruelty by the respect exacted +by the honorable character of the enemy, and by the fact that the +civilization and learning of the Christian kingdoms were far more +derived from the Moors than from the kindred nations of Europe. + +By the close of the thirteenth century, the Christian kingdoms of +Castille and Aragon were descending from their mountain fastnesses, and +spreading over the lovely plains of the south, even to the Mediterranean +coast, as one beautiful Moorish city after another yielded to the +persevering advances of the children of the Goths; and in 1291 the +nephew of our own beloved Eleanor of Castille, Sancho V. called El +Bravo, ventured to invest the city of Tarifa. + +This was the western buttress of the gate of the Mediterranean, the base +of the northern Pillar of Hercules, and esteemed one of the gates of +Spain. By it five hundred years previously had the Moorish enemy first +entered Spain at the summons of Count Julian, under their leader Tarif- +abu-Zearah, whose name was bestowed upon it in remembrance of his +landing there. The form of the ground is said to be like a broken punch +bowl, with the broken part towards the sea. The Moors had fortified +the city with a surrounding wall and twenty-six towers, and had built a +castle with a lighthouse on a small adjacent island, called Isla +Verde, which they had connected with the city by a causeway. Their +fortifications, always admirable, have existed ever since, and in 1811, +another five hundred years after, were successfully defended against the +French by a small force of British troops under the command of Colonel +Hugh Gough, better known in his old age as the victor of Aliwal. The +walls were then unable to support the weight of artillery, for which of +course they had never been built, but were perfectly effective against +escalade. + +For six months King Sancho besieged Tarifa by land and sea, his +fleet, hired from the Genoese, lying in the waters where the battle of +Trafalgar was to be fought. The city at length yielded under stress of +famine, but the King feared that he had no resources to enable him to +keep it, and intended to dismantle and forsake it, when the Grand Master +of the military order of Calatrava offered to undertake the defense +with his knights for one year, hoping that some other noble would come +forward at the end of that time and take the charge upon himself. + +He was not mistaken. The noble who made himself responsible for this +post of danger was a Leonese knight of high distinction, by name Alonso +Perez de Guzman, already called El Bueno, or 'The Good', from the high +qualities he had manifested in the service of the late King, Don Alonso +VI, by whom he had always stood when the present King, Don Sancho, +was in rebellion. The offer was readily accepted, and the whole Guzman +family removed to Tarifa, with the exception of the eldest son, who was +in the train of the Infant Don Juan, the second son of the late King, +who had always taken part with his father against his brother, and on +Sancho's accession, continued his enmity, and fled to Portugal. + +The King of Portugal, however, being requested by Sancho not to permit +him to remain there, he proceeded to offer his services to the King of +Morocco, Yusuf-ben-Yacoub, for whom he undertook to recover Tarifa, if +5,000 horse were granted to him for the purpose. The force would have +been most disproportionate for the attack of such a city as Tarifa, but +Don Juan reckoned on means that he had already found efficacious; when +he had obtained the surrender of Zamora to his father by threatening to +put to death a child of the lady in command of the fortress. + +Therefore, after summoning Tarifa at the head of his 5,000 Moors, he led +forth before the gates the boy who had been confided to his care, and +declared that unless the city were yielded instantly, Guzman should +behold the death of his own son at his hand! Before, he had had to deal +with a weak woman on a question of divided allegiance. It was otherwise +here. The point was whether the city should be made over to the enemies +of the faith and country, whether the plighted word of a loyal knight +should be broken. The boy was held in the grasp of the cruel prince, +stretching out his hands and weeping as he saw his father upon the +walls. Don Alonso's eyes, we are told, filled with tears as he cast one +long, last look at his first-born, whom he might not save except at the +expense of his truth and honor. + +The struggle was bitter, but he broke forth at last in these words: 'I +did not beget a son to be made use of against my country, but that he +should serve her against her foes. Should Don Juan put him to death, he +will but confer honor on me, true life on my son, and on himself eternal +shame in this world and everlasting wrath after death. So far am I from +yielding this place or betraying my trust, that in case he should want a +weapon for his cruel purpose, there goes my knife!' + +He cast the knife in his belt over the walls, and returned to the Castle +where, commanding his countenance, he sat down to table with his wife. +Loud shouts of horror and dismay almost instantly called him forth +again. He was told that Don Juan had been seen to cut the boy's throat +in a transport of blind rage. 'I thought the enemy had broken in,' he +calmly said, and went back again. + +The Moors themselves were horrorstruck at the atrocity of their ally, +and as the siege was hopeless they gave it up; and Don Juan, afraid and +ashamed to return to Morocco, wandered to the Court of Granada. + +King Sancho was lying sick at Alcala de Henares when the tidings of the +price of Guzman's fidelity reached him. Touched to the depths of his +heart he wrote a letter to his faithful subject, comparing his sacrifice +to that of Abraham, confirming to him the surname of Good, lamenting his +own inability to come and offer his thanks and regrets, but entreating +Guzman's presence at Alcala. + +All the way thither, the people thronged to see the man true to his +word at such a fearful cost. The Court was sent out to meet him, and the +King, after embracing him, exclaimed, 'Here learn, ye knights, what are +exploits of virtue. Behold your model.' + +Lands and honors were heaped upon Alonso de Guzman, and they were not a +mockery of his loss, for he had other sons to inherit them. He was +the staunch friend of Sancho's widow and son in a long and perilous +minority, and died full of years and honors. The lands granted to him +were those of Medina Sidonia which lie between the Rivers Guadiana and +Guadalquivir, and they have ever since been held by his descendants, who +still bear the honored name of Guzman, witnessing that the man who gave +the life of his first-born rather than break his faith to the King has +left a posterity as noble and enduring as any family in Europe. + + + + +FAITHFUL TILL DEATH + +1308 + + +One of the ladies most admired by the ancient Romans was Arria, the wife +of Caecina Paetus, a Roman who was condemned by the Emperor Claudius to +become his own executioner. Seeing him waver, his wife, who was resolved +to be with him in death as in life, took the dagger from his hand, +plunged it into her own breast, and with her last strength held it out +to him, gasping out, 'It is not painful, my Paetus.' + +Such was heathen faithfulness even to death; and where the teaching +of Christianity had not forbidden the taking away of life by one's own +hand, perhaps wifely love could not go higher. Yet Christian women have +endured a yet more fearful ordeal to their tender affection, watching, +supporting, and finding unfailing fortitude to uphold the sufferer in +agonies that must have rent their hearts. + +Natalia was the fair young wife of Adrian, an officer at Nicomedia, in +the guards of the Emperor Galerius Maximianus, and only about twenty- +eight years old. Natalia was a Christian, but her husband remained a +pagan, until, when he was charged with the execution of some martyrs, +their constancy, coupled with the testimony of his own wife's virtues, +triumphed over his unbelief, and he confessed himself likewise a +Christian. He was thrown into prison, and sentenced to death, but he +prevailed on his gaoler to permit him to leave the dungeon for a time, +that he might see his wife. The report came to Natalia that he was no +longer in prison, and she threw herself on the ground, lamenting aloud: +'Now will men point at me, and say, 'Behold the wife of the coward and +apostate, who, for fear of death, hath denied his God.' + +'Oh, thou noble and strong-hearted woman,' said Adrian's voice at the +door, 'I bless God that I am not unworthy of thee. Open the door that I +may bid thee farewell.' + +But this was not the last farewell, though he duly went back to the +prison; for when, the next day, he had been cruelly scourged and +tortured before the tribunal, Natalia, with her hair cut short, and +wearing the disguise of a youth, was there to tend and comfort him. She +took him in her arms saying, 'Oh, light of mine eyes, and husband of +mine heart, blessed art thou, who art chosen to suffer for Christ's +sake.' + +On the following day, the tyrant ordered that Adrian's limbs should be +one by one struck off on a blacksmith's anvil, and lastly his head. And +still it was his wife who held him and sustained him through all and, +ere the last stroke of the executioner, had received his last breath. +She took up one of the severed hands, kissed it, and placed it in her +bosom, and escaping to Byzantium, there spent her life in widowhood. + +Nor among these devoted wives should we pass by Gertrude, the wife of +Rudolf, Baron von der Wart, a Swabian nobleman, who was so ill-advised +as to join in a conspiracy of Johann of Hapsburg, in 1308, against the +Emperor, Albrecht I, the son of the great and good Rudolf of Hapsburg. + +This Johann was the son of the Emperor's brother Rudolf, a brave knight +who had died young, and Johann had been brought up by a Baron called +Walther von Eschenbach, until, at nineteen years old, he went to his +uncle to demand his father's inheritance. Albrecht was a rude and +uncouth man, and refused disdainfully the demand, whereupon the noblemen +of the disputed territory stirred up the young prince to form a plot +against him, all having evidently different views of the lengths to +which they would proceed. This was just at the time that the Swiss, +angry at the overweening and oppressive behaviour of Albrecht's +governors, were first taking up arms to maintain that they owed no duty +to him as Duke of Austria, but merely as Emperor of Germany. He set out +on his way to chastise them as rebels, taking with him a considerable +train, of whom his nephew Johann was one. At Baden, Johann, as a last +experiment, again applied for his inheritance, but by way of answer, +Albrecht held out a wreath of flowers, telling him they better became +his years than did the cares of government. He burst into tears, threw +the wreath upon the ground, and fed his mind upon the savage purpose of +letting his uncle find out what he was fit for. + +By and by, the party came to the banks of the Reuss, where there was no +bridge, and only one single boat to carry the whole across. The first to +cross were the Emperor with one attendant, besides his nephew and four +of the secret partisans of Johann. Albrecht's son Leopold was left to +follow with the rest of the suite, and the Emperor rode on towards the +hills of his home, towards the Castle of Hapsburg, where his father's +noble qualities had earned the reputation which was the cause of all the +greatness of the line. Suddenly his nephew rode up to him, and while one +of the conspirators seized the bridle of his horse, exclaimed, 'Will you +now restore my inheritance?' and wounded him in the neck. The attendant +fled; Der Wart, who had never thought murder was to be a part of the +scheme, stood aghast, but the other two fell on the unhappy Albrecht, +and each gave him a mortal wound, and then all five fled in different +directions. The whole horrible affair took place full in view of Leopold +and the army on the other side of the river, and when it became possible +for any of them to cross, they found that the Emperor had just expired, +with his head in the lap of a poor woman. + +The murderers escaped into the Swiss mountains, expecting shelter there; +but the stout, honest men of the cantons were resolved not to have any +connection with assassins, and refused to protect them. Johann himself, +after long and miserable wanderings in disguise, bitterly repented, +owned his crime to the Pope, and was received into a convent; Eschenbach +escaped, and lived fifteen years as a cowherd. The others all fell into +the hands of the sons and daughters of Albrecht, and woeful was the +revenge that was taken upon them, and upon their innocent families and +retainers. + +That Leopold, who had seen his father slain before his eyes, should +have been deeply incensed, was not wonderful, and his elder brother +Frederick, as Duke of Austria, was charged with the execution of +justice; but both brothers were horribly savage and violent in their +proceedings, and their sister Agnes surpassed them in her atrocious +thirst for vengeance. She was the wife of the King of Hungary, very +clever and discerning, and also supposed to be very religious, but all +better thoughts were swept away by her furious passion. She had nearly +strangled Eschenbach's infant son with her own bare hands, when he was +rescued from her by her own soldiers, and when she was watching the +beheading of sixty-three vassals of another of the murderers, she +repeatedly exclaimed, 'Now I bathe in May dew.' Once, indeed, she met +with a stern rebuke. A hermit, for whom she had offered to build a +convent, answered her, 'Woman, God is not served by shedding innocent +blood and by building convents out of the plunder of families, but by +compassion and forgiveness of injuries.' + +Rudolf von der Wart received the horrible sentence of being broken on +the wheel. On his trial the Emperor's attendant declared that Der Wart +had attacked Albert with his dagger, and the cry, 'How long will ye +suffer this carrion to sit on horseback?' but he persisted to the last +that he had been taken by surprise by the murder. However, there was no +mercy for him; and, by the express command of Queen Agnes, after he had +been bound upon one wheel, and his limbs broken by heavy blows from +the executioner, he was fastened to another wheel, which was set upon +a pole, where he was to linger out the remaining hours of his life. His +young wife, Gertrude, who had clung to him through all the trial, was +torn away and carried off to the Castle of Kyburg; but she made her +escape at dusk, and found her way, as night came on, to the spot where +her husband hung still living upon the wheel. That night of agony was +described in a letter ascribed to Gertrude herself. The guard left to +watch fled at her approach, and she prayed beneath the scaffold, and +then, heaping some heavy logs of wood together, was able to climb up +near enough to embrace him and stroke back the hair from his face, +whilst he entreated her to leave him, lest she should be found there, +and fall under the cruel revenge of the Queen, telling her that thus it +would be possible to increase his suffering. + +'I will die with you,' she said, 'tis for that I came, and no power +shall force me from you;' and she prayed for the one mercy she hoped +for, speedy death for her husband. + +In Mrs. Hemans' beautiful words-- + + + 'And bid me not depart,' she cried, + 'My Rudolf, say not so; + This is no time to quit thy side, + Peace, peace, I cannot go! + Hath the world aught for me to fear + When death is on thy brow? + The world! what means it? + Mine is here! + I will not leave thee now. + 'I have been with thee in thine hour + Of glory and of bliss; + Doubt not its memory's living power + To strengthen me through this. + And thou, mine honor'd love and true, + Bear on, bear nobly on; + We have the blessed heaven in view, + Whose rest shall soon be won.' + + +When day began to break, the guard returned, and Gertrude took down her +stage of wood and continued kneeling at the foot of the pole. Crowds of +people came to look, among them the wife of one of the officials, whom +Gertrude implored to intercede that her husband's sufferings might be +ended; but though this might not be, some pitied her, and tried to give +her wine and confections, which she could not touch. The priest came +and exhorted Rudolf to confess the crime, but with a great effort he +repeated his former statement of innocence. + +A band of horsemen rode by. Among them was the young Prince Leopold and +his sister Agnes herself, clad as a knight. They were very angry at +the compassion shown by the crowd, and after frightfully harsh language +commanded that Gertrude should be dragged away; but one of the nobles +interceded for her, and when she had been carried away to a little +distance her entreaties were heard, and she was allowed to break away +and come back to her husband. The priest blessed Gertrude, gave her his +hand and said, 'Be faithful unto death, and God will give you the crown +of life,' and she was no further molested. + +Night came on, and with it a stormy wind, whose howling mingled with the +voice of her prayers, and whistled in the hair of the sufferer. One of +the guard brought her a cloak. She climbed on the wheel, and spread the +covering over her husband's limbs; then fetched some water in her +shoe, and moistened his lips with it, sustaining him above all with her +prayers, and exhortations to look to the joys beyond. He had ceased to +try to send her away, and thanked her for the comfort she gave him. And +still she watched when morning came again, and noon passed over her, and +it was verging to evening, when for the last time he moved his head; and +she raised herself so as to be close to him. With a smile, he murmured, +'Gertrude, this is faithfulness till death,' and died. She knelt down to +thank God for having enabled her to remain for that last breath-- + + + 'While even as o'er a martyr's grave + She knelt on that sad spot, + And, weeping, blessed the God who gave + Strength to forsake it not!' + + +She found shelter in a convent at Basle, where she spent the rest of her +life in a quiet round of prayer and good works; till the time came when +her widowed heart should find its true rest for ever. + + + + +WHAT IS BETTER THAN SLAYING A DRAGON + +1332 + + +The next story we have to tell is so strange and wild, that it would +seem better to befit the cloudy times when history had not yet been +disentangled from fable, than the comparatively clear light of the +fourteenth century. + +It took place in the island of Rhodes. This Greek isle had become the +home of the Knights of St. John, or Hospitaliers, an order of sworn +brethren who had arisen at the time of the Crusades. At first they had +been merely monks, who kept open house for the reception of the poor +penniless pilgrims who arrived at Jerusalem in need of shelter, and +often of nursing and healing. The good monks not only fed and housed +them, but did their best to cure the many diseases that they would catch +in the toilsome journey in that feverish climate; and thus it has come +to pass that the word hospitium, which in Latin only means an inn, has, +in modern languages, given birth, on the one hand, to hotel, or lodging +house, on the other, to hospital, or house of healing. The Hospital at +Jerusalem was called after St. John the Almoner, a charitable Bishop +of old, and the brethren were Hospitaliers. By and by, when the first +Crusade was over, and there was a great need of warriors to maintain the +Christian cause in Jerusalem, the Hospitaliers thought it a pity that +so many strong arms should be prevented from exerting themselves, by the +laws that forbade the clergy to do battle, and they obtained permission +from the Pope to become warriors as well as monks. They were thus all in +one--knights, priests, and nurses; their monasteries were both castles +and hospitals; and the sick pilgrim or wounded Crusader was sure of all +the best tendance and medical care that the times could afford, as well +as of all the ghostly comfort and counsel that he might need, and, if he +recovered, he was escorted safely down to the seashore by a party strong +enough to protect him from the hordes of robber Arabs. All this was for +charity's sake, and without reward. Surely the constitution of the Order +was as golden as its badge--the eight-pointed cross--which the brethren +wore round their neck. They wore it also in white over their shoulder +upon a black mantle. And the knights who had been admitted to the full +honors of the Order had a scarlet surcoat, likewise with the white +cross, over their armor. The whole brotherhood was under the command of +a Grand Master, who was elected in a chapter of all the knights, and to +whom all vowed to render implicit obedience. + +Good service in all their three capacities had been done by the Order as +long as the Crusaders were able to keep a footing in the Holy Land; but +they were driven back step by step, and at last, in 1291, their last +stronghold at Acre was taken, after much desperate fighting, and the +remnant of the Hospitaliers sailed away to the isle of Cyprus, where, +after a few years, they recruited their forces, and, in 1307, captured +the island of Rhodes, which had been a nest of Greek and Mahometan +pirates. Here they remained, hoping for a fresh Crusade to recover the +Holy Sepulcher, and in the meantime fulfilling their old mission as +the protectors and nurses of the weak. All the Mediterranean Sea was +infested by corsairs from the African coast and the Greek isles, and +these brave knights, becoming sailors as well as all they had been +before, placed their red flag with its white cross at the masthead of +many a gallant vessel that guarded the peaceful traveler, hunted down +the cruel pirate, and brought home his Christian slave, rescued from +laboring at the oar, to the Hospital for rest and tendance. Or their +treasures were used in redeeming the captives in the pirate cities. No +knight of St. John might offer any ransom for himself save his sword +and scarf; but for the redemption of their poor fellow Christians +their wealth was ready, and many a captive was released from toiling +in Algiers or Tripoli, or still worse, from rowing the pirate vessels, +chained to the oar, between the decks, and was restored to health and +returned to his friends, blessing the day he had been brought into the +curving harbour of Rhodes, with the fine fortified town of churches and +monasteries. + +Some eighteen years after the conquest of Rhodes, the whole island was +filled with dismay by the ravages of an enormous creature, living in a +morass at the foot of Mount St. Stephen, about two miles from the city +of Rhodes. Tradition calls it a dragon, and whether it were a crocodile +or a serpent is uncertain. There is reason to think that the monsters +of early creation were slow in becoming extinct, or it is not impossible +that either a crocodile or a python might have been brought over by +storms or currents from Africa, and have grown to a more formidable size +than usual in solitude among the marshes, while the island was changing +owners. The reptile, whatever it might be, was the object of extreme +dread; it devoured sheep and cattle, when they came down to the water, +and even young shepherd boys were missing. And the pilgrimage to the +Chapel of St. Stephen, on the hill above its lair, was especially a +service of danger, for pilgrims were believed to be snapped up by the +dragon before they could mount the hill. + +Several knights had gone out to attempt the destruction of the creature, +but not one had returned, and at last the Grand Master, Helion de +Villeneuve, forbade any further attacks to be made. The dragon is said +to have been covered with scales that were perfectly impenetrable either +to arrows or any cutting weapon; and the severe loss that encounters +with him had cost the Order, convinced the Grand Master that he must be +let alone. + +However, a young knight, named Dieudonne de Gozon, was by no means +willing to acquiesce in the decree; perhaps all the less because it came +after he had once gone out in quest of the monster, but had returned, +by his own confession, without striking a blow. He requested leave of +absence, and went home for a time to his father's castle of Gozon, in +Languedoc; and there he caused a model of the monster to be made. He had +observed that the scales did not protect the animal's belly, though +it was almost impossible to get a blow at it, owing to its tremendous +teeth, and the furious strokes of its length of tail. He therefore +caused this part of his model to be made hollow, and filled with food, +and obtaining two fierce young mastiffs, he trained them to fly at the +under side of the monster, while he mounted his warhorse, and endeavored +to accustom it likewise to attack the strange shape without swerving. + +When he thought the education of horse and dogs complete, he returned to +Rhodes; but fearing to be prevented from carrying out his design, he did +not land at the city, but on a remote part of the coast, whence he made +his way to the chapel of St. Stephen. There, after having recommended +himself to God, he left his two French squires, desiring them to return +home if he were slain, but to watch and come to him if he killed the +dragon, or were only hurt by it. He then rode down the hillside, and +towards the haunt of the dragon. It roused itself at his advance, and at +first he charged it with his lance, which was perfectly useless against +the scales. His horse was quick to perceive the difference between the +true and the false monster, and started back, so that he was forced to +leap to the ground; but the two dogs were more staunch, and sprang at +the animal, whilst their master struck at it with his sword, but still +without reaching a vulnerable part, and a blow from the tail had thrown +him down, and the dragon was turning upon him, when the movement left +the undefended belly exposed. Both mastiffs fastened on it at once, and +the knight, regaining his feet, thrust his sword into it. There was a +death grapple, and finally the servants, coming down the hill, found +their knight lying apparently dead under the carcass of the dragon. When +they had extricated him, taken off his helmet, and sprinkled him with +water, he recovered, and presently was led into the city amid the +ecstatic shouts of the whole populace, who conducted him in triumph to +the palace of the Grand Master. + +We have seen how Titus Manlius was requited by his father for his +breach of discipline. It was somewhat in the same manner that Helion de +Villeneuve received Dieudonne. We borrow Schiller's beautiful version +of the conversation that took place, as the young knight, pale, with his +black mantle rent, his shining armor dinted, his scarlet surcoat stained +with blood, came into the Knights' Great Hall. + + + 'Severe and grave was the Master's brow, + Quoth he, 'A hero bold art thou, + By valor 't is that knights are known; + A valiant spirit hast thou shown; + But the first duty of a knight, + Now tell, who vows for CHRIST to fight + And bears the Cross on his coat of mail.' + The listeners all with fear grew pale, + While, bending lowly, spake the knight, + His cheeks with blushes burning, + 'He who the Cross would bear aright + Obedience must be learning.' + + +Even after hearing the account of the conflict, the Grand Master did not +abate his displeasure. + + + 'My son, the spoiler of the land + Lies slain by thy victorious hand + Thou art the people's god, but so + Thou art become thine Order's foe; + A deadlier foe thine heart has bred + Than this which by thy hand is dead, + That serpent still the heart defiling + To ruin and to strife beguiling, + It is that spirit rash and bold, + That scorns the bands of order; + Rages against them uncontrolled + Till earth is in disorder. + + 'Courage by Saracens is shown, + Submission is the Christian's own; + And where our Saviour, high and holy, + Wandered a pilgrim poor and lowly + Upon that ground with mystery fraught, + The fathers of our Order taught + The duty hardest to fulfil + Is to give up your own self-will + Thou art elate with glory vain. + Away then from my sight! + Who can his Saviour's yoke disdain + Bears not his Cross aright.' + + 'An angry cry burst from the crowd, + The hall rang with their tumult loud; + Each knightly brother prayed for grace. + The victor downward bent his face, + Aside his cloak in silence laid, + Kissed the Grand Master's hand, nor stayed. + The Master watched him from the hall, + Then summoned him with loving call, + 'Come to embrace me, noble son, + Thine is the conquest of the soul; + Take up the Cross, now truly won, + By meekness and by self-control.' + + +The probation of Dieudonne is said to have been somewhat longer than +the poem represents, but after the claims of discipline had been +established, he became a great favorite with stern old Villeneuve, and +the dragon's head was set up over the gate of the city, where Thevenot +professed to have seen it in the seventeenth century, and said that it +was larger than that of a horse, with a huge mouth and teeth and very +large eyes. The name of Rhodes is said to come from a Phoenician word, +meaning a serpent, and the Greeks called this isle of serpents, which +is all in favor of the truth of the story. But, on the other hand, such +traditions often are prompted by the sight of the fossil skeletons of +the dragons of the elder world, and are generally to be met with where +such minerals prevail as are found in the northern part of Rhodes. The +tale is disbelieved by many, but it is hard to suppose it an entire +invention, though the description of the monster may have been +exaggerated. + +Dieudonne de Gozon was elected to the Grand Mastership after the death +of Villeneuve, and is said to have voted for himself. If so, it seems as +if he might have had, in his earlier days, an overweening opinion of +his own abilities. However, he was an excellent Grand Master, a great +soldier, and much beloved by all the poor peasants of the island, to +whom he was exceedingly kind. He died in 1353, and his tomb is said to +have been the only inscribed with these words, 'Here lies the Dragon +Slayer.' + + + + +THE KEYS OF CALAIS + +1347 + + +Nowhere does the continent of Europe approach Great Britain so closely +as at the straits of Dover, and when our sovereigns were full of the +vain hope of obtaining the crown of France, or at least of regaining +the great possessions that their forefathers has owned as French nobles, +there was no spot so coveted by them as the fortress of Calais, the +possession of which gave an entrance into France. + +Thus it was that when, in 1346, Edward III. had beaten Philippe VI. at +the battle of Crecy, the first use he made of his victory was to march +upon Calais, and lay siege to it. The walls were exceedingly strong and +solid, mighty defenses of masonry, of huge thickness and like rocks +for solidity, guarded it, and the king knew that it would be useless to +attempt a direct assault. Indeed, during all the Middle Ages, the modes +of protecting fortifications were far more efficient than the modes of +attacking them. The walls could be made enormously massive, the towers +raised to a great height, and the defenders so completely sheltered by +battlements that they could not easily be injured and could take aim +from the top of their turrets, or from their loophole windows. The gates +had absolute little castles of their own, a moat flowed round the walls +full of water, and only capable of being crossed by a drawbridge, behind +which the portcullis, a grating armed beneath with spikes, was always +ready to drop from the archway of the gate and close up the entrance. +The only chance of taking a fortress by direct attack was to fill up the +moat with earth and faggots, and then raise ladders against the walls; +or else to drive engines against the defenses, battering-rams which +struck them with heavy beams, mangonels which launched stones, sows +whose arched wooden backs protected troops of workmen who tried to +undermine the wall, and moving towers consisting of a succession of +stages or shelves, filled with soldiers, and with a bridge with iron +hooks, capable of being launched from the highest story to the top of +the battlements. The besieged could generally disconcert the battering- +ram by hanging beds or mattresses over the walls to receive the brunt of +the blow, the sows could be crushed with heavy stones, the towers +burnt by well-directed flaming missiles, the ladders overthrown, and in +general the besiegers suffered a great deal more damage than they could +inflict. Cannon had indeed just been brought into use at the battle +of Crecy, but they only consisted of iron bars fastened together with +hoops, and were as yet of little use, and thus there seemed to be little +danger to a well-guarded city from any enemy outside the walls. + +King Edward arrived before the place with all his victorious army early +in August, his good knights and squires arrayed in glittering steel +armor, covered with surcoats richly embroidered with their heraldic +bearings; his stout men-at-arms, each of whom was attended by three bold +followers; and his archers, with their crossbows to shoot bolts, and +longbows to shoot arrows of a yard long, so that it used to be said that +each went into battle with three men's lives under his girdle, namely, +the three arrows he kept there ready to his hand. With the King was +his son, Edward, Prince of Wales, who had just won the golden spurs of +knighthood so gallantly at Crecy, when only in his seventeenth year, and +likewise the famous Hainault knight, Sir Walter Mauny, and all that was +noblest and bravest in England. + +This whole glittering army, at their head the King's great royal +standard bearing the golden lilies of France quartered with the lions +of England, and each troop guided by the square banner, swallow-tailed +pennon or pointed pennoncel of their leader, came marching to the gates +of Calais, above which floated the blue standard of France with its +golden flowers, and with it the banner of the governor, Sir Jean de +Vienne. A herald, in a rich long robe embroidered with the arms of +England, rode up to the gate, a trumpet sounding before him, and called +upon Sir Jean de Vienne to give up the place to Edward, King of England, +and of France, as he claimed to be. Sir Jean made answer that he held +the town for Philippe, King of France, and that he would defend it to +the last; the herald rode back again and the English began the siege of +the city. + +At first they only encamped, and the people of Calais must have seen the +whole plain covered with the white canvas tents, marshalled round +the ensigns of the leaders, and here and there a more gorgeous one +displaying the colours of the owner. Still there was no attack upon the +walls. The warriors were to be seen walking about in the leathern suits +they wore under their armor; or if a party was to be seen with their +coats of mail on, helmet on head, and lance in hand, it was not against +Calais that they came; they rode out into the country, and by and by +might be seen driving back before them herds of cattle and flocks +of sheep or pigs that they had seized and taken away from the poor +peasants; and at night the sky would show red lights where farms and +homesteads had been set on fire. After a time, in front of the tents, +the English were to be seen hard at work with beams and boards, setting +up huts for themselves, and thatching them over with straw or broom. +These wooden houses were all ranged in regular streets, and there was +a marketplace in the midst, whither every Saturday came farmers and +butchers to sell corn and meat, and hay for the horses; and the English +merchants and Flemish weavers would come by sea and by land to bring +cloth, bread, weapons, and everything that could be needed to be sold in +this warlike market. + +The Governor, Sir Jean de Vienne, began to perceive that the King did +not mean to waste his men by making vain attacks on the strong walls of +Calais, but to shut up the entrance by land, and watch the coast by sea +so as to prevent any provisions from being taken in, and so to starve +him into surrendering. Sir Jean de Vienne, however, hoped that before he +should be entirely reduced by famine, the King of France would be able +to get together another army and come to his relief, and at any rate he +was determined to do his duty, and hold out for his master to the last. +But as food was already beginning to grow scarce, he was obliged to turn +out such persons as could not fight and had no stores of their own, and +so one Wednesday morning he caused all the poor to be brought together, +men, women, and children, and sent them all out of the town, to the +number of 1,700. It was probably the truest mercy, for he had no food to +give them, and they could only have starved miserably within the town, +or have hindered him from saving it for his sovereign; but to them it +was dreadful to be driven out of house and home, straight down upon +the enemy, and they went along weeping and wailing, till the English +soldiers met them and asked why they had come out. They answered +that they had been put out because they had nothing to eat, and their +sorrowful, famished looks gained pity for them. King Edward sent orders +that not only should they go safely through his camp, but that they +should all rest, and have the first hearty dinner that they had eaten +for many a day, and he sent every one a small sum of money before they +left the camp, so that many of them went on their way praying aloud for +the enemy who had been so kind to them. + +A great deal happened whilst King Edward kept watch in his wooden town +and the citizens of Calais guarded their walls. England was invaded +by King David II. of Scotland, with a great army, and the good Queen +Philippa, who was left to govern at home in the name of her little son +Lionel, assembled all the forces that were left at home, and crossed the +Straits of Dover, and a messenger brought King Edward letters from his +Queen to say that the Scots army had been entirely defeated at Nevil's +Cross, near Durham, and that their King was a prisoner, but that he had +been taken by a squire named John Copeland, who would not give him up to +her. + +King Edward sent letters to John Copeland to come to him at Calais, +and when the squire had made his journey, the King took him by the +hand saying, 'Ha! welcome, my squire, who by his valor has captured our +adversary the King of Scotland.' + +Copeland, falling on one knee, replied, 'If God, out of His great +kindness, has given me the King of Scotland, no one ought to be jealous +of it, for God can, when He pleases, send His grace to a poor squire +as well as to a great Lord. Sir, do not take it amiss if I did not +surrender him to the orders of my lady the Queen, for I hold my lands of +you, and my oath is to you, not to her.' + +The King was not displeased with his squire's sturdiness, but made him a +knight, gave him a pension of 500l. a year, and desired him to +surrender his prisoner to the Queen, as his own representative. This was +accordingly done, and King David was lodged in the Tower of London. +Soon after, three days before All Saint's Day, there was a large and gay +fleet to be seen crossing from the white cliffs of Dover, and the King, +his son, and his knights rode down to the landing place to welcome +plump, fair haired Queen Philippa, and all her train of ladies, who had +come in great numbers to visit their husbands, fathers, or brothers in +the wooden town. + +Then there was a great Court, and numerous feasts and dances, and the +knights and squires were constantly striving who could do the bravest +deed of prowess to please the ladies. The King of France had placed +numerous knights and men-at-arms in the neighboring towns and castles, +and there were constant fights whenever the English went out foraging, +and many bold deeds that were much admired were done. The great point +was to keep provisions out of the town, and there was much fighting +between the French who tried to bring in supplies, and the English who +intercepted them. Very little was brought in by land, and Sir Jean +de Vienne and his garrison would have been quite starved but for two +sailors of Abbeville, named Marant and Mestriel, who knew the coast +thoroughly, and often, in the dark autumn evenings, would guide in a +whole fleet of little boats, loaded with bread and meat for the starving +men within the city. They were often chased by King Edward's vessels, +and were sometimes very nearly taken, but they always managed to escape, +and thus they still enabled the garrison to hold out. + +So all the winter passed, Christmas was kept with brilliant feastings +and high merriment by the King and his Queen in their wooden palace +outside, and with lean cheeks and scanty fare by the besieged within. +Lent was strictly observed perforce by the besieged, and Easter brought +a betrothal in the English camp; a very unwilling one on the part of +the bridegroom, the young Count of Flanders, who loved the French much +better than the English, and had only been tormented into giving his +consent by his unruly vassals because they depended on the wool of +English sheep for their cloth works. So, though King Edward's daughter +Isabel was a beautiful fair-haired girl of fifteen, the young Count +would scarcely look at her; and in the last week before the marriage +day, while her robes and her jewels were being prepared, and her father +and mother were arranging the presents they should make to all their +Court on the wedding day, the bridegroom, when out hawking, gave his +attendants the slip, and galloped off to Paris, where he was welcomed by +King Philippe. + +This made Edward very wrathful, and more than ever determined to take +Calais. About Whitsuntide he completed a great wooden castle upon the +seashore, and placed in it numerous warlike engines, with forty men-at- +arms and 200 archers, who kept such a watch upon the harbour that not +even the two Abbeville sailors could enter it, without having their +boats crushed and sunk by the great stones that the mangonels launched +upon them. The townspeople began to feel what hunger really was, but +their spirits were kept up by the hope that their King was at last +collecting an army for their rescue. + +And Philippe did collect all his forces, a great and noble army, and +came one night to the hill of Sangate, just behind the English army, the +knights' armor glancing and their pennons flying in the moonlight, so as +to be a beautiful sight to the hungry garrison who could see the white +tents pitched upon the hillside. Still there were but two roads by +which the French could reach their friends in the town--one along the +seacoast, the other by a marshy road higher up the country, and there +was but one bridge by which the river could be crossed. The English +King's fleet could prevent any troops from passing along the coast +road, the Earl of Derby guarded the bridge, and there was a great tower, +strongly fortified, close upon Calais. There were a few skirmishes, but +the French King, finding it difficult to force his way to relieve the +town, sent a party of knights with a challenge to King Edward to come +out of his camp and do battle upon a fair field. + +To this Edward made answer, that he had been nearly a year before +Calais, and had spent large sums of money on the siege, and that he had +nearly become master of the place, so that he had no intention of coming +out only to gratify his adversary, who must try some other road if he +could not make his way in by that before him. + +Three days were spent in parleys, and then, without the slightest +effort to rescue the brave, patient men within the town, away went King +Philippe of France, with all his men, and the garrison saw the host that +had crowded the hill of Sangate melt away like a summer cloud. + +August had come again, and they had suffered privation for a whole year +for the sake of the King who deserted them at their utmost need. They +were in so grievous a state of hunger and distress that the hardiest +could endure no more, for ever since Whitsuntide no fresh provisions had +reached them. The Governor, therefore, went to the battlements and +made signs that he wished to hold a parley, and the King appointed +Lord Basset and Sir Walter Mauny to meet him, and appoint the terms of +surrender. + +The Governor owned that the garrison was reduced to the greatest +extremity of distress, and requested that the King would be contented +with obtaining the city and fortress, leaving the soldiers and +inhabitants to depart in peace. + +But Sir Walter Mauny was forced to make answer that the King, his lord, +was so much enraged at the delay and expense that Calais had cost him, +that he would only consent to receive the whole on unconditional terms, +leaving him free to slay, or to ransom, or make prisoners whomsoever he +pleased, and he was known to consider that there was a heavy reckoning +to pay, both for the trouble the siege had cost him and the damage the +Calesians had previously done to his ships. + +The brave answer was: 'These conditions are too hard for us. We are but +a small number of knights and squires, who have loyally served our +lord and master as you would have done, and have suffered much ill and +disquiet, but we will endure far more than any man has done in such a +post, before we consent that the smallest boy in the town shall fare +worse than ourselves. I therefore entreat you, for pity's sake, to +return to the King and beg him to have compassion, for I have such an +opinion of his gallantry that I think he will alter his mind.' + +The King's mind seemed, however, sternly made up; and all that Sir +Walter Mauny and the barons of the council could obtain from him was +that he would pardon the garrison and townsmen on condition that six of +the chief citizens should present themselves to him, coming forth with +bare feet and heads, with halters round their necks, carrying the +keys of the town, and becoming absolutely his own to punish for their +obstinacy as he should think fit. + +On hearing this reply, Sir Jean de Vienne begged Sir Walter Mauny +to wait till he could consult the citizens, and, repairing to the +marketplace, he caused a great bell to be rung, at sound of which all +the inhabitants came together in the town hall. When he told them of +these hard terms he could not refrain from weeping bitterly, and wailing +and lamentation arose all round him. Should all starve together, or +sacrifice their best and most honored after all suffering in common so +long? + +Then a voice was heard; it was that of the richest burgher in the town, +Eustache de St. Pierre. 'Messieurs high and low,' he said, 'it would be +a sad pity to suffer so many people to die through hunger, if it could +be prevented; and to hinder it would be meritorious in the eyes of our +Saviour. I have such faith and trust in finding grace before God, if I +die to save my townsmen, that I name myself as the first of the six.' + +As the burgher ceased, his fellow townsmen wept aloud, and many, amid +tears and groans, threw themselves at his feet in a transport of grief +and gratitude. Another citizen, very rich and respected, rose up and +said, 'I will be second to my comrade, Eustache.' His name was Jean +Daire. After him, Jacques Wissant, another very rich man, offered +himself as companion to these, who were both his cousins; and his +brother Pierre would not be left behind: and two more, unnamed, made up +this gallant band of men willing to offer their lives for the rescue of +their fellow townsmen. + +Sir Jean de Vienne mounted a little horse--for he had been wounded, +and was still lame--and came to the gate with them, followed by all the +people of the town, weeping and wailing, yet, for their own sakes and +their children's not daring to prevent the sacrifice. The gates were +opened, the governor and the six passed out, and the gates were again +shut behind them. Sir Jean then rode up to Sir Walter Mauny, and told +him how these burghers had voluntarily offered themselves, begging him +to do all in his power to save them; and Sir Walter promised with his +whole heart to plead their cause. De Vienne then went back into the +town, full of heaviness and anxiety; and the six citizens were led by +Sir Walter to the presence of the King, in his full Court. They all +knelt down, and the foremost said: 'Most gallant King, you see before +you six burghers of Calais, who have all been capital merchants, and who +bring you the keys of the castle and town. We yield ourselves to your +absolute will and pleasure, in order to save the remainder of the +inhabitants of Calais, who have suffered much distress and misery. +Condescend, therefore, out of your nobleness of mind, to have pity on +us.' + +Strong emotion was excited among all the barons and knights who stood +round, as they saw the resigned countenances, pale and thin with +patiently endured hunger, of these venerable men, offering themselves +in the cause of their fellow townsmen. Many tears of pity were shed; but +the King still showed himself implacable, and commanded that they should +be led away, and their heads stricken off. Sir Walter Mauny interceded +for them with all his might, even telling the King that such an +execution would tarnish his honor, and that reprisals would be made on +his own garrisons; and all the nobles joined in entreating pardon +for the citizens, but still without effect; and the headsman had been +actually sent for, when Queen Philippa, her eyes streaming with tears, +threw herself on her knees amongst the captives, and said, 'Ah, gentle +sir, since I have crossed the sea, with much danger, to see you, I have +never asked you one favor; now I beg as a boon to myself, for the sake +of the Son of the Blessed Mary, and for your love to me, that you will +be merciful to these men!' + +For some time the King looked at her in silence; then he exclaimed: +'Dame, dame, would that you had been anywhere than here! You have +entreated in such a manner that I cannot refuse you; I therefore give +these men to you, to do as you please with.' + +Joyfully did Queen Philippa conduct the six citizens to her own +apartments, where she made them welcome, sent them new garments, +entertained them with a plentiful dinner, and dismissed them each with +a gift of six nobles. After this, Sir Walter Mauny entered the city, +and took possession of it; retaining Sir Jean de Vienne and the other +knights and squires till they should ransom themselves, and sending out +the old French inhabitants; for the King was resolved to people the city +entirely of English, in order to gain a thoroughly strong hold of this +first step in France. + +The King and Queen took up their abode in the city; and the houses of +Jean Daire were, it appears, granted to the Queen--perhaps, because she +considered the man himself as her charge, and wished to secure them for +him--and her little daughter Margaret was, shortly after, born in one of +his houses. Eustache de St. Pierre was taken into high favor, and placed +in charge of the new citizens whom the King placed in the city. + +Indeed, as this story is told by no chronicler but Froissart, some have +doubted of it, and thought the violent resentment thus imputed to Edward +III inconsistent with his general character; but it is evident that +the men of Calais had given him strong provocation by attacks on his +shipping--piracies which are not easily forgiven--and that he considered +that he had a right to make an example of them. It is not unlikely that +he might, after all, have intended to forgive them, and have given the +Queen the grace of obtaining their pardon, so as to excuse himself from +the fulfillment of some over-hasty threat. But, however this may have +been, nothing can lessen the glory of the six grave and patient men who +went forth, by their own free will, to meet what might be a cruel +and disgraceful death, in order to obtain the safety of their fellow- +townsmen. + +Very recently, in the summer of 1864, an instance has occurred of self- +devotion worthy to be recorded with that of Eustache de St. Pierre. The +City of Palmyra, in Tennessee, one of the Southern States of America, +had been occupied by a Federal army. An officer of this army was +assassinated, and, on the cruel and mistaken system of taking reprisals, +the general arrested ten of the principal inhabitants, and condemned +them to be shot, as deeming the city responsible for the lives of his +officers. One of them was the highly respected father of a large family, +and could ill be spared. A young man, not related to him, upon this, +came forward and insisted on being taken in his stead, as a less +valuable life. And great as was the distress of his friend, this +generous substitution was carried out, and not only spared a father to +his children, but showed how the sharpest strokes of barbarity can still +elicit light from the dark stone--light that but for these blows might +have slept unseen. + + + + +THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH + +1397 + + +Nothing in history has been more remarkable than the union of the +cantons and cities of the little republic of Switzerland. Of differing +races, languages, and, latterly, even religions--unlike in habits, +tastes, opinions and costumes--they have, however, been held together, +as it were, by pressure from without, and one spirit of patriotism has +kept the little mountain republic complete for five hundred years. + +Originally the lands were fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire, the city +municipalities owning the Emperor for their lord, and the great family +of Hapsburg, in whom the Empire became at length hereditary, was in +reality Swiss, the county that gave them title lying in the canton of +Aargau. Rodolf of Hapsburg was elected leader of the burghers of Zurich, +long before he was chosen to the Empire; and he continued a Swiss in +heart, retaining his mountaineer's open simplicity and honesty to the +end of his life. Privileges were granted by him to the cities and the +nobles, and the country was loyal and prosperous in his reign. + +His son Albert, the same who was slain by his nephew Johann, as before- +mentioned, permitted those tyrannies of his bailiffs which goaded the +Swiss to their celebrated revolt, and commenced the long series of wars +with the House of Hapsburgor, as it was now termed, of Austria--which +finally established their independence. + +On the one side, the Dukes of Austria and their ponderous German +chivalry wanted to reduce the cantons and cities to vassalage, not to +the Imperial Crown, a distant and scarcely felt obligation, but to the +Duchy of Austria; on the other, the hardy mountain peasants and stout +burghers well knew their true position, and were aware that to admit the +Austrian usurpation would expose their young men to be drawn upon +for the Duke's wars, cause their property to be subject to perpetual +rapacious exactions, and fill their hills with castles for ducal +bailiffs, who would be little better than licensed robbers. No wonder, +then, that the generations of William Tell and Arnold Melchthal +bequeathed a resolute purpose of resistance to their descendants. + +It was in 1397, ninety years since the first assertion of Swiss +independence, when Leopold the Handsome, Duke of Austria, a bold but +misproud and violent prince, involved himself in one of the constant +quarrels with the Swiss that were always arising on account of the +insulting exactions of toll and tribute in the Austrian border cities. A +sharp war broke out, and the Swiss city of Lucerne took the opportunity +of destroying the Austrian castle of Rothemburg, where the tolls had +been particularly vexatious, and of admitting to their league the cities +of Sempach and Richensee. + +Leopold and all the neighboring nobles united their forces. Hatred and +contempt of the Swiss, as low-born and presumptuous, spurred them on; +and twenty messengers reached the Duke in one day, with promises of +support, in his march against Sempach and Lucerne. He had sent a large +force in the direction of Zurich with Johann Bonstetten, and advanced +himself with 4,000 horse and 1,400 foot upon Sempach. Zurich undertook +its own defense, and the Forest cantons sent their brave peasants to the +support of Lucerne and Sempach, but only to the number of 1,300, who, +on the 9th of July, took post in the woods around the little lake of +Sempach. + +Meanwhile, Leopold's troops rode round the walls of the little city, +insulting the inhabitants, one holding up a halter, which he said was +for the chief magistrate; and another, pointing to the reckless waste +that his comrades were perpetrating on the fields, shouted, 'Send a +breakfast to the reapers.' The burgomaster pointed to the wood where his +allies lay hid, and answered, 'My masters of Lucerne and their friends +will bring it.' + +The story of that day was told by one of the burghers who fought in the +ranks of Lucerne, a shoemaker, named Albert Tchudi, who was both a brave +warrior and a master-singer; and as his ballad was translated by another +master-singer, Sir Walter Scott, and is the spirited record of an +eyewitness, we will quote from him some of his descriptions of the +battle and its golden deed. + +The Duke's wiser friends proposed to wait till he could be joined by +Bonstetten and the troops who had gone towards Zurich, and the Baron von +Hasenburg (i.e. hare-rock) strongly urged this prudent counsel; but-- + + + 'O, Hare-Castle, thou heart of hare!' + Fierce Oxenstiern he cried, + 'Shalt see then how the game will fare,' + The taunted knight replied.' + + +'This very noon,' said the younger knight to the Duke, 'we will deliver +up to you this handful of villains.' + + + 'And thus they to each other said, + 'Yon handful down to hew + Will be no boastful tale to tell + The peasants are so few.' + + +Characteristically enough, the doughty cobbler describes how the first +execution that took place was the lopping off the long-peaked toes of +the boots that the gentlemen wore chained to their knees, and which +would have impeded them on foot; since it had been decided that the +horses were too much tired to be serviceable in the action. + + + 'There was lacing then of helmets bright, + And closing ranks amain, + The peaks they hewed from their boot points + Might well nigh load a wain.' + + +They were drawn up in a solid compact body, presenting an unbroken +line of spears, projecting beyond the wall of gay shields and polished +impenetrable armor. + +The Swiss were not only few in number, but armor was scarce among them; +some had only boards fastened on their arms by way of shields, some +had halberts, which had been used by their fathers at the battle of +Morgarten, others two-handed swords and battleaxes. They drew themselves +up in the form of a wedge and + + + 'The gallant Swiss confederates then + They prayed to God aloud, + And He displayed His rainbow fair, + Against a swarthy cloud.' + + +Then they rushed upon the serried spears, but in vain. 'The game was +nothing sweet.' + +The banner of Lucerne was in the utmost danger, the Landamman was slain, +and sixty of his men, and not an Austrian had been wounded. The flanks +of the Austrian host began to advance so as to enclose the small peasant +force, and involve it in irremediable destruction. A moment of dismay +and stillness ensued. Then Arnold von Winkelried of Unterwalden, with +an eagle glance saw the only means of saving his country, and, with the +decision of a man who dares by dying to do all things, shouted aloud: 'I +will open a passage.' + + + 'I have a virtuous wife at home, + A wife and infant son: + I leave them to my country's care, + The field shall yet be won!' + He rushed against the Austrian band + In desperate career, + And with his body, breast, and hand, + Bore down each hostile spear; + Four lances splintered on his crest, + Six shivered in his side, + Still on the serried files he pressed, + He broke their ranks and died!' + + +The very weight of the desperate charge of this self-devoted man opened +a breach in the line of spears. In rushed the Swiss wedge, and the +weight of the nobles' armor and length of their spears was only +encumbering. They began to fall before the Swiss blows, and Duke Leopold +was urged to fly. 'I had rather die honorably than live with dishonor,' +he said. He saw his standard bearer struck to the ground, and seizing +his banner from his hand, waved it over his head, and threw himself +among the thickest of the foe. His corpse was found amid a heap of +slain, and no less then 2000 of his companions perished with him, of +whom a third are said to have been counts, barons and knights. + + + 'Then lost was banner, spear and shield + At Sempach in the flight; + The cloister vaults at Konigsfeldt + Hold many an Austrian knight.' + + +The Swiss only lost 200; but, as they were spent with the excessive heat +of the July sun, they did not pursue their enemies. They gave thanks +on the battlefield to the God of victories, and the next day buried the +dead, carrying Duke Leopold and twenty-seven of his most illustrious +companions to the Abbey of Konigsfeldt, where they buried him in the old +tomb of his forefathers, the lords of Aargau, who had been laid there in +the good old times, before the house of Hapsburg had grown arrogant with +success. + +As to the master-singer, he tells us of himself that + + + 'A merry man was he, I wot, + The night he made the lay, + Returning from the bloody spot, + Where God had judged the day.' + + +On every 9th of July subsequently, the people of the country have been +wont to assemble on the battlefield, around four stone crosses +which mark the spot. A priest from a pulpit in the open air gives +a thanksgiving sermon on the victory that ensured the freedom of +Switzerland, and another reads the narrative of the battle, and the roll +of the brave 200, who, after Winkelried's example, gave their lives in +the cause. All this is in the face of the mountains and the lake now +lying in summer stillness, and the harvest fields whose crops are secure +from marauders, and the congregation then proceed to the small chapel, +the walls of which are painted with the deed of Arnold von Winkelried, +and the other distinguished achievements of the confederates, and masses +are sung for the souls of those who were slain. No wonder that men thus +nurtured in the memory of such actions were, even to the fall of the +French monarchy, among the most trustworthy soldiery of Europe. + + + + +THE CONSTANT PRINCE + +1433 + + +The illustrious days of Portugal were during the century and a half of +the dynasty termed the House of Aviz, because its founder, Dom Joao I. +had been grand master of the military order of Aviz. + +His right to the throne was questionable, or more truly null, and he had +only obtained the crown from the desire of the nation to be independent +of Castile, and by the assistance of our own John of Gaunt, whose +daughter, Philippa of Lancaster, became his wife, thus connecting the +glories of his line with our own house of Plantagenet. + +Philippa was greatly beloved in Portugal, and was a most noble-minded +woman, who infused her own spirit into her children. She had five sons, +and when they all had attained an age to be admitted to the order of +knighthood, their father proposed to give a grand tournament in which +they might evince their prowess. This, however, seemed but play to the +high-spirited youths, who had no doubt fed upon the story of the manner +in which their uncle, the Black Prince, whose name was borne by the +eldest, had won his spurs at Crecy. Their entreaty was, not to be +carpet--knights dubbed in time of peace, and King Joao on the other hand +objected to entering on a war merely for the sake of knighting his sons. +At last Dom Fernando, the youngest of the brothers, a lad of fourteen, +proposed that their knighthood should be earned by an expedition to take +Ceuta from the Moors. A war with the infidel never came amiss, and +was in fact regarded as a sacred duty; moreover, Ceuta was a nest +of corsairs who infested the whole Mediterranean coast. Up to the +nineteenth century the seaports along the African coast of the +Mediterranean were the hives of pirates, whose small rapid vessels were +the terror of every unarmed ship that sailed in those waters, and whose +descents upon the coasts of Spain, France, and Italy rendered life and +property constantly insecure. A regular system of kidnapping prevailed; +prisoners had their fixed price, and were carried off to labour in the +African dockyards, or to be chained to the benches of the Moorish ships +which their oars propelled, until either a ransom could be procured from +their friends, or they could be persuaded to become renegades, or death +put an end to their sufferings. A captivity among the Moors was by no +means an uncommon circumstance even in the lives of Englishmen down to +the eighteenth century, and pious persons frequently bequeathed sums of +money for the ransom of the poorer captives. + +Ceuta, perched upon the southern Pillar of Hercules, was one of the most +perilous of these dens of robbery, and to seize it might well appear +a worthy action, not only to the fiery princes, but to their cautious +father. He kept his designs absolutely secret, and contrived to obtain +a plan of the town by causing one of his vessels to put in there as in +quest of provisions, while, to cover his preparations for war, he sent +a public challenge to the Count of Holland, and a secret message at +the same time, with the assurance that it was only a blind. These +proceedings were certainly underhand, and partook of treachery; but +they were probably excused in the King's own mind by the notion, that no +faith was to be kept with unbelievers, and, moreover, such people as the +Ceutans were likely never to be wanting in the supply of pretexts for +attack. + +Just as all was ready, the plague broke out in Lisbon, and the Queen +fell sick of it. Her husband would not leave her, and just before her +death she sent for all her sons, and gave to each a sword, charging them +to defend the widow and orphan, and to fight against the infidel. In the +full freshness of their sorrow, the King and his sons set sail from the +Bay of Lagos, in the August of 1415, with 59 galleys, 33 ships of war, +and 120 transports; the largest fleet ever yet sent forth by the little +kingdom, and the first that had left a Peninsular port with the banners +and streamers of which the more northern armaments were so profuse. + +The governor of Ceuta, Zala ben Zala, was not unprepared for the attack, +and had collected 5,000 allies to resist the Christians; but a great +storm having dispersed the fleet on the first day of its appearance, he +thought the danger over, and dismissed his friends On the 14th August, +however, the whole fleet again appeared, and the King, in a little boat, +directed the landing of his men, led by his sons, the Infantes Duarte +and Henrique. The Moors gave way before them, and they entered the city +with 500 men, among the flying enemy, and there, after a period of much +danger, were joined by their brother Pedro. The three fought their way +to a mosque, where they defended themselves till the King with the rest +of his army made their way in. Zala ben Zala fled to the citadel, but, +after one assault, quitted it in the night. + +The Christian captives were released, the mosque purified and +consecrated as a cathedral, a bishop was appointed, and the King gave +the government of the place to Dom Pedro de Menezes, a knight of such +known fidelity that the King would not suffer him to take the oath of +allegiance. An attempt was made by the Moors four years later to recover +the place; but the Infantes Pedro and Henrique hurried from Portugal +to succor Menezes, and drove back the besiegers; whereupon the Moors +murdered their King, Abu Sayd, on whom they laid the blame of the +disaster. + +On the very day, eighteen years later, of the taking of Ceuta, King Joao +died of the plague at Lisbon, on the 14th of August, 1433. Duarte came +to the throne; and, a few months after, his young brother, Fernando, +persuaded him into fitting out another expedition to Africa, of which +Tangier should be the object. + +Duarte doubted of the justice of the war, and referred the question +to the Pope, who decided against it; but the answer came too late, the +preparations were made, and the Infantes Henrique and Fernando took the +command. Henrique was a most enlightened prince, a great mathematician +and naval discoverer, but he does not appear to have made good use of +his abilities on the present occasion; for, on arriving at Ceuta, and +reviewing the troops, they proved to have but 8,000, instead of 14,000, +as they had intended. Still they proceeded, Henrique by land and +Fernando by sea, and laid siege to Tangier, which was defended by their +old enemy, Zala ben Zala. Everything was against them; their scaling +ladders were too short to reach to the top of the walls, and the Moors +had time to collect in enormous numbers for the relief of the city, +under the command of the kings of Fez and Morocco. + +The little Christian army was caught as in a net, and, after a day's +hard fighting, saw the necessity of re-embarking. All was arranged for +this to be done at night; but a vile traitor, chaplain to the army, +passed over to the Moors, and revealed their intention. The beach was +guarded, and the retreat cut off. Another day of fighting passed, and at +night hunger reduced them to eating their horses. + +It was necessary to come to terms, and messengers were sent to treat +with the two kings. The only terms on which the army could be allowed to +depart were that one of the Infantes should remain as a hostage for +the delivery of Ceuta to the Moors. For this purpose Fernando offered +himself, though it was exceedingly doubtful whether Ceuta would be +restored; and the Spanish poet, Calderon, puts into his mouth a generous +message to his brother the King, that they both were Christian princes, +and that his liberty was not to be weighed in the scale with their +father's fairest conquest. + +Henrique was forced thus to leave his brave brother, and return with +the remnants of his army to Ceuta, where he fell sick with grief and +vexation. He sent the fleet home; but it met with a great storm, and +many vessels were driven on the coast of Andalusia, where, by orders of +the King, the battered sailors and defeated soldiers were most kindly +and generously treated. + +Dom Duarte, having in the meantime found out with how insufficient an +army his brothers had been sent forth, had equipped a fresh fleet, the +arrival of which at Ceuta cheered Henrique with hope of rescuing his +brother; but it was soon followed by express orders from the King +that Henrique should give up all such projects and return home. He was +obliged to comply, but, unable to look Duarte in the face, he retired to +his own estates at the Algarve. + +Duarte convoked the States-general of the kingdom, to consider whether +Ceuta should be yielded to purchase his brother's freedom. They decided +that the place was too important to be parted with, but undertook to +raise any sum of money for the ransom; and if this were not accepted, +proposed to ask the Pope to proclaim a crusade for his rescue. + +At first Fernando was treated well, and kept at Tangier as an honorable +prisoner; but disappointment enraged the Moors, and he was thrown into +a dungeon, starved, and maltreated. All this usage he endured with the +utmost calmness and resolution, and could by no means be threatened into +entreating for liberty to be won at the cost of the now Christian city +where his knighthood had been won. + +His brother Duarte meantime endeavored to raise the country for his +deliverance; but the plague was still desolating Portugal, so that it +was impossible to collect an army, and the infection at length seized +on the King himself, from a letter which he incautiously opened, and he +died, in his thirty-eighth year, in 1438, the sixth year of his reign +and the second of his brother's captivity. His successor, Affonso V., +was a child of six years old, and quarrels and disputes between the +Queen Mother and the Infante Dom Pedro rendered the chance of redeeming +the captivity of Fernando less and less. + +The King of Castille, and even the Moorish King of Granada, shocked at +his sufferings and touched by his constancy, proposed to unite their +forces against Tangier for his deliverance; but the effect of this was +that Zala ben Zala made him over to Muley Xeques, the King of Fez, by +whom he was thrown into a dungeon without light or air. After a time, he +was brought back to daylight, but only to toil among the other Christian +slaves, to whom he was a model of patience, resignation, and kindness. +Even his enemies became struck with admiration of his high qualities, +and the King of Fez declared that he even deserved to be a Mahometan! + +At last, in 1443, Fernando's captivity ended, but only by his death. +Muley Xeque caused a tall tower to be erected on his tomb, in memory +of the victory of Tangier; but in 1473, two sons of Muley being made +prisoners by the Portuguese, one was ransomed for the body of Dom +Fernando, who was then solemnly laid in the vaults of the beautiful +Abbey of Batalha on the field of Aljubarota, which had given his father +the throne. Universal honor attended the name of the Constant Prince, +the Portuguese Regulus; and seldom as the Spanish admire anything +Portuguese, a fine drama of the poet Calderon is founded upon that noble +spirit which preferred dreary captivity to the yielding up his father's +conquest to the enemies of his country and religion. Nor was this +constancy thrown away; Ceuta remained a Christian city. It was held by +Portugal till the house of Aviz was extinguished in Dom Sebastiao, and +since that time has belonged to the crown of Spain. + + + + +THE CARNIVAL OF PERTH + +1435 + + +It was bedtime, and the old vaulted chambers of the Dominican monastery +at Perth echoed with sounds that would seem incongruous in such a home +of austerity, but that the disturbed state of Scotland rendered it +the habit of her kings to attach their palaces to convents, that they +themselves might benefit by the 'peace of the Church', which was in +general accorded to all sacred spots. + +Thus it was that Christmas and Carnival time of 1435-6 had been spent +by the Court in the cloisters of Perth, and the dance, the song, and the +tourney had strangely contrasted with the grave and self-denying habits +to which the Dominicans were devoted in their neighboring cells. The +festive season was nearly at an end, for it was the 20th of February; +but the evening had been more than usually gay, and had been spent in +games at chess, tables, or backgammon, reading romances of chivalry, +harping, and singing. King James himself, brave and handsome, and in the +prime of life, was the blithest of the whole joyous party. He was the +most accomplished man in his dominions; for though he had been basely +kept a prisoner at Windsor throughout his boyhood by Henry IV of +England, an education had been bestowed on him far above what he would +have otherwise obtained; and he was naturally a man of great ability, +refinement, and strength of character. Not only was he a perfect knight +on horseback, but in wrestling and running, throwing the hammer, and +'putting the stane', he had scarcely a rival, and he was skilled in all +the learned lore of the time, wrote poetry, composed music both sacred +and profane, and was a complete minstrel, able to sing beautifully and +to play on the harp and organ. His Queen, the beautiful Joan Beaufort, +had been the lady of his minstrelsy in the days of his captivity, ever +since he had watched her walking on the slopes of Windsor Park, and +wooed her in verses that are still preserved. They had now been eleven +years married, and their Court was one bright spot of civilization, +refinement, and grace, amid the savagery of Scotland. And now, after the +pleasant social evening, the Queen, with her long fair hair unbound, was +sitting under the hands of her tire-women, who were preparing her for +the nights rest; and the King, in his furred nightgown, was standing +before the bright fire on the hearth of the wide chimney, laughing and +talking with the attendant ladies. + +Yet dark hints had already been whispered, which might have cast a +shadow over that careless mirth. Always fierce and vindictive, the +Scots had been growing more and more lawless and savage ever since +the disputed succession of Bruce and Balliol had unsettled all royal +authority, and led to one perpetual war with the English. The twenty +years of James's captivity had been the worst of all--almost every noble +was a robber chief; Scottish Borderer preyed upon English Borderer, +Highlander upon Lowlander, knight upon traveler, everyone who had armor +upon him who had not; each clan was at deadly feud with its neighbour; +blood was shed like water from end to end of the miserable land, and the +higher the birth of the offender the greater the impunity he claimed. + +Indeed, James himself had been brought next to the throne by one of the +most savage and horrible murders ever perpetrated--that of his elder +brother, David, by his own uncle; and he himself had probably been only +saved from sharing the like fate by being sent out of the kingdom. His +earnest words on his return to take the rule of this unhappy realm were +these: 'Let God but grant me life, and there shall not be a spot in my +realm where the key shall not keep the castle, and the bracken bush the +cow, though I should lead the life of a dog to accomplish it.' + +This great purpose had been before James through the eleven years of his +reign, and he had worked it out resolutely. The lawless nobles would +not brook his ruling hand, and strong and bitter was the hatred that +had arisen against him. In many of his transactions he was far from +blameless: he was sometimes tempted to craft, sometimes to tyranny; but +his object was always a high and kingly one, though he was led by the +horrid wickedness of the men he had to deal with more than once to +forget that evil is not to be overcome with evil, but with good. In the +main, it was his high and uncompromising resolution to enforce the laws +upon high and low alike that led to the nobles' conspiracies against +him; though, if he had always been true to his purpose of swerving +neither to the right nor to the left, he might have avoided the last +fatal offence that armed the murderer against his life. + +The chief misdoers in the long period of anarchy had been his uncles and +cousins; nor was it till after his eldest uncle's death that his return +home had been possible. With a strong hand had he avenged upon the +princes and their followers the many miseries they had inflicted upon +his people; and in carrying out these measures he had seized upon the +great earldom of Strathern, which had descended to one of their party in +right of his wife, declaring that it could not be inherited by a female. +In this he appears to have acted unjustly, from the strong desire +to avail himself by any pretext of an opportunity of breaking the +overweening power of the great turbulent nobles; and, to make up for +the loss, he created the new earldom of Menteith, for the young Malise +Graham, the son of the dispossessed earl. But the proud and vindictive +Grahams were not thus to be pacified. Sir Robert Graham, the uncle +of the young earl, drew off into the Highlands, and there formed +a conspiracy among other discontented men who hated the resolute +government that repressed their violence. Men of princely blood joined +in the plot, and 300 Highland catherans were ready to accompany the +expedition that promised the delights of war and plunder. + +Even when the hard-worked King was setting forth to enjoy his holiday at +Perth, the traitors had fixed upon that spot as the place of his doom; +but the scheme was known to so many, that it could not be kept entirely +secret, and warnings began to gather round the King. When, on his way +to Perth, he was about to cross the Firth of Forth, the wild figure of +a Highland woman appeared at his bridle rein, and solemnly warned him +'that, if he crossed that water, he would never return alive'. He was +struck by the apparition, and bade one of his knights to enquire of her +what she meant; but the knight must have been a dullard or a traitor, +for he told the King that the woman was either mad or drunk, and no +notice was taken of her warning. + +There was likewise a saying abroad in Scotland, that the new year, 1436, +should see the death of a king; and this same carnival night, James, +while playing at chess with a young friend, whom he was wont to call the +king of love, laughingly observed that 'it must be you or I, since there +are but two kings in Scotland--therefore, look well to yourself'. + +Little did the blithe monarch guess that at that moment one of the +conspirators, touched by a moment's misgiving, was hovering round, +seeking in vain for an opportunity of giving him warning; that even +then his chamberlain and kinsman, Sir Robert Stewart, was enabling +the traitors to place boards across the moat for their passage, and +to remove the bolts and bars of all the doors in their way. And the +Highland woman was at the door, earnestly entreating to see the King, if +but for one moment! The message was even brought to him, but, alas! he +bade her wait till the morrow, and she turned away, declaring that she +should never more see his face! + +And now, as before said, the feast was over, and the King stood, gaily +chatting with his wife and her ladies, when the clang of arms was heard, +and the glare of torches in the court below flashed on the windows. The +ladies flew to secure the doors. Alas! the bolts and bars were gone! Too +late the warnings returned upon the King's mind, and he knew it was he +alone who was sought. He tried to escape by the windows, but here the +bars were but too firm. Then he seized the tongs, and tore up a board +in the floor, by which he let himself down into the vault below, just +as the murderers came rushing along the passage, slaying on their way a +page named Walter Straiton. + +There was no bar to the door. Yes, there was. Catherine Douglas, worthy +of her name, worthy of the cognizance of the bleeding heart, thrust her +arm through the empty staples to gain for her sovereign a few moments +more for escape and safety! But though true as steel, the brave arm was +not as strong. It was quickly broken. She was thrust fainting aside, and +the ruffians rushed in. Queen Joan stood in the midst of the room, with +her hair streaming round her, and her mantle thrown hastily on. Some of +the wretches even struck and wounded her, but Graham called them off, +and bade them search for the King. They sought him in vain in every +corner of the women's apartments, and dispersed through the other rooms +in search of their prey. The ladies began to hope that the citizens and +nobles in the town were coming to their help, and that the King might +have escaped through an opening that led from the vault into the tennis +court. Presently, however, the King called to them to draw him up again, +for he had not been able to get out of the vault, having a few days +before caused the hole to be bricked up, because his tennis balls used +to fly into it and be lost. In trying to draw him up by the sheets, +Elizabeth Douglas, another of the ladies, was actually pulled down into +the vault; the noise was heard by the assassins, who were still watching +outside, and they returned. + +There is no need to tell of the foul and cruel slaughter that ensued, +nor of the barbarous vengeance that visited it. Our tale is of golden, +not of brazen deeds; and if we have turned our eyes for a moment to the +Bloody Carnival of Perth, it is for the sake of the King, who was too +upright for his bloodthirsty subjects, and, above all, for that of the +noble-hearted lady whose frail arm was the guardian of her sovereign's +life in the extremity of peril. + +In like manner, on the dreadful 6th of October, 1787, when the +infuriated mob of Paris had been incited by the revolutionary leaders +to rush to Versailles in pursuit of the royal family, whose absence they +fancied deprived them of bread and liberty, a woman shared the honor of +saving her sovereign's life, at least for that time. + +The confusion of the day, with the multitude thronging the courts and +park of Versailles, uttering the most frightful threats and insults, had +been beyond all description; but there had been a pause at night, and at +two o'clock, poor Queen Marie Antoinette, spent with horror and fatigue, +at last went to bed, advising her ladies to do the same; but their +anxiety was too great, and they sat up at her door. At half-past four +they heard musket shots, and loud shouts, and while one awakened the +Queen, the other, Madame Auguier, flew towards the place whence +the noise came. As she opened the door, she found one of the royal +bodyguards, with his face covered with blood, holding his musket so as +to bar the door while the furious mob were striking at him. He turned +to the lady, and cried, 'Save the Queen, madame, they are come to murder +her!' Quick as lightning, Madame Auguier shut and bolted the door, +rushed to the Queen's bedside, and dragged her to the opposite door, +with a petticoat just thrown over her. Behold, the door was fastened on +the other side! The ladies knocked violently, the King's valet opened +it, and in a few minutes the whole family were in safety in the King's +apartments. M. de Miomandre, the brave guardsman, who used his musket to +guard the Queen's door instead of to defend himself, fell wounded; but +his comrade, M. de Repaire, at once took his place, and, according to +one account, was slain, and the next day his head, set upon a pike, was +borne before the carriage in which the royal family were escorted back +to Paris. + +M. de Miomandre, however, recovered from his wounds, and a few weeks +after, the Queen, hearing that his loyalty had made him a mark for the +hatred of the mob, sent for him to desire him to quit Paris. She said +that gold could not repay such a service as his had been, but she hoped +one day to be able to recompense him more as he deserved; meanwhile, she +hoped he would consider that as a sister might advance a timely sum to a +brother, so she might offer him enough to defray his expenses at Paris, +and to provide for his journey. In a private audience then he kissed her +hand, and those of the King and his saintly sister, Elizabeth, while the +Queen gratefully expressed her thanks, and the King stood by, with tears +in his eyes, but withheld by his awkward bashfulness from expressing the +feelings that overpowered him. + +Madame Auguier, and her sister, Madame Campan, continued with their +royal lady until the next stage in that miserable downfall of all that +was high and noble in unhappy France. She lived through the horrors of +the Revolution, and her daughter became the wife of Marshal Ney. + +Well it is that the darkening firmament does but show the stars, and +that when treason and murder surge round the fated chambers of royalty, +their foulness and violence do but enhance the loyal self-sacrifice +of such doorkeepers as Catherine Douglas, Madame Auguier, or M. de +Miomandre. + + + 'Such deeds can woman's spirit do, + O Catherine Douglas, brave and true! + Let Scotland keep thy holy name + Still first upon her ranks of fame.' + + + + +THE CROWN OF ST. STEPHEN + +1440 + + +Of all the possessions of the old kingdom of Hungary, none was more +valued than what was called the Crown of St. Stephen, so called from +one, which had, in the year 1000, been presented by Pope Sylvester II. +to Stephen, the second Christian Duke, and first King of Hungary. A +crown and a cross were given to him for his coronation, which took place +in the Church of the Holy Virgin, at Alba Regale, also called in German +Weissenburg, where thenceforth the Kings of Hungary were anointed to +begin their troubled reigns, and at the close of them were laid to +rest beneath the pavement, where most of them might have used the same +epitaph as the old Italian leader: 'He rests here, who never rested +before'. For it was a wild realm, bordered on all sides by foes, with +Poland, Bohemia, and Austria, ever casting greedy eyes upon it, and +afterwards with the Turk upon the southern border, while the Magyars, or +Hungarian nobles, themselves were a fierce and untameable race, bold +and generous, but brooking little control, claiming a voice in choosing +their own Sovereign, and to resist him, even by force of arms, if he +broke the laws. No prince had a right to their allegiance unless he +had been crowned with St. Stephen's Crown; but if he had once worn +that sacred circle, he thenceforth was held as the only lawful monarch, +unless he should flagrantly violate the Constitution. In 1076, another +crown had been given by the Greek Emperor to Geysa, King of Hungary, and +the sacred crown combined the two. It had the two arches of the +Roman crown, and the gold circlet of the Constantinopolitan; and the +difference of workmanship was evident. + +In the year 1439 died King Albert, who had been appointed King of +Hungary in right of his wife, Queen Elizabeth. He left a little daughter +only four years old, and as the Magyars had never been governed by a +female hand, they proposed to send and offer their crown, and the hand +of their young widowed Queen, to Wladislas, the King of Poland. But +Elizabeth had hopes of another child, and in case it should be a son, +she had no mind to give away its rights to its father's throne. How, +then, was she to help herself among the proud and determined nobles +of her Court? One thing was certain, that if once the Polish king were +crowned with St. Stephen's crown, it would be his own fault if he were +not King of Hungary as long as he lived; but if the crown were not to be +found, of course he could not receive it, and the fealty of the nobles +would not be pledged to him. + +The most trustworthy person she had about her was Helen Kottenner, the +lady who had the charge of her little daughter, Princess Elizabeth, and +to her she confided her desire that the crown might be secured, so as +to prevent the Polish party from getting access to it. Helen herself +has written down the history of these strange events, and of her own +struggles of mind, at the risk she ran, and the doubt whether good +would come of the intrigue; and there can be no doubt that, whether the +Queen's conduct were praiseworthy or not, Helen dared a great peril for +the sake purely of loyalty and fidelity. 'The Queen's commands', she +says, 'sorely troubled me; for it was a dangerous venture for me and my +little children, and I turned it over in my mind what I should do, for +I had no one to take counsel of but God alone; and I thought if I did +it not, and evil arose therefrom, I should be guilty before God and the +world. So I consented to risk my life on this difficult undertaking; but +desired to have someone to help me.' This was permitted; but the first +person to whom the Lady of Kottenner confided her intention, a Croat, +lost his color from alarm, looked like one half-dead, and went at once +in search of his horse. The next thing that was heard of him was that +he had had a bad fall from his horse, and had been obliged to return to +Croatia, and the Queen remained much alarmed at her plans being known +to one so faint-hearted. However, a more courageous confidant was +afterwards found in a Hungarian gentleman, whose name has become +illegible in Helen's old manuscript. + +The crown was in the vaults of the strong Castle of Plintenburg, also +called Vissegrad, which stands upon a bend of the Danube, about twelve +miles from the twin cities of Buda and Pesth. It was in a case within a +chest, sealed with many seals, and since the King's death, it had been +brought up by the nobles, who closely guarded both it and the Queen, +into her apartments, and there examined and replaced in the chest. The +next night, one of the Queen's ladies upset a wax taper, without being +aware of it, and before the fire was discovered, and put out, the corner +of the chest was singed, and a hole burnt in the blue velvet cushion +that lay on the top. Upon this, the lords had caused the chest to be +taken down again into the vault, and had fastened the doors with many +locks and with seals. The Castle had further been put into the charge of +Ladislas von Gara, the Queen's cousin, and Ban, or hereditary commander, +of the border troops, and he had given it over to a Burggraf, or +seneschal, who had placed his bed in the chamber where was the door +leading to the vaults. + +The Queen removed to Komorn, a castle higher up the Danube, in charge +of her faithful cousin, Count Ulric of Eily, taking with her her little +daughter Elizabeth, Helen Kottenner, and two other ladies. This was the +first stage on the journey to Presburg, where the nobles had wished to +lodge the Queen, and from thence she sent back Helen to bring the rest +of the maids of honor and her goods to join her at Komorn. It was early +spring, and snow was still on the ground, and the Lady of Kottenner and +her faithful nameless assistant travelled in a sledge; but two Hungarian +noblemen went with them, and they had to be most careful in concealing +their arrangements. Helen had with her the Queen's signet, and keys; +and her friend had a file in each shoe, and keys under his black velvet +dress. + +On arriving in the evening, they found that the Burggraf had fallen +ill, and could not sleep in the chamber leading to the vault, because it +belonged to the ladies' chambers, and that he had therefore put a cloth +over the padlock of the door and sealed it. There was a stove in the +room, and the maidens began to pack up their clothes there, an operation +that lasted till eight o'clock; while Helen's friend stood there, +talking and jesting with them, trying all the while to hide the files, +and contriving to say to Helen: 'Take care that we have a light.' So she +begged the old housekeeper to give her plenty of wax tapers, as she had +many prayers to say. At last everyone was gone to bed, and there only +remained in the room with Helen, an old woman, whom she had brought with +her, who knew no German, and was fast asleep. Then the accomplice came +back through the chapel, which opened into this same hall. He had on his +black velvet gown and felt shoes, and was followed by a servant, who, +Helen says, was bound to him by oath, and had the same Christian name as +himself, this being evidently an additional bond of fidelity. Helen, who +had received from the Queen all the keys to this outer room, let them +in, and, after the Burggraf's cloth and seal had been removed, they +unlocked the padlock, and the other two locks of the outer door of +the vault, and the two men descended into it. There were several other +doors, whose chains required to be filed through, and their seals and +locks broken, and to the ears of the waiting Helen the noise appeared +fatally loud. She says, 'I devoutly prayed to God and the Holy Virgin, +that they would support and help me; yet I was in greater anxiety for my +soul than for my life, and I prayed to God that He would be merciful to +my soul, and rather let me die at once there, than that anything should +happen against his will, or that should bring misfortune on my country +and people.' + +She fancied she heard a noise of armed men at the chapel door, but +finding nothing there, believed--not in her own nervous agitation, +a thing not yet invented--that it was a spirit, and returning to her +prayers, vowed, poor lady, to make a pilgrimage to St. Maria Zell, in +Styria, if the Holy Virgin's intercessions obtained their success, and +till the pilgrimage could be made, 'to forego every Saturday night +my feather bed!' After another false alarm at a supposed noise at the +maiden's door, she ventured into the vault to see how her companions +were getting on, when she found they had filed away all the locks, +except that of the case containing the crown, and this they were obliged +to burn, in spite of their apprehension that the smell and smoke might +be observed. They then shut up the chest, replaced the padlocks and +chains with those they had brought for the purpose, and renewed the +seals with the Queen's signet, which bearing the royal arms, would +baffle detection that the seals had been tampered with. They then took +the crown into the chapel, where they found a red velvet cushion, so +large that by taking out some of the stuffing a hiding place was made in +which the crown was deposited, and the cushion sewn up over it. + +By this time day was dawning, the maidens were dressing, and it was the +hour for setting off for Komorn. The old woman who had waited on them +came to the Lady of Kottenner to have her wages paid, and be dismissed +to Buda. While she was waiting, she began to remark on a strange +thing lying by the stove, which, to the Lady Helen's great dismay, she +perceived to be a bit of the case in which the crown was kept. She tried +to prevent the old woman from noticing it, pushed it into the hottest +part of the stove, and, by way of further precaution, took the old woman +away with her, on the plea of asking the Queen to make her a bedeswoman +at Vienna, and this was granted to her. + +When all was ready, the gentleman desired his servant to take the +cushion and put it into the sledge designed for himself and the Lady of +Kottenner. The man took it on his shoulders, hiding it under an old +ox-hide, with the tail hanging down, to the laughter of all beholders. +Helen further records the trying to get some breakfast in the +marketplace and finding nothing but herrings, also the going to mass, +and the care she took not to sit upon the holy crown, though she had to +sit on its cushion in the sledge. They dined at an inn, but took care +to keep the cushion in sight, and then in the dusk crossed the Danube on +the ice, which was becoming very thin, and halfway across it broke under +the maidens' carriage, so that Helen expected to be lost in the Danube, +crown and all. However, though many packages were lost under the ice, +her sledge got safe over, as well as all the ladies, some of whom she +took into her conveyance, and all safely arrived at the castle of Komorn +late in the evening. + +The very hour of their arrival a babe was born to the Queen, and to her +exceeding joy it was a son. Count von Eily, hearing 'that a king +and friend was born to him', had bonfires lighted, and a torchlight +procession on the ice that same night, and early in the morning came the +Archbishop of Gran to christen the child. The Queen wished her faithful +Helen to be godmother, but she refused in favor of some lady whose +family it was probably needful to propitiate. She took off the little +princess Elizabeth's mourning for her father and dressed her in red +and gold, all the maidens appeared in gay apparel, and there was great +rejoicing and thanksgiving when the babe was christened Ladislas, after +a sainted King of Hungary. + +The peril was, however, far from ended; for many of the Magyars had no +notion of accepting an infant for their king, and by Easter, the King of +Poland was advancing upon Buda, to claim the realm to which he had +been invited. No one had discovered the abstraction of the crown, and +Elizabeth's object was to take her child to Weissenburg, and there have +him crowned, so as to disconcert the Polish party. She had sent to Buda +for cloth of gold to make him a coronation dress, but it did not come in +time, and Helen therefore shut herself into the chapel at Komorn, and, +with doors fast bolted, cut up a rich and beautiful vestment of his +grandfather's, the emperor Sigismund, of red and gold, with silver +spots, and made it into a tiny coronation robe, with surplice and +humeral (or shoulder-piece), the stole and banner, the gloves and shoes. +The Queen was much alarmed by a report that the Polish party meant to +stop her on her way to Weissenburg; and if the baggage should be seized +and searched, the discovery of the crown might have fatal consequences. +Helen, on this, observed that the King was more important than the +crown, and that the best way would be to keep them together; so she +wrapped up the crown in a cloth, and hid it under the mattress of his +cradle, with a long spoon for mixing his pap upon the top, so, said the +Queen, he might take care of his crown himself. + +On Tuesday before Whit Sunday the party set out, escorted by Count +Ulric, and several other knights and nobles. After crossing the +Danube in a large boat, the Queen and her little girl were placed in +a carriage, or more probably a litter, the other ladies rode, and the +cradle and its precious contents were carried by four men; but this +the poor little Lassla, as Helen shortens his lengthy name, resented so +much, that he began to scream so loud that she was forced to dismount +and carry him in her arms, along a road rendered swampy by much rain. + +They found all the villages deserted by the peasants, who had fled into +the woods, and as most of their lords were of the other party, they +expected an attack, so the little king was put into the carriage with +his mother and sister, and the ladies formed a circle round it 'that +if anyone shot at the carriage we might receive the stroke'. When the +danger was over the child was taken out again, for he would be content +nowhere but in the arms of either his nurse or of faithful Helen, who +took turns to carry him on foot nearly all the way, sometimes in a high +wind which covered them with dust, sometimes in great heat, sometimes +in rain so heavy that Helen's fur pelisse, with which she covered his +cradle, had to be wrung out several times. They slept at an inn, round +which the gentlemen lighted a circle of fires, and kept watch all night. + +Weissenburg was loyal, five hundred armed gentlemen came out to meet +them, and on Whitsun Eve they entered the city, Helen carrying her +little king in her arms in the midst of a circle of these five hundred +holding their naked swords aloft. On Whit Sunday, Helen rose early, +bathed the little fellow, who was twelve weeks old that day, and dressed +him. He was then carried in her arms to the church, beside his mother. +According to the old Hungarian customs, the choir door was closed--the +burghers were within, and would not open till the new monarch should +have taken the great coronation oath to respect the Hungarian liberties +and laws. + +This oath was taken by the Queen in the name of her son, the doors were +opened, and all the train entered, the little princess being lifted +up to stand by the organ, lest she should be hurt in the throng. First +Helen held her charge up to be confirmed, and then she had to hold him +while he was knighted, with a richly adorned sword bearing the motto +'Indestructible', and by a stout Hungarian knight called Mikosch Weida, +who struck with such a goodwill that Helen felt the blow on her arm, and +the Queen cried out to him not to hurt the child. + +The Archbishop of Gran anointed the little creature, dressed him in the +red and gold robe, and put on his head the holy crown, and the people +admired to see how straight he held up his neck under it; indeed, they +admired the loudness and strength of his cries, when, as the good lady +records, 'the noble king had little pleasure in his coronation for he +wept aloud'. She had to hold him up for the rest of the service, while +Count Ulric of Eily held the crown over his head, and afterwards to seat +him in a chair in St. Peter's Church, and then he was carried home in +his cradle, with the count holding the crown over his head, and the +other regalia borne before him. + +And thus Ladislas became King of Hungary at twelve weeks old, and was +then carried off by his mother into Austria for safety. Whether this +secret robbery of the crown, and coronation by stealth, was wise or just +on the mother's part is a question not easy of answer--though of course +she deemed it her duty to do her utmost for her child's rights. Of Helen +Kottenner's deep fidelity and conscientious feeling there can be no +doubt, and her having acted with her eyes fully open to the risk she +ran, her trust in Heaven overcoming her fears and terrors, rendered her +truly a heroine. + +The crown has had many other adventures, and afterwards was kept in an +apartment of its own, in the castle of Ofen, with an antechamber guarded +by two grenadiers. The door was of iron, with three locks, and the +crown itself was contained in an iron chest with five seals. All this, +however, did not prevent it from being taken away and lost in the +Revolution of 1849. + + + + +GEORGE THE TRILLER + +1455 I. + + 'Why, Lady dear, so sad of cheer? + Hast waked the livelong night?' + 'My dreams foreshow my children's woe, + Ernst bold and Albrecht bright. + + 'From the dark glades of forest shades + There rushed a raging boar, + Two sapling oaks with cruel strokes + His crooked tusks uptore.' + + 'Ah, Lady dear, dismiss thy fear + Of phantoms haunting sleep!' + 'The giant knight, Sir Konrad hight, + Hath vowed a vengeance deep. + + 'My Lord, o'erbold, hath kept his gold, + And scornful answer spake: + 'Kunz, wisdom learn, nor strive to burn + The fish within their lake.' + + 'See, o'er the plain, with all his train, + My Lord to Leipzig riding; + Some danger near my children dear + My dream is sure betiding.' + + 'The warder waits before the gates, + The castle rock is steep, + The massive walls protect the halls, + Thy children safely sleep.' + + + II. + + 'T is night's full noon, fair shines the moon + On Altenburg's old halls, + The silver beams in tranquil streams + Rest on the ivied walls. + + Within their tower the midnight hour + Has wrapt the babes in sleep, + With unclosed eyes their mother lies + To listen and to weep. + + What sudden sound is stirring round? + What clang thrills on her ear? + Is it the breeze amid the trees + Re-echoing her fear? + + Swift from her bed, in sudden dread, + She to her lattice flies: + Oh! sight of woe, from far below + Behold a ladder rise: + + And from yon tower, her children's bower, + Lo! Giant Kunz descending! + Ernst, in his clasp of iron grasp, + His cries with hers is blending. + + 'Oh! hear my prayer, my children spare, + The sum shall be restored; + Nay, twenty-fold returned the gold, + Thou know'st how true my Lord.' + + With mocking grace he bowed his face: + 'Lady, my greetings take; + Thy Lord may learn how I can burn + The fish within their lake.' + + Oh! double fright, a second knight + Upon the ladder frail, + And in his arm, with wild alarm, + A child uplifts his wail! + + Would she had wings! She wildly springs + To rouse her slumbering train; + Bolted without, her door so stout + Resists her efforts vain! + + No mortal ear her calls can hear, + The robbers laugh below; + Her God alone may hear her moan, + Or mark her hour of woe. + + A cry below, 'Oh! let me go, + I am no prince's brother; + Their playmate I--Oh! hear my cry + Restore me to my mother!' + + With anguish sore she shakes the door. + Once more Sir Kunz is rearing + His giant head. His errand sped + She sees him reappearing. + + Her second child in terror wild + Is struggling in his hold; + Entreaties vain she pours again, + Still laughs the robber bold. + + 'I greet thee well, the Elector tell + How Kunz his counsel takes, + And let him learn that I can burn + The fish within their lakes.' + + + III. + + 'Swift, swift, good steed, death's on thy speed, + Gain Isenburg ere morn; + Though far the way, there lodged our prey, + We laugh the Prince to scorn. + + 'There Konrad's den and merry men + Will safely hold the boys-- + The Prince shall grieve long ere we leave + Our hold upon his joys. + + 'But hark! but hark! how through the dark + The castle bell is tolling, + From tower and town o'er wood and down, + The like alarm notes rolling. + + 'The peal rings out! echoes the shout! + All Saxony's astir; + Groom, turn aside, swift must we ride + Through the lone wood of fir.' + + Far on before, of men a score + Prince Ernst bore still sleeping; + Thundering as fast, Kunz came the last, + Carrying young Albrecht weeping. + + The clanging bell with distant swell + Dies on the morning air, + Bohemia's ground another bound + Will reach, and safety there. + + The morn's fresh beam lights a cool stream, + Charger and knight are weary, + He draws his rein, the child's sad plain + He meets with accents cheery. + + 'Sir Konrad good, be mild of mood, + A fearsome giant thou! + For love of heaven, one drop be given + To cool my throbbing brow!' + + Kunz' savage heart feels pity's smart, + He soothes the worn-out child, + Bathes his hot cheeks, and bending seeks + For woodland berries wild. + + A deep-toned bark! A figure dark, + Smoke grimed and sun embrowned, + Comes through the wood in wondering mood, + And by his side a hound. + + 'Oh, to my aid, I am betrayed, + The Elector's son forlorn, + From out my bed these men of dread + Have this night hither borne!' + + 'Peace, if thou 'rt wise,' the false groom cries, + And aims a murderous blow; + His pole-axe long, his arm so strong, + Must lay young Albrecht low. + + See, turned aside, the weapon glide + The woodman's pole along, + To Albrecht's clasp his friendly grasp + Pledges redress from wrong. + + Loud the hound's note as at the throat + Of the false groom he flies; + Back at the sounds Sir Konrad bounds: + 'Off hands, base churl,' he cries. + + The robber lord with mighty sword, + Mailed limbs of giant strength-- + The woodman stout, all arms without, + Save his pole's timber length-- + + Unequal fight! Yet for the right + The woodman holds the field; + Now left, now right, repels the knight, + His pole full stoutly wields. + + His whistle clear rings full of cheer, + And lo! his comrades true, + All swarth and lusty, with fire poles trusty, + Burst on Sir Konrad's view. + + His horse's rein he grasps amain + Into his selle to spring, + His gold-spurred heel his stirrup's steel + Has caught, his weapons ring. + + His frightened steed with wildest speed + Careers with many a bound; + Sir Konrad's heel fast holds the steel, + His head is on the ground. + + The peasants round lift from the ground + His form in woeful plight, + To convent cell, for keeping well, + Bear back the robber knight. + + 'Our dear young lord, what may afford + A charcoal-burners' store + We freely spread, milk, honey, bread, + Our heated kiln before!' + + + IV. + + Three mournful days the mother prays, + And weeps the children's fate; + The prince in vain has scoured the plain-- + A sound is at the gate. + + The mother hears, her head she rears, + She lifts her eager finger-- + 'Rejoice, rejoice, 't is Albrecht's voice, + Open! Oh, wherefore linger?' + + See, cap in hand the woodman stand-- + Mother, no more of weeping-- + His hound well tried is at his side, + Before him Albrecht leaping, + + Cries, 'Father dear, my friend is here! + My mother! Oh, my mother! + The giant knight he put to flight, + The good dog tore the other.' + + Oh! who the joy that greets the boy, + Or who the thanks may tell, + Oh how they hail the woodman's tale, + How he had 'trilled him well!' + + + [Footnote: Trillen, to shake; a word analogous to our rill, + to shake the voice in singing] + + + 'I trilled him well,' he still will tell + In homely phrase his story, + To those who sought to know how wrought + An unarmed hand such glory. + + That mother sad again is glad, + Her home no more bereft; + For news is brought Ernst may be sought + Within the Devil's Cleft. + + That cave within, these men of sin + Had learnt their leader's fall, + The prince to sell they proffered well + At price of grace to all. + + Another day and Earnest lay, + Safe on his mother's breast; + Thus to her sorrow a gladsome morrow + Had brought her joy and rest. + + The giant knight was judged aright, + Sentenced to death he lay; + The elector mild, since safe his child, + Sent forth the doom to stay. + + But all to late, and o'er the gate + Of Freiburg's council hall + Sir Konrad's head, with features dread, + The traitor's eyes appal. + + The scullion Hans who wrought their plans, + And oped the window grate, + Whose faith was sold for Konrad's gold, + He met a traitor's fate + + + V. + + Behold how gay the wood to-day, + The little church how fair, + What banners wave, what tap'stry brave + Covers its carvings rare! + + A goodly train--the parents twain, + And here the princess two, + Here with his pole, George, stout of soul, + And all his comrades true. + + High swells the chant, all jubilant, + And each boy bending low, + Humbly lays down the wrapping gown + He wore the night of woe. + + Beside them lay a smock of grey, + All grimed with blood and smoke; + A thankful sign to Heaven benign, + That spared the sapling oak. + + 'What prize would'st hold, thou 'Triller bold', + Who trilled well for my son?' + 'Leave to cut wood, my Lord, so good, + Near where the fight was won.' + + 'Nay, Triller mine, the land be thine, + My trusty giant-killer, + A farm and house I and my spouse + Grant free to George the Triller!' + + Years hundred four, and half a score, + Those robes have held their place; + The Triller's deed has grateful meed + From Albrecht's royal race. + + +The child rescued by George the Triller's Golden Deed was the ancestor +of the late Prince Consort, and thus of our future line of kings. He was +the son of the Elector Friedrich the mild of Saxony, and of Margarethe +of Austria, whose dream presaged her children's danger. The Elector had +incurred the vengeance of the robber baron, Sir Konrad of Kauffingen, +who, from his huge stature, was known as the Giant Ritter, by refusing +to make up to him the sum of 4000 gulden which he had had to pay for his +ransom after being made prisoner in the Elector's service. In reply +to his threats, all the answer that the robber knight received was the +proverbial one, 'Do not try to burn the fish in the ponds, Kunz.' + +Stung by the irony, Kunz bribed the elector's scullion, by name Hans +Schwabe, to admit him and nine chosen comrades into the Castle of +Altenburg on the night of the 7th of July, 1455, when the Elector was +to be at Leipzig. Strange to say, this scullion was able to write, for +a letter is extant from him to Sir Konrad, engaging to open the window +immediately above the steep precipice, which on that side was deemed +a sufficient protection to the castle, and to fasten a rope ladder +by which to ascend the crags. This window can still be traced, though +thenceforth it was bricked up. It gave access to the children's +apartments, and on his way to them, the robber drew the bolt of their +mother's door, so that though, awakened by the noise, she rushed to her +window, she was a captive in her own apartment, and could not give the +alarm, nor do anything but join her vain entreaties to the cries of her +helpless children. It was the little son of the Count von Bardi whom +Wilhelm von Mosen brought down by mistake for young Albrecht, and Kunz, +while hurrying up to exchange the children, bade the rest of his +band hasten on to secure the elder prince without waiting for him. He +followed in a few seconds with Albrecht in his arms, and his servant +Schweinitz riding after him, but he never overtook the main body. Their +object was to reach Konrad's own Castle of Isenburg on the frontiers +of Bohemia, but they quickly heard the alarm bells ringing, and beheld +beacons lighted upon every hill. They were forced to betake themselves +to the forests, and about half-way, Prince Ernst's captors, not daring +to go any father, hid themselves and him in a cavern called the Devil's +Cleft on the right bank of the River Mulde. + +Kunz himself rode on till the sun had risen, and he was within so few +miles of his castle that the terror of his name was likely to be a +sufficient protection. Himself and his horse were, however, spent by the +wild midnight ride, and on the border of the wood of Eterlein, near the +monastery of Grunheim, he halted, and finding the poor child grievously +exhausted and feverish, he lifted him down, gave him water, and went +himself in search of wood strawberries for his refreshment, leaving the +two horses in the charge of Schweinitz. The servant dozed in his saddle, +and meanwhile the charcoal-burner, George Schmidt, attracted by the +sounds, came out of the wood, where all night he had been attending +to the kiln, hollowed in the earth, and heaped with earth and roots of +trees, where a continual charring of wood was going on. Little Albrecht +no sooner saw this man than he sprang to him, and telling his name and +rank, entreated to be rescued from these cruel men. The servant awaking, +leapt down and struck a deadly blow at the boy's head with his pole-ax, +but it was parried by the charcoal-burner, who interposing with one hand +the strong wooden pole he used for stirring his kiln, dragged the little +prince aside with the other, and at the same time set his great dog upon +the servant. Sir Konrad at once hurried back, but the valiant charcoal- +burner still held his ground, dangerous as the fight was between the +peasant unarmed except for the long pole, and the fully accoutered +knight of gigantic size and strength. However, a whistle from George +soon brought a gang of his comrades to his aid, and Kunz, finding +himself surrounded, tried to leap into his saddle, and break through the +throng by weight of man and horse, but his spur became entangled, the +horse ran away, and he was dragged along with his head on the ground +till he was taken up by the peasants and carried to the convent of +Grunheim, whence he was sent to Zwickau, and was thence transported +heavily ironed to Freiburg, where he was beheaded on the 14th of July, +only a week after his act of violence. The Elector, in his joy at the +recovery of even one child, was generous enough to send a pardon, but +the messenger reached Freiburg too late, and a stone in the marketplace +still marks the place of doom, while the grim effigy of Sir Konrad's +head grins over the door of the Rathhaus. It was a pity Friedrich's +mildness did not extend to sparing torture as well as death to his +treacherous scullion, but perhaps a servant's power of injuring his +master was thought a reason for surrounding such instances of betrayal +with special horrors. + +The party hidden in the Devil's Cleft overheard the peasants in the wood +talking of the fall of the giant of Kauffingen, and, becoming alarmed +for themselves, they sent to the Governor of the neighboring castle +of Hartenstein to offer to restore Prince Ernst, provided they were +promised a full pardon. The boy had been given up as dead, and intense +were the rejoicings of the parents at his restoration. The Devil's Cleft +changed its name to the Prince's Cleft, and the tree where Albrecht had +lain was called the Prince's Oak, and still remains as a witness to the +story, as do the moth-eaten garments of the princely children, and +the smock of the charcoal-burner, which they offered up in token of +thanksgiving at the little forest church of Ebendorff, near the scene of +the rescue. + +'I trillirt the knaves right well,' was honest George's way of telling +the story of his exploit, not only a brave one, but amounting even +to self-devotion when we remember that the robber baron was his near +neighbour, and a terror to all around. The word Triller took the place +of his surname, and when the sole reward he asked was leave freely to +cut wood in the forest, the Elector gave him a piece of land of his own +in the parish of Eversbach. In 1855 there was a grand celebration of +the rescue of the Saxon princes on the 9th of July, the four hundredth +anniversary, with a great procession of foresters and charcoal-burners +to the 'Triller's Brewery', which stands where George's hut and +kiln were once placed. Three of his descendants then figured in the +procession, but since that time all have died, and the family of the +Trillers is now extinct. + + + + +SIR THOMAS MORE'S DAUGHTER + +1535 + + +We have seen how dim and doubtful was the belief that upbore the grave +and beautiful Antigone in her self-sacrifice; but there have been women +who have been as brave and devoted in their care of the mortal remains +of their friends--not from the heathen fancy that the weal of the dead +depended on such rites, but from their earnest love, and with a fuller +trust beyond. + +Such was the spirit of Beatrix, a noble maiden of Rome, who shared the +Christian faith of her two brothers, Simplicius and Faustinus, at the +end of the third century. For many years there had been no persecution, +and the Christians were living at peace, worshipping freely, and +venturing even to raise churches. Young people had grown up to whom the +being thrown to the lions, beheaded, or burnt for the faith's sake, was +but a story of the times gone by. But under the Emperor Diocletian all +was changed. The old heathen gods must be worshipped, incense must +be burnt to the statue of the Emperor, or torture and death were the +punishment. The two brothers Simplicius and Faustinus were thus asked +to deny their faith, and resolutely refused. They were cruelly tortured, +and at length beheaded, and their bodies thrown into the tawny waters +of the Tiber. Their sister Beatrix had taken refuge with a poor devout +Christian woman, named Lucina. But she did not desert her brothers in +death; she made her way in secret to the bank of the river, watching +to see whether the stream might bear down the corpses so dear to her. +Driven along, so as to rest upon the bank, she found them at last, and, +by the help of Lucina, she laid them in the grave in the cemetery called +Ad Ursum Pileatum. For seven months she remained in her shelter, but she +was at last denounced, and was brought before the tribunal, where she +made answer that nothing should induce her to adore gods made of wood +and stone. She was strangled in her prison, and her corpse being cast +out, was taken home by Lucina, and buried beside her brothers. It was, +indeed, a favorite charitable work of the Christian widows at Rome to +provide for the burial of the martyrs; and as for the most part they +were poor old obscure women, they could perform this good work with far +less notice than could persons of more mark. + +But nearer home, our own country shows a truly Christian Antigone, +resembling the Greek lady, both in her dutifulness to the living, and in +her tender care for the dead. This was Margaret, the favorite daughter +of sir Thomas More, the true-hearted, faithful statesman of King Henry +VIII. + +Margaret's home had been an exceedingly happy one. Her father, Sir +Thomas More, was a man of the utmost worth, and was both earnestly +religious and conscientious, and of a sweetness of manner and +playfulness of fancy that endeared him to everyone. He was one of the +most affectionate and dutiful of sons to his aged father, Sir John More; +and when the son was Lord Chancellor, while the father was only a judge, +Sir Thomas, on his way to his court, never failed to kneel down before +his father in public, and ask his blessing. Never was the old saying, +that a dutiful child had dutiful children, better exemplified than in +the More family. In the times when it was usual for parents to be very +stern with children, and keep them at a great distance, sometimes making +them stand in their presence, and striking them for any slight offence, +Sir Thomas More thought it his duty to be friendly and affectionate with +them, to talk to them, and to enter into their confidence; and he was +rewarded with their full love and duty. + +He had four children--Margaret, Elizabeth, Cicely, and John. His much- +loved wife died when they were all very young, and he thought it for +their good to marry a widow, Mrs. Alice Middleton, with one daughter +named Margaret, and he likewise adopted an orphan called Margaret Giggs. +With this household he lived in a beautiful large house at Chelsea, with +well-trimmed gardens sloping down to the Thames; and this was the resort +of the most learned and able men, both English and visitors from abroad, +who delighted in pacing the shady walks, listening to the wit and wisdom +of Sir Thomas, or conversing with the daughters, who had been highly +educated, and had much of their father's humor and sprightliness. +Even Henry VIII. himself, then one of the most brilliant and graceful +gentlemen of his time, would sometimes arrive in his royal barge, and +talk theology or astronomy with Sir Thomas; or, it might be, crack jests +with him and his daughters, or listen to the music in which all were +skilled, even Lady More having been persuaded in her old age to learn +to play on various instruments, including the flute. The daughters were +early given in marriage, and with their husbands, continued to live +under their father's roof. Margaret's husband was William Roper, a young +lawyer, of whom Sir Thomas was very fond, and his household at Chelsea +was thus a large and joyous family home of children and grandchildren, +delighting in the kind, bright smiles of the open face under the square +cap, that the great painter Holbein has sent down to us as a familiar +sight. + +But these glad days were not to last for ever. The trying times of the +reign of Henry VIII. were beginning, and the question had been stirred +whether the King's marriage with Katherine of Aragon had been a lawful +one. When Sir Thomas More found that the King was determined to take his +own course, and to divorce himself without permission from the Pope, it +was against his conscience to remain in office when acts were being +done which he could not think right or lawful. He therefore resigned his +office as Lord Chancellor, and, feeling himself free from the load +and temptation, his gay spirits rose higher than ever. His manner of +communicating the change to his wife, who had been very proud of his +state and dignity, was thus. At church, when the service was over, it +had always been the custom for one of his attendants to summon Lady More +by coming to her closet door, and saying, 'Madam, my lord is gone.' On +the day after his resignation, he himself stepped up, and with a low +bow said, 'Madam, my lord is gone,' for in good soothe he was no longer +Chancellor, but only plain Sir Thomas. + +He thoroughly enjoyed his leisure, but he was not long left in +tranquillity. When Anne Boleyn was crowned, he was invited to be +present, and twenty pounds were offered him to buy a suitably splendid +dress for the occasion; but his conscience would not allow him to +accept the invitation, though he well knew the terrible peril he ran by +offending the King and Queen. Thenceforth there was a determination +to ruin him. First, he was accused of taking bribes when administering +justice. It was said that a gilt cup had been given to him as a New +Year's gift, by one lady, and a pair of gloves filled with gold coins by +another; but it turned out, on examination, that he had drunk the wine +out of the cup, and accepted the gloves, because it was ill manners to +refuse a lady's gift, yet he had in both cases given back the gold. + +Next, a charge was brought that he had been leaguing with a half-crazy +woman called the Nun of Kent, who had said violent things about the +King. He was sent for to be examined by Henry and his Council, and this +he well knew was the interview on which his safety would turn, since the +accusation was a mere pretext, and the real purpose of the King was to +see whether he would go along with him in breaking away from Rome--a +proceeding that Sir Thomas, both as churchman and as lawyer, could not +think legal. Whether we agree or not in his views, it must always be +remembered that he ran into danger by speaking the truth, and doing what +he thought right. He really loved his master, and he knew the humor of +Henry VIII., and the temptation was sore; but when he came down from his +conference with the King in the Tower, and was rowed down the river to +Chelsea, he was so merry that William Roper, who had been waiting for +him in the boat, thought he must be safe, and said, as they landed and +walked up the garden-- + +'I trust, sir, all is well, since you are so merry?' + +'It is so, indeed, son, thank God!' + +'Are you then, sir, put out of the bill?' + +'Wouldest thou know, son why I am so joyful? In good faith I rejoice +that I have given the devil a foul fall; because I have with those lords +gone so far that without great shame I can never go back,' he answered, +meaning that he had been enabled to hold so firmly to his opinions, and +speak them out so boldly, that henceforth the temptation to dissemble +them and please the King would be much lessened. That he had held his +purpose in spite of the weakness of mortal nature, was true joy to him, +though he was so well aware of the consequences that when his daughter +Margaret came to him the next day with the glad tidings that the charge +against him had been given up, he calmly answered her, 'In faith, Meg, +what is put off is not given up.' + +One day, when he had asked Margaret how the world went with the new +Queen, and she replied, 'In faith, father, never better; there is +nothing else in the court but dancing and sporting,' he replied, with +sad foresight, 'Never better. Alas, Meg! it pitieth me to remember unto +what misery, poor soul, she will shortly come. These dances of hers will +prove such dances that she will spurn off our heads like footballs, but +it will not be long ere her head will take the same dance.' + +So entirely did he expect to be summoned by a pursuivant that he thought +it would lessen the fright of his family if a sham summons were brought. +So he caused a great knocking to be made while all were at dinner, and +the sham pursuivant went through all the forms of citing him, and the +whole household were in much alarm, till he explained the jest; but the +earnest came only a few days afterwards. On the 13th of April of 1534, +arrived the real pursuivant to summon him to Lambeth, there to take the +oath of supremacy, declaring that the King was the head of the Church +of England, and that the Pope had no authority there. He knew what +the refusal would bring on him. He went first to church, and then, +not trusting himself to be unmanned by his love for his children and +grandchildren, instead of letting them, as usual, come down to the water +side, with tender kisses and merry farewells, he shut the wicket gate +of the garden upon them all, and only allowed his son-in-law Roper to +accompany him, whispering into his ear, 'I thank our Lord, the field is +won.' + +Conscience had triumphed over affection, and he was thankful, though for +the last time he looked on the trees he had planted, and the happy home +he had loved. Before the council, he undertook to swear to some clauses +in the oath which were connected with the safety of the realm; but he +refused to take that part of the oath which related to the King's +power over the Church. It is said that the King would thus have been +satisfied, but that the Queen urged him further. At any rate, after +being four days under the charge of the Abbot of Westminister, Sir +Thomas was sent to the Tower of London. There his wife--a plain, dull +woman, utterly unable to understand the point of conscience--came and +scolded him for being so foolish as to lie there in a close, filthy +prison, and be shut up with rats and mice, instead of enjoying the favor +of the King. He heard all she had to say, and answered, 'I pray thee, +good Mrs. Alice, tell me one thing--is not this house as near heaven +as my own?' To which she had no better answer than 'Tilly vally, tilly +vally.' But, in spite of her folly, she loved him faithfully; and +when all his property was seized, she sold even her clothes to obtain +necessaries for him in prison. + +His chief comfort was, however, in visits and letters from his daughter +Margaret, who was fully able to enter into the spirit that preferred +death to transgression. He was tried in Westminster Hall, on the 1st of +July, and, as he had fully expected, sentenced to death. He was taken +back along the river to the Tower. On the wharf his loving Margaret was +waiting for her last look. She broke through the guard of soldiers +with bills and halberds, threw her arms round his neck, and kissed him, +unable to say any word but 'Oh, my father!--oh, my father!' He blessed +her, and told her that whatsoever she might suffer, it was not without +the will of God, and she must therefore be patient. After having once +parted with him, she suddenly turned back again, ran to him, and, +clinging round his neck, kissed him over and over again--a sight at +which the guards themselves wept. She never saw him again; but the night +before his execution he wrote to her a letter with a piece of charcoal, +with tender remembrances to all the family, and saying to her, 'I never +liked your manner better than when you kissed me last; for I am most +pleased when daughterly love and dear charity have no leisure to look +to worldly courtesy.' He likewise made it his especial request that she +might be permitted to be present at his burial. + +His hope was sure and steadfast, and his heart so firm that he did not +even cease from humorous sayings. When he mounted the crazy ladder of +the scaffold he said, 'Master Lieutenant, I pray you see me safe up; +and for my coming down let me shift for myself.' And he desired the +executioner to give him time to put his beard out of the way of the +stroke, 'since that had never offended his Highness'. + +His body was given to his family, and laid in the tomb he had already +prepared in Chelsea Church; but the head was set up on a pole on London +Bridge. The calm, sweet features were little changed, and the loving +daughter gathered courage as she looked up at them. How she contrived +the deed, is not known; but before many days had passed, the head was +no longer there, and Mrs. Roper was said to have taken it away. She was +sent for to the Council, and accused of the stealing of her father's +head. She shrank not from avowing that thus it had been, and that the +head was in her own possession. One story says that, as she was passing +under the bridge in a boat, she looked up, and said, 'That head has +often lain in my lap; I would that it would now fall into it.' And at +that moment it actually fell, and she received it. It is far more likely +that she went by design, at the same time as some faithful friend on the +bridge, who detached the precious head, and dropped it down to her in +her boat beneath. Be this as it may, she owned before the cruel-hearted +Council that she had taken away and cherished the head of the man whom +they had slain as a traitor. However, Henry VIII. was not a Creon, and +our Christian Antigone was dismissed unhurt by the Council, and allowed +to retain possession of her treasure. She caused it to be embalmed, kept +it with her wherever she went, and when, nine years afterwards, she died +(in the year 1544), it was laid in her coffin in the 'Roper aisle' of +St. Dunstan's Church, at Canterbury. + + + + +UNDER IVAN THE TERRIBLE + +1564. + + +Prince Andrej Kourbsky was one of the chief boyards or nobles at the +Court of Ivan, the first Grand Prince of Muscovy who assumed the Eastern +title of Tzar, and who relieved Russia from the terrible invasions of +the Tatars. This wild race for nearly four hundred years had roamed over +the country, destroying and plundering all they met with, and blighting +all the attempts at civilization that had begun to be made in the +eleventh century. It was only when the Russians learnt the use of +firearms that these savages were in any degree repressed. In the year +1551 the city of Kazan, upon the River Kazanka, a tributary of the +Volga, was the last city that remained in the hands of the Tatars. It +was a rich and powerful place, a great centre of trade between Europe +and the East, but it was also a nest of robbers, who had frequently +broken faith with the Russians, and had lately expelled the Khan Schig +Alei for having endeavored to fulfill his engagements to them. The Tzar +Ivan Vassilovitch, then only twenty-two years of age, therefore marched +against the place, resolved at any cost to reduce it and free his +country from these inveterate foes. + +On his way he received tidings that the Crimean Tatars had come +plundering into Russia, probably thinking to attack Moscow, while Ivan +was besieging Kazan. He at once sent off the Prince Kourbsky with 15,000 +men, who met double that number of Tatars at Toula, and totally defeated +them, pursuing them to the River Chevorona, where, after a second +defeat, they abandoned a great number of Russian captives, and a great +many camels. Prince Kourbsky was wounded in the head and shoulder, but +was able to continue the campaign. + +Some of the boyards murmured at the war, and declared that their +strength and resources were exhausted. Upon this the Tzar desired that +two lists might be drawn up of the willing and unwilling warriors in his +camp. 'The first', he said, 'shall be as dear to me as my own children; +their needs shall be made known to me, and I will share all I have with +them. The others may stay at home; I want no cowards in my army.' No one +of course chose to be in the second list, and about this time was formed +the famous guard called the Strelitzes, a body of chosen warriors who +were always near the person of the Tzar. + +In the middle of August, 1552, Ivan encamped in the meadows on the banks +of the Volga, which spread like a brilliant green carpet around the hill +upon which stood the strongly fortified city of Kazan. The Tatars had no +fears. 'This is not the first time', they said, 'that we have seen the +Muscovites beneath our walls. Their fruitless attacks always end in +retreats, till we have learned to laugh them to scorn;' and when Ivan +sent them messengers with offers of peace, they replied, 'All is ready; +we only await your coming to begin the feast.' + +They did not know of the great change that the last half-century had +made in sieges. One of the Italian condottieri, or leaders of free +companies, had made his way to Moscow, and under his instructions, +Ivan's troops were for the first time to conduct a siege in the regular +modern manner, by digging trenches in the earth, and throwing up the +soil in front into a bank, behind which the cannon and gunners are +posted, with only small openings made through which to fire at some spot +in the enemy's walls. These trenches are constantly worked nearer and +nearer to the fortifications, till by the effect of the shot an opening +or breach must be made in the walls, and the soldiers can then climb up +upon scaling ladders or heaps of small faggots piled up to the height of +the opening. Sometimes, too, the besiegers burrow underground till they +are just below the wall, then fill the hole with gunpowder, and blow +up all above them; in short, instead of, as in former days, a well- +fortified city being almost impossible to take, except by starving out +the garrison, a siege is in these times almost equally sure to end in +favor of the besiegers. + +All through August and September the Russians made their approaches, +while the Tatars resisted them bravely, but often showing great +barbarity. Once when Ivan again sent a herald, accompanied by a number +of Tatar prisoners, to offer terms to Yediguer, the present Khan, the +defenders called out to their countrymen, 'You had better perish by our +pure hands than by those of the wretched Christians,' and shot a whole +flight of arrows at them. Moreover, every morning the magicians used to +come out at sunrise upon the walls, and their shrieks, contortions, +and waving of garments were believed, not only by the Tatars but by the +Russians, and by Andrej Kourbsky himself, to bring foul weather, which +greatly harassed the Russians. On this Ivan sent to Moscow for a sacred +cross that had been given to the Grand Prince Vladimir when he was +converted; the rivers were blessed, and their water sprinkled round the +camp, and the fair weather that ensued was supposed to be due to the +counteraction of the incantations of the magicians. These Tatars +were Mahometans, but they must have retained some of the wind-raising +enchantments of their Buddhist brethren in Asia. + +A great mine had been made under the gate of Arsk, and eleven barrels +of gunpowder placed in it. On the 30th of September it was blown up, +and the whole tower became a heap of ruins. For some minutes the +consternation of the besieged was such that there was a dead silence +like the stillness of the grave. The Russians rushed forward over +the opening, but the Tatars, recovering at the sight of them, fought +desperately, but could not prevent them from taking possession of the +tower at the gateway. Other mines were already prepared, and the Tzar +gave notice of a general assault for the next day, and recommended +all his warriors to purify their souls by repentance, confession, +and communion, in readiness for the deadly strife before them. In the +meantime, he sent Yediguer a last offer of mercy, but the brave Tatars +cried out, 'We will have no pardon! If the Russians have one tower, we +will build another; if they ruin our ramparts we will set up more. We +will be buried under the walls of Kazan, or else we will make him raise +the siege.' + +Early dawn began to break. The sky was clear and cloudless. The Tatars +were on their walls, the Russians in their trenches; the Imperial eagle +standard, which Ivan had lately assumed, floated in the morning wind. +The two armies were perfectly silent, save here and there the bray of +a single trumpet, or beat of a naker drum in one or the other, and the +continuous hum of the hymns and chants from the three Russian chapel- +tents. The archers held their arrows on the string, the gunners stood +with lighted matches. The copper-clad domes of the minarets began to +glow with the rising sunbeams; the muezzins were on the roofs about to +call the Moslemin to prayer; the deacon in the Tzar's chapel-tent was +reading the Gospel. 'There shall be one fold and one Shepherd.' At that +moment the sun's disk appeared above the eastern hills, and ere yet the +red orb had fully mounted above the horizon, there was a burst as it +were of tremendous thunderings, and the ground shook beneath the church. +The Tzar went to the entrance, and found the whole city hill so 'rolled +in sable smoke', that he could distinguish nothing, and, going back to +his place, desired that the service should continue. The deacon was in +the midst of the prayer for the establishment of the power of the Tzar +and the discomfiture of his enemies, when the crushing burst of another +explosion rushed upon their ears, and as it died away another voice +broke forth, the shout raised by every man in the Russian lines, 'God is +with us!' On then they marched towards the openings that the mines +had made, but there the dauntless garrison, in spite of the terror and +destruction caused by the two explosions, met them with unabated fury, +rolling beams or pouring boiling water upon them as they strove to climb +the breach, and fighting hand to hand with them if they mounted it. +However, by the time the Tzar had completed his devotions and mounted +his horse, his eagle could be seen above the smoke upon the citadel. + +Still the city had to be won, step by step, house by house, street by +street; and even while struggling onwards the Russians were tempted +aside by plunder among the rich stores of merchandise that were heaped +up in the warehouses of this the mart of the East. The Khan profited by +their lack of discipline, and forced them back to the walls; nay, they +would have absolutely been driven out at the great gate, but that they +beheld their young Tzar on horseback among his grey-haired councillors. +By the advice of these old men Ivan rode forward, and with his own hand +planted the sacred standard at the gates, thus forming a barrier that +the fugitives were ashamed to pass. At the same time he, with half his +choice cavalry, dismounted, and entered the town all fresh and vigorous, +their rich armor glittering with gold and silver, and plumes of various +colours streaming from their helmets in all the brilliancy of Eastern +taste. This reinforcement recalled the plunderers to their duty, and the +Tatars were driven back to the Khan's palace, whence, after an hour's +defense, they were forced to retreat. + +At a postern gate, Andrej Kourbsky and two hundred men met Yediguer and +10,000 Tatars, and cut off their retreat, enclosing them in the narrow +streets. They forced their Khan to take refuge in a tower, and made +signs as if to capitulate. 'Listen,' they said. 'As long as we had a +government, we were willing to die for our prince and country. Now Kazan +is yours, we deliver our Khan to you, alive and unhurt--lead him to the +Tzar. For our own part, we are coming down into the open field to drain +our last cup of life with you.' + +Yediguer and one old councillor were accordingly placed in the hands of +an officer, and then the desperate Tatars, climbing down the outside of +the walls, made for the Kazanka, where no troops, except the small body +under Andrej Kourbsky and his brother Romanus, were at leisure to pursue +them. The fighting was terrible, but the two princes kept them in view +until checked by a marsh which horses could not pass. The bold fugitives +took refuge in a forest, where, other Russian troops coming up, all were +surrounded and slain, since not a man of them would accept quarter. + +Yediguer was kindly treated by Ivan, and accompanying him to Moscow, +there became a Christian, and was baptized by the name of Simeon, in the +presence of the Tzar and his whole court, on the banks of the Moskwa. He +married a Russian lady, and his whole conduct proved that his conversion +was sincere. + +But this story has only been told at so much length to show what manner +of man Andrej Kourbsky was, and Ivan Vassilovitch had been, and how they +had once been brethren in arms; and perhaps it has been lingered over +from the melancholy interest there must always be in watching the fall +of a powerful nation, and the last struggles of gallant men. Ivan +was then a gallant, religious and highly gifted prince, generous and +merciful, and with every promise of a glorious reign, full of benefits +to his country. Alas! this part of his career was one glimpse of +brightness in the course of a long tempestuous day. His reign had begun +when he was but three years old. He had had a violent and cruel mother, +and had, after her death, been bred up by evil-minded courtiers, who +absolutely taught him cruel and dissolute amusements in order to prevent +him from attending to state affairs. For a time, the exhortations of +the good and fearless patriarch, and the influence of his gentle wife +Anastasia, had prevailed, and with great vigor and strong principle +he had shaken off all the evil habits of his boyhood, and begun, as it +seemed, an admirable reign. + +Too soon, a severe illness shook the balance of his mind, and this +was quickly followed by the death of the excellent Tzarina Anastasia. +Whether grief further unsettled him, or whether the loss of her gentle +influence left him a prey to his wicked councillors, from that time +forward his conduct was so wildly savage and barbarous as to win for him +the surname of the Terrible. Frantic actions, extravagant excesses, and +freaks of horrible cruelty looked like insanity; and yet, on the other +hand, he often showed himself a clear-headed and sagacious monarch, +anxious for the glory and improvement of his people. + +But he lived in continual suspicion, and dreaded every eminent man in +his dominions. Kourbsky whom he had once loved and trusted, and had +charged with the command of his army, as his most able boyard, fell +under his suspicion; and, with horror and indignation, learnt that the +Tzar was plotting against his life, and intended to have him put to +death. Kourbsky upon this explained to his wife that she must either see +him put to a shameful death, or let him leave her for ever. He gave his +blessing to his son, a boy of nine years old, and leaving his house at +night he scaled the wall of Moscow, and meeting his faithful servant, +Vasili Shibanoff, with two horses, he made his escape. This Vasili was +his stirrup-bearer, one of those serfs over whom the boyard on whose +land they were born possessed absolute power. That power was often +abused, but the instinctive faithfulness of the serf towards his master +could hardly be shaken, even by the most savage treatment, and a well- +treated serf viewed his master's family with enthusiastic love and +veneration. Vasili accompanied his master's flight through the birch +forests towards the Livonian frontier, the country where but lately +Kourbsky had been leading the Tzar's armies. On the way the prince's +horse became exhausted by his weight, and Vasili insisted on giving up +his own in its stead, though capture in the course of such desertion +would have been certain death. However, master and servant safely +arrived at Wolmar in Livonia, and there Andrej came to the determination +of renouncing the service of the ungrateful Ivan, and entering that of +the King of Poland. For this last step there was no excuse. Nothing can +justify a man in taking up arms against his country, but in the middle +Ages the tie of loyalty was rather to the man than to the state, and +Andrej Kourbsky seems to have deemed that his honor would be safe, +provided he sent a letter to his sovereign, explaining his grievance and +giving up his allegiance. The letter is said to have been full of grave +severity and deep, suppressed indignation, though temperate in tone; but +no one would consent to be the bearer of such a missive, since the cruel +tyrant's first fury was almost certain to fall on him who presented it. +Believing his master's honor at stake, Vasili offered himself to be the +bearer of the fatal letter, and Kourbsky accepted the offer, tendering +to him a sum of money, which the serf rejected, knowing that money would +soon be of little service to him, and seeking no reward for what he +deemed his duty to his lord. + +As Ivan's justice had turned into barbarity, so his religion had turned +into foolish fanatic observance. He had built a monastery near Moscow +for himself and three hundred chosen boyards, and every morning at +three or four o'clock he took his two sons into the belfry with him and +proceeded to strike the bells, the Russian mode of ringing them, till +all the brethren were assembled. This bell-sounding was his favorite +occupation, and in it he was engaged when Vasili arrived. The servant +awaited him in the vestibule, and delivered the letter with these words: +'From my master and thine exile, Prince Andrej Kourbsky.' + +Ivan answered by such a blow on the leg with his iron-tipped rod that +the blood poured from the wound; but Vasili neither started, cried out, +nor moved a feature. At once the Tzar bade him be seized and tortured, +to make him disclose whether his master had any partners in guilt, or +if any plans were matured. But no extremity of agony could extract aught +but praises of the prince, and assurances of his readiness to die for +him. From early morning till late at night the torturers worked, one +succeeding when another was tired out; but nothing could overcome his +constancy, and his last words were a prayer to implore his God to have +mercy on his master and forgive his desertion. + +His praise came even from the tyrant, who wrote to Kourbsky--'Let thy +servant Vaska [Footnote: the abbreviation of Vasili or Basil.] shame +thee. He preserved his truth to thee before the Tzar and the people. +Having given thee his word of faith, he kept it, even before the gates +of death.' + +After the flight of Kourbsky, the rage of Ivan continued to increase +with each year of his life. He had formed a sort of bodyguard of a +thousand ruffians, called the Oprichnina, who carried out his barbarous +commands, and committed an infinity of murders and robberies on their +own account. He was like a distorted caricature of Henry VIII, and, like +him, united violence and cruelty with great exactness about religious +worship, carrying his personal observances to the most fanatic +extravagance. + +In the vacancy of the Metropolitan See, he cast his eyes upon the +monastery in the little island of Solovsky, in the White Sea, where the +Prior, Feeleep Kolotchof, was noted for his holy life, and the good he +had done among the wild and miserable population of the island. He was +the son of a rich boyard, but had devoted himself from his youth to a +monastic life, and the fame of his exertions in behalf of the islanders +had led the Tzar to send him not only precious vessels for the use +of his church, but contributions to the stone churches, piers, and +hostelries that he raised for his people; for whom he had made roads, +drained marshes, introduced cattle, and made fisheries and salt +pans, changing the whole aspect of the place, and lessening even the +inclemency of the climate. + +On this good man the Tzar fixed his choice. He wrote to him to come +to Moscow to attend a synod, and on his arrival made him dine at the +palace, and informed him that he was to be chief pastor of the Russian +Church. Feeleep burst into tears, entreating permission to refuse, and +beseeching the Tzar not to trust 'so heavy a freight to such a feeble +bark'. Ivan held to his determination, and Feeleep then begged him at +least to dismiss the cruel Oprichnina. 'How can I bless you,' he said, +'while I see my country in mourning?' + +The Tzar replied by mentioning his suspicions of all around him, and +commanded Feeleep to be silent. He expected to be sent back to his +convent at once, but, instead of this, the Tzar commanded the clergy +to elect him Archbishop, and they all added their entreaties to him to +accept the office, and endeavor to soften the Tzar, who respected him; +and he yielded at last, saying, 'The will of the Tzar and the pastors of +the church must, then, be done.' + +At his consecration, he preached a sermon on the power of mildness, and +the superiority of the victories of love over the triumphs of war. It +awoke the better feelings of Ivan, and for months he abstained from any +deed of violence; his good days seemed to have returned and he lived in +intimate friendship with the good Archbishop. + +But after a time the sleeping lion began to waken. Ivan's suspicious +mind took up an idea that Feeleep had been incited by the nobles to +request the abolition of the Oprichnina, and that they were exciting +a revolt. The spies whom he sent into Moscow told him that wherever an +Oprichnik appeared, the people shrank away in silence, as, poor things! +they well might. He fancied this as a sign that conspiracies were +brewing, and all his atrocities began again. The tortures to which whole +families were put were most horrible; the Oprichniks went through the +streets with poignards and axes, seeking out their victims, and killing +from ten to twenty a day. The corpses lay in the streets, for no one +dared to leave his house to bury them. Feeleep vainly sent letters and +exhortations to the Tzar--they were unnoticed. The unhappy citizens came +to the Archbishop, entreating him to intercede for them, and he gave +them his promise that he would not spare his own blood to save theirs. + +One Sunday, as Feeleep was about to celebrate the Holy Communion, +Ivan came into the Cathedral with a troop of his satellites, like him, +fantastically dressed in black cassocks and high caps. He came towards +the Metropolitan, but Feeleep kept his eyes fixed on the picture of our +Lord, and never looked at him. Someone said, 'Holy Father, here is the +prince; give him your blessing.' + +'No,' said the Archbishop, 'I know not the Tzar in this strange +disguise--still less do I know him in his government. Oh, Prince! we are +here offering sacrifice to the Lord, and beneath the altar the blood +of guiltless Christians is flowing in torrents... You are indeed on the +throne, but there is One above all, our Judge and yours. How shall +you appear before his Judgment Seat?--stained with the blood of the +righteous, stunned with their shrieks, for the stones beneath your feet +cry out for vengeance to Heaven. Prince, I speak as shepherd of souls; I +fear God alone.' + +The Archbishop was within the golden gates, which, in Russian churches, +close in the sanctuary or chancel, and are only entered by the clergy. +He was thus out of reach of the cruel iron-tipped staff, which the Tzar +could only strike furiously on the pavement, crying out, 'Rash monk, +I have spared you too long. Henceforth I will be to you such as you +describe.' + +The murders went on in their full horrors; but, in spite of the threat, +the Archbishop remained unmolested, though broken-hearted at the +cruelties around him. At last, however, his resolute witness became more +than the tyrant would endure, and messengers were secretly sent to the +island of Solovsky, to endeavor to find some accusation against him. +They tampered with all the monks in the convent, to induce them to +find some fault in him, but each answered that he was a saint in +every thought, word, and deed; until at last Payssi, the prior who had +succeeded him, was induced, by the hope of a bishopric, to bear false +witness against him. + +He was cited before an assembly of bishops and boyards, presided over by +the Tzar, and there he patiently listened to the monstrous stories told +by Payssi. Instead of defending himself, he simply said, 'This seed +will not bring you a good harvest;' and, addressing himself to the +Tzar, said, 'Prince, you are mistaken if you think I fear death. +Having attained an advanced age, far from stormy passions and worldly +intrigues, I only desire to return my soul to the Most High, my +Sovereign Master and yours. Better to perish an innocent martyr, than as +Metropolitan to look on at the horrors and impieties of these wretched +times. Do what you will with me! Here are the pastoral staff, the white +mitre, and the mantle with which you invested me. And you, bishops, +archimandrites, abbots, servants of the altar, feed the flock of Christ +zealously, as preparing to give an account thereof, and fear the Judge +of Heaven more than the earthly judge.' + +He was then departing, when the Tzar recalled him, saying that he could +not be his own judge, and that he must await his sentence. In truth, +worse indignities were preparing for him. He was in the midst of the +Liturgy on the 8th of November, the Greek Michaelmas, when a boyard came +in with a troop of armed Oprichniks, who overawed the people, while the +boyard read a paper degrading the Metropolitan from his sacred office; +and then the ruffians, entering through the golden gates tore off his +mitre and robes, wrapped him in a mean gown, absolutely swept him out of +the church with brooms, and took him in a sledge to the Convent of +the Epiphany. The people ran after him, weeping bitterly, while the +venerable old man blessed them with uplifted hands, and, whenever he +could be heard, repeated his last injunction, 'Pray, pray to God.' + +Once again he was led before the Emperor, to hear the monstrous sentence +that for sorcery, and other heavy charges, he was to be imprisoned for +life. He said no reproachful word, only, for the last time, he besought +the Tzar to have pity on Russia, and to remember how his ancestors +had reigned, and the happy days of his youth. Ivan only commanded the +soldiers to take him away; and he was heavily ironed, and thrown into a +dungeon, whence he was afterwards transferred to a convent on the banks +of the Moskwa, where he was kept bare of almost all the necessaries of +life: and in a few days' time the head of Ivan Borissovitch Kolotchof, +the chief of his family, was sent to him, with the message, 'Here are +the remains of your dear kinsman, your sorcery could not save him!' +Feeleep calmly took the head in his arms, blessed it, and gave it back. + +The people of Moscow gathered round the convent, gazed at his cell, and +told each other stories of his good works, which they began to magnify +into miracles. Thereupon the Emperor sent him to another convent, at a +greater distance. Here he remained till the next year, 1569, when Maluta +Skouratof, a Tatar, noted as a favorite of the Tzar, and one of the +chief ministers of his cruelty, came into his cell, and demanded his +blessing for the Tzar. + +The Archbishop replied that blessings only await good men and good +works, adding tranquilly, 'I know what you are come for. I have long +looked for death. Let the Tzar's will be done.' The assassin then +smothered him, but pretended to the abbot that he had been stifled by +the heat of the cell. He was buried in haste behind the altar, but his +remains have since been removed to his own cathedral at Moscow, the +scene where he had freely offered his own life by confronting the tyrant +in the vain endeavor to save his people. + +Vain, too, was the reproof of the hermit, who shocked Ivan's scruples +by offering him a piece of raw flesh in the middle of Lent, and told him +that he was preying on the flesh and blood of his subjects. The crimes +of Ivan grew more and more terrible, and yet his acuteness was such that +they can hardly be inscribed to insanity. He caused the death of his own +son by a blow with that fatal staff of his; and a last, after a fever +varied by terrible delirium, in which alone his remorse manifested +itself, he died while setting up the pieces for a game at chess, on the +17th of March, 1584. + +This has been a horrible story, in reality infinitely more horrible +than we have made it; but there is this blessing among many others in +Christianity, that the blackest night makes its diamonds only show their +living luster more plainly: and surely even Ivan the Terrible, in spite +of himself, did something for the world in bringing out the faithful +fearlessness of Archbishop Feeleep, and the constancy of the stirrup- +bearer, Vasili. + + + + +FORT ST. ELMO + +1565 + + +The white cross of the Order of St. John waved on the towers of Rhodes +for two hundred and fifty-five years. In 1552, after a desperate +resistance, the Turks, under their great Sultan, Solyman the +Magnificent, succeeded in driving the Knights Hospitaliers from their +beautiful home, and they were again cast upon the world. + +They were resolved, however, to continue their old work of protecting +the Mediterranean travelers, and thankfully accepted, as a gift from the +Emperor Charles V., the little islet of Malta as their new station. It +was a great contrast to their former home, being little more than a mere +rock rising steeply out of the sea, white, glaring and with very shallow +earth, unfit to bear corn, though it produced plenty of oranges, figs, +and melons--with little water, and no wood,--the buildings wretched, and +for the most part uninhabited, and the few people a miserable mongrel +set, part Arab, part Greek, part Sicilian, and constantly kept down by +the descents of the Moorish pirates, who used to land in the unprotected +bays, and carry off all the wretched beings they could catch, to sell +for slaves. It was a miserable exchange from fertile Rhodes, which was +nearly five times larger than this barren rock; but the Knights only +wanted a hospital, a fortress, and a harbour; and this last they found +in the deeply indented northern shore, while they made the first two. +Only a few years had passed before the dreary Citta Notabile had become +in truth a notable city, full of fine castle-like houses, +infirmaries, and noble churches, and fenced in with mighty wall and +battlements--country houses were perched upon the rocks--the harbors +were fortified, and filled with vessels of war--and deep vaults were +hollowed out in the rock, in which corn was stored sufficient to supply +the inhabitants for many months. + +Everywhere that there was need was seen the red flag with the eight- +pointed cross. If there was an earthquake on the shores of Italy or +Sicily, there were the ships of St. John, bringing succor to the crushed +and ruined townspeople. In every battle with Turk or Moor, the Knights +were among the foremost; and, as ever before, their galleys were the aid +of the peaceful merchant, and the terror of the corsair. Indeed, they +were nearer Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers, the great nests of these +Moorish pirates, and were better able to threaten them, and thwart their +cruel descents, than when so much farther eastward; and the Mahometan +power found them quite as obnoxious in Malta as in Rhodes. + +Solyman the Magnificent resolved, in his old age, to sweep these +obstinate Christians from the seas, and, only twelve years after the +siege of Rhodes, prepared an enormous armament, which he united with +those of the Barbary pirates, and placed under the command of Mustafa +and Piali, his two bravest pashas, and Dragut, a terrible Algerine +corsair, who had already made an attempt upon the island, but had been +repulsed by the good English knight, Sir Nicholas Upton. Without +the advice of this pirate the Sultan desired that nothing should be +undertaken. + +The Grand Master who had to meet this tremendous danger was Jean Parisot +de la Valette, a brave and resolute man, as noted for his piety and +tenderness to the sick in the infirmaries as for his unflinching +courage. When he learnt the intentions of the Sultan, he began by +collecting a Chapter of his Order, and, after laying his tidings before +them, said: 'A formidable army and a cloud of barbarians are about to +burst on this isle. Brethren, they are the enemies of Jesus Christ. The +question is the defense of the Faith, and whether the Gospel shall yield +to the Koran. God demands from us the life that we have already devoted +to Him by our profession. Happy they who in so good a cause shall first +consummate their sacrifice. But, that we may be worthy, my brethren, let +us hasten to the altar, there to renew our vows; and may to each one +of us be imparted, by the very Blood of the Saviour of mankind, and +by faithful participation in His Sacraments, that generous contempt of +death that can alone render us invincible.' + +With these words, he led the way to the church, and there was not an +individual knight who did not on that day confess and receive the +Holy Communion; after which they were as new men--all disputes, all +trivialities and follies were laid aside--and the whole community +awaited the siege like persons under a solemn dedication. + +The chief harbour of Malta is a deep bay, turned towards the north, and +divided into two lesser bays by a large tongue of rock, on the point +of which stood a strong castle, called Fort St. Elmo. The gulf to the +westward has a little island in it, and both gulf and islet are called +Marza Muscat. The gulf to the east, called the Grand Port, was again +divided by three fingers of rock projecting from the mainland, at right +angles to the tongue that bore Fort St. Elmo. Each finger was armed with +a strong talon--the Castle of La Sangle to the east, the Castle of St. +Angelo in the middle, and Fort Ricasoli to the west. Between St. Angelo +and La Sangle was the harbour where all the ships of war were shut up +at night by an immense chain; and behind was il Borgo, the chief +fortification in the island. Citta Notabile and Gozo were inland, and +their fate would depend upon that of the defenses of the harbor. To +defend all this, the Grand Master could only number 700 knights and +8,500 soldiers. He sent to summon home all those of the Order who were +dispersed in the different commanderies in France, Spain, and Germany, +and entreated aid from the Spanish king, Philip II., who wished to be +considered as the prime champion of Roman Catholic Christendom, and +who alone had the power of assisting him. The Duke of Alva, viceroy +for Philip in Sicily, made answer that he would endeavor to relieve the +Order, if they could hold out Fort St. Elmo till the fleet could be got +together; but that if this castle were once lost, it would be impossible +to bring them aid, and they must be left to their fate. + +The Grand Master divided the various posts to the knights according to +their countries. The Spaniards under the Commander De Guerras, Bailiff +of Negropont, had the Castle of St. Elmo; the French had Port de la +Sangle; the Germans, and the few English knights whom the Reformation +had left, were charged with the defense of the Port of the Borgo, which +served as headquarters, and the Commander Copier, with a body of troops, +was to remain outside the town and watch and harass the enemy. + +On the 18th of May, 1565, the Turkish fleet came in sight. It consisted +of 159 ships, rowed by Christian slaves between the decks, and carrying +30,000 Janissaries and Spahis, the terrible warriors to whom the Turks +owed most of their victories, and after them came, spreading for miles +over the blue waters, a multitude of ships of burthen bringing the +horses of the Spahis, and such heavy battering cannon as rendered +the dangers of a siege infinitely greater than in former days. These +Janissaries were a strange, distorted resemblance of the knights +themselves, for they were bound in a strict brotherhood of arms, and +were not married, so as to care for nothing but each other, the Sultan, +and the honor of their troop. They were not dull, apathetic Turks, but +chiefly natives of Circassia and Georgia, the land where the human race +is most beautiful and nobly formed. They were stolen from their homes, +or, too often, sold by their parents when too young to remember their +Christian baptism, and were bred up as Mahometans, with no home but +their corps, no kindred but their fellow soldiers. Their title, given by +the Sultan who first enrolled them, meant New Soldiers, their ensign was +a camp kettle, as that of their Pashas was one, two, or three horses' +tails, in honor of the old Kurdish chief, the founder of the Turkish +empire; but there was no homeliness in their appointments, their +weapons--scimitars, pistols, and carabines--were crusted with gold and +jewels; their head-dress, though made in imitation of a sleeve, was +gorgeous, and their garments were of the richest wool and silk, dyed +with the deep, exquisite colours of the East. Terrible warriors were +they, and almost equally dreaded were the Spahis, light horsemen from +Albania and the other Greek and Bulgarian provinces who had entered the +Turkish service, and were great plunderers, swift and cruel, glittering, +both man and horse, with the jewels they had gained in their forays. + +These were chiefly troops for the land attack, and they were set on +shore at Port St. Thomas, where the commanders, Mustafa and Piali, held +a council, to decide where they should first attack. Piali wished to +wait for Dragut, who was daily expected, but Mustafa was afraid of +losing time, and of being caught by the Spanish fleet, and insisted on +at once laying siege to Fort St. Elmo, which was, he thought, so small +that it could not hold out more than five or six days. + +Indeed, it could not hold above 300 men, but these were some of the +bravest of the knights, and as it was only attacked on the land side, +they were able to put off boats at night and communicate with the +Grand Master and their brethren in the Borgo. The Turks set up their +batteries, and fired their enormous cannon shot upon the fortifications. +One of their terrible pieces of ordnance carried stone balls of 160 +lb., and no wonder that stone and mortar gave way before it, and that +a breach was opened in a few days' time. That night, when, as usual, +boatloads of wounded men were transported across to the Borgo, the +Bailiff of Negropont sent the knight La Cerda to the Grand Master to +give an account of the state of things and ask for help. La Cerda spoke +strongly, and, before a great number of knights, declared that there was +no chance of so weak a place holding out for more than a week. + +'What has been lost,' said the Grand Master, 'since you cry out for +help?' + +'Sir,' replied La Cerda, 'the castle may be regarded as a patient in +extremity and devoid of strength, who can only be sustained by continual +remedies and constant succor.' + +'I will be doctor myself,' replied the Grand Master, 'and will bring +others with me who, if they cannot cure you of fear, will at least be +brave enough to prevent the infidels from seizing the fort.' + +The fact was, as he well knew, that the little fort could not hold +out long, and he grieved over the fate of his knights; but time was +everything, and the fate of the whole isle depended upon the white cross +being still on that point of land when the tardy Sicilian fleet should +set sail. He was one who would ask no one to run into perils that he +would not share, and he was bent on throwing himself into St. Elmo, and +being rather buried under the ruins than to leave the Mussulmans free a +moment sooner than could be helped to attack the Borgo and Castle of St. +Angelo. But the whole Chapter of Knights entreated him to abstain, and +so many volunteered for this desperate service, that the only difficulty +was to choose among them. Indeed, La Cerda had done the garrison +injustice; no one's heart was failing but his own; and the next day +there was a respite, for a cannon shot from St. Angelo falling into the +enemy's camp, shattered a stone, a splinter of which struck down +the Piali Pasha. He was thought dead, and the camp and fleet were in +confusion, which enabled the Grand Master to send off his nephew, the +Chevalier de la Valette Cornusson, to Messina to entreat the Viceroy of +Sicily to hasten to their relief; to give him a chart of the entrance of +the harbour, and a list of signals, and to desire in especial that +two ships belonging to the Order, and filled with the knights who had +hurried from distant lands too late for the beginning of the siege, +might come to him at once. To this the Viceroy returned a promise +that at latest the fleet should sail on the 15th of June, adding an +exhortation to him at all sacrifices to maintain St. Elmo. This reply +the Grand Master transmitted to the garrison, and it nerved them to +fight even with more patience and self-sacrifice. A desperate sally was +led by the Chevalier de Medran, who fought his way into the trenches +where the Turkish cannon were planted, and at first drove all before +him; but the Janissaries rallied and forced back the Christians out of +the trenches. Unfortunately there was a high wind, which drove the smoke +of the artillery down on the counter-scarp (the slope of masonry facing +the rampart), and while it was thus hidden from the Christians, the +Turks succeeded in effecting a lodgment there, fortifying themselves +with trees and sacks of earth and wool. When the smoke cleared off, the +knights were dismayed to see the horse-tail ensigns of the Janissaries +so near them, and cannon already prepared to batter the ravelin, or +outwork protecting the gateway. + +La Cerda proposed to blow this fortification up, and abandon it, but no +other knight would hear of deserting an inch of wall while it could yet +be held. + +But again the sea was specked with white sails from the south-east. Six +galleys came from Egypt, bearing 900 troops--Mameluke horsemen, troops +recruited much like the Janissaries and quite as formidable. These ships +were commanded by Ulucciali, an Italian, who had denied his faith and +become a Mahometan, and was thus regarded with especial horror by the +chivalry of Malta. And the swarm thickened for a few days more; like +white-winged and beautiful but venomous insects hovering round their +prey, the graceful Moorish galleys and galliots came up from the south, +bearing 600 dark-visaged, white-turbaned, lithe-limbed Moors from +Tripoli, under Dragut himself. The thunders of all the guns roaring +forth their salute of honor told the garrison that the most formidable +enemy of all had arrived. And now their little white rock was closed in +on every side, with nothing but its own firmness to be its aid. + +Dragut did not approve of having begun with attacking Fort St. Elmo; he +thought that the inland towns should have been first taken, and Mustafa +offered to discontinue the attack, but this the Corsair said could not +now be done with honor, and under him the attack went on more furiously +than ever. He planted a battery of four guns on the point guarding the +entrance of Marza Muscat, the other gulf, and the spot has ever since +been called Dragut's Point. Strange to say, the soldiers in the ravelin +fell asleep, and thus enabled the enemy to scramble up by climbing on +one another's shoulders and enter the place. As soon as the alarm was +given, the Bailiff of Negropont, with a number of knights, rushed into +the ravelin, and fought with the utmost desperation, but all in vain; +they never succeeded in dislodging the Turks, and had almost been +followed by them into the Fort itself. Only the utmost courage turned +back the enemy at last, and, it was believed, with a loss of 3,000. The +Order had twenty knights and a hundred soldiers killed, with many more +wounded. One knight named Abel de Bridiers, who was shot through the +body, refused to be assisted by his brethren, saying, 'Reckon me no more +among the living. You will be doing better by defending our brothers.' +He dragged himself away, and was found dead before the altar in the +Castle chapel. The other wounded were brought back to the Borgo in boats +at night, and La Cerda availed himself of a slight scratch to come with +them and remain, though the Bailiff of Negropont, a very old man, and +with a really severe wound, returned as soon as it had been dressed, +together with the reinforcements sent to supply the place of those +who had been slain. The Grand Master, on finding how small had been La +Cerda's hurt, put him in prison for several days; but he was afterwards +released, and met his death bravely on the ramparts of the Borgo. + +The 15th of June was passed. Nothing would make the Sicilian Viceroy +move, nor even let the warships of the Order sail with their own +knights, and the little fort that had been supposed unable to hold out a +week, had for full a month resisted every attack of the enemy. + +At last Dragut, though severely wounded while reconnoitring, set up a +battery on the hill of Calcara, so as to command the strait, and hinder +the succors from being sent across to the fort. The wounded were laid +down in the chapel and the vaults, and well it was for them that each +knight of the Order could be a surgeon and a nurse. One good swimmer +crossed under cover of darkness with their last messages, and La Valette +prepared five armed boats for their relief; but the enemy had fifteen +already in the bay, and communication was entirely cut off. It was the +night before the 23rd of June when these brave men knew their time was +come. All night they prayed, and prepared themselves to die by giving +one another the last rites of the Church, and at daylight each repaired +to his post, those who could not walk being carried in chairs, and sat +ghastly figures, sword in hand, on the brink of the breach, ready for +their last fight. + +By the middle of the day every Christian knight in St. Elmo had died +upon his post, and the little heap of ruins was in the hands of the +enemy. Dragut was dying of his wound, but just lived to hear that the +place was won, when it had cost the Sultan 8,000 men! Well might Mustafa +say, 'If the son has cost us so much, what will the father do?' + +It would be too long to tell the glorious story of the three months' +further siege of the Borgo. The patience and resolution of the knights +was unshaken, though daily there were tremendous battles, and week after +week passed by without the tardy relief from Spain. It is believed that +Philip II. thought that the Turks would exhaust themselves against the +Order, and forbade his Viceroy to hazard his fleet; but at last he +was shamed into permitting the armament to be fitted out. Two hundred +knights of St. John were waiting at Messina, in despair at being unable +to reach their brethren in their deadly strait, and constantly haunting +the Viceroy's palace, till he grew impatient, and declared they did not +treat him respectfully enough, nor call him 'Excellency'. + +'Senor,' said one of them, 'if you will only bring us in time to save +the Order, I will call you anything you please, excellency, highness, or +majesty itself.' + +At last, on the 1st of September, the fleet really set sail, but it +hovered cautiously about on the farther side of the island, and only +landed 6,000 men and then returned to Sicily. However, the tidings of +its approach had spread such a panic among the Turkish soldiers, who +were worn out and exhausted by their exertions, that they hastily raised +the siege, abandoned their heavy artillery, and, removing their garrison +from Fort St. Elmo, re-embarked in haste and confusion. No sooner, +however, was the Pasha in his ship than he became ashamed of his +precipitation, more especially when he learnt that the relief that had +put 16,000 men to flight consisted only of 6,000, and he resolved to +land and give battle; but his troops were angry and unwilling, and were +actually driven out of their ships by blows. + +In the meantime, the Grand Master had again placed a garrison in St. +Elmo, which the Turks had repaired and restored, and once more the cross +of St. John waved on the end of its tongue of land, to greet the Spanish +allies. A battle was fought with the newly arrived troops, in which the +Turks were defeated; they again took to their ships, and the Viceroy of +Sicily, from Syracuse, beheld their fleet in full sail for the East. + +Meantime, the gates of the Borgo were thrown open to receive the +brethren and friends who had been so long held back from coming to the +relief of the home of the Order. Four months' siege, by the heaviest +artillery in Europe, had shattered the walls and destroyed the streets, +till, to the eyes of the newcomers, the town looked like a place taken +by assault, and sacked by the enemy; and of the whole garrison, knights, +soldiers, and sailors altogether, only six hundred were left able to +bear arms, and they for the most part covered with wounds. The Grand +Master and his surviving knights could hardly be recognized, so pale and +altered were they by wounds and excessive fatigue; their hair, beards, +dress, and armor showing that for four full months they had hardly +undressed, or lain down unarmed. The newcomers could not restrain their +tears, but all together proceeded to the church to return thanks for the +conclusion of their perils and afflictions. Rejoicings extended all over +Europe, above all in Italy, Spain, and southern France, where the Order +of St. John was the sole protection against the descents of the Barbary +corsairs. The Pope sent La Valette a cardinal's hat, but he would not +accept it, as unsuited to his office; Philip II. presented him with a +jeweled sword and dagger. Some thousand unadorned swords a few months +sooner would have been a better testimony to his constancy, and that of +the brave men whose lives Spain had wasted by her cruel delays. + +The Borgo was thenceforth called Citta Vittoriosa; but La Valette +decided on building the chief town of the isle on the Peninsula of Fort +St. Elmo, and in this work he spent his latter days, till he was killed +by a sunstroke, while superintending the new works of the city which is +deservedly known by his name, as Valetta. + +The Order of St. John lost much of its character, and was finally swept +from Malta in the general confusion of the Revolutionary wars. The +British crosses now float in the harbour of Malta; but the steep white +rocks must ever bear the memory of the self-devoted endurance of the +beleaguered knights, and, foremost of all, of those who perished in St. +Elmo, in order that the signal banner might to the very last summon the +tardy Viceroy to their aid. + + + + +THE VOLUNTARY CONVICT + +1622 + + +In the early summer of the year 1605, a coasting vessel was sailing +along the beautiful Gulf of Lyons, the wind blowing gently in the sails, +the blue Mediterranean lying glittering to the south, and the curved +line of the French shore rising in purple and green tints, dotted with +white towns and villages. Suddenly three light, white-sailed ships +appeared in the offing, and the captain's practiced eye detected that +the wings that bore them were those of a bird of prey. He knew them for +African brigantines, and though he made all sail, it was impossible to +run into a French port, as on, on they came, not entirely depending on +the wind, but, like steamers, impelled by unseen powers within them. +Alas! that power was not the force of innocent steam, but the arms of +Christian rowers chained to the oar. Sure as the pounce of a hawk upon a +partridge was the swoop of the corsairs upon the French vessel. A signal +to surrender followed, but the captain boldly refused, and armed his +crew, bidding them stand to their guns. But the fight was too unequal, +the brave little ship was disabled, the pirates boarded her, and, after +a sharp fight on deck, three of the crew lay dead, all the rest were +wounded, and the vessel was the prize of the pirates. The captain was at +once killed, in revenge for his resistance, and all the rest of the crew +and passengers were put in chains. Among these passengers was a young +priest named Vincent de Paul, the son of a farmer in Languedoc, who +had used his utmost endeavors to educate his son for the ministry, even +selling the oxen from the plough to provide for the college expenses. A +small legacy had just fallen to the young man, from a relation who had +died at Marseilles; he had been thither to receive it, and had been +persuaded by a friend to return home by sea. And this was the result +of the pleasant voyage. The legacy was the prey of the pirates, and +Vincent, severely wounded by an arrow, and heavily chained, lay half- +stifled in a corner of the hold of the ship, a captive probably for life +to the enemies of the faith. It was true that France had scandalized +Europe by making peace with the Dey of Tunis, but this was a trifle to +the corsairs; and when, after seven days' further cruising, they put +into the harbour of Tunis, they drew up an account of their capture, +calling it a Spanish vessel, to prevent the French Consul from claiming +the prisoners. + +The captives had the coarse blue and white garments of slaves given +them, and were walked five or six times through the narrow streets and +bazaars of Tunis, by way of exhibition. They were then brought back to +their ship, and the purchasers came thither to bargain for them. They +were examined at their meals, to see if they had good appetites; their +sides were felt like those of oxen; their teeth looked at like those of +horses; their wounds were searched, and they were made to run and walk +to show the play of their limbs. All this Vincent endured with patient +submission, constantly supported by the thought of Him who took upon Him +the form of a servant for our sakes; and he did his best, ill as he was, +to give his companions the same confidence. + +Weak and unwell, Vincent was sold cheap to a fisherman; but in his new +service it soon became apparent that the sea made him so ill as to be of +no use, so he was sold again to one of the Moorish physicians, the like +of whom may still be seen, smoking their pipes sleepily, under +their white turbans, cross-legged, among the drugs in their shop +windows---these being small open spaces beneath the beautiful stone +lacework of the Moorish lattices. The physician was a great chemist and +distiller, and for four years had been seeking the philosopher's stone, +which was supposed to be the secret of making gold. He found his slave's +learning and intelligence so useful that he grew very fond of him, and +tried hard to persuade him to turn Mahometan, offering him not only +liberty, but the inheritance of all his wealth, and the secrets that he +had discovered. + +The Christian priest felt the temptation sufficiently to be always +grateful for the grace that had carried him through it. At the end of a +year, the old doctor died, and his nephew sold Vincent again. His next +master was a native of Nice, who had not held out against the temptation +to renounce his faith in order to avoid a life of slavery, but had +become a renegade, and had the charge of one of the farms of the Dey +of Tunis. The farm was on a hillside in an extremely hot and exposed +region, and Vincent suffered much from being there set to field labour, +but he endured all without a murmur. His master had three wives, and one +of them, who was of Turkish birth, used often to come out and talk to +him, asking him many questions about his religion. Sometimes she asked +him to sing, and he would then chant the psalm of the captive Jews: 'By +the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept;' and others of the 'songs' +of his Zion. The woman at last told her husband that he must have been +wrong in forsaking a religion of which her slave had told her such +wonderful things. Her words had such an effect on the renegade that he +sought the slave, and in conversation with him soon came to a full sense +of his own miserable position as an apostate. A change of religion on +the part of a Mahometan is, however, always visited with death, both to +the convert and his instructor. An Algerine, who was discovered to have +become a Christian, was about this time said to have been walled up at +once in the fortifications he had been building; and the story has +been confirmed by the recent discovery, by the French engineers, of the +remains of a man within a huge block of clay, that had taken a perfect +cast of his Moorish features, and of the surface of his garments, and +even had his black hair adhering to it. Vincent's master, terrified at +such perils, resolved to make his escape in secret with his slave. It is +disappointing to hear nothing of the wife; and not to know whether she +would not or could not accompany them. All we know is, that master and +slave trusted themselves alone to a small bark, and, safely crossing the +Mediterranean, landed at Aigues Mortes, on the 28th of June, 1607; +and that the renegade at once abjured his false faith, and soon after +entered a brotherhood at Rome, whose office it was to wait on the sick +in hospitals. + +This part of Vincent de Paul's life has been told at length because +it shows from what the Knights of St. John strove to protect the +inhabitants of the coasts. We next find Vincent visiting at a hospital +at Paris, where he gave such exceeding comfort to the patients that all +with one voice declared him a messenger from heaven. + +He afterwards became a tutor in the family of the Count de Joigni, a +very excellent man, who was easily led by him to many good works. M. de +Joigni was inspector general of the 'Galeres', or Hulks, the ships in +the chief harbors of France, such as Brest and Marseilles, where the +convicts, closely chained, were kept to hard labour, and often made to +toil at the oar, like the slaves of the Africans. Going the round of +these prison ships, the horrible state of the convicts, their half-naked +misery, and still more their fiendish ferocity went to the heart of +the Count and of the Abbe de Paul; and, with full authority from the +inspector, the tutor worked among these wretched beings with such good +effect that on his doings being represented to the King, Louis XIII., he +was made almoner general to the galleys. + +While visiting those at Marseilles, he was much struck by the broken- +down looks and exceeding sorrowfulness of one of the convicts. He +entered into conversation with him, and, after many kind words, +persuaded him to tell his troubles. His sorrow was far less for his own +condition than for the misery to which his absence must needs reduce his +wife and children. And what was Vincent's reply to this? His action was +so striking that, though in itself it could hardly be safe to propose +it as an example, it must be mentioned as the very height of self- +sacrifice. + +He absolutely changed places with the convict. Probably some arrangement +was made with the immediate jailor of the gang, who, by the exchange of +the priest for the convict, could make up his full tale of men to show +when his numbers were counted. At any rate the prisoner went free, +and returned to his home, whilst Vincent wore a convict's chain, did a +convict's work, lived on convict's fare, and, what was worse, had only +convict society. He was soon sought out and released, but the hurts +he had received from the pressure of the chain lasted all his life. He +never spoke of the event; it was kept a strict secret; and once when +he had referred to it in a letter to a friend, he became so much afraid +that the story would become known that he sent to ask for the letter +back again. It was, however, not returned, and it makes the fact +certain. It would be a dangerous precedent if prison chaplains were +to change places with their charges; and, beautiful as was Vincent's +spirit, the act can hardly be justified; but it should also be +remembered that among the galleys of France there were then many who +had been condemned for resistance to the arbitrary will of Cardinal de +Richelieu, men not necessarily corrupt and degraded like the thieves and +murderers with whom they were associated. At any rate, M. de Joigni did +not displace the almoner, and Vincent worked on the consciences of the +convicts with infinitely more force for having been for a time one of +themselves. Many and many were won back to penitence, a hospital was +founded for them, better regulations established, and, for a time, both +prisons and galleys were wonderfully improved, although only for the +life-time of the good inspector and the saintly almoner. But who shall +say how many souls were saved in those years by these men who did what +they could? + +The rest of the life of Vincent de Paul would be too lengthy to tell +here, though acts of beneficence and self-devotion shine out in glory +at each step. The work by which he is chiefly remembered is his +establishment of the Order of Sisters of Charity, the excellent +women who have for two hundred years been the prime workers in every +charitable task in France, nursing the sick, teaching the young, tending +deserted children, ever to be found where there is distress or pain. + +But of these, and of his charities, we will not here speak, nor even of +his influence for good on the King and Queen themselves. The whole tenor +of his life was 'golden' in one sense, and if we told all his golden +deeds they would fill an entire book. So we will only wait to tell how +he showed his remembrance of what he had gone through in his African +captivity. The redemption of the prisoners there might have seemed his +first thought, but that he did so much in other quarters. At different +times, with the alms that he collected, and out of the revenues of his +benefices, he ransomed no less then twelve hundred slaves from their +captivity. At one time the French Consul at Tunis wrote to him that for +a certain sum a large number might be set free, and he raised enough to +release not only these, but seventy more, and he further wrought upon +the King to obtain the consent of the Dey of Tunis that a party of +Christian clergy should be permitted to reside in the consul's house, +and to minister to the souls and bodies of the Christian slaves, of +whom there were six thousand in Tunis alone, besides those in Algiers, +Tangier, and Tripoli! + +Permission was gained, and a mission of Lazarist brothers arrived. This, +too, was an order founded by Vincent, consisting of priestly nurses like +the Hospitaliers, though not like them warriors. They came in the midst +of a dreadful visitation of the plague, and nursed and tended the sick, +both Christians and Mahometans, with fearless devotion, day and night, +till they won the honor and love of the Moors themselves. + +The good Vincent de Paul died in the year 1660, but his brothers of St. +Lazarus, and sisters of charity still tread in the paths he marked +out for them, and his name scarcely needs the saintly epithet that his +church as affixed to it to stand among the most honorable of charitable +men. + +The cruel deeds of the African pirates were never wholly checked till +1816, when the united fleets of England and France destroyed the old den +of corsairs at Algiers, which has since become a French colony. + + + + +THE HOUSEWIVES OF LOWENBURG + +1631 + + +Brave deeds have been done by the burgher dames of some of the German +cities collectively. Without being of the first class of Golden Deeds, +there is something in the exploit of the dames of Weinsberg so quaint +and so touching, that it cannot be omitted here. + +It was in the first commencement of the long contest known as the strife +between the Guelfs and Ghibellines--before even these had become the +party words for the Pope's and the Emperor's friends, and when they only +applied to the troops of Bavaria and of Swabia--that, in 1141, Wolf, +Duke of Bavaria, was besieged in his castle of Weinberg by Friedrich, +Duke of Swabia, brother to the reigning emperor, Konrad III. + +The siege lasted long, but Wolf was obliged at last to offer to +surrender; and the Emperor granted him permission to depart in safety. +But his wife did not trust to this fair offer. She had reason to believe +that Konrad had a peculiar enmity to her husband; and on his coming to +take possession of the castle, she sent to him to entreat him to give +her a safe conduct for herself and all the other women in the garrison, +that they might come out with as much of their valuables as they could +carry. + +This was freely granted, and presently the castle gates opened. From +beneath them came the ladies--but in strange guise. No gold nor jewels +were carried by them, but each one was bending under the weight of +her husband, whom she thus hoped to secure from the vengeance of the +Ghibellines. Konrad, who was really a generous and merciful man, is said +to have been affected to tears by this extraordinary performance; he +hastened to assure the ladies of the perfect safety of their lords, +and that the gentlemen might dismount at once, secure both of life and +freedom. He invited them all to a banquet, and made peace with the Duke +of Bavaria on terms much more favorable to the Guelfs than the rest of +his party had been willing to allow. The castle mount was thenceforth +called no longer the Vine Hill, but the Hill of Weibertreue, or woman's +fidelity. We will not invidiously translate it woman's truth, for there +was in the transaction something of a subterfuge; and it must be owned +that the ladies tried to the utmost the knightly respect for womankind. + +The good women of Lowenburg, who were but citizens' wives, seem to us +more worthy of admiration for constancy to their faith, shown at a +time when they had little to aid them. It was such constancy as makes +martyrs; and though the trial stopped short of this, there is something +in the homeliness of the whole scene, and the feminine form of passive +resistance, that makes us so much honor and admire the good women that +we cannot refrain from telling the story. + +It was in the year 1631, in the midst of the long Thirty Years' Was +between Roman Catholics and Protestants, which finally decided that +each state should have its own religion, Lowenburg, a city of Silesia, +originally Protestant, had passed into the hands of the Emperor's Roman +Catholic party. It was a fine old German city, standing amid woods and +meadows, fortified with strong walls surrounded by a moat, and with gate +towers to protect the entrance. + +In the centre was a large market-place, called the Ring, into which +looked the Council-house and fourteen inns, or places of traffic, for +the cloth that was woven in no less than 300 factories. The houses were +of stone, with gradually projecting stories to the number of four or +five, surmounted with pointed gables. The ground floors had once had +trellised porches, but these had been found inconvenient and were +removed, and the lower story consisted of a large hall, and strong +vault, with a spacious room behind it containing a baking-oven, and a +staircase leading to a wooden gallery, where the family used to dine. It +seems they slept in the room below, though they had upstairs a handsome +wainscoted apartment. + +Very rich and flourishing had the Lowenburgers always been, and their +walls were quite sufficient to turn back any robber barons, or even any +invading Poles; but things were different when firearms were in use, and +the bands of mercenary soldiers had succeeded the feudal army. They +were infinitely more formidable during the battle or siege from their +discipline, and yet more dreadful after it for their want of discipline. +The poor Lowneburgers had been greatly misused: their Lutheran pastors +had been expelled; all the superior citizens had either fled or been +imprisoned; 250 families spent the summer in the woods, and of those who +remained in the city, the men had for the most part outwardly conformed +to the Roman Catholic Church. Most of these were of course indifferent +at heart, and they had found places in the town council which had +formerly been filled by more respectable men. However, the wives had +almost all remained staunch to their Lutheran confession; they had +followed their pastors weeping to the gates of the city, loading +them with gifts, and they hastened at every opportunity to hear their +preachings, or obtain baptism for their children at the Lutheran +churches in the neighborhood. + +The person who had the upper hand in the Council was one Julius, who had +been a Franciscan friar, but was a desperate, unscrupulous fellow, not +at all like a monk. Finding that it was considered as a reproach that +the churches of Lowenburg were empty, he called the whole Council +together on the 9th of April, 1631, and informed them that the women +must be brought to conformity, or else there were towers and prisons for +them. The Burgomaster was ill in bed, but the Judge, one Elias Seiler, +spoke up at once. 'If we have been able to bring the men into the right +path, why should not we be able to deal with these little creatures?' + +Herr Mesnel, a cloth factor, who had been a widower six weeks, thought +it would be hard to manage, though he quite agreed to the expedient, +saying, 'It would be truly good if man and wife had one Creed and one +Paternoster; as concerns the Ten Commandments it is not so pressing.' (A +sentiment that he could hardly have wished to see put in practice.) + +Another councilor, called Schwob Franze, who had lost his wife a few +days before, seems to have had an eye to the future, for he said it +would be a pity to frighten away the many beautiful maidens and widows +there were among the Lutheran women; but on the whole the men without +wives were much bolder and more sanguine of success than the married +ones. And no one would undertake to deal with his own wife privately, +so it ended by a message being sent to the more distinguished ladies to +attend the Council. + +But presently up came tidings that not merely these few dames, whom they +might have hoped to overawe, were on their way, but that the Judge's +wife and the Burgomaster's were the first pair in a procession of full +500 housewives, who were walking sedately up the stairs to the Council +Hall below the chamber where the dignitaries were assembled. This was +not by any means what had been expected, and the message was sent down +that only the chief ladies should come up. 'No,' replied the Judge's +wife, 'we will not allow ourselves to be separated,' and to this they +were firm; they said, as one fared all should fare; and the Town Clerk, +going up and down with smooth words, received no better answer than this +from the Judge's wife, who, it must be confessed, was less ladylike in +language than resolute in faith. + +'Nay, nay, dear friend, do you think we are so simple as not to perceive +the trick by which you would force us poor women against our conscience +to change our faith? My husband and the priest have not been consorting +together all these days for nothing; they have been joined together +almost day and night; assuredly they have either boiled or baked a +devil, which they may eat up themselves. I shall not enter there! Where +I remain, my train and following will remain also! Women, is this your +will?' + +'Yea, yea, let it be so,' they said; 'we will all hold together as one +man.' + +His honor the Town Clerk was much affrighted, and went hastily back, +reporting that the Council was in no small danger, since each housewife +had her bunch of keys at her side! These keys were the badge of a wife's +dignity and authority, and moreover they were such ponderous articles +that they sometimes served as weapons. A Scottish virago has been +know to dash out the brains of a wounded enemy with her keys; and the +intelligence that the good dames had come so well furnished, filled the +Council with panic. Dr. Melchior Hubner, who had been a miller's man, +wished for a hundred musketeers to mow them down; but the Town Clerk +proposed that all the Council should creep quietly down the back stairs, +lock the doors on the refractory womankind, and make their escape. This +was effected as silently and quickly as possible, for the whole Council +'could confess to a state of frightful terror.' Presently the women +peeped out, and saw the stairs bestrewn with hats, gloves, and +handkerchiefs; and perceiving how they had put all the wisdom and +authority of the town to the rout, there was great merriment among them, +though, finding themselves locked up, the more tenderhearted began to +pity their husbands and children. As for themselves, their maids and +children came round the Town Hall, to hand in provisions to them, and +all the men who were not of the Council were seeking the magistrates to +know what their wives had done to be thus locked up. + +The Judge sent to assemble the rest of the Council at his house; and +though only four came, the doorkeeper ran to the Town Hall, and called +out to his wife that the Council had reassembled, and they would soon +be let out. To which, however, that very shrewd dame, the Judge's wife, +answered with great composure, 'Yea, we willingly have patience, as we +are quite comfortable here; but tell them they ought to inform us why we +are summoned and confined without trial.' + +She well knew how much better off she was than her husband without her. +He paced about in great perturbation, and at last called for something +to eat. The maid served up a dish of crab, some white bread, and butter; +but, in his fury, he threw all the food about the room and out the +window, away from the poor children, who had had nothing to eat all day, +and at last he threw all the dishes and saucepans out of window. At last +the Town Clerk and two others were sent to do their best to persuade the +women that they had misunderstood--they were in no danger, and were +only invited to the preachings of Holy Week: and, as Master Daniel, the +joiner, added, 'It was only a friendly conference. It is not customary +with my masters and the very wise Council to hang a man before they have +caught him.' + +This opprobrious illustration raised a considerable clamor of abuse from +the ruder women; but the Judge's and Burgomaster's ladies silenced them, +and repeated their resolution never to give up their faith against their +conscience. Seeing that no impression was made on them, and that nobody +knew what to do without them at home, the magistracy decided that they +should be released, and they went quietly home; but the Judge Seiler, +either because he had been foremost in the business, or else perhaps +because of the devastation he had made at home among the pots and pans, +durst not meet his wife, but sneaked out of the town, and left her with +the house to herself. + +The priest now tried getting the three chief ladies alone together, +and most politely begged them to conform; but instead of arguing, they +simply answered; 'No; we were otherwise instructed by our parents and +former preachers.' + +Then he begged them at least to tell the other women that they had asked +for fourteen days for consideration. + +'No, dear sir,' they replied: 'we were not taught by our parents to tell +falsehoods, and we will not learn it from you.' + +Meanwhile Schwob Franze rushed to the Burgomaster's bedside, and begged +him, for Heaven's sake, to prevent the priest from meddling with the +women; for the whole bevy, hearing that their three leaders were called +before the priest, were collecting in the marketplace, keys, bundles, +and all; and the panic of the worthy magistrates was renewed. The +Burgomaster sent for the priest, and told him plainly, that if any harm +befel him from the women, the fault would be his own; and thereupon he +gave way, the ladies went quietly home, and their stout champions laid +aside their bundles and keys--not out of reach, however, in case of +another summons. + +However, the priest was obliged, next year, to leave Lowenburg in +disgrace, for he was a man of notoriously bad character; and Dr. +Melchior became a soldier, and was hanged at Prague. + +After all, such a confession as this is a mere trifle, not only compared +with martyrdoms of old, but with the constancy with which, after +the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the Huguenots endured +persecution---as, for instance, the large number of women who were +imprisoned for thirty-eight years at Aigues Mortes; or again, with the +steady resolution of the persecuted nuns of Port Royal against signing +the condemnation of the works of Jansen. Yet, in its own way, the +feminine resistance of these good citizens' wives, without being equally +high-toned, is worthy of record, and far too full of character to be +passed over. + + + + +FATHERS AND SONS + +219--1642--1798 + + +One of the noblest characters in old Roman history is the first Scipio +Africanus, and his first appearance is in a most pleasing light, at the +battle of the River Ticinus, B.C. 219, when the Carthaginians, under +Hannibal, had just completed their wonderful march across the Alps, and +surprised the Romans in Italy itself. + +Young Scipio was then only seventeen years of age, and had gone to +his first battle under the eagles of his father, the Consul, Publius +Cornelius Scipio. It was an unfortunate battle; the Romans, when +exhausted by long resistance to the Spanish horse in Hannibal's army, +were taken in flank by the Numidian calvary, and entirely broken. The +Consul rode in front of the few equites he could keep together, striving +by voice and example to rally his forces, until he was pierced by one +of the long Numidian javelins, and fell senseless from his horse. The +Romans, thinking him dead, entirely gave way; but his young son would +not leave him, and, lifting him on his horse, succeeded in bringing him +safe into the camp, where he recovered, and his after days retrieved the +honor of the Roman arms. + +The story of a brave and devoted son comes to us to light up the sadness +of our civil wars between Cavaliers and Roundheads in the middle of +the seventeenth century. It was soon after King Charles had raised his +standard at Nottingham, and set forth on his march for London, that it +became evident that the Parliamentary army, under the Earl of Essex, +intended to intercept his march. The King himself was with the army, +with his two boys, Charles and James; but the General-in-chief was +Robert Bertie, Earl of Lindsay, a brave and experienced old soldier, +sixty years of age, godson to Queen Elizabeth, and to her two favorite +Earls, whose Christian name he bore. He had been in her Essex's +expedition to Cambridge, and had afterwards served in the Low Countries, +under Prince Maurice of Nassau; for the long Continental wars had +throughout King James' peaceful reign been treated by the English +nobility as schools of arms, and a few campaigns were considered as a +graceful finish to a gentleman's education. As soon as Lord Lindsay had +begun to fear that the disputes between the King and Parliament must end +in war, he had begun to exercise and train his tenantry in Lincolnshire +and Northamptonshire, of whom he had formed a regiment of infantry. With +him was his son Montagu Bertie, Lord Willoughby, a noble-looking man of +thirty-two, of whom it was said, that he was 'as excellent in reality as +others in pretence,' and that, thinking 'that the cross was an ornament +to the crown, and much more to the coronet, he satisfied not himself +with the mere exercise of virtue, but sublimated it, and made it +grace.' He had likewise seen some service against the Spaniards in +the Netherlands, and after his return had been made a captain in +the Lifeguards, and a Gentleman of the Bedchamber. Vandyke has left +portraits of the father and the son; the one a bald-headed, alert, +precise-looking old warrior, with the cuirass and gauntlets of elder +warfare; the other, the very model of a cavalier, tall, easy, and +graceful, with a gentle reflecting face, and wearing the long lovelocks +and deep point lace collar and cuffs characteristic of Queen Henrietta's +Court. Lindsay was called General-in-chief, but the King had imprudently +exempted the cavalry from his command, its general, Prince Rupert of +the Rhine, taking orders only from himself. Rupert was only three-and- +twenty, and his education in the wild school of the Thirty Years' War +had not taught him to lay aside his arrogance and opinionativeness; +indeed, he had shown great petulance at receiving orders from the King +through Lord Falkland. + +At eight o'clock, on the morning of the 23rd of October, King Charles +was riding along the ridge of Edgehill, and looking down into the Vale +of Red Horse, a fair meadow land, here and there broken by hedges and +copses. His troops were mustering around him, and in the valley he could +see with his telescope the various Parliamentary regiments, as they +poured out of the town of Keinton, and took up their positions in three +lines. 'I never saw the rebels in a body before,' he said, as he gazed +sadly at the subjects arrayed against him. 'I shall give them battle. +God, and the prayers of good men to Him, assist the justice of my +cause.' The whole of his forces, about 11,000 in number, were not +assembled till two o'clock in the afternoon, for the gentlemen who +had become officers found it no easy matter to call their farmers and +retainers together, and marshal them into any sort of order. But while +one troop after another came trampling, clanking, and shouting in, +trying to find and take their proper place, there were hot words round +the royal standard. + +Lord Lindsay, who was an old comrade of the Earl of Essex, the commander +of the rebel forces, knew that he would follow the tactics they had both +together studied in Holland, little thinking that one day they should be +arrayed one against the other in their own native England. He had a high +opinion of Essex's generalship, and insisted that the situation of the +Royal army required the utmost caution. Rupert, on the other hand, had +seen the swift fiery charges of the fierce troopers of the Thirty Years' +war, and was backed up by Patrick, Lord Ruthven, one of the many Scots +who had won honor under the great Swedish King, Gustavus Adolphus. +A sudden charge of the Royal horse would, Rupert argued, sweep the +Roundheads from the field, and the foot would have nothing to do but to +follow up the victory. The great portrait at Windsor shows us exactly +how the King must have stood, with his charger by his side, and his +grave, melancholy face, sad enough at having to fight at all with his +subjects, and never having seen a battle, entirely bewildered between +the ardent words of his spirited nephew and the grave replies of the +well-seasoned old Earl. At last, as time went on, and some decision was +necessary, the perplexed King, willing at least not to irritate Rupert, +desired that Ruthven should array the troops in the Swedish fashion. + +It was a greater affront to the General-in-chief than the king was +likely to understand, but it could not shake the old soldier's loyalty. +He gravely resigned the empty title of General, which only made +confusion worse confounded, and rode away to act as colonel of his own +Lincoln regiment, pitying his master's perplexity, and resolved that no +private pique should hinder him from doing his duty. His regiment was +of foot soldiers, and was just opposite to the standard of the Earl of +Essex. + +The church bell was ringing for afternoon service when the Royal forces +marched down the hill. The last hurried prayer before the charge was +stout old Sir Jacob Astley's, 'O Lord, Thou knowest how busy I must be +this day; if I forget Thee, do not Thou forget me;' then, rising, he +said, 'March on, boys.' And, amid prayer and exhortation, the other side +awaited the shock, as men whom a strong and deeply embittered sense of +wrong had roused to take up arms. Prince Rupert's charge was, however, +fully successful. No one even waited to cross swords with his troopers, +but all the Roundhead horse galloped headlong off the field, hotly +pursued by the Royalists. But the main body of the army stood firm, and +for some time the battle was nearly equal, until a large troop of the +enemy's cavalry who had been kept in reserve, wheeled round and fell +upon the Royal forces just when their scanty supply of ammunition was +exhausted. + +Step by step, however, they retreated bravely, and Rupert, who had +returned from his charge, sought in vain to collect his scattered +troopers, so as to fall again on the rebels; but some were plundering, +some chasing the enemy, and none could be got together. Lord Lindsay was +shot through the thigh bone, and fell. He was instantly surrounded +by the rebels on horseback; but his son, Lord Willoughby, seeing +his danger, flung himself alone among the enemy, and forcing his way +forward, raised his father in his arms thinking of nothing else, and +unheeding his own peril. The throng of enemy around called to him to +surrender, and, hastily giving up his sword, he carried the Earl into +the nearest shed, and laid him on a heap of straw, vainly striving to +staunch the blood. It was a bitterly cold night, and the frosty wind +came howling through the darkness. Far above, on the ridge of the hill, +the fires of the King's army shone with red light, and some way off on +the other side twinkled those of the Parliamentary forces. Glimmering +lanterns or torches moved about the battlefield, those of the savage +plunderers who crept about to despoil the dead. Whether the battle were +won or lost, the father and son knew not, and the guard who watched +them knew as little. Lord Lindsay himself murmured, 'If it please God +I should survive, I never will fight in the same field with boys +again!'--no doubt deeming that young Rupert had wrought all the +mischief. His thoughts were all on the cause, his son's all on him; +and piteous was that night, as the blood continued to flow, and nothing +availed to check it, nor was any aid near to restore the old man's +ebbing strength. + +Toward midnight the Earl's old comrade Essex had time to understand his +condition, and sent some officers to enquire for him, and promise speedy +surgical attendance. Lindsay was still full of spirit, and spoke to +them so strongly of their broken faith, and of the sin of disloyalty and +rebellion, that they slunk away one by one out of the hut, and dissuaded +Essex from coming himself to see his old friend, as he had intended. +The surgeon, however, arrived, but too late, Lindsay was already so much +exhausted by cold and loss of blood, that he died early in the morning +of the 24th, all his son's gallant devotion having failed to save him. + +The sorrowing son received an affectionate note the next day from the +King, full of regret for his father and esteem for himself. Charles made +every effort to obtain his exchange, but could not succeed for a whole +year. He was afterwards one of the four noblemen who, seven years later, +followed the King's white, silent, snowy funeral in the dismantled +St. George's Chapel; and from first to last he was one of the bravest, +purest, and most devoted of those who did honor to the Cavalier cause. + +We have still another brave son to describe, and for him we must return +away from these sad pages of our history, when we were a house divided +against itself, to one of the hours of our brightest glory, when the +cause we fought in was the cause of all the oppressed, and nearly alone +we upheld the rights of oppressed countries against the invader. And +thus it is that the battle of the Nile is one of the exploits to which +we look back with the greatest exultation, when we think of the triumph +of the British flag. + +Let us think of all that was at stake. Napoleon Bonaparte was climbing +to power in France, by directing her successful arms against the world. +He had beaten Germany and conquered Italy; he had threatened England, +and his dream was of the conquest of the East. Like another Alexander, +he hoped to subdue Asia, and overthrow the hated British power by +depriving it of India. Hitherto, his dreams had become earnest by the +force of his marvelous genius, and by the ardor which he breathed into +the whole French nation; and when he set sail from Toulon, with 40,000 +tried and victorious soldiers and a magnificent fleet, all were filled +with vague and unbounded expectations of almost fabulous glories. He +swept away as it were the degenerate Knights of St. john from their rock +of Malta, and sailed for Alexandria in Egypt, in the latter end of June, +1798. + +His intentions had not become known, and the English Mediterranean fleet +was watching the course of this great armament. Sir Horatio Nelson was +in pursuit, with the English vessels, and wrote to the First Lord of the +Admiralty: 'Be they bound to the Antipodes, your lordship may rely that +I will not lose a moment in bringing them to action.' + +Nelson had, however, not ships enough to be detached to reconnoitre, and +he actually overpassed the French, whom he guessed to be on the way to +Egypt; he arrived at the port of Alexandria on the 28th of June, and saw +its blue waters and flat coast lying still in their sunny torpor, as if +no enemy were on the seas. Back he went to Syracuse, but could learn no +more there; he obtained provisions with some difficulty, and then, in +great anxiety, sailed for Greece; where at last, on the 28th of July, he +learnt that the French fleet had been seen from Candia, steering to the +southeast, and about four weeks since. In fact, it had actually passed +by him in a thick haze, which concealed each fleet from the other, and +had arrived at Alexandria on the 1st of July, three days after he had +left it! + +Every sail was set for the south, and at four o'clock in the afternoon +of the 1st of August a very different sight was seen in Aboukir Bay, so +solitary a month ago. It was crowded with shipping. Great castle-like +men-of-war rose with all their proud calm dignity out of the water, +their dark port-holes opening in the white bands on their sides, and the +tricolored flag floating as their ensign. There were thirteen ships of +the line and four frigates, and, of these, three were 80-gun ships, and +one, towering high above the rest, with her three decks, was L'Orient, +of 120 guns. Look well at her, for there stands the hero for whose sake +we have chose this and no other of Nelson's glorious fights to place +among the setting of our Golden Deeds. There he is, a little cadet de +vaisseau, as the French call a midshipman, only ten years old, with a +heart swelling between awe and exultation at the prospect of his first +battle; but, fearless and glad, for is he not the son of the brave +Casabianca, the flag-captain? And is not this Admiral Brueys' own ship, +looking down in scorn on the fourteen little English ships, not one +carrying more than 74 guns, and one only 50? + +Why Napoleon had kept the fleet there was never known. In his usual +mean way of disavowing whatever turned out ill, he laid the blame upon +Admiral Brueys; but, though dead men could not tell tales, his papers +made it plain that the ships had remained in obedience to commands, +though they had not been able to enter the harbour of Alexandria. Large +rewards had been offered to any pilot who would take them in, but +none could be found who would venture to steer into that port a vessel +drawing more than twenty feet of water. They had, therefore, remained at +anchor outside, in Aboukir Bay, drawn up in a curve along the deepest +of the water, with no room to pass them at either end, so that the +commissary of the fleet reported that they could bid defiance to a force +more than double their number. The admiral believed that Nelson had +not ventured to attack him when they had passed by one another a month +before, and when the English fleet was signaled, he still supposed that +it was too late in the day for an attack to be made. + +Nelson had, however, no sooner learnt that the French were in sight than +he signaled from his ship, the Vanguard, that preparations for battle +should be made, and in the meantime summoned up his captains to receive +his orders during a hurried meal. He explained that, where there was +room for a large French ship to swing, there was room for a small +English one to anchor, and, therefore, he designed to bring his ships up +to the outer part of the French line, and station them close below their +adversary; a plan that he said Lord Hood had once designed, though he +had not carried it out. + +Captain Berry was delighted, and exclaimed, 'If we succeed, what will +the world say?' + +'There is no if in the case,' returned Nelson, 'that we shall succeed is +certain. Who may live to tell the tale is a very different question.' + +And when they rose and parted, he said, 'before this time to-morrow I +shall have gained a peerage or Westminster Abbey.' + +In the fleet went, through a fierce storm of shot and shell from a +French battery in an island in advance. Nelson's own ship, the Vanguard, +was the first to anchor within half-pistol-shot of the third French +ship, the Spartiate. The Vanguard had six colours flying, in any case +any should be shot away; and such was the fire that was directed on +her, that in a few minutes every man at the six guns in her forepart +was killed or wounded, and this happened three times. Nelson himself +received a wound in the head, which was thought at first to be mortal, +but which proved but slight. He would not allow the surgeon to leave the +sailors to attend to him till it came to his turn. + +Meantime his ships were doing their work gloriously. The Bellerophon +was, indeed, overpowered by L'Orient, 200 of her crew killed, and all +her masts and cables shot away, so that she drifted away as night +came on; but the Swiftsure came up in her place, and the Alexander and +Leander both poured in their shot. Admiral Brueys received three wounds, +but would not quit his post, and at length a fourth shot almost cut him +in two. He desired not to be carried below, but that he might die on +deck. + +About nine o'clock the ship took fire, and blazed up with fearful +brightness, lighting up the whole bay, and showing five French ships +with their colours hauled down, the others still fighting on. Nelson +himself rose and came on deck when this fearful glow came shining from +sea and sky into his cabin; and gave orders that the English boars +should immediately be put off for L'Orient, to save as many lives as +possible. + +The English sailors rowed up to the burning ship which they had lately +been attacking. The French officers listened to the offer of safety, and +called to the little favorite of the ship, the captain's son, to come +with them. 'No,' said the brave child, 'he was where his father had +stationed him, and bidden him not to move save at his call.' They told +him his father's voice would never call him again, for he lay senseless +and mortally wounded on the deck, and that the ship must blow up. 'No,' +said the brave child, 'he must obey his father.' The moment allowed no +delay the boat put off. The flames showed all that passed in a quivering +flare more intense than daylight, and the little fellow was then seen on +the deck, leaning over the prostrate figure, and presently tying it to +one of the spars of the shivered masts. + +Just then a thundering explosion shook down to the very hold every ship +in the harbour, and burning fragments of L'Orient came falling far and +wide, plashing heavily into the water, in the dead, awful stillness +that followed the fearful sound. English boats were plying busily about, +picking up those who had leapt overboard in time. Some were dragged in +through the lower portholes of the English ships, and about seventy were +saved altogether. For one moment a boat's crew had a sight of a helpless +figure bound to a spar, and guided by a little childish swimmer, who +must have gone overboard with his precious freight just before the +explosion. They rowed after the brave little fellow, earnestly desiring +to save him; but in darkness, in smoke, in lurid uncertain light, amid +hosts of drowning wretches, they lost sight of him again. + + + The boy, oh where was he! + Ask of the winds that far around +With fragments strewed the sea; With mast and helm, and pennant fair +That well had borne their part: But the noblest thing that perished there +Was that young faithful heart! + + +By sunrise the victory was complete. Nay, as Nelson said, 'It was not a +victory, but a conquest.' Only four French ships escaped, and Napoleon +and his army were cut off from home. These are the glories of our navy, +gained by men with hearts as true and obedient as that of the brave +child they had tried in vain to save. Yet still, while giving the full +meed of thankful, sympathetic honor to our noble sailors, we cannot but +feel that the Golden Deed of Aboukir Bay fell to-- + + 'That young faithful heart.' + + + + +THE SOLDIERS IN THE SNOW + +1672 + + +Few generals had ever been more loved by their soldiers than the great +Viscount de Turenne, who was Marshal of France in the time of Louis XIV. +Troops are always proud of a leader who wins victories; but Turenne was +far more loved for his generous kindness than for his successes. If he +gained a battle, he always wrote in his despatches, 'We succeeded,' so +as to give the credit to the rest of the army; but if he were defeated, +he wrote, 'I lost,' so as to take all the blame upon himself. He always +shared as much as possible in every hardship suffered by his men, and +they trusted him entirely. In the year 1672, Turenne and his army were +sent to make war upon the Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg, in +Northern Germany. It was in the depth of winter, and the marches through +the heavy roads were very trying and wearisome; but the soldiers endured +all cheerfully for his sake. Once when they were wading though a deep +morass, some of the younger soldiers complained; but the elder ones +answered, 'Depend upon it, Turenne is more concerned than we are. At +this moment he is thinking how to deliver us. He watches for us while we +sleep. He is our father. It is plain that you are but young.' + +Another night, when he was going the round of the camp, he overheard +some of the younger men murmuring at the discomforts of the march; when +an old soldier, newly recovered from a severe wound, said: 'You do not +know our father. He would not have made us go through such fatigue, +unless he had some great end in view, which we cannot yet make out.' +Turenne always declared that nothing had ever given him more pleasure +than this conversation. + +There was a severe sickness among the troops, and he went about among +the sufferers, comforting them, and seeing that their wants were +supplied. When he passed by, the soldiers came out of their tents to +look at him, and say, 'Our father is in good health: we have nothing to +fear.' + +The army had to enter the principality of Halberstadt, the way to +which lay over ridges of high hills with narrow defiles between them. +Considerable time was required for the whole of the troops to march +through a single narrow outlet; and one very cold day, when such a +passage was taking place, the Marshal, quite spent with fatigue, sat +down under a bush to wait till all had marched by, and fell asleep. When +he awoke, it was snowing fast; but he found himself under a sort of tent +made of soldiers' cloaks, hung up upon the branches of trees planted +in the ground, and round it were standing, in the cold and snow, all +unsheltered, a party of soldiers. Turenne called out to them, to ask +what they were doing there. 'We are taking care of our father,' they +said; 'that is our chief concern.' The general, to keep up discipline, +seems to have scolded them a little for straggling from their regiment; +but he was much affected and gratified by this sight of their hearty +love for him. + +Still greater and more devoted love was shown by some German soldiers +in the terrible winter of 1812. It was when the Emperor Napoleon I. had +made his vain attempt to conquer Russia, and had been prevented from +spending the winter at Moscow by the great fire that consumed all the +city. He was obliged to retreat through the snow, with the Russian army +pursuing him, and his miserable troops suffering horrors beyond all +imagination. Among them were many Italians, Poles, and Germans, whom he +had obliged to become his allies; and the 'Golden Deed' of ten of these +German soldiers, the last remnant of those led from Hesse Darmstadt +by their gallant young Prince Emilius, is best told in Lord Houghton's +verses:-- + + +'From Hessen Darmstadt every step to Moskwa's blazing banks, Was Prince +Emilius found in flight before the foremost ranks; And when upon the +icy waste that host was backward cast, On Beresina's bloody bridge his +banner waved the last. + +'His valor shed victorious grace on all that dread retreat--That +path across the wildering snow, athwart the blinding sleet; And every +follower of his sword could all endure and dare, Becoming warriors, +strong in hope, or stronger in despair. 'Now, day and dark, along the +storm the demon Cossacks sweep--The hungriest must not look for food, +the weariest must not sleep. No rest but death for horse or man, +whichever first shall tire; They see the flames destroy, but ne'er may +feel the saving fire. 'Thus never closed the bitter night, nor rose the +salvage morn, But from the gallant company some noble part was shorn; +And, sick at heart, the Prince resolved to keep his purposed way With +steadfast forward looks, nor count the losses of the day. + +'At length beside a black, burnt hut, an island of the snow, Each head +in frigid torpor bent toward the saddle bow; They paused, and of that +sturdy troop--that thousand banded men--At one unmeditated glance he +numbered only ten! + +'Of all that high triumphant life that left his German home--Of all +those hearts that beat beloved, or looked for love to come--This piteous +remnant, hardly saved, his spirit overcame, While memory raised each +friendly face, recalled an ancient name. + +'These were his words, serene and firm, 'Dear brothers, it is best That +here, with perfect trust in Heaven, we give our bodies rest; If we have +borne, like faithful men, our part of toil and pain, Where'er we wake, +for Christ's good sake, we shall not sleep in vain.' + +'Some uttered, others looked assent--they had no heart to speak; Dumb +hands were pressed, the pallid lip approached the callous cheek. They +laid them side by side; and death to him at last did seem To come +attired in mazy robe of variegated dream. + +'Once more he floated on the breast of old familiar Rhine, His mother's +and one other smile above him seemed to shine; A blessed dew of healing +fell on every aching limb; Till the stream broadened, and the air +thickened, and all was dim. + +'Nature has bent to other laws if that tremendous night Passed o'er his +frame, exposed and worn, and left no deadly blight; Then wonder not that +when, refresh'd and warm, he woke at last, There lay a boundless gulf of +thought between him and the past. + +'Soon raising his astonished head, he found himself alone, Sheltered +beneath a genial heap of vestments not his own; The light increased, +the solemn truth revealing more and more, The soldiers' corses, +self-despoiled, closed up the narrow door. + +'That every hour, fulfilling good, miraculous succor came, And Prince +Emilius lived to give this worthy deed to fame. O brave fidelity in +death! O strength of loving will! These are the holy balsam drops that +woeful wars distil.' + + + + +GUNPOWDER PERILS + +1700 + + +The wild history of Ireland contains many a frightful tale, but also +many an action of the noblest order; and the short sketch given by Maria +Edgeworth of her ancestry, presents such a chequerwork of the gold and +the lead that it is almost impossible to separate them. + +At the time of the great Irish rebellion of 1641 the head of the +Edgeworth family had left his English wife and her infant son at his +castle of Cranallagh in county Longford, thinking them safe there while +he joined the royal forces under the Earl of Ormond. In his absence, +however, the rebels attacked the castle at night, set fire to it, and +dragged the lady out absolutely naked. She hid herself under a furze +bush, and succeeded in escaping and reaching Dublin, whence she made her +way to her father's house in Derbyshire. Her little son was found by the +rebels lying in his cradle, and one of them actually seized the child +by the leg and was about to dash out his brains against the wall; but a +servant named Bryan Ferral, pretending to be even more ferocious, vowed +that a sudden death was too good for the little heretic, and that he +should be plunged up to the throat in a bog-hole and left for the crows +to pick out his eyes. He actually did place the poor child in the bog, +but only to save his life; he returned as soon as he could elude his +comrades, put the boy into a pannier below eggs and chickens, and thus +carried him straight though the rebel camp to his mother at Dublin. +Strange to say, these rebels, who thought being dashed against the wall +too good a fate for the infant, extinguished the flames of the castle +out of reverence for the picture of his grandmother, who had been a +Roman Catholic, and was painted on a panel with a cross on her bosom and +a rosary in her hand. + +John Edgeworth, the boy thus saved, married very young, and went with +his wife to see London after the Restoration. To pay their expenses they +mortgaged an estate and put the money in a stocking, which they kept +on the top of the bed; and when that store was used up, the young man +actually sold a house in Dublin to buy a high-crowned hat and feathers. +Still, reckless and improvident as they were, there was sound principle +within them, and though they were great favorites, and Charles II. +insisted on knighting the husband, their glimpse of the real evils and +temptations of his Court sufficed them, and in the full tide of flattery +and admiration the lady begged to return home, nor did she ever go back +to Court again. + +Her home was at Castle Lissard, in full view of which was a hillock +called Fairymount, or Firmont, from being supposed to be the haunt of +fairies. Lights, noises, and singing at night, clearly discerned from +the castle, caused much terror to Lady Edgeworth, though her descendants +affirm that they were fairies of the same genus as those who beset Sir +John Falstaff at Hearne's oak, and intended to frighten her into leaving +the place. However, though her nerves might be disturbed, her spirit was +not to be daunted; and, fairies or no fairies, she held her ground +at Castle Lissard, and there showed what manner of woman she was in a +veritable and most fearful peril. + +On some alarm which caused the gentlemen of the family to take down +their guns, she went to a dark loft at the top of the house to fetch +some powder from a barrel that was there kept in store, taking a young +maid-servant to carry the candle; which, as might be expected in +an Irish household of the seventeenth century, was devoid of any +candlestick. After taking the needful amount of gunpowder, Lady +Edgeworth locked the door, and was halfway downstairs when she missed +the candle, and asking the girl what she had done with it, received the +cool answer that 'she had left it sticking in the barrel of black salt'. +Lady Edgeworth bade her stand still, turned round, went back alone to +the loft where the tallow candle stood guttering and flaring planted in +the middle of the gunpowder, resolutely put an untrembling hand beneath +it, took it out so steadily that no spark fell, carried it down, and +when she came to the bottom of the stairs dropped on her knees, and +broke forth in a thanksgiving aloud for the safety of the household in +this frightful peril. This high-spirited lady lived to be ninety years +old, and left a numerous family. One grandson was the Abbe Edgeworth, +known in France as De Firmont, such being the alteration of Fairymount +on French lips. It was he who, at the peril of his own life, attended +Louis XVI. to the guillotine, and thus connected his name so closely +with the royal cause that when his cousin Richard Lovell Edgeworth, of +Edgeworths-town, visited France several years after, the presence of a +person so called was deemed perilous to the rising power of Napoleon. +This latter Mr. Edgeworth was the father of Maria, whose works we hope +are well known to our young readers. + +The good Chevalier Bayard was wont to mourn over the introduction of +firearms, as destructive of chivalry; and certainly the steel-clad +knight, with barbed steed, and sword and lance, has disappeared from +the battle-field; but his most essential qualities, truth, honor, +faithfulness, mercy, and self-devotion, have not disappeared with +him, nor can they as long as Christian men and women bear in mind that +'greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his +friend'. + +And that terrible compound, gunpowder, has been the occasion of many +another daring deed, requiring desperate resolution, to save others at +the expense of a death perhaps more frightful to the imagination than +any other. Listen to a story of the King's birthday in Jersey 'sixty +years since'--in 1804, when that 4th of June that Eton boys delight in, +was already in the forty-fourth year of its observance in honor of the +then reigning monarch, George III. + +All the forts in the island had done due honor to the birthday of His +Majesty, who was then just recovered from an attack of insanity. In each +the guns at noon-day thundered out their royal salute, the flashes had +answered one another, and the smoke had wreathed itself away over the +blue sea of Jersey. The new fort on the hill just above the town of St. +Heliers had contributed its share to the loyal thunders, and then it +was shut up, and the keys carried away by Captain Salmon, the artillery +officer on guard there, locking up therein 209 barrels of gunpowder, +with a large supply of bombshells, and every kind of ammunition such as +might well be needed in the Channel islands the year before Lord Nelson +had freed England from the chance of finding the whole French army on +our coast in the flat-bottomed boats that were waiting at Boulogne for +the dark night that never came. + +At six o'clock in the evening, Captain Salmon went to dine with the +other officers in St. Heliers and to drink the King's health, when the +soldiers on guard beheld a cloud of smoke curling out at the air-hole +at the end of the magazine. Shouting 'fire', they ran away to avoid an +explosion that would have shattered them to pieces, and might perhaps +endanger the entire town of St. Heliers. Happily their shout was heard +by a man of different mould. Lieutenant Lys, the signal officer, was +in the watch-house on the hill, and coming out he saw the smoke, and +perceived the danger. Two brothers, named Thomas and Edward Touzel, +carpenters, and the sons of an old widow, had come up to take down a +flagstaff that had been raised in honor of the day, and Mr. Lys ordered +them to hasten to the town to inform the commander-in-chief, and get the +keys from Captain Salmon. + +Thomas went, and endeavored to persuade his brother to accompany him +from the heart of the danger; but Edward replied that he must die some +day or other, and that he would do his best to save the magazine, and he +tried to stop some of the runaway soldiers to assist. One refused; but +another, William Ponteney, of the 3rd, replied that he was ready to die +with him, and they shook hands. + +Edward Touzel then, by the help of a wooden bar and an axe, broke open +the door of the fort, and making his way into it, saw the state of the +case, and shouted to Mr. Lys on the outside, 'the magazine is on fire, +it will blow up, we must lose our lives; but no matter, huzza for the +King! We must try and save it.' He then rushed into the flame, and +seizing the matches, which were almost burnt out (probably splinters of +wood tipped with brimstone), he threw them by armfuls to Mr. Lys and +the soldier Ponteney, who stood outside and received them. Mr. Lys saw a +cask of water near at hand; but there was nothing to carry the water in +but an earthen pitcher, his own hat and the soldier's. These, however, +they filled again and again, and handed to Touzel, who thus extinguished +all the fire he could see; but the smoke was so dense, that he worked in +horrible doubt and obscurity, almost suffocated, and with his face and +hands already scorched. The beams over his head were on fire, large +cases containing powder horns had already caught, and an open barrel +of gunpowder was close by, only awaiting the fall of a single brand +to burst into a fatal explosion. Touzel called out to entreat for some +drink to enable him to endure the stifling, and Mr. Lys handed him some +spirits-and-water, which he drank, and worked on; but by this time the +officers had heard the alarm, dispelled the panic among the soldiers, +and come to the rescue. The magazine was completely emptied, and the +last smoldering sparks extinguished; but the whole of the garrison and +citizens felt that they owed their lives to the three gallant men to +whose exertions alone under Providence, it was owing that succor did +not come too late. Most of all was honor due to Edward Touzel, who, as +a civilian, might have turned his back upon the peril without any blame; +nay, could even have pleaded Mr. Lys' message as a duty, but who had +instead rushed foremost into what he believe was certain death. + +A meeting was held in the church of St. Heliers to consider of a +testimonial of gratitude to these three brave men (it is to be hoped +that thankfulness to an overruling Providence was also manifested +there), when 500l. was voted to Mr. Lys, who was the father of a large +family; 300l. to Edward Touzel; and William Ponteney received, at his +own request, a life annuity of 20l. and a gold medal, as he declared +that he had rather continue to serve the King as a soldier than be +placed in any other course of life. + +In that same year (1804) the same daring endurance and heroism were +evinced by the officers of H.M.S. Hindostan, where, when on the way +from Gibraltar to join Nelson's fleet at Toulon, the cry of 'Fire!' was +heard, and dense smoke rose from the lower decks, so as to render it +nearly impossible to detect the situation of the fire. Again and again +Lieutenants Tailour and Banks descended, and fell down senseless from +the stifling smoke; then were carried on deck, recovered in the free +air, and returned to vain endeavor of clearing the powder-room. But no +man could long preserve his faculties in the poisonous atmosphere, and +the two lieutenants might be said to have many deaths from it. At last +the fire gained so much head, that it was impossible to save the vessel, +which had in the meantime been brought into the Bay of Rosas, and was +near enough to land to enable the crew to escape in boats, after having +endured the fire six hours. Nelson himself wrote: 'The preservation of +the crew seems little short of a miracle. I never read such a journal of +exertions in my life.' + +Eight years after, on the taking of Ciudad Rodrigo, in 1812, by the +British army under Wellington, Captain William Jones, of the 52nd +Regiment, having captured a French officer, employed his prisoner +in pointing out quarters for his men. The Frenchman could not speak +English, and Captain Jones--a fiery Welshman, whom it was the fashion +in the regiment to term 'Jack Jones'--knew no French; but dumb show +supplied the want of language, and some of the company were lodged in +a large store pointed out by the Frenchman, who then led the way to a +church, near which Lord Wellington and his staff were standing. But no +sooner had the guide stepped into the building than he started back, +crying, 'Sacre bleu!' and ran out in the utmost alarm. The Welsh +captain, however, went on, and perceived that the church had been used +as a powder-magazine by the French; barrels were standing round, samples +of their contents lay loosely scattered on the pavement, and in +the midst was a fire, probably lighted by some Portuguese soldiers. +Forthwith Captain Jones and the sergeant entered the church, took up the +burning embers brand by brand, bore them safe over the scattered powder, +and out of the church, and thus averted what might have been the most +terrific disaster that could have befallen our army. [Footnote: The +story has been told with some variation, as to whether it was the embers +or a barrel of powder that he and the sergeant removed. In the Record of +the 52d it is said to have been the latter; but the tradition the author +has received from officers of the regiment distinctly stated that it was +the burning brands, and that the scene was a reserve magazine--not, as +in the brief mention in Sir William Napier's History, the great magazine +of the town.] + +Our next story of this kind relates to a French officer, Monsieur +Mathieu Martinel, adjutant of the 1st Cuirassiers. In 1820 there was a +fire in the barracks at Strasburg, and nine soldiers were lying sick and +helpless above a room containing a barrel of gunpowder and a thousand +cartridges. Everyone was escaping, but Martinel persuaded a few men to +return into the barracks with him, and hurried up the stairs through +smoke and flame that turned back his companions. He came alone to the +door of a room close to that which contained the powder, but found it +locked. Catching up a bench, he beat the door in, and was met by such a +burst of fire as had almost driven him away; but, just as he was about +to descend, he thought that, when the flames reached the powder, the +nine sick men must infallibly be blown up, and returning to the charge, +he dashed forward, with eyes shut, through the midst, and with face, +hands, hair, and clothes singed and burnt, he made his way to the +magazine, in time to tear away, and throw to a distance from the powder, +the mass of paper in which the cartridges were packed, which was just +about to ignite, and appearing at the window, with loud shouts for +water, thus showed the possibility of penetrating to the magazine, and +floods of water were at once directed to it, so as to drench the powder, +and thus save the men. + +This same Martinel had shortly before thrown himself into the River Ill, +without waiting to undress, to rescue a soldier who had fallen in, so +near a water mill, that there was hardly a chance of life for either. +Swimming straight towards the mill dam, Martinel grasped the post of the +sluice with one arm, and with the other tried to arrest the course of +the drowning man, who was borne by a rapid current towards the mill +wheel; and was already so far beneath the surface, that Martinel could +not reach him without letting go of the post. Grasping the inanimate +body, he actually allowed himself to be carried under the mill wheel, +without loosing his hold, and came up immediately after on the other +side, still able to bring the man to land, in time for his suspended +animation to be restored. + +Seventeen years afterwards, when the regiment was at Paris, there was, +on the night of the 14th of June, 1837, during the illuminations at +the wedding festival of the Duke and Duchess of Orleans, one of those +frightful crushes that sometimes occur in an ill-regulated crowd, +when there is some obstruction in the way, and there is nothing but a +horrible blind struggling and trampling, violent and fatal because of +its very helplessness and bewilderment. The crowd were trying to +leave the Champ de Mars, where great numbers had been witnessing some +magnificent fireworks, and had blocked up the passage leading out by the +Military College. A woman fell down in a fainting fit, others stumbled +over her, and thus formed an obstruction, which, being unknown to those +in the rear, did not prevent them from forcing forward the persons in +front, so that they too were pushed and trodden down into one frightful, +struggling, suffocating mass of living and dying men, women, and +children, increasing every moment. + +M. Martinel was passing, on his way to his quarters, when, hearing the +tumult, he ran to the gate from the other side, and meeting the crowd +tried by shouts and entreaties to persuade them to give back, but the +hindmost could not hear him, and the more frightened they grew, the more +they tried to hurry home, and so made the heap worse and worse, and +in the midst an illuminated yew-tree, in a pot, was upset, and further +barred the way. Martinel, with imminent danger to himself, dragged out +one or two persons; but finding his single efforts almost useless among +such numbers, he ran to the barracks, sounded to horse, and without +waiting till his men could be got together, hurried off again on foot, +with a few of his comrades, and dashed back into the crowd, struggling +as vehemently to penetrate to the scene of danger, as many would have +done to get away from it. + +Private Spenlee alone kept up with him, and, coming to the dreadful +heap, these two labored to free the passage, lift up the living, and +remove the dead. First he dragged out an old man in a fainting fit, then +a young soldier, next a boy, a woman, a little girl--he carried them to +freer air, and came back the next moment, though often so nearly pulled +down by the frantic struggles of the terrified stifled creatures, that +he was each moment in the utmost peril of being trampled to death. He +carried out nine persons one by one; Spenlee brought out a man and +a child; and his brother officers, coming up, took their share. One +lieutenant, with a girl in a swoon in his arms, caused a boy to be put +on his back, and under this double burthen was pushing against the crowd +for half and hour, till at length he fell, and was all but killed. + +A troop of cuirassiers had by this time mounted, and through the Champ +de Mars came slowly along, step by step, their horses moving as gently +and cautiously as if they knew their work. Everywhere, as they advanced, +little children were held up to them out of the throng to be saved, and +many of their chargers were loaded with the little creatures, perched +before and behind the kind soldiers. With wonderful patience and +forbearance, they managed to insert themselves and their horses, first +in single file, then two by two, then more abreast, like a wedge, into +the press, until at last they formed a wall, cutting off the crowd +behind from the mass in the gateway, and thus preventing the encumbrance +from increasing. The people came to their senses, and went off to other +gates, and the crowd diminishing, it became possible to lift up the many +unhappy creatures, who lay stifling or crushed in the heap. They were +carried into the barracks, the cuirassiers hurried to bring their +mattresses to lay them on in the hall, brought them water, linen, all +they could want, and were as tender to them as sisters of charity, till +they were taken to the hospitals or to their homes. Martinel, who was +the moving spirit in this gallant rescue, received in the following year +one of M. Monthyon's prizes for the greatest acts of virtue that could +be brought to light. + +Nor among the gallant actions of which powder has been the cause should +be omitted that of Lieutenant Willoughby, who, in the first dismay of +the mutiny in India, in 1858, blew up the great magazine at Delhi, +with all the ammunition that would have armed the sepoys even yet more +terribly against ourselves. The 'Golden Deed' was one of those capable +of no earthly meed, for it carried the brave young officer where alone +there is true reward; and all the Queen and country could do in his +honor was to pension his widowed mother, and lay up his name among those +that stir the heart with admiration and gratitude. + + + + +HEROES OF THE PLAGUE + +1576--1665--1721 + + +When our Litany entreats that we may be delivered from 'plague, +pestilence, and famine', the first of these words bears a special +meaning, which came home with strong and painful force to European minds +at the time the Prayer Book was translated, and for the whole following +century. + +It refers to the deadly sickness emphatically called 'the plague', a +typhoid fever exceedingly violent and rapid, and accompanied with a +frightful swelling either under the arm or on the corresponding part of +the thigh. The East is the usual haunt of this fatal complaint, which +some suppose to be bred by the marshy, unwholesome state of Egypt after +the subsidence of the waters of the Nile, and which generally prevails +in Egypt and Syria until its course is checked either by the cold of +winter or the heat in summer. At times this disease has become unusually +malignant and infectious, and then has come beyond its usual boundaries +and made its way over all the West. These dreadful visitations were +rendered more frequent by total disregard of all precautions, and +ignorance of laws for preserving health. People crowded together in +towns without means of obtaining sufficient air or cleanliness, and thus +were sure to be unhealthy; and whenever war or famine had occasioned +more than usual poverty, some frightful epidemic was sure to follow in +its train, and sweep away the poor creatures whose frames were already +weakened by previous privation. And often this 'sore judgment' was that +emphatically called the plague; and especially during the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries, a time when war had become far more cruel and +mischievous in the hands of hired regiments than ever it had been with a +feudal army, and when at the same time increasing trade was filling the +cities with more closely packed inhabitants, within fortifications that +would not allow the city to expand in proportion to its needs. It +has been only the establishment of the system of quarantine which has +succeeded in cutting off the course of infection by which the plague was +wont to set out on its frightful travels from land to land, from city to +city. + +The desolation of a plague-stricken city was a sort of horrible dream. +Every infected house was marked with a red cross, and carefully closed +against all persons, except those who were charged to drive carts +through the streets to collect the corpses, ringing a bell as they went. +These men were generally wretched beings, the lowest and most reckless +of the people, who undertook their frightful task for the sake of the +plunder of the desolate houses, and wound themselves up by intoxicating +drinks to endure the horrors. The bodies were thrown into large +trenches, without prayer or funeral rites, and these were hastily closed +up. Whole families died together, untended save by one another, with no +aid of a friendly hand to give drink or food; and, in the Roman Catholic +cities, the perishing without a priest to administer the last rites of +the Church was viewed as more dreadful than death itself. + +Such visitations as these did indeed prove whether the pastors of the +afflicted flock were shepherds or hirelings. So felt, in 1576, Cardinal +Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, the worthiest of all the successors +of St. Ambrose, when he learnt at Lodi that the plague had made its +appearance in his city, where, remarkably enough, there had lately been +such licentious revelry that he had solemnly warned the people that, +unless they repented, they would certainly bring on themselves the wrath +of heaven. His council of clergy advised him to remain in some healthy +part of his diocese till the sickness should have spent itself, but he +replied that a Bishop, whose duty it is to give his life for his sheep, +could not rightly abandon them in time of peril. They owned that to +stand by them was the higher course. 'Well,' he said, 'is it not a +Bishop's duty to choose the higher course?' + +So back into the town of deadly sickness he went, leading the people +to repent, and watching over them in their sufferings, visiting the +hospitals, and, by his own example, encouraging his clergy in carrying +spiritual consolation to the dying. All the time the plague lasted, +which was four months, his exertions were fearless and unwearied, and +what was remarkable was, that of his whole household only two died, and +they were persons who had not been called to go about among the sick. +Indeed, some of the rich who had repaired to a villa, where they spent +their time in feasting and amusement in the luxurious Italian fashion, +were there followed by the pestilence, and all perished; their dainty +fare and the excess in which they indulged having no doubt been as bad a +preparation as the poverty of the starving people in the city. + +The strict and regular life of the Cardinal and his clergy, and their +home in the spacious palace, were, no doubt, under Providence, a +preservative; but, in the opinions of the time, there was little +short of a miracle in the safety of one who daily preached in the +cathedral,--bent over the beds of the sick, giving them food and +medicine, hearing their confessions, and administering the last rites of +the Church,--and then braving the contagion after death, rather than let +the corpses go forth unblest to their common grave. Nay, so far was he +from seeking to save his own life, that, kneeling before the altar in +the cathedral, he solemnly offered himself, like Moses, as a sacrifice +for his people. But, like Moses, the sacrifice was passed by--'it cost +more to redeem their souls'--and Borromeo remained untouched, as did the +twenty-eight priests who voluntarily offered themselves to join in his +labors. + +No wonder that the chief memories that haunt the glorious white marble +cathedral of Milan are those of St. Ambrose, who taught mercy to an +emperor, and of St. Carlo Borromeo, who practiced mercy on a people. + +It was a hundred years later that the greatest and last visitation of +the plague took place in London. Doubtless the scourge called forth--as +in Christian lands such judgments always do--many an act of true and +blessed self-devotion; but these are not recorded, save where they +have their reward: and the tale now to be told is of one of the small +villages to which the infection spread--namely, Eyam, in Derbyshire. + +This is a lovely place between Buxton and Chatsworth, perched high on a +hillside, and shut in by another higher mountain--extremely beautiful, +but exactly one of those that, for want of free air, always become the +especial prey of infection. At that time lead works were in operation +in the mountains, and the village was thickly inhabited. Great was the +dismay of the villagers when the family of a tailor, who had received +some patterns of cloth from London, showed symptoms of the plague in its +most virulent form, sickening and dying in one day. + +The rector of the parish, the Rev. William Mompesson, was still a young +man, and had been married only a few years. His wife, a beautiful young +woman, only twenty-seven years old, was exceedingly terrified at the +tidings from the village, and wept bitterly as she implored her husband +to take her, and her little George and Elizabeth, who were three and +fours years old, away to some place of safety. But Mr. Mompesson gravely +showed her that it was his duty not to forsake his flock in their hour +of need, and began at once to make arrangements for sending her and the +children away. She saw he was right in remaining, and ceased to urge him +to forsake his charge; but she insisted that if he ought not to desert +his flock, his wife ought not to leave him; and she wept and entreated +so earnestly, that he at length consented that she should be with him, +and that only the two little ones should be removed while yet there was +time. + +Their father and mother parted with the little ones as treasures that +they might never see again. At the same time Mr. Mompesson wrote +to London for the most approved medicines and prescriptions; and he +likewise sent a letter to the Earl of Devonshire, at Chatsworth, to +engage that his parishioners should exclude themselves from the +whole neighborhood, and thus confine the contagion within their own +boundaries, provided the Earl would undertake that food, medicines, +and other necessaries, should be placed at certain appointed spots, at +regular times, upon the hills around, where the Eyamites might +come, leave payment for them, and take them up, without holding any +communication with the bringers, except by letters, which could be +placed on a stone, and then fumigated, or passed through vinegar, before +they were touched with the hand. To this the Earl consented, and for +seven whole months the engagement was kept. + +Mr. Mompesson represented to his people that, with the plague once among +them, it would be so unlikely that they should not carry infection about +with them, that it would be selfish cruelty to other places to try to +escape amongst them, and thus spread the danger. So rocky and wild was +the ground around them, that, had they striven to escape, a regiment of +soldiers could not have prevented them. But of their own free will they +attended to their rector's remonstrance, and it was not known that one +parishoner of Eyam passed the boundary all that time, nor was there a +single case of plague in any of the villages around. + +The assembling of large congregations in churches had been thought to +increase the infection in London, and Mr. Mompesson, therefore, thought +it best to hold his services out-of-doors. In the middle of the village +is a dell, suddenly making a cleft in the mountain-side, only five yards +wide at the bottom, which is the pebble bed of a wintry torrent, but is +dry in the summer. On the side towards the village, the slope upwards +was of soft green turf, scattered with hazel, rowan, and alder bushes, +and full of singing birds. On the other side, the ascent was nearly +perpendicular, and composed of sharp rocks, partly adorned with bushes +and ivy, and here and there rising up in fantastic peaks and archways, +through which the sky could be seen from below. One of these rocks was +hollow, and could be entered from above--a natural gallery, leading to +an archway opening over the precipice; and this Mr. Mompesson chose +for his reading-desk and pulpit. The dell was so narrow, that his +voice could clearly be heard across it, and his congregation arranged +themselves upon the green slop opposite, seated or kneeling upon the +grass. + +On Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays arose the earnest voice of prayer +from that rocky glen, the people's response meeting the pastor's voice; +and twice on Sundays he preached to them the words of life and hope. +It was a dry, hot summer; fain would they have seen thunder and rain +to drive away their enemy; and seldom did weather break in on the +regularity of these service. But there was another service that the +rector had daily to perform; not in his churchyard--that would have +perpetuated the infection--but on a healthy hill above the village. +There he daily read of 'the Resurrection and the Life', and week by +week the company on the grassy slope grew fewer and scantier. His +congregation were passing from the dell to the healthy mound. + +Day and night the rector and his wife were among the sick, nursing, +feeding, and tending them with all that care and skill could do; but, +in spite of all their endeavors, only a fifth part of the whole of their +inhabitants lived to spend the last Sunday in Cucklet Church, as the +dell is still called. Mrs. Mompesson had persuaded her husband to have +a wound made in his leg, fancying that this would lessen the danger of +infection, and he yielded in order to satisfy her. His health endured +perfectly, but she began to waste under her constant exertions, and her +husband feared that he saw symptoms of consumption; but she was full of +delight at some appearances in his wound that made her imagine that it +had carried off the disease, and that his danger was over. + +A few days after, she sickened with symptoms of the plague, and +her frame was so weakened that she sank very quickly. She was often +delirious; but when she was too much exhausted to endure the exertion of +taking cordials, her husband entreated her to try for their children's +sake, she lifted herself up and made the endeavor. She lay peacefully, +saying, 'she was but looking for the good hour to come', and calmly +died, making the responses to her husband's prayers even to the last. +Her he buried in the churchyard, and fenced the grave in afterwards +with iron rails. There are two beautiful letters from him written on her +death--one to his little children, to be kept and read when they would +be old enough to understand it; the other to his patron, Sir George +Saville, afterwards Lord Halifax. 'My drooping spirits', he says, 'are +much refreshed with her joys, which I assure myself are unutterable.' He +wrote both these letters in the belief that he should soon follow her, +speaking of himself to Sir George as 'his dying chaplain', commending +to him his 'distressed orphans', and begging that a 'humble pious man' +might be chosen to succeed him in his parsonage. 'Sire, I thank God +that I am willing to shake hands in peace with all the world; and I have +comfortable assurance that He will accept me for the sake of His +Son, and I find God more good than ever I imagined, and wish that his +goodness were not so much abused and contemned', writes the widowed +pastor, left alone among his dying flock. And he concludes, 'and with +tears I entreat that when you are praying for fatherless and motherless +infants, you would then remember my two pretty babes'. + +These two letters were written on the last day of August and first of +September, 1666; but on the 20th of November, Mr. Mompesson was writing +to his uncle, in the lull after the storm. 'The condition of this place +hath been so dreadful, that I persuade myself it exceedeth all history +and example. I may truly say our town has become a Golgotha, a place of +skulls; and had there not been a small remnant of us left, we had been +as Sodom, and like unto Gomorrah. My ears never heard such doleful +lamentations, my nose never smelt such noisome smells, and my eyes never +beheld such ghastly spectacles. Here have been seventy-six families +visited within my parish, out of which died 259 persons.' + +However, since the 11th of October there had been no fresh cases, and he +was now burning all woolen cloths, lest the infection should linger in +them. He himself had never been touched by the complaint, nor had his +maid-servant; his man had had it but slightly. Mr. Mompesson lived many +more years, was offered the Deanery of Lincoln, but did not accept it, +and died in 1708. So virulent was the contagion that, ninety-one years +after, in 1757, when five laboring men, who were digging up land near +the plague-graves for a potato-garden, came upon what appeared to be +some linen, though they buried it again directly, they all sickened with +typhus fever, three of them died, and it was so infectious that no less +than seventy persons in the parish were carried off. + +The last of these remarkable visitations of the plague, properly so +called, was at Marseilles, in 1721. It was supposed to have been brought +by a vessel which sailed from Seyde, in the bay of Tunis, on the 31st of +January, 1720, which had a clean bill of health when it anchored off +the Chateau d'If, at Marseilles, on the 25th of May; but six of the crew +were found to have died on the voyage, and the persons who handled the +freight also died, though, it was said, without any symptoms of the +plague, and the first cases were supposed to be of the fevers caused +by excessive poverty and crowding. The unmistakable Oriental plague, +however, soon began to spread in the city among the poorer population, +and in truth the wars and heavy expenses of Louis XIV. had made poverty +in France more wretched than ever before, and the whole country was like +one deadly sore, festering, and by and by to come to a fearful crisis. +Precautions were taken, the infected families were removed to the +infirmaries and their houses walled up, but all this was done at night +in order not to excite alarm. The mystery, however, made things more +terrible to the imagination, and this was a period of the utmost +selfishness. All the richer inhabitants who had means of quitting the +city, and who were the very people who could have been useful +there, fled with one accord. Suddenly the lazaretto was left without +superintendents, the hospitals without stewards; the judges, public +officers, notaries, and most of the superior workmen in the most +necessary trades were all gone. Only the Provost and four municipal +officers remained, with 1,100 livres in their treasury, in the midst of +an entirely disorganized city, and an enormous population without +work, without restraint, without food, and a prey to the deadliest of +diseases. + +The Parliament which still survived in the ancient kingdom of Provence +signalized itself by retreating to a distance, and on the 31st of May +putting out a decree that nobody should pass a boundary line round +Marseilles on pain of death; but considering what people were trying to +escape from, and the utter overthrow of all rule and order, this penalty +was not likely to have much effect, and the plague was carried by +the fugitives to Arles, Aix, Toulon, and sixty-three lesser towns and +villages. What a contrast to Mr. Mompesson's moral influence! + +Horrible crimes were committed. Malefactors were released from the +prisons and convicts from the galleys, and employed for large payment +to collect the corpses and carry the sick to the infirmaries. Of course +they could only be wrought up to such work by intoxication and unlimited +opportunities of plunder, and their rude treatment both of the dead and +of the living sufferers added unspeakably to the general wretchedness. +To be carried to the infirmary was certain death,--no one lived in that +heap of contagion; and even this shelter was not always to be had,--some +of the streets were full of dying creatures who had been turned out of +their houses and could crawl no farther. + +What was done to alleviate all these horrors? It was in the minority of +Louis XV., and the Regent Duke of Orleans, easy, good-natured man that +he was, sent 22,000 marks to the relief of the city, all in silver, for +paper money was found to spread the infection more than anything else. +He also sent a great quantity of corn, and likewise doctors for the +sick, and troops to shut in the infected district. The Pope, Clement +XI., sent spiritual blessings to the sufferers, and, moreover, three +shiploads of wheat. The Regent's Prime Minister, the Abbe Dubois, the +shame of his Church and country, fancied that to send these supplies +cast a slight upon his administration, and desired his representative at +Rome to prevent the sailing of the ships, but his orders were not, for +very shame, carried out, and the vessels set out. On their way they were +seized by a Moorish corsair, who was more merciful than Dubois, for he +no sooner learnt their destination than he let them go unplundered. + +And in the midst of the misery there were bright lights 'running to and +fro among the stubble'. The Provost and his five remaining officers, and +a gentleman call Le Chevalier Rose, did their utmost in the bravest +and most unselfish way to help the sufferers, distribute food, provide +shelter, restrain the horrors perpetrated by the sick in their ravings, +and provide for the burial of the dead. And the clergy were all devoted +to the task of mercy. There was only one convent, that of St. Victor, +where the gates were closed against all comers in the hope of shutting +out infection. Every other monastic establishment freely devoted itself. +It was a time when party spirit ran high. The bishop, Henri Francois +Xavier de Belzunce, a nephew of the Duke de Lauzun, was a strong +and rigid Jesuit, and had joined so hotly in the persecution of the +Jansenists that he had forbidden the brotherhood called Oratorian +fathers to hear confessions, because he suspected them of a leaning to +Jansenist opinions; but he and they both alike worked earnestly in the +one cause of mercy. They were content to obey his prejudiced edict, +since he was in lawful authority, and threw themselves heartily into the +lower and more disdained services to the sick, as nurses and tenders of +the body alone, not of the soul, and in this work their whole community, +Superior and all, perished, almost without exception. Perhaps these men, +thus laying aside hurt feeling and sense of injustice, were the greatest +conquerors of all whose golden deeds we have described. + +Bishop Belzunce himself, however, stands as the prominent figure in +the memory of those dreadful five months. He was a man of commanding +stature, towering above all around him, and his fervent sermons, aided +by his example of severe and strict piety, and his great charities, +had greatly impressed the people. He now went about among the plague- +stricken, attending to their wants, both spiritual and temporal, and +sold or mortgaged all his property to obtain relief for them, and he +actually went himself in the tumbrils of corpses to give them the rites +of Christian burial. His doings closely resembled those of Cardinal +Borromeo, and like him he had recourse to constant preaching of +repentance, processions and assemblies for litanies in the church. It is +curiously characteristic that it was the English clergyman, who, equally +pious, and sensible that only the Almighty could remove the scourge, yet +deemed it right to take precautions against the effects of bringing +a large number of persons into one building. How Belzunce's clergy +seconded him may be gathered from the numbers who died of the disease. +Besides the Oratorians, there died eighteen Jesuits, twenty-six of +the order called Recollets, and forty-three Capuchins, all of whom +had freely given their lives in the endeavor to alleviate the general +suffering. In the four chief towns of Provence 80,000 died, and about +8,000 in the lesser places. The winter finally checked the destroyer, +and then, sad to say, it appeared how little effect the warning had had +on the survivors. Inheritances had fallen together into the hands of +persons who found themselves rich beyond their expectations, and in +the glee of having escaped the danger, forgot to be thankful, and spent +their wealth in revelry. Never had the cities of Provence been so full +of wild, questionable mirth as during the ensuing winter, and it was +remarked that the places which had suffered most severely were the most +given up to thoughtless gaiety, and even licentiousness. + +Good Bishop Belzunce did his best to protest against the wickedness +around him, and refused to leave his flock at Marseilles, when, four +years after, a far more distinguished see was offered to him. He died +in 1755, in time to escape the sight of the retribution that was soon +worked out on the folly and vice of the unhappy country. + + + + +THE SECOND OF SEPTEMBER + +1792 + + +The reign of the terrible Tzar was dreadful, but there was even a more +dreadful time, that which might be called the reign of the madness of +the people. The oppression and injustice that had for generations +past been worked out in France ended in the most fearful reaction that +history records, and the horrors that took place in the Revolution pass +all thought or description. Every institution that had been misused was +overthrown at one fell swoop, and the whole accumulated vengeance of +generations fell on the heads of the persons who occupied the positions +of the former oppressors. Many of these were as pure and guiltless as +their slaughterers were the reverse, but the heads of the Revolution +imagined that to obtain their ideal vision of perfect justice and +liberty, all the remnants of the former state of things must be swept +away, and the ferocious beings who carried out their decrees had +become absolutely frantic with delight in bloodshed. The nation seemed +delivered up to a delirium of murder. But as + + + 'Even as earth's wild war cries heighten, + The cross upon the brow will brighten', + + +These times of surpassing horror were also times of surpassing devotion +and heroism. Without attempting to describe the various stages of the +Revolution, and the different committees that under different titles +carried on the work of destruction, we will mention some of the deeds +that shine out as we look into that abyss of horror, the Paris of 1792 +and the following years. + +Think of the Swiss Guards, who on the 10th of August, 1792, the +miserable day when the King, Queen, and children were made the captives +of the people, stood resolutely at their posts, till they were massacred +almost to a man. Well is their fidelity honored by the noble sculpture +near Lucerne, cut out in the living rock of their own Alps, and +representing a lion dying to defend the fleur-de-lis. + +A more dreadful day still was in preparation. The mob seemed to have +imagined that the King and nobility had some strange dreadful power, and +that unless they were all annihilated they would rise up and trample all +down before them, and those who had the direction of affairs profited +by this delusion to multiply executioners, and clear away all that +they supposed to stand in the way of the renewal of the nation. And the +attempts of the emigrant nobility and of the German princes to march +to the rescue of the royal family added to the fury of their cowardly +ferocity. The prisons of Paris were crowded to overflowing with +aristocrats, as it was the fashion to call the nobles and gentry, and +with the clergy who had refused their adhesion to the new state of +things. The whole number is reckoned at not less than 8,000. + +Among those at the Abbaye de St. Germain were M. Jacques Cazotte, an old +gentleman of seventy-three, who had been for many years in a government +office, and had written various poems. He was living in the country, +in Champagne, when on the 18th of August he was arrested. His daughter +Elizabeth, a lovely girl of twenty, would not leave him, and together +they were taken first to Epernay and then to Paris, where they were +thrown into the Abbaye, and found it crowded with prisoners. M. +Cazotte's bald forehead and grey looks gave him a patriarchal +appearance, and his talk, deeply and truly pious, was full of Scripture +language, as he strove to persuade his fellow captives to own the true +blessings of suffering. + +Here Elizabeth met the like-minded Marie de Sombreuil, who had clung +to her father, Charles Viscount de Sombreuil, the Governor of the +Invalides, or pensioners of the French army; and here, too, had Madame +de Fausse Lendry come with her old uncle the Abbe de Rastignac, who had +been for three months extremely ill, and was only just recovering when +dragged to the prison, and there placed in a room so crowded that it +was not possible to turn round, and the air in the end of August was +fearfully close and heated. Not once while there was the poor old man +able to sleep. His niece spent the nights in a room belonging to the +jailer, with the Princess de Tarente, and Mademoiselle de Sombreuil. + +On the 2nd of September these slaughter-houses were as full as they +could hold, and about a hundred ruffians, armed with axes and guns, were +sent round to all the jails to do the bloody work. It was a Sunday, and +some of the victims had tried to observe it religiously, though little +divining that, it was to be their last. They first took alarm on +perceiving that their jailer had removed his family, and then that he +sent up their dinner earlier than usual, and removed all the knives and +forks. By and by howls and shouts were heard, and the tocsin was heard, +ringing, alarm guns firing, and reports came in to the prisoners of the +Abbaye that the populace were breaking into the prisons. + +The clergy were all penned up together in the cloisters of the Abbaye, +whither they had been brought in carriages that morning. Among them was +the Abbe Sicard, an admirable priest who had spent his whole lifetime in +instructing the deaf and dumb in his own house, where-- + + + 'The cunning finger finely twined +The subtle thread that knitteth mind to mind; There that strange bridge +of signs was built where roll The sunless waves that sever soul from +soul, And by the arch, no bigger than a hand, Truth travell'd over to +the silent land'. + + +He had been arrested, while teaching his pupils, on the 26th of August, +1792, and shut up among other clergy in the prison of the Mayoralty; but +the lads whom he had educated came in a body to ask leave to claim him +at the bar of the National Assembly. Massieu, his best scholar, had +drawn up a most touching address, saying, that in him the deaf and dumb +were deprived of their teacher, nurse, and father. 'It is he who has +taught us what we know, without him we should be as the beasts of the +field.' This petition, and the gestures of the poor silent beings, went +to the heart of the National Assembly. One young man, named Duhamel, +neither deaf nor dumb, from pure admiration of the good work, went and +offered to be imprisoned in the Abbe's place. There was great applause, +and a decree was passed that the cause of the arrest should be enquired +into, but this took no effect, and on that dreadful afternoon, M. +Sicard was put into one of a procession of carriages, which drove slowly +through the streets full of priests, who were reviled, pelted, and +wounded by the populace till they reached the Abbaye. + +In the turnkey's rooms sat a horrible committee, who acted as a sort of +tribunal, but very few of the priests reached it. They were for the +most part cut down as they stepped out into the throng in the +court---consisting of red-capped ruffians, with their shirt sleeves +turned up, and still more fiendish women, who hounded them on to the +butchery, and brought them wine and food. Sicard and another priest +contrived, while their companions fell, to rush into the committee room, +exclaiming, 'Messieurs, preserve an unfortunate!' + +'Go along!' they said, 'do you wish us to get ourselves massacred?' + +But one, recognizing him, was surprised, knowing that his life was to +be spared, and took him into the room, promising to save him as long as +possible. Here the two priests would have been safe but for a wretched +woman, who shrieked out to the murderers that they had been admitted, +and loud knocks and demands for them came from without. Sicard thought +all lost, and taking out his watch, begged one of the committee to give +it to the first deaf mute who should come and ask for him, sure that it +would be the faithful Massieu. At first the man replied that the danger +was not imminent enough; but on hearing a more furious noise at the +door, as if the mob were going to break in, he took the watch; and +Sicard, falling on his knees, commended his soul to God, and embraced +his brother priest. + +In rushed the assassins, they paused for a moment, unable to distinguish +the priests from the committee, but the two pikemen found them out, and +his companion was instantly murdered. The weapons were lifted against +Sicard, when a man pushed through the crowd, and throwing himself before +the pike, displayed his breast and cried, 'Behold the bosom through +which you must pass to reach that of this good citizen. You do not know +him. He is the Abbe Sicard, one of the most benevolent of men, the most +useful to his country, the father of the deaf and dumb!' + +The murderer dropped his pike; but Sicard, perceiving that it was the +populace who were the real dispensers of life or death, sprang to the +window, and shouted, 'Friends, behold an innocent man. Am I to die +without being heard?' + +'You were among the rest,' the mob shouted, 'therefore you are as bad as +the others.' + +But when he told his name, the cry changed. 'He is the father of the +deaf and dumb! he is too useful to perish; his life is spent in doing +good; he must be saved.' And the murderers behind took him up in their +arms, and carried him out into the court, where he was obliged to submit +to be embraced by the whole gang of ruffians, who wanted to carry him +home in triumph; but he did not choose to go without being legally +released, and returning into the committee room, he learnt for the first +time the name of his preserver, one Monnot, a watchmaker, who, though +knowing him only by character, and learning that he was among the clergy +who were being driven to the slaughter, had rushed in to save him. + +Sicard remained in the committee room while further horrors were +perpetrated all round, and at night was taken to the little room called +Le Violon, with two other prisoners. A horrible night ensued; the +murders on the outside varied with drinking and dancing; and at three +o'clock the murderers tried to break into Le Violon. There was a loft +far overhead, and the other two prisoners tried to persuade Sicard to +climb on their shoulders to reach it, saying that his life was more +useful than theirs. However, some fresh prey was brought in, which drew +off the attention of the murderers, and two days afterwards Sicard was +released to resume his life of charity. + +At the beginning of the night, all the ladies who had accompanied their +relatives were separated from them, and put into the women's room; +but when morning came they entreated earnestly to return to them, but +Mademoiselle de Fausse Lendry was assured that her uncle was safe, and +they were told soon after that all who remained were pardoned. About +twenty-two ladies were together, and were called to leave the prison, +but the two who went first were at once butchered, and the sentry called +out to the others, 'It is a snare, go back, do not show yourselves.' +They retreated; but Marie de Sombreuil had made her way to her father, +and when he was called down into the court, she came with him. She hung +round him, beseeching the murderers to have pity on his grey hairs, +and declaring that they must strike him only through her. One of the +ruffians, touched by her resolution, called out that they should be +allowed to pass if the girl would drink to the health of the nation. The +whole court was swimming with blood, and the glass he held out to her +was full of something red. Marie would not shudder. She drank, and with +the applause of the assassins ringing in her ears, she passed with her +father over the threshold of the fatal gates, into such freedom and +safety as Paris could then afford. Never again could she see a glass of +red wine without a shudder, and it was generally believed that it was +actually a glass of blood that she had swallowed, though she always +averred that this was an exaggeration, and that it had been only her +impression before tasting it that so horrible a draught was offered to +her. + +The tidings that Mademoiselle de Sombreuil had saved her father came +to encourage the rest of the ladies, and when calls were heard for +'Cazotte', Elizabeth flew out and joined her father, and in like manner +stood between him and the butchers, till her devotion made the crowd cry +'Pardon!' and one of the men employed about the prison opened a passage +for her, by which she, too, led her father away. + +Madame de Fausse Lendry was not so happy. Her uncle was killed early +in the day, before she was aware that he had been sent for, but she +survived to relate the history of that most horrible night and day. The +same work was going on at all the other prisons, and chief among +the victims of La Force was the beautiful Marie Louise of Savoy, the +Princess de Lamballe, and one of the most intimate friends of the Queen. +A young widow without children, she had been the ornament of the court, +and clever learned ladies thought her frivolous, but the depth of her +nature was shown in the time of trial. Her old father-in-law had taken +her abroad with him when the danger first became apparent, but as soon +as she saw that the Queen herself was aimed at, she went immediately +back to France to comfort her and share her fate. + +Since the terrible 10th of August, the friends had been separated, and +Madame de Lamballe had been in the prison of La Force. There, on the +evening of the 2nd of September, she was brought down to the tribunal, +and told to swear liberty, equality, and hatred to the King and Queen. + +'I will readily swear the two former. I cannot swear the latter. It is +not in my heart.' + +'Swear! If not, you are dead.' + +She raised her eyes, lifted her hands, and made a step to the door. +Murderers closed her in, and pike thrusts in a few moments were the +last 'stage that carried from earth to heaven' the gentle woman, who had +loved her queenly friend to the death. Little mattered it to her that +her corpse was soon torn limb from limb, and that her fair ringlets were +floating round the pike on which her head was borne past her friend's +prison window. Little matters it now even to Marie Antoinette. The worst +that the murderers could do for such as these, could only work for them +a more exceeding weight of glory. + +M. Cazotte was imprisoned again on the 12th of September, and all his +daughter's efforts failed to save him. She was taken from him, and he +died on the guillotine, exclaiming, 'I die as I have lived, faithful to +my God and to my King.' And the same winter, M. de Sombreuil was also +imprisoned again. When he entered the prison with his daughter, all the +inmates rose to do her honor. In the ensuing June, after a mock trial, +her father and brother were put to death, and she remained for many +years alone with only the memory of her past days. + + + + +THE VENDEANS + +1793 + + +While the greater part of France had been falling into habits of self- +indulgence, and from thence into infidelity and revolution, there was +one district where the people had not forgotten to fear God and honor +the King. + +This was in the tract surrounding the Loire, the south of which is now +called La Vendee, and was then termed the Bocage, or the Woodland. It +is full of low hills and narrow valleys, divided into small fields, +enclosed by high thick hedgerows; so that when viewed from the top of +one of the hills, the whole country appears perfectly green, excepting +near harvest-time, when small patches of golden corn catch the eye, or +where here and there a church tower peeps above the trees, in the midst +of the flat red-tiled roofs of the surrounding village. The roads are +deep lanes, often in the winter beds of streams, and in the summer +completely roofed by the thick foliage of the trees, whose branches meet +overhead. + +The gentry of La Vendee, instead of idling their time at Paris, lived +on their own estates in kindly intercourse with their neighbours, and +constantly helping and befriending their tenants, visiting them at their +farms, talking over their crops and cattle, giving them advice, and +inviting them on holidays to dance in the courts of their castles, and +themselves joining in their sports. The peasants were a hardworking, +sober, and pious people, devoutly attending their churches, reverencing +their clergy, and, as well they might, loving and honoring their good +landlords. + +But as the Revolution began to make its deadly progress at Paris, a +gloom spread over this happy country. The Paris mob, who could not bear +to see anyone higher in station than themselves, thirsted for noble +blood, and the gentry were driven from France, or else imprisoned and +put to death. An oath contrary to the laws of their Church was required +of the clergy, those who refused it were thrust out of their parishes, +and others placed in their room; and throughout France all the youths of +a certain age were forced to draw lots to decide who should serve in the +Republican army. + +This conscription filled up the measure. The Vendeans had grieved over +the flight of their landlords, they had sheltered and hidden their +priests, and heard their ministrations in secret; but when their +young men were to be carried way from them, and made the defenders and +instruments of those who were murdering their King, overthrowing their +Church, and ruining their country, they could endure it no longer, but +in the spring of 1793, soon after the execution of Louis XVI., a rising +took place in Anjou, at the village of St. Florent, headed by a peddler +named Cathelineau, and they drove back the Blues, as they called the +revolutionary soldiers, who had come to enforce the conscription. They +begged Monsieur de Bonchamp, a gentleman in the neighborhood, to take +the command; and, willing to devote himself to the cause of his King, he +complied, saying, as he did so, 'We must not aspire to earthly rewards; +such would be beneath the purity of our motives, the holiness of our +cause. We must not even aspire to glory, for a civil war affords none. +We shall see our castles fall, we shall be proscribed, slandered, +stripped of our possessions, perhaps put to death; but let us thank God +for giving us strength to do our duty to the end.' + +The next person on whom the peasants cast their eyes possessed as true +and strong a heart, though he was too young to count the cost of +loyalty with the same calm spirit of self-devotion. The Marquis de la +Rochejacquelein, one of the most excellent of the nobles of Poitou, had +already emigrated with his wife and all his family, excepting Henri, the +eldest son, who, though but eighteen years of age, had been placed in +the dangerous post of an officer in the Royal Guards. When Louis XVI. +had been obliged to dismiss these brave men, he had obtained a promise +from each officer that he would not leave France, but wait for some +chance of delivering that unhappy country. Henri had therefore remained +at Paris, until after the 10th of August, 1792, when the massacre at +the Tuileries took place, and the imprisonment of the royal family +commenced; and then every gentleman being in danger in the city, he had +come to his father's deserted castle of Durballiere in Poitou. + +He was nearly twenty, tall and slender, with fair hair, an oval face, +and blue eyes, very gentle, although full of animation. He was active +and dexterous in all manly sports, especially shooting and riding; +he was a man of few words; and his manners were so shy, modest, and +retiring, that his friends used to say he was more like an Englishman +than a Frenchman. + +Hearing that he was alone at Durballiere, and knowing that as an officer +in the Guards, and also as being of the age liable to the conscription, +he was in danger from the Revolutionists in the neighboring towns, his +cousin, the Marquis de Lescure, sent to invite him to his strong castle +of Clisson, which was likewise situated in the Bocage. This castle +afforded a refuge to many others who were in danger--to nuns driven from +their convents, dispossessed clergy, and persons who dreaded to remain +at their homes, but who felt reassured under the shelter of the castle, +and by the character of its owner, a young man of six-and-twenty, who, +though of high and unshaken loyalty, had never concerned himself with +politics, but led a quiet and studious life, and was everywhere honored +and respected. + +The winter passed in great anxiety, and when in the spring the rising +at Anjou took place, and the new government summoned all who could bear +arms to assist in quelling it, a council was held among the party at +Clisson on the steps to be taken. Henri, as the youngest, spoke first, +saying he would rather perish than fight against the peasants; nor among +the whole assembly was there one person willing to take the safer but +meaner course of deserting the cause of their King and country. 'Yes,' +said the Duchess de Donnissan, mother to the young wife of the Marquis +de Lescure, 'I see you are all of the same opinion. Better death than +dishonor. I approve your courage. It is a settled thing:' and seating +herself in her armchair, she concluded, 'Well, then, we must die.' For +some little time all remained quiet at Clisson; but at length the order +for the conscription arrived, and a few days before the time appointed +for the lots to be drawn, a boy came to the castle bringing a note to +Henri from his aunt at St. Aubin. 'Monsieur Henri,' said the boy, 'they +say you are to draw for the conscription next Sunday; but may not your +tenants rise against it in the meantime? Come with me, sir, the whole +country is longing for you, and will obey you.' + +Henri instantly promised to come, but some of the ladies would have +persuaded him not to endanger himself--representing, too, that if he was +missing on the appointed day, M. de Lescure might be made responsible +for him. The Marquis, however, silenced them, saying to his cousin, +'You are prompted by honor and duty to put yourself at the head of your +tenants. Follow out your plan, I am only grieved at not being able to go +with you; and certainly no fear of imprisonment will lead me to dissuade +you from doing your duty.' + +'Well, I will come and rescue you,' said Henri, embracing him, and his +eyes glancing with a noble soldier-like expression and an eagle look. + +As soon as the servants were gone to bed, he set out with a guide, with +a stick in his hand and a pair of pistols in his belt; and traveling +through the fields, over hedges and ditches, for fear of meeting with +the Blues, arrived at St. Aubin, and from thence went on to meet M. de +Bonchamp and his little army. But he found to his disappointment that +they had just been defeated, and the chieftains, believing that all was +lost, had dispersed their troops. He went to his own home, dispirited +and grieved; but no sooner did the men of St. Aubin learn the arrival of +their young lord, than they came trooping to the castle, entreating him +to place himself at their head. + +In the early morning, the castle court, the fields, the village, were +thronged with stout hardy farmers and laborers, in grey coats, with +broad flapping hats, and red woolen handkerchiefs round their necks. On +their shoulders were spits, scythes, and even sticks; happy was the man +who could bring an old fowling-piece, and still more rejoiced the owner +of some powder, intended for blasting some neighboring quarry. All +had bold true hearts, ready to suffer and to die in the cause of their +Church and of their young innocent imprisoned King. + +A mistrust of his own powers, a fear of ruining these brave men, crossed +the mind of the youth as he looked forth upon them, and he exclaimed, +'If my father was but here, you might trust to him. Yet by my courage I +will show myself worthy, and lead you. If I go forward, follow me: if I +draw back, kill me; if I am slain, avenge me!' They replied with shouts +of joy, and it was instantly resolved to march upon the next village, +which was occupied by the rebel troops. They gained a complete victory, +driving away the Blues, and taking two small pieces of cannon, and +immediately joined M. de Bonchamp and Cathelineau, who, encouraged +by their success, again gathered their troops and gained some further +advantages. + +In the meantime, the authorities had sent to Clisson and arrested M. +de Lescure, his wife, her parents, and some of their guests, who were +conducted to Bressuire, the nearest town, and there closely guarded. +There was great danger that the Republicans would revenge their losses +upon them, but the calm dignified deportment of M. de Lescure obliged +them to respect him so much that no injury was offered to him. At +last came the joyful news that the Royalist army was approaching. The +Republican soldiers immediately quitted the town, and the inhabitants +all came to ask the protection of the prisoners, desiring to send their +goods to Clisson for security, and thinking themselves guarded by the +presence of M. and Madame de Lescure. + +M. de Lescure and his cousin Bernard de Marigny mounted their horses +and rode out to meet their friends. In a quarter of an hour afterwards, +Madame de Lescure heard the shouts 'Long live the King!' and the next +minute, Henri de la Rochejacquelein hurried into the room, crying, 'I +have saved you.' The peasants marched in to the number of 20,000, and +spread themselves through the town, but in their victory they had gained +no taste for blood or plunder--they did not hurt a single inhabitant, +nor touch anything that was not their own. Madame de Lescure heard some +of them wishing for tobacco, and asked if there was none in the town. +'Oh yes, there is plenty to be sold, but we have no money;' and they +were very thankful to her for giving the small sum they required. +Monsieur de Donnissan saw two men disputing in the street, and one +drew his sword, when he interfered, saying, 'Our Lord prayed for His +murderers, and would one soldier of the Catholic army kill another?' The +two instantly embraced. + +Three times a day these peasant warriors knelt at their prayers, in the +churches if they were near them, if not, in the open field, and seldom +have ever been equaled the piety, the humility, the self-devotion alike +of chiefs and of followers. The frightful cruelties committed by the +enemy were returned by mercy; though such of them as fell into the hands +of the Republicans were shot without pity, yet their prisoners were +instantly set at liberty after being made to promise not to serve +against them again, and having their hair shaved off in order that they +might be recognized. + +Whenever an enterprise was resolved on, the curates gave notice to their +parishioners that the leaders would be at such a place at such a time, +upon which they crowded to the spot, and assembled around the white +standard of France with such weapons as they could muster. + +The clergy then heard them confess their sins, gave them absolution, +and blessed them; then, while they set forward, returned to the churches +where their wives and children were praying for their success. They did +not fight like regular soldiers, but, creeping through the hedgerows +and coppices, burst unexpectedly upon the Blues, who, entangled in the +hollow lanes, ignorant of the country, and amazed by the suddenness +of the attack, had little power to resist. The chieftains were always +foremost in danger; above all the eager young Henri, with his eye on the +white standard, and on the blue sky, and his hand making the sign of +the cross without which he never charged the enemy, dashed on first, +fearless of peril, regardless of his life, thinking only of his duty to +his king and the protection of his followers. + +It was calmness and resignation which chiefly distinguished M. de +Lescure, the Saint of Poitou, as the peasants called him from his great +piety, his even temper, and the kindness and the wonderful mercifulness +of his disposition. Though constantly at the head of his troops, leading +them into the most dangerous places, and never sparing himself, not one +man was slain by his hand, nor did he even permit a prisoner to receive +the least injury in his presence. When one of the Republicans once +presented his musket close to his breast, he quietly put it aside with +his hand, and only said, 'Take away the prisoner'. His calmness was +indeed well founded, and his trust never failed. Once when the little +army had received a considerable check, and his cousin M. de Marigny was +in despair, and throwing his pistols on the table, exclaimed, 'I fight +no longer', he took him by the arm, led him to the window, an pointing +to a troop of peasants kneeling at their evening prayers, he said, 'See +there a pledge of our hopes, and doubt no longer that we shall conquer +in our turn.' + +Their greatest victory was at Saumur, owing chiefly to the gallantry of +Henri, who threw his hat into the midst of the enemy, shouting to his +followers, 'Who will go and fetch it for me?' and rushing forward, drove +all before him, and made his way into the town on one side, while M. de +Lescure, together with Stofflet, a game-keeper, another of the chiefs, +made their entrance on the other side. M. de Lescure was wounded in the +arm, and on the sight of his blood the peasants gave back, and would +have fled had not Stofflet threatened to shoot the first who turned; +and in the meantime M. de Lescure, tying up his arm with a handkerchief, +declared it was nothing, and led them onwards. + +The city was entirely in their hands, and their thankful delight was +excessive; but they only displayed it by ringing the bells, singing the +Te Deum, and parading the streets. Henri was almost out of his senses +with exultation; but at last he fell into a reverie, as he stood, with +his arms folded, gazing on the mighty citadel which had yielded to +efforts such as theirs. His friends roused him from his dream by +their remarks, and he replied, 'I am reflecting on our success, and am +confounded'. + +They now resolved to elect a general-in-chief, and M. de Lescure was the +first to propose Cathelineau, the peddler, who had first come forward +in the cause. It was a wondrous thing when the nobles, the gentry, and +experienced officers who had served in the regular army, all willingly +placed themselves under the command of the simple untrained peasant, +without a thought of selfishness or of jealousy. Nor did Cathelineau +himself show any trace of pride, or lose his complete humility of mind +or manner; but by each word and deed he fully proved how wise had been +their judgment, and well earned the title given him by the peasants of +the 'Saint of Anjou'. + +It was now that their hopes were highest; they were more numerous and +better armed than they had ever been before, and they even talked of +a march to Paris to 'fetch their little king, and have him crowned at +Chollet', the chief town of La Vendee. But martyrdom, the highest glory +to be obtained on this earth, was already shedding its brightness round +these devoted men who were counted worthy to suffer, and it was in a +higher and purer world that they were to meet their royal child. + +Cathelineau turned towards Nantes, leaving Henri de la Rochejaquelein, +to his great vexation, to defend Saumur with a party of peasants. But +he found it impossible to prevent these poor men from returning to their +homes; they did not understand the importance of garrison duty, and +gradually departed, leaving their commander alone with a few officers, +with whom he used to go through the town at night, shouting out, 'Long +live the king!' at the places where there ought to have been sentinels. +At last, when his followers were reduced to eight, he left the town, +and, rejoicing to be once more in the open field, overtook his friends +at Angers, where they had just rescued a great number of clergy who had +been imprisoned there, and daily threatened with death. 'Do not thank +us,' said the peasants to the liberated priests; 'it is for you that we +fight. If we had not saved you, we should not have ventured to return +home. Since you are freed, we see plainly that the good God is on our +side.' + +But the tide was now about to turn. The Government in Paris sent a far +stronger force into the Bocage, and desolated it in a cruel manner. +Clisson was burnt to the ground with the very fireworks which had been +prepared for the christening of its master's eldest child, and which +had not been used because of the sorrowful days when she was born. M. de +Lescure had long expected its destruction, but had not chosen to remove +the furniture, lest he should discourage the peasants. His family were +with the army, where alone there was now any safety for the weak and +helpless. At Nantes the attack was unsuccessful, and Cathelineau himself +received a wound of which he died in a few days, rejoicing at having +been permitted to shed his blood in such a cause. + +The army, of which M. d'Elbee became the leader, now returned to Poitou, +and gained a great victory at Chatillon; but here many of them forgot +the mercy they had usually shown, and, enraged by the sight of their +burnt cottages, wasted fields, and murdered relatives, they fell upon +the prisoners and began to slaughter them. M. de Lescure, coming in +haste, called out to them to desist. 'No, no,' cried M. de Marigny; 'let +me slay these monsters who have burnt your castle.' 'Then, Marigny,' +said his cousin, 'you must fight with me. You are too cruel; you will +perish by the sword.' And he saved these unhappy men for the time; but +they were put to death on their way to their own army. + +The cruelties of the Republicans occasioned a proclamation on the part +of the Royalists that they would make reprisals; but they could never +bring themselves to act upon it. When M. de Lescure took Parthenay, he +said to the inhabitants, 'It is well for you that it is I who have taken +your town; for, according to our proclamation, I ought to burn it; +but, as you would think it an act of private revenge for the burning of +Clisson, I spare you'. + +Though occasional successes still maintained the hopes of the Vendeans, +misfortunes and defeats now became frequent; they were unable to save +their country from the devastations of the enemy, and disappointments +began to thin the numbers of the soldiers. Henri, while fighting in a +hollow road, was struck in the right hand by a ball, which broke his +thumb in three places. He continued to direct his men, but they were at +length driven back from their post. He was obliged to leave the army for +some days; and though he soon appeared again at the head of the men of +St. Aubin, he never recovered the use of his hand. + +Shortly after, both D'Elbee and Bonchamp were desperately wounded; and +M. de Lescure, while waving his followers on to attack a Republican +post, received a ball in the head. The enemy pressed on the broken and +defeated army with overwhelming force, and the few remaining chiefs +resolved to cross the Loire and take refuge in Brittany. It was much +against the opinion of M. de Lescure; but, in his feeble and +suffering state, he could not make himself heard, nor could Henri's +representations prevail; the peasants, in terror and dismay, were +hastening across as fast as they could obtain boats to carry them. The +enemy was near at hand, and Stofflet, Marigny, and the other chiefs were +only deliberating whether they should not kill the prisoners whom they +could not take with them, and, if set at liberty, would only add to the +numbers of their pursuers. The order for their death had been given; +but, before it could be executed, M. de Lescure had raised his head to +exclaim, 'It is too horrible!' and M. de Bonchamp at the same moment +said, almost with his last breath, 'Spare them!' The officers who stood +by rushed to the generals, crying out that Bonchamp commanded that they +should be pardoned. They were set at liberty; and thus the two Vendean +chiefs avenged their deaths by saving five thousand of their enemies! + +M. de Bonchamp expired immediately after; but M. de Lescure had still +much to suffer in the long and painful passage across the river, +and afterwards, while carried along the rough roads to Varades in an +armchair upon two pikes, his wife and her maid supporting his feet. The +Bretons received them kindly, and gave him a small room, where, the next +day, he sent for the rest of the council, telling them they ought to +choose a new general, since M. d'Elbee was missing. They answered that +he himself alone could be commander. 'Gentlemen,' he answered: 'I am +mortally wounded; and even if I am to live, which I do not expect, I +shall be long unfit to serve. The army must instantly have an active +chief, loved by all, known to the peasants, trusted by everyone. It is +the only way of saving us. M. de la Rochejaquelein alone is known to the +soldiers of all the divisions. M. de Donnissan, my father-in-law, does +not belong to this part of the country, and would not be as readily +followed. The choice I propose would encourage the soldiers; and I +entreat you to choose M. de la Rochejaquelein. As to me, if I live, you +know I shall not quarrel with Henri; I shall be his aide-de-camp.' + +His advice was readily followed, Henri was chosen; but when a second +in command was to be elected, he said no, he was second, for he should +always obey M. de Donnissan, and entreated that the honor might not be +given to him, saying that at twenty years of age he had neither weight +nor experience, that his valor led him to be first in battle, but in +council his youth prevented him from being attended to; and, indeed, +after giving his opinion, he usually fell asleep while others were +debating. He was, however, elected; and as soon as M. de Lescure heard +the shouts of joy with which the peasants received the intelligence, he +sent Madame de Lescure to bring him to his bedside. She found him +hidden in a corner, weeping bitterly; and when he came to his cousin, he +embraced him, saving earnestly, again and again, that he was not fit to +be general, he only knew how to fight, he was too young and could never +silence those who opposed his designs, and entreated him to take the +command as soon as he was cured. 'That I do not expect,' said M. de +Lescure; 'but if it should happen, I will be your aide-de-camp, and help +you to conquer the shyness which prevents your strength of character +from silencing the murmurers and the ambitious.' + +Henri accordingly took the command; but it was a melancholy office that +devolved upon him of dragging onward his broken and dejected peasants, +half-starved, half-clothed, and followed by a wretched train of women, +children, and wounded; a sad change from the bright hopes with which, +not six months before, he had been called to the head of his tenants. +Yet still his high courage gained some triumphs, which for a time +revived the spirits of his forces and restored their confidence. He was +active and undaunted, and it was about this time, when in pursuit of the +Blues, he was attacked by a foot soldier when alone in a narrow lane. +His right hand was useless, but he seized the man's collar with his +left, and held him fast, managing his horse with his legs till his men +came up. He would not allow them to kill the soldier, but set him free, +saying 'Return to the Republicans, and tell them that you were alone +with the general of the brigands, who had but one hand and no weapons, +yet you could not kill him'. Brigands was the name given by the +Republicans, the true robbers, to the Royalists, who, in fact, by +this time, owing to the wild life they had so long led, had acquired +a somewhat rude and savage appearance. They wore grey cloth coats and +trousers, broad hats, white sashes with knots of different colours to +mark the rank of the officers, and red woolen handkerchiefs. These +were made in the country, and were at first chiefly worn by Henri, who +usually had one round his neck, another round his waist, and a third to +support his wounded hand; but the other officers, having heard the Blues +cry out to aim at the red handkerchief, themselves adopted the same +badge, in order that he might be less conspicuous. + +In the meantime a few days' rest at Laval had at first so alleviated +the sufferings of M. de Lescure, that hopes were entertained of his +recovery; but he ventured on greater exertions of strength than he was +able to bear, and fever returned, which had weakened him greatly before +it became necessary to travel onwards. Early in the morning, a day or +two before their departure, he called to his wife, who was lying on a +mattress on the floor, and desired her to open the curtains, asking, as +she did so, if it was a clear day. 'Yes,' said she. 'Then,' he answered, +'I have a sort of veil before my eyes, I cannot see distinctly; I always +thought my wound was mortal, and now I no longer doubt. My dear, I must +leave you, that is my only regret, except that I could not restore my +king to the throne; I leave you in the midst of a civil war, that is +what afflicts me. Try to save yourself. Disguise yourself, and attempt +to reach England.' Then seeing her choked with tears, he continued: +'Yes, your grief alone makes me regret life; for my own part, I die +tranquil; I have indeed sinned, but I have always served God with piety; +I have fought, and I die for Him, and I hope in His mercy. I have often +seen death, and I do not fear it I go to heaven with a sure trust, I +grieve but for you; I hoped to have made you happy; if I ever have given +you any reason to complain, forgive me.' Finding her grief beyond all +consolation, he allowed her to call the surgeons, saying that it was +possible he might be mistaken. They gave some hope, which cheered her +spirits, though he still said he did not believe them. The next day they +left Laval; and on the way, while the carriage was stopping, a person +came to the door and read the details of the execution of Marie +Antoinette which Madame de Lescure had kept from his knowledge. It was +a great shock to him, for he had known the Queen personally, and +throughout the day he wearied himself with exclamations on the horrible +crime. That night at Ernee he received the Sacrament, and at the same +time became speechless, and could only lie holding his wife's hand and +looking sometimes at her, sometimes toward heaven. But the cruel enemy +were close behind, and there was no rest on earth even for the dying. +Madame de Lescure implored her friends to leave them behind; but they +told her she would be exposed to a frightful death, and that his body +would fall into the enemy's hands; and she was forced to consent to his +removal. Her mother and her other friends would not permit her to remain +in the carriage with him; she was placed on horseback and her maid and +the surgeon were with him. An hour after, on the 3rd of November, he +died, but his wife did not know her loss till the evening when they +arrived at Fongeres; for though the surgeon left the carriage on his +death, the maid, fearing the effect which the knowledge might have +upon her in the midst of her journey, remained for seven hours in the +carriage by his side, during two of which she was in a fainting fit. + +When Madame de Lescure and Henri de la Rochejaquelein met the next +morning, they sat for a quarter of an hour without speaking, and weeping +bitterly. At last she said 'You have lost your best friend,' and he +replied, 'Take my life, if it could restore him.' + + +Scarcely anything can be imagined more miserable than the condition of +the army, or more terrible than the situation of the young general, who +felt himself responsible for its safety, and was compelled daily to see +its sufferings and find his plans thwarted by the obstinacy and folly of +the other officers, crushed by an overwhelming force, knowing that there +was no quarter from which help could come, yet still struggling on in +fulfillment of his sad duty. The hopes and expectations which had filled +his heart a few months back had long passed away; nothing was around him +but misery, nothing before him but desolation; but still he never failed +in courage, in mildness, in confidence in Heaven. + +At Mans he met with a horrible defeat; at first, indeed, with a small +party he broke the columns of the enemy, but fresh men were constantly +brought up, and his peasants gave way and retreated, their officers +following them. He tried to lead them back through the hedges, and if +he had succeeded, would surely have gained the victory. Three times +with two other officers he dashed into the midst of the Blues; but the +broken, dispirited peasants would not follow him, not one would even +turn to fire a shot. At last, in leaping a hedge, his saddle turned, and +he fell, without indeed being hurt, but the sight of his fall added to +the terror of the miserable Vendeans. He struggled long and desperately +through the long night that followed to defend the gates of the town, +but with the light of morning the enemy perceived his weakness and +effected their entrance. His followers had in the meantime gradually +retired into the country beyond, but those who could not escape fell a +prey to the cruelty of the Republicans. 'I thought you had perished,' +said Madame de Lescure, when he overtook her. 'Would that I had,' was +his answer. + +He now resolved to cross the Loire, and return to his native Bocage, +where the well-known woods would afford a better protection to his +followers. It was at Craon, on their route to the river, that Madame de +Lescure saw him for the last time, as he rallied his men, who had been +terrified by a false alarm. + +She did not return to La Vendee, but, with her mother, was sheltered +by the peasants of Brittany throughout the winter and spring until they +found means to leave the country. + +The Vendeans reached the Loire at Ancenis, but they were only able to +find two small boats to carry them over. On the other side, however, +were four great ferry boats loaded with hay; and Henri, with Stofflet, +three other officers, and eighteen soldiers crossed the river in their +two boats, intending to take possession of them, send them back for the +rest of the army, and in the meantime protect the passage from the Blues +on the Vendean side. Unfortunately, however, he had scarcely crossed +before the pursuers came down upon his troops, drove them back from +Ancenis, and entirely prevented them from attempting the passage, while +at the same time Henri and his companions were attacked and forced from +the river by a body of Republicans on their side. A last resistance was +attempted by the retreating Vendeans at Savenay, where they fought nobly +but in vain; four thousand were shot on the field of battle, the chiefs +were made prisoners and carried to Nantes or Angers, where they were +guillotined, and a few who succeeded in escaping found shelter among +the Bretons, or one by one found their way back to La Vendee. M. de +Donnissan was amongst those who were guillotined, and M. d'Elbee, who +was seized shortly after, was shot with his wife. + +Henri, with his few companions, when driven from the banks of the Loire, +dismissed the eighteen soldiers, whose number would only have attracted +attention without being sufficient for protection; but the five chiefs +crossed the fields and wandered through the country without meeting a +single inhabitant--all the houses were burnt down, and the few remaining +peasants hidden in the woods. At last, after four-and-twenty hours, +walking, they came to an inhabited farm, where they lay down to sleep on +the straw. The next moment the farmer came to tell them the Blues were +coming; but they were so worn out with fatigue, that they would not +move. The Blues were happily, also, very tired, and, without making any +search, laid down on the other side of the heap of straw, and also fell +asleep. Before daylight the Vendeans rose and set out again, walking +miles and miles in the midst of desolation, until, after several days, +they came to Henri's own village of St. Aubin, where he sought out his +aunt, who was in concealment there, and remained with her for three +days, utterly overwhelmed with grief at his fatal separation from his +army, and only longing for an opportunity of giving his life in the good +cause. + +Beyond all his hopes, the peasants no sooner heard his name, than once +more they rallied round the white standard, as determined as ever not +to yield to the Revolutionary government; and the beginning of the year +1794 found him once more at the head of a considerable force, encamped +in the forests of Vesins, guarding the villages around from the +cruelties of the Blues. He was now doubly beloved and trusted by the +followers who had proved his worth, and who even yet looked forward to +triumphs beneath his brave guidance; but it was not so with him, he +had learnt the lesson of disappointment, and though always active and +cheerful, his mind was made up, and the only hope he cherished was of +meeting the death of a soldier. His headquarters were in the midst of a +forest, where one of the Republican officers, who was made prisoner, +was much surprised to find the much-dreaded chieftain of the Royalists +living in a hut formed of boughs of trees, dressed almost like a +peasant, and with his arm still in a sling. This person was shot, +because he was found to be commissioned to promise pardon to the +peasants, and afterwards to massacre them; but Henri had not learnt +cruelty from his persecutors, and his last words were of forgiveness. + +It was on Ash Wednesday that he had repulsed an attack of the enemy, and +had almost driven them out of the wood, when, perceiving two soldiers +hiding behind a hedge, he stopped, crying out, 'Surrender, I spare you.' +As he spoke one of them leveled his musket, fired, and stretched him +dead on the ground without a groan. Stofflet, coming up the next moment, +killed the murderer with one stroke of his sword; but the remaining +soldier was spared out of regard to the last words of the general. The +Vendeans wept bitterly, but there was no time to indulge their sorrow, +for the enemy were returning upon them; and, to save their chieftain's +corpse from insult, they hastily dug a grave, in which they placed both +bodies, and retreated as the Blues came up to occupy the ground. +The Republicans sought for the spot, but it was preserved from +their knowledge; and the high-spirited, pure-hearted Henri de la +Rochejaquelein sleeps beside his enemy in the midst of the woodlands +where he won for himself eternal honor. His name is still loved beyond +all others; the Vendeans seldom pronounce it without touching their +hats, and it is the highest glory of many a family that one of their +number has served under Monsieur Henri. + +Stofflet succeeded to the command, and carried on the war with great +skill and courage for another year, though with barbarities such as had +never been permitted by the gentle men; but his career was stained by +the death of Marigny, whom, by false accusations, he was induced to +sentence to be shot. Marigny showed great courage and resignation, +himself giving the word to fire--perhaps at that moment remembering the +warning of M. de Lescure. Stofflet repented bitterly, and never ceased +to lament his death. He was at length made prisoner, and shot, with his +last words declaring his devotion to his king and his faith. + +Thus ends the tale of the Vendean war, undertaken in the best of causes, +for the honor of God and His Church, and the rescue of one of the most +innocent of kings, by men whose saintly characters and dauntless courage +have seldom been surpassed by martyrs or heroes of any age. It closed +with blood, with fire, with miseries almost unequalled; yet who would +dare to say that the lives of Cathelineau, Bonchamp, Lescure, La +Rochejaquelein, with their hundreds of brave and pious followers, were +devoted in vain? Who could wish to see their brightness dimmed with +earthly rewards? + +And though the powers of evil were permitted to prevail on earth, yet +what could their utmost triumph effect against the faithful, but to make +for them, in the words of the child king for whom they fought, one of +those thorny paths that lead to glory! + + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Book of Golden Deeds, by Charlotte M. 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